“I’m afraid I am,” Mary confessed and tossed her right thumb at the wooden bridge. “That bridge has to be crossed.”
“That bridge looks older than time,” Betty responded in a scared voice. “Why, that bridge doesn’t look strong enough to hold up a leaf let alone your car.”
“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Mary assured Betty, even though deep down she was pretty scared herself. “Stephanie has probably crossed that bridge many times. I’m sure she would have warned me if the bridge posed any danger.”
“I guess,” Betty said and squeezed her eyes closed. “Oh, why me...why didn’t I stay home? Why, I could be having a nice slice of pumpkin pie at the diner right now...or writing a nice article about the school play.”
“William is handling the newspaper,” Mary told Betty. “Now that William has calmed down and come to his senses, he’s back on track. And Millie can fully write about the school play. Millie is coming along nicely and turning into a very intelligent reporter. Let’s stop worrying over a silly bridge.” Mary patted Betty’s hand and closed the passenger’s side door. “We’re grown adults.”
“Grown, scared adults,” Betty whimpered.
Mary sighed and hurried around to the driver’s side of the car. She climbed in, buckled up, said a prayer, and then bravely eased her car across the bridge. The wooden bridge moaned, whined, and complained under the weight of the car, threatening to collapse at any second, but held in place. Betty dared to open one eye, spotted the car traveling across the middle of the bridge, cried out in terror, and squeezed her eye close. Mary held onto the steering wheel, kept the wheels crawling over the bridge, and prayed. When the wheels of the car touched dirt, she let out a deep breath. “See...safe and sound.”
Betty slowly and carefully opened her eyes, saw the dirt road stretching out before her, and sighed. “Right. Except we have to cross that same bridge on the way out.”
“Then let’s only make one trip out,” Mary tried to joke and got the car moving. She teeter-tottered on down the dirt road, driving around bends, up one hill or another, and just when the dirt road would go on forever, it ran into a large dirt parking lot big enough to park two buses before ending.
“I guess this is the end of the line,” Mary said in a grateful voice. She pointed at a yellow 1940 Chevrolet pickup truck sitting beside a gray and blue 1942 Hudson Commodore and a 1941 Chrysler Town and Country. “Looks like Stephanie has guests.”
Betty studied the three vehicles and relief washed through her troubled heart. “I was expecting to find the camp deserted...a-a killer lurking about,” she confessed.
Mary turned off her car and looked at her cousin’s yellow pickup truck. She didn’t confess her thoughts to Betty, but deep down she had expected to come across the same horror Betty had living in her mind. The sight of the pickup truck sent a wave of relief through her. “No killers.” She smiled. “Now, let’s go find Stephanie.”
“Uh...who do you think those cars belong to?” Betty asked in a nervous voice. “You know me, Mary...I’m not very comfortable around strangers.”
“Well, the truck belongs to Stephanie,” Mary explained. “I guess one of the cars has to belong to her fiancé—”
“Fiancé?”
“Sure, remember I told you Stephanie is getting married in the spring?”
“Did you?” Betty asked and quickly searched her memory. “Oh, yes, you did...I’m so sorry I forgot. You told me all about that, but I was so upset over Mother that I completely forgot.”
Mary grinned. Relieved to find normality instead of murder. So what if she had felt danger was lurking about while she pulled the gate open? The mind, she reminded herself, can activate irrational fears that dropped flat on the ground. “Let’s just hope your mother doesn’t get married in the spring, too,” she said, not able to resist.
“Mary!” Betty gasped. “Why...bite your tongue!”
Mary giggled and pointed at the three vehicles. “I’m not sure who the other two cars belong to, but I’m sure we’ll find out. Only way to find out is to find Stephanie. Let’s go.”
“I was afraid you would say that.” Betty opened the passenger’s side door, climbed out, looked down at the pair of saddle shoes she was wearing, and then studied the land. “We should have worn different shoes.”
Mary glanced down at her own pair of saddle shoes and then looked around. She spotted a wide trail sitting at the north end of the parking lot. “We’re not exactly country gals,” she agreed, “but we’re not exactly city gals, either. I’m sure we’ll be fine. Ready?”
“I guess,” Betty sighed, “but what about our luggage?”
Mary walked to the rear of the car and tapped the trunk. “We’ll leave our purses and our luggage in the truck for now,” she told Betty. “I’m not sure how difficult that trail will be to walk down. I would rather become familiar with the land before I load myself down with luggage.”
“Good idea,” Betty agreed. Then she asked in a worried voice. “Uh...do you think there are any bears around?”
“Bears?” Mary asked. Leave it up to Betty to make her panic. “I...I...hope not. I wouldn’t know?” Mary answered and quickly scanned the lush, autumn woods. “Come on,” she said. She grabbed Betty’s hand and hurried over to the trail. “Watch where you walk...roots...rocks...stuff like that.”
“I will,” Betty promised, drawing in a deep breath. She looked around and then slowly followed Mary down a dark trail. The path felt cold, damp, and eerie, cast in shadows and unknown dangers. “Stop it,” Betty begged her mind.
Mary squeezed Betty’s hand. “It is a bit...spooky, but just think...hundreds of kids have walked this trail during the summer months, singing, laughing, teasing each other...there’s nothing to be scared of.”
“I guess that’s true,” Betty agreed. In her mind she saw two summer camp buses arrive in the parking lot and let off crowds of hollering, excited children who went to camp without a care or worry in the world. “I’m being a bit silly,” she said, walking under a tall tree that seemed to reach the top of the sky.
“I think we both are.” Mary smiled and allowed her eyes to relax. “We’re going to have a fun time, I promise.”
Betty continued to follow Mary down the trail. The trail, like the dirt road, twist and turned, and finally, after a full mile, ended on top of a hill that gave view to a wide clearing holding a dozen cabins. Beyond the cabins stood a large, breathtaking, crystal lake glistening in the afternoon sun. “Oh my,” Betty exclaimed, “it’s...beautiful.”
“My goodness...so beautiful,” Mary whispered. She looked past the cabins and locked her eyes on the lake. The water was clear and crisp, running deep in some spots and shallow in other spots, offering people the chance to fish, swim, and canoe without getting in each other’s way. A large trail traveled the lake’s perimeter, beginning at the camp. Hiking trails branched off from the lake trail, allowing campers to explore the woods without getting lost. “Just like camp back home.”
“The feeling is sure the same,” Betty agreed, studying the shimmering lake. “Mary, look at the beautiful mountain standing behind the lake...it’s...picturesque.”
“I know,” Mary whispered and then felt a deep sadness touch her heart. “I wish John was here with me...I wish my husband was home.”
Betty turned her head and looked into Mary’s sad eyes. “John will be home soon...when the war is over.”
“When the war is over,” Mary sighed and then forced courage to her mind. “Well, I guess we better find Stephanie. There’s no sense in standing around.”
Betty searched the cabins. Directly below the hills stood a medium-sized cabin that she assumed was the administrative cabin. To the right of the administrative cabin stood the medical cabin, evident by the sign over the door showing a big red cross on a white background. A long cabin, which Betty knew had to be the chow hall, stood to the left. Eight small cabins, lined up four in a row, stood in the middle of the clearing. Betty knew those cabins
were for the campers. Two cabins which would house the camp counselors stood at the end of the camper cabins like guardians. A few smaller cabins which had been built for arts and crafts, games, storage, and tools stood off to the right in a neat square. What Betty didn’t see were...people.
“This place looks deserted,” Betty commented.
Mary surveyed the clearing. “Maybe everyone is down at the lake,” she told Betty. “It’s such a beautiful day and we are early.”
Betty wasn’t sure so sure. “Mary, it’s exquisite but look at the shape of those cabins.”
Mary winced. “I know,” she admitted. “From the look of things, it appears none of those cabins has had a kind hand in years.” Mary shook her head. “Stephanie wasn’t kidding when she said we had our work cut out for us.”
“Cleaning, yes...hammer and nails, no,” Betty told Mary and looked around again. “Maybe those cars we saw belong to people good with hammer and nails?”
“Could be,” Mary told Betty and pointed at the administrative building. “Let’s try the main cabin first. If Stephanie isn’t there, we’ll work our way down to the lake.”
“Okay,” Betty agreed and carefully followed Mary down the trail. She walked under tall, beautiful trees that seemed uneasy...upset. “Uh...Mary...it’s awful silent,” she pointed out. “All I hear is the wind brushing against the trees.”
Mary glanced around and studied the deep woods. As she did, her mind began trying to dig at the danger she had felt back at the gate. “Come on,” she said and hurried up onto a wobbly front porch attached to the main cabin.
Betty climbed up onto the front porch, carefully walking on wooden steps that felt like they would collapse under her feet, and spotted a closed wooden door. “Should we knock?” she asked.
Mary glanced around, studied an old porch beaten down by years of neglect, and then focused on the closed front door. “Stephanie?” she called out. “Stephanie, it’s Mary...Mary Holland. Are you inside?” Silence answered.
“Maybe...we should try the lake?” Betty asked in an uneasy voice.
Mary studied the front door and then tried the doorknob. To her relief it twisted in her hand. “Stephanie?” she called out, opening the door, “Stephanie, are you inside? It’s Mary Holland.” Mary pushed the door and stepped into a dim, wide room that smelled of wet leaves, mildew, and time. The room was empty. “Stephanie?”
Betty peeked over Mary’s shoulder, spotted a wooden floor that seemed warped in places, a stone fireplace that looked damp and wet, and a few broken windows. “Maybe...the lake?” She gulped.
Mary stepped into the room. The wooden floor snarled under her feet. “Doesn’t look like Stephanie has even been in this cabin,” she told Betty and slid her shoes across the floor. “Look at all these leaves on the floor.”
Betty had a terrible feeling. “Mary,” she begged, “let’s leave this place. Please. I don’t like it.”
“I’m thinking the bad feeling that came over me when I was opening the gate wasn’t so irrational,” Mary agreed with Betty. She turned and looked outside. “But Stephanie’s truck is here, along with two other cars. She has to be here...and we can’t leave until we find her.”
“Oh dear,” Betty fretted and began biting her thumbnail.
Mary walked back out onto the porch and focused her eyes on the lake. “Come on, Betty, we need to find Stephanie,” she said in a worried voice.
Betty nervously nodded and followed Mary off the porch and began making her way down a clear trail that ended up at front shore of the lake. When they reached the lake Mary’s eyes spotted two women and two men sitting on a red and white picnic blanket, laughing and talking.
“Well, I’ll be,” Mary said in a relieved voice and waved at her cousin Stephanie and the people with her, having no idea that at least one of the people in the group was a vicious killer.
Chapter Two
Stephanie Aires stood up, brushed some earth off the brown work dress she was wearing, and waved at Mary with a happy hand. “You made it!”
Mary ran up to Stephanie and embraced her. “Oh, look at you,” she exclaimed, motioning at Stephanie’s long black hair. “Why, you haven’t changed one bit.”
“Just older,” Stephanie laughed. “And not as thin as I was when I was twenty.”
“Same here,” Mary laughed back and patted her belly. “Oh, it’s so great to see you. It’s been years.”
“Ten years to be exact,” Stephanie told Mary and then stared into her cousin’s warm eyes. “Oh, I’ve missed you so much, Mary. I always wanted to return to Pineville, but as you can see, I’ve been taken in a different direction.”
Mary watched as a handsome man with dark brown hair and a neatly trimmed beard stood up. To her surprise the man was wearing a gray suit that obviously wasn’t cheap. He seemed to be several years older than Stephanie. “Hello,” he said in a somewhat friendly yet cold voice, “I’m Dylan Roltdale...Stephanie’s soon-to-be husband.”
“Oh...hello,” Mary said and offered a polite smile.
Stephanie beamed and grabbed Dylan’s hand. “Dylan and I have set our wedding day for April twelfth, the same day we met,” she told Mary in an excited voice. Then her eyes spotted Betty. “Why Betty Mavery, is that you?”
Betty waved a nervous hand at Stephanie. She remembered Stephanie as an outgoing woman who loved adventure—it seemed that the woman’s character hadn’t changed. “Hello, Stephanie.”
Stephanie let go of Dylan’s hand, ran over to Betty, and hugged her. “Oh, this is so wonderful!” she cried out in a happy voice. “Mary didn’t tell me you were coming!”
“I wanted to surprise you,” Mary said with a smile, tossing a careful eye at the man and woman sitting on the picnic blanket. The man appeared to be in his early sixties and the woman, who Mary assumed was his wife, appeared to be a couple of years younger. The man and the woman were dressed in fancy clothing and didn’t appear to be the type who had traveled to the camp to nail up a few loose boards. In fact, Mary thought, taking in the man’s brown suit and the woman’s dark blue dress, the couple appeared extremely wealthy.
Dylan caught Mary looking at his friends. “Oh, where are my manners?” he said. “This is Tom Mintson, and his wife, Jennifer.”
“Hello,” Mary said.
Tom Mintson studied Mary with careful eyes. Then he set down his glass of cold lemonade and stood up. “Hello,” he said in a careful voice.
Jennifer Mintson took a sip of her own lemonade and then she too set down her glass. She checked her stylish grayish-black hair to make sure the wind hadn’t messed it up and then focused on Mary. “Stephanie told me you were due to arrive soon but not this soon.”
“Sooner than later,” Mary explained. “I wasn’t due until four o’clock.”
“Yes, we know,” Tom said in a displeased voice. He looked at Dylan strangely and then focused back on Mary. “We weren’t aware that you were bringing a friend.”
Mary watched the wind grab at Tom’s short gray hair. The man ignored the wind. “Uh...the more the merrier, right, Stephanie?”
“You bet.” Stephanie beamed, hugged Betty again, and walked back to Dylan. “Mary, Tom is Dylan’s uncle,” she explained. “Tom is a lawyer.”
“A lawyer?” Mary said.
Stephanie took Dylan’s hand again. “I had a difficult time purchasing this camp,” she explained, allowing her excitement to stand down for a minute. “Tom had to help me win a very ugly legal battle.”
“Uh...yes,” Tom said, cutting Stephanie off. “But as you can see, we won the battle.”
“Tom and Jennifer decided to come out to the camp with Dylan today and wait with me until you arrived. They didn’t want me to be alone,” Stephanie explained. “Today is the first day I’ve come to my camp without being bothered.”
Tom glanced at Dylan, who nodded. “Dear, why don’t you pour your guests some lemonade?”
“Yes, that’s a fine idea,” Jennifer said in a voice that sounded cold a
nd hard.
“Uh...not now, thank you,” Mary said and stepped over to Betty. “Betty and I weren’t sure of the trail so we left our luggage in my car. Now that we understand the design of the land a little better, I think we’ll go get our luggage and try to get settled in before night arrives.”
“Oh, that’s a fine idea.” Stephanie smiled, pushing her legal battle away and summoning her joy back to the main arena. “I’ve picked out the cabin we’re going to be staying in. Oh, we’re going to have so much fun...lots of work...but lots of fun. At night we’ll cook dinner on an open fire, roast marshmallows, tell stories and—”
“Uh, what about a bathroom, Stephanie?” Betty asked in a worried voice.
Stephanie grinned and motioned around the land with her hands and then pointed at the lake. “We have four old outhouses and the lake to bathe in. But let me warn you...the outhouses are...stinky.”
“Now dear, don’t scare your guests off,” Dylan told Stephanie. He threw his attention at Mary and Betty. “I have men who are due to arrive in two days to begin transforming this camp into something...livable. I pleaded with my soon-to-be wife to wait until my men arrived, but she insisted—”
“I got my days messed up,” Stephanie cut Dylan off in an embarrassed voice. “I thought Dylan’s people were due to arrive today. That’s why I asked you to arrive today, Mary. Besides, after my recent victory in court...well, I suppose my excitement made me make an error. But no matter, we girls can rough it for two days, can’t we?”
“We sure can,” Mary promised Stephanie. “But what about you?” she asked Dylan. “You don’t looked dressed to...rough it.”
“Of course not,” Dylan answered, brushing at his suit. “I’m a businessman. My place is in town, not here. However,” he added, “Stephanie’s place is here.”
“Mary, my land is going to become a camp for the needy,” Stephanie explained. “I’m going to make sure children whose parents can’t afford camp can come here and experience a summer full of happiness and laughter.” Stephanie looked at Dylan. “Dylan sells land and houses. He helped me acquire this camp. Tom helped me in the legal arena. Because of them I am able to fulfill my dream.”
Murder at Camp (Pineville Gazette Mystery Book 5) Page 2