Return to Seven Sisters

by M. L. Bullock

  Spinning around, her skirts sailing, she spat at him. “By God, Davenport, if you do not leave Seven Sisters right now, you shall never leave. Get out!”

  That got him out of the bed! I clutched the side of the dressing mirror and tried to remain hidden, although I doubted they could see me at all. I thought Max might have glanced in my direction once, but he didn’t say anything to me.

  Yes, I must have imagined that.

  “Do you really believe that I would leave this house without my prize? You promised me Lafonda, madam, and I want nothing less.”

  “I never did. I never would!” she said, and now I could clearly see the letter opener in her hand. He saw it too, but it didn’t seem to worry him a bit. “I know all about you! In fact, I wrote to your friend, Delmar Odom, the Sheriff of George County. He’s on his way here, Davenport, to take you back to face the charges. You’re nothing but a flim-flam man! A devil who works to steal the fortunes of others! You will not have my daughter. If you think I would ever allow her to marry someone like you…”

  “Marry? Who says I would marry her? By the time I’m done telling the great Delmar, the high-and-mighty sheriff of George County, what you’ve been doing,” he said, thumping her chest and startling her, “you will be joining me on that ride. Go ahead, Mrs. Delarosa. Bring on your worst. I’ve got nothing but time, and I have no qualms about bringing you down with me. In fact, I think your husband would love to know what you did to bring Jonatan and Memphis together. Will he ever forgive you, do you think? What about Lafonda? Will she forgive you when she finds out you once promised her to me?”

  As if he’d settled the matter right then and there, he turned his back to her and shrugged off his robe. I assume he had every intention of getting dressed, but he never had a chance. Jacinta Delarosa raised the letter opener high and drove it into his back. She tugged it back out as he fell forward on the bed. He began to cry out when she leapt on top of him, forcing his head down onto the pillow as she plunged the blade into his back at least a dozen times. He resisted her at first, but she didn’t relent. I cried as I watched the young man murdered before my eyes.

  I can’t change this. I can’t change this. I can’t change this. I reminded myself. Where was Austin when I needed him? What should I do now?

  And as if he heard me, he was there with me, his arms around me. I hid my face in his velvet coat and began to cry.

  “There’s nothing to be done. Nothing at all. Don’t look anymore, Carrie Jo. Time to go home. Time to go back. It’s over.”

  Chapter Thirteen—Carrie Jo

  The warm honey hue that I knew so well, the stuff that dreams were made of, clung to me for a few seconds as I blinked my eyes to adjust to reality’s bright light. I covered my mouth with my hands to stifle a sob. I’d just witnessed another murder while dreaming of the past. Jacinta’s raw fear and hatred, Max’s cruel streak—they were a brutal combination of all the wrong things. I shivered just thinking about the ferocity of those slices and stabs. And oh, the blood!

  I reached around me, believing that Austin was nearby, but there was no one here. I was in Jonatan’s room, our storage room, by myself. In the place where there had been a double bed just moments ago, there were now stacks of sealed boxes. I couldn’t help but stare at the spot where the murder happened.

  Austin, I cried out with my mind, but I heard nothing. Maybe he ended up in another room of the house? I went to the door, eager to put as much distance as possible between myself and these horrible events. I knew now that Jacinta had been the one who killed Max. But why? If Max didn’t have any place in society, if he truly was a flim-flam man, why bother killing him? It’s not like anyone would have believed him.

  It must have been what he said about Jonatan and Lafonda that struck a nerve with Jacinta. To threaten to “out” Jonatan as mentally disabled, to dare to lay claim to her only daughter, whom she loved as much as her son, albeit in a very different way—that had been too much for Jacinta Delarosa, and the worst had happened.

  “Austin?” I said again as I stepped out in the hallway. No sign of him out here. What could that mean? Worry filled my stomach, and I flipped a pile of my wild brown curls out of my face. “Ash, baby? Where are you?” I walked back into our bedroom and found Ash and AJ still playing.

  “Wow, that was fast. Did you forget something? What is it?”

  “It’s Jacinta. Max provoked her, and she murdered him. Ash, it was so awful. Then Austin and I were together, and he didn’t come back with me. I can’t find him! Have you seen him?”

  “No. Come on, Baby Boy. No, leave the blocks here. We’ve got to find Austin. You want to help?”

  “Help! Help! We do it!” Together the three of us canvassed the top floor but found neither hide nor hair of Austin Simmons.

  “I should tell you, I saw him change. His clothes changed—my God, Ash, he looked like David Garrett! For real, the spitting image of the man!”

  “Interesting. Where did you see him last? Were you two together the whole time?”

  “Most of the time. We turned the sundial, and that’s when we got separated. He came back at the end and held me…I mean, he was ready to accompany me back, but I can’t find him now. What do we do, babe?”

  I was happy that my husband wasn’t fixated on the fact that Austin had held me as part of the dream walk again. He seemed genuinely concerned that we couldn’t find him. Ashland asked, “Can you go back by yourself? Is that safe?”

  “I think so. I guess I have to give it a try. What if he’s stuck or something? He says that’s possible, or at least that’s what he told me once before.”

  “Too bad we don’t know any other dream walkers. I hate to think of you walking alone.” As if he knew what we were saying, Baby Boy held his arms out to me for the second time today, but something told me no. I couldn’t do that. My baby didn’t belong in the dream world, not yet. Not until he was old enough to take care of himself.

  “Well, there’s nothing for it. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. Help me pick a door. Ugh, and not that one. I can’t go back in there and see her stabbing him again.”

  “It needs to be Callie’s door—I mean, Lafonda’s. Can you do it?”

  “I think so. I’ll be right back. Kiss for luck?”

  “Yeah, lay one on me,” he said with a playfulness I didn’t expect. I didn’t complain; I liked kissing him. It was something we needed to do more often. Together we walked to Calpurnia’s bedroom door. With one last wave at my husband and my son, I reached for the door handle. Yes, there it was, the shifting, the warmth. Suddenly, I was there again, in the past. But was this the right time?

  I heard Lafonda’s screams of pain and saw her writhing on her bed. The doctor mentioned something about taking the pressure off her brain—he had his surgery kit—but her father refused to allow her to be sliced up. Jacinta was on her knees praying, and now I knew why. I knew what those words meant: “Father, don’t let her be accountable for what I’ve done.”

  I knew I needed to get out of there. Careful to avoid passing mirrors and opening doors, I waited for Lettie to leave and slid out behind her. “Who are you?” I heard Lafonda ask me in between screams, but I didn’t answer and tried not to make eye contact. Instead, I went to my room, which was some housekeeper’s room in this time. Luckily for me, the door was open. I could see nothing from the window…I had to go down and look myself, even though the idea of being farther away from my family filled me with dread. I silently walked down the stairs, easily avoided a few servants and went out the open back door.

  For the first time in a long time, I found myself in the Moonlight Garden. The door closed behind me, and then he walked out of the shadows, looking more handsome than ever before.

  “Austin? Or should I call you David?”

  “Whichever one you prefer. They are one and the same now.”

  “Come on, then. We have to go back. Remember what you told me—these trips have to be short, or they can affect yo
u in weird ways.” I reached for his hand, but he didn’t respond. And then I saw another person, someone I had known a long time and would never forget.

  “No need to hide, my dear. You know my friend, Carrie Jo Jardine Stuart.” David reached behind him, and a hand appeared—a pale white hand, petite and perfect like a statue’s. As he pulled her forward gently, she began to materialize more completely.

  I stood eye to eye with Isla Beaumont now, and I couldn’t hide the panic in my voice. “Austin? Step away from her. You don’t know what you’re doing. She’s not good. She’s evil.”

  She frowned at me disapprovingly but didn’t say anything. With a glance at Austin or whoever the hell he was, she waited for him to speak.

  “I’m as evil as she is, Carrie Jo. That life is over, for both of us, but I can’t go back with you. Time wants what Time wants. And tonight, Time wants me. I turned back the dial. I tinkered with it, and now I must let it have its way. I knew it might happen. I knew I might be here forever. I chose this for you, for all of you…and also for us.”

  Tears filled my eyes. “No, Austin. Please. Don’t do this. There has to be another way.”

  “There is no other way. You didn’t mean for it to happen, but it’s the right thing, Carrie Jo. This is right. I belong here with Isla. What’s passed between Isla and me is something I cannot explain, but I know that I love her…and that in her own way, she loves me.” The ghost of Isla Beaumont laid her head on his shoulder, her eyes closed, her face aglow with perfect happiness. “Maybe we don’t deserve peace, maybe we will never rest, but at least we’ll be together. And that’s all I can hope for, CJ. Now go. You have to go. Please, or it will be for naught. If you stay too long, you’ll never get back. Go back to Ashland. Have a happy life.”

  I began to walk away, sobbing now. I wasn’t even sure where I was going. I paused at the back door that swung open again of its own volition…or perhaps a happy Isla Beaumont made it happen.

  “It’s not too late, David.”

  “It’s been too late for more than a hundred and fifty years. Let me make this right.”

  “All right,” I whispered between sniffs.

  “And if you ever need me, you know where to find me. I’ll be somewhere in the Moonlight Garden. We love it here.”

  The two of them walked away together arm in arm, and she still never spoke. I watched them walk deeper into the maze until they disappeared. I thought I heard her giggle once.

  “Goodbye, David Garrett. I hope you find some peace now.” I walked back inside and headed upstairs to return to Lafonda’s door.

  Without any hesitation, I reached for it. And then everything changed.

  Chapter Fourteen—Carrie Jo

  I came back through to the present to the sounds of Ashland crying out in pain and Baby Boy screaming at the top of his lungs. My husband lay on the floor with his hands on his head and his eyes full of tears. I thought he might also get sick. This was exactly like his symptoms from before and probably just what Lafonda experienced. Somehow or another, Austin and I had managed to turn back time; I’d made things right, but now my husband would suffer for it. Oh God, please don’t let him die! Christine hovered in the corner, crying a little, and I said to all three of them, “I’m here! Oh God, babe! What happened?” I picked up our crying son and squatted down beside Ashland.

  “Call the ambulance!” he said before he began dry-heaving.

  I ran for the phone on my dresser and made the call. “Yes! We need an ambulance! My husband has a…he’s complaining of excruciating head pain, and I think he’s going to start vomiting. Please, come quickly! We’re at Seven Sisters. Yes, the big house off Government Street. Thank you!”

  I hung up the phone and patted Ashland’s cheek to try and keep him awake. He’d stopped heaving now, but drool poured out of the corner of his mouth and I worried that he would have a seizure or something. I’d seen this before, with a childhood friend who had seizures occasionally. What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t remember! So I just held his hand and kissed his pale cheek.

  “They’re on the way, babe. I have to go unlock the front door. I’ll be right back, okay?”

  Without hesitation, I took off running down the stairs with AJ on my hip. “Oh God! Oh God! Please help us!” My sweet-faced son whimpered along with me, his eyes red from crying. I couldn’t have been gone long, but it was long enough to stress out my sweet boy. With shaking fingers, I tapped the security code into the keypad but got it wrong and had to do it again before I opened the door. Baby Boy clung to my neck as we raced back up the stairs. “Ashland! Stay with me!”

  He wasn’t moving, and he was barely breathing. His skin was paler than I’d ever seen it. Something was going on, something I didn’t understand. And if his pain was like Lafonda’s had been, it would be unbearable. What was this? An aneurysm? A blood clot? Obviously, those tests had been wrong—there was something seriously wrong with my husband.

  I heard someone walking up the stairs, just one someone. I was pretty sure EMTs always worked in pairs, and I surely would have heard the ambulance if it had arrived already.

  “Hello?” I called toward the door that led to the hallway.

  “Hewwo!” Baby Boy copied me and squirmed to get down, but I refused to let him go. Glancing around the room, I could plainly see that Christine had disappeared, yet I felt her soft presence near us.

  Yes, I heard those footsteps getting closer now. They stopped just outside the door. Tears came to my eyes, and dread welled up within me. God, don’t let this be Death coming to get my Ashland! We’d encountered a lot of ghosts and a few creatures during our time at Seven Sisters and Idlewood, and I prayed that these footsteps didn’t belong to one of them. I held Ashland’s hand and pulled Baby Boy close to me.

  Then I saw him standing in the doorway—Muncie. The one who’d protected me in the past, the one who knew me. “Muncie, is that really you?”

  “Yes, I am here,” he said in a soft voice with a slight Haitian accent. Funny how I never noticed that before, but this wasn’t the boy Muncie who came to me. This was Janjak, the adult, Calpurnia’s friend and protector.

  With a sob in my throat, I stared at him. “Is he going to die? Is that why you are here?”

  “I am not here for him but for you.”

  “Me?” I hardly understood, and then fear struck me suddenly. Perhaps Muncie was here to collect payment for what I’d done. I’d interfered with the past. I caused the death of the wrong man. I tried to make it right, but how would I know if it had worked? “Did Death send you? Am I going to die? Please don’t take Ashland, Muncie. Please…”

  I wept now, and suddenly Muncie began to look as real as anyone. He walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. This was the first time we’d been this close, and immediately I felt peace. No, I would not die for my mistake. I would be spared.

  It is time for you to learn who you are, Carrie Jo. You are fanmi mwen an san mwen, my family and my blood. We walk in the day and in the night. We walk awake and asleep.

  And then just like that, Muncie vanished into thin air. Before I could call out to him, the EMTs were charging into the room and practically tossing Baby Boy and me out of the way.

  “There’s no pulse! Get the crash cart! Ma’am, move back, please! You may want to move the child to another room!”

  I heard Christine crying softly from the corner, but I didn’t think anyone else heard her. If they did, they probably thought it was me.

  “What happened, ma’am? Does he take any drugs?”

  “Drugs? No! It’s his head. He’s had these debilitating headaches. They went away, but now they’re back with a vengeance. Please help him!”

  “Clear!” The young man who tore open Ashland’s shirt placed the paddles on his chest and shocked him, not once but twice. I cried unashamedly, and Baby Boy held onto me still. “We’ve got a pulse! Get moving! Ma’am, you’ll have to follow us to the hospital. We may need the crash cart again on the way.”
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  “Okay, I’m right behind you! Where are we going?”

  “Springhill?”

  “Yes, that’s fine. His doctors are there.” I slid my feet into some nearby sandals, grabbed Baby Boy’s play bag and my car keys and made a run for it. I got him buckled into his car seat in record time, and we waited for the ambulance to pull out. Wiping the tears from my eyes, I turned on my flashers and chased the emergency vehicle as safely as I could. I could hardly believe it, but AJ fell asleep on the way. When I rushed him out of his car seat to race into the hospital, he didn’t wake up. He smiled in his sleep, a phenomenon Momma used to describe as “talking to the angels.” I suspected Baby Boy was having a pleasant dream about something, and I thanked God for that.

  A kind-hearted ambulance driver offered to park my car for me, and I followed Ashland as far as they would allow. I held my sleeping son, my hair wild around me. “Please, let me go in with him.”

  “I can’t, ma’am. Just give us a few minutes for triage, and we’ll call you back,” the man said sympathetically. “Let me call someone for you. Do you have a relative or someone else who could help you?”

  I wracked my brain trying to think of someone I could call. Momma was gone, and Ash had no other family to speak of besides us. Our best friends were in protective custody. The only person I could think to call would be Natalie, the babysitter, but we weren’t that close. And I hated to invite one more person into our crazy circle of supernaturally fueled weirdos.

  “Carrie Jo?”

  I turned around and saw Rachel standing there. Before I could say a word, she put her arms around my neck and hugged me. “I’m here. Is it Ashland?”

  “Yes, something is wrong with his head. He keeps having bad spells, and tonight he passed out and then they lost his pulse and then he….” I allowed Rachel to take Baby Boy for a moment. By some miracle, he was still sleeping.

  “It’s going to be okay, Carrie Jo. It will be, I promise. Come on, let’s go have a seat until they call us.”