Blood Sisters

by Melody Carlson

  He made a grunting noise and moved farther away from the doorway. She went to the closet and peered inside. Again, more ordinary clothing, not much, but neatly organized and hung evenly apart. Even the jeans were on hangers. But one pair of jeans caught her eye. An older looking pair, or perhaps just because they were faded and frayed slightly at the hems. She pulled them out and studied them, then peeked at the inside label. Ralph Lauren, size eight. She looked at the other two pairs of jeans. Both were Wranglers. Both size six. Jasmine must’ve lost weight. She looked at the few dresses hanging there, one with a small blue printed fabric, one was hot pink, and then she noticed the awful yellow dress, the same as in the wedding photo. But next to that dress, nearly hidden in the bulk of the hideous yellow fabric, hung another item. Just a shirt, and nothing unusual at that. But Judith recognized it. For she had purchased an identical shirt the summer before she’d lost Peter. Just a simple white shirt, but made by a popular designer. And to Judith it had cost a fortune! And even though she’d been on a splurge at the time, it had been difficult to plunk down the price for that shirt. Apparently, Jasmine had purchased the same shirt herself. Judith held the shirt close to her face and breathed a prayer. Please, God, help me get to the bottom of this.

  “Are you about ready?”

  She hung the shirt back up and turned toward the door. Pausing again by the Bible on the table. “Do you think—” She stopped herself, hand poised in the air over the small black book.

  “Go ahead, take anything you like.” Hal shuffled his feet. “Makes no difference to me. Fact is, it’d be a big favor if someone came in here and took all this stuff out of here and gave it to Goodwill or something. I already asked Ellen, but she can’t bear to do it”

  “Maybe I could help out.”

  “Sure, that’d be great.”

  “You two done up there?” called Burt from below. “We need to be getting on our way, Hal. It’s getting close to eight already.”

  “Yeah, we’re coming,” said Hal. Then he closed the door and followed her down the stairs.

  “Judith has offered to clear out that room for me,” said Hal when they reached the foot of the stairs.

  “You sure that’s a good idea?” Burt looked slightly suspicious.

  “Hal just mentioned that he doesn’t like to go in there. And I just thought if it would help him, I could box up those things and get them out of there. Then someone could drop them at Goodwill.” Judith paused and looked absently at a large cabinet near the front door. But except for one rifle behind the glass doors, it was empty. “Is this your gun cabinet, Hal?”

  “Yeah.”

  “After seeing Burt’s well-stocked cabinet, I’m surprised you aren’t more of a gun collector yourself.”

  “Actually, I am.” He pulled a ring of keys from his pocket and went toward a closed door. “Do we have a minute, Burt?”

  “One minute,” he grumbled.

  Hal opened the door to a room that looked like a small arsenal. Shelves and shelves of guns.

  “Oh my!” She hoped she had feigned admiration when what she really felt was an appalled sense of shock. “Are all those yours?”

  He grinned. “Actually, most of this is stock for the hardware store. But I moved my private collection in here as well.” He proudly picked up a big rifle with a highly polished stock. “This used to be my granddad’s.”

  “Very nice.”

  “Hurry it up.” growled Burt.

  “We’re coming.” Hal waited until she came out, then carefully locked the door. “Yeah, I guess I might as well move my guns back into my gun case now.”

  They waited outside while he engaged his security system again.

  “Why did you take your guns out of the case in the first place?” asked Judith as they walked back toward the Morrisons’. “I would think they’d be quite safe with all your security systems.”

  Hal glanced over to Burt before he continued. “Actually, we were worried about Jasmine. Burt was the one who suggested I put them safely away. As it turned out, he was right.”

  “Oh...”

  They walked along in silence now, Burt keeping a pretty brisk pace considering his age. Then finally Judith spoke. “So where did she get a gun?”

  “Well, unfortunately, I’d completely forgotten about a little revolver that I used to keep out at the trailer. Jasmine found it.”

  “And is that where she did it?”

  Burt began to walk faster.

  Hal nodded. “Yeah. Not inside. She did it outside by the pond out back.”

  “Oh...”

  They continued walking in silence.

  “I’m sorry to bring this all up again,” said Judith. “But it helps me to understand everything better. And I think it helps me to accept that she’s really gone.”

  “She’s gone.” said Burt firmly, as they neared his house. “And there’s not a thing we can do about it. Please don’t speak of this anymore.”

  Before Judith had a chance to respond, Ellen was opening the back door and smiling. “Oh, you’re back. I’d just about given up on y’all having time for dessert before you had to go back to your meeting. Come on in here.”

  Just after Burt and Hal quickly shoveled down their cake and gulped their coffee, Ellen spoke up. “I think you were right, Daddy,” she said in her little-girl voice. “Judith should go hear John Wagner speak tomorrow night. We had a nice little chat this afternoon, and she’s quite interested in learning more about what we believe.”

  “Good for her.” Burt smiled as he stood, leaving his dirty dishes at the table. “We’ll plan on it then. Let’s go, Hal, that meeting won’t start if we don’t get there.”

  “Nice seeing you again, Judith,” said Hal with a friendly nod.

  “Yes, and thanks for showing me your home.” She forced a smile to her mouth.

  “Tell Ellen about your idea to box that stuff up,” called Hal as he followed Burt to the door.

  “What stuff?” asked Ellen after the two men were gone.

  “Jasmine’s things.” Judith began to pick up the dishes. “Hal wants them taken out, but he can’t bear to go in that room himself. So I offered to help.”

  “That’s kind of you, dear. Do you mind?”

  “Not at all. Like I said, it makes me feel more connected to her.” She set the stack of dishes next to the sink, then returned to where she had discreetly placed Jasmine’s Bible on a shelf by the back door. “By the way, Hal said it was okay for me to keep her Bible. It’s the one Aunt Lenore gave her. Actually, she gave us both one, but I think I may have lost mine.”

  “Oh yes, I found that with the old sunbonnet baby quilt.”

  “But I got to thinking that you might want to keep this for yourself, Ellen.” She held out the Bible for her.

  Ellen stared at the small Bible for a long moment, but without touching it. “No. You go ahead and keep it, dear. I think it would only make me sad to have it. Better to just forget these things and move on.”

  “Okay, if you’re sure.”

  Ellen turned away. “Yes, dear. I think it’s better for you to keep it. Jasmine would’ve liked that.”

  Judith clutched the Bible to her chest with relief. “I hope so.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  “WHEN DO YOU THINK it would be the best time for me to box up Jasmine’s things?” Judith tentatively asked as she placed the last coffee cup into the dishwasher. She didn’t want to lose what might be a promising opportunity to find some other sort of clue about Jasmine. “Maybe I should try for tomorrow, since Monday is the Fourth and it sounds like we’ve got a full day planned.”

  “Actually, we’ll have a pretty full day tomorrow too,” said Ellen. “What with church in the morning. And then there’s the ladies’ luncheon and—”

  “Ladies’ luncheon?”

  Ellen smiled sheepishly. “Yes, I forgot to mention that I’m supposed to attend a ladies’ luncheon for our guests. You’ll come along, won’t you?”

 
“Well, sure. Why not?”

  “I don’t have an official role, exactly. But it’s important for Burt’s image that I attend. One of those things, you know...”

  “It sounds like fun.”

  Ellen grabbed Judith’s hand. “Oh, Judith, I’m so glad you’re here with us! It’s almost like having Jasmine back. I don’t ever want you to leave!”

  Judith forced another smile, but in the same moment she felt torn. It was as if Ellen were steadily drawing her into a tight circle of intimacy, or was it a web? And yet, despite herself, Judith sincerely cared for her—she really did. And she felt true compassion for Ellen’s circumstances, her losses, her suffering. In many ways, Ellen seemed like a victim herself. And yet, Judith knew her own mission here would be to ultimately betray this woman. But she mustn’t think about that now. She must remain strong. She must continue to garner their trust and hopefully more information. “Burt was just telling me that they may need another teacher at the school—”

  “Oh, Judith, you would consider staying here?”

  “You never know. To be honest.” and this was the truth, “I haven’t been that happy at my old job or living in the city for that matter. I think I’m just tired of the rat race.”

  Ellen’s eyes grew bright as she squeezed her hand. “Oh, it just seems like fate—like God has brought you to us. We’ll be like a family again.”

  Judith nodded. “Now, not to change the subject, but it sounds like we have a full day ahead of us tomorrow and the next day. Perhaps it won’t work out for me to help Hal with boxing those things up after all.”

  “But can’t you stay longer? Why don’t you just move out here and stay with us indefinitely?”

  Judith scrambled for a good excuse. “Actually, I’m a bit worried that I may need to go back to my apartment in Portland to take care of a few things. I left so fast that I’m concerned I’ve left some things undone. You know, I was pretty upset before I came out here.”

  “Yes, I understand. And perhaps you’ll want to just pack everything up and move out here for good. You know our little cabin is vacant now; you could even stay there if you feel the need for more privacy or space.”

  “Thanks, that’s very generous. I just wish there was enough time to pack those things up for Hal. To be honest, I’d looked forward to doing it for Jasmine’s sake too. It seems only right that a friend should take care of these things.”

  “I think you’re absolutely right about that. And if I weren’t so worn out from making dinner and all, I’d just march right over to Hal’s with you and the two of us would take care of this thing once and for all.” Ellen looked at the clock and sighed. “I know it’s not that late, Judith, but I’m getting old. I think my get up and go must’ve just got up and went.”

  Judith laughed. “Well, we couldn’t very well do it tonight anyway, what with Hal’s place being all locked up.”

  “Oh, that’s not the problem. I know how to get into his place.” Ellen paused for a moment. “In fact, I could let you in, Judith, if you really want to do this tonight. I suppose I could just rest downstairs while you pack. I know Jasmine didn’t have hardly a thing anyway. I’m sure it couldn’t take you more than an hour to box it all up.”

  “Oh, not even that long, I’m sure.”

  “Well, I’ve got some bags and boxes out back,” said Ellen. “Not that we’ll need much. Say, I think you’re about the same size as she was, perhaps there’s something in there that you could use. It’s a shame to let perfectly good clothes go to waste.”

  “Maybe so. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  In less than an hour, Judith had everything bagged and boxed. She’d even removed the sheets and neatly folded and stacked the blankets on the narrow cot. And although she had carefully searched through pockets and every place possible, she found no new clues. Well, other than a nice pair of Cole Haan loafers that she knew had been costly. These, along with the coral under things and the designer shirt and jeans, which she placed at the bottom of a bag, setting the two pairs of Wrangler jeans and a couple of almost new T-shirts on top. This bag, she planned to keep. She put the other bags and boxes in a corner of Hal’s garage, placed the sheets in the laundry room, then gently nudged Ellen, who had fallen asleep in an oversized recliner. “I’m done,” she whispered. “We can go home now.”

  Ellen blinked sleepily and smiled. “Good girl. Hal will be pleased.”

  The moon lit their way as they walked slowly back toward Ellen’s house. Judith linked one arm with Ellen, worried that she might stumble in the darkness, and in the other hand she carried the bag of Jasmine’s things.

  “Looks like you found a few things to keep,” said Ellen.

  “Yes, some jeans and T-shirts that were hardly worn.”

  “Those must be the things I got for her at Sears.” Ellen shook her head. “It was just a shame when Burt brought her home. All she had were the clothes on her back, and her jeans looked like rags. Poor thing. Burt said that she’d been living in squalor. I was so glad to be able to help her out. But she just never seemed to appreciate it—or anything.” Ellen made a sniffing sound.

  “She must’ve been terribly unhappy.”

  “Yes, Burt says it’s because she’d made so many bad choices in her life. I suspect he means the drugs and things—things I just can’t bear to think about. Oh, my poor baby!”

  They’d reached the house now. “Well, don’t worry about it anymore tonight, Ellen. Nothing good ever comes from worrying.”

  Ellen dabbed her nose with a handkerchief. “Yes, you’re right, dear. Best not to think about such things.”

  “I’m sure you must be ready for bed now. I know I am.”

  “Yes. But I’m glad we got that business taken care of, Judith. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. It’s the least I could do.”

  They said good night in the kitchen, then Judith went upstairs to her room. She considered hiding her bag of treasures, but then decided against it. After all, both Hal and

  Ellen had told her to take what she wanted. She picked up her sketch of the bed and quilt and stared at it, then at the bottom quickly wrote, “For Jasmine.”

  For a long time, she lay in bed unable to sleep. More questions about Jasmine flitted through her mind. The expensive wedding ring set and designer clothing—what did they really prove? That Jasmine had been married? That she had been well off? But then why did she leave her rich husband? Perhaps he’d been a bad person. A Mafia man? Perhaps he was a thug who sold drugs on the street. But that didn’t seem like Jasmine. Of course, none of this seemed like Jasmine. At least not the Jasmine she’d known.

  Then Judith began to consider her own life. What she’d said to Ellen about needing to return to her apartment in Portland was true. Fortunately her mail would’ve been delivered through the mail slot in her door, but surely it was piling up by now. And she knew she still had unpaid bills to attend to. Plus she wondered if it was time to give notice on that apartment. She knew she couldn’t go back and live there for another year. She wasn’t even sure she could go back and teach at the same school for another year. She remembered Ellen’s delight at the thought of her teaching at the school here. Judith shuddered. The sooner she got away from this twisted place, the better. But if only she could find some hard piece of evidence first. But what was she looking for exactly? Oh, if only she’d been able to go over all this with Adam before she’d come out here. Hopefully, this didn’t mean she’d have to come out again. She didn’t know if she could do it. She didn’t even know if she’d be able to make it through another day. Suddenly she felt weak and frightened and on the verge of panic.

  Once again, she prayed. This time she not only prayed for strength, but she also prayed for some real evidence, as well as for a way of escape. She just didn’t think she could do this thing for two more days without help. Remembering

  Jasmine’s Bible, she was tempted to turn on the light and read from it for comfort. But she was also worried that Burt mi
ght come home and notice her light on upstairs and become suspicious that she was up to something. And so she just lay quietly in the dark, trying to calm herself and longing for peace in a place that felt fraught with a spirit of confusion and hatred. And not for the first time that day, she felt as if she were a very real prisoner. Yes, it had been her choice to come, but she knew she couldn’t simply leave on her own free will. No, she was a captive, trapped inside a house with an elaborate security system, in an area surrounded by barbed wire fencing and trained guard dogs. She felt powerless—nearly hopeless. Right now, her very existence was at the mercy of a man who was ruled by bigotry and hatred and fear. Was this how Jasmine had felt?

  Finally, desperate for relief and at the brink of exhaustion, she somehow imagined herself nestled into the palm of God’s hand. And then, almost as if angels were guarding, she fell asleep.

  She awoke early the next morning. But because it was completely quiet downstairs, she decided not to make any noise. Instead, she sat up in bed and reached for Jasmine’s Bible. She let it fall open in her lap, then looked down to see it was opened to the book of Matthew. At the top of the page began a section about not judging others, and about not taking the speck out of someone’s eye when you had a log in your own. But what really caught her attention was the following verse—for it was softly underlined in pencil. “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.”

  She read the verse several times, searching for the meaning—for she knew there must be some special meaning hidden there. Or else why would Jasmine have underlined it in the first place? What could those metaphorical words possibly mean? She knew it was a warning about not squandering something valuable to those who wouldn’t appreciate it. Perhaps Jasmine had seen herself in this verse! Perhaps it was Jasmine’s protest about having been “given to the dogs” or “cast before swine.” Was that how she’d felt when her father had somehow forced her into marriage with Hal? Or had he forced her? She still had nothing to back this up with. And suddenly, she remembered how Aunt Lenore had been the first one to really plant this thought in her head. Aunt Lenore had seemed convinced that Jasmine had been coerced into marriage. Judith wondered again—what had become of Aunt Lenore? Where was she now? It was obvious that Ellen knew her aunt’s whereabouts, but so far each query had gotten Judith nowhere.