by Fry,Patricia
The Iveys watched as Iris headed toward the door with a man and a woman who appeared to be siblings as they were the exact same height, size, and coloring. “Gads are they twins?” Savannah asked. After getting a better look at the couple, she said, “Probably not, but they sure have similar features, don’t they? That must be Mrs. Melody Kaiser-Plumb and one of her brothers.”
Michael looked at her. “Huh?”
“Oh Iris told us a little about her clients yesterday. The brothers are Scott and Melvin, if I remember right. That’s really weird,” Savannah said. “It’s like those people have Iris under some sort of spell. I’ve never known her to be so…well…secretive like that.”
“Oh, hon, you’re probably just overreacting. She’s with clients—that’s her professional persona.”
Without warning, Savannah glared across the table at her husband. “Must you always criticize? Just because you don’t have the same impressions and opinions as I do, you don’t have to stomp on mine. That’s really rather dehumanizing.”
Stunned, Michael simply stared at Savannah. “Dehumanizing?” he repeated, quietly. When she started gathering up her things without responding, he said, “Hey, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to discount your opinions…really I don’t. Of course, you’re entitled to them. I’ll try to be more sensitive.” He reached out and put his hand on hers. “Savannah, I just don’t want you worrying unnecessarily, okay?”
She nodded without making eye contact.
Once in the parking lot, Michael buckled Lily into the car seat, then placed one hand on Savannah’s arm and waited for her to look at him. When she did, he said, “I love you. And I…”
“I know, Michael. I’m sorry. I’m just so…”
“Hey,” he said, trying to get her to look at him again. “I get it. You have a lot on your plate.” He grinned. “And you do worry about your people—those you care about. I need to be more sensitive to that. I’ll work on it, okay?”
Savannah smiled and ran one hand down the side of Michael’s face. “I love you so much.”
“I know,” he said, kissing her. “See you after work.”
****
“What time’s the candlelight thing?” Michael asked as he and Savannah ate dinner in their kitchen that evening.
“Seven thirty.”
“Is the punkin going with us?”
“Yes.” Savannah chuckled. “Everyone we know will be there. There’s no one left to watch her. The evenings have been mild. I’m sure she’ll be okay.”
“Yeah, only heavy and active,” he said.
“She’ll like seeing all the lighted candles.” She tilted her head. “Do you know if we’re supposed to bring our own or do they provide them? I’ve never been to one of those before.”
“I don’t know. Let’s put some in the car in case.”
“Good idea.”
He looked over the top of his iced-tea glass. “So what did you girls do this afternoon after I left you?”
“I put up a bunch more posters. I even drove around several neighborhoods looking for the cats and I visited the shelter to see if they’d found their way there since the last time I checked.” She moved her salad around on her plate. “Nothing. Not a sign of them anywhere.”
Michael took her hand. “They’ll show up,” he said softly. “They just aren’t finished adventuring.”
She grinned weakly. “Adventuring? Is that what they’re doing? Do we have a cat who must be free to roam? Are we damaging him by trying to keep him in?”
“Hey, we’re doing the right thing by keeping him in. He can go outside when we’re with him. He has a lot of freedom. Don’t you think so?”
“Obviously, he doesn’t think so.” She grinned. “You know, he’d probably be happier as a colony cat. Maybe he and Dolly are out soliciting space in a cat colony somewhere.”
Michael laughed. “Ever thought of writing fiction? Cat fiction?”
“Yeah, Rags provides plenty of story material, that’s for sure.” She sat up straighter and took a deep breath. “So did Luke pick up his cats this afternoon? Did everything continue to go okay?”
“Just fine. No problems, thank heavens. Luke is like a fretting hen over his flock. The fact that this went well will probably relax him a little for the next series of scheduled surgeries.” He took a sip of his tea. “Did you hear that Pearl had her kittens? Mother and children doing well.”
“Oh, that’s one of the pregnant females in the colony Luke was taking care of when he was homeless?”
Michael nodded.
“What about the other cat? Did she have her kittens?”
“I’m not sure. They haven’t brought that one in for a checkup yet. Maybe she got left behind when they trapped the others and took them to June’s cat ranch. I’ll have to ask,” Michael said.
Savannah looked up at the kitchen clock. “Hey, we’d better get a move on. I want to put Lily in her jammies before we leave.” She had just begun to clear the dishes from the table when she heard a rap at the door.
“I’ll change her,” Michael offered, lifting the toddler from her chair. “You get the door.”
“Kira,” Savannah greeted. Looking beyond the child into the yard, she invited, “Come in. How are you? Everything okay?”
“No,” Kira replied. When she saw Savannah’s puzzled look, she said, “It’s the secret. I can’t keep the secret anymore. It just wants to burst out of me.” She rushed to Savannah, putting and arms around her waist. “I’m so scared. I don’t know what to do.”
Savannah held the child for a few moments, then pulled back. “Here, let’s sit down, okay? And you can tell me what’s bothering you.” Savannah took the child’s hands. “Now, can you tell me? Can you talk about it?”
“I think so.”
“What are you afraid of, Kira?” When the child continued to stare down at her hands, Savannah asked, “Are you still thinking about something you saw a few days ago? You saw someone do something bad, right? Was it someone you know?”
Kira nodded.
“Honey, they’ve arrested someone for…for hurting your uncle. You knew that, didn’t you? Is he the person you saw?”
“No!” she shouted. “It couldn’t be him because I saw…”
“What, Kira? What did you see?” When the child remained silent, Savannah decided to go out on a limb. “So you think they’ve arrested the wrong person?”
Kira nodded.
“And you can’t say anything about what you saw because you’re afraid this person will hurt you?”
The child thought for a moment, then said, “I don’t know.”
“Do you fear for someone else?” When Kira didn’t respond, Savannah reworded the question. “Are you afraid this person will hurt someone else?”
“Maybe,” Kira said. She glanced around the kitchen. “Did Rags come home, yet?”
Savannah shook her head. “No, we’re still looking for him.”
“He’ll be back,” the child said rather confidently. “I’m sure of it. Mr. Kittleman will be back, too.”
“You know Mr. Kittleman?” Savannah asked.
Kira nodded. “He sometimes helps in my Sunday school class. Didn’t you know that?”
Savannah shook her head, saying rather absentmindedly, “He sure is deeply rooted in this community. Everyone knows him.” She focused on Kira. “So you like him?”
“Oh yes. Mr. Kittleman has taught me a lot about sticking up for myself when someone picks on me. He has given me bravery.” Digging into her shoe, she pulled out a small coin. “See, it says courage right on it. That’s a very special gift, you know.” Her eyes lit up. “He gave Bethany respect.” She tilted her head. “Bethany was always talking bad about herself and making fun of others, so Mr. Kittleman gave her the gift of respect.”
Savannah watched as Kira pushed the coin back into her shoe. “Honey, those are wonderful gifts. It sounds like you have faith, too, that you believe Mr. K
ittleman will be found safe.”
“Oh yes. God would never let something awful happen to someone like Mr. Kittleman.”
Savannah studied the child, then leaned toward her. “Kira, maybe this would be a good time to use your gift of courage…I mean with regard to your secret. It seems to me that holding the secret in is harming you. The courageous thing might be to tell the secret. Maybe if you tell me, I can help you decide.”
Kira spoke quietly and haltingly. “Gosh, that would take…bravery…I mean…to…to tell.”
“What do you think will happen if you tell, honey?”
“I…I don’t know. I might be punished.” She spoke almost inaudibly. “Someone might get in trouble and be mad that I told.”
Savannah took the child’s hands in hers. “You know, often the real consequence of a hard decision isn’t nearly as bad as what we imagine it will be. Ever notice that?”
Kira thought for a moment, then spoke more animatedly. “Yeah, like the time I accidentally spilled my mom’s coffee on the sofa. I cleaned it as good as I could, then turned the pillow cushion over and prayed no one would notice. I was still scared someone would see what I’d done. Then one day I came home from school and the old sofa was gone and a new one was there. I guess no one ever saw the stain and they didn’t care because they got a new sofa, anyway. I worried for nothing.”
“It’s human nature, honey. We all seem to do that sometimes. But it can become a real problem when we hide something so deeply that it begins to hurt us. Like your secret seems to be hurting you.”
Kira nodded. She then took a deep breath and said, “It…it was my dad.”
When Kira began to cry, Savannah said, “You think it was your dad who…”
“Yes, who hurt Uncle Rodney.” She became more hysterical, speaking quickly. “I saw him. He doesn’t know it. I was outside. No one knew I was there. Sometimes I sneak out after everyone’s asleep. I like the sounds in the night. I listen and I watch. That night I heard someone arguing, then the voices stopped and I saw…I saw my father pulling something like a big sack along the ground toward a truck. He put the…you know…the sack in the truck and drove off. I…I never saw Uncle Rodney again and then Mom told me he died.” Her voice accelerated when she said, “I saw the knife. I saw my dad holding a big knife. I could see it in his hand shining in the streetlight. Savannah, could he have…do you think he…?”
“Good heavens,” she said, embracing the child as she sobbed. “Oh my gosh, Kira. I’m so sorry.”
“Dad hated him. I know he did, but he’s a man of God—he tells me that all the time when I get upset about something he does. He’s a man of God, so everything he does is okay. But…I…I hear different in Sunday school and Mom talks to us about things and…oh, I’m so scared. I don’t know what to think. I don’t know what to do.” She looked up at Savannah. “If Dad hurt Uncle Rodney with that knife, that’s wrong, isn’t it? That can’t be right no matter what my dad says.”
“No, honey, that isn’t right. Oh, it makes me so mad that you’ve have to carry this burden.” She held the sobbing child for a moment when suddenly, she thought she heard something. She looked up at the back door and saw a familiar figure through the window. “It’s your mom, Kira. Okay if I invite her in?”
Kira pulled back and began wiping at her eyes. She thought for a moment, then nodded.
Savannah stopped and studied the child before approaching the door. “Hi, Tiffany. Please come in.”
“Thank you,” she said, stepping inside. She looked at Kira, then at Savannah. “Is something wrong?”
“Please sit down, Tiffany.”
“I can only stay for a minute,” she said, easing into a chair next to her daughter. “I was just looking for Kira. Klara said she thought she’d walked over here. Kira, honey, it’s late. You should be getting ready for bed.” When no one spoke, she looked from the child to Savannah. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Is your husband with the children?” Savannah asked.
“Yes.”
Savannah put her hand on Tiffany’s. “I’m sorry to hear about your brother.”
She hung her head. “Thank you. I’m so distraught. I can’t for the life of me believe he was involved in selling drugs. That’s what they tell me, that it was a drug deal gone bad.” She reached out and smoothed her daughter’s hair. “Kira has taken it hard. Is that why you’re here, Kira? Because you needed someone to talk to? I know I haven’t been very helpful as upset as I am. I’m sorry, honey. I’m so sorry. I know you and your uncle were close.”
“No!” she shouted, pulling away from her mother’s touch. “You don’t know. You don’t know anything.”
Before Tiffany could speak, Kira rushed out through the door and disappeared into the dusk.
“I…I don’t know what to say…” Savannah muttered.
“It’s okay,” Tiffany said, standing and peering out the window in the direction her daughter had run. “She’s a high-strung child with a wild imagination. She can’t take much stress and it has been a stressful week, as you can imagine.” She turned to Savannah. “I don’t know what stories she’s been telling you, but I’m sure it’s all figments of her imagination.” She chuckled nervously. “She lives in a world of fantasy and she can tell some wild stories.” She continued speaking as she edged toward the door. “Thank you for your kindness. I’m sure she won’t be coming over here and bothering you anymore.”
“Tiffany,” Savannah said sternly, “she’s no bother. Kira is welcome here anytime she needs to or wants to visit.” She took a step toward the woman and started to say more, but Tiffany turned and stepped out through the door, walking swiftly toward her house.
“We’d better go,” Michael said quietly from the kitchen doorway. When Savannah didn’t respond, he asked, “Everything okay?”
“Not really,” she said. “But I guess there’s nothing I can do about it—at least not right now. Yes, let’s go.”
“Here’s your jacket. Lily’s ready. I grabbed a couple of candles from the mantle.”
Savannah wrapped one arm around his neck and kissed his cheek. “Thanks, hon.”
“Sure. Sounded like it got kind of dicey in here. What seems to be the problem?” he asked.
Savannah thinned her lips and glanced toward the Crane home. “I wish I knew. I get the impression that something’s brewing over there. If only I knew how to help. I just hope…”
“What?” he asked as they stepped out onto the front porch and walked toward their car.
“That an innocent child doesn’t get hurt in the crossfire.”
He frowned. “You make it sound sinister.” After they were all strapped into the car, he said, “By the way, Max and Maggie are riding with us.”
“Okay.”
Once they’d picked up Savannah’s aunt and uncle and Michael had driven for several minutes while bantering back and forth with the two of them, Margaret said, “You’re quiet, Vannie.”
When his wife didn’t respond right away, Michael explained, “It’s been a rough few days with Rags and Dolly missing—along with Leo Kittleman, and the little girl next door in crisis.”
“What’s wrong with the little girl?” Margaret asked. “Do you mean the quiet one…Kyla?”
“Kira,” Savannah corrected. “I’m not sure. It appears that she may have seen something quite shocking and she doesn’t know whether to tell or not. The secret is really upsetting her.”
“I saw her parents in the grocery store yesterday,” Margaret announced.
“Oh? Must have been while the kids were in school.”
“Yes. They had two small children with them and boy, was he making them toe the line. Lily would burst into tears if her daddy talked to her like that.”
“He is gruff,” Savannah noted. “And Tiffany is so meek.”
“You said he’s a preacher?” Margaret asked. “Doesn’t act like any preacher I’ve ever known.”
“Yeah, but
is an Internet preacher really a preacher?” Michael asked.
“Good question,” Max said. “I guess there are surely some legitimate ones, just like there are legitimate cat breeders on the Internet as well as those who are scam artists.”
“Well, this Internet preacher may just be something far worse than a scammer,” Savannah said rather absentmindedly.
“What?” Margaret asked. “In what way? What do you know, Vannie? Tell us.”
After a brief pause, Savannah said, “I’m not really at liberty to say anything.” She waved a hand in front of her. “Heck, for all I know, it’s simply a big misunderstanding.”
When Michael became aware of the awkward silence, he said, “Hey, Maggie, we found something of yours yesterday.”
“Huh?”
“Yeah, a slug.”
She frowned. “You can’t blame me if you have slugs and snails in your yard. Those nasty critters go anywhere they please.”
“No,” Michael interrupted. “A bullet—a spent bullet.”
“What?”
“Yeah, we found it in that fake ficus you left when we bought the house—the one in the dining room.”
“A bullet?” Max questioned.
“Yeah, just lying there in that phony mossy stuff in the pot,” Michael explained. “Do you know where it could have come from?”
After thinking for a moment, Margaret said, “Well, I bought that plant at an estate sale about twenty years ago at the old Kaiser place.”
“Really?” Savannah said, her eyes wide. “I thought they boarded that place up over forty years ago.”
“Yeah, actually, you’re right. But someone came back in the nineties—presumably the Kaiser offspring—and sold off some of the stuff. I thought they were going to do something with the place then. But after the sale, they just closed it up again.” When no one else spoke, Margaret continued, “Yeah, I’m not surprised there’d be bullets around that property with all the trouble that man brought to himself.” When she saw that Savannah seemed interested in hearing more, she said, “According to my parents—your grandparents, Vannie—there were always stories in the paper and rumors about that place and the people who lived there.” She leaned toward Savannah and spoke more quietly. “There’s something not right out there, and the fact that they closed the place up attests to that, in my opinion.”