Billy whispered, “She took me once, but we didn’t come back with anything. I got the feelin’ from her that I was cloudin’ her search, kinda like the static you get on AM radio. She was kind and gracious and sat with me on the back steps like she did with you, Jason. But I knew it would be the last time she offered to take me along.”
“Is this story,” Sam asked as he took the joint from Billy and I could see his square jaw covered in blue-black stubble for a second as he inhaled, “is this story going to get creepy or violent?” He had the original Parker pirates’ aversion to blood shed or gore, and a single drop of blood from a mosquito bite would make him turn ghost white.
I nodded and realized he couldn’t see me do that in the dark. Foster put the bourbon bottle in my hand and I took a healthy swig. “Yes.” I said with a warmth tingling down my throat.
“Is it going to be...really bloody?” I could hear the anxiety in his voice and I pictured his six-foot frame quivering a little.
“Nope, nuthin’ all that bloody happened—as far as I know, anyway. Maybe after...well, maybe, but it’s not part of the story I’m gonna tell. But it’s...”
“Disturbing.” John finished what I was struggling with.
Foster pulled me a little closer and I wondered how uncomfortable the other guys would be if they could see how hard I leaned against him, with his arms wrapped around me, while I tried to explain what happened to Ty and Rose. His chin gently nudged the back of my head to move me forward in the story.
“We went gathering a lot that summer. I began to get the feelin’ that something was off, somethin’ was changing, I guess. She stopped offering me the trowel, and grew more and more quiet on our searches. We had been goin’ all over the island for her treasures, but I started to notice that we were spendin’ a lot of time on the west end of the island, heading closer to the cove with each trip.”
Foster’s breath warmed my neck and his deep southern drawl sent a minor wave of shivers down my spine. “I guess it’s the cove where we—”
“Yep.” I had a mental freight train roll through my brain and I could hear gunshots snapping, and I rubbed the scar on my arm. “Those trips with Rose didn’t involve murder conspiracies and treasure maps, but the lost gems do play a part in her story. I went to the cove with her a few times and was a little puzzled at the way these trips played out. She would stop like she had a plant in her sights, but I began to realize she was just studying the swamp across the creek. Out of anxiety or restlessness or something every once in a while I would do an inventory of the supplies in the basket. I was looking for her plant diary when I noticed the needle on the compass moving. I pulled it out and set the rest of the stuff down, and moved the ‘N’ toward the north and waited for the needle to settle down. It just kept swinging around behind the glass.”
“Some kinda magnetic...distortion,” Billy speculated. “I’d rather have a GPS leadin’ me somewhere than a compass any day.”
“Right, a compass is probably what the original Parker’s were using when they got shipwrecked here. But the thing in my hand had just gone bat-shit goofy, and when the needle finally did stop it wasn’t aimed at the north end of the island. It was pointing straight toward the spot in the swamp where Rose’s eyes were fixed. I tried to see what was so special about that spot, but I just saw trees hangin’ over black shadows in the creek. I dropped the compass into the basket and backed away from her. My movement must have shook her out of her trance, she turned away from the creek and I followed her back to her car without sayin’ a word.”
Sam whispered, “You didn’t ask her what she was looking at, or for, whatever? You didn’t show her the compass?”
“Nope. By then it was fall, and I was more interested in the glimpses of the guys in the locker room at school than I was about searching for plants or studyin’ spinning compasses. Back then it was just a mental burp to me, by the time I got out of her car and got into my own the whole thing was replaced by images of football players and ways to spend more time with a few of them.”
Foster snorted a little laugh. “There’s nuthin’ more dangerous to a jock than a stalking hobbit.”
“Whatever, douche. A few days later I was driving over to the island after school, there was a group of geeks like me that would get together and play video games, smoke a little pot, smuggle a few beers out of somebody’s parents’ fridge. Right before you get to the causeway there’s a little parking lot, really just a patch of gravel and crushed shells, next to the creek. People would launch canoes and kayaks from there in the summer, maybe take the nature trail through the edge of the swamp. But the tourists were long gone and the lot was usually empty this time of year. I glanced at the lone car parked there and realized it was Rose’s, she drove a beat up ol’ Subaru with a hatchback that was plastered with bumper stickers and window decals—political ones, funny ones, a little of everything. I made a mental note to stop there if her car was still in the parking lot when I came back across the causeway, but it was gone by the time I headed home.
Ty
“A few days after that Ty gave me a call and asked me to meet him at Parker’s Grill for some lunch. I was still young enough to feel a little special that he would invite me somewhere without my parents. I had gone to him for advice about teenage bullshit a few times, but it was always in his study. I met him outside of the grill and he led me inside to a booth in the back of the restaurant. He didn’t mess with any small talk about my folks or the weather or anything like that. He looked me in the eyes and asked, ‘Jason, have you been spending much time with Rose lately?’ It caught me off guard and I flashed on feelin’ guilty, like he was accusing me of having an affair with his wife or something. But I’d already talked to him about bein’ gay and teenage angst in general.”
Sam jumped in. “Like your fear of doing anything involving being naked—walking backward in locker rooms to hide your junk, falling into hot tubs...”
“Whatever, Sam. So, I knew Ty didn’t expect me to tell him I was bangin’ his wife. I flashed on the compass and her trance-kinda gaze at the swamp. ‘What do you mean, like what?’ I asked.
“He shrugged and said, ‘She seems distant, Jason. Maybe she’s just changing hobbies or interests. I haven’t seen a new plant in the garden lately. And I’ve noticed she’s spending a little less time in the kitchen, a little less time on keeping up the house and things like that. I’ve tried to ask her about it, but she changes the subject. Sometimes she’ll get defensive and just shut down. It’s not like her, it’s not like us to not be able to talk through anything. We…we don’t keep secrets.’
“I downed a couple of cheeseburgers as soon as they arrived at the table. I burped and asked him, ‘No offense, Ty, but you’re the psychiatrist, right? Do you think she might be...sick or something like that?’ I tried to think about some kind of explanation for the changes in Rose.
“Ty shook his head. I noticed he hadn’t touched his food and his right hand trembled a little as he lifted his beer. ‘I used my privileges at the hospital and did some snooping. Other than routine checkups she hasn’t been to a doctor since she moved here. She just seems to be withdrawing from me, from things in general. Sleeping during the day, restless at night. God help me, but I’ve started to wonder if she’s having an affair.’
“I blushed a little at that, any talk of sex by a real adult made me squirm a little. ‘Maybe,’ I said, ‘there’s another explanation. Sleeping during the day and awake at night might not mean she’s having an affair. Maybe she...I dunno, maybe she’s a vampire. Have you tried any…garlic, or looked at her in a mirror to check for a reflection?’
“He stared at me and shook his head. ‘You know, it’s probably just a phase, maybe she’s a little homesick for New Orleans.’ He picked up the check and shook my hand. We parted ways and I knew it wasn’t just a ‘little’ anything, something big was happenin’.
“I checked the parking lot next to the causeway on my way home but it was empty. I gave a
vague version of the conversation to my mother and her response was, ‘I can’t see Rose banging her way through the college football team or anything like that.’ That hit a little too close to home and I felt my face warm up. ‘It’s probably just a hormonal thing, maybe she’s just bored or lonely. She should meet Ty at the door naked, or screw around with him up at the lighthouse.’ It was the second time somebody had mentioned sex today, but this time it was my mother talking and I turned a deeper shade of red.
“And it’s not like I didn’t have my own hormones to deal with. With the excitement of hot guys at school and affordable broadband internet, my own horniness ruled my life most of the time.”
Foster nudged my side. “You’re a dirty little hobbit.” His whole face was hard to see in the dark, but I could see some of his blond buzz cut, the whites of his eyes and his smile—his dark tan and the gloom of the night made everything else invisible.
“So, anyway, about two weeks later my dad told me that Ty was missing a lot of work, and that he hardly ever saw him at the Y. I was headed over to the island to do some stuff for Bucky in the police station. I was helping him get a couple computers set up in the town hall and Bucky was clueless. And he was...well, it wasn’t exactly a crush, I guess. To me he was more like a gunslinger in the Wild West than the police chief of Parker’s Bluff. I mean, you could tell he had some pirate blood but—”
Sam spoke up. “That’s my dad you’re crushing on.”
I nodded into the dark. “Right. And maybe it was the difference between his Parker pirate heritage compared to him bein’ the mayor and police chief that fascinated me. The way he carried himself, the way his gun belt hung off his hip, whatever. And he had that genetically-perfect Parker killer body, I—”
“Get back to the story, Jason.”
“Okay, fine. So I ran by Ty’s house on my way over to town hall. It took a while for him to answer the door and I was surprised by how...worn out, how wasted and tired he looked. I followed him into the kitchen and we sat down at the table. He had a bottle of rum in front of him, he poured some into a glass and slid it over to me. ‘Thanks, Ty, but maybe I shouldn’t. I just turned seventeen—you know, drinking under age and drivin’ back home probably isn’t such a great idea.’
“He nodded, lit a joint, and passed it to me. I thanked him and then watched as he downed the glass of rum and poured another. ‘Did your father send you over to check on Rose and me?’ I nodded and passed the joint back to him. ‘We’ve had a bug, a nasty...infection. It’s hit Rose harder than it has me, but between taking care of her and myself I’m pretty wiped out.’
“I stared at his eyes and they were bloodshot—maybe from the weed, maybe the rum, but I’d cried enough to know that tears were in the mix, somewhere. ‘If curin’ a bug involves lots of pot and rum then why don’t you sneeze on me a few times? You’re a psychiatrist, you could write a prescription for me.’
“I looked at him and followed his gaze, he was studying the garden. ‘When I said infection, I meant something...different. And definitely not anything you’d ever want to catch. Like I said, it’s hit Rose harder, but it’s not going to stop with a prescription. At least I don’t think so. Let me show you something.’
“I followed him out to the backyard and we stood on the steps that Rose and I shared after our plant expeditions. He pointed to a side gate in the white picket fence and then gestured along the worn brick path windin’ through the plants and trees and ending at our feet. ‘Can you see the mud on the walk?’
“I noticed two spotty lines of black mud leading down the walk and gradually fading as they approached the house. ‘Looks like...footprints, maybe? Like somebody with dirty feet came up the walk. I’m not a hunter, Ty, but could they be from a deer, or an elk or a bear or something?’
“Ty cocked his head at me. ‘If you’ve been seeing elk on this island I think you need to reduce your swamp weed intake, Jason. But I’m reasonably sure that they’re human prints, shoeprints, I think. And this isn’t the first time. Almost every morning now, they’re here. I’ve been hosing them off so we don’t track that black dirt into the house. They keep showing up, and they’re heavier, clearer, each time. And after this morning I’m pretty sure about another thing. I think it’s just one set of prints heading through here. There’s never a set leading back to the gate’. ”
Billy whispered, “A burglar, maybe? You said Rose was beautiful, maybe a stalker? And he’s right, Jason—there are no friggin’ elk on this island. By the time whoever turned around and headed out the gate the shoes had shed the dirt. That’s all.”
“Okay, Billy. But Ty pointed out that there should be smudges, or swipes, shoeprints over the first set. ‘The dog won’t come out here anymore. He quit the day the first prints showed up.’ I asked him if he had an alarm on the house. ‘I hate to admit it,’ he told me, ‘but I hardly ever set it. I mean, it is Parker’s Bluff, not New York or somewhere like that. But I am starting to set it at night.’ I asked him what Rose thought of this and he tilted his head to the second story of the house. ‘When I pointed it out to her she just smiled and said it was probably a neighbor admiring the garden, or some teenager sneaking back here to smoke a joint or something.’
“I considered that and glanced at my watch. ‘Those sound like likely explanations to me, Ty.’
“He shook his head and looked a little panicked. ‘I don’t think so, I wish it was that simple but I don’t think so. The house feels different, Rose seems different. She always shuts our bedroom door because she hates dog hair on the comforter. Lately the dog’s been really trying hard to get into the room before she shuts the door, and when he’s on the other side of it I hear him whimpering sometimes. I even thought I heard him scratching to get in one night. Last night he growled a little, and then I heard him scooting down the hall into the spare bedroom.’
“I couldn’t really put the puzzle pieces together to give Ty any good explanation as to what was goin’ on. ‘Maybe it’s the island, Ty. Seems like odd things have always happened here. It could just be a ghost from the house’s past...an echo, maybe, of someone who lived here just stirrin’ things up a little, or just visitin’. That new show about the plane crash survivors, it’s set on a pretty fu—a pretty messed up island. There’s a college—Duke, I think, that investigates ghosts and shit.’
“Ty shook his head and looked around. ‘Maybe you’re right, Jason. But a little haunting around here wouldn’t be good for business. Don’t forget I treat some reasonably disturbed people in my office, right here in this house. I can’t imagine what one of them seeing muddy footprints, or spooked dogs, or God forbid a ghost, might do. Plus it’s taking a toll on me and Rose, it’s…dividing us. I even thought about putting the house on the market and moving to the mainland, but it’s been in the family for over a hundred years. I talked to Rose about going on a long vacation, maybe spending some time in New Orleans. She just laughed and said there were more ghosts there than there were here. I think it was her way of telling me to calm down, to not take things so seriously.’
“I looked at my watch and remembered I was headed to the hall. ‘It’ll sort itself out, you and Rose will be fine. If you want I could mention to Bucky—to Chief Parker, that you think you might have somebody trespassing.’
“He stood up and shook my hand. ‘No, let’s not bother Chief Parker just yet. In fact, maybe we should keep this between the two of us, just for now. Like I said, I don’t think it would be good for business if I were to start running around crying stalker or ghost. If anything gets...worse, we can see if he can help.’ ”
Bucky
“It was an ego boost knowin’ that I had a secret, a pact, with an adult who treated me like an equal. I drove over to the hall and walked into the police station in a pretty good mood. When I got there I found Bucky in the mayor’s office sorting through paperwork. His face lit up when he saw me and pointed at the pile. When I got close to him he sniffed my jacket and gave me a mild look of disapp
roval. All the smells coming from him were masculine scents—Dial and Old Spice and a little talc and shaving cream from the barber shop. We sorted though some things and I started to set up computer files so he could make sense of it all. He’d moved over to the couch and was stretched out with his eyes shut when he asked, ‘So, why were you late? Did football practice run late or something?’ He had opened one eye and was studyin’ me for a reaction. I shrugged and kept typing. ‘I mean, you aimin’ for the quarterback’s slot is a stretch, but I guess a tight end wouldn’t be out of the question.’
“I stopped typing and glared at him, but it was hard to get mad at Bucky. He had the Parker men’s good looks and he also had a good-natured view on the world in general, and he treated everyone on the island, including the Rumpholts, who were once the victims of the Parkers’ botched and only act of piracy, like one big family. I thought about Ty and Rose, and how I could dig for information without breaking Ty’s trust. ‘Bucky, Chief, it’s not too far away from Halloween, and I was thinking about a good costume. You know, somethin’ different—a local tale, a ghost or mystery... a hauntin’, somethin’ like that. A Parker’s Bluff skeleton in the closet, I guess.’
The Tale of the Swamp and the Rose (Parker's Bluff) Page 2