by Kate Merrill
“Read the name on the truck,” Matthew prompted. “It says Clontz Lumber, right? It belonged to the kidnappers. The police have already figured that out, but they can’t understand why the bad guys ditched it, or why they found little pieces of handmade furniture and broken reindeer sculpture scattered everywhere…”
Diana looked blank. “Reindeersculpture?”
“Yep, and I happen to be the proud owner of two such sculptures myself. I was planning to give one to you and one to Juanita for Christmas, but they won’t be much of a surprise now.”
“What on earth are you talking about, Matthew?”
He took a long swallow of coffee, savoring the suspense. Ever since he saw the picture of Darryl Clontz on the evening news, some elusive memory had nagged him like a toothache, but he couldn’t pin it down…until now.”
“I know the kidnappers, Diana. That article jogged my memory.”
Her mouth hung open as she stared at him.
“I never knew Darryl’s name until now, but he used to come into my store to buy sodas and tobacco. He always flirted with the college girl working the counter, but it seemed harmless. His wife was a pathetic little thing named Leona. She’s the one who sold me the reindeer.”
“My God, Matthew, do you know where they live?”
“All I know is what Leona told me, that Darryl made the reindeer with his own hands, and they used to sell real well along the roadside back home.”
“In Boone!” She completed his sentence.
Matthew nodded. It was then, or never, so he screwed up his courage: “I think we should check it out, Diana. Maybe we should go to Boone together?”
THIRTY-NINE
A chance at happiness…
Diana was nervous as a schoolgirl as Matthew’s truck sped towards the mountains. Yesterday morning when she invited him to breakfast, she had expected resistance when she asked him to take her to Boone. As it turned out, she need not have worried. She never had to use her wiles, or charms, or whatever means necessary to convince him. Instead, he had come to the desired conclusion on his own. Even better, he thought the trip was all his idea.
But now she was concerned about the accommodations waiting at the end of their journey. At such short notice, they weren’t able to reserve two motel rooms, but Matthew had come up with an alternate solution.
“We can still go,”he said. “My cousin owns a little piece of ground up at Blowing Rock, only a few miles from Boone. He has a small tag-along camper set up there, with water and an electric hookup.”
The prospect scared her, but Matthew pressed on.
“He’s offered many times to let me camp there. We could use the site as our base of operations, then fan out looking for Leona and Juan.”
“How many beds in this trailer?”She had asked, sounding much like a prissy old maid. From Matthew’s expression, she understood there was only one.
“Hey, we’re adults,”he had answered. “We’ll work it out…”
She knew they’d work something out, but she was still conflicted as to what she wanted that something to be. To make matters worse, Matthew had been acting strange all morning. Was he feeling guilty because they’d left town in absolute secrecy? They had decided not to tell Agent Grim their theory, because what did they really know, anyway?
“If we mention apple dolls and wooden reindeer, he’ll laugh in our faces,” Matthew had said.
But Diana had been the one who decided not to tell Bobby and Juanita: “We don’t want to raise false hopes.”
So now they both felt guilty as they drove through the beautiful countryside, but Diana suspected Matthew’s somber mood had more to do with the stop they made at a pawnshop on the way out of town. He was worrying about a ring.
She held it up to the light, and the diamond glittered in its ornate silver setting. An old-fashioned design of intertwined ivy leaves held the stone in place and provoked a twinge of regret as Diana pressed the ring between the cushiony pink lips of its little velvet case and snapped the lid shut. She tucked the case inside a brown paper bag and locked it in the glove compartment.
“I hope we did the right thing,” she said wistfully.
“What else could we do? That ring’s been in the Porter family for generations. When it came right down to it, I couldn’t be the one to sell it down the river.”
Diana agreed, but she also knew that Bobby had specifically instructed Matthew to sell the heirloom for whatever money it would bring. Bobby intended to use the proceeds to help pay folks back for their contributions to the ransom, and he had actually sat up in his hospital bed and begged Matthew to do this favor for him.
“Was he reallyplanning to give the ring to Juanita?” she said.
“Absolutely. Bobby intended to pop the question on the Fourth of July, at the Grand Opening of Porter Park.”
This romantic notion filled her with a bittersweet, unnamed longing. Bobby had put his own happiness on hold in order to help Juan, and yet Diana felt this delay was only temporary. Clearly Bobby had made an emotional commitment to Juanita, and Diana hoped that someday she would also commit to a new love in her life.
Matthew tore his eyes away from the foothills that had begun to roll endlessly on either side of Highway 40 and gazed at her. “Bobby will have my hide for this. He’ll be furious I didn’t sell the ring.” He reached across the seat and took her hand. “Call me a sentimental fool, but someday he’ll thank me for it.”
Diana listened to the rumble of her suitcase, tied down with bungee cords in the bed of the truck, and questioned her motives for taking this trip with Matthew. An irrepressible excitement had been building inside her ever since they hit the road, and she couldn’t even remember the last time she’d embarked on such an adventure. All her life she’d heard about the mysterious, majestic Appalachian Mountains, but she’d never seen them. So in spite of the dark purpose of this mission, the tensions of the past few days started falling away like a musty old coat.
Plus, she was finally taking positive action in the search for Juan, and this alone lifted her spirits. Or maybe she had actually decided to trust again, feel again, and take a chance at happiness? She glanced shyly at Matthew and squeezed his hand.
* * *
While Matthew carried their bags into the trailer, Diana sat at the very edge of a ravine and gazed across to a range of mountains sleeping on the horizon. In her entire life, she had never seen anything more beautiful. The close peaks were verdant green with the texture of pines and hardwoods, while the receding slopes gradually faded into a haze of blue mist. Her senses tingled with the sight, smell, and feel of it. Even the ocean she loved so dearly couldn’t compete with this rugged wilderness that propelled her backwards through the centuries, challenging some primal part inside every land creature.
Their campsite was situated on the crest of a bald, an area that rejected the growth of tall trees in favor of brush and other low-lying vegetation. It made for a stupendous view, helping Diana understand why Matthew always grumbled about civilization encroaching on the wilderness.
“When pioneers fist came, the forests were virginal, not second growth like this,” he had complained on the ride there. “Back then, a man could see from these hilltops clean to Tennessee, but pollution has changed all that…”
“A penny for your thoughts?” Matthew sneaked up from behind, gripping steaming mugs of coffee in each hand.
Since there was no way Diana could adequately convey her response to theses hills, virginal or not, she opened her arms wide to encompass the entire panoramic sweep in her embrace. “I love it!”
He cleared his throat “Yeah, I feel the same each time I come, but will you do me a favor, Diana? I’d rest a might easier if you’d scoot back from the edge.�
� He lowered himself onto a boulder a good twelve feet back from the drop and refused to bring her coffee closer.
“Why Matthew!” Are you acrophobic?”
“Let’s just say I’m scared of heights.”
Diana giggled as she scooted backwards to Matthew’s perch and sampled her drink. The rich aroma and strong caffeine jolted her senses. “Mean cuppa coffee.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He grinned. “Then tonight I’ll take you into town for some real country cooking.”
They sipped in silence and admired the view until Matthew shifted his long legs and studied her from the corner of his eyes. “Been meaning to ask you, Diana, how are your real estate classes coming? I know you missed the last couple of weeks, so can you afford to take this trip with me?”
She dragged herself back to reality and answered truthfully. “I quit.”
“Quit school?” He blinked in surprise.
“I was too far behind to catch up, so I’ll repeat the class next term.”
She omitted telling Matthew about Miles Lawton’s amorous advances. That day Johnny went missing and she banished her buyer clients from the Sorvino house, Miles had been furious, but that hadn’t stopped him from making suggestive remarks. So Diana told Miles to take a hike.
“But what about Liz?” Matthew was still stunned by her admission. “I know how much you two wanted your broker’s licenses, and then you were going into business together, right?”
She nodded unhappily. “That’s still the plan, but it will be delayed six months. I phoned Liz right before we left and told her my decision. She did not take it well.”
“I can imagine…” A slow smile spread across his face. “Did you tell Liz you were running off to the mountains with me?”
Her cheeks burned. No way would she tell Matthew about the unbearable teasing and innuendo she had endured once Liz learned about the trip. The juicy fact of her plans with Matthew had so distracted Liz, that she nearly forgot her disappointment over the real estate venture.
“Was Liz scandalized?” he asked.
She refused to satisfy Matthew’s curiosity, but one thing Liz had said was, “Does this mean Miles Lawton is available? Can I have him?”Naturally, Diana had handed Miles over to Liz with her blessings.
“Well?” Matthew smirked.
“I felt guilty about leaving Liz in the lurch, so I gave her the Sorvino listing.”
Matthew frowned. “Sorry to hear it, Diana. I know you need the money, and that Sorvino deal would’ve fetched a big commission. Maybe you should’ve thought twice before giving it up?”
“Honestly, Matthew, you sound exactly like my mother!”
He flung the dregs of his coffee out over the cliff. “God, I hope not.”
“Well you do, so what do you intend do about it?” She tossed her coffee and jutted out her chin.
In response, Matthew climbed stiffly to his feet and pulled me up with him. “The second best way I know to shut your mouth is to stuff it full of food. Let’s eat.”
FORTY
A toad’s eye in a snakeskin bag…
The little town of Boone was bustling for a Wednesday night. Appalachian State University dominated the village, its modern buildings sprouting like concrete mushrooms in the surrounding hills, but since it was late June, very few students remained on campus for the summer session.
“So who are all these people?” Diana wondered as they drove down the quaint main street lined with shops and trendy boutiques.
“Tourists,” Matthew grumbled. “Next month will be even worse when they flock to the Summer Festival. This year they’re featuring Kenny Rogers, the North Carolina Symphony, Arlo Guthrie, Duke Ellington…you name it.”
The festival sounded like fun to her, but she knew Matthew hated crowds. In fact, ever since they entered the village, he’d been grumpier than usual. “Where should we eat?” she asked neutrally.
“You decide. It’s my treat.”
She was the stranger in town, so how was she supposed to choose? Yet she sensed Matthew was not in the mood for indecision. “I saw a charming little white frame restaurant on the way in--- the Daniel Boone Inn. Let’s go there.”
He spun around in the driver’s seat, an odd look on his face. “Why’d you want to eat in that place? It’s nothing but a tourist trap. We’ll wait in line for hours.”
“I’m not in a hurry, are you?”
Moments later, they parked in the Daniel Boone Inn’slot, then walked through lovely perennial gardens into a homey, wood-paneled foyer. They were told they’d have less than a five-minute wait.
“Guess we missed the dinner rush,” Matthew muttered.
They stood in uncomfortable silence while Diana studied the décor including framed photos of old-timey Boone and a glass cases filled with antique tools, guns, and other frontier memorabilia. She dug into her wallet, fished out a penny, and pressed it into her escort’s hand.
“Okay, now here’s a penny for your thoughts. What’s the problem, Matthew?”
He exhaled loudly. For a fleeting moment, panic flickered across his eyes, but then his features relaxed into a smile. “Sorry, Diana. I used to come here with my wife, Lynn. This was her favorite restaurant. We ate here the month she died, and I need to put those ghosts behind me.”
Diana’s heart constricted with shame. Of all places, why had she chosen this one? She folded his fingers around the penny. “Can I help you drive those ghosts away, Matthew?”
He took a deep breath and shifted to his other foot. “Tell you the truth…” He smiled. “I know two ways to get rid of a ghost--- either you put salt on the fire and carry the left hind foot of a graveyard rabbit, or you put a toad’s eye in a snakeskin bag and tote that around. Mountain folks always knew best, and these two remedies came straight from these hills.”
Diana stared. “Do you know a formula for good luck?”
“Yes, ma’am. I do. On New Year’s Day you eat black-eyed peas, or maybe you’ll find a cricket on your hearth? But seeing it’s the middle of summer, we’ll have to conjure some good luck on our own.”
He approached an ancient machine that looked like a jukebox. He placed the penny she had given him into a slot, added a pocketful of his own coins, and then the machine lit up and passed her penny through an embossing wringer. When it emerged, the penny had been flattened into an elongated oval bearing the image of a frontiersman holding a rifle and the words Dan’l Boone Inn.
He handed her the souvenir. “Hang onto this, Diana. It’ll bring you good luck, and if I’m lucky, it’ll always remind you of me.”
Once they were seated, the waitress loaded their table with platters of fried chicken, country-fried steak, mashed potatoes, corn, fried okra, beans, and a basket of hot rolls.
“Don’t be shy, Diana,” Matthew urged. “The more you eat, the faster they’ll bring on the refills.”
She groaned in anticipation and filled her plate to brimming. She’d never been guilty of lady-like modesty when it came to food. But by the second round, they both slowed down and she tried a little conversation.
“Did Daniel Boone sleep here, or something?” Back in Pennsylvania, every old inn claimed that George Washington had laid down his weary head on their very pillows.”
Matthew laughed. “No way. I reckon Daniel’s bed was a blanket of leaves when he came to these mountains to hunt and fish, and he did not carve D. Boone kilt a bar on every tree, either. Matter of fact, he was a well-educated, land-rich Quaker from up your way, Diana.”
“So he wasn’t like Ben Franklin, then?” She winked. “When they claim Ben Franklin slept here, there must be a grain of truth in it, because the man father
ed seventy-some illegitimate children.”
“No kidding?” Matthew offered a sly, suggestive grin.
And Diana wished she’d never opened that particular can of worms. During her brief survey of the Jaycotrailer Matthew and she were destined to share, she had noticed the vehicle had only one big double bed.
“Want some dessert?” His eyes never left her face.
“Maybe some coffee?” She looked away as a telltale heat crept up her neck and night filled the picture window near their table. Most of the other guests had departed, so she was grateful when an elderly woman approached, ending the intimate moment.
“I recognize that old gal,” Matthew whispered as she drew near. “She’s been working here long as I can remember. Let’s invite her to join us….”
Before Diana could object, Matthew asked the woman to sit with them. In the meantime, Diana prayed the waitress wouldn’t stir up painful memories by recalling the bygone visits of Matthew and his wife.
Instead, the woman poured fresh coffee and set out a cup for herself. She sat nearby on a free chair. “Feels good to take a load off.” She sighed. “What can I do you for?”
“Maybe you can help us, Lucy.” Matthew read the woman’s nametag. “I know you’ve been around these parts for a long time, so I’m hoping you can help us locate a young gal used to live in the mountains.”
“I was born and raised here!” Lucy beamed. “What’s this gal look like?” she asked Diana.
Stunned by Matthew’s ability to strike up a folksy rapport with a total stranger, Diana stuttered her response. “The girl’s name is Leona Clontz. She’s in her early twenties with long blond hair, and she walks with a limp.”
Lucy’s brow knotted in a frown as she chewed her lower lip in concentration. “The name Clontzdon’t ring a bell, but I ’member a pretty little thing calledLeona.” The waitress’s pale eyes drifted backwards in time as she absently stirred her coffee. “In fact, the girl used to work here. She was the last of the Birdsongs. Of course that was a good six or seven years ago, and that child was only a teenager. Plus, she didn’t walk with a limp.”