The Lady and the Hound- Divination

by A M Nixon

  Mary nodded, trying to give the impression she believed him. “why did you send her outside? What could she have needed to do out there?” The major said he had given her some waste to dispose of, and she agreed to do it. All she had to do was dig a hole and put the bags in and come right back. He had some other duties and figured she could handle herself.

  He made up such an elaborate story. Maybe it was true? It worked out for Mary because he seemed unaware she knew about the drum or what they were looking for. Back at the barracks, she stifled her cries for her friend. She didn’t want any of the women to know she knew Hope was dead. If she were alive and physically unharmed, she would have been back by now. Tomorrow she would look outside the gate, in case the Major was telling the truth. She wanted to avoid looking in the drum unless it was the last resort.

  It was 3:30 in the morning when Mary woke up to what she thought was Hope’s snoring. Many times, she had been woken in the middle of the night by the sound. She looked toward the ceiling and there was a small white light, an orb. She didn’t have a dream and since Hope knew of her dreams, Mary thought she’d contact her through them. But nothing was coming over the dream waves.

  Mary took her pendulum off the ledge next to her bunk and asked if Hope’s spirit was there. The pendulum gave her a “can’t answer” response. The dreaded one side of an X. Her guides couldn’t tell her anything. Why? She could only guess that if they told her Hope was there, she would cease to look for her, and it would send her down the wrong path. Or, If Hope were there, it would cause Mary to do something stupid, having all her fears confirmed. Her guides often chose cards telling her to trust. She would have to trust she had more to do. The thought of Hope being gone for good, caused a flash of devastation, the same feeling she had when she took the pills at the motel. She imagined going into the medical trailer and finding something to take. The only thing that kept her from acting were her babies and the possibility they may still be alive. If she were going to commit suicide, it would be outside the camp, on her own terms, where they couldn’t cut her up and make jerky out of her body.

  “Somewhere in the cosmos, a voice calls Malkan. Like a dog whistle only he can hear, a being of light answers the call.”

  The next morning in the library, Mary looked out the window that faced the woods. She searched intently for any sign Hope had been out there, burying something. No disturbed ground, no shovel. With her gaze focused intently at the woods, one of the pine tree’s moved. It moved separately from the other trees. While staring at the tree, the ravaged face of what looked to be a hound, or part-hound, part-wolf, peered out from its branches. The animal seemed to be missing skin on one side of its muzzle which exposed his teeth and bone. She couldn’t see clearly to know for sure. She checked the library for binoculars but couldn’t find any. She went to the mess hall and asked for some scraps. The ladies gave her a paper plate with left over chicken parts and Mary carried it over to the fence where she’d seen the hound wolf. He was gone, but she pushed the plate under the fence and went back to the library. By the time she returned to the window, the plate was empty. If he were that hungry, she knew, he couldn’t have eaten Hope. He would be full, wouldn’t he?

  Mary was back to thinking Hope lie in the drum. The white light in the shape of an orb must have been her, trying to get a message through. She went back to the barracks and laid on her cot. She would do nothing more but think and sleep. She didn’t care if the Major complained or not. Her only issue was, before long, if Hope were in the drum, it might start to smell. The drum wasn’t air tight, since it had holes that looked like someone had used it for target practice. Not large enough to see what was inside but enough to allow the air in. The weather was cold enough to keep it refrigerated but she couldn’t control the heat in the shed section. There wasn’t a thermostat on the walls to control the temperature. It always seemed at least 70 degrees. Mary couldn’t bring herself to go back there yet. She pictured Hope lying on the floor, cut up in pieces, waiting to be cooked. She couldn’t face that right now. She had to leave the camp and it had to be soon. She would horde as much food as she could. Checking the barracks for a stash area, she found one in the laundry section behind the dryer. It was used for chemical storage but unless someone watched her putting something in there, no one should look.

  Over a couple of days, she’d stored enough food and water to last a week in the woods. Mary was close to making her escape. The mess hall started closing earlier and earlier each day. Mary assumed since the last truck with supplies hadn’t shown, the mess hall had to conserve the food supplies they had. Erika came to her complaining about being hungry after it had closed early again. She took her aside and showed her the stash. It didn’t matter what the voice said warning her that “all is not what it seems”, she wasn’t clear on what the warning was about. She assumed it was to keep Erika safe.

  “Now, I need you to keep this our secret. This is my food for when I leave to go back to Maryland. You know how important this trip is to me. I’ll need every bit of what I’ve stashed. Whatever you do, do not tell Debbie.” Erika agreed to keep her secret and took a few cookies and a bottle of water. She ate it in the laundry area so none of the others would see her.

  The following day, when Mary went to add to her stash, most of the food had been taken and half the water was missing. She hoped Debbie wasn’t with Erika when she raided it. Mary went out to find her and ask her why she had taken so much. As she walked behind the library, there was Erika and Debbie, sitting on a bench, eating her stash. The most irritating thing of all was they were eating her cookies, the ones she had reluctantly saved instead of eating, to have them for the woods. Her heart sunk as she realized she had been betrayed; her kindness abused. Erika also told Debbie about the stash after promising she wouldn’t. The voice saying “all is not what it seems” flashed in her mind again. Hope’s gone and now Erika, it was more than she could take. The hopelessness that led to her suicide attempt scratching at the door to be let in. She would fight it with all she had. Mary watched as they ate the food she needed for her survival out in the woods. She was going to teach them a lesson they would never forget. She was in no mood to be deceived, not after Hope.

  Mary went to the medical trailer, telling the attendant she was sick to her stomach. When his back was turned she grabbed a bottle of polyethylene glycol, better known as laxative. It was the fast-acting medical-grade kind, something else she could thank the military for. She went over to the mess hall and found rolls and a stale donut the ladies had made the day before. She picked up two more bottles of water and went back to the barracks. When she got to her stash bin, she took out the water and the rest of the food and placed it in her backpack. She drank some of the water from each bottle she got from the mess hall and poured liquid laxative in them. She put some of the laxative in a container and used a Q-Tip to put the liquid on each of the rolls and the donut. Mary placed the food and water back in the bin and figured if Erika and Debbie stole her stash again, they would get what they deserve.

  Mary didn’t have to wait long. There was a noise in the laundry room around 4:30 in the morning. Breakfast at the mess hall didn’t start until 7. Had she caught a rabbit in her trap? She would have to wait until after breakfast to check the bin. She didn’t want the girls to notice her heading to the laundry room. Mary told Erika and Debbie she would eat breakfast in the library after they got their trays. Once she was sure everyone was at the mess hall, Mary went into the shed. She pulled the lever on the lid of the drum and held her breath. Mary had to know for sure because if Hope was in the drum, she would leave immediately, and without a week’s worth of food. When she opened the lid, there in the dim light of the shed, was Hope’s platinum grey hair.

  Mary stepped back, covering her mouth to stifle her scream. She didn’t want to believe what her eyes were telling her. She didn’t want to, but Mary had to look at Hope’s body to find out how she died. There were several stab wounds, one in her heart, and two others
to her stomach. It must have been brutal for her. All alone, ambushed out of nowhere. Mary couldn’t leave her friend this way. She couldn’t give her a decent burial, but she could take her out of the drum and set fire to the whole building. But it would have to wait until she was about to leave the camp. All she could do for now, was place her body in the corner of the shed with a blanket over it. There was a little decomposition, since the drum wasn’t air tight. She would need to get supplies for the fire, and soon, or everyone would know where Hope’s body was because of the smell. She was glad she kept from telling Erika about the shed and everything else she’d discovered. Mary walked back to the stash bin in the laundry room. Sure enough, it was empty but for one roll. She took it and threw it in the trash, so she didn’t accidentally eat it herself. Now she would have to stash everything in the shed alongside her best friend.

  The amount of laxative she put in the water should be enough all by itself, placing some on the food was back up. All she could do was wait and see her plan in action. As if timed right, Mary walked in to the courtyard to find Erika and Debbie holding their stomach’s. What happened next was tragic and hard not to watch at the same time. Mary was trying to be a nonchalant observer when, suddenly, Debbie’s pants turned from a beige to a dark brown, as she ran for the bathrooms. Erika made it to the door of the bathroom before her accident. What a shame laundry day was still a few days off, Mary smirked. She almost forgot about the toilet paper being rationed. One had to bring their ration with them every time they went to the bathroom. It would be rare for someone to have left any behind. It was a well-understood rule and one Mary had always followed. She resisted the urge to go in there, sit next to them in their stalls and listen to their whining and begging for help. The embarrassment would have to be enough satisfaction for Mary. Now she could sneak away and mourn her friend in peace.

  Later that night, in her bunk, she asked her guides to help her see Hope in a dream. She fell asleep. When she woke, it was 2 am and nothing in the form of a dream materialized. There were noises behind the trailer. Maybe she didn’t see Hope in the drum? Maybe that was the dream. She put on her shoes and grabbed her wind-up flashlight and walked around to the back of the trailer. There was something in the woods, but if it was Hope, alive or in spirit, no one was trying to communicate with her. Mary walked back in to the barracks and went to sleep, without asking for anything.

  She did have a dream though. A strange one that made little sense. It was of the hound from the other day, and then the hound was replaced with a man on an ornate chair, like a small throne. When she woke up, she remembered the dream she’d had right before she sobered up, the one she told Hope about. In the dream she had last night, the throne looked different, and the man was younger and had brown hair. There was a woman sitting beside him. Somehow the book her uncle gave her, was in the dream. There was something more she needed to know. Examining the dream, the significance of the book didn’t make sense at the moment. It didn’t contain anything more about Priestess Isadore and most of the hand written pages at the back of the book were in a foreign language. She abandoned the lineage book to read later, opting to explore the other old collector’s item books while she was at the cottage.

  Erika and Debbie seemed embarrassed, but a little suspicious too. She assumed they may have figured out what she did—especially since they must’ve noticed that the stash area was empty. She couldn’t worry about what they thought anymore.

  Mary realized the High Priestess card’s meaning didn’t have to do with Erika. It was about mystery and secrets revealed that were deeper than Erika’s betrayal. That means the mystery still exists, one she will have to solve. What’s sad is the cards didn’t warn about what happened to Hope. Unless the death card was to be taken literally. But the cards don’t work that way. Hope hadn’t intuitively seen her own death and Mary didn’t get the death vibe about her either. So much for being psychic and intuitive.

  It must be a fate thing, not something she could intervene on someone’s behalf if she wanted to. She had intuitive dreams about friends in the past, seeing their deaths, only to brush it off. She would eventually see the dream play out in real life. Their deaths were already set in stone. Which was why no matter what she did she wouldn’t have been able to prevent it. It was her guides letting her know what would happen beforehand, and nothing more. If she had foreseen Hope’s death, she would have told her. It might have changed her own path. She knew it would remain a mystery until her own death.

  Chapter Seven

  The Hanging Man

  Mary was biding her time. She had to stash more food after what Erika did, and she had to gather enough flammable material to cause a large enough fire to burn Hope’s body before the Major’s crew could put the fire out. She kept to her usual routine, using the shed to hold everything and making sure she kept her backpack at her side in case she had to run for her life. It wasn’t helping matters when Erika and Debbie were watching her every move. She would get to the mess hall for breakfast before them, so she could stash the food in her backpack without being seen. If Erika and Debbie were around, they would have something to use against her with the Major. She wanted to stay at the camp until the weather warmed, but she could sense the Major was planning something.

  While she was in the shed, there were men’s voices coming from behind it, near the secret door. A flash of fear went through her body as she realized they might have known about the shed all along and try to get in. She opened the hatch so she could escape fast if she had to and went back to the door to listen. It was the Major and one of his crew. He was telling the man to watch Mary and report back to him anything she did that raised suspicion. He said he knew she knew what happened to her friend and suspected her of moving Hope’s body.

  Mary knew she would have to leave with what supplies she had and sneak out under the fence where she gave the hound the plate of food. She could tell the fence was loose at the time and she could escape without alerting anyone. She had hoped to talk to Charlie before she left, but she hadn’t seen him for almost a month. She stashed an extra blanket, which unfortunately was a thin summer blanket, not intended for combat or field. They were more for the summer weather, but they would have to do because they were all she could fit in her backpack. She charged her phone for the last time and doused the shed with the lighter fluid from the smoker and cooking oil from the kitchen. She grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol when she was at the medical trailer, feigning a stomach bug, and added it to the mix. Now she would wait until night fall.

  Mary ate her last dinner in the mess hall and told Erika and Debbie she wanted to get books from the library to read during the night. When she stepped inside the library trailer, the Major was sitting at her desk. He didn’t have his crew with him, so she figured he wasn’t there to kill her.

  “Hello, Major, I wasn’t expecting you in here tonight.” She said, trying to disguise her fear.

  The Major closed the book he was reading and turned the chair to face her. “You know Mary, I knew you were a smart lady.” Mary began to speak, and he raised his hand to silence her. He returned the chair to the desk and stood a few feet away from her. “There’s a funny smell in this trailer. Do you have any idea what it is?” She glanced at the hatch and back at the Major. She didn’t want to give away where it was. She put a small bookcase in front of the hatch before she left the last time.

  “No, it’s smelled this way since I’ve been here, Major. Some others complained about it, so I used Lysol on the floor, but it didn’t help.” Mary said, performing the sexiest smile she could, hoping to distract him. “Are you looking for anything to read tonight, or is this a special trip just for me?”

  The Major appeared to be sizing her up and she assumed he was on to her plan. He said,” Yes, actually, I wanted to know where you put your friend. I know you found her Mary. I looked around the library, and there isn’t anywhere to put her body, but you must have put her somewhere nearby, the smell is obvious.” Mary
kept to her acting job, throwing her hands in the air as if she were clueless. “Seriously? You’re not stupid enough to think I’m falling for your fake, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’ crap, are you?” he said.

  Mary would deny, deny, deny, until she could carry out her plan. She had her knife in her back pocket and she would use it if she had to. If she caved, they would have Hope’s body and know about the shed. “I’ll make you a deal. If, and I’m saying if, I know where she is, I would want something in return.” She could see a flicker of hope in his expression. He wanted Hope back to prove something to his crew. To boost his cred or something? The idea would fit with the superior macho attitude he had. It was all about him, and not the surreal conversation they were having.

  “Ok, I’m interested.” He said.

  “Give me some more time to mourn my friend. All I ask is for you to give me until morning, and I will personally show you where she might—hypothetically be.”

  The Major, Mary presumed, understood the part about her wanting to mourn her friend, and accepted. “For now, I won’t say anything to the guys, but if you don’t show in the morning, I will personally kill you myself, got that?” He said.

  “I give you my word, Major.” Mary said, knowing she would be gone in an hour, thankful for the chance to burn Hope’s body and make her escape. She wanted to ask about the lion head symbol on his hand but decided her question would have to remain a mystery. She couldn’t take any more chances this close to her escape.

  The symbol kept flashing through her mind. She had been so busy trying to get food and preparing to leave; she had forgotten about the black mass the night before the lion’s head symbols appeared on the Major and his crew. It was headed right for the same woods she was planning to escape to. She knew the symbol was important, but she couldn’t figure out why. She said a prayer in her mind to her guardian angel and guides and asked them to watch over her. She was sure the black mass’s arrival had something to do with the attitude change in the camp. Did the Major call it up or did it arrive here on its own? She needed to deal with her own survival and couldn’t add one more thing to her list right now. She knew from the cards she would have to deal with it eventually.