A chill snaked down her spine. She was looking at a white face in the attic window. From it desperate eyes stared at her.
Chapter 13
The upstairs hall was shrouded in afternoon shadows, and Rose wished she'd turned on the overhead light near the back stairs. Since the other switch was at the end of the corridor, she could either go back or continue toward her room. Moving forward, she heard the thirteen chimes of the grandfather clock on the first floor. Dinner would be soon, and they would talk about what had been happening at Wisdom Court. With any luck someone would have some ideas. Maybe Brenna would be a source of new information. In California they probably dealt with troubled spirits all the time. Of course, from what she read, most of them were still alive.
She saw the door to Caldicott's room was ajar. Curious, she walked nearer, and peeked inside. In the gloom something moved and she inhaled sharply.
"Is that you, Rose?" It was Aura Lee.
With a sigh of relief, Rose pushed open the door. Aura Lee sat on the edge of the chaise longue, her shoulders slumped, one hand stroking Strudel. The little dachshund's head rested on her paws, and her eyes were closed in bliss. Aura Lee had changed into a deep purple caftan that announced mourning as clearly as her lost expression. "She was scratching at the door to be let in," she said. "We've been sitting here together."
"I'm sorry." Rose flicked the light switch and crossed the Oriental rug, brushing against the flowered duvet on the canopy bed. She sat down beside Aura Lee and took her hand, patting it in sympathy. Strudel opened one eye and closed it again. "It's been a hard day."
Aura Lee nodded. "A dreadful day." They were silent for a long moment.
Strudel sat up suddenly, ears at attention. Aura Lee sighed deeply. "I've been thinking all afternoon. I'm afraid I might have set something in motion, but I swear I don't know what it is." Beside her Strudel had begun to growl deep in her throat.
Rose frowned at the dog. "Now what?"
Strudel leapt off the chaise and made a beeline for the fireplace, all the while barking madly.
"What is it? Strudel, stop it!" They stood up to go after her, but Strudel yipped and began backing away from the fireplace. Her barks died into whines, and she began to howl.
They both bent to grab her, but a scraping noise jerked their attention to the fireplace. The beveled mirror hanging above it slipped down the wall, struck the mantel, and smashed onto the hearth. "No!" Aura Lee cried in horror. "Not Cottie's mirror."
"Watch out for glass." Rose picked up Strudel, now whimpering piteously, and felt her trembling.
Aura Lee murmured in distress as she examined the wall where the looking glass had hung. "What caused it to fall? The hook is right there. Oh, it was so lovely. Cottie said a dear friend gave it to her years ago."
"Hush, baby, hush," Rose murmured to Strudel. The little dog was whining, still quivering. Rose carried her to the door. "I'm going to put her out in the hall so she won't get cut. I don't know what's wrong with her."
Rose set Strudel down, and she barked once. Then she trotted along the carpet runner to the back stairs and started down. "Weird." Rose returned to Caldicott's room. "She went downstairs as if nothing had happened."
Aura Lee was picking up pieces of glass and putting them in the wastebasket from beside the bed. "It's such a shame."
Rose bent to help and glimpsed metal mixed among the glass fragments. She used a piece of the frame to push aside bits of glass, uncovering a small container the size of a pillbox. Carefully she picked it up and rested it on her palm. It was made of silver with a hinge on one side.
"What do you have there?" asked Aura Lee. She peered at it over Rose's shoulder as she tried to find a way open it. "It must've been attached to the mirror somehow."
Rose slid her thumbnail under the narrow lip of the lid, and felt something inside give way. She heard the barest click, and the top swung open. Inside was a twist of paper, and a small brass key slipped from it when she pulled it from the box. She tilted the key onto her palm.
Aura Lee drew closer. "What in the world could it be for?"
"A jewelry case, a safety deposit box. Who knows? The paper is blank." Rose glanced down at the floor. "Do you see anything else that might've been with it?"
Aura Lee craned to look more closely at the remains of the mirror but found nothing. "Wouldn't there be the name of a bank if it were a safety deposit box?" At Rose's shrug, she said, "It's so frustrating! There's no way to know what it might unlock."
"Another mystery. Just what we need." Rose put the key back into the box. As she started to close the lid, the light from the ceiling fixture shone on the inner surface. "Wait a minute." Rose slanted it toward the fixture to get a better look. "Huh. It looked as though something was scratched out." She peered at the crude marks. "But something's been cut over that. I think it's a circle, or maybe an 'O'."
"A circle?" Aura Lee fumbled with her glasses hanging at her neck and peered into the box. "You're right. Like the circles around your fountain dishes," she said pointedly.
"I doubt that." Rose slipped the box into her pocket, her attention shifting to the mess on the floor. "I guess we'd better get this cleaned up. I'm glad nobody got hurt from it. Who knows how long it's been ready to drop off the wall."
"I know. I suppose the hanger could've been defective, but it looks okay." Aura Lee brushed past her, and stopped. "What's that on the rug?" She stooped to examine it more closely. "Is that blood?" She glanced at Rose. "Oh, no. You're bleeding."
"What?" Rose lifted her hand and saw blood dripping from it to the floor. "It doesn't even hurt."
Aura Lee tut-tutted, snatching a tissue from the bedside table. "Here. Hold it tightly to stop the bleeding. We'll have to make sure there isn't any glass in the cut. You know how tiny some of those splinters can be."
Rose wrapped her finger. "It'll be all right." She glanced down at the wool Oriental. Among shards of glass, next to the woven pattern of a Chinese dog, was a ring-shaped bloodstain. "I hope I didn't ruin the rug. I'll get something to wash it out."
When she returned with a spray bottle of stain remover, Rose found the bloodstain had expanded into the pattern of the rug. The blot was a perfect, pitch-black circle.
Rose turned away from the knowing look on Aura Lee's face.
Chapter 14
With darkness had come a cold wind. The bare cottonwood branches creaked like rusty hinges. Shadows leapt around the Wisdom Court buildings, trying to get to the light inside.
Andrea clutched her unbuttoned jacket to her chest and ran up the main house steps. From the driveway came the tap-tap of Neal's pickup horn, and she spun to wave, fumbling with the latch behind her. The door swung open and she stumbled inside, nearly flattening Noreen. Together they leaned against the door to defeat the gust shoving in behind her.
"Wow! It's getting nasty out there." Andrea shrugged out of her coat and hung it on one of the hooks beside the stairs. "Think it'll snow?"
"It could." Noreen's gaze went to the windows. "I've heard it's even snowed here in August."
Andrea shivered. "At least we missed that. Let's hope not in September, either. I'd have to get some warmer clothes."
"You'll probably have to do that anyway. Last winter had some downright bone-chilling days." Noreen led the way toward the dining room, elegant in a magenta sweater and rustling black skirt. "And Boulder gets more wind than any other place I've lived."
Andrea made a face at the thought, but any concerns regarding weather disappeared as she paused in the arched doorway.
The dining room was inviting, candles grouped along the middle of the long walnut table, the brass light fixture lustrous overhead. The centerpiece bouquet of dried red and gold leaves was reflected in the sideboard mirror along with the crystal decanters filled with brandy and port. The air was fragrant with pot roast and bay leaf, with an underlying hint of brownies just taken out of the oven.
Andrea inhaled deeply and smiled in pleasure. "What's the occasio
n?"
Kerry came through from the kitchen carrying a massive wooden salad bowl, pausing to let the door swing shut against her hip. "We'll find out, won't we?" Her green sweater set off her pale skin and auburn hair. She found a place for the bowl and pulled out a chair to sit down.
Andrea inspected her more closely. Had she been crying? Lately her inability to trace Caldicott's background had shadowed everything. Had she encountered more difficulties?
"It's the usual Thursday dinner." Rose entered from the hallway carrying a bottle of wine in each hand. She gestured with the Chablis Blanc. "Sit. Aura Lee's bringing in the pièce de résistance. You want white or red?"
Something's off with her, too. Andrea saw that Rose's fixed smile didn't reach her eyes. "What's the red?"
Rose glanced at the bottle. "Shiraz. Australian."
"That's for me, thanks." Andrea reached for the gray cotton napkin beside the heavy flatware. As Rose filled her glass, Brenna slid into place beside her and scooted her chair closer to the table.
"Hi." Brenna cast a glance at Rose, who was filling Noreen's glass. "Any idea what's going on?" she asked in a low voice. "I wasn't going to come tonight, but Rose practically put a gun to my head."
Andrea shrugged. "She'll let us know." She regarded the younger woman with concern. The dark circles under Brenna's eyes made her wonder when she'd last slept. She wore an olive shirt that gave her complexion a sickly tinge.
The door to the kitchen swung open, and Aura Lee carried in a platter with pot roast surrounded by yams and sautéed pearl onions, broccoli florets, and strips of red peppers. Chunks of celery and whole mushrooms lay at each end. She nodded at their appreciative murmurs, and went back to the kitchen, returning with a smaller plate she set in front of Brenna.
"Roast seitan. Thanks." Brenna flashed a smile. "I'm a vegetarian," she explained, pointing at the meat-like substance in a nest of vegetables.
"Is that like tofu?" asked Noreen.
"It's made of grains. I like it better than the soy in tofu, although some tofu dishes can be great." Brenna stopped and fumbled with her fork. "I'm babbling."
"Wouldn't be the first time that's happened around here." Kerry spooned yams onto her plate, and turned the platter in Andrea's direction. The others filled their plates and glasses. Conversation ebbed as they began to eat.
"This is so good," Andrea said after a while. "There's a reason they call it home cooking, Aura Lee."
"Isn't that the truth?" Noreen surveyed her plate with pleasure. "If I were a better person, I'd feel guilty that I always buy takeout when it's my turn to supply food. But I'm not, and I don't." She took another bite.
"Oh, now, it's just a roast." Aura Lee moved some broccoli around on her plate and smiled mechanically.
"What did she mean about her turn to supply food?" Brenna asked Andrea in a low voice.
What had happened to Aura Lee's energy and enthusiasm? "What?" Andrea glanced at Brenna and caught up with the question. "Oh, didn't Rose tell you? The group dinners are every Thursday, and we take turns providing the meal so Aura Lee doesn't get stuck with all the cooking."
"Tell her what?" Rose hadn't eaten much more than Aura Lee. "What have I forgotten now?"
"The thing about taking turns with Thursday dinners."
Rose sighed. "I'm sorry. So much has been going on, I spaced it out. It's no big deal," she assured Brenna. "You can do what Noreen does, and order take-out. It's turned into a tradition over the years that we share responsibility for that one meal."
Brenna nodded. "I can do that. Maybe I'll get up enough nerve to make my pasta Alfredo. It's pretty good."
Noreen stabbed a piece of celery from the platter. "I've been trained to eat anything. The cooks at a private girls' school," she explained to Brenna. "You wouldn't believe some of the things I've been served."
Without warning Aura Lee sniffed mightily, and pushed away from the table, fumbling at her sleeve for the tissue tucked inside it. "Excuse me, please," she said in a muffled voice. She hurried toward the kitchen.
The women around the table exchanged puzzled glances.
"I'll go." Rose disappeared through the swinging door.
Noreen looked after her in dismay. "I was trying to pay her a compliment, not compare her to the school cooks. I don't know why she would've misunderstood." Then her mouth snapped shut, and her eyes widened as a thought struck her.
"She seems upset." Andrea paused. "Am I the only who's picking up on some strange vibes tonight?"
Kerry put down her fork. "I don't know what's up with Aura Lee, but I had a weird thing happen today." She reached for her wineglass. "I'm still freaked out about it."
Noreen nodded. "And when strange follows upon the singular, what was familiar becomes foreign, and no comfort is to be had in what is known. Prudence Whilom Evans, 1849-1884."
Andrea thought how devastating events would have to be to cause that degree of detachment from one's own life. She registered the years mentioned. "Civil War?"
"Confederate side." Noreen surveyed her dinner partners, taking shrewd measure of their uneasiness. "Perhaps we've all encountered some mysteries of late."
"Yes, and we need to talk about them." Rose reentered the dining room from the hallway. Aura Lee followed her, dabbing at her damp eyes with a handkerchief. The others traded quick glances as the two resumed their places.
Rose refilled her glass and fidgeted with her silverware. When she looked up from the table, her expression was grim. "I planned to wait until after dinner, but since you've already brought it up, let's talk now." She glanced at Aura Lee. "Today presented a tipping point for Wisdom Court. We might as well lay it all out so we all know where we stand."
Andrea felt a shiver down her back. "I don't like the sound of that."
Rose's troubled gray eyes flicked toward her. "You know the kinds of things going on over the last few months. What happened with you..." Her voice trailed off.
"You mean the haunting you described, right?" Brenna asked.
Rose took a deep breath. "Yes, the haunting." She picked up her wineglass and set it back down. "What took place today convinced me Wisdom Court is still haunted. I thought after Andrea's experience we'd laid the ghosts to rest, but there've been so many strange things since then." She stared at her plate. "I don't know how else to explain them."
"What do you mean, exactly?" Brenna looked from Rose to Aura Lee. "You talked about Andrea's experiences before. Has something else happened? Have you actually seen ghosts?"
Rose moved uncomfortably in her chair and Noreen responded, "Not seen, heard."
"When did this happen?"
Noreen paid no attention to Kerry's exclamation. "Today I heard something I hope was a ghost. I don't even want to imagine what it could've been if it wasn't."
"Come on, spill it," Kerry said.
Rose described the shrieking noise from Aura Lee's room that afternoon. "It was a hideous sound, so loud we could hardly hear Aura Lee calling for help. We had to force open the door to get her out."
"Did you see anything?" Andrea heard the quaver in her voice and cleared her throat.
"I did not." Noreen's shoulders moved in a tiny shrug. "However—"
"I saw something incredible," Aura Lee said. "Something impossible. Fingers were extending up from the surface of my silver tray. They were transparent, starting to reach for the perfume bottles there."
Kerry just looked at them. Finally she said slowly, "If it weren't for what happened with Andrea, I'd have to think all three of you are batshit crazy."
"Oh, Kerry, if you'd heard it... it was so appalling." Noreen shared a grim look with Rose. "Whatever was making that noise could've done anything."
"Couldn't it have been an hallucination? You were doing another spell, right?" Kerry's gaze veered back to Aura Lee. "Those herbs you use could've made you see illusions, could've made any damn thing look plausible."
Aura Lee shook her head. "It happened."
"That's what scared m
e the most." Rose folded her hands on the table. "Aura Lee said she was reading. The fingers, the sounds all occurred on their own."
Andrea felt the hollowness in her stomach. She'd almost forgotten her dread at what had overcome her after her arrival in Boulder. Every time she'd picked up a paintbrush or a pencil, she wasn't sure she would be the one using it. The old fear slipped back into place as if it had never left her.
"Let me get this straight." Brenna bent toward Aura Lee in fascination. "This hand you saw came up from a tray?"
Aura Lee nodded. "Lights moved around on the surface, like on a pond, and the hand was pushing until the fingers broke through and came up among the colors. There was a humming sound that kept getting louder until I couldn't stand it."
"That's even weirder than what I saw." Brenna smiled crookedly. "I was snapping pictures outside this house last night and when I checked later, I found a shot of someone looking out of the attic window."
"Dear God," Noreen muttered. "What is happening here?" Her worried expression intensified. "It's as if someone's pushed an 'on' button for spookiness."
Andrea reached for her wine. She pretended her hand wasn't shaking. "Brenna, could you see who was looking out the window? Was it a blonde woman?" She emptied her glass.
"I couldn't tell. It was a sad, lost face." Brenna swallowed. "It was almost like it was asking me for help."
"Oh, man." Kerry let out a breath. "My scary stuff can't compete with yours or Aura Lee's, even though I passed out because of it."
"What?" The lines on Rose's face deepened. "Tell us."
"Max offered to help me hunt for more info about Caldicott. While I was checking his background, I got a copy of a book he wrote." She saw the glance between Rose and Noreen. "I couldn't take him at face value without digging a little bit. Anyway, I've had that book for the last week, and I read the whole thing." Her voice trailed off.
"And?" Noreen asked pointedly.
Kerry said in a rush, "We were at my place. The book—his book—fell on the floor. A piece of paper slipped out of it, a fragment of one of Caldicott's journals. One I've never seen."
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