by Bobbi Holmes
“Yeah. I told him what we found out. He checked around. They’re staying at the Seahorse Motel. They have reservations through Christmas,” Danielle explained.
“What’s he going to do?” Noah asked.
“What can he do?” Walt asked. “He can’t very well go over there and say according to Chris’s dog, you broke into Marlow House.”
“If they had taken something, then maybe we could claim an anonymous tip said they saw them in the house and then get a search warrant. But as far as I know, they didn’t take anything,” Danielle said. “So there is nothing to find.”
“That’s everything?” Lily asked.
“Yes. According to the owner of the store, everything that was in the trunk was sent over to the thrift store—except for the two items we bought,” Danielle explained.
“But maybe there was something else taken to the thrift store that wasn’t included in what Chris and Noah brought back today,” Lily suggested. “One of my mom’s friends used to work at her church’s thrift shop. I remember her telling us that all the really good stuff was often snatched up by the volunteers taking in the items.”
“Only problem with that, the only items the shop owner mentioned the Hoopers hadn’t seen were the statue, puzzle box and pottery—and the two we bought,” Danielle reminded her.
“Plus, we have a copy of the receipt given to Mermaid Curio,” Chris interrupted. He removed a piece of folded paper from his shirt pocket and handed it to Lily. “When the store owner from Mermaid Curio dropped that stuff off, they gave him a detailed receipt for tax purposes. This is a copy of it.”
“How did you get this?” Lily asked.
Chris smiled. “The women at the thrift store were accommodating.”
“If what that woman is looking for isn’t on that table—then it must be one of the items you bought,” Ian said. “The most logical place to look is in the frame. People hide things behind photographs.”
“I already looked. Only thing in the frame was the photograph,” Chris told him.
While the shrubbery had broken her fall, it had also drenched her once dry clothes. The icy chill permeated Pearl Huckabee’s bones. She could not recall ever before feeling this cold. Her ankle throbbed, but that was not her greatest problem. If someone didn’t find her soon, she would at the very least die from pneumonia.
Her snotty neighbor’s unwelcome shout was not to blame for the fall. That time Pearl had regained her balance. It was not until Heather Donovan had gone into Marlow House and Pearl had reached for one of the loose hooks holding up her Christmas lights that her tennis shoe slipped on the rung of the ladder. Unfortunately she was not able to catch herself, as she had when Heather had surprised her.
After falling to the ground, she had been knocked out—drifting in and out of consciousness. The sun was almost set before she was able to finally keep her eyes open. At first she had been confused, disoriented, trying to figure out where she was and how she had gotten there. Her clothes were wet, icy cold, and something hard was on top of her. She soon identified what that was—the ladder.
It took great effort to push the ladder aside, but finally she was free. Unfortunately, she had neither the strength to pull herself up nor an ankle able to hold her up if she managed to stand. She was fairly certain she had broken a bone. Whenever she tried to move her injured limb, excruciating pain ceased her. This was not how she wished to die. Moving even a few inches made her wince. She had shouted for help, but no one heard her. As the hours went by, her voice left her, as had all hope of being found.
Even if it was not almost dark and someone happened to walk by, they would not see the ladder. It was now hidden among the foliage along the front of her house—as was her injured and nearly freezing body. And if they did come by, they would not hear her shouting—the only sound she now made was a faint raspy plea for help.
Pearl closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to provide some warmth. She’d once heard freezing from death was relatively painless. But that was a lie. She ached in every cell. Perhaps, she thought hopefully, that means I am not as close to death as I imagine.
Twenty-Eight
Danielle had arranged the food on the buffet in the dining room, with the help of her friends. At one end of the buffet were the large paper plates, napkins and silverware. Next were the tortilla warmers, one filled with warm corn tortillas, the other with warm flour tortillas. A large stainless steel pan held the corn tortillas Danielle had fried. Adjacent to the stainless steel pan were two slow cookers, one filled with shredded beef and the other with piping hot refried beans smothered in melted cheddar cheese. Assorted bowls filled the space between the slow cookers and pan with the tamales Heather had brought. They contained shredded cheese, diced onions, chopped tomatoes, shredded cabbage, chopped cilantro, sour cream, guacamole, and salsa.
Walt and Ian helped serve the beverages, which included cold beer, soda and iced tea. Colin and Owen joined them for dinner, and like the rest, they each made their own plate of food. Gathering around the dining room table, the group chatted while enjoying the meal.
“I think we should all share a Christmas story,” Lily suggested while unwrapping a tamale.
“What kind of Christmas story?” Danielle asked.
“Something from one of our past Christmases,” Lily said. “Something funny…maybe even embarrassing.”
“I can tell one,” Heather volunteered. Everyone looked her way before she continued. “When I was in fourth grade, I bragged to my entire class about the bike Santa had brought me for Christmas. They all started laughing at me. I wanted to die. I think that is the most embarrassed I have ever been in my entire life.”
“Why did they laugh at you?” Lily asked.
Heather turned an are-you-serious look at Lily and said, “Because I still believed in Santa.”
“They were the ones who were wrong, not you,” Colin said. “Just because a person stops believing in Santa doesn’t mean Santa’s not real.”
“I wish I had thought of that back then.” Heather looked at Lily and said, “Okay, you must have one.”
“Well, if it is something embarrassing, it would have to be the time my mother bought the entire family really dorky-looking matching Christmas pajamas. She made us all wear them to have a family portrait taken—which she used for our Christmas card that year.”
Heather shrugged. “So? That doesn’t sound embarrassing. Sounds cute.”
“I was a sophomore in high school at the time,” Lily told her.
They all laughed, and then Colin said, “I have a story.”
“Embarrassing or funny?” Heather asked.
“Not really embarrassing or funny—perhaps just memorable,” Colin said with a grin. “It was my first time visiting New York. I had some meetings scheduled, one was with a gentlemen who later became a friend. He was involved with the Episcopal church. Clem and I used to have some heated debates on theology. It was right before Christmas, and we decided to share a little Christmas cheer. We ended up writing a very snappy Christmas limerick. Although I will admit, Clem worked out most of the prose, I just gave him the idea of what to write. We were quite proud of ourselves.” Colin laughed at the memory.
“Can you sing it?” Lily asked.
“That was a long, long time ago.” Colin then looked at Owen and said, “Do you have a Christmas story to share?”
Owen set his half-eaten taco on his plate and looked up. “Christmas story?”
“Something funny or embarrassing from one of your past Christmases,” Lily explained.
Owen took a deep breath and considered the question a moment. “Mine isn’t really embarrassing or funny either, but I remember the Christmas my sister and I saw Santa and his sleigh fly over our aunt’s house on Christmas Eve.”
Chris laughed. “Really?”
“It certainly looked like a sleigh and reindeer back then,” Owen said with a grin. “For a long time that’s what we believed. Although
I don’t remember us ever discussing it—I mean after we grew up and stopped believing. It was probably some lights from the airport or something, but in my memory, it sure looked like Santa and his reindeer.”
“I rather love that story,” Danielle said.
“So do you have one?” Owen asked Danielle.
“What comes to mind is the time my cousin Cheryl and I got tipsy on Christmas Eve. I think we were about twelve at the time.”
“Dani!” Lily said with a laugh. “You never told me about that.”
Danielle shrugged. “My parents were having their annual Christmas party. My mom and aunt always drank grasshoppers at the party. It was sort of a tradition.”
“What is a grasshopper?” Owen asked.
“Sort of a creme de menthe milkshake-like cocktail—at least how Mom and my aunt used to make them. The only booze they have is creme de menthe and creme de cocoa. Anyway, they used to let us have a sip. But this one year Cheryl and I decided we wanted more than a sip, so under the pretense of helping bus dishes, we went around collecting any abandoned grasshopper cocktails—and finishing up what was left in the glasses.”
Heather wrinkled her nose. “Yuck. Sounds gross. All those germs.”
“Hey, we were twelve,” Danielle said with a shrug. “Anyway, on Christmas morning I had my first hangover—at twelve years old,” Danielle told them.
“Did you do it again the next year?” Walt asked.
“No. It was years before I had another grasshopper—or anything with alcohol.”
When attending church, Pearl lowered her head with the rest of the congregation during prayer. But instead of praying, Pearl typically used that time to think about what she planned to do for the rest of the day. After all, God didn’t need her telling him what to do. As Pearl felt the darkness surround her, she thought about those times she had not prayed at church.
Lights were on next door at Marlow House. Pearl could see them if she lifted her head. It was dark out. She couldn’t spend the night outside; as it was, she had already lost all feeling in her lower extremities. Pearl closed her eyes for a moment and then did something she had not done in years—she began to pray. First she recited the Lord’s Prayer, followed by a prayer she had learned as a child. Her prayer turned into a plea until she was begging for his help.
Suddenly a thought came into her head. Pearl stopped pleading and felt around the ground for a rock. Once she found one, she held it tightly in her hand. The hand holding the rock reached to the nearby ladder, gently tapping it. Smiling and feeling hopeful, she tapped the rock against the ladder again, this time louder. It made a pinging sound. Excited, she again hit the rock against the aluminum ladder—and then again and again…
Everyone at Marlow House’s dining room table had finished dinner, but they all remained seated, telling Christmas stories. Colin was about to say something when he froze a moment and listened. No one else at the table heard what he had just heard, and none noticed his odd expression. They all continued to talk, oblivious to whatever had captured his attention.
Colin stood abruptly and looked to Danielle. “Do you mind if I help myself to some water in the kitchen?”
“I can get it for you.” Danielle started to stand up.
“No, no. Sit down. I need to stretch my legs anyway. I always get a little stiff when I sit too long.”
After giving Colin a soft smile, Danielle sat back down as he walked toward the kitchen. No one at the table noticed how he glanced down at Hunny, who had been sleeping by Chris’s feet. Hunny woke up and looked at the elderly man. Their eyes met. Colin patted the side of his pant leg. Hunny stood up and followed him out of the room and to the kitchen.
A few minutes later Colin stood alone in the kitchen with the dog. He looked at the closed door leading to the backyard, Hunny watching him. Colin finally knelt down. Taking the pit bull’s head between his hands, he looked into her eyes.
“Someone needs your help. This is your chance. You are going to have to dig under the side fence. She needs warmth first. And you can’t tell them I sent you. But you have to let them know she is there. Do you understand?”
Hunny stared into the kind eyes. The next moment she turned and bolted from the kitchen, practically flying through the pet door into the backyard.
The rock fell from Pearl’s hand. She could no longer hold it, much less hit the ladder. But then she heard something—it was coming from the fence separating her property from Marlow House. She tried to raise her head to see, but it was too dark to see anything. It sounded like frantic digging. But not the digging of a shovel—the digging of an animal. The next moment she heard something running in her direction—running and panting.
A moment later she found herself nose to nose with Chris Johnson’s pit bull. She tried to scream, but it was impossible to make a sound. The dog stared at her, and then to her surprise it licked her face.
Oh my god, he is going to eat me! Pearl thought. This is how it ends for me? A late night snack for my neighbor’s dog?
Instead of ripping the flesh from Pearl’s bones, Hunny snuggled up close to the woman’s side, resting her neck along Pearl’s. The dog inched her furry warmth over Pearl’s body without lying on her, sparing the older woman her full weight.
A desire for warmth replaced fear, and Pearl found herself wrapping her arms around the dog, soaking in its body’s warmth. It felt so good, Pearl started to cry. Hunny lifted her head slightly and licked the tears from her face.
“Oh, please get help,” Pearl whispered, never imagining the dog would really understand her plea. A moment later Hunny ran off.
Hunny charged into the dining room and started barking. Everyone at the table stopped talking and looked at the dog. The next moment Hunny quieted and sat down. She stared at Walt.
Chris started to say something when Walt stood abruptly and said, “I think Hunny is trying to tell us something.” Most of the people in the room understood Walt knew exactly what Hunny was trying to say, but they played along, as they all wanted to discover what Walt already knew.
As soon as they followed Walt outside, Hunny rushed to the side gate and dove into the tunnel she had dug between Marlow House and Pearl’s yard. The dog disappeared. Instead of following Hunny, they all ran to the side gate and onto the sidewalk, heading over to Pearl’s house.
Walt reached her first, yet only because Hunny had already told him where he could find her. As he knelt by Pearl’s side, the dog was once again providing warmth as the injured woman wrapped her arms around the pit bull as if she were a lifeline.
Ian didn’t have to be told what to do. He was the first on the cellphone, already calling 911 before Walt had a chance to check Pearl’s vitals.
Twenty-Nine
Absently chewing her lower lip, Danielle picked up the bottle of corn syrup from the kitchen counter and gave a frown. It was one of the items she had put on the grocery list for Joanne to pick up. “It’s been a long time since I bought corn syrup,” she told Marie, who was busy gathering the rest of the divinity ingredients from the pantry and setting them on the counter.
“You can’t make divinity without corn syrup,” Marie reminded her. “You do want to make it, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do. Your divinity tastes wonderful, and it is only once a year, so I suppose it won’t kill us.”
“Goodness, to even suggest my candy would ever kill anyone!”
Their conversation was interrupted when the kitchen door opened. In walked Lily from the side yard. She awkwardly held the door open while pushing a stroller into the kitchen. Sitting in the stroller was a happily alert Connor, who waved his hands excitedly while pounding on the table tray and drooling. Wisps of curly reddish blond hair covered his head while he excitedly looked around the room through bright green eyes, the same shade as his mother’s.
“Good morning, Dani, Marie,” Lily greeted them as she closed the door behind her.
“How did you know Marie was here?” Danielle asked, still st
anding by the counter.
“Because when I walked up and looked in the window, I saw a box of sugar floating across your kitchen, and I didn’t see Walt around,” Lily explained.
Danielle looked at Marie and cringed. “I suppose we should be more careful. After all, Colin and Owen are in the house.”
“No, they’re not. I just saw them walking down the street together, heading for the pier,” Lily told her.
“If that’s the case, let me take this little guy!” Marie said cheerfully as she reached for Connor.
“Marie wants to take Connor,” Danielle told Lily. The next moment the baby seemingly floated up from the stroller and began floating around the kitchen while giggling.
“I came over to see if you know how Pearl is doing?” Lily asked as she sat at the table. Danielle poured two cups of coffee and then joined Lily, bringing her a cup.
“I spoke to the chief this morning. Since we aren’t family, the hospital won’t tell us anything if we call to check on her, even though we’re the ones who called 911,” Danielle began.
“Yeah, you mentioned that last night.”
“According to the chief, she broke her ankle. They set it, and it doesn’t look like she is going to require any surgery. But they are worried about pneumonia. She was outside for hours before we found her on that damp ground. It looks like she’s going to be spending Christmas in the hospital.”
“Pearl may not be my most favorite person, but I can’t help but feel sorry for her. She must have been terrified yesterday, and now, having to spend Christmas all alone in the hospital,” Lily said.
“I know. I feel sorry for her too.”
“Did Walt ever figure out how Hunny knew Pearl had fallen?” Lily asked. “I just can’t believe Hunny would dig under the fence like that.”
“From what I understand, Pearl had lost her voice trying to scream for help. She started hitting the ladder with a rock, and Hunny heard the pinging sound. Apparently she sensed someone needed help and dug under the fence and found Pearl.”