CHAPTER 15

Chapter Fifteen

Mountain Ridge, Michigan

June 1942

Dear Lisa;

I am not sure if you remember me. We met at Ezekiel’s funeral. I sometimes bought corn, cucumbers, tomatoes and eggs from you. My older sisters, Elsie and Mary, are the busiest busy bodies in town. My younger sister, Alice, does her share of getting into everyone’s business too. She will be married in the spring if her fiancé can get a furlough. They were planning the wedding, and then the Japs bombed Pearl Harbor.

I don’t know if you want me to write to you or not. If not, just say so, or throw away the letters. But if you would like, I can keep you up to date on Mountain Ridge news.

That Indian girl, Danni is going to become a doctor. She is studying at Michigan State. Imagine a lady doctor. Imagine an Indian doctor? But she is smart. She will make a great doctor. My pa and I already said we wouldn’t mind going to her. Dr. Tracie is getting up in age. Someone has to take over. Doc’s son is at Michigan State too. Maybe we will have two doctors here in town. Young Dr. Tracie and Dancing Bear. Wouldn’t that be something?

Do you need anything? Cigarettes? Candy? Newspapers? They’re starting to ration, but dad and I don’t need much. Dennis is doing such a great job on the Cheney farm that he could feed the entire county.

Please write if you have a mind to. Otherwise it’s okay. Dad and I are working extra shifts at the mine, so if I don’t answer right away, it is not because I do not want to.

Dylan Mynter

Dear Dylan:

Of course, I remember you. You and your dad and your sisters and your entire family were always so nice.

Please do not go out your way for me. My brother brings me books and candy. There is this great mystery writer, John Byrnes. Have you heard of him? Jack gets a copy of his books as soon as they come out, and he brings me copies. I love his writing. Jack brings me other books too. I have enough reading material. If you haven’t read Byrnes yet, I can send you copies of his books when I finish reading them.

I work for a few hours each day in the laundry, but I tend to be very tired. The pills they give me help me sleep. I no longer have nightmares, but I get so tired.

Lisa

Dear Lisa:

I know you said I should not go out of my way, but Vonnie said she thought it would be okay if I visited. I’ll be driving to Marquette, to check out a problem Mr. Rinaldi is having shipping the ore. It would be no problem to stop by and see how you are doing.

Dylan

Dear Dylan;

Please do not come. It’s not that I would not like to see you. I would. But like I said, I am always so tired, and I am not a good conversationalist. I don’t know what to say to anyone. I would be very nervous to have a visitor other than Jack and Vonnie.

Lisa

Jack asked Dancing Bear if she could meet him at the Red Swan for supper in Detroit. “This place is beautiful,” she said after they were seated.

He agreed. This was his favorite restaurant. “Almasy House in its day was elegant, but it couldn’t match a place like this.”

She laughed, “I didn't get to see Almasy House in its prime. Anyway I don’t think Indians would have been allowed inside. Did you know they had Klan meetings there?”

“Yes, I heard that jack said. It’s probably true. Almasy House was before my time too, but my sisters and I got to stay there once. It was the night my mother died. We stayed a few days after that.”

“That must have been so awful for you.”

“It wasn’t a good time.” He sipped his wine. “How are the studies going?”

“Good. I can be a doctor eventually. Or a nurse.”

“A nurse?”

“In case you didn’t notice I am a woman and an Indian. Nobody is going to go to a woman doctor, much less an Indian one.”

“Well, I would. And if I had you, I’d have the best.”

A waiter came and freshened their wine glasses. Jack said, “Rumor has it you visit home every break you get, and that you and Dennis Cheney are more than just good friends.”

“My home is in Mountain Ridge. My family lives there. I like Dennis a lot. I can’t see being a farmer’s wife and a doctor though. Maybe I should change my major to veterinary medicine.”

“Do what you think will make you happy,” he said.

“How’s Lisa?” Dancing Bear asked.

“That is what I want to talk to you about. She had a bad nightmare the first night she was there.”

“She’s still in Newberry then.”

“They’ve been drugging her. “ Jack unfolded a sheet of paper from his pocket and slid it across the table to her. As she read the list of drugs Lisa was taking, Dancing sighed.

Their food arrived. Lobster bathed in a buttery sauce; green beans cooked with slivered almonds sprinkled with lemon; and garlic mashed potatoes. “Does this restaurant know there’s a war on?” Danni asked.

Jack nodded at the list of drugs. “What do you think?”

“I am not a doctor yet; I am not her doctor; I have not examined her.” “I know. But I also know Lisa used to be such an intelligent girl. She knew about politics; she could discuss Roosevelt’s policies; poetry, history. She read lots and she is very smart. Now she just yawns when I visit her. She can barely make it through a John Byrnes novel.”

“What about her traumas? The nightmares? Lisa’s been through so much.”

“It’s no reason for those doctors to turn her into a zombie.”

“I can’t go to war with her doctors. You know that.”

“Tell me what you think,” Jack asked. “It’s just between us.”

“Those drugs are a powerful cocktail. If I were treating her, I would give her something a lot less powerful. But remember I’m not a doctor yet, and I am a long way from becoming one.”

Again Jack nodded. “I talked to her doctors. I suggested taking her here to Detroit to live with me. That would be one alternative. Vonnie still has that house near Dennis’ farm and she says Lisa could live there again. But after what happened there…” Jack didn’t finish the sentence.

“She probably should have someone with her. I’m not sure if the farmhouse is a good choice for her, especially if she’ll be alone.”

“The doctors suggested an operation. They call it a lobotomy.”

Danny stopped eating. She knew of this operation. “Did they explain this operation to you?”

“Yes; they said it was safe.”

“Some of the medical literature does suggest that it’s safe.”

“What about the rest of the medical literature?”

“A lot of these surgeries are being done.” She paused staring at a clamp of mashed potatoes on her fork. She had observed such an operation just weeks ago, and it had not gone well. Danni didn’t hesitate. “If it were my sister, Jack, I wouldn’t let her have the operation, and I would get her out of there right away. Sometimes they get a confused patient to consent. And if Lisa is a ward of the state…”

“She isn’t. I’m paying for her hospitalization.”

“If you think you and Vonnie can care for her yourselves, you should do it. But it may not be easy.”

Dear Lisa;

I have been drafted. My dad and Mr. Rinaldi tried very hard to keep me from the army. It is not that I am a coward. I keep thinking about how many Americans died at Pearl Harbor. I keep thinking about how many are dying in Europe and in the Pacific. But I just don’t think I can take a gun and shoot someone. I can’t imagine myself doing that.

I report for basic duty next week.

Maybe I will go to Europe. I wonder what Paris is really like. Perhaps my letters will get better. I’ll have more interesting things to say.

If you want to keep writing to me, send the letters to my my dad. He will make sure they get through.

Dylan

Dear Dylan;

I am so sorry to hear you will be leaving for the war; I know you didn’t want to be drafted. I am not sure our paths will cross again.

Jack signed me out of Newberry, and he took me to live with him in Detroit. I visited Jack’s office. It’s in the Penobscot Building, which is one of the highest buildings in Detroit. He’s a consultant, but I didn’t meet any of his clients.

“What do you consult about?” I asked.

“Crime,” he told me. “The police ask for my help sometimes.” “And they pay you? Jack, that almost makes you a cop.”

“It makes me an ex-con who has some useful connections,” he answered.

That made me sad because Jack should never have gone to prison. He shouldn’t be an ex-con.

Jack gave me a copy of John Byrnes latest book. It’s not even in the bookstores yet, but Jack says Byrnes is one of his clients. I would love to meet John Byrnes, and I told Jack that. But Jack said that Byrnes is a recluse and doesn’t like to meet strangers. There aren’t even any pictures of him on the book jackets.

I don’t have enough to do. I clean Jack’s house - Boy was it messy, and I cleaned his office which was neater because he has a cleaning lady who comes in once a week.

Jack has all of the Agatha Christie, Earle Stanley Garner and John Byrnes books. He has quite a few other titles too. Of course, I had already read many of the books. Jack and I like the same authors.

I am feeling so much better now that I’m not taking all those drugs. Jack keeps a night light on and he keeps his bedroom door open, so I don’t get scared at night. But I miss Vonnie. She drives downstate sometimes. Lucinda Rinaldi even came to visit.

Carol Ann Davies, the senator’s other daughter, was two years old when she came to live with the Rinaldis.

It was Vonnie who met the child and her companion at the railroad station. The woman hung onto the child. She didn’t want to let go. And Vonnie knew this was the mother. She and Lucinda had expected a maid to deliver the child.

“Her name is Carol Ann,” the woman said.

“I know; we read about her birth in the newspapers.”

“Are you Mrs. Davies?” the woman asked. “Because if you are, I’m so sorry. I know I shouldn’t have…”

Vonnie motioned for her to stop, “ I’m just a maid; I’m Yvonne Cheney, and Lucinda prefers her maiden name. Rinaldi.”

“Of course.”

The child clung to her mother. “You must go with this lady now.”

Vonnie saw the love between the child and her mother. And she knew how awful it was to lose a child. She had lost Little Louis, and the memory hurt her terribly. “If you don’t mind my asking, why are you giving up Carol Ann?”

“I can’t keep her. I have this cancer and I don’t know if I can beat it. I’m going to the hospital.”

“But Brad…”

“He doesn’t want her. After Lucinda left him, he started thinking about another wife. And that wife wasn’t me.”

Vonnie didn’t know what to say. She knew how miserable Lucinda had been during her marriage. “When you get out of the hospital…”

“I can’t keep her,” the woman said. And she hurried away without a backward glance.

Carol Ann, screamed ,“Mama.”

Vonnie held her close.

Dear Mary:

Please share this letter with dad and the family. I only have time to write one letter.

They wake us up at five a.m. and march us five miles before breakfast. That’s the easy part of my day. They say no one flunks basic training. I think I might be the first.

Rifle practice. I like the part about standing up straight and moving the gun from shoulder to shoulder and center. It seems like a big waste of energy, but I do it. I like the salutes and neatly-made bunkbeds and polished shoes. But I am awful at gunnery practice. I can’t hit the target. In fact, I scare the instructors who are afraid I will shoot myself in the foot or worse, shoot someone else. But I can’t hit anything. I should be embarrassed by my target shooting scores.

Still they are not letting me out of this army. The sergeant called me in and said I was clearly not cut out to be a fighting man.

Instead I am going to start training with the Red Cross. I’ll be an ambulance driver. That’s not a profession that I would have picked for myself. The iron ore mines are deep and scary, but so is picking up soldiers who are half dead on a battle field. I don’t mind helping the wounded. I just wonder how much help I’ll be.

I hope the war ends, and not just for my sake. I think about the hundreds of thousands who are dying, and I just want this madness to be over.

I won’t be able to write you much after we ship out. My letters will be censored then. Maybe I can tell you generally where I will be. Europe or Africa or the Pacific, but most likely I won’t be more specific than that. I am told my letters might have holes cut in them by the censors.

Tell Dad I think about him often. Please send news about home. How is Elaine doing? What about that nice Brianka girl? The last I heard she was living in Detroit. I wasn’t sure of her brother’s address, so I sent a letter care of Jack Brianka at the Penobscot Building. He has an office there.

Do you believe all that gossip about him being part of the Mafia? I know he was in prison, but I don’t think he is a bad sort. Do you?

Give my love to all.

Dylan

The little girls, Carol Ann and Starr, slept with Lucinda, so there was little for Vonnie to do in the mornings. There would be more to do in the afternoon. She got up and started breakfast. She could clean the kitchen today. The rooms were easy to keep clean, but there were so many rooms.

Lucinda walked into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee. “Something smells heavenly,” she said.

“Blueberry pancakes. The syrup is off the farm. Dennis brought me a new keg yesterday afternoon.”

“Bless him.” Lucinda poured cream and sugar into her coffee.

“How are the babies?” Vonnie asked.

“Sleeping. They usually sleep in the mornings. It’s around midnight when they want to be up and out of their cribs.”

“They seem to get along. Just like sisters.”

“That’s how I intend to raise them,” Lucinda said. “Where is your helper?”

“She’s not here.” Vonnie didn’t want the new girl, Elaine Mynter, to lose her job, but she was not a good worker. In fact, Elaine was never around when there was any work to be done. She would pose in front of a bathroom mirror, trying on different make-up and admiring her pretty face and body.

“We’re going to have to let her go,” Lucinda said.

Vonnie didn’t say anything. If Elaine Dabb Mynter lost her job, it would not be because of anything Vonnie said.

“You don’t know anyone who could come here and work with you, do you?”

Vonnie didn’t get a chance to answer. At that moment, Elaine hurried through the door. She made no apologies for being late. “Is Mr. Rinaldi up yet?” she asked.

Vonnie and Lucinda shared a glance. The girl had been openly flirting with Enrico and he had let Lucinda know he didn’t like it.

“You were supposed to be here an hour ago to help get breakfast ready.’ Lucinda said.

“I’ll serve,” Elaine decided. “Just as soon as Mr. Rinaldi is ready.” With that she hurried into the bathroom to fix her hair.

“She seems to have a romantic interest in my father,” Lucinda said.

Vonnie folded a dish towel and looked away.

“He told me to fire her.” Lucinda said.

Vonnie was vacuuming when news came that the president was dead. Lucinda rushed into the room. “It can’t be,” she said. “It just can’t be.” The two women hugged, and cried. The babies started crying too.

“The war must have taken a lot out of him.” Lucinda said.

“It’s been what? Four years? This war just can’t go on much longer.”

Jack drove Lisa north to help Vonnie.

Lisa was glad things had not changed much at the Rinaldi mansion. She would work with Vonnie, and she decided she would not be nervous like she used to be. She was even surprised Mr. Rinaldi allowed her to come back.

The sisters kept up with the war news by listening to the radio and reading the newspaper everyday.

They read the lists of local boys killed. Thank heavens none of the Mynter boys were on those lists. Lisa didn’t know many people, but she had met most of the the Mynters, and they were always nice to her. Dylan Mynter had even written to her until he got sent to Europe or Africa or wherever the army sent him. He said to get news from his dad, and that he would write again when he could.

One August day Vonnie picked up the newspaper after Mr. Rinaldi was finished with it.

A terrible bomb had dropped on Hiroshima, and the city had been destroyed. Vonnie remembered Pearl Harbor. The Japanese had picked this fight, but imagine a bomb so terrible, it would destroy an entire city. She thought about the people living there.

What had they thought when they heard the news of Pearl Harbor? Did they know this war would destroy them and everything around them? The innocent died with the guilty. Vonnie thought about the babies and, dogs and cats. She thought about the trees, and the flowers. Everything had been destroyed. Those poor people, she thought.

President Truman had made the decision to drop this bomb.

Vonnie was so haunted by the news of the terrible new bomb that she carried her sadness with her to the grocery store.

She saw Mary Mynter Smith, Dylan’s sister, shopping across the aisle. The two women both had their ration books out. “Maybe we’ll be able to buy silk stockings again,” Mary said.

“You think the war is really over?” Vonnie could hardly believe it.

“I hear the Japanese are surrendering right now.”

“Your brothers. How are they doing?”

“They should all be coming home. We were lucky. We didn’t lose anyone.”

“I’m so happy for you and your family. Dylan wrote such nice letters to Lisa when she was in Newberry.”

“How is Lisa?”

“Jack signed her out of the hospital. They really weren’t doing much other than sedating her. She lived with Jack in Detroit for awhile. But she wanted to come back here. We’ve been staying with the Rinaldis. It made sense with gas rationing and everything. She’s working with me”

Mary smiled. “If you don’t mind my asking, what ever happened with Elaine?”

Vonnie hesitated. She didn’t like to speak ill of anyone.

“It’s okay;” Mary prompted. “Elaine is not my favorite person. You know she was married to my brother, Dylan.”

“I heard they got a divorce.”

“Thank heavens we got that witch out of the family.”

“She didn’t work out at the house either. Lucinda had to fire her.”

“Did she think Enrico Rinaldi was going to be her next husband?”

“She flirted with him, which he didn’t like. She’s even younger that Lucinda. But she just wasn’t doing the work, and I needed some help. We have two babies there now.”

That puzzled Mary. “Did Lucinda have twins?”

Again Vonnie hesitated. She knew Mary wasn’t trying to pry or gossip. “Yes, Lucinda has twins.” It was true. The girls would be raised as if they were indeed twin sisters. But one girl was blue eyed and had hair the color of summer wheat; the other had black hair and eyes like Lucinda. They didn’t look like sisters.

CHAPTER FOUTEEN

Chapter Fourteen

1970 Almasy House

Audrey and I usually ate our lunch at eleven. She had a ham sandwich and an apple. I traded her my banana for her Twinkie and a bag of pretzels. I had a lettuce salad dressed up with red onion, tomatoes, cucumber and a vinaigrette dressing.

“I don’t get it,” she said. “If Vonnie’s son’s death was ruled an accident thirty some years ago, why change it to homicide now.”

“Because Miles wants to cause trouble. The Brianka’s aren’t well-liked in this town.”

“Vonnie’s a successful business woman. She’s the best.”

“But she was expecting a baby before she had a husband. No one believes little Louis was old Ezekiel’s son.”

“It’s nobody’s business.”

“Jack was in prison, and Lisa’s crazy. People still see the Briankas as different.”

“Aren’t we all?” she said. “I mean how do they define different?”

I bit into a pretzel. This town has a twisted history, I thought.

Lisa: The Jail

Lisa’s second night in jail. Again the lights went off just when she needed them most. She was sure the hanged man from last night - most likely a stuffed scarecrow - had been planted. And the seaweed. Where had that come from? Her jailers were practical jokers. The were bullies. But that didn’t lesson her fear.

She took deep breaths, closed her eyes. tried not to imagine herself in a dark place.

She fell asleep. She awoke to water sounds. It sounded like someone was running water. Running water wasn’t scary. But she thought of the creek and little Louis’ last moments. How terrified he must have been.

A falsetto voice cried out, “Auntie. Auntie. Help me. Where are you, Auntie?”

Lisa put her hands over her ears. Someone was trying to scare her. Then came the sound of wet footsteps.

She screamed.

In the hall way Miles wanted to giggle. He sloshed back to his office, took off the wet boots and hid them in the closet.

1941

When Miles got back from patrol he went to his dad’s office and poured himself a cup of coffee. “We gotta check on the brother. See if he had anything to do with this. Mean thing to lock your sister in a John and then take off.”

“Mean thing for anyone to do,” his dad told him. “But Jack Brianka doesn’t come to the Upper Peninsula. Part of his sentencing and his pardon.”

“Don’t mean he don’t come. If I catch him…”

“You will do nothing but report back to me. Leave Jack Brianka alone. That family’s had enough heartbreak.”

“I tell you, he’s the one that done it.”

“Well, you’re wrong. I checked and Jack’s got a good alibi.”

“Sleeping with Rinaldi’s daughter.” Miles was so upset he spilled some of his coffee. “What that pretty one, rich and a senator’s wife, sees in that tramp, I’ ll never know. Want me to double check that so-called alibi.”

“I want you to mind your own business. I told you Jack wasn’t here, and he didn’t do this one.”

“Maybe that crazy gal is lying. She goes in there and claws at the boards like a wild animal and…”

“Go over to the Watson residence. They claim someone’s been stealing their chickens.”

“Soon as you tell me about this great alibi Johnny Brianka has.”

Leo put his pen down and thought had for a minute. “You know Ben Fuller?”

“Captain. State Police. Ole Jack got himself in more trouble. I shoulda known it.”

“Actually Jack is helping the state guys. You know there’s a killer operating in the state. We got missing girls. Some bodies have shown up. Showin’ up all the time. But we think there are more”

“Jack always was top of my list of suspects.”

“Well he is not on Fuller’s list of suspects. Fuller thinks it’s one of his guys.”

Miles spilled more of his coffee. “No way,” he said. They couldn’t be on Sonny’s trail, and if they were, Sonny was bound to implicate him.

Leo said, “Jack knows lots of people, cops and mobsters and ex cons. Fuller thought he could help. He’s been talking to Jack. That’s where Jack was when…”

“Big help that jailbird will be.” Miles set his cup down and hurried out. He had to warn Sonny. If the cops had a theory about a cop being the killer, then he and Sonny could be in trouble.

What a joke. Jack Brianka helping the state cops.

That night Jack stayed at the Cheney farm.

He brought whiskey with him and while Vonnie rested, he poured himself a drink and took out extra glasses for Dancing Bear and Dennis. “Someone killed that little boy,” he said.

Mary and Elsie were busy in Emil’s kitchen making pies. They had just come home from Milwaukee where they sold more of the jewelry and coins Emil had found. The first thing they had done when they got home was go shopping for flour and sugar and baking supplies. Each sister kept a large garden in her backyard and soon they would be canning for the winter. They also had pies to make.

They had heard about the latest tragedy at the store.

Back home in their pa’s kitchen, the sisters blinked tears from their eyes. “That poor little boy,” Mary said as she wiped her face with her apron.

“We have to do something for that Cheney girl. Making pies just won’t be enough.”

“There has to be something. She’s a Brianka. you know.”

Elsie nodded. “The brother can’t come north. He’s had some trouble with the law, and they don’t want him in the Upper Peninsula.”

“And the sister is odd. Dylan said talking to her was like talking to a child.”

“But Yvonne - I think that is her name…”

“Yes, that’s the older sister. The one who just lost that baby. Yvonne. They call her Vonnie.”

“She’s a maid for the Rinaldis. In fact, she seems to be Lucinda Rinaldi Davies’ best friend. Lucinda will help her. The Rinaldi’s are good people. If I needed a job, I’d want to work for them.”

“Pa worked for them. He got a nice retirement bonus.”

“Half the town works in Rinaldi’s mines.”

“I wonder…” Elsie said.

“What are you scheming?” Mary asked.

“Dylan needs a wife, and Vonnie’s such a sweet girl.”

“But she had a kid out of wedlock. People don’t forget things like that.” Mary wasn’t going to let her brother get sucked into another bad marriage.

“Who cares what people think?”

“Dylan needs a special wife; he’s a special guy. If he wasn’t my brother, and I wasn’t already married, I’d marry Dylan.” There was silence for awhile, and then Mary added, “Vonnie has an ex-con brother and a crazy sister. We can’t let Dylan get involved with that.”

“But we have to help her. That poor dear just lost her husband who was more like a father to her and now. And now she’s lost her baby. It’s more than anyone can bear.…”

The sisters sat in silence for awhile. Each wondering what she could do to help. Wondering what the Mynter family could do to help.

The problem of finding Dylan a good wife was set aside for now.

Lisa sat with Dr. Tracie and Vonnie. He talked about Newberry, the State Mental Hospital. “It has a great staff. She’ll get the best possible care.”

“We grew up in an orphanage.” Vonnie began. She knew how much Lisa had hated the orphanage, and to institutionalize her again seemed cruel. “I can’t send her back to a place like that.”

“This will be different,” Tracie assured her.

“How?”

“Her problems can be addressed by professionals who know how to deal with the types of problems that Lisa has.”

“But she was doing so well on the farm.” Even as she said it, Vonnie realized Lisa really had not been doing that well on the farm. And now after the ordeal of losing Little Louis, Vonnie just didn’t know what to do.

She hurt so much herself after losing her baby and her husband, she doubted her ability to cope with Lisa anymore, and Jack was living downstate now.

Vonnie wanted to throw her hands in the air and scream. Instead she turned to Lisa. “What do you want to do?”

Lisa didn’t answer.

After awhile Dr. Tracie said, “Lisa, no one will hurt you at Newberry. Some of the people there will have problems similar to yours. You can make friends.” After a minute, Lisa nodded. She turned to Vonnie. “I’ll go.”

Danni drove the sisters to the gates of Newberry, toured the mental hospital with them and then waited at the gate while the sisters said good bye.

When Vonnie came back to the car, Danni drove her home.

“I understand you’re leaving us too,” Vonnie said.

“I’m going to Michigan State. I think I’ll become a nurse.”

“You know as much as any doctor.”

“No one wants an Indian doctor.”

“I’m surprised you don’t stay and marry Dennis,” Vonnie said. “He has quite a crush on you.”

Danni laughed. She liked Dennis as much as Dennis liked her.

Lisa knew Vonnie had to leave her. The nurse showed her the kitchen, dining area and recreational areas that visitors like Vonnie and Danni were not shown. “This is the women’s wing,” the nurse explained.

Lisa nodded.

The buildings were so large, Lisa knew she would get lost. But there were lots of people around. Lisa didn’t know how to talk to new people. But these people weren’t as rich or as pretty as Lucinda and or as sophisticated as Mr. Rinaldi. They were more like people she could relate to - maybe.

“Do you have any questions?” the nurse asked.

“Do you have a library? I like to read.”

“Tell us what books you might be interested in, and someone can go to the public library. We have a few residents who are readers. In fact, she led Lisa to a small sitting room where stacks of books stood. “Will this get you started?”

“Yes, ma-am.” Lisa had an Agatha Christie novel in her suitcase and Jack had promised to send her a John Bynes novel. Still she sat down and selected two books she thought she might like. “May I borrow these?”

She settled down in an over stuffed chair in the recreation area. Some of the other woman moved around her. They didn’t seem to know how to approach the newcomer. Lisa’s face was buried in a book. Didn’t that mean she didn’t want to be disturbed?

The other patients whispered. Where did this new girl come from? Someone said she drowned her nephew.

Lisa was having a tough time getting into the book; she closed her eyes and saw the inside of the outhouse all dark and cold. She heard men’s voices and the little boy’s giggles that turned to screams. She remembered her own screams. The dark scared her. It always scared her. But she had been afraid for little Louis too. And then she remembered another dark place. The yard of the house she used to live in. Rough men dragging her dad up a ladder and then… and then…

“Don’t hurt him.” She must have said it out loud.

“It ain’t all that bad,” someone said. Lisa opened her eyes and saw a thin girl in a shapeless housedress. “We get fed. No matter how bad things get outside, we always get three square meals a day.” the girl giggled. “Did you ever see a square meal?”

“No,” Lisa admitted.

“We all have jobs here. You can make crafts to sell in the gift shop, or you can work in the kitchen or the laundry. Ain’t many of us get out of working. What you going to do?”

“I guess I’ll go to the laundry tomorrow,” Lisa said.

“Icky. I’d rather clean the toilets or dig ditches.” The woman sat down across from Lisa.

Other women moved about the room. They were restless.

“So what do we do besides work?” Lisa asked.

“You talk to doctors. Special doctors who want to know what happens inside your mind.”

“Okay,” Lisa nodded. She didn’t know if she wanted to talk to anyone, not about the things she saw sometimes in her head. The ladder. The rope. The dark stinky outhouse.

“Don’t let her see,” Pa said.

Little Louis screamed.

Lisa closed her eyes to shut out the memories.

Someone asked. “Why did you drown your nephew?”

“Line up,” the voice came from a heavy set woman who marched into the room like a storm trooper. Lisa had not seen her before.

“Night nurse.” said her companion. “Time for our pills.”

The other women lined up, and then one by one they were called forward. Small round cups held individual medicines for each patient. Lisa obediently stepped forward when her name was called. The nurse handed her the cup. “Swallow,’ she commanded.

Lisa wanted to gag. There were five pills in her cup and she had never swallowed that many pills all at one time before.

Then the nurse handed her a small cup of water. “Drink.”

Lisa obeyed.

“Good girl. Now open your mouth, so I can make sure you swallowed all the pills.”

What were those pills supposed to do? Lisa wanted to read for another hour. Instead she and the others were ordered into bed. The women all obeyed.

Lisa did get a room to herself. But she couldn’t control the lights. The lights went off and the room was plunged in total darkness. Lisa tried to cope with her fear. Think about something else, she told herself.

She remembered the happy little boy with chubby cheeks.

She heard the plop of the board against the outhouse door. The darkness, the voices, and the hours of waiting. Louis. Little Louis. “Let me out. Let me out.”

She had not seen the body after Dennis pulled it from the creek. Poor little Louis. She should have found a way to escape. She should have found a way to save him. Her finger tips were still red and sore from clawing at the door.

She began sobbing. She closed her eyes tight. More noises from memory came to her imagination. This time the memory came from further back. A ladder was pushed aside. It fell over with a sudden sound. Her father with the rope twisted around his head. She could not control her sobs, and then she could not control her screams.

The lights came back on.

Penny, 1970

I visit Louis Cheney’s grave sometimes. I always felt sad for him. I have never even seen him. He died many years before I was born. I know Vonnie has pictures, but she doesn’t have them in her office or at the farm. She must keep them in her room at Almasy house.

On Memorial Day and on his birth and death days, I put flowers on his grave.

I never bought the theory that his death was an accidental drowning.

Louis was in his playpen. He couldn’t get out without help. Lisa was locked in the outhouse. Whoever locked her up, picked the baby up and carried him to the stream.

I had a good idea who that someone might be.

That morning with Lisa still in jail, I put some wild flowers on the grave. When I looked up Leo was at the churchyard gate watching me.

I walked toward him.”What’s up?” I asked.

“We got some reports of vandalism here in the cemetery. Some tombstones knocked over.”

“You going to arrest me?” I asked. “I ain’t a cop anymore.”

Why did he keep reminding me of that? Why was he watching me when I went to the cemetery?

1941

Danni and Dr. Tracie helped Lucinda deliver deliver a healthy baby girl.

Enrico waited in the parlor.

Finally Vonnie brought the baby out to meet her grandfather.

“Lucinda says her name is Starr ”

The grandfather nodded. Tears filled his eyes as he took hold of the little bundle.

“Should I help you write the announcement?” Vonnie asked.

Enrico’s smile disappeared. “Actually the senator already announced the birth of his daughter, Carol Ann. We won’t announce the birth of a second baby. There’ll be too many questions.”

When Lucinda and her dad came home from church, Vonnie was organizing the Christmas decorations. Lucinda found her weeping.

“This must be hard for you.” Lucinda said throwing her arms around her maid.

“I lost them both,” Vonnie sobbed. “First Ezekiel and then Little Louis. and Lisa’s gone now too. I couldn’t wait for Christmas. I had all these gifts planned for Little Louis, and I wanted…”

Lucinda just let her friend sob for awhile. “We can get somebody else to help you with the cleaning,” she decided. “I can decorate and take care of Starr.”

“No. I want to do it. I always loved Christmas. I still imagine Little Louis here sometimes.”

“I know you do, and that’s okay.”

Vonnie smiled thinly through her tears. “ I’ll bet his spirit visits us often. Just the other day I couldn’t find my thimble, and I thought his little ghost must have taken it.” She paused. “I don’t want to be crazy like Lisa.”

Lucinda shook her gently. “Lisa, is not crazy. She’s just sensitive, and think of all she’s been through. What you’ve all been through. Losing your parents that way. And now…” Lucinda did not finish her sentence. After awhile she said, “Let’s go downstairs and have a cup of tea.”

Vonnie turned to the sleeping baby beside her.

“Starr will be fine. Don’t worry. We can leave her.”

Vonnie still paused. She couldn’t bear another loss, and this baby was so small and defenseless just like her little one had been.

Lucinda gently urged Vonnie toward the stairs. “And we’re going to get you help. Taking care of the baby and the house is too much for one or even two women.”

“I can do it,” Vonnie said as they made their way down the steps.

“You do. But it’s too much, and you need more rest.”

“The work gets my mind off things. And I don’t mind taking care of Starr. She’s a good baby.”

Lucinda insisted that Vonnie sit while she made the the tea. Vonnie sat in the parlor where Lucnda had directed her. “Soon Enrico joined her, “How are you doing?” he asked. “Is your sister doing okay?”

“She’s settling in, but..”


 “What?”

“They increased the drugs she’s on. I worry about that.”

“She’s got good doctors. She’ll be fine,” he assured her.

Lucinda returned with a silver tea pot and white china cups and delicate saucers. They sat in silence for a minute. Vonnie’s finger traced the pattern of the tiny flowers on the cups. She had always liked this design.

Vonnie should have taken the day off, but after they had their tea, she vacuumed instead . Lucinda settled in the parlor with an Agatha Christie novel. In the middle of the afternoon, Vonnie grabbed some sewing she intended to work on.

“Let’s listen to the radio,” Enrico suggested. “See what Roosevelt is up this week.” He walked over and turned on the dial.

Instead of the president, a group of singers sang, “JELL-O.” And then, “We interrupt this program to bring an important announcement. The Japanese this morning attacked Pearl Harbor by air.”

“Pearl Harbor,” Vonnie was at first confused. “Is that in Hawaii? Don’t we have bases there and our fleet?”

“We do,” Lucinda said. She remembered Brad talking about the ships stationed there.

“It means we’re at war,” Enrico said.

Dylan’s two older brothers Joe and Abe joined the Army Engineers.

Louis had graduated college, but decided to become a doctor. He was ready for medical school when the war started. His pre-med training had not been extensive, but it was enough to get him a commission as a medic. Eddie hadn’t enough training in anything, but the Army Air Corps looked good. He went to St. Louis and started taking flying lessons from another Upper Peninsula native, Mario Fontana. Ken and Bill were too young to serve.

“Save some Japs for us,” they yelled to Eddie as he boarded the train that would take him to St. Louis.

Dylan alone had not signed up for the service, but he knew he would be drafted. He talked to Emil. “I don’t think I can kill anyone, Pa.”

“I think you gotta belong to a certain religion to get a deferment. It’s called being a conscientious objector.”

“I guess that’s what I am. I don’t know about joining no religion. I just don’t want to shoot anyone.” Dylan almost cried at the thought.

“I’ll talk to Mr. Rinaldi . Maybe he can get you off. You‘re needed at the mine. We need a new foreman, and I already suggested you to Mr. Rinaldi.”

Dylan nodded.

Things got busier in the mines with the war effort. Dylan found himself working double shifts. Old timers, came back to the mines. The men told Dylan he reminded them of sons or even grand sons who were away fighting.

Dylan didn’t see Elaine anymore. He had heard that she had wanted a job working for the Rinaldis, but Lucinda had hired someone else. Too bad for Elaine. Dylan suspected she wanted to catch a rich husband and Enrico Rinaldi probably looked promising. Dylan had met the full time Rinaldi maid, Vonnie Brianka Cheney several times and he liked her. His sisters liked her too, but worried about him getting involved with the wrong woman. Mrs. Cheney had what Mary called a checkered past with a ex convict brother, a crazy sister and a baby conceived out of wedlock.

Dylan’s sisters needn’t have worried. He wasn’t ready for another marriage and suspected Vonnie wasn’t ready yet either.

Dylan still loved Elaine. She was beautiful, and he prayed someday Elaine would see him for his great qualities and come back to him.

They would live happily on his salary, and his sisters would eventually see her inner goodness and come to love her as he did. It was a daydream. But it was all he had. He would always love Elaine.

Sometimes he thought about that other Brianka girl; the one who had lived out on the farm for awhile. She was in Newberry now. It was too bad because he thought she was an intelligent and pretty girl. But he knew she had suffered greatly. She and her siblings had been orphaned young. Dylan had lost his own mother when he was still in his teens, and it had hurt deeply though he had been almost an adult then. He had heard Lisa was just five years old when she lost her parents.

And then to lose that little boy like that. From what he had heard she had taken good care of Louis. He remembered how good she had been with the little boy when he helped her get the child ready for Ezekiel’s funeral. How awful. He decided to write to her in Newberry.

CHAPTER SIX

Chapter Six

Lisa felt the snow hit her face; ice cut her fingers. Someone kicked her. She looked up at her pa. A rope tightened around his neck.

“Don’t let her see.” Pa begged.

A ladder tumbled from beneath his feet. “Pa!”

She screamed and tried to run, but her feet caught in the blanket, and she fell on the hardwood floor.

The room was dark, but she heard footsteps and a candle floated toward her.

Lisa was disoriented. Where was she? Somewhere in the back of her mind, an angry old lady told her she must never tell. The lady told her that her pa had gone away, that he didn’t want his three children. Her mother was dead and her pa had left. That was what the lady said had happened.

Had Lisa really imagined the cold, the hooded figures, the torches, the rope?

She dreamed about it, and it seemed so real. Why did they tell her it didn’t happen? When was her pa coming back?

She looked around at the orphanage dormitory. The other girls had awakened and some were rubbing their eyes. Most were staring. She wasn’t flailing in the snowbank; she wasn’t at the creepy old house with the fancy lady.

Footsteps pounded down the hallway. The nuns were coming, and that could mean a beating. Lisa knew she had to stop trembling, but instead the trembling became worse. Sister Beatrice rushed at her, picked her up by the material of her nightgown and shoved her back in the bed.

“Go back to sleep. Stop this screaming.” Sister Beatrice shook her finger. “If you wake everyone up again, so help me, I will lock you in the stable.”

“Do it,” Lisa yelled . “You think I want to be in here.”

Beatrice grabbed Lisa and pulled her off the bed, down the hall and outside. The late March night was cold and Lisa wore only a thin nightgown. Just like that other night. Lisa felt she was back in the nightmare. Instead of a white sheet, the nun wore black, but her robes flowed in much the same way that those sheets had flowed that other night.

Lights from inside the orphanage gave off a glow, not unlike the torches had on that long ago night. Lisa screamed again in terror and pain.

Then a man was there. He stood in the shadows. It took Lisa a minute to recognize Father Jeffrey Hollander.

He took off his belt.

Enrico Rinaldi watched his daughter Lucinda as she embroidered scarf. She expertly moved the brightly colored threads over her fingers, and as he watched, a pattern of blue flowers and green leaves emerged. Lucinda kept each hair perfectly coiffed and her olive skin was smooth as velvet. Her black eyes were like pools of coffee.

While he would hate to lose her, he wanted her to make the best possible marriage. Lucinda was too great an asset to waste, and Brad Davies had shown a keen interest.

Enrico had made discrete inquiries; Brad’s family’s fortune should equal his own, except the Davies had been plagued with gambling debts and poor investments. Rinaldi suspected that Davies might be courting Lucinda for her money, but the Davies name could open opportunities for him and for Lucinda.

Besides that Davies was ambitious. At 32, he was already a state senator and probably headed for Washington and perhaps even the White House. Lucinda would make a great hostess and First Lady, he decided. He wanted to dance with her at the inaugural ball.

Enrico and his daughter had the dark complexions of eastern Europeans like the Italians, and Enrico had even taken an Italian name. The family had been passing for white since after the Civil War. He wanted to chuckle.

He gave Lucinda what he hoped was good news. “Brad says he can spend a few weekends here in Mountain Ridge. I told him he was welcome.”

“Of course, Father.”

“How are the wedding plans coming?”

“Okay; There are a million details. Florist; dressmaker, reception hall. That wedding planner from Lansing is doing a great job.”

“Shouldn’t you be there organizing Brad’s home?”

“We’ll be moving to Washington right away, and Brad hired an interior designer to plan that home.”

“Honey, you don’t seem very happy.”

“I like it here in Mountain Ridge,” she said gently.

“You can have the whole world, Lucinda. New York. Paris. Washington. Brad will show you things you never imagined.”

“Are you coming with us, Father?”

“I have the mine to take care of.”

“And I have you to take care of. I like Mountain Ridge.”

“Don’t you want to go to balls and wear Paris originals”


 “I have Paris originals in my closet and I don’t wear them.”

“Brad likes you a lot, Lucinda, and if you go with him, you will have places to wear them.”

“What if they find out the truth about us, Father?”

“They won’t.”

His dream was to see her dance with kings and presidents. She understood how important it was to him.

“Brad must know the truth about us.”

“No,” he shouted. “You won’t tell him, not before or after the marriage.”

“Father.”

“You mustn’t ever tell anyone.”

Elaine was almost 17 years old and her mother thought she was an old maid. Shouldn’t the prettiest girl in town be the first married? Elaine said she was waiting for the right man to come along. That’s what she told her girl friends and anyone else who asked. What she never told anyone, was that the right man, in her opinion, he had already come. She had a crush on Father Jeffrey Hollander.

Elaine was not religious, but she went to church every Sunday, and she would have gone to mass every morning if her mother let her get out of her chores.

She had even confessed her love or almost.

“Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned,” she had said in the confessional. “I am in love with a man that I can’t have.”

“Is that man married?” he had asked.”

“No, but he is unavailable.”

He paused, and she was sure he understood what she was saying.

“Have you acted on your love for this man.”

“Not yet, but I will if he asks me.”

She imagined him smiling at the other side of the grail.

“This calls for a special penance,” he had said. “You may come to Almasy House tomorrow morning. Mrs. Almasy needs a new maid. The work will do you good.”

She knew there would be something else there for her. Father Hollander stayed at Almasy House now.

“Our Father who art in heaven.” Sister Beatrice was having a difficult time keeping her mind on her morning prayers. The nuns were in the chapel. Today officiating was the old priest, Father Victor. That nice handsome young Father Hollander had driven back to Mountain Ridge. Sister Beatrice could not understand why he came north to check on that Jew brat. She shouldn’t even be here at a Catholic orphanage.

Father Victor’s voice droned on in monotone. “Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”


 Beatrice often had difficulty concentrating. There was so much to think about.

The child’s nightmares were so bad, the nuns could not get a night’s sleep, what with those awful screams.

Her thoughts went on and on; she became more and more frustrated. and then she became angry. They had to get rid of that child. Instead of reciting the rosary, Beatrice recited a list of the child’s faults.

She had hit the child again and she knew if the Brianka girl stayed in the orphanage that she would hit her again.

She didn’t want to hit the child, but somehow she couldn’t help herself.

Father Hollander hit Lisa. Mostly when Lisa’s brother Johnny was here, Hollander had beat on him. Beatrice didn’t like the boy anymore than she liked Lisa, but despite his Jewishness and his smugness in the classroom, she had found no excuse to hit the boy, who had quickly grown bigger than she.

Father Hollander hit Johnny and Lisa to get the heathen out of them.

There had never been reason to hit Yvonne who was quiet, and except for her brother and sister stayed to herself. Yvonne was good in school. She did her chores without complaint, and she didn’t have nightmares. Yvonne could be made into a good Christian girl.

Lisa’s nightmares had not been as much of a problem when her siblings were here. When the sister crawled into bed with her, she’d be okay. The orphanage had allowed it even as the siblings grew older. Anything to keep the little one’s nightmares away.

But now Johnny and Yvonne were gone; the nightmares came almost every night.

Was there no way to stop to the nightmares?

She couldn’t stand another night of those screams.

Sometimes Beatrice heard her own screams, when the child screamed. Beatrice had grown up on the frontier. She had seen Indians who were as dark and heathen as the Brianka kids. She had heard stories about scalpings, rapes, murders, cannibalism. A family she knew when she was growing up had been killed by Indians. They had…

Startled by the thought, she inhaled deeply and too loudly.

“Are you all right?” Sr. Zita asked.

“Yes. Yes. I-I’m fine.”

She tried to concentrate on the prayers.

She herself had had nightmares when she was growing up. Her dad had tried to stop the nightmares by hitting her. The nightmares didn’t stop, but her screaming did. If Beatrice, could stop herself from screaming when thoughts and even dreams came of murdering Indians, then Lisa could stop her screaming too.

All Beatrice wanted was for Lisa to stop screaming, so she wouldn’t remind her of that other time. So she wouldn’t think Indians were coming for her.

Beatrice closed her eyes for a long time and when she opened them she looked across the church at Lisa who sat quietly.

The beatings weren’t wrong. Father Victor might be too old, too frail, and too soft- hearted to beat an out-of-control girl, but Father Hollander took a strong hand.

Beatrice had heard that a rich lady in Mountain Ridge took an interest in the Brianka brats. That was all very confusing. Mrs. Almasy had paid good money, so those Brianka kids could stay at the orphanage. Now what was a good Catholic lady like Rose Almasy doing helping Jew brats? Another rich lady, Lucinda Rinaldi, had hired both Vonnie and Jack. Why would these wealthy people show an interest in these wayward orphans?

Sister Beatrice shook her head. Those kids were being taken in like stay animals and Jew brats were no good. Everyone knew that. Surely the Briankas would bite the hands that reached to help them.

Meanwhile the orphanage was saddled with that Lisa. The child’s nightmares had increased. Every night the screams seemed to get louder.

Anyway the child would be gone soon, and then good riddance to bad rubbish.

Brad Davies had hired three musicians to play violins for Lucinda. He knew she loved music and had a natural talent for it. Her father had told him, Lucinda was a fine piano player, but she seldom played for an audience other than her maid, that shy dark girl whose name Brad didn’t remember.

Would he have to take Lucinda’s servant along with her? Surely his family had enough servants, though some had been laid off. That dark girl who worked for Lucinda was not someone he wanted working in his home. He took a sip of his wine; he had more pressing problems than Lucinda and her servants.

The stock market crash had hurt his family. Not so badly they wouldn’t come back. After all both he and his dad had their law licenses, and he had his salary from the state. But household staff had been laid off.

His mother had suggested giving some of the older employees pensions. Brad and his father had disagreed. These are hard times. Regrouping the family fortune would take a while as it was.

He needed money to win political office. He had powerful backers, but he mustn’t let them see that he had such a desperate need for money.

Actually he wouldn’t have that need much longer. Lucinda Rinaldi came from an enormous fortune. She looked like that young actress, Elizabeth Taylor with black eyes instead of the violet eyes and Lucinda had a figure that was just as stunning as that of the actress. She turned heads in every room she entered. Men responded to her with romantic or lustful thoughts; women responded with emotions that ranged from envy to hostility.

The Rinaldi fortune and Lucinda’s beauty could bring him to the White House, and what a joke that would be on the country.

At first he wasn’t entirely sure he could keep the Rinaldi’s secret from his political enemies.

But her family had covered their roots well. Whatever revulsion about marrying a Negress he felt was more than squelched by her fortune.

Lucinda smiled at the musicians; as she sipped her champaign. Her green velvet gown clung like seaweed to the delicate young body.

A diamond engagement ring sparkled on her finger. The ring had belonged to his great-grandmother and probably should have been sold to help pay for his fall campaign. But he needed her father as a contributor. This sealed their alliance.

She stared into the candle light and sighed. She did not seem happy. Brad wondered if her thoughts were on that gardener, Jack Brianka. It was time to get rid of him anyway.

Jack loved to walk at night when he could observe the stages of the moon and enjoy the company of the pines and birches that lined his path. It gave him a chance to think about his family and about the girl with whom he had fallen in love. Lucinda was the most beautiful woman in the world. She was prettier than any movie star. He could not continue to live near her, to work for her dad and to pretend he didn’t care. She wasn’t his girl and never would be except in his daydreams.

He had to get away from Lucinda.

But he had other worries too.

Lisa, his younger sister, was unhappy at the orphanage. She needed him or Vonnie there to reassure her. Lisa had deep seated fears and the nightmares came more often now. The orphanage had sent him letters. Lisa needed to go someplace else. She needed to get away form that orphanage.

Lucinda had already agreed to hire Lisa. He worried about his sisters. Vonnie had taken some kind of a beating recently, but neither she nor Lucinda would give him any details. They just said that Vonnie fell. How could he help her, if he didn’t know the truth?

He had to leave Mountain Ridge. Staying would jeopardize his sisters’ jobs. But he also knew he had to stay and protect them.

Lisa was delicate and needed him as much as she needed Vonnie. Since they had lost their parents, he had been more than a big brother to both of them.

The problem was that he was in love with Lucinda Rinaldi. She loved him back, and that could be an even bigger problem for both of them. Lucinda hadn’t told her dad yet, but if he stayed, she would have to tell Enrico. If he stayed, he would be fired. Vonnie would be fired too, and they had to get Lisa out of that orphanage. In a few months, Lisa would be sixteen and she could leave, but she would need the job Lucinda had promised. Lucinda had even tried to get Lisa out of the orphanage earlier.

Jack needed for his sisters to keep their jobs. Despite the best efforts of the president, this economic depression wasn’t getting any better, not for the millions of people still out of work.

He would tell them all his goodbyes. It would be hardest with Lisa. She had already lost both parents and she had been so tiny then. As hard as it had been for him and for Vonnie, he knew it had been harder for Lisa. His youngest sister had never completely recovered from that awful night. He only hoped her nightmares and daytime hangups would not interfere with her job.

He went to the bar on Stephenson and had a beer. The cold drink on a cold night sharpened his senses. But it gave him courage too. He would write letters to his sisters. He thought about moving to Green Bay, Wisconsin. He would not be far away if they needed him.

A radio above the bar played Benny Goodman. Shadow couples moved on the dance floor. Jack finished his beer and walked back into the cold night. He turned on Dickinson Street and started back toward his room above the garage at the Rinaldi’s. It would not take him long to pack.

As he passed the dark gas station on 4th Street, he heard noises coming from within. There shouldn’t be anyone inside this time of night. He moved toward the back door and inched around to the only window. Jack thought he might be preventing a robbery. Another noise caught his attention. This noise came from behind him. Then he heard a sound like a bat being swung. Something hard hit him. He fell to his knees and cracked his head against the cement when he hit the ground. He was dazed and tried to get up. The swishing sound of a baton came again, and he went down again.

The last thing he heard as he lost consciousness was a police whistle. This sound came from too close not to be coming from practically on top of him.

Rose lit a lantern and opened the cellar door. She entered the tunnel and left the door unlocked behind her. Usually she would have closed it firmly and locked it. She turned to the right and moved slowly. She had memorized these passages long ago. When she felt she had gone far enough she set the lantern down, watched as it created patterns on the walls. She sat down waiting.

Jeff Hollander didn’t have a lantern. He didn’t want Rose to know he followed her into the tunnel. He moved slowly and carefully. The darkness didn’t scare him, but he new he could easily trip over a loose rock. The sides of the cave might give way to an abyss. He could experience a nasty fall in here. He had to move noiselessly. He tried to remember twists and turns. He might have to reenter the tunnels later on his own.

Her lantern had stopped moving. Good. She was near the treasure then. She stepped forward. and then stopped. He could see the lantern, but he himself was still in the shadows. He saw her sitting there as if she was waiting for something. The lantern lay in front of her.

Then he saw what was in her hand. A gun.

“You might as well come forward,” she said softly. “I know you’re there. If I fire without knowing exactly where you are, the bullet will ricochet. It might kills us both.”

He hesitated. Then he moved into the light.

“Rose, I was worried about you.”

“No, you weren’t. You were hoping I would show you to my treasure.”

“Nothing of the kind.”

“Turn around and go back.”

“What about you? Will you be okay?”

In answer, she cocked the gun.

He turned around and left.

TO BE CONTINUED...

MEET SISTERS, VONNIE AND LISA FROM MY NOVEL "BITTER HOMES AND UNKEPT GARDENS."

I asked the characters in my novel “Bitter Homes and Gardens” to give me some of their thoughts.

Vonnie:

Why does my family have to be so different? Why do I have to be so different? It seems no matter what we do people in this town want to talk about us.

They say my brother Jack is mobbed up. They say my niece Penny is a thief and a freak. The freak part is my sister Lisa’s fault. She insists Penny was born with a tail. What kind of a mother goes around saying her daughter was born with a tail?

I am very good to Lisa. I gave her a job; I defend her even if she usually doesn’t deserve the defending. Of course, I am not exempt from the gossip. My beautiful lover, Walt is a woman. We are lesbians, but most people call us queers.

Lisa:

I worry that Vonnie blames me for the death of her son. Louis drowned when I was supposed to be watching him. Lots of people think I drowned the child myself? Why would I do that?