Julie threw their trash into a bin and they let Lilli play on the slides and the rider toys, which were oversized plastic ducks painted with cartoon expressions of happiness that sat atop large springs that allowed them to rock back and forth.
Julie turned to Robert. “So, what’s up? You’re tense all of a sudden.”
Shaking his head, he started to lie and tell her everything was fine, but then he sighed and looked deep into those knowing eyes of hers. They never missed a thing. “It’s the promotion, Jules.”
Looking away, she muttered, “Uh-oh. You only call me Jules when it’s serious. Out with it.”
“Well, I have to…uh…go on a business trip—”
She spun around to face him, eyes flashing. “No. I thought that’s why we moved all the way down here—to keep you from having to leave on damned business trips all the time, Robert!”
Her voice was barely under control and he was glad he had brought them to the park. She wouldn’t throw a fit in public, and he had known that. “It’s just for a couple days, baby. I promise. I have to do it to keep the promotion.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she glared at him. He could imagine some of the things she would say if they were at home.
“Robert Edward Tolliver, you said that if we moved down here, hundreds of miles away from all our family and friends, you wouldn’t have to travel so much. Why did you agree to this again?” Her anger was barely veiled.
Stammering and stuttering, he finally shut up and stared at her hopelessly. It was only going to get worse when he told her the timeframe.
“What else is there, Robert? You’re not telling me everything, are you?” She stepped closer to him, still glowering.
Dropping his gaze in defeat, he replied, “I have to leave in the morning.”
She didn’t yell, as he had expected. Instead, she scoffed and shook her head. “Unbelievable. Did you forget what tomorrow is?”
“No. Mr. Edland didn’t give me a choice. The whole meeting had apparently been set beforehand and Mr. Washington is expecting me at his place tomorrow at eleven.” He saw that this had no effect on her anger and disappointment, and he rushed to add, “But we can celebrate our anniversary as soon as I’m back. If I don’t do this, Edland will demote me back to the cubicle farm, Jules. No raise, no promotion.”
Tapping her foot in irritation, she nodded and clicked her tongue. A sure sign that she was getting angrier by the moment. “Your boss is an asshole, you know. And, sure, we can celebrate our anniversary when you get back, but our reservations have to be canceled and we’ll miss the jazz festival.”
He took her in his arms. “I promise, I’ll make up for it when I’m back. I don’t want to go, either, but he really didn’t give me any other choice. You know what this promotion means for us.” He kissed her temple, feeling her loosen up as he held her. “And you know I work this job so I can provide a good life for you and Lilli. I want her to have more than I ever had, more than you had growing up.” He pulled back and looked into her eyes. “This promotion will change our lives for the better, I swear it, Julie.”
She nodded and cupped his face in her hands. “All right. Tomorrow’s Saturday. Lilli and I will entertain ourselves at the farmers’ market. It’s not dinner at Fremin’s, but we’ll make the best of it.” Her anger had faded to disappointment.
It tore at his heart to see her blue expression, but at least she was already thinking of ways to take her mind off it while he was away. “Hey, Lilli loves to ride the miniature horses at the farmer’s market. Maybe you could take her to see the baby ducks and chicks they have, too. She’d love that.”
“She’d love it even more if you were there, too.” She pulled a sulky face and looked at her watch. “It’s time to head back now.”
He nodded and let her go. She turned and called to Lilli.
“Boo! We don’t wanna go yet, Mommy.” She rocked the duck back and forth in big arcs, her dark hair pluming out behind her and then whooshing toward her face in turns.
After another two minutes, they convinced Lilli to go without an argument, no tears, and no pouting. That in itself was a feat, he thought.
After putting Lilli to bed, Julie and Robert retired to their room. Looking at his suitcase on the end of the bed, she rolled her eyes. “I thought I’d seen the last of that ugly thing.” She harrumphed and skirted the bed to her side, avoiding eye contact with Robert. “I don’t like this. It just feels wrong; like you shouldn’t go.” She still didn’t look his way.
Quietly, he drew a deep breath. “Honey, this will help us get the bigger house, or build onto this one like we talked about. I thought we wanted to have another baby before Lilli is too much older.”
Julie sighed and put her hand on her belly. She turned slowly to Robert and a small smile played at the corners of her full lips. “Yes. I do want another baby. Lilli needs a little brother or sister to play with and love.”
Robert moved quickly around the bed and put his hand on top of hers. Her hand was so small and delicate under his. “Then, I need to take this trip, close this deal, and seal my promotion. I want to be able to provide for my growing family. And who knows? Maybe we’ll have two or three more babies—I’ll definitely need this promotion, then.” He grinned and kissed the tip of her nose.
She laughed. “No, you’ll need two more jobs and this promotion if we’re going to have that many kids.” Finally, she sighed and smiled easily up at him. “All right. If this is the only way you’re going to get this promotion, then by all means, go show that ass, Mr. Edland, what you’re really made of, sexy.” She tiptoed and kissed him. “Now, can we get that ugly thing packed and off the bed?” She grinned.
“We most certainly can.”
The avocado green suitcase had been his father’s. Robert inherited it upon going away to college years ago. From the first moment Julie had laid eyes on it, she had hated it, saying it was the ugliest vomit-green color she had ever seen. She had tried to talk him into buying a nicer one several times, but he always refused. He supposed it was the emotional attachment that made him keep it, because he had to agree—the thing was damned ugly no matter how you looked at it.
Chapter 2
Lost
The next morning, Robert was ready to leave at seven. Lilli had not been up, so he had kissed her goodbye as she slept peacefully. Then he had a cup of coffee with Julie. In light of their private celebration the previous night, she had not made a fuss when it was time for him to go. She had made his large cup of coffee to take along and sent him off with a soft but passionate kiss.
Over his years at Morrison, he had become well-acquainted with reading maps. He had taken business trips regularly when he had lived in Scranton, and he had mistakenly thought that the roads in Pennsylvania were the worst he had encountered for potholes and meandering around mountains, twisting and turning as if the men cutting the roads had followed the path of a drunken snake, but the roads in Louisiana were worse. Even the straighter roads in Louisiana had a habit of getting him lost somehow.
Pavement gave way to a gravel and asphalt mix, that gave way to gravel and dirt. Just when he would give up and almost admit he was lost, the pavement would suddenly reappear. Street signs were a rarity once he got out of the populated areas that he generously called towns. From there, he had to use his sense of direction to follow the squiggly lines on the map.
Montegut was, from what he could glean off the map, a backwoods sort of place that wouldn’t be very populated, and he shuddered to think how the roads near Mr. Washington’s place would be.
Montegut also had swamplands that he wasn’t particularly overjoyed to see up close. Just the thought of alligators and swamps and water moccasins scared the hell out of him. He had refrained from divulging any of the details of the place with Julie. He didn’t want her to worry the whole time he was gone; but that had done nothing to alleviate his
fears.
Driving slowly, unsure of the speed limit on the roads due to a lack of signage, he drove as fast as he comfortably could. The many potholes and sunken places in the pavement made the ride uncomfortable at best, but manageable at low speeds. Looking at his watch, he cursed under his breath. There was no way he was going to make his eleven o’clock meeting with Mr. Washington. It was already half-past ten.
The sun was nearing the midpoint in the sky by the time he decided to find a place to grab an early light lunch, stretch his legs, and call Mr. Washington.
The only little roadside diner he found sat back under a stand of old trees and looked rundown. The delicious smells wafting out to him lured him inside in spite of the shady-looking building.
A few beater pickup trucks were parked at the left end of the small gravel lot. As he neared the entrance, an old bluetick hound rounded the corner and bayed at him once, losing all interest as it stuck its nose in the air and began sniffing. He chuckled and patted the dog’s head as it passed him, wagging its tail.
The dog stood with its nose in the air next to the door. When Robert didn’t immediately open the door, the dog barked again. He tried to shoo the dog away, but he stubbornly stood his ground, still wagging his tail lazily. Robert tried to wedge between the dog and the door, but the animal was sly and stuck his head between Robert’s legs, snuffling at the crack in the door.
Backing up, Robert said, “All right, big boy. You can’t go in there. Come on.” He picked up a stick, waggled it at the hound, and tossed it away. The dog didn’t move.
Finally, a short, pretty woman opened the door. “Shoo, Bowser! Go on, get out of here and quit bothering the customers!” She backed the dog up, waving her hands in the air at it. “Go on in, Mister. Bowser’s harmless; a big spoiled baby, is all.”
Robert dashed inside before Bowser could give the woman the slip. She came back inside, leaving Bowser to beg entrance at the glass door. “Sorry about that, sir. He’s mine, just like the diner. It’s past his feeding time and he’s just reminding me.” She motioned to the dinky little tables scattered around and the two booths at the back. “Pick and choose. Sit where you please. Mazzy will be right with you while I wash up.”
She was gone before he could even thank her. By far, she moved with more determination than anyone he had met so far. He took the booth at the very back of the diner, not wishing to sit in the middle of the room with the rough looking men in there. He hated to be judgmental, but from the looks of them, they might be a bunch of roughnecks who would see him as sport.
Mazzy came to take his order. She was a teenager with a round, freckled face, snub nose, and pretty green eyes. Her blond hair had been tied into a loose bun at the back of her head. He ordered a burger and fries with coffee and sweet tea.
She brought the coffee and tea back to him. “Gonna get your fix on caffeine, huh?”
He loved her accent. It added a layer of beauty and intrigue to her that she wouldn’t otherwise have. He nodded.
“Long drive ahead of me yet.” He smiled and thanked her.
“You’re not from these parts, are you, Mister?” She grinned at him.
“Nope. Just moved down from Pennsylvania, as a matter of fact. Is it that obvious?” He chuckled, although he didn’t like being singled out like that.
She nodded and headed back to the kitchen.
Unable to glean if it was a good thing or a bad thing that she had noticed he was an out-of-towner; Robert turned his attention to the table. People had carved their initials right into the surface of it. The owner, instead of removing the table, or sanding out the initials, had sealed the top with polyurethane, leaving the etchings. Grinning, he thought it must be a Southern thing.
Listening to the conversations going on at the tables, he was struck by extreme accents of the area. They all pronounced ‘coffee’ as ‘cawfee’ and ‘dog’ became ‘dawg’. They spoke slowly, dragging out the drawl, and Robert found it amusing to try to decipher exactly what they were saying. But it was endearing. And, it kept him entertained until his food arrived.
Mazzy came back and set his food in front of him. She paused, smiled, and asked, “So, what did you move all the way down here for? Job or running away from something?” Her smile was warm and friendly.
Thinking she was just trying to be nice, Robert answered without much forethought. “Transferred for my job.”
“Ah. Okay, then. You sure do dress expensive. Must be a pretty important job. What are you, a lawyer or something?” She cocked a hip and crossed her arms over her midsection.
“Um…no. Nothing so glamorous, I’m afraid.” He looked around and noticed a couple of people had turned toward them. “I work for Morrison Enterprises. Just a plain old businessman.”
Mazzy looked down pointedly at her waitress uniform—a faded pink and white dress that ended just below her knees. She looked up with wide eyes and chuckled dryly. “Ain’t nothing plainer than being a waitress, Mister. Besides, I ain’t ever heard of Morrison Enterprises.” She shook her head and laughed it off. She looked at the clock over the counter. “Guess you’re on your lunch break, huh?”
He had picked up a fry, but stopped before it made it to his mouth, and looked at her questioningly. He was becoming a bit annoyed at her questions. He couldn’t determine if she was just being friendly, or if she was being rude.
Shaking his head, he put the fry in his mouth, hoping she would take the hint and leave him alone to eat his lunch. Glancing around, he saw that another patron had turned to stare at them, leaving their own conversations to listen to his.
She snorted laughter. “Oh, I guess you ain’t gotta work on Sat’dee, right?”
He looked up, confused. It took a moment for him to understand her words. “No, no. I don’t usually work on Saturdays. I’m heading out to look at some land for the company today. So, I’m not doing office work, just leg work today.” He chuckled, hoping she wouldn’t realize he was laughing because her question had sounded almost foreign to his ears. He figured his ears would adjust to the twang and drawl of their accents before too long.
Grinning widely, she nodded. “Right, right.” She leaned close. “I ain’t trying to be rude, but you sure do talk funny, Mister.” She flapped her hand at him, chortling, and turned away.
Thank God, she’s going away, he thought as he picked up his burger. He had been afraid his food would be cold by the time he got to eat it.
After his meal, Robert stood and put a five-dollar tip on the table for Mazzy. It was his usual tip for a quick lunch, and he thought nothing of it. It was as much a habit as was putting on his right shoe first in the mornings.
He used the restroom and then went to pay his bill. Mazzy rang up the order, smiling a bit wider at him. “Thanks for the tip, Mister.”
Uncomfortable, he merely nodded as he handed her a twenty to pay. Her eyes widened as she took the bill.
“You must make real good money at that plain old businessman job you got.” She waggled the twenty at him as if she weren’t accustomed to seeing many of them.
From the nearest table, a bald man with a scraggly beard and mustache nodded. “Yeah, we don’t get many people flashing big bucks around in here like that. You might wanna be more careful where you do that, son.”
The man’s words reminded him of Mr. Edland, and Robert nodded again. “Thanks for the advice.” He just wanted to get his change and get the hell out of there in a hurry. If they thought a twenty was big bucks, he might have a problem he couldn’t handle.
Another man, younger and leaner, with a wild look in his dark eyes agreed. “Yep. Flashing your money around like that…” He shook his head. “Them twenties are like baby snakes, where you see one, there’s bound to be plenty more.”
The bald man added, “And where there’s babies, there’s sure to be a Papa.”
Feeling more confused by the second, he
held out his hand, giving Mazzy a hurry-up look. She whispered, “They’re just joshing you, Mister.”
Nodding curtly, he crammed his change into his pocket. “Um, is there a phone I can use?”
Mazzy eyed him as if he might be slightly stupid and nodded. “There’s a payphone right outside.” She pointed in the direction of his car.
He must have passed it by when he had his run-in with Bowser. He thanked her and headed out the door with something like fear building in his chest.
He dropped the quarter in the slot and dialed Mr. Washington’s number. After apologizing several times, and being reassured by Mr. Washington that it was okay, Robert set a new time for the meeting. Oliver was happy to have him over for what he called supper—and Robert still found this term for the last meal of the day funny. He didn’t much want to eat supper with the Washingtons because he didn’t even know them, but he thought it would be rude to outright turn down the offer. So, he agreed graciously and was on his way. He would meet Oliver at six.
He drove for ten minutes, and with no other traffic on the long stretch of road, he stopped and put the car in park. Stepping out, he quickly took off his jacket and tie, unbuttoned his shirt, and tossed them all to the passenger side of the seat. Moving fast, he opened his suitcase on the backseat and took out a plain white tee shirt and pulled it over his head. There was nothing to do about his dress slacks for the time, so he hurriedly got back in and drove on.
Soon, the incident was out of mind, and the beauty of the land grabbed his attention. He had a camera in his suitcase. It was a big Canon with a zoom lens—professional stock for the job at Morrison. He had extra rolls of film in the case with the camera, along with several packs of batteries.
The camera was his personal property—he had bought it when they moved to Thibodaux with the intentions of having the company reimburse him but had never gotten around to turning in the receipts. Now he was glad he hadn’t. It wasn’t company property, so he could use it as he wished, and he wished to get some pictures of the landscape to share with Julie.
S79 The Horror in the Swamp Page 2
