by Beth Ziarnik
“And the name of this plant is …”
“Why, she’s a Christmas rose, of course.”
Making a mental note of the variety, Jill bowed her head slightly. “So good to make your acquaintance, Rose.”
Lillie favored Jill with a shy smile. “And this one is Amy.”
The amaryllis had one perfect yellow blossom. “How beautiful you are, Amy.”
Moving deeper into the small room, Lillie led her to the next. “And this is Cally.”
Jill’s church in Chicago had two large pots of calla lilies, adding a note of grace to the sanctuary platform. “I’m well acquainted with two of your relatives, Cally, but you’re the most beautiful of all.”
Her sister seemed to approve of her playing the game. “And, of course, this is Ivy.”
Jill lifted the tendrils of perky leaves. “I love ivy, especially English Ivy, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen any better than this. You’re lovely, Ivy.” She moved further into the array of plants.
“Oops, be careful.” Lillie put out a restraining hand and glanced up. “Missy likes to play pranks, though she also has healing properties. Did you know that extracts from mistletoe can combat cancer? Colon cancer, that is.”
Jill looked up at the mistletoe with white berries, though this one was attached to the branch of a small pine tree. “How very interesting. Happy to meet you too, Missy.”
Her sister stopped before the last of her plants. “But this is the most interesting of my friends.” Lillie lowered her head and sighed. “I’m sorry to say that not everyone appreciates Camy as I do.”
Jill examined the innocent-looking plant. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen any like this one.”
Numerous white blossoms grew in clusters along stalks above grass-like leaves. Near the center of each blossom, a green heart-shaped design marked each petal.
“It’s a death camas. Her name frightens people. Does she frighten you?” Lillie looked concerned that one of her friends might be rejected.
A bit sick to her stomach, Jill tried not to let it show. “Camy appears the most fascinating of all.”
“Oh, Jill, I’ve never enjoyed sharing my friends with anyone as much as I have today. You’re very kind.”
“And you’ve treated me to a fascinating tour. Are any of these plants edible?”
Lillie appeared shocked at the thought. “Oh, no! Though lovely, they’re all quite poisonous.”
“Every one of them?”
Lifting her shoulders, she clasped her hands and grinned sheepishly. “Some of the world’s most beautiful plants are poisonous. It’s how God made them.”
“And you’re not afraid someone might misuse yours?” Jill watched carefully for Lillie’s reaction.
“Why would they do such a thing?” Lillie passed one hand in a light feathery touch over the nearest. “Besides, there’s nothing to be afraid of. We don’t have children or pets in the house, and I’m very careful how I handle my friends. They would never harm me.”
“But you have to hurt them from time to time, right?”
Lillie’s eyes grew dark with dismay. “Whatever do you mean?”
Jill cast a glance over the lush array of flowers and greenery. “You do have to prune them, trim their blossoms, things like that, right?”
Lillie sighed. “Well, of course, to help them, but they understand.”
“Does anyone help you with their care?”
Lillie splayed the fingers of her right hand over her heart, her eyes wide. “Never. Oh, I couldn’t. My friends would never understand.”
“And what do you do with the parts you prune? Do you compost them?”
“I staple them in a bag and put them in the kitchen garbage.”
Jill’s heart skipped a beat. This would mean that anyone who might use Lillie’s plants could easily do it without her sister’s knowledge. Lillie’s friends. She would need to know more about each plant’s poisonous properties to discover how they might be used to poison their father. “Would you teach me how to care for them?”
Lillie hung her head. “I’d rather not, Jill. I’m sorry, but my friends trust me. I don’t think they would trust anyone else.”
“That’s okay. I understand.”
“You do?” Her eyes brightened with hope.
“Absolutely. You know best.” She’d check the Internet to find the information she had hoped to gain from her sister. Of course, the Internet could never tell her just how much Lillie knew.
Her sister seemed to study her, probably trying to decide if she was sincere. Then, with a sudden move, she launched herself at Jill, wrapping her arms around tightly as Jill staggered back a step to catch her balance. Lillie rested her chin on Jill’s shoulder.
For a moment Jill stood there, stunned. She had never been hugged by a sister before. Sisterly affection spread through the core of her being, and she enfolded this strange, gentle relative in her arms.
Approaching footsteps ended when a shadow fell across the slate floor. “Just what is going on in here?”
Jill cringed at Dora’s sudden invasion. Even more so when she caught the flash of fright in Lillie’s blue eyes. Her sister scrambled back behind her plant friends.
“Don’t you go into hiding, young lady. You need to get ready. We leave in twenty minutes to help deliver the church care packages to the needy.”
With wide eyes, Lillie rushed past Jill and disappeared into the dining room like a frightened child.
“And you.” Dora turned piercing eyes on her. “I know what you’re up to.”
She did? She couldn’t. She hadn’t been near enough to overhear anything.
“Whatever manipulations you have in mind,” Dora went on, “will not be tolerated in this house. Stay away from my granddaughter. She’s too delicate for the likes of you. And make no mistake. No matter what John says, this is my house, and the sooner you leave it, the better.”
Words clogged in Jill’s throat. For a moment, she wasn’t sure how to respond to such orders, such accusations, and the woman’s hint of harm to come. But then she knew.
Jill stretched as tall as her petite height allowed. “Mrs. Gates, if Lillie wants my friendship, it’s hers, no matter what you say. You cannot keep me from my sister.”
“Your sister?” The woman spat the words, glaring while her hands balled into fists. Then she slowly relaxed them, but her chin remained resolute. “She is not your sister. You don’t know her, and she certainly does not know you.”
“We’re getting acquainted.” And with God’s help, would form a lasting relationship.
Dora raised her chin a notch higher. “And I suppose you haven’t noticed her odd ways.”
Jill met the woman’s stare without flinching. “I’ve noticed she has a very sweet and innocent nature.”
Dora lowered her chin and narrowed her eyes without blinking. “It’s that innocence I strive to protect.”
Jill could not believe her ears. “You have nothing to fear from me. I would never hurt her.”
“You’ve already hurt her by coming here. Since your arrival, she has been far more agitated. I wish you had never come, and if you really cared about her, you would leave her alone.” Dora turned on her heels and stalked away.
Shaken, Jill stood in the doorway. Surely Dora was wrong.
The elder woman never looked back as she proceeded through the dining room.
Lord, I can’t wait to leave this house. But when that time came, she would not abandon the sister she had come to love. In the meantime, God had a plan, and she would stay long enough to see her part through to the end.
What was taking Clay so long?
Chapter Sixteen
Clay shut off the fax machine and slipped the contract pages into a folder. With this pressing need behind him, he could devote himself to helping Jill protect her father. With a last glance around the study to make sure he had left everything in order, he sped from the room, nearly colliding with Mrs. Gates. “I’m sorry.” He rea
ched out to steady her. “Are you hurt?”
The old woman stared at him coldly. “Do not touch me. I need no assistance.”
She might as well have said, “especially from you.” He did his best to sidestep any semblance of amusement.
Tossing her head, she turned toward the stairs.
Strange woman. Not that he’d hold her behavior against her. He rather admired her independent spirit at such an advanced age. He watched her proceed up the stairs until satisfied she was steady enough, despite their near collision. Then he headed through the dining room.
Jill waited outside the conservatory as he closed the distance between them. Good. He hadn’t taken too long after all.
She reached out and took his hand. “Come with me.”
Clay trailed her into a jungle of plants crowding both sides of a narrow pathway. It was a good thing the conservatory windows were high, or the plants would never receive adequate sun.
“This,” she said, pausing to make a sweeping gesture as if she were a game show host’s assistant, “is Lillie’s collection of poisonous plants.”
Creepy. “You’re sure she’s not poisoning your father? This certainly gives her the means.”
“She’s not allowed in his room unless someone is with her. Even during Christmas dinner and the gift opening, the whole family was present. And I really can’t imagine her hurting anyone.”
Though Jill was usually a good judge of character, Clay wouldn’t buy that. Lillie seemed innocent enough, but sometimes those people were the most dangerous. He’d seen plenty of that during his overseas military operations. “You’ve only known her … what, three days? Do you think you’re ready to make that judgment?”
A deep V formed between her shapely eyebrows. “I do. Besides, what would she have to gain?”
“Again, we don’t know enough about her to answer that question.”
“Okay. You’re right.”
His gaze swept the plant menagerie. “In the meantime, we might discover something helpful by gathering information about these plants and their properties.”
“Just what I thought.”
He pulled out his phone.
She shot him a quizzical look. “What are you doing?”
“Taking pictures so we’re sure we’re dealing with the right species when we look them up on the Internet.” Clay angled his phone to photograph each to its best advantage. Just as he had taken the last, Lillie entered the small space.
Alarm sprang to her sister’s face. “What—”
Jill hurried to her with a smile, hoping to ease her distress. “I brought Clay to meet your friends. He’s taking their pictures. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Well, I … I guess not,” she said, though clearly agitated. “But I think you should go now.”
“Of course.” Jill motioned for Clay to join her. “I’m sorry we intruded.”
Clay stowed his phone while observing Jill’s sister, who touched the nearest plant tenderly. “I think they’ll be fine,” she said. “I’ll just stay and make sure.” She seemed to be talking more to herself than to them.
Clay steered Jill from the room and waited until they had gone far enough to avoid being overheard. “What’s this about you and your sister referring to poisonous plants as her friends?”
“That’s the way she introduced them to me. I thought it was strange, but you know, I’m not so sure. It appears she never leaves this house on her own, and I don’t think she has any other friends. Maybe it’s her way of filling the void.”
“It’s still odd. We need to keep an eye on her.” He held up his phone. “Let’s go to your room and see what we can find out.”
When Jill and Clay reached the second floor, the wizened old woman in black and white garb appeared out of nowhere carrying a glass with an inch of liquid remaining in it. Hannah paused to squint at Jill with her typical sour expression. “Mr. John wants to see you after supper.” She jerked her head toward Clay. “Him too.”
Once Hannah left through the door with the stained-glass window, Jill led Clay into her room and closed the door. “That’s the first time Dad has ever sent for me—for us. Whatever he wants must be important. I wonder what it is.”
Clay pulled out his phone and checked the time. “We’ll find out soon enough. In the meantime, let’s see if these plants lead us to an answer about possible poisons. Who knows how much time we have to get to the bottom of your father’s problem?”
Her heart quickening with a sense of urgency, Jill prayed the plants would provide an answer. Though they’d still have to discover who might be using them. She rubbed her temples as she chided herself for adding to Lillie’s collection of possible poisons.
Clay pulled two chairs together but working from one phone proved too hard. “I’ll send some of the photos to your phone. If we each check half, we’ll finish faster. As we check each, let me know which symptoms resemble your father’s.”
“Good plan.” Jill went to her phone’s email screen. “I’m ready.”
Photos of Star, Holly, Angel, and Rose came to her phone one by one. That meant Clay would tackle the info on the amaryllis, calla lily, ivy, and death camas. As his fingers moved rapidly over the surface of his phone, Jill started digging for facts on her half.
“Clay, do you think we should eliminate the Star of Bethlehem? It wasn’t among Lillie’s original collection.”
“True, but we don’t know if it’s been used since.” He went back to his research.
Sick to her stomach, she did a Google search for “Star of Bethlehem plant poisonous” and began reading a few articles. Interesting that Star was a member of the lily family. “It says here that years ago the flowers of the Star of Bethlehem were used as a heart stimulus, something like digitalis. Or as a mood elevator for people who were grieving. Doesn’t sound like Dad. His heart slows, and his mood is usually somber. And this plant only makes animals sick.” Talk about feeling relief.
Clay’s fingers stopped moving as he studied the screen. “Amaryllis bulbs cause diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. Does that sound familiar?”
“I didn’t see any of that, but I’m not with him all the time.”
“Has Alice ever mentioned those symptoms?”
“Not to me.”
A few minutes later, Clay looked up from his phone. “The calla lily is in the clear. Mostly toxic to children and pets who chew on the leaves. Causes swelling of mouth and tongue.”
“Never saw Dad suffer that either.” She looked up from her phone. “We can put Holly on the no list too. Same symptoms as the amaryllis.”
With her fingers flying over the screen and more reading on the internet, Jill wondered if they were on a useless rabbit trail. “Wait a minute. Here’s something. The leaves and seeds of the red angel trumpet cause paralysis, confusion, dry mouth, migraine headaches, and … death.” That last word trampled her heart.
His attention focused entirely on her. “What looks familiar?”
“The confusion. The first time Dad saw me, he thought I was my mother.”
“Is that the only time?”
“I think so, and he did realize his mistake when Alice corrected him.” Not much of a clue by itself. “But I wonder if he has migraine headaches. He often closes his eyes as if he’s in pain. The room is always dim. We’re careful to be quiet around him, and I saw Alice use a cold compress on his forehead.”
“Wouldn’t they have removed the clock that chimes?”
Jill tapped her chin with her finger. “You’re right. Any noise would be a problem.”
“Let’s dig some more.” He turned his attention back to his phone. “Look at this one. The leaves and berries of ivy cause stomach pains, labored breathing, and coma.”
“I don’t know about any stomach pains, but his breathing has been labored since I first arrived, and sometimes he seems to be slipping into in a coma.” Could the answer be something as simple as the ivy?
“Let’s put that on our list of possibi
lities.” Clay made a note of it. “We’re down to the last two.”
Back to work. A little more digging and reading, and Jill reported her findings. “Looks like the Christmas rose is another dead end. It says here, ‘burning of the eyes, mouth, and throat.’ Also causes ulcers in the mouth. That doesn’t sound like Dad. What did you find?”
Clay tapped his phone with the pen. “You’d think death added to any plant’s name would be sufficient warning. All parts of the death camas are poisonous, causing low blood pressure and low heartbeat.”
This one definitely sounded familiar. “I don’t know about Dad’s blood pressure, but he frightened me more than once when his heart rate slowed down.”
“That goes on the list too.” He lifted the scrap of paper. “Not much to go on here.”
“And even what we do have isn’t very conclusive.” Jill’s eyes wandered to the poinsettia Lillie had placed in her room. Instantly alert, she pointed to it. “Wait a minute. What about that? And the mistletoe in the entrance hall. We should check those out too.”
Clay went right back to his phone. “I’ll take the mistletoe.”
Jill did another Google search for the poinsettia and a minute later, sat back in her chair, deflated. “Not poisonous.”
“Says here that mistletoe is rarely lethal to humans, though it does cause acute gut discomfort, a weak pulse, slow heart rate, and seizures.” He looked to her again.
“Put it on the list,” she agreed. “Though it sounds more like a method of torture, and I’ve never seen Dad suffer a seizure.” She shut her phone down. “We need more help. Maybe we should share this information with Alice. Her medical training might lend some helpful information.”
Clay’s eyes narrowed. “Let’s wait until after we see your father.”
After supper, Jill and Clay approached her father’s room. When she eased the door open, Alice looked up and beckoned them inside.
As they reached her father’s bedside, his ashen face alarmed Jill. His eyes were closed, as usual. “Is he sleeping?”
“Just resting. As long as you two are here, if you don’t mind, I’ll go and have some supper.”
