“Okay,” I said sternly. “So you’re Shane, right? And you seem to be a Deputy Sheriff or something. Right? I’m a citizen here. I’m reporting an accident. Don’t you think you ought to follow up on that? Like, now?”
He was staring at me. “Haley. We’ve got history between us. Some pretty rough spots. Right? And you haven’t always been the straightest and the clearest girl in town. Right? So why you would think I would….”
“Believe me?” I said, my voice rising. It was completely out of control now. “Because I’m telling the truth, damn it! I can’t help it if the whole world seems to be falling apart around me. I know what happened. I was up on a mountain trail and Scotty threatened me and then he fell. I heard him yelling all the way down. We…we’ve got to try to find him. Don’t you get it?”
He was looking strange and his blue eyes were searching my face as though he thought he might find an answer or two hiding there.
“Who are you?” he said softly. “Who are you really?”
I wanted to answer that, but I couldn’t. I shook my head. “That doesn’t matter,” I said.
He reached out to touch my arm and I jerked away. His face changed. “Hey, what’s the matter? Don’t you remember me? Don’t you remember...” He frowned and seemed to swallow… “anything?”
He said the word softly, and I knew he was giving it some sort of significance. Enough people had told me that Shane was back in town for me to realize he and I must have meant something to each other at some point. But if I didn’t remember, how important could it have been?
“That’s just it,” I said, whispering the words. “I don’t. Not really. I…I think I’ve got some kind of amnesia or something.”
He looked as though he’d just been struck by lightning. “You don’t remember me?” he said, as though that was almost impossible.
Slowly, I shook my head. “No,” I said. “I don’t.”
To my surprise, he laughed. Right out loud, he laughed. And then he looked happy, as though my memories were something I should be glad to be rid of.
“Wow,” he said. “That must be a burden off your shoulders.”
I had no idea what he meant but I knew I wasn’t going to be happy once I found out.
“Do you remember this town?” he asked me.
I shook my head slowly, wondering if I’d made a big mistake here. This was something I should keep very close to the vest. Anyone who knew the truth would have a hold over me, a power I didn’t want anyone to have. So why was I telling this big, strong, intimidating man? I wasn’t sure, but somehow the truth had just come pouring out.
“I…I woke up this morning in a strange motel room and I couldn’t remember who I am.”
There. Now he knew. What was he going to do about it?
Not much, it seemed. He threw his hands up and grinned. “Then what the hell are you doing here?” he demanded.
I shook my head again. “I honestly don’t know,” I said.
He took a deep, deep breath and sighed. “Yeah, well, you’d better go out and see your grandmother,” he said. “I’ll bet she’ll know.”
My grandmother again. The more people wanted me to go out and see her—whatever that meant—the more I felt resistance building in my soul. And anyway—we had things to do.
“Great,” I said shortly. “I’ll do that. But in the meantime, what about Scotty?”
He shrugged. “The hell with Scotty,” he said. “He can take care of himself. I’ve got work to do. I’ve got to get back to the station.” He turned to go, then looked back. “You take care, Haley Greco. There are a lot of people in this town who don’t like you much. Or your family. So watch your step.” He hesitated and said the rest as though he was just a little reluctant to do so. “And give me a call if you need help. Okay?”
He pulled a card out of his pocket and handed it to me. “See you later, alligator.”
I reacted with shock at that. He was doing just what I always did, only out loud so that people actually heard the ridiculousness of it all. But he was already on his way before I could comment. I just shook my head in puzzled wonder.
A dog barked, two short, staccato yelps, and I looked over on the other side of the koi pond. That little dog was still hanging around. He looked at me expectantly and I had to admit, he was cute, what with those eyebrows and everything.
“You want to help me look for Scotty?” I asked him.
I could swear he nodded, then jumped up, came over and began to run rings around me.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s go.”
I gathered my things and we started back to where my invisible mountain had been. I tried to ignore the sound of wings I heard coming behind us. The dog I could use—the raven, not so much. Oh well. My mind was on finding Scotty. I was going to search that whole park if I had to.
***
It was almost an hour later when I finally gave up. We’d been back and forth over the length and width of the park and we’d found…nothing.
Nothing that is but old candy wrappers and a turquoise tennis shoe. I tried to remember if Scotty had been wearing a pair of those, but the picture didn’t come to me. All in all the park was exceptionally clean and exceptionally flat. No mountain. No scary trail. No climb of any kind, unless you wanted to climb a tree. And I didn’t.
You might think I’d be going out of my head by now. After all, the day had started with mystery and weirdness, and now those same elements were coming at me again.
I had been on a mountain trail. That much I was sure of. How it could disappear, vanish into thin air, that I didn’t get. But it didn’t shake my confidence in the fact that it had been real at the time. If the powers that be around here could erase my memories, why couldn’t they build a fake mountain? I wanted an explanation but I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to get it any time soon.
I kept thinking, if I could just get some time to sit and mull this whole situation over, I would come to some sort of eureka moment and have my answer to everything. It had to happen some time. Right now I couldn’t remember who I was or why I was here. I couldn’t remember people who obviously remembered me just fine. Unless….
Okay, here’s where it really had affected me. I was beginning to distrust everyone and everything. What if they were just pretending to remember me? How could I possibly know the difference? What if this was all a big conspiracy to….to do what? It wasn’t like I was a royal princess running for my life or a kidnapped heiress whose money could be had for the asking.
Was I?
Naw. That just didn’t feel right.
The little dog was still with me and I was beginning to wonder where he belonged. I’d checked him-no collar, no tags. You’d think whoever owned him would be out calling his name or whistling or whatever they did to remind him to come home. But there was nothing to be seen or heard as far as I could tell. What was I going to do with him?
“You want to come with me to Scotty’s Bar and Grill?” I asked him. “I guess that’s the only place left to look for him.”
He looked at me and cocked his head to the side as though he was considering it. Then he barked and panted and I could have sworn he was grinning.
Listen, at this point I was so hungry for a friendly face, I was thrilled. The dog liked me. Yahoo!
“Okay,” I said, smiling right back at him. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Four
We walked and it took forever. This park was the strangest place. From a distance it looked like an ordinary town square, the sort of space reserved for trees, picnic tables and maybe a gazebo or a monument or two like any average town. But there was something else going on. My trip up the magical mystery trail wasn’t the only thing. There was a buzz, a hum, that I had only just begun to notice. I was going to be happy to make it to the far sidewalk.
That gave me another thought. Would my little furry friend exist once we reached the other side? Or was he just a creation of my own imagination, like that mountain seemed to have been?
I hoped not. He was too cute, even if he did tend to chase bunnies.
We reached the sidewalk and he was still with me. I reached down and gave him a scratch or two and he grinned at me. Amazing how much that simple doggy smile warmed my heart.
I stood up again and looked up and down at the storefronts that lined the other side of the street. The colors were bright and primary, with gaily blooming window boxes and appealing signs that all seemed to be coordinated. Everything looked new and happy. Actually, it looked like a town out of a storybook, and as I listened, I could hear the sounds of ongoing construction and improvement. Moonhaven seemed to be in the midst of a complete makeover and it was looking good.
And then there was Scotty’s Bar and Grill right across the street from where I was standing. What a contrast to the friendly village look of the rest of them. It looked decades late for a paint job. In fact, it looked more likely for demolition than tender loving care. If some kind of directive had gone out to the town that everyone had to shape up or ship out, Scotty’s people would be inside packing for the trip. Kind of sad, really.
But wait a minute. It was mine. The whole mess was for me to clean up now. Was I ready for this?
I sighed and squared my shoulders. I was still dealing with the fact that I’d imagined—was that the word for it?—that I saw Scotty falling off a cliff not long ago. The look on his face as he went over, the sound of his yell as he fell out of sight, all were still as vivid in my mind as anything real could have been. It still made me shiver. Was it all in my imagination? It hardly seemed possible, and yet, if we’d been on a mountain trail, where was that mountain?
“Are you still with me?” I asked the pup. “If you live nearby, maybe this would be the time for you to scoot on home.”
He stood beside me with determination. He was going wherever I was going, that much was clear.
“Okay then.” I started across the street and he trotted beside me.
There were no cars parked in front of the bar, and as I got closer I could see why. There was a large official looking notice tacked onto the front door-something that hadn’t been there when I’d first visited.
“Closed for renovations,” it said. “Signed, Mayor Dobbs”.
I couldn’t imagine that had gone over very well with Scotty. I looked around for my little canine companion, wondering what I was going to do with him, but he took care of that problem. Without hesitation, he jumped up into one of a pair of overstuffed chairs that had been set out on the porch, circled the pillow twice, then sank down and covered his eyes with a paw, ready for a nap.
“Be careful,” I murmured to him. “You never know what it’s going to be like when you wake back up again.”
He’d already gone to sleep and I went on, knocking briskly on the door despite the sign. No one answered, so I knocked again and called out, “Hello. It’s Haley. I need to talk to Scotty.”
The door opened a crack, but it was Luanne.
“Oh hi,” she said. “I was wondering if you would be back.”
“I’ve got a deed to this property,” I reminded her. “I think I’m going to be back a lot.”
“Really?” She looked sad about it, but not angry.
“I think I pretty much have to come back, don’t you?”
“Probably.” She sighed. “Listen, Scotty’s asleep right now.”
“Asleep?” I said sharply. “Or hurt?”
“Hurt?” She shook her head, looking confused. “No, he’s not hurt. He just tired. Maybe a little drunk. But he’ll be awake later. Maybe you should come back then.”
“So he’s really not injured in any way?”
“Haley, what are you talking about. He’s in the other room, sound asleep.”
I nodded. I really wanted to take a look at him and see for myself. I’d pretty much come to the conclusion that seeing him out on the mountain trail had been an illusion, something as nutty as waking up without my memories, but it seemed to be that sort of day, didn’t it? Everything was upside down.
And I didn’t feel it was a good time to press Luanne about coming in. I’d have plenty of space to throw my weight around later, and I would probably need a good plan first. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do exactly, but it seemed to involve getting Scotty to give up his bar and grill to me. Why I would want it was another story. I was just a ship tossed on a mysterious sea for now. I could feel that there was a force guiding my way, but I had no idea how or why. I decided to leave the big push for later.
“Your body language is loud and clear. You don’t want me to come in, do you?”
She flushed. “I…see, he’s so jumpy about you. When he’s like this, there’s no telling what he might do.”
I nodded. I understood. “Well then, can you come on out here and talk for awhile? I’ve got some things I want to explore a little and you seem like the best person to turn to.”
She took a deep breath and looked behind her. “You want me to come out on the porch?”
“Sure.”
“Okay.”
She slipped out, not opening the door anymore than she had to. She closed it again, then tried to smile and gestured toward two chairs made out of barrels on the other side of the porch. “Let’s sit down,” she suggested.
I glanced at the chair with my little sleeping doggy friend in it and nodded. “Sounds good.”
We sat. I glanced at her and wondered what I could tell her in order to get this conversation going. I couldn’t tell her that I didn’t have any memories of this town or anyone in it. And I certainly wasn’t going to tell her that I’d thought I’d pushed Scotty off a cliff.
“What did you want to talk about?” she asked, looking nervously toward the door as though she was afraid Scotty was going to come bursting out looking for her.
“So,” I said, trying to think of a good way to start this. “Uh, is it just my imagination, or is there something weird going on with this town?”
She gave me a long-suffering look. “You noticed, huh? Yeah, things have really changed lately. I think that’s part of what has Scotty so out of sorts.”
“So what’s the deal? What’s going on?”
She looked at me and frowned, thinking. “I guess you were gone before it all began,” she said.
“Uh, yeah.”
Her face changed. “By the way, how are your parents? And your brother? I heard they went to some other country to put your brother under the care of some sort of specialist. But I thought they would come back at some point.”
I wasn’t prepared for the emotional blow her words delivered to my heart. My parents? Something else I couldn’t remember. And I had a sick brother? I gasped, and bent over, and she looked stricken, reaching out to put a hand on my shoulder.
“Oh Haley, I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have brought it up. I…I just always liked your family so much and they left so suddenly and….”
“No, no.” I shook my head and steadied myself. “I’m okay. I just ate something spicy at lunch and it’s attacking me now.” I tried to smile. I couldn’t let myself get overwhelmed by emotions for things I couldn’t do anything about. I tried hard to toughen up. “No big deal.” I cleared my throat. “But I really want to understand what is happening to this town. Can you fill me in?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know if I can really tell you. You hear so many rumors and all sorts of wild conspiracy theories. It’s hard to sift out the truth from all that nonsense.” She sighed. “We had a major crisis about three years ago. The people voted to impeach the mayor at the time and there was a horrible debt problem. I don’t really remember all the details. But a whole new crew came in and took over, and now we have The Plan.”
“The Plan?”
She nodded. “It seemed like a good idea at the time. We voted on it and we agreed to turn the downtown area into a Storybook-land sort of place. For tourism. To make money.” She shook her head. “The only problem is, once it really got going, it seemed sort of like dictators had t
aken over. You have to toe the line and if you don’t, you get in trouble.”
“You mean like Scotty has.”
She sighed. “Exactly. They’re after him all the time to clean up and paint this place and join the others. The mayor’s wife, Rennie Dobbs, comes over regularly with her big book of ideas for themes. She gets him to choose one every time, but he never actually does what he’s promised to do. And now, as you can see…” She gestured toward the sign on the door. “Mayor Dobbs came by and put that up himself. He said we better not take it down. Scotty’s going to blow a gasket when he sees it. They’re closing him down.”
What could I say? I was pretty much planning on closing him down myself. This might actually work out perfectly for me. “I’ve noticed that everyone around the square seems to be improving their properties.”
“Right.”
I bit my lip, wondering if I should bring up my own plans, then decided against it. She seemed so nervous, I didn’t want to set her off any more than she was already.
“So. How long have you and Scotty been together?”
“Together?” She looked trapped. “A long time I guess.”
“You are a couple. Right?”
Slowly, she shook her head. “Not like you mean. We were a couple once, and I guess we’re still sort of …together.”
“Are you in love with him?”
She gave me a look that chilled me. “No. Not at all.”
I shook my head. “Then, I don’t get it. What are you doing staying here with him?”
She looked at me again as if she didn’t know where to start and didn’t know exactly what she could say anyway. When she began again, her words were halting.
“I work for him. And I take care of him. And mostly, I just try to manage him. Keep him out of trouble. Things like that.”
“But you don’t love him?” It seemed so odd. There had to be a reason she was hanging around.
Even Witches Get the Blues (Wicked in Moonhaven~A Paranormal Cozy Book 1) Page 4
