by Kim Hornsby
We walked along the beach to the water’s edge, Hodor running into the salty waves, in doggie heaven. The briny smell of the sea filled my nostrils and seeing the waves roll in against the rocky edge brought tears to my eyes. The world was so fricking beautiful.
I tried to throw a stick for Hodor but I was a crummy throw and it landed only a few feet in front of me. I laughed and Caspian looked to me like he couldn’t believe I couldn’t throw. “I never let go at the right time,” I said. “Sometimes the stick lands behind me.”
He laughed heartily, and I marveled at his deep laugh.
Hodor brought me the stick and Caspian took it from my hand. “Allow me,” he said, throwing it into the waves that swept into the shore a hundred feet down the beach. Hodor ran after the stick, probably not even trying to figure out who threw it. He couldn’t see Caspian, as far as I knew. I supposed that as early as time, people threw sticks for dogs.
“I hope to swim here this summer,” I said. “Did Belinda swim in this cove?”
“No, I’ve never seen anyone go into this water for enjoyment.”
“Did you spend a lot of time moored in this bay?”
“Several months of one winter,” he said.
Walking on the beach with a ghost, would have been a strange activity for most people. Not for me. I knew they could go outside, didn’t need the dark, weren’t always transparent and floating. Watching Caspian throw the stick for Hodor, I was touched that this man was so normal in many regards. He wasn’t the mysterious, elusive dude I’d originally thought. Winging the big stick into the water, Caspian looked like any man playing with a dog on the beach, his look of delight, making me smile.
“Look at Hodor. That’s what I plan to do in a few months if you stick around and I can see.” My dog was splashing around in the waves, biting at the water.
Caspian laughed to see my ridiculous dog having such fun. “Fetch sticks?”
“Ha ha. No, swim. I love to swim.” I turned to him. “Do you swim?” I didn’t know if people knew the front crawl or even the dog paddle in Caspian’s day.
“Yes. My father taught me to swim when I was a boy.”
I imagined Caspian as a boy with a father who loved him, and my heart hurt as it sometimes does when dealing with dead people. Everyone dies eventually but thinking of Caspian leaving this world sent a wave of sadness through me. “What’s the story behind Jacqueline stabbing you?”
The sun was still well above the horizon and the light reflected in Caspian’s dark eyes. “I had threatened to uncover a truth about Stevenson if she didn’t grant me the divorce. She came to my room when I was sleeping, armed with a saber, and although I’ll never be sure if she meant to kill me or wound me, we fought, and her saber went through my shoulder.”
I gasped. “She meant to kill you, I’m sure of it.”
“Well, if that’s so, she did not succeed. I ended up spending another few weeks in the house, recuperating, something that infuriated Jacqueline.” He smiled at the thought.
“Did everyone know she stabbed you?”
“Goodness no. I said I came between two of my crew fighting.”
“What truth were you going to reveal about Stevenson?”
Just then, we heard a yell from above us on the top of the cliff. It was Carlos. “Help! Help!”
I looked to Caspian and he took off running for the trail.
“Carlos, what is it?” The wind took my words away, out to sea. From the beach, I could see the top of Carlos’s head, not moving, close to the edge of the cliff. I ran after Caspian.
By the time we reached the top I was so out of breath, I was the one needing help and wondered if a sea captain knew CPR. Caspian stood staring at Carlos, who was frozen on the cliffside, having been backed up to the very edge by a large black cat. One more step back and Carlos would go over the edge.
“He’s deathly afraid of cats!” I yelled. “Kitty kitty,” I said in as high a voice as my winded lungs would allow. “Carlos, do not back up!” If he leaned back, he’d fall to his death on the rocks.
“Call the cat,” Caspian said. He looked frustrated, unable to help because Carlos could neither see nor hear him. The cat too. I grabbed the staircase railing for support and watched Carlos look like he’d prefer to take his chances with the rocks below rather than let a cat touch him.
“Carlos, take a step forward. Tell the cat to scram,” I called breathlessly to Carlos. “Kitty, kitty, kitty.”
Caspian couldn’t do anything because he was a ghost, I was afraid to go any closer in case the cat advanced on Carlos and it appeared we were waiting for the edge of the cliff to give way and take my dear friend to his death.
“Call Hodor!” Caspian called.
“Hodor!” I yelled, then whistled. “Carlos, just wave your arms while you take two steps forward. Cats don’t like that.” At least I hoped they didn’t.
Hearing my dog racing up the stairs behind me, I stood aside to let Hodor pass.
At the sight of a dog, the black cat took off running towards the forest, Hodor right behind.
Carlos burst forward, and I let out a long breath, walking over to him. “What the hell were you thinking letting a tiny cat push you to the edge of a cliff?” I puffed.
Carlos turned and saw how close he’d come to falling off the cliff, looked to me and fainted to the ground.
***
After getting Carlos inside to sit on the couch and fixing him a cup of tea, we lectured him about cats. Our stories of kitty cuteness fell on deaf ears. Carlos was terrified of the things. Eve was clearly troubled by Carlos’s brush with death and sat by his side on the couch giving him tips on how to make a cat run away.
“Hodor saved my life,” Carlos said.
“More like Caspian,” I corrected. He suggested I whistle for Hodor. My phone rang and seeing it was Jim, The Eatery’s owner, I took the call.
“I wanted you to know it was Britney poisoning me,” Jim said, his voice devoid of emotion.
I could feel his disappointment through the phone. “You caught her?”
“I did better than that. I filmed her while she was adding the powder to my shake. Then I had the vitamin A powder tested. It was rat poison.”
“I’m so sorry, Jim.”
“She was trying to kill me and take over the restaurant with an old boyfriend she kept on the side. I’d put her on the deed as a co-owner, like a god-damned fool.”
Eve and Carlos were watching me. Caspian too. “What’s next?” It wasn’t for us to decide what he did with this information.
“I called the cops when I caught her. She’s in King County jail charged with attempted murder. I need to thank you guys.”
If Jim was pressing charges, we’d have to be very careful what we showed online of our taped footage of Mary. We already knew that the white shadow had not shown up on camera. Nothing had come through but our verification that we all saw her. It wasn’t amazing footage of anything and I was sure Bane Jackson would have a field day if we tried to say we’d seen a ghost tell an Alive that he was being poisoned.
“Have the stomach pains stopped?” I hoped Jim had people to help him through this devastation.
“Yes, they have. She was feeding me rat poison at home too.” He let out a long breath. “I could have died. The doctor says I’ll make a full recovery. There were so many signs I didn’t see. I was blinded by love.”
I sensed that Jim was embarrassed he’d said blinded.
“Your secret about your eyesight is safe with me.”
“Thanks, Jim.” I sensed he hadn’t known Britney well or for very long and felt like he’d gotten sucked in by her youth and beauty. “I’m sure you were acting like any normal man in love.”
“What will you do with the tape of me saying it was Britney?”
“We’ll sit on it.”
“You should work with the cops to find murderers,” Jim said. “Other people out there could use your help like this.”
I’d thought
about going in that direction years ago but decided I didn’t want to be a part of heinous crimes on a daily basis. “Did you tell anyone how you found out?”
“No. I doubt I’ll tell anyone that a ghost told me about Britney. If it’s all the same to you, I don’t really want the part of the investigation about us finding the poison to be on your show.”
We’d think of something. “That’s what I was thinking.”
I ended the call and told my team the bad news, that the Mary investigation might never be shown to its final conclusion. It was for the better.
Sometimes we had to ignore great paranormal occurrences for honorable reasons.
Chapter 14
I wasn’t sure why I was spending time doing my makeup or why I’d dressed in my favorite black jeans and a pink cashmere sweater because pink was not a color I usually wore. Harry had said I looked luscious in pink and had given me the sweater our first Christmas together and I’d just happened to bring it to Cove House because it reminded me of Harry.
As I put the finishing touches to my makeup in the bathroom, I glanced apologetically at Caspian in the mirror. “This must be boring. I’m sorry. Did you watch Belinda put on makeup?”
“Yes,” he said, smiling. “She often wore it in the early years. Then, when she got older, she was worried about her appearance and used makeup to feel better about what she called her missing lip line and sparse eyebrows.”
“It must have been hard to see someone you love grow old when you didn’t.” I stopped and turned to face him.
“I wished she could see inside my heart, to know that her appearance was just the same to me as always.”
It was then that Caspian started to fade, and I reached out for him to stay. “No, don’t go. I’m sorry I made you think of her.”
Then he was gone, and I was blind again. He’d been with me most of the day and I’d assumed we’d simply drift into the evening the same way.
My mother knocked on the bathroom door. “Bryndle, are you in the bathroom with the captain?”
“He’s gone,” I said pulling the door open. Now I wouldn’t have to explain to my mother and Joan Hightower how I could see. Because I couldn’t. What was I going to do? “I moved you into your own room. Two doors down, and no whining about wanting back in my bed.”
“I’m not…”
“How’s the roast coming along?” I knew Joan would be here in a few minutes and Bane after that.
“It’s perfect, if I do say so myself. You look pretty tonight, Bryndle. Did you dress for Caspian or for Bane?”
“I didn’t dress for anyone but myself. I’m not even sure what I’m wearing.” I found my way to the door with TapTap’s help. Once in the hall, I called for Eve.
My mother followed me. “I can help you. What do you need?”
“I need eyesight. I need to be able to see in less than an hour or my reputation will be ruined in this business, thanks to your dinner invitation.” I walked down the hall to Eve’s room. “Eve, he’s gone.” I fumbled for the door just as it opened, and my cousin took my hand and led me inside her room.
“He’ll return.” Eve said. “Tell me what happened.”
I did.
“He knows how important this is,” I said like Caspian had any control over coming and going.
“I’m sure if he can come back, he will. Didn’t you say he left today and returned an hour later?”
“You don’t need the ghost here,” my mother said from the doorway. “I’ve invited a real, live man to dinner. I have to get downstairs to check on everything.” I heard her footsteps retreat down the stairs and soon after, we followed. I planned to tell my mother that I could see in Caspian’s presence when Joan arrived.
Eve and I found our way to the salon where Carlos had built a fire. I could feel the heat as I got closer. When the doorbell rang, I assumed it would be Joan, but I heard a soft voice speaking with Eve at the front door. A soft man’s voice. Not Joan. I panicked. Was Bane Jackson here early? There were two sets of shoes approaching the salon and listening to conversation, I realized that Jimmy Big Ears had dropped by.
“We have another guest for dinner,” Eve announced somewhat nervously as they walked in the room.
“Jimmy?” I asked. I almost uttered my needlessly nasty nickname for him.
“How does she know it’s me?” he lisped to Eve.
I let him believe it was other-worldly when really, I’d heard his voice, his footsteps, and detected Eve’s footsteps were lighter than usual as if she was happy.
The doorbell rang again, and I told Eve to wait. “If it’s not Joan, but Bane Jackson, I’m making a run for my room and you’ll need to distract him just outside the door while I make my escape.” Rachel would have to entertain her dinner guests alone.
I asked Jimmy to sit down and informed him that we had company coming for dinner and no one was to mention my blindness in front of Bane Jackson. “It’s very important he not think I’m blind.”
“I don’t need to stay,” he said. “It was just that Eve suggested I bring the information by.”
It was a long way from where Jimmy lived in Washington State. “Are you staying the night?” I asked him.
“Eve said I could, and I think I’ll take her up on that.”
“We have plenty of bedrooms,” I mentioned while trying to hear if it was Bane or Joan at the front door.
Thankfully, it was Joan and after she was seated, I began my explanation of why I would not be joining everyone for dinner. I explained that the other guest coming for dinner had spied on me and told my fans I was blind even though I did not want the world to know that.
“Why not?” Joan asked.
“It’s complicated,” I said. “I don’t want my audience to think I’ve lost anything marketable in these last few months.” I hoped that explanation sounded good enough and changed the subject by thanking her for the information she brought on the house’s history.
“I also have some basic information on The Isabella and her captain,” she said. “A Caspian Cortez, born to a British mother and Spanish father in what became Fort Victoria in Canada.” Joan’s voice was high, and I detected she was looking to me for a reaction. Maybe not.
Although I was intrigued and wanted to stay and talk with Joan, I couldn’t see a thing in front of my face and had to get out of the room before a certain paranormal debunker arrived. “Thank you so much, Joan. I look forward to hearing more about this, maybe tomorrow.” I stood. “I look forward to a chit chat, Jimmy. I’ll see you tomorrow at breakfast,” I said. “Eve, please explain to Mr. Jackson that I have a splitting headache.”
I left the room and mounted the stairs on my own, something I’d been practicing. With Hodor on my heels, I found my room and pulled the door almost closed, leaving a crack open for some eavesdropping. “Caspian?” I said to the darkness in the room. “Where have you gone?” I switched on the light for Hodor and sat on the side of my bed, trying to think of what was happening downstairs.
I heard the doorbell, then shortly after, the front door closed. Voices echoed up the stairs to where I now stood at the door, a man’s laugh was followed by my mother’s flirtatious giggle. It was hard to eavesdrop when they spoke in such low tones although I strained to pick out the words being said in the hall.
“Shall we have drinks in the salon?” Rachel asked. “Bryndle will be down momentarily.”
Had no one told my mother that I wasn’t coming? As they moved through the house, I did too, heading down the hall to the side of the house closest to the salon so I could sit out of sight like a child listening to her parent’s party downstairs.
Joan asked Bane how long he’d be in the area, her voice sounding higher and louder than her usual self.
“I hope to leave tomorrow morning,” a strange voice said.
At least he didn’t sound like Harry.
“I stayed an extra night when I was invited to dinner. I’m happy to have a home-cooked meal. I’m looking forward
to meeting the elusive Bryndle Moody.”
“She’s been ill all day with a migraine, something that isn’t unusual with phenom mediums,” Eve said, laying it on thick.
“Will she be down soon?” Bane asked.
“Possibly, but her migraines keep her from…seeing properly.” Eve was a genius. Yes! She continued. “And this is Rachel’s dinner party after all. Not an invitation from Moody. In the meantime, what will you have to drink?”
Drink orders were taken, and the conversation turned to the history of Smuggler’s Cove. Damn. I didn’t want the people down there to talk about the town and learn about its former inhabitants from the museum curator. I only wanted me to get this information, not Jackson or my mother, although I believed she was now back in the kitchen putting the dinner together.
When I heard Eve playing the piano, my heart warmed to think that she was entertaining our guests. Had Carlos gone for drinks? I tried to summon a picture of the salon but got nothing psychically. The music sped up to a feverish pitch and I wondered why Eve had chosen such a violent piece of music. Then my phone pinged a text.
“The piano started to play on its own, and now Eve is playing the piano like a possessed freak.” Carlos said. “Joan looks terrified.”
I texted him back. “Film it.”
Then, the music stopped abruptly. I heard footsteps tapping across the foyer floor, not Eve’s, but similar. The front door opened and slammed.
“What’s happening now?” I texted back.
“Joan is gone.”
Rachel’s laughter floated up to the second floor. “Well, well, well. That was most unusual Evelyn.”
“How did the piano play on its own?” Bane asked. “I’m sure this was a trick. Do you mind if I investigate?”
Was Bane headed for the piano? Damn. I wish I was down there. I squinted to hear. Next thing, the space in front of my eyes grew grey and light filtered in through my nothingness. “Caspian?” I whispered.
