by Deb Lewis
Looking uneasily at the woods on both sides of them, Deb started walking down the center of the dirt road, rather than by the edge. Maybe it was silly, but she couldn’t help herself. Pat walked right next to her, not wanting to be left behind.
“You know what it reminds me of? It reminds me of the woods Dorothy and her crew went through when they were seeking the wicked witch.”
“Oh, that makes me feel so much better.”
Coming upon the sign, Pat reached up and brushed off the dirt covering its face. Instead of a direction, it read, Dead End.
“Well, that’s informative.” She looked up at the sky, searching for the sunlight. There were no clouds above them, and yet, here in the dense woods, it was positively gloomy.
They stood close, instinctively knowing it was safer that way. Safer from what, they couldn’t say. Their arms touched as their eyes adjusted to the gloom.
Watching the light from above, she followed it with her eyes as it filtered down catching on the tips of leaves, trickling through as if trying to reach them.
Pat stood listening so hard that she unconsciously held her breath. They stood like two frozen statues.
What am I listening for? she wondered. Her heart beat as fast as a sparrow caught in a cage.
CAW! CAW!
“Snap!” Deb said, startled out of the invisible spell by the sound of a gigantic blue-black crow that landed right in front of them. “What’s she got there?” she asked curiously, as she leaned toward the bird, still holding onto Pat’s arm,
Pat moved a step closer to get a better look, her ill feeling dispelled some by her friend’s use of the silly child’s swear word. The magnificent bird seemed to look right into Pat’s eyes and had landed on the carcass of a porcupine. As they watched, fascinated and appalled, it casually ripped off a piece. Throwing it up it the air, it caught the meat and swallowed.
“Shoo.” Deb gestured with her arms to scare it away. Pat stopped her before the motion was complete.
“It means no harm. But where are the other birds?” she whispered. “We should be hearing birds. Something here has scared them away.”
She squinted, and an involuntary shiver went through her.
“What is it?” Deb asked. “What do you see?”
Pat shook her head.
“Nothing, I guess. For a moment, I could have sworn I saw a form… an outline of someone standing just out of range. I suppose it could have been a birch tree. Their branches sometimes look like arms. It’s nothing.”
The crow cawed again, as if in warning. Taking Deb’s arm, she slowly turned, easing them back down the road to the car. The new red shoes she was wearing were slick on the bottom, and she slipped, barely staying upright. She held onto Deb once again.
With one last CAW, the crow flew up and away. Then, silence.
“Deb, do you still carry that small flashlight on your key chain?”
“Yes,” Deb answered as she fumbled around in her pocket. “Here it is.”
A thin beam cut through the eerie fog, and a figure stepped casually into its light. They gasped. From their vantage point, they could see the silhouette of a man. The light showed an elegant figure with tangles of long black hair. They heard the flick of a lighter as the man cupped a hand to his face, bringing the flame to the end of his cigarette. He took his time to inhale before looking up with a smile that didn’t even try to reach his eyes.
“Hello ladies. I’ve been expecting you.” He calmly walked closer to them onto the road. The women stood frozen, clinging to each other.
Pat reacted without thinking.
“You scared the crap out of us! What the hell are you doing out here?” she barked in a hoarse voice. She had one hand in Deb’s, the other held to her breast, trying to keep her heart from pounding right through her chest.
Funny what you can notice in an instant, she thought. Designer slacks, Italian shoes, immaculate black shirt, rolled up sleeves showing off his tan. But it’s his eyes! Such a handsome face. If cruel can be handsome.
He smiled again, and the smoke curled out of his nose.
“I hope the crow didn’t scare you too much.”
Deb stared at him, like a deer caught for a moment in the headlights of a truck. Noticing that Deb was frozen, Pat kicked her. She couldn’t even imagine what her empathic friend was feeling from what was rolling off of him. But now was not the time for empathy.
“Ouch,” Deb said.
“Guard yourself,” Pat whispered.
What did that Yoga master tell me about protecting myself? Deb thought. Something about keeping my spirit safe by using the power of my thoughts…
He took another long draw on the cigarette.
“Walk with me a while. You know you’re curious. You know you want to.” Pat realized that it was true. As much as she tried to live in the light, she wondered about the other side.
Who is this guy anyway, and what’s he offering? Who does he think we are?
Now it was Deb’s turn to kick.
“No. There must be some misunderstanding. Were you thinking you were meeting someone here? If you were, it’s not us,” Deb said. “We’re not going anywhere with you.”
“Aren’t you the ones coming to talk about the land?” he asked, suddenly frowning and taking a step back.
Pat, realizing the mistake, looked at him more closely. “No… no, we’re not,” she said. “But aren’t you the guy who had the fight in the bar with that woman? The bartender told us she disappeared afterwards.”
“Disappeared? Or left by her own choice? Does it matter?” He sneered. “The question is who sent you?” He looked at them disdainfully.
“No one sent us,” Pat said firmly.
“Sure! You mean you just came to see me on your own? You two must really be gullible. What are you here for, then? Just a little fling in the woods? A subplot for a new book? A story to write home to your husbands?” he taunted.
“As a matter of fact, we had no intention of meeting up with some stupid stranger on a beautiful day like this when we have so much work to do…,” Deb blurted out, finding her voice.
“Shut up, Deb!” Pat said, elbowing her and motioning with her right index finger over her lips.
“In case you haven’t noticed, it takes both halves of the wheel to make the wagon go around,” the man said mysteriously. “Can’t have one without the other. You know, no ying without yang. No up without down, no in without out… “
“And no light without the dark,” Pat continued, looking the man directly in the face.
“You see, it’s not so bad. I’m not that different from what you know. Nothing to be scared of is there, Ma’am? What did you say your name was?” the man asked coolly of Pat, extending his hand in mock greeting. “If you come with me, I can show you some things you’ve never seen before or even thought to dream of… something even better than your favorite dream of flying. It would even be better than winning the lottery every time you bought a ticket.”
“Pat! Don’t touch him!” Deb whispered, quickly noticing Pat’s piqued interest in the man and grabbing her hand before Pat could extend it back.
“Get real, girlfriend! We’re out in the woods,” Deb continued. “Remember what we are trying to do here this weekend.” Deb grew visibly frustrated at Pat’s fixation on the man’s eyes.
“Damn it! We’re doing a retreat here, not solving a mystery with dangerous people.”
Pat turned to Deb.
“I can save the island. I think this is the guy who wants to build a big fun-land on half of this place.” Pat whispered.
“No, Pat.
Pat didn’t back away, but she dropped her head.
“Well, I can see that we’re not going anywhere today,” the man sneered, letting his outstretched hand fall to his side. “I’m not wasting my time with you two.”
Tipping his head, he flicked his cigarette butt on the road right by their feet. Looking at the two women through lidded eyes he slowly put it out wit
h the heel of his shoe.
“Can’t be too careful, you know. These woods are valuable.”
Pat watched as he faded back into the woods. Looking quickly around them, the women took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.
“What was that all about?” Deb asked.
CAAW!
Swooping down, the crow landed with a skid on the gravel in front of them, almost embarrassed by her rough landing. Flapping her wings, she seemed in a hurry to move them along, an idea with which they hardily concurred. Ahead of them was the little Miata, the sun shining off its window. Hurrying to it, the women pulled open the doors, eager to leave.
Before settling in, Deb turned and slightly bowed to their winged friend, throwing the half eaten candy bar she had left on the seat.
“Thank you,” she said solemnly. “Tell your lady we thank her too,” she said, remembering her talk with the Native woman. “Well, that was a relaxing walk,” Deb said, turning to Pat.
She turned the key, and time began again.
* * *
“Have a cookie,” Deb said, handing a piece to Pat. “There’s nothing like chocolate to soothe the savage beast.”
“Then maybe we should have thrown some at that guy.” Pat laughed nervously.
“What exactly happened back there?” Deb gunned her motor throwing up a train of dust behind them.
“I think we disturbed something he was doing, and he wanted to make sure we were gone in a hurry.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because if he was innocent, he would have stepped out, given us directions, and sent us on our way. No, he was guilty alright. I just don’t know of what yet.”
“It was sort of spooky.”
“Come on, Deb.”
“You know you felt it too!” Deb said accusingly. “Do you think it has anything to do with the missing woman?”
“Next, you’ll be telling me he’s buried her and ten others in the woods.”
Deb shivered, clamping her hands more firmly on the wheel. “Don’t even kid about it.”
“You’re right. There was something out there alright,” Pat conceded. “I’ve felt it once or twice before.”
“But now that I look back at it, he really was trying to get us out of there awfully fast. Was he meeting someone? Someone we might recognize? Who did he think sent us?”
“This is one, for sure, that we need to call Gary about,” Deb said.
Turning into town she screeched to a halt as twenty or so women wandered across the road like a herd of deer right in front of the car.
“Lucy, we’re back.”
* * *
“I’m going first!” Pat called, after they returned to the cabin.
“No, let me,” Deb insisted, playfully pushing her way to beat Pat to the shower.
They sat afterwards with their friends, before leaving for their workshop.
“Things just keep getting stranger and stranger,” Deb said. “Why is it that the more I learn about something, the less I know about it?”
“What do you mean?” Linda asked.
“Yesterday, I was ready to dismiss the whole idea of a woman really disappearing from the ferry as far-fetched and hysterical imagining. Today, I am not so sure.”
“So what happened today?”
“It just seems like everywhere we go we keep seeing possible clues about who the woman was,” Pat said.
“And why it is plausible that someone would disappear,” she added. “I’m just wondering if we have sown seeds of hysteria out here. Just talking it up all over the island could make everyone assume someone’s missing, even if they’re not.”
“What are you talking about?” Julie asked.
“First, I met a woman while getting a massage who insisted the mystery woman was her husband’s lover,” Deb said.
“Then there was a guy at the bathroom at the Beach Club this morning,” Carolyn interjected.
“You should have seen Pat go toe to toe with that guy,” Deb said. “I think we met him on our way to lunch. What a guy! I thought he was going to hit Pat. And he didn’t deny that his girlfriend was missing.”
“Wow,” Julie said. “This is just like one of your mysteries.”
“We’re locking our doors tonight.” Carolyn said.
“The worst of all was the guy we met in the woods this afternoon,” Pat said.
Deb listened distractedly.
What a couple of days! First, the story about the spirit protecting the island. Then, the creepy guy in the woods, she thought, feeling a chill on her neck at the memory. I wonder if good really does conquer evil. Can I really depend on it?
“It’s like the universe is sending a message,” Deb said, returning her attention to the room. “Pay attention. There are clues all around us if we choose to see them.”
“Let she who has eyes, see,” Pat added, adapting a biblical quote.
“There are some things in life that I’d rather not see,” Deb continued. “Like the creep in the woods.”
“I wonder if he’s the same guy that Pat told us about while you were in the shower… the one the bartender told you about,” Linda offered.
“I think we need to be careful about connecting imaginary dots here,” Deb said, her legal mind taking over. “Remember, this is an island. While everything may appear to be connected, we can’t jump to conclusions without more convincing proof. We don’t want a bunch of frightened women, do we?”
“Anyway, it’s not our job to figure this all out,” Bev said.
“Guess it’s time to call LeSeur,” Deb agreed. She pulled out her cell.
“Hallooo, anyone home?” she heard from the direction of the door before she could dial.
“So, I heard about your class for the kids,” Noreen called back as the two Moms walked into the kitchen. “It sounded great! I wish you had one for grownups.”
Millie’s face pinkened with pride as she looked around the table.
“So, what are you all talking about? You look so serious. Did one of your workshops go awry? At least we didn’t serve liquor at ours,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.
“Hey, I didn’t serve it,” Julie said. “They brought it themselves.”
Pat shook her head.
“If only! No, we’ve just been talking about the missing woman.”
“So they didn’t find her yet?” Jessie asked, reaching for a glass.
“No. We’ve got some theories, but that all. It’s just so frustrating. Deb’s connecting with LeSeur right now.”
“Sometimes, dear, we don’t know all the answers. We just have to put it in God’s hands,” Millie said sympathetically.
“Please!” Pat said, before she could stop herself.
“Really,” Jessie said. “It’s just a way of talking.” Taking a sip from her glass, she eyed her daughter. “Sometimes we do all we can and then, well, we just keep going.”
“But I like to know.”
“Don’t we all, dearie? In my ninety-three years there were times when things just couldn’t always be tied up with neat little bows. I learned it early. I was eight when my dad disappeared.”
“Disappeared?”
“Yes, your grandfather… my father… who I loved with all my heart, went off to work at the track with the horses and just never came back. My mother was convinced he went back to Wales, and she burned all his things out on the lawn. What a bonfire that was with all the neighbors standing around. But we just never knew what happened.”
“Never?”
“No. After a while it didn’t really matter whether he was killed in a fight or went back to Wales. What mattered was that he was gone.”
Millie patted Jessie’s hand.
“I know what you mean. When I say leave it in God’s hands, what I really mean is that this woman may have chosen just to leave. Face it, you never know. Life isn’t neat. It’s just… life.”
“I still think it’s possible the woman is not real at all,” Pat said.
“Not real? How could she not be real when everyone’s talking about her?” Carolyn asked. “What do you mean by that?”
“Just stay with me a moment,” Pat answered. “I mean not real in the sense of being physically real. Maybe she is the Goddess of the island.”
“What the heck are you talking about?” Carolyn asked.
“Lots of people have been talking about the spirit of the island,” Pat answered.
“I have a little trouble with that,” Carolyn replied. “After all, the woman left the boat.”
“Even if it is a spirit, I’m a little uncomfortable calling her a Goddess,” Linda said.
“Well,” Millie said. “We’ve made God male for over two thousand years in the Bible. Remember, even in Genesis it says that both males and females were created in the image of God. I say it’s about time we even it up.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Linda said, reaching over and patting her hand.
They sat listening to Deb’s voice in the background still talking on her cell.
“Spirit or not,” Linda said, “the question is, did someone go off the boat? Before we give up on this mystery, let’s at least see what we’ve got.” She jumped up and reached for her charts of suspects and potential victims.
“We’re with you, bippy. Lead on,” Jessie said, raising her glass.
Millie and Jessie gave each other a knowing smile.
“You won’t believe what I just learned,” Deb said, returning to the room.
“What?” Pat asked.
“Gary just told me that Lotta has spent time in prison.”
“That can’t be! She’s our friend.”
“It’s true.”
“But she doesn’t seem like the type,” Carolyn said.
“We all have our secrets,” Deb replied.
Chapter Twenty-One
June 22
“Welcome to the bonfire.”
Deb stood before the women gathered around the unlit fire pit. “Pat, would you come up and join me please?” Leaving her spot between her two grandchildren, Pat stood up next to Deb.
“Here we are at the peak solstice hour,” Deb began. “We gather around this fire to honor the ending of one season in our lives and to make space for a new beginning.” She paused as the noise from the crowd settled down.
