“No, I don’t want to remember that image in my mind.” Rob nodded and gently placed the box in the hole.
“Would you like me to fill it in?” Rob reached for the shovel.
Doris nodded and held Loretta’s hand while tears flowed down her cheeks. She watched her precious dogs disappear beneath the soil. Rob patted it down nicely and handed Doris a brochure for ordering a small headstone for them. Doris thanked him.
“Doc said he’ll send you a bill, no hurry. Take your time and feel better.” He smiled a broad smile at the ladies. He carried the shovel and leaned it against the garage before he left.
“Let’s leave,” Loretta pulled at Doris’ hand.
They drove separate vehicles in case they needed both and parked in Loretta’s garage. Loretta helped Doris get comfortable in her guest room.
“Don’t you get lonely out here alone,” Doris asked.
“No, I love the quiet.”
Loretta lived in what was referred to as the Timmus Woods haunted house. It was a large three story house with a full wrap around porch. The third floor consisted of attic space and the only windows were small octagon shape stained glass windows. The house would have made a perfect setting for any horror film. It sat far back from the road and her backyard ended where a large cornfield began.
“At least we won’t be bothered here,” Doris said as she reached for the phone. She began to call everyone in her phone book to tell them about the dogs and start the rumor that Annamarie Wescott was a witch.
The rest of the week was quiet and the sun broke through the clouds early on Sunday morning. It promised to be the end to the rainy Saturday everyone endured. Annamarie could hear the mourning doves cooing as she stretched and tried to wake up. She did miss Elaine making coffee and tea early, but she was also happy she had left town to avoid Daniel’s wrath. She also missed Michael. California was two hours ahead of them in time which made it much too early to call. They’d call him when they returned home from church. They slept in and missed early Mass; they’d go to the ten o’clock service. She rolled over to wake Sam, but his side of the bed was empty. The sweet smell of waffles began to fill the room. She hurried out of bed and ran into Lena in the hall.
They looked at each other and said, “Sam’s waffles.” They rushed down the back stairs leading to the kitchen.
The diner was crowded with patrons wanting breakfast after church. Greta was busy filling coffee cups and didn’t notice the large gray and black wolf sitting in the middle of Prairie Road staring at the diner. It wasn’t until she returned with the plates of Ray’s famous blueberry pancakes that she saw it. She nearly dropped the last plate. Patrons gasped when they saw the size of the wolf. They shouted and moved away from the windows as it bounded toward the diner. It ran passed the windows and slammed into the door rattling the hinges. More screams could be heard as the wolf ran behind Ray’s.
Ray said, “Calm down everyone. I could see out the back window. It’s run off into the woods.”
Patrons began to return to their seats when a woman let out a blood curdling scream. Sitting in the middle of Prairie Road where the wolf had been was an enormous black bear. It stood on its hind legs and growled, sending patrons as far away from the windows as possible. It dropped to all fours and walked up to the diner. It stood again on its hind legs and people began to panic. The bear growled and hit the window cracking it. Everyone was arguing as to what to do. Some said make noise; others said drop down and play dead. Ray turned off the lights and the diner was dark.
Mr. Townsend, the town’s only lawyer and one of its wealthiest citizens, had a brand new Cadillac sitting in the parking lot. He was the first in town to have a security system installed on his car. He pushed the red button on his key chain and his horn began to beep on and off. The bear turned, growled at the car, and ran off behind Ray’s in the opposite direction of the wolf.
Greta grabbed the phone to call the sheriff.
“Slow down, Greta,” Sheriff Richardson said. “We don’t have wolves or bears in these parts. There hasn’t been a bear sighting since the drought twenty years ago when they came down across the river looking for food.”
Steve was trying to listen to the sheriff knowing Daniel and Garret were behind this when they second line rang. “Sheriff’s Department. What? Mrs. Loretta, I can’t understand you and Mrs. Graysbe’s yelling too loud in the back ground. Yes, I’ll help. Tell me again. You’re sure, okay, I’m on my way.”
The sheriff looked at Steve, “That was Greta, a wolf and a big black bear attacked Ray’s.”
Steve shook his head and said, “Mrs. Loretta called. Someone stole her and Mrs. Graysbe’s husband’s headstones. They’re in the middle of Mrs. Loretta’s front yard dripping blood.”
“What’s going on? I’m going to Ray’s. You check on Mrs. Loretta’s house. I’ll try to get Greta back here to man the phones.”
If anyone called while the phones were unmanned the town’s people knew enough to call Greta at Ray’s and she’d find the sheriff. It didn’t happen often. The sheriff couldn’t imagine what was going on.
As the sheriff sped one way down Prairie Road in his cruiser and Steve sped the other in his Jeep, people could hear the sirens going in opposite directions. Something odd was going on. Perhaps the rumors were right. Annamarie was a witch and had conjured up spirits. The residents of Timmus Woods closed their doors, locked them, and checked the lock on every window.
Chapter Thirteen
When the sheriff pulled into Ray’s parking lot Greta waved from the window. Everything appeared normal, people were eating breakfast, laughing, and talking. The only sign anything had been wrong was the cracked window under the neon sign advertising Ray’s Diner.
That was not the case at Mrs. Loretta’s. Nothing appeared normal. On either side of the walkway leading to the front porch was a large marble tombstone. Steve parked his Jeep and walked up the front steps of the house and turned around to face the horror in the front yard. Mrs. Graysbe’s husband’s headstone was facing the house on the right side of the walk. Mrs. Loretta’s husband’s headstone was on the left side of the walk. Blood dripped down each stone. It was beginning to dry. Steve took several pictures to help the sheriff decide when the blood was poured and possibly how many hours the stones had been sitting there.
Mrs. Graysbe and Mrs. Loretta met Steve on the porch. Mrs. Graysbe looking pale and shaking slightly sat on the porch swing. Mrs. Loretta said, “Who would do this? Doris can’t take much more. First the dogs, now this. It has to stop, Steve.”
“I know. Could I use your phone to call the station?” Mrs. Loretta showed Steve to the phone.
Steve reached Greta at the station. He explained what was going on and asked her to notify the sheriff and the medical examiner’s office. He couldn’t leave the tombstones sit there without someone testing the blood to see if it was human. Then he dialed Deb thinking how nice it would be if his calls from the Jeep could be routed to home, but that system was expensive and the town was dragging its feet. It only recently agreed to have four fire hydrants placed where Fire chief Cornett thought they would do the most good. The chief had wanted twenty.
“Deb, I don’t have time to get into it, but I want you and Brian to stay in the house. Ask
Annamarie to be sure her family stays home today, too. Daniel and Garret are up to something. Please stay safe. I love you.”
Steve walked back out onto the porch and told the ladies that someone from the medical examiner’s office would be there soon to take a sample of the blood. Then he could contact the cemetery and have the stones picked up and replaced.
Mrs. Loretta sat next to Doris on the porch swing. Steve sat in one of the empty chairs. “Can you tell me what you know? Did you notice anything out of the ordinary before you found the headstones?”
Both women shook their heads no. Doris said, “We went to sleep early. It had been a stressful day. When we woke we had breakfast and Loretta came out here to get the n
ewspaper. I heard her scream. When I got out here, I saw why she screamed and I pulled her back into the house. While I was locking the door she called the sheriff’s office.” Doris gently pushed the swing with her foot.
The sheriff walked to the front of Ray’s and looked at the window. He could tell something tall had broken it. The center of the break was nearly ten feet off the ground. When he entered Rays, his first concern was speaking to Greta and asking her to go back to the station to man the phones. She agreed, told the sheriff to call if he had questions, hurried to her car, and drove to the sheriff’s station.
Most of the patrons began to speak to the sheriff at once. He held up his hand, “Quiet, please, let me speak to Ray and then I’ll talk to each of you.”
Ray explained about the huge wolf and the giant bear. Both were gone now, disappeared into the woods.
The sheriff walked to each booth near the windows and asked the remaining patrons what they had seen. Their statements were almost identical. It surprised the sheriff that they were so precise. A few of the women told the sheriff that Annamarie was a witch and had conjured up the giant beasts. They also were concerned that either the wolf or bear killed Mrs. Graysbe’s dogs. The sheriff assured them the dogs had not been killed by either. He also tried to convince them that witches didn’t exist. Most of the patrons agreed with Mrs. Graysbe.
The sheriff asked Ray for a couple of aspirin. He felt another headache coming and knew he needed to retire soon. The doc told him to reduce his stress level. “Good chance,” he mumbled to himself, “when the town things demon animals are roaming around.” He finished with the statements and returned to the station.
Greta told him that Steve was at Mrs. Loretta’s waiting for the medical examiner’s assistant to check out the scene.
“I’ll be in my office if Steve or anyone else needs me.”
Greta nodded and answered the phone.
Steve saw the coroner’s van pull up. A young woman with long, light brown hair pulled up into a bouncy pony tail, emerged dragging a large case with her. She stopped as she walked closer to the headstones, opened the case and snapped several pictures. She hung the camera around her head, closed the case and walked closer to the porch.
She smiled at Steve and the ladies. “Hi, I’m Crystal, the coroner’s summer intern. He asked me to take pictures of the scene and gather a few blood samples. This is a strange one.”
Steve introduced himself and the ladies. They watched as Crystal took more pictures and several samples of the blood on the headstones. “Doc Webster said you can call the cemetery once I’m finished. He won’t need more samples. The cemetery workers should be able to clean the blood off and sanitize the stones without damaging the marble.”
She left as quickly as she had arrived. Steve said, “I’ll notify the cemetery director at home. The office is closed on Sunday.” He disappeared into Mrs. Loretta’s house to make the call.
“You know what, Doris. We’re going to have more trouble, I have a feeling this is only the beginning. Who would be after us?”
“I think it must be Annamarie. She’s after me because I saw the red lightening in the past. I was here last night so she decided to torment you, too. I’m going home so you can be safe.”
“No, we’re safer together. You’re staying here. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
Steve walked out of the house and said, “Someone from Blessed Heart Cemetery will come soon and pick up the headstones. They’ll take them to the cemetery, clean them, and replace them on your husband’s graves. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
They both shook their heads and thanked Steve. He waved as he ran to his Jeep.
“He’s a nice man. I hope he takes Sheriff Richardson’s job when he retires,” Doris said. Loretta agreed.
Greta hung up the phone and walked to Sheriff Richard’s office. “That was the hospital. Someone stole a pint of O positive blood from the blood bank sometime between eleven last night and approximately thirty minutes ago.”
The sheriff dropped his head in his hands and rubbed his face. “What next?”
Greta shrugged throwing her hands in the air. “Seems like the town is going crazy or we’re caught up in some weird horror movie.”
“If I hear you repeat that or anything close to it, you’re fired. Got it!”
“Yes.” Greta scowled at him.
The sheriff headed for the hospital.
Two young men in workman’s clothes and driving a dark blue pickup pulled up in front of Mrs. Loretta’s house. They walked up to the headstones and checked out what they needed to do. Doris and Loretta watched as they moved the first headstone with an oversized furniture dolly. They carefully placed the headstone on the dolly and moved it to the truck. They picked it up and slid it into the back of the truck. Doris whispered, “Check out those muscles.” Loretta giggled. The two men repeated the procedure with the second stone. They gave the women some paperwork and drove away.
Sheriff Richardson found his way to the hospital’s blood bank. A young technician was busy with paperwork when the sheriff approached his desk.
“Good morning, what can you tell me about the missing blood?”
The kid jumped as if he’d been hit with a hot poker. “Umm, I didn’t do it. I know I counted correctly. I’m double checking the paper work now. Here look.” He shoved a sheet of paper across the desk at the sheriff.
“Calm down, I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m looking into the call about missing blood.”
“Let me get Dr. Fuller.” He hurried down the hall.
A tall man in a white coat walked up to the sheriff and held out his hand. “Good morning, I’m Dr. Fuller. I take it you’re here about the missing blood.”
“Yes, I am.”
“There’s nothing I can tell you. We check the supply each night and write a report. We check again in the morning and make a second report after we make sure none was used overnight. There is a report for that, too. This morning, there was a discrepancy. I checked with every department thinking they used a pint, but forgot to write it down. It was a very quiet night. No blood was needed for anyone. Then I called your office.”
The sheriff nodded as he took notes. “Do you have any idea why the O positive blood was taken?”
“No, except we had more of it than any other. Perhaps whoever did this thought it might not be noticed.”
“What kind of security do you have?”
“No one is down here overnight. The door is kept locked as is the refrigerated blood storage unit. If someone tries to get in without a key, an alarm goes off.”
“Okay, if you should find out about anyone using the blood, please let me know. Could you point me in the direction of the Medical Examiner’s office? I need to speak to Dr. Webster.”
Steve’s patrol took him past Annamarie’s house and he took a break to stop home. He needed to tell Deb and everyone else what had been going on. A quick call to the station let him know things were quiet except the sheriff was investigating a blood theft. Steve was sure it was the blood at Mrs. Loretta’s.
“I agree with you,” said Sam punching the arm of his chair. “What I don’t understand is why Daniel and Garret would harass those old women.”
“It makes perfect sense,” Annamarie answered. “They’re the easiest to scare and Mrs. Graysbe already believes I’m a witch. What better way to reinforce that idea than moving her husband’s headstone and covering it with blood? She thinks I stole the spirits from her dogs. Who knows what she thinks now.” She leaned her head onto her hand as she rested her elbow on the arm of her chair.
Deb sat cross-legged on the floor listening. She was afraid to ask, but she forced the words out, “What about Steve? I know your dad gave him his medallion, but he’s out there alone. Are you sure it’s enough? Maybe Steve, Brian and I should leave town forever.” Tears began to form in the corner of her eyes.
Annamarie said, “The medallion will keep Steve safe. You have my promi
se. I would never let Steve be in harm’s way. I’d send you away if I was concerned. Daniel can’t get into this house and he can’t touch Steve as long as he has the medallion. Sam has one. Do you think I’d let him out of this house if he was in danger?”
“No,” Deb dropped her head into her hands. “I’m so frightened.”
Steve rose and sat next to his wife and hugged her. “I have been out all day and half of last night on duty and nothing has bothered me. Daniel and Garret have been busy tormenting people, but haven’t come near me. I’m safe. Please don’t worry.” He lifted her chin with his hand and kissed her. “Stay safe here and I’ll be safe out there. I have to get back on patrol.” Deb threw her arms around him and hung on.
“I will,” Deb said as she loosened her grip on Steve.
“I’m holding you to that.” Steve kissed her nose and stood. “If anything new comes up, I’ll call.”
The sheriff strode down the quiet, well lit hospital hallway. There were no windows in the basement and he was uncomfortable in hospitals. This was not helping. The Medical Examiner’s office was on the left. Pushing through the door, he saw Dr. Webster bent over a microscope.
Dr. Webster heard the sheriff walk in and looked up. He was wearing a white lab coat at least one size too large. The sheriff wondered if he ever wore clothes that fit him properly.
“I know why you’re here. You think our stolen blood was used on those headstones. You’re probably right; at least they were both O positive. No way to be sure if it was our blood, but I’ll bet ya dollars to donuts it was.” The doctor chuckled.
“Okay, if it was, how did someone manage to steal it?” The sheriff crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.
“It must have happened before the blood bank was locked for the night. During the day more people come and go. I checked everyone who had access. They’re all trustworthy employees.” He jotted some numbers on a clipboard and glanced back into the microscope.
Lena (Gypsy Spirits Book 3) Page 11
