All in Bad Time

by Yvonne Montgomery

  Dolores nodded solemnly. "Me, too. I couldn't stop thinking about you, Rose. And Aura Lee." She grabbed her wine and chugged some down. "You've been more like a mother to me than my own."

  Neal groaned. "Cut it out, you guys. I've never cried in front of you and I don't want to start now."

  Andrea's giggle was watery. "You're such a dork."

  "Excuse me but what's going on in here?" Max was standing at the door, Kerry beside him. They were bleary-eyed and listing with fatigue.

  Kerry took a step into the room and caught sight of the two women on the sofa and squealed. She pushed through the others to get to them. She pulled Dolores up for a one-armed hug and held onto Elizabeth's hand at the same time. "It's so good to see you." She leaned back to consider them more closely. "I'd like to say you both look wonderful but you don't."

  Andrea laughed and Kerry glanced at her. "Well, they don't." She turned back to them. "I guess we don't either. What's going on?"

  Elizabeth stood up. "We can talk about that later. Who's this gorgeous young man here?"

  Kerry's cheeks reddened and she sent a quick glance at Max, who was listening with interest. "He's my, uh, he's the paranormal researcher that—"

  "Her boyfriend, Max Steadman," he said smoothly. "And you?"

  "Ooh-la-la." The laugh in Elizabeth's voice brought a smile to his face. "I'm Elizabeth Schuster, chef extraordinaire and the author of a brand new cookbook coming out next year." She reached around Kerry to shake his hand. "This is Dolores Rivera, outstanding sculptor, also recently of Wisdom Court. We've come back to fight the ghosts and ghouls around here."

  "Wait till you hear what they've been going through," Aura Lee added in a meaningful tone. "It's amazing."

  Kerry frowned as Elizabeth resumed her seat. "We've had so much amazing around here lately, we've gotten beyond the point of amazing." She held out her hand to Max and he stepped up beside her to take it in his own. "We were at my place, looking for the journal we were reading last night. In this room."

  Eve leaned in from the ottoman where she perched like a bird on a large rock. "I thought I remembered seeing some light in here."

  "I'm sorry if we bothered you." Max smiled at her. "You should have joined us."

  "I wasn't really awake, just aware of a lightening of the dark. What time was it then?"

  Max sat on the blue wingback chair and pulled Kerry down beside him. "I don't know, really. We'd wakened and wanted a snack. Then we read a while." He pointed to a spot on the coffee table. "I set the journal right there just before we turned off the torch. It was gone this morning."

  Kerry glanced at them. "Please tell me one of you took it to read."

  The silence was punctuated with shaken heads and shrugged shoulders. "I haven't seen any of the journals lately, except the ones in the library where we've been working on them." Brenna frowned. "You looked under the couch, right?"

  "Everywhere." Kerry sighed. "Haven't a clue as to where it could be."

  "Where what could be?" Brenna stood in the doorway in her pajamas with a fuzzy robe tied at the waist. She caught sight of Dolores and Elizabeth and took a step back. "I'm so sorry to interrupt."

  Before she could move further out the door, Aura Lee bustled over to stop her, and chivvied her into a chair. "You must be starving. You've been asleep forever."

  Elizabeth winced at the size of the goose egg on her forehead. "What happened to you?"

  Brenna leaned toward the plate of cookies on the coffee table. "We were caught in the collapse of the secret tunnels under Eve's rooms."

  "We'll tell you all about it," Kerry assured her. "For now we're concentrating on getting the journal back."

  "Which one is it?" asked Noreen. "What were you reading about before you quite last night?"

  "It's the one we started a few days ago, including Anna's looking for a job, finding one at the Russian bookseller's shop."

  "Sorry to interrupt the flow," Dolores said in a hesitant voice. "But why were you sleeping in here?"

  "We were run out of my place by, shall we say, active spirits?" Kerry glanced at Max.

  "They threw books at the door as soon as we decamped. Neither one of us believed we'd get a good night's sleep there."

  "Dios," murmured Dolores. She turned her head to meet Elizabeth's gaze. "Guess we came to the right place."

  "Mmmm-hmmm."

  Rose got out of her chair. "I suggest we observe the cocktail hour and share what information we have. Then we can come up with a plan." She nodded at Aura Lee. "Do we have something easy for dinner? I'll get the wine."

  "I'll help," said Neal. "I'm starving."

  "All right, then. Let's pull it together." Rose left for the kitchen, Aura Lee following.

  Elizabeth leaned her head against Dolores's shoulder for a moment. "I've missed this so much. Not that I'm sad to be at home with Lovell and the girls, but one of the best things about this place is how, at the drop of a hat, we always put together a feast."

  Dolores nodded. "And the company is always the best."

  Noreen smiled at them both. "That's true, my dears, and having you back will add immeasurably to the mix." Her smile died and her eyes darkened. "But I'll warn you there are dark doings here, much more severe than what went on before you left. Give a moment's reflection to whether you want to submerge yourselves in it all again."

  The two women glanced at each other, smiles gone.

  "That's why I came," said Elizabeth.

  "I'm in," added Dolores.

  Chapter 19

  The living room was warm from the fire and at least two conversations were criss-crossing each other as more refreshments were brought out from the kitchen. Max had settled in the big blue chair, a throw held in one hand.

  Kerry grabbed a chunk of dark rye bread and pulled it through the bowl of dip on the coffee table. The flavors of olive, curry, and sour cream woke up her taste buds, and her eyes closed in bliss. "Who came up with this dip?" She scooped up more and stuffed it in her mouth. "Heavenly," she murmured.

  Elizabeth raised her hand. "I just threw in whatever I could find." She tasted the mixture and smiled. "It worked out okay, didn't it?"

  "You know it." Kerry sidled around the corner of the table and headed for the kitchen.

  Brenna reached for a pickle and swirled it in the dip. She crunched as she chewed. "Yum. You must've been the most popular associate at Wisdom Court. And the food's always great now."

  "I've always considered myself the most popular associate." Noreen's eyes twinkled. "And by preserving my façade as kitchen idiot, I never have to lift a hand at cooking."

  Neal carried in several more bottles of wine and set them in a row along the edge of the sideboard. "This ought to keep us going for a while." He turned to find Andrea directly behind him, a bowl in each hand, one heaped with tortilla chips, the other with crisp pita triangles. "I'll take those." Neal leaned over to kiss her and put the bowls on the coffee table.

  "Cheese platter coming through." Dolores edged through the gap toward the table.

  "Wait a minute." Andrea bent to rearrange the dishes to make space for the cheese. "Is this the last of it?"

  "Eve's chopping up veggies." Kerry shot Max a look. "You want that toddy you were talking about?"

  "You don't have to wait on me."

  Kerry touched his shoulder as she passed by. "No biggie. The kettle's hot so I'll mix it up. Feel any better?"

  "I feel wretched." Max leaned his head against the chair back and closed his eyes. "I don't like the sound of food, but that toddy might be therapeutic."

  Kerry frowned at him. He'd been tired earlier, as was she, but not sick. "When did you start feeling bad?"

  "It's not been long." He opened his eyes. "My head began to ache a bit while we were reading the journal last night."

  A sense of dread crept over her, evoking a shiver. "Remember how tired we both were? And my eyes were so dry I could hardly stand it."

  Max sat up straighter. "Do you think bot
h effects were because of our reading the journal?"

  Kerry sat down beside him in the chair. "Is it possible?"

  He reached for her hand and pulled her closer to him. "I've never heard of anyone becoming ill from encounters with the other side, but the sorts of things happening here put the lie to nearly everything I've learned over the years."

  She leaned her head against his chest. "Every time I think I'm as frightened as can be, something else ups it a notch."

  Max sighed. "It's not that dire yet, luv. We're working well together and we're bound to find out more now that Charlie's involved. He's one of the best."

  Kerry became aware of the silence in the room. She lifted her head and caught the interest in Noreen's expression. Another glance revealed that Neal and Andrea were listening, too.

  "Well," she said lamely, "We didn't mean to put a damper on the conversation." Aura Lee stopped beside the chair and handed her a cup of steaming liquid.

  When Kerry questioned her with a look, Aura Lee said, "The toddy you wanted for him." She nodded at Max.

  "Oh, Aura Lee, that's so nice." Kerry handed it over and he warmed his hands with it.

  "So what happened last night?"

  Kerry kept an eye on Max as she answered. "We were asleep in here and I woke up wanting brownies and milk."

  Max took a drink of the toddy and his eyes brightened. "This is good."

  "I added some herbs," Aura Lee said. "Go on."

  "We finished the snack and wanted to read for a while. Max had brought a flashlight from the kitchen. We used it so we wouldn't disturb Eve."

  "What did you learn from the journal?"

  "She explains how she came to tell Arnie, the bookseller she worked for, about her coming to America. She laid it out to him: the Nazi sympathizers and her trip in the Gypsy wagon..." Kerry made an inclusive gesture. "The whole bit about the German bearer bonds. But, as we said, now we can't find the journal. It was right here on the coffee table. Now it's not."

  Andrea reached for a chunk of cheese. "So where is it?"

  "That's the question." Kerry frowned at the table. "If no one here took it, does it mean one of our ghostly friends disappeared it? Do we know if that's even possible?"

  "Maybe it means we should drink ourselves into a stupor." Eve limped to the table and set down a plate of crudités. "It would be like a vacation after all the stuff going on the last couple of days."

  "When we've read the rest of the journal," Noreen replied. "The mind may put on its slippers only after the day's work is done. Bethany Perkins Andicott, eighteen ninety-two to nineteen thirty-nine."

  Eve grinned as she settled onto a chair. "What a lovely metaphor. Or is it simile? Who cares?"

  From the kitchen came the buzz of the oven timer. Rose stood up and wended her way through the crush of bodies. "First we eat enough to keep us going. Pizza coming up—gluten-free included," she told Brenna, who'd started to ask.

  "I'm beginning to love this place," Eve announced.

  "Of course you are." Aura Lee's smile was only slightly crooked. "Even the ghosts want to hang out with us."

  As they ate where they sat, Kerry briefly sketched in what she and Max had read. "Arnie had been looking for his wife's people since the end of the war, but hadn't found any of them. Caldicott was worried the dead Gypsy girl Duncan told her about might be related to Vadoma, but Arnie said probably not."

  "Vadoma?" Eve asked. She took a big bite of her pizza and caught several vegetables threatening to slide down her chin.

  "That was Arnie's wife's name. Wonder what it means?" Pulling a pen from the spiral of her notebook, Kerry wrote a note to herself to check.

  Rose reached for her glass. "That's as far as you got?"

  Kerry nodded. "We haven't read the rest."

  "So what do we do now?" Elizabeth asked.

  "Dunno." Kerry chewed steadily. "We've looked around here but haven't found a thing."

  Max patted the chair cushion clumsily. "Can't remember where I put it." He aimed a sloppy smile at Kerry. "Didn't you put it in your satchel to keep it safe?"

  Kerry stared at him, mouth open. "Max. We had it here, remember?" She turned to Rose, her face frightened. "I swear, we read it right here."

  Rose was frowning at Max. "Could he have taken it back to your place?"

  Kerry glanced back at him, and the strange expression on his face shook her. When he closed his eyes, she said in a low voice, "We went to sleep. I guess he could've gone to my place once I'd dropped off, but why would he?"

  Rose got to her feet and came to Max's side. She bent over him and kissed his forehead. When she stood up, her eyes were dark with worry. "He has quite a fever. There's no way to know whether he took the journal somewhere else."

  Max made a sound and their eyes went to his face. Frowning, he moved his head back and forth. "Get away," he mumbled suddenly. "Bloody door."

  From the kitchen area came an unearthly howl.

  "What in the world?" Aura Lee jumped to her feet as another cry split the air. "Is it Strudel?" She rushed out of the room before anyone else could react.

  "Wait a minute." Andrea struggled to push herself out of her chair, hampered by the blanket wrapped around her. "I can come with you."

  "Don't forget the rule." Noreen slid her paper plate onto the hearthstone and trotted after Aura Lee.

  "What rule?" Dolores asked in confusion.

  "Don't go anywhere alone." Andrea tugged the tail of the blanket from under one hip and draped the whole thing across the back of her chair. "We keep running into weird things, so we travel in pairs to protect ourselves and each other."

  "I suppose we could all go." Rose glanced down at the small piece of pizza on her plate and picked it up. "Or we can wait here to see what happens next." Slipping the pizza into her mouth, she chewed. At Brenna's choke of laughter, her eyes narrowed. "I'm tired of all the dark and stormy night stuff."

  Neal stretched his feet toward the fire. "I hear you." Elizabeth's gaze veered toward Dolores. She raised her brows and shivered.

  In a few moments Aura Lee returned with Strudel under one arm. The little dachshund was panting gently, eyes swiveling to note the numerous treat options available. "She must have been lonely," Aura Lee explained in a tender voice. "When I got to my room, she was on the other side of the door, waiting for someone to come get her."

  "It sounded as if she was being flayed," Noreen muttered as she reseated herself. "I was certain we'd be faced with at least one ghost. Or a musical number from Aura Lee's organ."

  Aura Lee sat down, gently setting Strudel beside her. "She feels things in the air. We can't blame her for getting as scared as the rest of us are." She tore a bit off her pizza and offered it to the dog. It was gone with a swipe of pink tongue.

  Kerry stopped at the chair holding Max. "Should we go back to my place and at least try to get the journal?" When he didn't answer, she bent to look at him more closely, putting her palm against his forehead. "Max?"

  A light snore was his only response.

  She stood up, chewing on her lower lip as she watched him sleep. "He's getting hotter." She turned to the others. "Any of you want to go with me to see if the book is at my place?"

  Brenna wrinkled her nose. "Not all that tempting a proposition, you know?"

  Kerry nodded. "Tell me. Chamber of horrors-ish."

  Neal let out a sigh. "It'll only take a minute. It's probably not there anyway, but I'm betting if it is, the spirit reading it got bored and went home." He frowned. "Wherever that is." He stood up and Andrea shifted her weight to join him, but he pressed her back down. "Stay here. Kerry and I will be brave and noble, right?" He slanted a look at Rose, pushing his thatch of hair off his forehead. "The rest of you can weave laurel wreaths for us. Or bake brownies," he added pointedly to Aura Lee. "Hero's welcome, and all that."

  "You certainly have a high opinion of yourself." Noreen grinned at Rose. "We mere females will more likely sit in awed silence until you get back."


  "Dammit, I always crank up the awe button too high." Neal winked at her and grabbed Kerry's arm. "Let's go see if Max made it over there last night." The two of them went out through the kitchen and the back door shut a few moments later.

  Aura Lee got out of her chair.

  Rose stirred. "Don't tell me you're going to bake brownies for him."

  Aura Lee smiled smugly. "I've never told him I keep a batch or two in the freezer, just for him. He might get a swelled head." She eased by the coffee table and entered the kitchen.

  "A swelled belly, more likely." Andrea yawned and propped her feet on the edge of the table. "I don't suppose anything will try to hurt them." Her gaze strayed toward Rose. "Do you?"

  "No." She looked worried. "They'll run in, they'll look, they'll run out. No time for anything to harm them."

  Brenna leaned toward the coffee table for chips and dip. "It'll be fine, I'm sure."

  A low, hoarse voice sounded behind her. "It'll be fine, I'm sure."

  Brenna shrieked, scrambling off her chair and whirling to find the source. Eve was making her way around the sofa toward Andrea, who gawked at her with eyes as wide as they would go. The laptop Eve carried was held out like a tray, and as she bent to sit on the rug, she used it to clear enough space to set it on the coffee table, pushing dishes to the floor. Andrea lifted her feet off the table and scrambled out of her chair.

  Eve's face was blank as a mannequin's, her eyes glassy and unfocused.

  "What's happening?" Dolores whispered. "Is she possessed?"

  "I don't know." Rose's voice cracked on the words. "Noreen?"

  She cleared her throat with difficulty. "Close enough for government work."

  As they stared at her, Eve opened the laptop and began to type, her fingers moving smoothly and steadily across the keyboard. Her gaze was fixed on the screen, her eyes rarely blinking. She barely breathed, staying in an upright position, legs bent under the table in an ankle over ankle pose.

  "Her leg must be killing her," Brenna murmured. "She can't bend it like that when she's... when she's awake." She cupped her elbows with her hands, trying to keep herself warm.

  Aura Lee appeared at the doorway to the kitchen bearing an ornate plate filled with steaming brownies. "Wait till Neal catches a load of these." Her voice rang with satisfaction. "He'll never believe—"