by C. L. Bevill
“You said Gautier disappeared after my mother went into the bayou,” she said. “What if it was he who put me on the steps of the orphanage?”
There was puzzlement on Gabriel’s face. “Why would he do that?”
“If he knew whose child I was, if he thought that a child of Arette’s was in some sort of danger, then wouldn’t he do something?”
“Like drive you all the way to El Paso and deposit you in an orphanage, with only your mother’s bible as a companion?” Gabriel was horrified at the thought of someone deliberately isolating Anna in infancy from the family.
“Proximity,” Anna explained. “You don’t feel babies. They haven’t developed their gifts yet. Not until they start into adolescence. They don’t speak to you until then, right?”
“Most of the time,” Gabriel admitted. His gifts had come to him early. He had felt Anna from almost the time when she was born, but he had been too young to know what to do or say about his visions and she had been so far away.
“That’s why Gautier took me there. So the family wouldn’t know of my existence. Gautier assumed I would be safe there?”
“Why would Gautier want to protect you?” Gabriel was perplexed.
“He warned me, didn’t he?” A mental image of the photograph came to Anna and it was broadcasted clearly to Gabriel. The wedding picture where Gautier stared down at his bride, the love in his face, the complete worship he had felt for Arette had been unambiguous. Gautier had loved his wife, even when something wretched had happened and he had wanted to protect her child, even if the baby wasn’t his.
“Protect you?” Gabriel said. “From what? The family won’t hurt you. We don’t hurt our own.”
“That’s what I’ve got to figure out,” Anna admitted.
•
There were no answers for Anna. She had already discovered that people in the family didn’t remember or didn’t want to remember what had happened with Gautier and his outsider wife. Anna discovered that they most definitely didn’t like to speak with her about it as well.
There were the clues that Anna had. Arette had taken a family lover and that had resulted in Anna’s birth. Geneva had implied that Arette was upset at what her adulterous relationship had accomplished. Someone had killed Gautier with a shotgun, possibly to prevent him from saying any more to Anna. Someone had orchestrated a trick on Anna and lured her into the mine; possibly it was Meg playing games with Gabriel’s one true love. Someone else had left roses on Arette’s memorial marker, in spite of the fact that everyone professed hatred for outsiders. Someone had told her that she would be judged, just like Gautier had been. Meg had thought something about a graveyard to her, if only Anna could tell if that had been real or imagined or some kind of deception. But someone else had thought something about the graveyard and Anna concentrated on thinking about who it had been.
The only graveyard Anna knew of in the area was the one behind the church and the priest wouldn’t divulge any information about Arette Tuelle. He said that his information came from an uncle and it was all secondhand and questionable at best.
Anna had spoken with the priest and then walked through the cemetery, finding nothing but cold stones and names of people distantly related to the people she was beginning to know. No answers presented themselves on the smooth surfaces of the markers. She did see one great memorial dedicated to Lisette Simoneaud and hesitated. Next to Lisette’s marker was Varden Comeaux’s. Anna had wondered if the story was true and here the gravestones confirmed it.
As Anna walked out of the silent cemetery, she thought about going back to see her aunt but she knew she had exhausted her welcome there.
•
Days faded into weeks and before Anna knew it, it was time for Unknown’s Mardi Gras festival. The town held the event the weekend before Fat Tuesday to maximize the potential for tourism. There was a parade in the daytime that went around the town twice, all the people on the floats throwing candy and beads to tourists and children alike. Then there would be a grand party in the evening. Tents had been erected along the lakefront property with booths for games, food, and trinkets. Fireworks, a Zydeco band, and a huge crawdaddy boil would culminate the evening.
Everyone in Unknown was recruited to assist. Anna had helped with the floats and she had driven four truckloads of food from Shreveport, using Gabriel’s vehicle. She was glad that she wasn’t going to be stuck in one of the booths for the remainder of the evening, unable to participate in the planned activities.
Anna was helping Camille with a tub of crayfish when Gabriel appeared out of the crowd. “Anna!” he exclaimed. “Chère, you’re the only one who can get Alby’s truck running. There are about ten cases of co-cola’s in my garage we have got to have down by the general store.”
Passing her end of the steel tub to Gabriel, Anna laughed. “Alby only wants to go get more of his moonshine so he can sell it to the tourists as genuine lake liquor. They’ll be lucky if it doesn’t poison them.”
“Non. Non,” Gabriel protested. “Sebastien made him promise. No homemade stuff. Just the cola out of my garage? You can go with him, oui? Make sure he doesn’t run over my dog. Phideaux thinks trucks are something to play with, especially while they’re moving.”
Anna sighed and watched Gabriel poke fun at his sister, saying something about how the twins were going to give her white hair before she was thirty-five. Don’t tease your sister.
Why not?
She knows all your secrets?
The hood was up on Alby LaGraisse’s antique Dodge. Alby himself was kicking a tire in frustration. “Anna!” he called happily. “You fix. Thank le bon Dieu Himself.”
“What’s wrong with it?” she asked as she stuck her head under the hood searching for something obvious.
“It flooded and I cannot get it to start.”
Anna’s nimble fingers worked with the carburetor. She looked over her shoulder and saw dozens of people passing by, laughing and talking. Some were in colorful masks, others had dozens of ropes of multicolored beads around their necks, and others had full-sized costumes on. A dozen random thoughts trickled into her mind, making it hard for her to concentrate. “Where do all these people come from?” she muttered, half to herself, suddenly understanding why some of the family had difficulty living in the outside world. It hadn’t been like that for her before and she was still adjusting to the change.
Alby patted her back. He was an older man in his seventies with hair the color of snow and his eyes the duplicate of hers. “They bus them in from Shreveport, from Dallas, from Alexandria. Oui, some even from Arkansas. I swear I saw a man with a T-shirt that said New York City. I bet he don’t know what to do with a crawdaddy, oui? Probably thinks it’s some kind of strange cockroach.”
“Why don’t they go to New Orleans?” she asked as she worked.
“Because we have a safe area. Designated drivers and family events.” Alby’s voice lowered to a grumble. “Not since I got to sell my own homemade liquor.” He brightened. “But the tourists, they buy everything anyway. And we have the best fireworks show in all of Northern and Central Louisiana. Oui.”
“How does the family stand the voices?” she asked curiously. Alby’s carburetor was full of sand. “What have you been doing with this truck, Mr. LaGraisse? Four-wheeling in the bayou?”
Alby shrugged. “Non. Non. We only went to the dark side of the forest to get some mushrooms. You know they pay in the city for some of those. Up to twenty dollars a pound. My son, he got the old truck stuck in the sand. I guess he sucked up some sand, yes?”
“Yes,” Anna said severely.
“And the family, they who can’t take the voices in their heads, they aim for the hills, Anna. You’d be surprised what some dirt between you and a big crowd can do. The ones who don’t mind as much, they work the festival while the people are here.” He stuck his head under the hood and looked at Anna curiously. “Sometimes I forget you ain’t from around here. Well, you are, but then you ain’t.
”
Anna pulled her head out and said, “Try it now, Alby.”
Just as Alby was turning the ignition in the old Dodge, a family passed Anna and the father asked her where the main tent was located. A father carried a toddler in his arms and a mother led another little girl behind her. The little girl had flaxen blonde hair and her face was painted like a ladybug’s shell. She held onto her mother’s hand as if it would save her life. Her other small hand held onto a doll.
Anna pointed in the right direction. “Down this street. It’s on the right. Next to the general store. If you hit the band, you’ve gone too far.”
“Appreciate it,” said the father and adjusted the toddler on his hip.
Anna smiled at the family and turned back to Alby. “Crank it again. Once you’ve got the stuff out of-” She stopped as she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She turned away from Alby and scooped up the Barbie doll that the little girl had dropped. “Hey!” she called. The mother paused and turned back. “Your little one dropped her doll!”
Anna trotted up to the mother and the little girl and started to hand the doll over, but she hesitated. She looked down at the doll in her hand and saw that it was a blonde, with her hair swept back like the girl had brushed it back too often for it to regain its natural style. Dressed in a blue jumpsuit with high heels, the Barbie looked like she had been played with hard, the participant of many an imaginary tea party. Her hair looks windswept. The words popped into her mind. Don’t you fret about Miss Barbie. She done runs and runs and she ain’t never gotten caught by the Dawg yet.
“Miss?” said a voice.
Anna’s eyes came back up. The mother and daughter looked at her expectantly. She shook her head with a little snort and said, “Sorry. Got lost in thought there. I was thinking about another Barbie doll I saw recently.”
“Thank the lady,” commanded the mother.
The little girl took the doll and held it protectively. She hid behind her mother’s leg and said faintly, “Thank you.”
“Uh, sure,” said Anna.
Then Alby got his Dodge started and whooped loudly.
When Anna looked back the family was walking away and she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to think.
Chapter Twenty-One
Saturday, February 21st
The most superstitious of folk will look around before retiring for the night to see if anyone will cast a headless shadow; should anyone cast such a shadow then it is said that they will die before the next New Year’s Eve.
Anna opened Gabriel’s single-car garage door. It slid up its tracks with a squealing complaint that attested to its advanced state of rustiness and general lack of use. She made a mental note to fix it for him. In the driveway, Alby was backing up the truck so they could easily load the cases of Coca Cola. She found the light switch just as Phideaux wandered around the side of the house and affably nosed her ankle with a wet schnozzle. “Hi Phi,” she said off-handedly. “You’re a good dog, aren’t you?”
The dog sat on his haunches, bringing his front paws into the air, and begged prettily. Anna had taught him one trick, how to beg for Milk Bones. Phideaux was smart only when it came to the issue of food. He knew exactly where Gabriel kept the Rubbermaid container of dog treats, in the garage right next to the washer and dryer where the animal couldn’t nose at it until he managed to open it, as he had done before. Anna popped the lid open and gave the dog one of the treats. Phideaux took the prize in his mouth and vanished around the corner of the house to consume his delicacy in private.
Alby lowered the tailgate of the truck with a loud clank. The cases of coke were sitting on the side of the garage. Anna lifted one up and slid it into the back of the truck, watching as Alby did the same. Minutes later they were done and Alby said, “Come on, gal. They already started cooking and I’ll be damned ifin I miss a meal in my old age.” He chortled. “A little more cholesterol ain’t gonna kill me off before I hit eighty.”
Not really listening to him, Anna had an image stuck in her head. A windswept Barbie doll was talking to her, whispering wretched things into Anna’s ears. She shook her head slowly and focused on Alby. “You go on without me, Alby. There’s something I need to do.”
“What’s that?” Alby asked curiously, his hands on the door of the Dodge.
Anna grinned weakly. “You know, female stuff.” On the spur of the moment it was the only excuse she could come up with, and it sounded feeble even to her. On the inside of her mind, she was reinforcing the thick garage door of her mind. Over the past weeks she had become accomplished at keeping private what she wanted, what she needed to keep private. But she was preoccupied and she didn’t want anything to slip out to Alby, or to Gabriel for that matter. “I’ll walk over when I’m done.”
“Sure, Anna.” Alby chortled again. She watched him drive off and turned back to the garage. The single light in the garage cast long shadows in the driveway and revealed all the junk that Gabriel had delegated to the garage. There were a few old chairs, a black and white television, a table saw that hadn’t been used in years, often-painted lawn furniture, and nearer the front, the stuff he used regularly, a lawn mower, some ice chests, and equipment for his ships. On one wall were a rack of shelves with various and sundry items. Tools that Anna didn’t recognize littered one shelf and she knew these must have to do with the ships’ maintenance. On the bottom shelf was a large cardboard box with an open top.
Anna looked at it and pulled it out. Her muddy, ripped jeans lay on top of the pile, just where Gabriel had said he had put them. She hesitated and then put her hands on the jeans, pulling them out. She didn’t know why he kept them; it seemed to her that they were almost useless as a rag, but Gabriel tended to be frugal, recycling all manner of items when he could. She wasn’t interested in the jeans themselves, only in the item that she had found in the mine.
Anna had caught sight of something next to the rail she had stumbled over, but the passageway had pulsated again harshly, almost making her disregard what she’d seen. One hand had snagged the object up as she brought herself into a loping run. She had stuffed it into one of her pockets and concentrated on making tracks and she had forgotten about it, lost in the mindless dash away from the thing that haunted the tunnels of the mine.
Her hand shaking, Anna found the pocket of her jeans and slowly pulled the object out. Gabriel hadn’t bothered looking into the pockets of the jeans. Her hand was closed around it and for a moment she didn’t dare open it. When her fingers slowly opened, she exposed it to the meager light inside the garage. It rested on her palm like a viper waiting to strike its prey.
It was the head of a Barbie doll, its windswept hair pushed away in a permanent style that had been forced upon it because it had been fastened on the front of a Peterbilt truck. It was a blonde haired Barbie that Anna had seen before. She didn’t need to see the rest of its body attired in a polka-dotted dress or the single shoe that had hung from one tiny foot to know where this Barbie had come from.
This was Dan Cullen’s Barbie, the same one he had attached to the grill in the middle of the steel dog’s fangs about to chomp down on her little plastic body.
Anna shuddered and knew that someone was walking over the place where she someday would be buried.
When she had been rescued from Dan Cullen, Anna had assumed the man had gone to jail. She had wished him all the hell of being in such a place. But no law enforcement officer had ever come to question her about her experiences and she hadn’t even given it a thought. She had never even wondered why. Gabriel had revealed the grudging truth that Dan Cullen had been turned over to the police, but anonymously. Through some blunder on the police department’s fault, the twisted individual had made bail and apparently fled.
Only after Dan Cullen’s bail had been met, did the police pay attention to the photos that had been left with him, and started looking around his property for evidence of the crimes. There they had found remains of his victims. The police were trying to
discover which murders might be attributable to Dan Cullen. However, he was still missing and actively being sought. His name had been added to the FBI’s ten most wanted list.
It was so stupid that she felt like she would choke on the emotion. Anna forced a rising sense of anger and guilt down her craw. If she had gone to the police initially, would Dan Cullen have been able to make bail? Would he be out to prey on other young women?
Anna closed her eyes on the Barbie doll with wounded eyes that were gazing up at her sightlessly. Hadn’t she wished Dan Cullen to the worst level of hell where he would burn forever? The family had taken his fate into their hands themselves. The doll was in the mine because that’s where Dan Cullen was now, where his truck was; the tunnel was more than large enough to get a tractor trailer down into it. Had the mine been used as a convenient depository for something they didn’t dare face? Could Dan Cullen have exposed them?
It came to Anna in a flash. It wasn’t exactly Dan Cullen they had been afraid of; it had been her and how they had been able to rescue her from the man. In her drugged state, they didn’t dare risk allowing her to speak with law enforcement, which would ask uncomfortable questions and threaten the family’s position. Remember, outsiders are not to be trusted. Anna is an unknown quantity. Wait until the elders get her measure. Besides she’s the other half of Gabriel.
Anna opened her eyes again and stared at the Barbie doll. The little girl’s dropped doll had prompted her memory. Suddenly she knew that the repeated, odd dreams of escaping the earth, clawing for some unknown thing, had come true, were about to come true. And what Gabriel had said was going to come true as well, she would be returning to the earth.
Anna stared at nothing at all.
There wasn’t a better time to go back down into the mine than now. The festival occupied everyone, or else they had gone away to wait until the people had cleared from the town. No one would miss her, except perhaps Gabriel, and he was occupied with the ship. He was taking a group of tourists out on the Belle-Mere to watch the fireworks from the deck. She was supposed to meet him later, but he wouldn’t worry until much, much later, if she didn’t give him a reason to be concerned.
