Deathbed (Dovetail Cove, 1971) (Dovetail Cove Series)

by Jason McIntyre

  “We got her the help she needed, hon,” he said, “but they have special places for people that do things like your mom did to herself. And those kinds of places are on the mainland. She’s there. Jamie was wrong. No one cheated. Mom’s getting help. Mom will come home. When she’s ready.”

  They sat for a while. In her mind, Farrah could see snippets of what Dad told her. It was true. And she had pushed it away. She had been the one to find mom. She remembered her own screaming. She remembered one bloodied hand trailing out over the side of the white tub and all that blood pooling on the tile.

  She shivered.

  “Dad,” she asked.

  “Hmm?” Doug said, looking over his steaming mug at her.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I know, hon,” he said.

  “Dad?”

  “Yes?”

  “Were you on the police in 1956? Here?”

  Doug furrowed his brow and smiled. That question came out of nowhere. “No, hon. We didn’t even live here then. 1956? Let’s see. I hadn’t even married your mom yet in ‘56. Why?”

  “No reason. I just—I had this book—did you find my tin?”

  “Was it in your backpack?”

  “Uh-uh. It would have been strapped to my book thingy. My black tin, you must have seen it. Mighta sprung loose. Out there on the trail.” Farrah couldn’t remember strapping the tin back under the book straps. It could be anywhere along the path, or still back at Gran’s—though she had no interest in going back there. It wasn’t that the house would feel spooky, just that it would feel...sad. That house—tonight—felt like the end of things for Farrah. In her heart, it felt like Gran’s end was bigger than just the end of one woman’s life. It was tied into her mom’s problems, it was tied into her dad’s, and the biggest deal was that Farrah was now living in a bigger world—one where she was actually aware of adult problems. Gran was right. It’s all part of a Grand Tapestry. Everyone has a story. And none of them have a fairy tale ending.

  Of the mystery box, Doug said, “We’ll look for it in the morning. Sean didn’t say a thing about your tin.”

  “The mystery box was there, Dad, with the book inside.” Farrah stopped. “Did you say ‘Sean?’” She saw a flash mingled with the blood on the bathroom tile when she’d found Mom. It was red too, but a different shade. It was the bright red hair of the man she thought at first was her dad, picking her up from the forest floor and rescuing her from the bats and the weeds and the packed dirt of the bike trail…while he whistled a tune everyone knew.

  “Yeah. Sean Ketwood,” Doug said. He got up from the couch and went around to the kitchen counter, sidestepping piles of books and papers and junk. He looked exhausted, like all the fight had finally gone out of Doug Birkhead for the night. His shoulders sagged and his pace was slow. “Lucky for you he was out this way. You tumbled only a few feet from the trail that goes between Lannen Lane and Birch.” At the counter, Doug scooped another spoonful of sugar into his coffee and stirred. “He was doing some electrical for the Banatynes up there and heard you howling.”

  “Sean Ketwood,” Farrah said in a whisper, mainly to herself. Then to her dad: “We have to find that book. You’re not going to believe what’s in it.”

  “Okay, hon. Listen, don’t get up for a bit. I put in a call to ol’ Doc Sawbones. I want him to check you out before I let you go to bed. You scared me, little girl. And you got a nasty bump when you went over. Sean said you were babbling about gorillas and bats.”

  “Kay. I have something to ask the doc, too,” Farrah said, her gears turning on everything she’d read in the book. Tonight felt a bit like a faraway dream already and, with each passing moment, it seemed to slip further into a blurry background inside her mind. She tried to latch onto something with her mental grabbers so she could control it.

  Thoughts returned to her Gran. And then to her mother. She wondered how long it would be before the phone calls turned to real visits with Mom. And how long before real visits turned to a homecoming.

  When he got here with his big leather bag, she’d ask Doc about the summer of 1956. Whether he’d really gone down to the beach to see about Sean Ketwood’s dead father in the rain. And whether there had been an investigation into the ‘incident’ as Munn had labeled it and as the Island Press had called it. She’d ask Sean Ketwood about his time in the tunnels and whether it really happened the way Munn had said it did in his wild journal ramblings.

  Being that Farrah was only just twelve-and-a-half, being that she was a girl with a mind for fanciful stories and a troublemaking friend like Jamie, Farrah forgot to ask the Doc when he came by and shone a penlight in her eyes. It was a year or two before she would even run into Sean Ketwood again. And, he, of course, was close to two decades older than her. Kids didn’t really talk to adults much and by then, she felt silly approaching him over a child’s foolish ideas. They exchanged pleasantries instead.

  Farrah moved on to other things in life, and eventually the memories of Dennis Munn’s journal and Doctor Drumheller’s incarceration record were relegated to the back rooms of her memory, like one of her mom’s piles of old treasures that were once full of her presence…but now meaningless.

  The mystery box wasn’t retrieved, not even when an estate dealer was hired to go through Gran’s house and get it ready for sale. Farrah barely thought of the phrase, Grand Tapestry, anymore. In time, she forgot the word altogether, even though she still enjoyed finding stories and pieces of history. The grand tapestry was an idea lost to her childhood memory, but she lived a piece of it, whether she knew it or not.

  In the coming months, things became a new sort of normal for Farrah. She got on better with her Dad and even started learning to cook.

  But, of course, in Dovetail Cove, there weren’t any such things as ‘Happily Ever Afters’ so this was the next best thing for Farrah Birkhead.

  ~ fin ~

  The Dovetail Cove saga doesn’t end here. In DEATHBED (1971), go back in time and discover how the madness began in Dovetail Cove. In BLED, journey to 1972 with Frank Moort and Teeny who serve up more than pineapple cheesecake at the Highliner Cafe. In ZED (1975), Tom Mason learns what evil truly looks like. In UNWED (1976), Bexy McLeod faces off against the entire town. In SHED (1977), we find Simon and Rupert dealing with the trials of a new stepfather. And in DREAD (1978), Mac and Dave McLeod return home to the island and embark on a murder mystery of sorts, revealing even more terrible truths about the island.

  *All Dovetail Cove books tie to each other but can be read in any order.

  DEATHBED (Dovetail Cove, 1971) LEARN MORE >

  The Dovetail Cove saga begins here—in July, 1971. Farrah’s on summer break and she’s sure to tell you she’s NOT twelve, she’s TWELVE-AND-A-HALF, thank you very much. And tonight, she’s sneaking out to visit her Gran and show her a ‘mystery box’ she’s stumbled across at the Main Street Summer Market, dead certain there’s a story hidden within. And she’s right. Events reach back to 1956 and a shadowy ‘incident’ that started the darkness on the island. Only a handful know the true details of the incident. And even fewer have witnessed this new darkness, but Farrah will catch a glimpse of it tonight…at the edge of her Gran’s DEATHBED.

  BLED (Dovetail Cove, 1972) LEARN MORE >

  Tina McLeod is on the cusp of a new life. Extraordinary change is rare in her world but this newsflash means she can finally leave her small island town for good. No more pouring coffee for townsfolk in Main Street's greasy spoon, no more living under the weight of her born-again mother. That is, until Frank Moort comes in for his usual lunch and dessert on an ordinary Friday in May.

  FLED (Dovetail Cove, 1973) LEARN MORE >

  In this noir chapter of the Dovetail Cove saga, it’s May Day, 1973, and Charles Scobie finds himself hitched to Chrissy Banatyne, the daughter of the wealthiest and most talked-about power couple on the island. And, of all the rotten luck, Chrissy’s honeymoon destination of choice brings her home, while bringing Charlie back to
an icy batch of memories he’s trying to leave behind. Desperate to finally outrun a violent childhood, a disastrous start to his career, and his estranged family, Charlie believed he could finally set everything right after one last backroom deal, executed on a snowy night—right here in this very island town. Now, Charlie’s gotten used to the high life. Newlywed and wealthy, he has everything going for him. Still, it seems, no matter how fast Charlie runs, he finds himself right back where he started.

  REDHEAD (Dovetail Cove, 1974) LEARN MORE >

  “My name is Frances Margaret Banks and I’ve killed two men.” So begins the account of Dovetail Cove’s most notorious Lady of The Red Light in her rented room above Lowballs Pub on Beacon Street. When she meets Sean, a seemingly noble client who takes her services despite his beautiful young family waiting at home, she knows the relationship needs to end. And yet, drawn into his world of security, mystique and, yes, even love, Fanny is compelled to maintain ties with Sean, even if they turn out to be fatal.

  ZED (Dovetail Cove, 1975) LEARN MORE >

  It’s the waning dog days of August, 1975 and Tom Mason’s in Dovetail Cove for the last few weeks of his summer job at the group home. His boss and the home’s owner is Karen Banatyne, one of the wealthiest folks in town. It seems like she’s got it in for Tom; she's the only one standing in his way as he scrimps for a new camera. But Karen has her own problems. A regulatory agency might cut off her funding, plus her hubby hasn’t been seen in a few weeks, and she’s not saying why. Most ominous of all, it seems as though something’s hiding in the hot spring north of the main beach and one of Karen’s ‘houseguests’ is about to come face to face with evil. Tom is too.

  UNWED (Dovetail Cove, 1976) LEARN MORE >

  It’s January, 1976 and Bexy McLeod gets roped in to helping Dovetail Cove’s retired doc as he deals with St. Dominic’s latest problem. Having tangled with the town’s church-going community for years, Bexy knows she shouldn’t get involved. Wheelchair-bound after an accident left her a paraplegic, she might be the least-sensible choice. Trouble tends to follow the widow and the last thing Bexy needs is confrontation. But now she’s finding herself enamoured with the young woman she’s helping. Bexy may just have to go toe-to-toe with one of the most prominent members of Dovetail Cove’s upper crust…and its head priest.

  SHED (Dovetail Cove, 1977) LEARN MORE >

  Simon and Rupert spend their days playing in the fields out near the old power station but at night, a visitor comes for them. Older brother Simon shoulders the burden of their stepfather Everett and his greedy dominion over their Mama. But the brothers must now stand together to heal the wounds of their real father’s departure and brace themselves for a harrowing showdown with Everett.

  DREAD (Dovetail Cove, 1978) LEARN MORE >

  Mac and Dave McLeod are thirty-something bachelor brothers, back in the tiny island town of Dovetail Cove after more than a decade away. They're here for a funeral, despite Mac's looming feeling that things aren't quite right in their childhood home, nor anywhere else across town. It doesn't take long for a mysterious visitor at the wake to embroil the McLeod boys and the island doc in a game of whodunit involving one of Police Chief Birkhead's unsolved files. Things get macabre when the boys discover a link to their parents in the mess. And the visitor who starts it all might just be a walking cadaver gone missing out from under the coroner's nose.

  <> <> <>

  If you’ve enjoyed DEATHBED, why not spend a minute to leave a short review where you bought it? It helps the independent author who wrote it to be able to keep writing and delivering the stories you love. And, hey, it’s good karma!

  Special Offer

  Right now, for a limited time, if you leave a short review at the retailer where you downloaded this story, and send a link for the review to me at jason@thefarthestreaches.com, I’ll send you a free copy of any other of my paid stories you like.

  Reviews don’t need to be long! A sentence or two is all it takes to explain why you liked the story and whether you’d read more.

  <> <> <>

  About the Author

  Jason McIntyre has lived and worked in varied places across the globe. His writing also meanders from the pastoral to the garish, from the fantastical to the morbid. Vibrant characters and vivid surroundings stay with him and coalesce into novels and stories. Before his time as an editor, writer and communications professional, he spent several years as a graphic designer and commercial artist.

  McIntyre's writing has been called noir and sophisticated, styled after the likes of Chuck Palahniuk but with the pacing and mass appeal of Stephen King. The books tackle the family life subject matter of Jonathan Franzen but also eerie discoveries one might find in a Ray Bradbury story or those of Rod Serling.

  Jason McIntyre’s books include the #1 Kindle Suspense, The Night Walk Men, bestsellers On The Gathering Storm and Shed, plus the multi-layered coming-of-age literary suspense Thalo Blue.

  Learn more about the author and his work at:

  www.theFarthestReaches.com