by Tom Keller
"I am, and you would be Ms. Truesdell?"
"Yep, but call me Mattie," she said with an almost southern accent and held open the screen door. "Any friend of Hailey is welcome here. She said you were a good fellah."
"You talked to her?" I asked, entering the house. The room was decorated in what can only be described as American cowboy. Gnarled wood chairs and leather furniture that offered a Texas-style flair, there was even a pair of antlers used as a hat rack.
"Yep, a few minutes after you called. A girl can't be too careful these days. I hope you don't mind," she remarked as she gestured for me to sit on the couch.
"No, not at all, better safe than sorry."
"Well, she didn't tell me you were such a nice dresser. I don't get many handsome men in suits here these days, unless of course they're trying to sell me something," she laughed. "Can I get you something to drink? I just made some fresh coffee. I have sweet tea as well."
"Coffee would be nice. Cream and sweetener if you have it, it's ok if you don't." I looked around the room as she went into the kitchen. The cowhide rug, twisted wood chairs and other western memorabilia reminded me of an old movie set.
"Here you go," she said, putting a mug of coffee down in front of me minute or so later.
I took a sip as I admired the logo on the cup. The mug was from the old brothel. The logo had the name Venus and a caricature of the statue of the Venus di Milo, only a bit more animated, if you get my meaning.
"That's an original," she said. "I saved a bunch of them when we closed."
"I collect old cups myself although I don't have any like this," I admitted, admiring the artwork. Then I got down to business.
"I don't want to take up too much of your time so I'll get down to why I am here. I'm looking for a woman named Deborah Kent. At least, that's the name I think she went under. I understand she may have had some dealings with the Venus before it closed."
"Before we get to that," she said with in a serious tone. "I'll need to know why you want to find her. I'm not in the habit of talking about folks needlessly, friend of Hailey or not. I know what you said on the phone but I'd like to hear it in person. If she's in any trouble, well, I'll need to know that, too, you understand."
I took a sip of the coffee, it was quite good. "No, she's not in any trouble and it's not confidential. I've simply been asked to return some property to her. It's an item of jewelery if you must know. The person who possessed this item wants to do the right thing and has agreed that I will not provide him with her location, assuming I do find her. You have my word on that. I hope that explains it enough."
"I can live with that I suppose," she said, looking a bit relieved. "To be honest, she was a nice lady, even if she is a bit different. I'd like to do something that will help her out." She seemed to make a decision. "Ok, I'll show you where you can find her."
She got up and went into a desk next to the front door and grabbed a pen and paper. She sat down and wrote down the directions to where she said Deborah was last staying. She came over with the paper, and then hesitated, the note still clutched in her hand. "Be careful when you see her. Like I said she's different."
"Different, what does that mean?" I asked, looking up at her.
"Well, it's just that Deborah is very nervous around strangers. I know that you're doing something good for her, but still, you need to be careful around her."
I watched her closely. She looked almost scared as she handed me the note. "Mattie," I said as she sat back down, "can you be a little more specific? I'm not here to harm her, only to give her what is hers."
She sat down on the couch besides me. "I know that. I guess you could call her eccentric. She never liked strangers, especially men, and I got the feeling...well I got the feeling that she was running from something."
"Any idea what she might be running from?" I wondered if it could have something to do with the necklace.
"No, and I never asked. But she'd get queer if anyone asked any questions about her past." She looked over at me with a thoughtful but serious expression. "A lot of folks in that business are running from something, even if it's just themselves. You learn not to ask. Just be careful." Then she gave me a smile. "It's a good thing you're doing for her. You just may need to convince her of that before she'll talk to you."
I looked down at the hand drawn map. It showed an old trailer near another closed brothel I knew a little of called the Ash Meadows Sky Motel. It was next to an old airport runway northwest of town. She said it was about a 30 minute drive.
"Ok, Mattie, thank you," I said as I patted her hand in a reassuring way. Then I started to get up.
"Wait just a minute."
She got up and took my now empty coffee cup and went into the kitchen. She returned a moment later and handed me the cup. "Take this with you," she said, "for your collection."
"Wow, that's very nice," I replied, admiring it as she handed it to me.
She shrugged deprecatingly. "Well, it was a good house and maybe you'll remember us when you drink from it."
We walked to the doorway and she opened the screen door and held it for me.
"I surely will," I added and thanked her again as I walked out to my car.
Afraid of strangers, I thought to myself, how do you get by in a brothel if you're afraid of strangers?
Chapter 17
I headed out of town and then up Bell Vista Road. This eventually turned into Ash Meadows. Turning off the main road I headed up a dirt road and drove around some type of strip mine that blocked the view of the old airstrip that had served the brothel in the 60s.
Coming up parallel to what looked like a small hotel, I spied the abandoned brothel. Its chain linked yard and empty pool was now filled with leaves and other trash. I drove a little further past where the road curved and parked the car near a stand of cottonwood trees where the crude map said she was supposed to live. Not expecting to need it, I left my gun under the seat and put my briefcase with the cash in the trunk. Then I removed the necklace and started towards where the map said the trailer was.
Pausing beneath the trees I looked around and finally saw the roof of a trailer to my right. It was barely visible behind some large brush. The place was concealed by the vegetation but it fit the description Mattie had given me. I walked across the deserted lot and then around the large bushes until I could see the old trailer. It wasn't much to look at but it was situated in a nice spot. As I skirted the property I saw there was a natural spring just off the side of the trailer. A well-tended garden was not far from the door.
There was something else, too. Not necessarily dangerous, but concerning. That was the problem with my magical abilities. I hadn't learned them from childhood or in a school. They just kind of showed up, or trickled out, as Bernd had believed they would. The magic must have been in the on position because I sensed a warning feeling. I knelt down and looked around before continuing.
The trailer sat on a parcel of-semi cleared desert. It looked as if someone with a grader had just swept a path so the trailer would be level. That's when I noticed the perimeter. It was a lighter color than the regular desert sand. I reached down and scooped a bit up into my hand. The outer line was some kind of salt, courser than table salt, maybe a sea salt variety. The inner line appeared to be crushed eggshells and maybe some type of pepper and herbs. Something else was there as well. Crushed bones, maybe?
It looked like some kind of spell had been cast to protect the occupant from evil spirits. It must not have been too powerful of a spell because I figured a threat would kick-start the magic like it had in the past and this one didn't seem to be having any real effect on me. Maybe it was a good thing I had no evil intentions. I saw a few other potential magic-related items as I walked towards the door. Mint grew in the garden and not all the desert sage had been cleared from the yard. There was also a crude Gorgon's head carved into a piece of wood hung above the door. I think I liked that the best.
As I approached the stoop a gra
y cat bounded up the steps and stopped on the porch before the stairs. It turned to watch me.
I knelt down and heard a meow.
"What are you?" I felt her say. Hmm, so I guess it's not just my animals that I can talk to.
"A friend," I answered. "Or at least, I hope to become one. Where is your mistress?"
"She is not my mistress," she purred. "You are not like the others, but she will still not see you."
"Well, I have come a long way to see her and see her I must," I said, getting up and walking up the stairs. I will never understand cats, I thought to myself as she bounded away. I raised my hand to knock on the trailer door, wondering who the others that visited might have been.
"Hello, Ms. Kent," I called, knocking louder. The door finally opened a bit and I could see a woman's face.
She looked very old, with wrinkled skin and long gray hair. Her eyes, however, were blue, and I could still see the youth in them. She was dressed simply in a rumpled and faded blue dress that hung loosely and she was barefoot. "I don't want any, go away!" she barked, closing the door on me.
"I just need a moment of your time Ms. Kent, or should I call you Diantha," I responded, blocking her from fully closing the door. "I think you'll want to know what I have to say."
"How do you know that name?" she asked, holding the door open a crack.
"I was told to find you, by an old friend."
"I have no friends," she replied, and started to close the door again.
Now I don't normally take the forceful approach when approaching a witness or a target, but hell, I knew what she was, or at least what she'd been. I doubted I would be facing a lawsuit here. "I really need to speak with you, Mrs. Kent." I pushed the door open a bit.
She backed away and then lunged forward towards me. I spun to the side and reaching out, grabbed her wrist. With my other hand I removed the dagger she had held in it. I'd like to say my magic protected me, but to be honest, it was probably just the years of police training. Looking at it, I realized it was very old and appeared to be made of silver.
"Why are you here?" she asked as I let go of her wrist and followed her into the trailer's small living area.
"As I said, I've come at the request of an old friend." I held up the dagger. "Not exactly a pleasant way to greet someone," I said, slipping it into my belt.
"You forced your way in. Why shouldn't I protect myself?"
She had me there.
"What do you want then? I am just an old woman, leave me be," she exclaimed as she sat down at a small table. She rested her head in her hands, looking all the part of a frail, dejected old woman.
"A moment of your time is all I ask. I am looking for a Diantha, who used to work in a carnival under the name of Pythia. Is that you?" I asked, standing across from her.
"Why do you want to know?"
I looked around the place. It was small and sparsely furnished. Nothing more than an old loveseat, the table she sat at, and in the corner, a three-legged stool. That room led to a small kitchen on one side and what appeared to be a bedroom on the other.
The stool interested me. It was about four feet high and looked as if it was made from bronze. There was also a shallow dish of the same metal on the stand next to it. Everything was old but the stool still looked beautiful. According to legend, the real Oracle at Delphi sat on just such a stool when she had her visions. "An interesting piece," I said as I walked over and began tracing the serpent design on the seat with my fingers. "It looks very old."
"It's just an old stool," she said as she stood up and walked towards me. Moving between me and the stool she placed her hand on the seat and then turned towards me, her attitude changing. "Why are you here?"
"I told you. I'm looking for a woman named Diantha Medea or Kent that used to work in a carnival with William Harrison."
"Do not speak his name," she proclaimed. "Leave now if he sent you!"
Wow, I could feel the strength in her words, but I knew I had who I had come for. Now I also understood why Milagre had warned me about the power of her voice. Despite her appearance of old age, influence oozed off of her as she spoke. I could almost see it, like wisps of smoke flowing outward from her.
She turned away from me for a moment and I thought she was going for another weapon but she turned back and pointed to the door. "I command you to leave!" She must have expected her words to have some effect on me and I saw that she was startled when I didn't move.
I almost laughed, thinking mind tricks don't work on me...but I thought better of it. Besides, I didn't know if she'd even seen The Phantom Menace. I looked her over for a moment. "I think not," I said instead.
"You are of the Fae," she noted, appearing startled and with just a hint of fear creeping into her voice and expression.
"Look, let's just start over. I'm Robert Hoskins and I have something that belongs to you." I pulled the pouch out of my pocket and opened it, removing the necklace. I held it up to show her. "Look familiar?"
She walked towards me slowly, as if in a trance. "The eye, has Apollo forgiven me then?" She took the necklace and fell to her knees in front of me. There were tears in her eyes.
I have to admit that caught me off guard. I knelt down next to her, watching as she held the necklace in her hands and cried. Apollo, where the hell had she been all this time? "Apollo is gone. He will not return to this world," I answered.
"Gone," she gasped, "but he was High Fae, one of the Gods! I knew that they fled this world but surely they will return."
"I'm sorry, but he's not coming back."
High Fae, what the hell was a High Fae? If I really was a bastard king and the heir of Demeter, being male, would I fit the bill? I needed to find out more, but without revealing too much, or my lack of knowledge.
"Then I am lost, for only he would return it to me. Wait," she asked, looking hopeful. "What of Artemis, or Hephaestus, or even Poseidon? Surely one of them must return."
"They too are gone. Gods or not, they destroyed themselves."
"Destroyed themselves? Then the Eye is lost to me," she muttered. "What is left? Only one of the most high could have saved me."
"Perhaps there is still something I can do."
She stood up, her tears of grief replaced by anger and frustration. Fool, it is worthless now," she said as she held up the necklace. "This is a dragon's eye, once lost, it is but a curse. Only by gift can it be returned if it is to be of any worth, and even then, only if gifted by one the Gods. Look at me! At least five thousand years of life was granted, true. But by losing the Eye my youth and beauty have fled. How do you not know this?" she screamed, pulling at her hair. "Lost, I am lost!" She threw the necklace on the floor and walked back over to the stool.
Five thousand years, damn! Well, at least she was back to her mean spirited self. I picked the necklace up as I stood. Change of plan—if I really was what Bernd said I needed to find out what that was. Nothing like living the fantasy, not to mention that I knew that while she may have lost her youth she was still much more than just an old lady. Besides, Werewolves were after me and I wasn't satisfied that my parents death had been an accident. And lest I forget, someone out there was killing powerful Fae. The world was turning fast for me and it wouldn't hurt to have another ally at this point.
"Ok, so you want to keep feeling sorry for yourself or do you want to get out of this dump?" I asked, trying a different approach.
She was leaning over the stool, her head resting on the raised seat. "There was a time when I would have had your eyes and tongue pulled from your head for such a remark, whatever you may be," she proclaimed. She swept her hands down the front of her body. "Don't you see? I am trapped in this decrepit form because of the actions of a human I favored. A foolish mistake that I must pay for till the end of time. What then, is left?" Her tears had stopped and her sorrow had been replaced with anger. Still, that beat an old lady sobbing.
"Well, anything's gotta be better than hiding out here," I said as I plopped dow
n on the loveseat and gestured with my arms around the room. "You may not look young, but you still have power in your voice...and they do say that 70 is the new 50 these days, or at least so I've heard."
She didn't catch the humor.
"Come with me. If nothing else, you'll be more comfortable." I didn't tell her that I'd try to figure out how to make the necklace work, besides; I might not be able to.
"Whom do you serve and how did you come upon the Eye? Tell me this before I give my answer," she asked, standing upright and staring at me, defiant once again.
I sensed a hint of change in her voice. This wasn't the poor old pissed off grandma bit, this was something more. "I'll tell you what; I have some time, I'll answer yours if you answer mine." Oh great, now I'm speaking in rhyme.
"Agreed," she answered, perking up at the comment.
Well, that was quick! "As to who I serve, I serve no one in the way that I think you mean. As to the necklace, there I do serve a purpose. A friend asked me to find you and return it. I got it from the man that took it from you, I already told..."
"Do not speak his name," she yelled, cutting me off. "May he be cursed and suffer Hades' punishment for all eternity. She walked over to me, her hands on her hips. "Why do you mock me?"
"Mock you?" I asked as I stood up. "How have I mocked you?"
She pointed her finger at me. "Do you truly expect me to believe that you were not sent by my enemies? You know the Eye is now lost to me. Who sent you to torment me?"
I reached out and gently removed her hand from in front of my face. "I promise you, Diantha. What I have said is true. The one that took the necklace regrets his actions and wants only peace before he dies. He is an old man now. No one has sent me to torment you. The old Gods are gone, good or bad it's a different world now. Surely you know this to be true."
She pulled her hand away and looked down. "Regrets, he knows nothing of regrets, may he burn forever. But the Gods, augh...I feared it was true. I prayed that it was not, but it has been so long. What a fool I have been."
