by Agatha Ball
I laughed.
"No, I'm serious!" she said, her voice shuddering.
"This will all blow over and everything will be back to normal soon," I promised.
"I know," she said, starting to calm down a little more. She blew her nose on the napkins. "I know. And I'm going to do my best to make things normal."
"Atta girl, Henrietta," I encouraged her. I walked back behind the counter and pulled out a box of the one last piece of chocolate cake. I had set it aside for Nate, but figured Henrietta probably needed it more than him. "Here. On the house. A taste of what I baked yesterday."
Her face brightened as her crying shuddered to a stop. "Oh, Paige. You're just so nice." She took it so gratefully. I wondered what sort of life she led that a free piece of cake could have such an impact. She walked toward the door and then turned and waved. "Come up to the hotel anytime! We'll hang out, my friend!" She gave me one last big smile. "And I'll be back to sniff your books!"
And then, with that promise, the door tinkled and she was gone.
I got out my phone to finally sit down and watch the videos that Madison had posted. It was so awful people were so mean to Henrietta. Sure, she was a little odd, but it was only because she cared.
I then paused a moment and thought.
Madison and Kylie had gone to school together. Madison, Kylie, and Bryce had gone to school together. That meant that Madison, Kylie, and Bryce had been in the same class as Henrietta.
Were they the bullies that had made her life so terrible?
My heart began to beat faster.
I pulled up the first video Madison posted and played it, scanning the background for Henrietta. I really hoped that my hunch wasn't right. I pulled up the next video and then the next. And then I spotted it.
Henrietta.
She had just stepped in to watch, but she was staring at Madison with such hatred and loathing. It was a twisted look I had never seen on her face before. The vehemence of her expression rocked me back.
Who was the only person who would have had access to the ballroom without any questions asked? Who knew everyone's whereabouts? She probably went in to deliver coffee to Stan or Fred, probably offered to watch things whenever they needed a break, and had the ballroom all to herself.
I didn't know why she would have tried to take me down or Yvette down, but if her target had been Kylie rather than Victor... She would have known everything going on in that hotel. She would have had access to everyone's rooms. She could have taken apart Kylie's crate. She even had a business center where she could have made a stack of those flyers without anyone getting suspicious.
"Oh no..." I said, thinking of Henrietta's words as I untied my apron. She had hoped the boat would sink with everyone onboard, and she had sworn she would do her best to return the island to "normal."
I texted Johnny and Nate. I think Henrietta did it all. And I think more are in danger. Meet me in front of Bitter Beans. Then, I added. Bring the police.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The horn of the evening ferry sounded in the distance and I looked over at the protesters in front of the police precinct. Their chants softened as the party broke up. They picked up their things and started making their way down to the dock. Time was running out.
"Oh no... oh no..." I muttered, frantically looking for Nate and Johnny. I kept scrolling through the pages on my phone, looking for confirmation of Henrietta's connection to everyone. And then I found it.
Suddenly, Nate and Johnny came jogging over from the direction of the surf shack. They were both in their board shorts, dripping wet. They must have been out in the water. I ran their direction.
Nate caught me in a hug. "Everything okay? I just called Stan."
"She's going to do something terrible, Nate," I said, my heart pounding. "Oh, I hope we aren't too late."
"Dude. Henrietta? She's like... super chill..." said Johnny, confused.
"We have to find her! Some of the people who bullied her in high school were in the bakeoff," I informed them.
"Oh." He gave a shrug like now he got it. "Well, yeah, sometimes you gotta give people the smackdown."
"She was really upset the protesters came to the island. Kylie was one of the bullies. She said she wished the ferry boat would sink with all of them on it."
"You think she is capable of that?" asked Nate.
"I think she was capable of everything that has happened this weekend."
All three of us picked up the pace.
There was smoke pouring into the sky and suddenly I heard Madison's shrieks.
We all broke into a sprint.
Madison was pointing at her card table. It was ablaze. All of her Save Kylie t-shirts were burning like a beach bonfire.
"Who would do this?!" she shouted, looking around at everyone. "Who set my stuff on fire?? I step away to plug in my phone and I come back and SOMEONE HAS SET MY TABLE ON FIRE?!"
Henrietta had said she wanted to reward the people who were doing good. Did that mean she was punishing people she thought were doing wrong?
"All the money I put into those shirts! All this... THIS IS A CONSPIRACY!" Madison shrieked. "I'm gonna SUE!!"
Not that I would wish this sort of thing on anyone, but there was a part of me, once we saw Madison was okay, that wasn't entirely upset by what Henrietta had done this one time.
Suddenly, Trevor raced out of his Saloon with a fire extinguisher and blasted the flames. They were out in a matter of seconds.
He looked at his ex, his breath heaving in his chest. He reached out like an action hero. "Are you okay?"
Madison looked at him, her eyes filling with gratitude. "Oh, Trevor! You saved me!" She squealed and flung her arms around his neck, planting a kiss squarely on his lips. When she broke away, she pouted. "My silly Seaside seal. You're mine forever!"
Nate, Johnny, and I all rolled our eyes.
The gross lovers now reunited, the three of us in the Seaside Super Squad ran toward the ferry dock.
I spotted Henrietta semi-hidden behind a green shed where the groundskeepers stored their lawn mowers and stuff. The door had been pried open. Henrietta's eyes were closed and she was shaking. She had said that she wanted the ferryboat to sink with all of the protesters on it. Judging from Madison's table and the big, red, gasoline can Henrietta was now holding, I was betting that she had decided fire was the best way to make this dream come true.
"Hey, Henrietta!" I said, trying to give her a friendly wave. "What are you doing over there?"
She looked shocked that anyone had noticed her, but her face brightened as she saw it was us. "Oh hey, Paige!" She then waved shyly. "Hey, Johnny."
"Henrietta, mind putting down the gas can so we can talk?" asked Nate, trying to be gentle but firm.
She looked down at the can, as if surprised to find it in her hands. "Oh! No. I'm sorry, Nate. Usually, I try to be so accommodating, but this is a part of my duties. Once I'm done, I'll return it to the shed."
"Your duties?" I asked.
"I told you, Paige. I have to return everything to normal." She looked out at the approaching boat like some sort of psychopathic Shirley Temple. "The ferry will never again bring wicked people to our shore."
"I know you were bullied by Bryce and Kylie and Madison in high school," I said. I held up my cell phone. "I found your yearbook online. Kylie and Bryce were voted Most Likely to Succeed. And here's you: Most Likely to Haunt the Library After You Died."
She stared at my screen and seemed lost in memories. "They wrote the yearbook," she replied. "They wrote all of the superlatives. Class couple. Prom king and queen. They made sure to take a picture of me when I had the flu and published a picture of me throwing up on track day."
A crowd was starting to form around us, the people who had been up protesting but now were here to catch the ferry. I spotted Bryce and Shelia with their rolling luggage. Richard and Granny and her posse had stepped out to see what was going on, too.
I heard Madison shout,
"That girl was a freak!"
"I'm NOT a freak!" Henrietta shouted, waving her gas can in Madison's direction.
"You're a loser now, just like you were a loser then!"
"MADISON! NOT HELPING!" Nate snapped at her.
"Thank you, Nate," Henrietta said, her voice trembling. "I should have set Madison on fire, not just her table."
"YOU'RE the one who set fire to my table?!" Madison yelled, stepping forward in outrage. "YOU?? HOW DARE YOU!"
Suddenly, Henrietta ripped the cap off the can and splashed gasoline on Madison's t-shirt. She fumbled in her pocket for a lighter as Madison gasped in shock and horror.
"Stop!" Nate yelled. "This won't return things to normal!"
It was enough to make Henrietta stop. "No?"
Madison ran full tilt over to the beach showers and rinsed herself off. She was shooting murderous glances at Henrietta.
"Kylie was totally innocent..." whispered one of the ladies. "We were SO right."
"They didn't have to be so mean to me," Henrietta whimpered. "They made it so hard on me. Service with a smile. The customer is always right. But what if the customers are horrible human beings who have been horrible since high school? I even invited each of them personally to the bakeoff because I wanted to be nice. But people never change... they never change unless you change them..."
"You've carried that grudge all these years, haven't you?" Nate said in soothing tones, creeping forward slightly. I think he was hoping to have a chance to grab the gas can from her.
"I came here to get away from that nastiness, the people who only saw me as Hairy Henrietta. I came here to start fresh. I did everything. I lost fifty pounds. I got a perm. Contact lenses. But they couldn't see I was the new me." She looked at the gas can. "Maybe I should just end it all here." She started to lift the gasoline to her lips.
"I think the new you is quite lovely," said Nate, stretching out his hands. "The new you wouldn't want this."
"Ooo... is that Nate?" asked one of the protesters.
"He's good... very handsome..." said the other.
"He could talk me off a ledge any day he'd like and twice on Tuesdays..."
Stan and Fred were coming. Kylie was marching between them, now free. The protesters who had cared so much about her just a few minutes ago didn't even notice.
Trevor frantically intercepted the group. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but it looked like he was explaining this was a tense situation and if they played it cool, we might have a confession in a few minutes. Stan and Fred's faces twisted with impatience, but they held off. They did, however, pull out their batons and handcuffs, ready to rush in whenever we gave them a signal.
Johnny was totally there to distract Henrietta from all this. "Dude, you were totally righteous," Johnny piped up.
Henrietta lowered the spout. She turned to him and blinked. "What?"
He bobbed his head up and down, completely impressed. "TOTALLY. Like, serving out justice when the world is trying to get you down, man."
Henrietta swallowed, her face twisting with hope. "You get me. You understand why."
"So, like, you saw everything there at the hotel..."
"I did!"
"And you knew that Shelia and Bryce were having an affair and TOTALLY outted them as the cheats they are."
Bryce let out a gasp of outrage, but I saw Shelia grip his arm hard to indicate he needed to shut up. Henrietta was falling for all of this. All she needed was a little kindness to open up.
"It wasn't right what they were doing. It wasn't right that he had won year after year, and it turned out he hadn't won at all. He was just sleeping with a judge!" She rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand. "I'm so sleepy... it has been so exhausting punishing the sinners..."
"So you made the flyers..." Johnny continued, trying to keep her talking.
Henrietta nodded, swaying on her feet. "I even used the good colored paper and did the layout myself. I really wanted to make an impact."
One of the protesters whispered to her friend. "This is like a soap opera."
"But better... I wish I had some popcorn..."
"You're genius, man," said Johnny, going over to give her a high five. Henrietta lowered the gas can, but didn't put it down. So close, but so far. The lid was still off and could spill everywhere if we grabbed it.
"And Kylie's crate," I added, seeing that Johnny couldn't remember any of the other stuff that had happened. Unfortunately, I did. "Was that just to scare Kylie?"
"She had been so mean to the bellboy. I wanted her to feel what it was like when she had to pick up her stuff."
"And the cleaver?"
"She ran over his foot with the luggage cart. I wanted her to know what it felt like. I needed to hurt her foot." She said it so naturally, like it was such a logical thing to do.
I looked around from Nate to Johnny, bracing myself for the next question. "But Victor? You didn't mean that, did you? He was an accident, wasn't he?"
It was like she had two forces fighting inside of her – one that was detached from everything that she had done and one that was completely aware. A little sob shook her but no other emotion escaped. "It was a shame about Victor. It upset me. But the more I learn about him, I have to think it was the way it was supposed to be," she admitted. "I didn't want to have to provide service with a smile to a creep like that." Her vision became a little misty. "Justice was served. He was taking bribes, trading money instead of his flesh. People thought that they couldn't bake, that they weren't good enough, because he needed money to put chemicals up his nose. And I killed him with chemicals. It's poetic, really."
"Where did you get your cyanide?" I asked.
Stan and Fred leaned forward.
She puffed up proudly, her eyes glassy and distant as she spoke. "It's not so hard when you know how to make it. And Kylie and I were in chemistry together. She always cheated off me in chemistry. I failed because the teacher caught her cheating off me and she said I told her to do it. She got away with it and I failed. But chemistry was the one thing I was always better at." She turned to Kylie. "I didn't mean for him to die. I meant for you to die. You were so mean to me. I hoped we could bury the hatchet... or cleaver... But I saw you hadn't changed. The way you accused our hotel of being some sort of flea-infested rat trap? The way you treated me like you didn't even know me? It was time for you to finally learn a lesson."
We had what we needed. I knew I shouldn't push, but I needed to know. "But if this was all about... justice... Ruining the people who ruined your life, why did you steal my recipes?" I asked. "And why did you send me that terrible note telling me to drop out if I knew what was good for me? And why did you switch the ingredients on Yvette? Did we do something to you?"
"No!" she said, shocked that I would suggest such a thing. "We're friends, my friend. I was just trying to warn you! I didn't want you to get hurt!" She turned to the café owner as if trying to apologize. "Yvette, you make a really nice sandwich."
"You didn't have to be so sinister," I said to her.
Henrietta's face was blank with surprise. "Oh. I thought I was just being direct. My therapist says I should be more direct with people."
"So you've talked to your therapist about this?"
"She said I should take more action with my life. Not be so passive. Seize the day!"
"This is not what that means," Madison snapped, but Trevor held her back.
Henrietta tried to explain as if I was a small child. "I wanted to make sure you weren't wrongly accused the day I put the syrup of ipecac in people's food. I have nothing against you, Paige!" Henrietta turned a bitter eye toward Kylie and Bryce and Madison. "If they hadn't been so mean to me in school, none of this would have happened."
She still hadn't put down the gas can. All she had to do was spill it and drop her lighter, and our entire island could burn.
I had a secret weapon, however.
"Henrietta, I'm so proud of you for telling the truth." I held out a book.
The one she had fallen in love with. "I know you wanted to burn the ferry boat when the protesters were on it, but I was wondering if I could trade you this book for your gas can, instead. It smells so much better."
She looked at the book with so much love. She seemed torn. There was vengeance... but there was also this really great book... I could almost see her debating herself in her head.
"I want you to have it... friend," I said.
And those were the words she needed. She needed someone to hear her whole confession and still reach out with kindness.
She gently set down the can. "For me?"
"A gift from Bitter Beans. Just for you."
She stepped forward and took it with two hands. She held it up to her nose and then clasped it to her heart. "I really love this book."
"It's yours," I said. "Enjoy it."
Nate ran and snatched the gas can, and then stepped far away from the crowd. Henrietta turned and looked at him with surprise.
"Sure! You can have that, Nate!" she offered. "Just remember to put it back in the shed when you're done. And share it with Paige! She wanted it! She gave me this book!"
Stan and Fred slowly walked forward.
"Um... I guess I need to arrest you," said Stan.
Henrietta looked at them with confusion. "Oh. Well. I guess so." She held out her wrists as Stan locked the metal bracelets around her.
There was a polite round of applause. Several of the protesters had gathered around Kylie to congratulate her on her freedom. Her disdain was palpable.
But a couple of the protestors were staring at Madison, Bryce, and Kylie with disgust.
Suddenly, I heard my voice. I turned around.
One of the girls had her phone out of her pocket and was playing a video.
"Did you pin all of the things that happened this weekend on Nate and Johnny?"
And then there was Madison's voice: "I made sure to inform all of my followers that there were two people who could have stopped all of the horrible things that happened, but they didn't."
"You framed them?"
Bedraggled and dripping wet, Madison rushed over. "Turn it off! Turn it off!" she shouted, trying yank the phone out of the girl's hand.
