by Reid, Terri
The man, shaking and blubbering, fell to his knees. “No, no, I did not realize…”
Maria lifted her arms and the clouds blocked the sun. A deathly chill fell over the area. Eloise shivered despite knowing that Maria was her ally.
“You did not realize she was my friend? You did not realize she is not someone you can victimize?
Maria hovered closer to the trembling thug.
“Or perhaps you did not realize that Maria Leveau does not like when men use force on women?”
“I did not realize…” he babbled.
Tears streamed down his face and his body shook with fear. The tough thug was now a trembling coward. “Please, please let me live,” he begged.
“I will let you live, this time,” she stated, “But, you cannot cross Maria Leveau without making some payment to the Voodoo Queen.”
“Please whatever you want, I will give you,” he promised, clasping his hands in front of him.
Maria smiled malevolently.
“There is something I want from you,” she said, “When you wake in the morning, you will find that your manhood has shriveled and died.”
The thug looked up in shock.
“No, no,” he responded, “Not that.”
“You would rather I take your life?”
He shook his head and cried. “No! No!”
“Now go!” she commanded, lifting her arm and pointing out of the cemetery.
The man stumbled over his unconscious friend and darted away through the monuments.
Eloise turned to Maria Leveau and smiled, “Thank you.”
“Eloise,” Paul requested, “Could you please introduce us, I wish to add my gratitude.”
Eloise smiled, “Maria Leveau, this is Major Paul Grimes. Paul, may I introduce Maria Leveau, Queen of Voodoo.”
Paul nodded, “Thank you for your assistance. You saved her life.”
Maria smiled at Paul. “No, no thanks for me. You were ready, you would have saved Eloise. And I must apologize for taking away your quarry,” then she grinned, “But I too wanted to vent my anger.”
Paul laughed. “Nothing I could have done to him would have ever equaled the punishment that you were able to serve.”
Maria laughed, “The punishment must fit the crime, no?”
Paul nodded, “Exactly.”
“Now, I will take your Eloise for a few moments as she explains what she desires of me,” Maria stated, looking at Eloise for affirmation.
“Yes, thank you,” Eloise said, seeing the concern in Paul’s face, “Paul, I will only be a few minutes.”
Maria turned back to Paul. “And perhaps you can call the local authorities to deal with this one.”
She pointed to the assailant still unconscious from his failed attempt.
“You may tell them that the other one will be found at the other side of cemetery. Unfortunately, a rather large tree limb has just…,” she paused for a moment, “Fallen on him and rendered him unconscious.”
Paul chuckled. “I will be more than happy to oblige. I can see that Eloise is in excellent hands,” he bowed his head, “It was an honor to meet you.”
Eloise and Maria walked slowly down the path away from Paul. When they had gone beyond hearing distance, Maria whispered, “He is so like my beloved, Louis Christophe. It is a wonder to love a man such as that one.”
Eloise agreed sadly.
“So, love is not easy for you?” Maria asked.
Eloise told Maria about the dream and the warning.
“And, you do not believe this man of yours would be willing to give his life for you?”
“Oh, no,” Eloise replied, “In a moment he would risk all for me.”
“But this is not a risk you would allow him to take,” Maria stated.
“Is there anything that can guarantee she could not kill him?” Eloise asked.
Marie shook her head. “No, in this life, there is no such guarantee.”
“Then I would ask for two things to help me fight Lalaurie,” Eloise said, “First, I would like an amulet to protect me so she cannot snatch my spirit at her whim.”
Maria nodded and pulled from her pocket the same amulet that Louisa had been given by Sophie. “The world is a strange place, no?” she asked, with a slight lift of her eyebrows, “And your second request.”
Eloise took a moment to voice her request.
“I need to have Paul sent away, some place safe,” she finally said, “I need to finish this alone.”
Maria shook her head. “I do not think this is a wise thing to do. Love has a power all its own.”
Eloise folded her arms across her chest and disagreed, “I know she will kill him only because he is connected to me. I would die if he were hurt.”
Maria shook her head once again. “And how does your Major feel about this?”
Eloise shrugged. “He believes I love another.”
Maria rolled her eyes. “He believes you love another? Can he not see with his own eyes the love that is in front of him?”
She paused for a moment and looked suspiciously at Eloise. “He believes you love another because you have told him this lie. Is this not true?”
Eloise nodded.
Maria glared at Eloise and started to fade before her eyes.
“Wait!” Eloise called. “I need your help.”
Maria disappeared and Eloise closed her eyes and bowed her head. She had pushed Maria too far, she had asked too much. What was she going to do?
Suddenly she heard Maria’s voice float around her. “I will do what you ask, but I warn you this is not the answer.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, “Thank you so much.”
Chapter Eleven
“This is crap,” Paul yelled into the phone while pounding his fist on the kitchen counter, “There is nothing more important than the assignment I am on. Yeah, get the General to call me, personally, because I’m not going anywhere! Someone there screwed up and I’m not risking this operation because of some paper-pushing idiot.
“Great. Great. Fine,” he finished, “I’m looking forward to it.”
He slammed the phone down and ran his hand over his forehead before turning to face Eloise and Sally who were sitting at the computer desks.
“So, are they going to send those black helicopters for you in the middle of the night?” Sally asked, spinning her chair to face him.
“If they do, they’d better send reinforcements,” Paul muttered.
“Paul, you really don’t have to stay,” Eloise said, slowly moving her chair around to face him.
Paul glared at her. “Excuse me?” he asked quietly.
“I said that you really don’t have to stay any longer,” Eloise said, glancing down at her lap for a moment, before lifting her head and facing him.
“The amulet Maria gave me will protect me from Delphine,” she said, fingering the small packet tied around her neck.
Paul grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the chair. “Come on, we have to take a walk.”
Without waiting for a response, he pulled her out the door and down the steps of the motor home. They walked wordlessly past the parked vehicles, down a sandy embankment and over to a grassy knoll where a lone tree overlooked a small river.
“Okay, talk,” Paul demanded, placing Eloise against the tree and surrounding her with an arm on either side.
Eloise shrugged. “I don’t want you to get in trouble with you superiors,” she said, “They need you and, quite frankly, I don’t.”
Paul stepped back as if she had slapped him.
“Okay, so you don’t need me to protect you from Delphine while you are here, but what happens when you go to confront her? What happens if you have to go into New Orleans again? What happens if she comes looking for you?”
Eloise took a deep breath and looked him in the eye.
“Well, Jean-Paul is on his way here,” she lied, averting her gaze at the last moment, “If you want to send some protection until he gets here I
would appreciate it.”
Paul swore and turned away from Eloise. She quickly wiped away the tears that formed in the corners of her eyes.
“Well, Eloise, you’re right,” he said, his voice taut, his body still turned away from her, “There’s no reason for me to stay under the circumstances. I’ll call and make arrangements immediately. It was good to see you again.”
Without a glance, he marched back to the motor home and slammed the door behind him. Eloise waited under the tree until, fifteen minutes later, she heard the door slam again and his vehicle pull away.
Suddenly Eloise couldn’t seem to catch her breath. An anguished sob broke through. She doubled over from the ache in her heart. Sliding down the trunk of the tree, she wrapped her arms around her legs and sobbed.
“Sucks to be you,” Sally said, kneeling down next to Eloise a few minutes later. “I thought that some of my special Mood Mender Herb Tea would help.”
Eloise, her head buried on her knees, didn’t look up. “Sal, I hate that tea.”
“Yeah, I remembered that too, so I brought you a Diet Pepsi.”
Eloise lifted her tear-stained face and chuckled. “Thanks, you’re a good friend.”
“I’m an even better friend than you know,” she said. “While you two were out here I made copies of his topographical maps.”
Eloise sat up straighter. “I had forgotten about them.”
“Yeah, well if you want to do any exploring with them, we need to leave before the dawn breaks tomorrow morning.”
“Why?”
“Because Paul called in reinforcements. Bert and Ernie are showing up at ‘O’ eight hundred hours, which I suppose is 8 a.m. And according to the instructions I heard from our side of the phone, their orders are to make sure that we do nothing that will cause us injury, endanger US government property or break any civil, federal or governmental laws.”
“We will be pretty much confined to quarters.”
Sally nodded. “Yep. Oh, one more thing – he told them when the Frenchy shows up to make sure they tested his ability to keep us safe.”
Eloise was confused. “What?”
Sally shrugged. “He pretty much told them to kick the crap out of Jean-Paul when he got here,” Sally paused and grinned, “How could you not love that man?”
Chapter Twelve
“I hate mornings,” Sally moaned as they drove down Highway 46 towards the Gulf Coast. The view outside the SUV’s windows was a repeat of the others, debris and devastation everywhere. As the sun rose over the southern tip of the St. Bernard Parish, Eloise knew that things would never be the same again in this portion of Louisiana. The mighty Gulf of Mexico had reclaimed land that it would never give up again.
“How would you know if you hated mornings or not, you’ve never experienced one,” Eloise said, checking the GPS monitor.
“Listen, not all of us are Eveready Bunnies. Drum, drum, drum,” Sally mimicked the popular drumming wind-up toy.
Eloise chuckled. “You can be cruel when you’re tired.”
Sally took a gulp of her green drink.
“How can you drink that neon goop first thing in the morning?”
Sally shrugged her shoulders, “It almost tastes better when I’m half-asleep. So, what do you think he’s doing about now?”
Eloise tried to look unconcerned. “I’m not thinking about him.”
Sally snorted. “Oh, yeah, that was believable. And, if you’ll notice, I didn’t mention his name.”
Eloise laughed self-consciously, “Okay, so I did think about him a little. I mean, now that he thinks I’m not interested, there are so many other women…”
“Yeah, he’s a good looking guy and so sweet, there have to be hundreds…” Sally stopped herself. “Okay, well that was not only stupid that was cruel. I am so sorry – I didn’t mean it.”
No, it’s okay,” Eloise said quietly, “I often ask myself why he was ever interested in me. I mean, really, there were so many women…”
Sally reached over and laid her hand on Eloise’s hand. “Simple. He didn’t want so many women, he wanted you. Still does from the look on his face when he left last night.”
Eloise nodded. “Well, I guess we’ll see what happens.”
Sally nodded. “Yeah, if we don’t get killed going after this insane ghost, and if Paul forgives you for lying to him, and if Maria doesn’t place a curse on you for forcing her to do something that she didn’t want to do.”
Eloise readjusted her hands on the steering wheel, nodded her head and focused on the horizon. “Thanks Sally, you sure know how to cheer a gal up.”
Sally grinned. “Of course, I’ve always been a firm believer in happily-ever-after.”
Eloise rolled her eyes. “Sure, Sal, I could tell.”
After finishing her drink, Sally leaned back in the seat and took a nap. Eloise smiled at the soft snores emanating from the passenger side of the car.
“Well, I suppose it’s enough noise to keep random spirits away,” she whispered to a sleeping Sally.
Eloise thought about last night and the feeling that she had in the pit of her stomach when she heard his car drive away. She recalled the other time she had experienced a similar feeling.
After her trip to Istanbul, Eloise had thrown herself into her work, often taking double shifts and only getting a few hours of rest. She found that she didn’t have much of an appetite and only ate enough to survive. She was losing weight and she looked not only exhausted, but troubled. However, for those souls caught between this world and the next, she gave them all she had.
One late afternoon, she had been forced to take a break by the site supervisor. When she returned, she noticed that Paul was now working in the area she had been supporting. Rather than face him, she decided to drive to another site. A large apartment building that had collapsed, crushing and killing at least fifty occupants.
She was overtired and emotionally exhausted; a dangerous combination in her line of work.
The small town had been evacuated by the Red Cross. The afternoon sun still brought waves of heat up from the parched desert landscape. Eloise walked to the area where the building used to stand, sat down and waited. For a few moments nothing happened. Then, one by one, spirits started to slowly walk out of the demolished apartment. From infants to grandparents, the crowd of spirits assembled in front of Eloise.
She smiled and nodded to them. They stared at her for a few moments and then exchanged the greeting. Slowly, in broken Turkish, she explained that she was there to help them relocate to a better place. She instructed them to look for a light, a gateway that would lead them to the next place. The crowd grew excited as they all caught sight of the light, glowing with warmth. They started to rush toward the light and Eloise could feel their combined power pulling on her spirit. The spirits could only enter through the gateway one at a time, so they as they ascended, they formed a circle, like a whirlpool of spirits, waiting for their turn. It was like standing in an undertow, being pulled along against your will.
She grabbed hold of a large rock, but could feel her arms slipping as the group moved faster, closer to their final destination. She tried to hold on, but she was so tired and worn out. For a moment, she thought she could see the light, the place that would offer peace and security. All she would have to do is let go and she would be carried away to the other side. She thought about it for a moment, and her arms started to slip. But, she decided instantly, she wasn’t a coward. She had too much to live for to just give up. She scrambled to regain her hold, but by that time it was too late. The vortex of power from the spirits was pulling her in. She dug her nails into the rock, but she slipped further. At the last moment, a strong hand grabbed hers and pulled her back. The hands held her around her wrists while the rest of her body was pulled sideways and up towards the departing spirits.
Finally, the last spirit walked through the gateway and the pull was gone. Slowly her body returned to the ground. She turned to thank her rescuer and fo
und herself swept up into Paul’s arms. Grateful and overwhelmed, she could only latch on to him and cry. He sat on a small outcropping, held her tenderly in his arms and whispered soft words of encouragement until she gained control of her emotions. Finally, she turned tear-stained eyes up to him and tried to smile, but her chin trembled.
Paul gathered her up in his arms and placed a kiss on the top of her head.
“Okay, I just need you to nod, you don’t have to talk,” he said, “When I arrived, it almost looked like you were thinking about letting go. Is that true?”
Eloise stilled, she knew that she owed him the truth. She nodded.
Paul inhaled sharply.
“Was I the reason you came out here by yourself?”
Once again she nodded.
He swore softly.
“Eloise, I want you to know I will never hurt you again. Unless you are in danger, I promise I will do my best to stay out of your life.”
He laid another tender kiss on the top of her head, stood up and walked away. Before she could respond, call him back, talk to him, she heard his car door slam and he drove away.
Was he the reason, Eloise wondered as she drove down the highway? Was it Paul or was it her fear of the unknown? Her fear of falling in love and getting hurt? She shook her head. She had to set the thoughts of Paul to the side, until she was able to stop Delphine from whatever plot she was hatching.
She took the exit for 624, the Hopedale Highway and continued south as far as she could on paved roads. The GPS led her down a dirt road that Eloise imagined used to be lined with dense foliage, like an American Amazon. Now the landscape was open – more like the plains of Illinois - but instead of rows of corn; brittle, dead marsh reed was everywhere. Even the early morning sun did nothing to hide the destruction of the hurricane crossing the land.
A couple of well-placed potholes jarred Sally enough to wake her from her sleep. She stretched, yawned and looked out the window.
“It’s not supposed to look like this, right?” she asked.
Eloise shook her head sadly, “No, it’s not. It’s supposed to be green and humid. The cicadas are supposed to hum and the frogs are supposed to sing. The air is supposed to smell like magnolia trees and verbena.”
