by Jan Fields
“I hope so,” Annie said doubtfully.
When they got outside, Mary Beth opened her mouth to say something, but Ian held up a hand. “In the car,” he said softly.
They walked the rest of the way in silence with only the sound of the gravel under their feet and the whining insects accompanying them.
“That guy was lying,” Mary Beth said as soon as they were settled in the car with the doors close.
“That’s a distinct possibility,” Ian said. “Though so far everyone who has confirmed Jim and Alice’s presence have either said the same day for seeing them, or were vague enough that it could have been the same day.”
“I saw them here more than one day,” Annie said. “Alice video-chatted with me for three nights, and every night was from that room at the inn.”
Ian nodded. “Probably. Though you’re going from memory and your main focus was on Alice. A lot of rooms in places like that look similar.”
“Don’t tell us you’re going over to the dark side here, Ian,” Mary Beth said.
Ian shook his head. “I’m just saying that we shouldn’t necessarily embrace a conspiracy theory.”
Annie sat back in her seat, suddenly very tired, as Ian started the car. She was sure that the room in the chat was the room in the inn—wasn’t she? Suddenly, she didn’t know what to believe. She looked out at the passing scenery as they drove away. Alice, she thought again, where are you?
10
I sat on the sidewalk, letting the discarded mud from the shoes of shoppers mar my clothing beyond repair—or so my mother said later. My attention was caught up in a spider spinning a web in a crack between the shop steps and the wall of the building. The spider was black and thick-bodied. The web looked like a funnel, and I imagined it as a soft, dark tunnel leading insects to their unfortunate end.
—Steven Fuller, 1925
“Well, the last lead we have right now are those two restaurants,” Mary Beth said. “And I’m starving. Which one do you think Jim and Alice were most likely to stop at?”
“Normally, I would say The Fish House, especially since this is a coastal spot. But, after a long day?” Annie said. “Maybe pizza. Jim loves pizza, and it would be fast. Hot, fast comfort food has a lot of appeal when you’re tired.”
“OK, Annie, could you get the GPS to search for local restaurants?” Ian asked. “Maybe Sandy’s Pizza will be on the list. Otherwise, we’ll have to stop and ask for directions once we get back to a more populated area.”
“This does feel like a whole different world, doesn’t it?” Mary Beth said. “I’m starting to see how ghost stories could sprout up around here. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some kind of monster lurking in the woods.”
“I think I’d still find that a surprise,” Annie said as she poked her way through the menus on the GPS. “I don’t think I’m quite that enchanted by this place.” She scanned the list of restaurants in the area. “Both the fish house and the pizza place are here.”
“Sounds fine to me. Annie could have it lead us to the pizza place,” Ian said. “I’m glad we don’t have to stop and ask.”
“Stop and ask for directions?” Mary Beth teased. “What would that do to your rep? We all know real men don’t ask for directions.”
“I actually learned how to ask for directions years ago,” Ian said—then he grinned. “My wife teased me into it. She was not a fan of the ‘wander around aimlessly until you stumble on your destination’ school of driving, and she made that really plain early on.”
“Good for her,” Mary Beth said.
“Wayne would ask for directions,” Annie said. “But I have to admit, he tended to treat it as a last resort. I think he just didn’t like stopping, as long as we were moving—even aimlessly, he felt like we were heading somewhere.”
“Exactly!” Ian said.
“You know that makes no sense,” Mary Beth said.
“I could come up with a few things women do that make no sense,” Ian said, giving Mary Beth a grin in the rearview mirror.
She rose to the bait. “Like?”
“Buying a million shoes,” he said. “Who needs all those shoes? Just buy a good black pair—they go with everything.”
“That’s just crazy talk,” Mary Beth said.
Annie laughed at her two friends. “Can we save the battle of the sexes until after we get some food?”
“I don’t know,” Ian said. “I think I stand a better chance if you two are faint from hunger.”
“Two?” Annie said. “I don’t believe I was giving you a hard time.”
Ian shot her a quick teasing glance. “Not this time.”
Annie shook her head and turned to look back out the window. They had left the swampy forest behind and she found the sunshine cheering. “You know, I don’t think I could live in the woods,” Annie said.
“Me either,” Mary Beth said. “I like noise and places to shop.”
“It’s not that for me,” Annie said. “It’s the light. I’m like a plant. I need plenty of sunlight.”
“You must find Maine winters challenging,” Ian said.
Annie shrugged. “Sometimes. Winters did tend to be brighter in Texas.”
“Homesick?” Ian asked, his face suddenly concerned.
“Sometimes,” Annie admitted. “Though if I moved back to Brookfield, I’d be homesick for Stony Point. I guess I’m fickle.”
“Somehow,” Ian said, “I don’t believe that for a second.”
“If you two are going to flirt,” Mary Beth said, “you can drop me at the inn and bring me a salad too.”
Annie felt her face heat up. “I was not flirting.”
“Of course not,” Mary Beth said. “But all teasing aside, do we go anywhere near the inn on the way to the pizza place? I’m starting to feel a little worn-out. I wouldn’t mind taking a nice long bath myself and having you two bring me a salad.”
“Do we go near the inn?” Ian asked. He peered ahead of them on the road. “We’re going in that direction right now.”
Annie flipped the menu on the GPS to a zoomed-out view. From what she could guess, they would be going close to the inn. “I think so,” she said.
“OK. Switch the GPS to take us to the inn,” he said.
They made good time to the inn. Though they weren’t the only car on the road, they certainly didn’t see the kind of traffic they were used to. “I thought the Stony Point roads were quiet,” Mary Beth said. “These are almost spooky.”
“You can understand why the South has such a rich ghost-story tradition,” Annie said.
“Imagine what it must have been like when people didn’t have electricity,” Ian added. “Travel at night must have been terrifying. Imagine being lost in the dark in a swamp.”
“No thanks,” Mary Beth said. “I don’t need the nightmares. You know New England has plenty of ghost stories too.”
“The older stories tend to be different kinds of ghosts than nowadays,” Annie said.
“Oh?” Ian glanced at her curiously. “Have you become a ghost-story scholar?”
Annie shook her head. “No. But Alice and I learned a lot through Jim. You know his lighthouse book was full of ghost stories. He told us that those kinds of stories tend to be tied to the natural things people feared in the area.”
“Makes sense,” Ian said.
As Annie turned back to look out the window again, she thought that her scary story would have to be about not finding her friends, because that was the thing that frightened her the most.
They dropped Mary Beth off at the inn and drove to Sandy’s Pizza. The smell of pizza engulfed them as they walked into the half-empty restaurant, and Annie’s stomach growled loudly, bringing a chuckle from Ian.
“Sleuthing builds an appetite,” Ian said.
Annie was saved from any further teasing by a booming voice from behind the counter. “Just grab a seat wherever you want!”
Annie jumped. A short man with a head full of black curls smiled apol
ogetically. Ian led Annie to a small booth that had a bench seat on only one side. He gestured for her to go first and slid in beside her. Annie was torn between enjoying the brush of Ian’s arm against hers and feeling vaguely guilty about it.
A round-faced young man in glasses and a slightly stained white shirt hurried over to their table. “Pizza is pretty much all we make,” he said, handing them menus. “But it’s the best in the South.”
“Pizza it is,” Ian said. “Though we needed a couple of salads too.”
The young man smiled. “We do salad too.” He pointed at a box on the menu. “So what can I get you to drink while you choose your pizza toppings?”
“Sweet tea,” Annie said. “I so rarely get real Southern sweet tea anymore.”
Ian raised his eyebrows. “Is that something special?”
“Well, you have to like sweet.”
He nodded. “Sweet tea it is.”
“Great,” the waiter said. “I’ll be right back.” He dashed off toward the kitchen.
Ian scanned the menu. “Do you know what you want on the pizza?”
“Anything you want is fine,” Annie said, and then she paused and wrinkled her nose. “Except anchovies. Anyway, do you think we should show the picture around?”
“Maybe we should eat first,” Ian said. “The way the guy at the boat rental acted, I’m not sure I want to eat the food after we stir people up.”
“Good point,” Annie said. “Then she saw the front door open and sat up sharply. Ellie, the young woman from the boat rental, walked in, and Annie saw their waiter rush over to greet her.
“What a surprise,” Ian said quietly.
“I thought she knew more than she had a chance to say,” Annie said. “I saw her face when the older man was stonewalling us. I don’t think she was very happy.”
“Billy!” the loud man behind the counter shouted. “Customers now, girlfriend later.”
The young waiter’s face turned bright scarlet as Ellie slid into a chair at one of the small empty tables. Billy turned and hurried off to the back, coming out moments later with two tall glasses of iced tea. He carried them over and set them in front of Annie and Ian. “Sorry for the wait,” he stammered.
“No problem,” Ian said. “It wasn’t long. We’re ready to order.”
Billy pulled a pad from his shirt pocket and wrote down Ian’s pizza order.
“We’ll also want two large salads to go,” Ian said. “But please don’t bring them until we’re done eating.”
“Yes, sir.” The young man hastily gathered their menus, clearly still embarrassed at being called out by his boss in front of everyone.
“Billy?” Annie said quietly before the waiter could rush off. “Could I show you something?”
“Yes, ma’am?”
Annie slipped Alice’s picture out of her pocket and held it close to the table. “Have you seen this woman? We think she might have eaten here with a friend. He has a white beard and a limp?”
Billy’s eyes widened as he heard the description and saw the picture. His eyes darted toward the kitchen. He shook his head reluctantly. “No ma’am. I don’t remember folks like that.”
“Do you think anyone else here might remember them?” Annie asked.
“No ma’am. I’m sure they wouldn’t,” Billy said. “Folks pass through town so fast, ma’am.”
Annie had been lied to more than a few times by people far better at it than the young waiter. He clearly recognized Alice, but someone had told him to pretend he didn’t. “Thank you anyway,” she said. “I appreciate you taking a look. I’m so worried about my friend.”
Billy looked even more guilty at that. He just nodded and rushed off again for the kitchen.
“Do you still think there’s no conspiracy here?” Annie asked.
“I’m coming around to the idea,” Ian said. Then he raised an eyebrow. “I thought we were going to wait until after we had our food to antagonize the locals.”
“I couldn’t control myself,” Annie admitted.
She looked back toward the table where Ellie sat and found herself looking right into the girl’s eyes before Ellie dropped her gaze to the table. Suddenly, Ellie pulled a napkin out of the holder on the table and began scribbling on it. Finally, she hopped up and headed into the kitchen.
Annie shifted her position so she could watch the kitchen door, but Ellie didn’t return. Soon Billy came out carrying their pizza. He set it down on the table along with some small plates and napkins. He cut them each a slice and slid it onto their plates.
“I saw Ellie in here earlier,” Annie said. “I was hoping to chat with her. Is she still in the kitchen?”
Billy jumped, looking at her wide-eyed. “No. She took her pizza to go.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Ian said.
Billy practically ran from their table after that.
“This town is strange,” Ian said, turning to watch the swinging kitchen door that Billy had dashed through.
“At least the pizza is good,” Annie said. The cheese was gooey with exactly the right amount of stretch. Annie grabbed a napkin to wipe her chin before Ian saw her with a face full of sauce. To her surprise, the napkin underneath the one she’d grabbed had writing on it. She touched Ian’s arm, and he turned his head to face her.
Annie tapped the napkin. In block letters it said, “Meet me tonight at midnight on the road to the boat rental—Ellie.”
“I guess not everyone in town likes telling lies,” Annie said softly.
“That’s the thing about conspiracies,” Ian said as he picked up his own slice of pizza. “They only work when everyone plays.”
11
I was watching the spider and considering whether I should chase an ant into it’s lair or merely rip the tunnel apart with a stick when something thumped me hard on the back. It was the end of a cane. As I looked up the cane, I saw an old woman at the other end. This woman was as old as Cook, but even more frightening. Her staring eyes were milky white against her sun-darkened skin. I felt sure that she was a witch. Who else could have such looks and such bony twisted fingers?
—Steven Fuller, 1925
When they got back to the inn and delivered the salads, Ian suggested they gather in Stella’s room to talk about what they’d learned while the women ate.
“Why does all the best stuff happen when I’m not around?” Mary Beth asked.
“You did get to enjoy being blown off by Bob Maynard,” Ian said. “I certainly found that great fun.”
Mary Beth did an impressive imitation of Stella’s trademark snort of derision. “So, are we going to meet this girl at midnight?”
“I think she might find all of us a little overwhelming,” Annie said. She didn’t want to leave her friends out, but she didn’t want to risk the girl being scared away either.
“I have no interest in wandering through the swamp at midnight,” Stella said. “You can tell me about it in the morning.” Then she stopped and frowned slightly. “On second thought, perhaps I should stay up. You could call me when you get back. Then I’ll know if anything unfortunate happens, so I can alert the police.”
“I don’t think we’ll have any trouble from this girl,” Annie said. “She’s just a teenager, and she’s scared.”
“Unless she’s been sent by the man at the boat rental,” Stella said. “And she’s supposed to lure you to a secluded place. Then the town will pretend no one remembers us being here either.”
“We’ll be careful,” Ian said. “And we have you here.”
“At the inn that doesn’t remember Alice and Jim,” Stella said.
“I’ll stay here with you,” Mary Beth said. “We’ll put a chair in front of the door and wait to hear from Annie and Ian.”
Annie was pretty sure they were being silly and paranoid, but somehow she felt a little better at the thought of Mary Beth and Stella safe behind a blocked door. “We’ll call on our way back so you two can get to sleep.”
“Thanks,”
Mary Beth said.
“Maybe we should get a couple of hours rest,” Annie said, as she followed Ian out of the room. “Let’s meet outside the inn at 11. I also need to remember my sweater.”
“Your sweater?” Ian looked at her in surprise. “Are you cold?”
“Not right now, but by midnight, I might be.”
“It’s good to plan ahead,” Ian agreed as he followed her up the stairs.
Annie had purposefully packed a dark-color sweater just in case they needed to be out late and inconspicuous. She’d learned enough during the various mysteries she’d been through to be prepared. She just hoped she was prepared enough.
****
A little more than two hours later, they were driving slowly along the uneven road toward the boat rental. The darkness was absolute, and the sound of insects in the woods seemed almost deafening.
Since they didn’t really know where Ellie was waiting, Ian drove at a crawl. He didn’t want to risk running the girl over if she appeared out of the darkness suddenly. They reached the last turn before the boat rental, and Annie caught the flash of a light in the trees. “Ian,” she said. “Look!”
Ian pressed the brake, and the car rolled to a stop. The flashlight bobbed through the trees, and Ellie stepped out into the beams of the headlights, shielding her eyes from the brightness. “Well, we know it’s Ellie,” Annie said.
“Right, please stay in the car until we’re sure it’s safe,” Ian said, his voice low and serious. He cut the headlights, and Ellie became only a dark shadow behind the flashlight beam. Ian got out of the car and stepped toward her. “Ellie?”
The dark shadow bobbed, as if the girl nodded. “Are you alone?” The flashlight turned toward the car windshield.
“Are you?” Ian asked.
Ellie took a step away from him. “Yeah, but I can scream if I have to. My house isn’t too far from here.”
“No need to scream,” Ian said.
Annie swung open her car door and stepped out into the sticky night. “It’s just Ian and me, Ellie. It’s OK. Did you want to tell us something about our friends?”
