by Catie Rhodes
“Felicia, is it true you took off all your clothes at Teddy Darden’s party last week?” Tubby’s nasally voice rang with malicious glee.
“No. I didn’t do that.” Felicia nearly shouted her answer, which meant it was true.
“Oh, I heard you did. I heard…” Tubby trailed off, as though trying to figure out how to say what he meant. “I heard blonde is not your natural hair color.”
I itched to turn around in my seat and savor the look on Felicia’s face but held back.
“I was wondering if you’d be interested in showing me?” Tubby’s voice had that nasty jolly lilt again. “Like later. But now’s fine.”
The sound of someone hitting someone else came to the front seat.
“Stop it,” Rainey yelled. “Benny is here. Now I want all of you to act like adults. I’m going to record the interview. I’ve got my camcorder and two lights. Tubby can hold one. Felicia, you do the other.”
“What’s Peri Jean going to do?” From the tone of Felicia’s voice, she’d already recovered from Tubby’s embarrassing her. Or maybe she didn’t have enough sense to be embarrassed.
“None of your business,” Rainey snapped and got out of the car.
I followed her to Benny’s dually pickup, Felicia and Tubby trailing behind us.
Halfway there, she spoke to me in a near whisper. “Help me run the camera. Keep these clowns out of the picture.”
Benny Longstreet got out of his truck and waved to us. He pulled a comb out of his pocket and dragged it through his oily, brown hair. A few quick pulls on his shirt and a tug to his bolo tie, and he turned to us baring his overly large teeth. He held out his skinny, long-fingered hand to Rainey, and she took it and pumped a few times. He turned to me, grinned, and held both arms open. I went to him and let him hug me, even though he wore too much cologne.
“Peri Jean, how’s Miss Leticia?” Benny visited our house at least once a month, and he personally came to mow our back pasture several times a year. I suspected he had a crush on my grandmother. Ewwww.
“Memaw’s fine. I’ll tell her you asked after her.” I exhaled hard, trying to get the funky scent of his cologne out of my nostrils.
“Well, you tell Miss Leticia I’ve got twenty pounds of beef—cow raised on my farm—for y’all. I’ll bring it when I come to visit.”
I murmured my thanks, embarrassed Felicia was hearing how Benny brought us food. She’d be telling people how poor I was the next day at school for sure.
“Tell me a little more about y’all’s senior project, Rainey.” Benny dug in the pocket of his navy dress slacks and extracted a key ring with a white tab on it.
“Mr. Stubblefield has given me permission to create a documentary film about the disappearance of Chris Leeland. I want to try to cover as many angles as we can and try to get an idea what happened to him.”
“Sounds interesting.” Benny took in Tubby Tubman and wrinkled his nose. “That happened in about 1969 or ’70. I was just a kid. I remember it happening, but I don’t remember it well.”
“Sheriff Holze is joining us. He’s going to read the police file.” Rainey turned on her full-wattage smile. Benny showed his big teeth again.
We hurried to get Rainey’s handheld digital camcorder out of the car. She and I attached it to her tripod and showed Tubby and Felicia how to operate the lights. Benny approached us whistling the theme song from Leave it to Beaver. “Wow, y’all got quite the setup, don’t you?”
Rainey showed him all her equipment. “I bought this from the money I made with the modeling job I had in Dallas last summer.”
“College and modeling. You got it going on, girl.” Benny shoved his hands in his pockets.
Felicia mumbled something nasty. I glanced at her, but nobody else did.
“Want to look around the property until the sheriff gets here?” Benny stepped onto the overgrown yard.
“That’d be great.” Rainey set up the tripod facing the Mace House. “Can we get a shot of you in front of the Mace House explaining how the house came to be your responsibility?”
Benny hotfooted to the big house and stood still in front of the porch while we got things set up. Rainey turned on the camera and motioned him to start talking.
“I’m Benny Longstreet, CEO of Longstreet Lumber. We’re the largest employer here in Burns County, except maybe for King Ranch Chicken Plant. My father, Bernard Benjamin Longstreet—B.B. Longstreet as he liked to be called—bought the Mace House in 1952. At that time, it had sat empty ever since a women’s finishing school owned it from 1910 to 1930. Depression closed the school. The Mace House was an investment property my father intended to use to provide short-term rentals for the community.” He stopped. “How much detail you want me to go into, Rainey?”
“B.B. Longstreet made the Mace House into a boarding house, correct?” Rainey stepped in front of the camera. She had changed her voice. She sounded strong and in charge.
“Yes. He did.” Benny nodded like his head had springs on it. “Papa had to modernize it. See, when Reginald Mace—that’s Peri Jean’s ancestor—lost his fortune, he didn’t have money to have the house updated. So it still had an outhouse, no indoor plumbing.”
“Don’t you mean Reginald Mace went nuts and hid his fortune as part of a treasure hunt for his long-lost son?” Felicia grinned like a predator closing in.
Rainey stuck her lower jaw out and narrowed her eyes at Felicia. The other girl cocked one hip out. Rainey rolled her eyes and turned away.
“Don’t answer that Mr. Longstreet,” Rainey said. “I’m going to do a short segment on the history of the Mace House’s original owner, but I don’t want it to become the focus of this documentary.”
Benny gave her a thumbs-up.
“What did B.B. Longstreet do with the carriage house?”
“Papa turned it into an apartment. Y’all ready to go see it?”
Rainey turned off the camera. “Yes, please.”
Benny took off walking across the Mace House’s yard, stopping every once in a while to examine debris hiding in the yard’s tall grass.
Rainey grabbed Felicia by the arm. “Do not ask questions while I’m interviewing. You hear me?”
“Don’t touch me.” Felicia yanked her arm away from Rainey. “This is my project just as much as it’s yours.”
“Not if you’re going to turn it into an episode of The Young and Restless meets Romper Room.” Rainey stared Felicia down. “I am not getting a bad grade on this project because it’s amateurish.”
By this time, Benny stood on the long, narrow front porch of the carriage house, watching us, probably wondering why we weren’t right behind him.
“I want to get a shot of the outside of the house.” Rainey smoothly pretended it was all in her plan.
“Want me on or off the porch?” Benny yelled.
“Stay on but come to the front where I can see you, please.”
Benny did as Rainey asked. She ran the camera for several seconds, then motioned for us to follow. I picked up the camera and walked behind her, smiling as I heard Felicia’s grunt of dismay and outrage.
Rainey motioned me to stand next to her. “Set up the tripod here. When Mr. Longstreet opens the door, get a shot inside.”
“Let me unlock it and turn on the lights.” Benny slipped around us, so skinny he didn’t even bump into Rainey or me. “Then I’ll close it, and one of you kids can swing open the door.”
Rainey grinned. We got everything ready, and Felicia stood next to the door, ready to push it open.
“One-two-three, go.” Rainey pointed at Felicia.
The door swung open to show us the kitchen.
“Move forward.” Rainey nudged my back. I did as she asked, taking slow steps and using the viewfinder to see what was in front of me.
A shadow flashed in front of the camera. I raised my head to see if it had been a bird or bat. I saw nothing. Nobody else acted as though they’d seen anything either. I put my face back to the viewfinder. A
n eye stared back at me. I yelped and almost dropped the camera. Rainey kept it from hitting the floor and turned to glare at me. Whatever she saw on my face dried up her angry words.
Benny yodeled a nervous chuckle. “Yeah, one of the biggest complaints we had about the carriage house was it was haunted.” He clapped me on the back. “Peri Jean, your Memaw wouldn’t want you in there, prob’ly.”
Felicia laughed behind me, and I stepped inside.
Chapter 3
Eyes adjusting to the dim light, I searched for whatever I’d seen through the viewfinder. The room was empty, but it didn’t feel empty. My skin crawled with the weight of being watched. Cold air, tinged with the smell of death and rot, stung my nose and put a nasty taste in my mouth. My breath fogged in front of me.
Rainey came to stand beside me. She sneezed once and then three more times in rapid succession. “Camera still on?”
I nodded.
“Go on in. Get a couple of shots of it empty.” I stared through the viewfinder and walked into the tiny cubby of a kitchen. There was space for a small eating table underneath a window to the right of the door. I set down the tripod and took a shot of the back door, opposite the front. Memaw called this type of house, long and narrow, a shotgun house.
“What in God’s name is that smell?” Benny stepped into the room and sniffed loudly.
“Some animal probably came in these open windows.” Tubby set up one of the lights where Rainey indicated. “Might have got trapped in here and died. We can go find it. Give it to Felicia for dinner.” His words came out in puffs of vapor, melting into the cold air.
Felicia slapped Tubby’s arm the way a girl swats a guy when she’s trying to be cute. Tubby gave her a blank stare until she moved away from him. Footsteps thudded across the porch. Everybody in the room stood on edge. Chase stepped inside, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
He caught sight of Rainey and flushed. He shuffled over to her. Her face stiffened, and she tried to step away. He leaned closer and whispered to her. She cocked her head, gaze fixed on him. Chase kept talking. The redness in his cheeks spread to his hairline and then to his ears. He stopped whispering and waited for her response. Rainey narrowed her eyes, glaring at Chase, but nodded. She leaned into his face and whispered something. Chase slumped and fixed his gaze on the floor.
“Okay,” he mumbled.
“I accept your apology,” Rainey said aloud. “You be Peri Jean’s backup for the camera. This way I can be in more than just one or two shots.”
Chase sauntered over, grinning, and tried to take the camera out of my hand. Knowing it was to cover his embarrassment over whatever passed between him and Rainey, I pretended to resist.
“Why do you get to be in the film if nobody else can?” Felicia, already recovered from Tubby’s rebuff, moved next to Chase. She clasped her arms under her big boobs and glanced at Chase to see if he noticed. To my great annoyance, he did.
“Too ugly,” Tubby hooted. Chase giggled. Felicia shot a glare at me and stomped off. What the hell did I do?
Rainey closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Rainey, you want to film me taking y’all through the house? Or do you want to just do one of those eerie walk-throughs I see on TV?” Benny whinnied at his own joke.
Rainey chewed the corner of her lip. “Why don’t you take us through?”
“All right.” Benny got in front of the camera, which I still held. The stench of his cologne hit me. I suppressed a cough. At least it covered the dead smell. Realizing I hadn’t smelled it for a few minutes, I sniffed. It was gone. How could it have dissipated in those few seconds?
“This here’s the kitchen.” Benny swept one long arm around the room. “What y’all got to understand is carriage houses were originally garages for horse-drawn buggies and their equipment. My older brother, Dr. Nathan Longstreet, remembers when Papa bought this place, and he said it was just full of junk. Papa had to have it all hauled out just to build the interior you see today.” Benny walked over to where there was a square spot and wall outlets but no stove. “Well, I’ll be. Somebody done stole the stove. It was one those antique kind from the fifties.”
“What’s this door?” Felicia wandered away from her light and tried the knob. It turned but, the door wouldn’t open.
“That there’s the broom closet or a pantry.” Benny walked over and gave the doorknob a turn. He got the same response and yanked the door. It stayed closed.
The smell of death flooded the room again. I steeled my gag reflex and breathed through my mouth. Rainey covered her mouth and nose with the sleeve of her blouse. Benny coughed and waved his hand in front of his face.
“Heaven help us. Whatever’s dead must’ve got into the broom closet somehow.” He glanced at Chase and Tubby. “Y’all men wanna help me get this door open?”
The two boys walked to the door. Chase grabbed the doorknob and yanked hard. “Might break it,” he said to Benny.
“We got to get this dead animal out of here, son. Else I don’t know if I can stay too much longer.” Benny nodded at the door.
Chase gave it another hard yank.
“Might be warped,” Tubby said. “I’ll kneel and get my fingers under the crack. We both pull at the same time.”
Chase nodded, and Tubby got into position. They counted off and gave it their best effort at the same time. The door popped open, slamming both of them in the face and bowling them backward.
The smell filled the room, so thick it felt oily in my nostrils. My stomach rolled. Uh oh. I set the tripod on the floor, took a couple of steps away, and gagged. I wasn’t the only one. Chase bolted away from the door, his arm under his nose. He ran to the door and threw it open. The sounds of him being sick drifted back into the little house. Teach him to drink too much.
“I’ll be.” Benny leaned into the broom closet. He turned to face the camera. “It’s empty.”
Rainey motioned me to go over with the camera. I obeyed, but warily, dreading whatever I might see in the viewfinder. The tiny room had shelves going up one side, presumably for non-perishable items, and some hangers on the back wall for brooms and mops.
The gross smell wafted from the open door as though propelled by a fan of some sort. Unlike the other side of the room, the air coming out of the closet was hot, humid. There could have been a heater blowing in there. The fetid air had the same oily feel I’d noticed before. A pop, one I felt rather than heard, came from behind the wall. The intensity of the odor faded away as though it had never been.
“Huh,” Benny muttered. “Well, continuing on the tour, the door underneath the stairs is the bathroom.”
Rainey nudged me, staring at me with her brows furrowed, and motioned for me to turn the camera where Benny now stood. He opened the door to the bathroom. The tiny room had the same cracked, peeling linoleum as the kitchen, a shower stall, a pedestal sink, and a toilet with a stained bowl.
The skin on my back, facing the broom closet, crawled with the feeling of someone watching me. I took my hands off the tripod and twisted to stare behind me, unable to help myself. The faint sound of singing came to me. I glanced at the others, but none of them showed signs of hearing.
I concentrated on the sound. It seemed to come from within my head, the way a song will sometimes. Fear jumped in my chest, battering at my self-control. I forced myself to stay still and listened closer. The singing wasn’t one voice but many. There had to be a church near here. This was just some choir practicing for Wednesday or Sunday services. This creepy place was just getting the better of my imagination. Even if it wasn’t, I had to make this work. Memaw would have my ass if I did anything else.
Chase came back into the kitchen, his face sick green. He gave me a weak wave and kept his distance. Good. I didn’t want to smell his barf-smell and the house too.
“Then, we got the living room right through here.” Benny glanced at me and motioned with his arm. I followed him into the open room. Overcast gloom streaked from the two windows.
“Set up the lights.” Rainey waved at Tubby and Felicia. The lights did little more than make the room a place of too-bright light mostly swallowed by dark shadows.
Benny flipped the light switch next to the door leading outside. Nothing happened. He flicked it up and down several times. He glanced at the ceiling and shook his head.
“No fixture. The switch must be set to operate the plugs. So there ain’t—”
A bang from the kitchen shook the small dwelling. Chase pounded back into the kitchen and came back almost immediately.
“Just the door to that closet slamming. House must not be level. Bet that’s why it wouldn’t come open earlier.” He stood next to me, and I noticed the chill bumps were back on his arms. I made a mental note to breathe through my mouth.
“What’s upstairs?” Tubby stood next to the staircase and peered into the darkness.
“It’s an open loft. Tenants used it as a bedroom.” Benny tested the bottom stair, the creak from his leather cowboy boot loud in the quiet room. “I don’t know about these stairs though, kids. If one of y’all got hurt, your parents would string me up in the courthouse square.”
“Mine won’t care.” Tubby went up a few steps and glanced at Chase, the challenge in his eyes clear.
“I’ll go.” Chase’s mouth turned down, and he crossed his arms over his chest. “Want me to take the camera?”
“Won’t do any good without the lights.” Rainey walked to the staircase. “Go on up, Tubby. See what you think of the steps.”
Tubby bounded up the steps, stomping extra hard on them. His shout came back to us. “I didn’t fall through.”
“Let’s go.” Rainey started walking up. “Chase, you bring Tubby’s light. Felicia—”
“I’m not going up there.” Felicia stepped away from her light. “What if I get hurt?”
“I’ll go back down and get my light.” Tubby pushed past Rainey on the staircase. The two boys clambered up the staircase with the lights. Rainey motioned me to come on and followed them.
“Get a good shot of me walking up the stairs,” she directed.
