The Clockwork House

by Wendy Saunders

  ‘No, but you can tell me a story,’ she idly traced the pattern on his gown with her fingertips. ‘I love stories.’

  ‘You love stories, but you don’t like to read?’ he frowned.

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘You’re a woman of fascinating contradictions Ava.’

  ‘Keeps you from being bored.’

  ‘One thing I haven’t been, since meeting you, is bored,’ he glanced down at her brushing his lips against hers once more.

  ‘Distraction,’ she murmured against his lips, ‘or hospital sex. The choice is yours, because if you keep kissing me like that, I’m gonna make the decision for you.’

  He huffed out a silent laugh against her mouth as he picked up the book once again. Wrapping his arm around her and pulling her in close he returned to the first page and began to read aloud. His deep rumbling voice was accompanied every now and then by the pitch and roll of the storm rattling against the windows. There, in their perfect cozy little cocoon, she listened to the warm comforting timbre of his voice and the lulling patter of the rain.

  By the time they arrived back on island it was really late. The worst of the storm had blown over and the moon was high in the sky, casting a silvery glow over the damp island. One of the police squad cars met them off the last ferry of the night and drove them both up the steep curving road toward Ava’s cliff top. If they’d expected to find the site quiet and shut down for the night, they were in for a huge shock.

  They had to make their way through crowds of people with cameras, who banged on the windows of the car, the lights from their cameras blinding through the glass as they yelled random questions. It was disorganized, chaotic and somehow out of place. When Gus had said the media had shown up, she had been prepared for a few news vans and some reporters but nothing like this. It was off the craziness scale.

  When they finally made it through the blockade of people, the police barriers were lifted out of the way so they could drive onto the site.

  Ava barely recognized it; her quiet sleepy little site was lit up like the fourth of July with huge temporary floodlights. There were dark colored vans everywhere and plastic sheeting hung over square tent-like structures. People milled around wearing protective coveralls and masks, and for one crazy brief second, Ava wouldn’t have been surprised to see E.T wheeled out.

  ‘What the hell?’ she muttered.

  ‘It looks worse than it actually is Ma’am,’ the young deputy told her. ‘Most of its just procedure, the rest is for privacy. The Press are notorious for telephoto lenses. They’ve managed to retrieve one of the bodies so far and until they’re ready to release a statement they don’t want them getting any photos.’

  Slowly the pair of them climbed out of the car, surveying the bustling activity. After a few moments a figure broke away and crossed the distance to them. She was a slim built, middle-aged woman with curly blonde hair, cropped short and tucked behind one ear, and a friendly face.

  ‘Ava Cortez?’ she enquired.

  ‘Who wants to know?’ Ava asked warily.

  ‘Dr Casey Valentine,’ she held out her hand, ‘University of Maine, forensic anthropology.’

  ‘Oh,’ Ava reached out and shook her hand. ‘This is Kelley Ryan.’

  ‘Of course,’ she shook his hand also. ‘It was my understanding you both discovered the bodies?’

  ‘That’s right,’ Kelley nodded, ‘hell of an experience.’

  ‘I can imagine,’ Dr Casey replied sympathetically. ‘Usually they’re not quite so well preserved when they get to me, however I do have Dr Brightman with me,’ she glanced around and frowned. ‘Oh well, you’ll meet him at some point, he’s a forensic pathologist. We’ll be partnering up on this case as it’s so unusual.’

  ‘How long do you think they’ve been down there?’ Ava asked.

  ‘Can’t say for certain yet, we’re just in the preliminary stages of the investigation. We’ve managed to remove one of the bodies so far, but it’s slow going as we have to remove them in their caskets without breaching the sealed glass. They’ll then be opened in a more controlled environment for a complete analysis. I have however been able to have a look at the two damaged coffins, and the girls inside.’

  ‘Girls?’ Ava replied.

  ‘We’ve been able to roughly estimate that all the victims were between the ages of fifteen and nineteen,’ she told them confidently.

  ‘Do you have any idea how they died?’ Ava asked quietly.

  ‘Again, I couldn’t really say without further examination and even then, after all this time, the cause may be indeterminate. But the one girl I did get a look at appears to have what looks like fractures of the second cervical vertebrae. I need to get X-rays to be sure, but those types of injury can be consistent with death by strangulation.’

  ‘They were murdered then,’ Ava murmured as her gaze tracked over to the house, which was a hive of activity.

  ‘Well they certainly didn’t end up down there of natural causes.’

  ‘I know,’ Ava frowned, ‘I just, I’ve never seen anything like that before.’

  ‘I understand,’ Dr Casey patted her arm kindly. ‘I also understand from the Sheriff you’ve been living on site?’

  ‘That’s right,’ Ava nodded.

  ‘Well, you’re going to want to rethink that for a couple of days at least, until the initial excitement dies down a bit. The Press are a bit voracious, not to mention rude and intrusive. They’ll make your life hell if you give them the opportunity.’

  ‘We saw them on the way in,’ Kelley replied. ‘I have to admit I wasn’t expecting to see that many.’

  ‘That’s because they’re not all reporters.’

  ‘They’re not?’ he replied in confusion.

  ‘No. Given the local urban legends and mystery already surrounding the house, and the fact that bodies have been discovered, it’s brought out all the crazies and the paranormal hacks,’ she warned them. ‘I hate to say it but you two are in for a rough ride.’

  ‘For how long?’ Ava frowned.

  ‘Until they get bored or something more interesting comes along,’ Dr Casey replied sympathetically. ‘Best thing you can do is avoid them.’

  ‘Easier said than done when they’re all camping on my doorstep,’ Ava replied angrily.

  ‘Like I said, you’re going to have to rethink that, at least temporarily,’ she turned and nodded to one of her colleagues. ‘I have to go, but we’ll try to make this as quick and painless as possible. Hopefully once we get all the bodies out it’ll thin the herd some.’

  ‘I hope so,’ Ava mumbled unhappily.

  ‘I’ll be in touch as soon as we have an update,’ she patted Ava’s shoulder in solidarity before turning and heading back to the house.

  ‘You can stay at my place tonight,’ Kelley told her softly. ‘I’ll take the couch.’

  ‘I guess,’ she kicked the ground in annoyance. ‘I suppose I should get my stuff.’

  She turned and headed toward the RV. She could feel Kelley slowly trailing along behind her as he watched the constant stream of people in and out of the house. She didn’t have it in her to stand and watch it all unravel. She was too tired, too annoyed, too… well everything.

  She opened the door and frowned; she thought she’d locked it. She climbed the steps and flicked on the light, gasping in shock as her wide eyes took in the carnage in front of her. Kelley, hearing her loud gasp of distress, ran up the steps behind her and stopped dead.

  The interior of the RV was almost completely destroyed. The cushioned chairs and sofa had been violently slashed open, the fluff and stuffing yanked out and scattered across the floor like puffs of cotton candy. All of her belongs were strew haphazardly throughout. The flowers that Kelley had given her, with their cute whimsical little cardboard cut-outs of mermaids and frying pans, were tossed across the floor, stamped on repeatedly until they were nothing more than crushed, shredded petals and bent twisted stems.

  The several cans of money she’d r
eceived from the crew for their lunches for the past couple of days were also tossed, with crumpled bills and coins everywhere, which was weird. The motive obviously wasn’t robbery.

  Her gaze continued to scan the space. All the doors hung open with plates, cups and silverware dumped amongst the rest of the debris but worst of all, sprayed all over the walls, windows and the cupboards were bright red angry letters.

  ‘GET OUT!’

  It was scrawled in furious jagged slashes, and not just that. There were smaller ones, sprayed over every inch of surface telling her to leave, to run, to get out before it was too late, before she got hurt. The writing was so chaotic and disorganized that Ava couldn’t even tell if the person responsible was trying to warn her or threaten her.

  ‘Ava,’ Kelley whispered, and she felt him wrap his hand around her arm comfortingly. It was only when he slowly turned her to face him and cupped her jaw, wiping her cheek with the pad of his thumb, that she realized she was crying. ‘I’m so sorry.’

  Her back straightened and her jaw clenched.

  ‘Doesn’t matter,’ she replied flatly, ‘it’s just stuff.’

  ‘Of course it matters,’ he held her face gently even when she tried to back away. ‘It matters,’ he repeated firmly, ‘and we’re going to find the sonofabitch who did this.’

  He was right. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, it did matter, because like an idiot she’d started to let herself believe. Even though the RV technically didn’t belong to her, it had been the first time she’d had something of her own that had even resembled a home and now it was gone. Sure, they could clean up, fix it up, repair it, make it good as new, but that sense of safety, of security was gone. It was no longer her little slice of heaven, her private space and once again she felt like she was being forced to leave.

  ‘I’m going to have to call my dad and the guys in,’ Kelley told her quietly. ‘They’ll need to document everything.’

  ‘Well isn’t this the day that just keeps on giving,’ she replied coldly. ‘It feels like it’s never going to end.’

  ‘I know,’ he rubbed her arms soothingly. Her skin felt ice cold to the touch and her eyes were flat. It was worrying. ‘It shouldn’t take too long, and then we’ll grab what we can of yours and take it back to my place. What you need is a hot bath and a good night’s sleep.’

  ‘It’s nearly midnight already,’ she replied numbly. ‘I don’t think there’s much of the night left.’

  ‘There’s nowhere you need to be first thing so you can sleep in as late as you like.’ He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close, trying to give her some of his body warmth. ‘It’ll be okay.’

  ‘It won’t Kelley,’ she muttered as she pressed her face into his chest, ‘it really won’t.’

  13

  Ava still woke early, despite the lack of sleep, despite the sweet way Kelley had tucked her into his bed and then gone to his brother’s in the middle of the night to fetch her dog, because he instinctively knew she needed something familiar to anchor herself too.

  Damn that man. If he kept this up, she was in very real danger of falling for him.

  Bailey was still snoring on the bed, the familiar and comforting weight of the dog pinning her legs until they were almost numb. She sat up and rubbed her fur as she considered whether or not to just lie back down and see if she could sleep some more, but she knew she wouldn’t. Her mind was too full, too active; she needed to burn off some of this restless energy.

  Shoving both Bailey and the covers off her legs she padded barefoot out of Kelley’s room. His apartment was small but neat for a guy. She stopped in the doorway to the living room and her heart gave a helpless knock against her ribs.

  Kelley was laying, sprawled out, face down on a couch that was not built to accommodate a man of six two. His feet hung off the end and one of his arms trailed along the carpet as he snored softly. That didn’t look at all comfortable, but he’d made it work. He’d given her exactly what she needed last night, space and the company of her dog. He hadn’t made one single move on her, despite the fact they both knew it was only a matter of time before they ended up in bed together. Although, hopefully not with a seventy-pound dog parked between them.

  Feeling slightly better than she had the night before she crept quietly into the kitchen to see what he had in the refrigerator. After all the man had given up his bed for her and her huge beast of a dog, the least she could do was feed him.

  Kelley woke up to the mouth-watering scent of bacon and a crick in his neck only a chiropractor could fix. He awkwardly climbed off the couch and stretched out the kinks in his spine as he followed that heavenly scent into the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway, leaning against the frame with a small smile playing on his lips as he watched Ava.

  She was barefoot and wearing one of his shirts. His green eyes slid down her golden legs as she moved around his kitchen with ease, as if she’d done it a thousand times before.

  ‘Hey,’ she looked up and smiled at him as she scooped a stack of warm pancakes onto a plate. She opened a bottle of maple syrup, sniffing it experimentally before liberally applying it to the pancakes. Finally, she set the crispy bacon on the edge of the plate and slid it across the breakfast bar, before turning to pour him a coffee. ‘I was just about to wake you. I was debating on whether or not to let you sleep after last night, but I was restless, and cooking calms me.’

  He walked silently across the kitchen his gaze locked on hers as he slid his arms around her and pulled her in close, kissing her slowly.

  ‘It’s hard to mind,’ he broke the kiss and glanced down at her, ‘being woken by a beautiful woman cooking me breakfast.’ He smiled softly, ‘where’d you get the ingredients? I don’t think I’ve ever cooked pancakes before in my life.’

  ‘Oh,’ she smiled as she stepped back out of his embrace, ‘it was only a box mix. I found it at the back of the cupboard.’

  ‘Did you?’ he frowned in confusion. ‘Mom must’ve bought it. Lately I’ve been busy juggling teaching and working at the bar, so I haven’t had much time. She’s taken to doing my grocery shopping; I think she’s worried I’m going to starve.’

  ‘That’s sweet,’ Ava picked up her mug of coffee and sat down on one of the bar stools, watching as Kelley sat down beside her and pulled the plate in front of him.

  ‘Where’s yours?’ he frowned.

  ‘Oh um,’ she placed the mug on the counter. ‘I’m not hungry.’

  He rolled his eyes and grabbed her stool, pulling her closer as the legs scraped loudly against the floor. Picking up his fork he cut a mouthful of pancake and dipped it in the syrup, holding it up to her mouth.

  ‘You need to eat Ava,’ he told her. ‘I’ve watched you; you spend all your time feeding everyone else the most delicious food I’ve ever tasted but you always forget to feed yourself.’

  She smiled softly as she leaned forward and took the mouthful from his fork, licking her lips slowly as he watched her.

  ‘Damn it, Ava,’ he muttered. The words were on the edge of his tongue, they both knew it but neither spoke. Neither of them was ready to admit to feelings they didn’t know how to handle much less put a label on.

  ‘Eat,’ she nudged him as he stared at her, ‘it’s getting cold.’

  In the end they shared it, taking turns with the fork, on alternate bites each, until the plate was clean. It had occurred to them both, that either one of them could have leaned over a fraction and retrieved a spare fork from the drawer but they were both enjoying the intimacy of sharing.

  ‘What are your plans for today?’ Kelley asked. ‘There’s not much point in going back up to the house until they’ve finished removing the bodies.’

  ‘There’s a sentence I never thought I’d hear,’ she shook her head, ‘but actually, I was thinking something else.’ She finished her coffee and moved toward the sink to rinse the cup out.

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘I keep thinking about those girls,’ she leaned back agains
t the counter and chewed her lip thoughtfully. ‘All the legends and rumors I’ve heard about the house have centered around the myth of Luella Lynch and the missing children, but those young women were too old. They wouldn’t have been students at the school.’

  ‘No,’ Kelley agreed, ‘they wouldn’t have.’

  ‘So, who were they? And how did they end up hidden below the house for god knows how many years. I feel like…’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘It’s going to sound really stupid.’

  ‘I thought we’d already established that I love stupid,’ he smiled as he raised his mug to his lips.

  ‘Fine,’ she snorted softly, ‘I just feel… kinda responsible for them. They were found in the house that’s been owned by my family for over a century. I feel like I need to figure out who they are and how they ended up there.’

  ‘Sweetheart,’ Kelley replied, ‘that’s what the police are for.’

  ‘Yeah I know, I get that,’ she frowned. ‘It’s just the other day when all the ladies from the historical society came up to the house...’

  ‘I do recall,’ he cringed. ‘I accidentally gave them more than an eyeful as they were hiking through the woods and now Ivy won’t leave me alone. The woman’s downright terrifying. She’s like one of those spiders that mate and then rip the male’s head off and eat it.’

  Ava laughed softly.

  ‘Well, apart from that, when they were telling me the story of the house and the Lynches, I was watching Bunty’s face. She was holding something back; she knows way more than she’s letting on.’

  ‘You want to go see Bunty?’

  Ava nodded.

  ‘I figure it’s worth a shot at least,’ she shrugged. ‘I’ve got nothing better to do right now.’

  ‘Well okay then,’ Kelley rose slowly from his seat, picking up his empty plate and placing it in the sink.

  ‘Do you… do you want to come with me?’ she offered, a little unsure.

  ‘Do you want me to?’ he turned toward her.

  She nodded.

  ‘But don’t you have summer classes to teach or something? Plus, you’ve got the bar.’