The Clockwork House

by Wendy Saunders

  In fact, what he felt for her went a helluva lot deeper than just care, but he didn’t think either of them were ready to deal with that yet.

  ‘Kelley,’ she replied softly, ‘I’m fine.’

  He lifted her wrist carefully and saw the dark purple bruises already blooming along her skin.

  ‘It’s just bruises,’ she told him, ‘it looks worse than it actually is.’

  ‘It’s not just bruises,’ he murmured as he searched her face, ‘something spooked you.’

  ‘It’s stupid,’ she shook her head.

  ‘You know…’

  ‘Yeah, yeah, you love stupid,’ she huffed out a laugh and her belly began to uncoil slightly, as it always did when he was near her. Damn it, she didn’t want to be charmed by him, but she was.

  ‘Tell me what’s wrong sweetheart.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ she blew out a breath, ‘it was just something she said. I don’t even know why it’s bothering me.’

  ‘What did she say to you?’ he frowned.

  ‘She said,’ Ava drew in a deep breath, ‘she’s watching you.’

  ‘She who?’

  ‘That’s just it I don’t know but given the circumstances I’m willing to bet she meant Luella Lynch, which is just dumb.’

  ‘You think she’s the one who trashed the RV?’ he asked.

  Ava nodded.

  ‘Have you spoken to my dad yet?’

  ‘No,’ she frowned. ‘She’s just a very disturbed woman Kelley. Whatever happened to drive her to this, calling the law on her isn’t going to help her.’

  ‘You have a very sweet and forgiving heart Ava,’ he replied softly, as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close. ‘But whether you want to press charges or not, it’s an open investigation and you need to report it.’

  ‘I guess,’ she sighed.

  Kelley held her, rocking slightly as she laid her head on his shoulder and drank in the comfort and strength he was offering, like a woman dying of thirst. It was too easy, way too easy to rely on him and she didn’t trust easy.

  ‘Don’t do this Kelley,’ she whispered as she pulled back.

  ‘Do what?’ he looked down at her.

  ‘Don’t make me need you.’

  ‘Is that such a bad thing?’ he tucked an errant strand of inky black hair behind her ear.

  ‘I don’t know,’ she admitted, ‘I have no experience with this. I don’t know what I’m doing.’

  ‘Neither do I,’ he cupped her face and stroked her jaw slowly with the pad of his thumb. ‘Why don’t we just figure it out together?’

  She leaned in and pressed her lips to his. She didn’t want to talk she just wanted to feel, to quieten her unsettled mind and soothe her nervous belly, and for some reason Kelley was the only one who could do that.

  ‘GET A ROOM!’ a loud voice broke through their tangle of lips and tongues, followed by several loud whistles.

  Ava chuckled, ‘I guess it’s time to feed the kids.’

  She looked over as Bo, Luke and Aiden came striding over.

  ‘Sorry Ava,’ Luke grinned, ‘can’t wait any longer. My stomach has been growling for the last hour with the smells coming from over here.’

  ‘Take a seat, boys,’ she laughed stepping away from Kelley and reaching for a stack of plates.

  ‘You want some?’ she glanced at Kelley as she began to load up a plate.

  ‘Always,’ he dropped a kiss on her lips, ‘but I just need to speak to my brother and then I need to make a phone call.’

  She nodded, knowing that he was probably going to call his dad about the incident in the diner that morning. Although she didn’t want to cause trouble for Julia Mays, after all the woman was troubled enough, she could see Kelley’s point. They did need to know, and she found that she rather liked that she had someone to look out for her.

  ‘Miz Cortez?’

  Ava glanced up and saw a stranger approaching her. No not a stranger she realized, she recognized him. He was the man who’d been sitting behind her and Drew in the diner.

  ‘Derek Carpenter,’ he offered his hand.

  Ava’s eyes narrowed warily, her grip tightening on the plate she was holding in one hand and the spatula in the other. After a moment, he realized she wasn’t going to shake his hand and he dropped it, giving her a harmless easy going smile that she instantly mistrusted.

  ‘It’s quite a little business you’ve got going here,’ he inhaled deeply. ‘It smells real good, I’d love to try some.’

  ‘I would have thought you’d be full, from all those pancakes at Rosie’s,’ she replied flatly.

  ‘Ah.’

  ‘What are you doing here Mr Carpenter?’ she asked bluntly.

  She watched wordlessly as he handed her a small business card. Her gaze flickered down to the card and then back to the man in front of her, with his mousey brown hair and glasses.

  ‘You’re a reporter,’ she stated flatly.

  ‘That’s right,’ he smiled with what he probably thought was a friendly, approachable smile but all it did was raise all of her hackles.

  ‘I have nothing to say except that this is private property and you are not welcome here.’

  ‘I’m not here to cause trouble,’ he lifted his hands innocently, ‘but I did witness that unfortunate altercation in the diner this morning. Miss Mays seemed quite upset and warned you that someone wished you ill. One might assume she means the ghost of Luella Lynch. Do you believe in the legend Miz Cortez? Do you believe in ghosts?’

  ‘I’m too old for fairy tales Mr Carpenter,’ she replied coolly, ‘now please leave my property.’

  ‘Miz Cortez,’ he ignored her request, ‘if I may…’

  ‘Is there a problem?’ a deep voice growled from behind the short stocky reporter.

  He looked up to find two huge, burly guys flanking him, one with a beard and tattoos and the other shaved bald and built like a pro wrestler.

  ‘Luke, Aiden,’ she smiled warmly, ‘would you please see that Mr Carpenter finds his car.’

  ‘But Miz Cortez, if I could just have a moment of your time,’ he said quickly, ‘I’d be willing to pay.’

  ‘She said this is private property,’ a familiar voice appeared beside her.

  ‘And she asked you to leave,’ another voice materialized the other side.

  She glanced over to find Killian and Kelley standing beside her protectively.

  ‘Luke,’ Killian nodded.

  Luke dropped a heavy hand on the guy’s shoulder and leaned in.

  ‘You wanna go under your own steam or you want us to haul your ass out of here?’ he asked.

  ‘I’m going,’ he brushed Luke’s hand off as if it were a minor annoyance and Ava guessed that being a reporter he was used to getting tossed out of places on his ass. ‘You have my card, if you change your mind.’

  Ava tossed the card into the fire pit, watching as it blackened and curled.

  ‘No thank you,’ she replied politely, ‘you have a pleasant trip back home. I believe the next ferry leaves at three.’

  Kelley chuckled beside her as Luke and Aiden escorted the disgruntled man back to his car and watched as he turned and drove back down the road toward town.

  ‘I can’t leave you alone for five minutes without you getting into trouble, can I?’ Kelley’s mouth curved.

  ‘Thanks guys,’ she blew out a breath.

  ‘Like I said,’ Killian patted her shoulder, ‘we take care of our own.’

  She watched him head over to his foreman Bo, who’d already finished eating, and the two of them headed back to the house.

  ‘My heroes,’ Ava smiled as Luke and Aiden wandered back her way.

  Aiden stood a good couple of feet taller than her, built like the Rock and with just as little hair. He was also one of the biggest sweethearts Ava had ever met and she’d met a lot of people on her travels.

  She handed him a loaded plate which he took with a grin, patting her on the head, the way he would a kid sister
or a kitten.

  ‘Thanks Ava,’ Luke also smiled through his bushy beard as he took his plate from her.

  She was just fixing a plate for Kelley when Bailey suddenly started barking. She glanced down and noticed her dog’s gaze was fixed in the direction of the house.

  ‘What is it?’ she muttered as she reached down to calm her.

  There was an alarmed shout and a sudden clanging. Ava looked up in time to see part of the scaffolding on the second-floor collapse underneath Bo.

  They all dropped everything and ran toward the house. Killian and Luke clambered over the piles of broken wooden planks and metal poles calling for Bo, as Hank, who’d been standing almost under it, was helped further away from the house.

  ‘Have you got him?’ Hank wheezed, having inhaled some of the dry dust thrown up from the collapse.

  Killian heard Bo moan and slid down between the metal rods.

  ‘I’ve got him,’ Killian called, ‘he needs an ambulance.’

  Ava turned to look but Kelley was already on his phone calling for help, while Aiden and Judd were quickly checking the rest of the scaffolding to make sure it was stable and not about to collapse on top of Killian and their injured foreman.

  ‘Paramedics are on their way,’ Kelley called to his brother. ‘How is he?’

  ‘Looks like a broken leg and a head injury,’ came the reply. ‘I don’t want to move him in case of a spinal injury. Somebody find me a blanket before he goes into shock.’

  Ava didn’t need to be told twice. She ran for the RV, grabbing the blankets off the bed and running back to the collapsed scaffolding. In almost no time at all the ambulances arrived on scene. She backed up and watched for a few minutes while they clambered into the gap to assess Bo’s injuries, before she turned and headed over to check on Hank.

  ‘Hey,’ she sat down on the back of the ambulance next to Hank, handing him a bottle of water.

  ‘Hey Ava,’ his voice was a low growl.

  ‘You okay?’

  ‘Just a bit banged up,’ he indicated his elbow, where he held a pad to the scratched and torn flesh. ‘How’s Bo doing?’

  ‘Don’t know yet,’ she shook her head, releasing a worried breath.

  Hank swore profusely.

  ‘He’s gonna be okay Hank,’ she soothed him. ‘I know it’s not much consolation but at least it was only a drop from the second floor not the roof.’

  ‘Hey Hank,’ Killian marched over, ‘you okay?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he nodded, ‘just a few scrapes and bruises. How’s Bo?’

  ‘He’s okay,’ Killian nodded, ‘he’s awake and talking. They’re stabilizing him for transport but it’s just a precautionary measure. They seem to think it’s probably just a concussion and a broken leg.’

  ‘I should have been watching more carefully,’ Hank scowled, ‘but I was distracted by the kid.’

  ‘What kid?’ Killian replied in confusion.

  ‘The kid in the window on the second floor, blonde kid.’

  ‘Blonde?’ Ava replied sharply.

  ‘Yeah,’ Hank scratched his chin, ‘he was pointing to the ground beneath the scaffold. I was looking at what he was pointing at when it dropped, barely dived out of the way in time. You know it’s one thing to have reporters and ghost hunting nut jobs creeping around, but they shouldn’t be bringing kids up here. It’s not safe.’

  ‘I’d better go take a look,’ Killian frowned, ‘just in case.’

  Ava watched as he took off across the site shaking his head and muttering.

  ‘What did he look like?’ Ava asked quietly.

  ‘Jesus, I don’t know, like a kid. Short…’ he murmured thoughtfully, ‘maybe ’bout seven? I dunno I’m no good at guessing kids’ ages, young though.’

  ‘And he was pointing to the ground?’

  ‘That’s what it looked like,’ Hank nodded, ‘directly beneath Bo.’

  ‘Did you see anything?’

  ‘Nope,’ Hank blew out a breath. ‘I don’t know, it all happened so fast but for a second…’

  ‘What?’ she leaned in closer.

  ‘I probably imagined it, it was probably just a shadow or a trick of the light.’

  ‘What was?’

  ‘It looked like the ground had split open, like a wound that’s busted its stitching,’ he shook his head. ‘Probably just imagined it.’

  Ava turned back to where they were hauling Bo out, strapped to a bright orange back board.

  ‘Be right back,’ she muttered, ‘take it easy Hank.’

  She crossed the distance snagging a hard hat as she went. She waited until everyone was watching Bo loaded into an ambulance, before climbing over the metal rods and split boards.

  ‘Ava!’ Kelley called, ‘what the hell are you doing? It might not be safe.’

  ‘I just need to check something,’ she called back as she climbed down inside the collapsed scaffold.

  Carefully she moved a few pieces of loose boarding out of the way until she could see the ground and sure enough, just like Hank had said, the dry ground had split open like an abscess.

  Kelley swore mildly and grabbed a hard hat for himself before climbing in behind her.

  Ava kneeled down and stared into the gaping earth. A loud gasp caught in her throat when she found herself staring into the wide vacant eye sockets and grinning teeth of a human skull.

  ‘What is it?’ Kelley climbed down behind her.

  ‘You’re gonna need to call your dad,’ she looked up at him. ‘We’ve got another body.’

  ‘Miss Cortez you seem to be sending a lot of business my way,’ Dr Casey strolled toward her, peeling off a blue latex glove and holding out her hand.

  ‘Dr Casey,’ Ava shook her hand, ‘can I get you a coffee?’

  ‘That would be great,’ she nodded, looking back toward the house, which was once again a hive of activity.

  The part of the scaffolding that had collapsed had been cleared away and the rest of it checked and braced. Now that it was safe, the strange split in the earth was being very carefully excavated around the human remains.

  Kelley’s dad was standing not far from the burial site, drinking his own coffee as he spoke quietly with one of his own deputies. After the media circus when they’d recovered the other bodies, this time they were trying desperately to control the flow of information in order to avoid another frenzy. Although, once Dr Casey Valentine had been called in once again from the University of Maine, it was only a matter of time before the news broke that another body had been unearthed at the Lynch property.

  Ava filled a paper cup from the urn she’d set up and handed it over.

  ‘Thanks,’ she smiled, taking a sip. ‘You seem to be keeping me in business at the moment, although I have to say this one’s more up my alley. The others were fascinating but a little too well preserved for me. I’m used to bare bones, makes things easier.’

  ‘Have you come to any conclusions about the women we found?’ Kelley asked curiously.

  ‘Not so much,’ Dr Casey pursed her lips, ‘it’s a slow process. We’ve dated them to roughly the late 1870’s or maybe just after, definitely just before the turn of the century. They’re all in their early to late teens and judging by their bones and teeth, I would say lower class.’

  ‘Like maids and nannies maybe?’ Ava asked quietly.

  ‘It’s possible,’ Dr Casey nodded. ‘A lot of lower-class women their age would have entered into service with richer, more affluent families.’

  ‘What about the newest addition?’ Kelley nodded toward the freshly dug pit.

  ‘We’re bagging and tagging her for transport now.’

  ‘Her?’ Ava replied.

  ‘Definitely,’ Dr Casey nodded. ‘We thoroughly documented her in situ, and after my preliminary examination I can confirm the remains to be female, most likely late forties.’

  ‘Not Luella then,’ Ava muttered.

  ‘How do you know?’ Kelley asked.

  ‘Luella was in her twenties
when she disappeared,’ Ava replied.

  ‘Ah yes,’ Dr Casey nodded, ‘the infamous Luella Lynch. Since the bodies were recovered, I’ve been reading up on the local lore regarding the house and the disappearances. I can tell you it’s very unlikely this woman was Luella. Not only was she about twenty years too old but from the separation in her pelvis I can tell you this woman gave birth several times. In all my research so far, I cannot find any evidence to suggest Luella had any children of her own, but anyway we’ll transfer her to my lab where I’ll be able to run a full analysis.’

  ‘I don’t suppose you know how she died?’ Kelley asked.

  ‘Well she has a lot of broken bones, but under these conditions I can’t tell you if they occurred peri or postmortem. However, she had a large wound to the back of her skull. I’d say that was probably what killed her.’

  ‘Not natural causes then?’

  ‘She was buried in the back yard without even the most rudimentary coffin. I’d say that’s a giant red flag,’ Dr Casey nodded. ‘Anyway, I’ll get back to you as soon as I have anything concrete.’

  Ava nodded and stepped back. She’d wait for Dr Casey’s report of course, but she had a pretty good idea who the bones pushing up daisies belonged to, and if she was right, that meant they’d just discovered the fate of Eleanor Lynch, Luella’s mother. But instead of answering questions it had only created more.

  21

  Ava woke with a start, breathing hard, but once again the dream was fading quickly. She could only remember a sense of fear and of falling, then nothing. She glanced over at Kelley who was sprawled naked over the other side of the bed, the sheets tangled around his narrow hips. The thought of waking him was extremely tempting, but after everything that had happened the day before he’d still gone and worked a full shift at his uncle’s bar and she found she didn’t have it in her heart to disturb him, considering he still had a summer class to teach later that day followed by another shift at the bar.

  Glancing at the clock she realized it was still really early, the sun was barely even up. Creeping from the bed, with Bailey scampering along behind her, Ava headed into the kitchen to make some coffee. Even as she stood there pressed against the counter, slowly sipping her second cup, she found it wasn’t helping. She felt as if she hadn’t slept at all. Her brain felt heavy and sluggish and she couldn’t stop yawning.