Arthur was making a big show of pulling the sword from the stone for a group of appreciative young ladies who giggled and applauded as he accomplished the feat. Bawdy Betty laughed from her space, the smell of bagels cooking telling me what she was doing as she watched.
Roger waved to me from the Glass Gryphon. I guessed we’d be friends after all. It hadn’t started out looking that way this year, but maybe there’d still be room in his apprentice program for me. Even though he was probably the most unattractive man I had ever met, I was glad he and Mary had found each other. It reminded me of Hephaestus and Aphrodite. Not that Mary was so beautiful as clever and wise. They made a good pair.
Thinking of making a good pair made me think about Chase. It was something I did routinely anyway. It had always been hard not to think about him, even when I was dating other guys in the Village. We’d always been friends, mostly because I didn’t think any other spot was available for me in his life.
But now that I had accomplished the impossible, and I was staying at the dungeon with him, I wasn’t sure where I was going. I knew summer would be all too short. After that, I’d go back to my job in the real world, and this time with Chase would fade like the summer I’d spent with Alex. And David. And Jeff. I wasn’t sure I wanted it to be that way, but what were the odds it would be any different?
Sighing, already thinking about the summer slowly vanishing into history, I started on another basket. I decided ahead of time that this one would be for Chase. He could remember me when he looked at it.
I studied a basket Mary had shown me the first day I’d met her. She’d said it was a keepsake basket that could be for a man’s cufflinks or a woman’s trinkets. I decided it would be for Chase’s trinkets, whatever those were. I knew he collected swords; they were all over the dungeon. He also collected knives. Both of those were too big for my basket. He’d just have to learn to collect something small. Or maybe he could put his pocket change into it.
It made me melancholy as I started the process of creating a basket again. I found Mary’s stash of sweetgrass, growing more expensive every day as it grew in fewer and fewer places along the coast. I cut some strands to the same length and began to weave them together, picturing Chase’s handsome face in my mind as I worked.
I could hear Mary’s singsong voice as she told her stories of growing up in the Gullah community. I was sure basket weavers came from across the state to hear her stories as much as to learn her almost forgotten craft.
I was sitting on the floor in the shop, almost in a trance, when the front door burst open. The little bell that signaled a customer’s arrival went crazy then jumped down on the floor.
“Where’s my mother?” Jah demanded.
“She’s in back.”
He didn’t say another word, just stalked through the shop and out the back door. I heard Mary stop talking, her lesson voice replaced by Ham’s. I watched Jah and Mary hurry down the street together and wondered where they were going.
I retrieved the bell to see if I could fix it when the door sprang open again, and Chase entered the shop. “I think I’ve found something.”
“Something like what?” The image of the sad Chase, sitting alone in his room above the dungeon, looking at the trinket basket I’d made him years before, was lost in the reality of him being there with me.
“Can you leave? I told Grigg to stay put so you could see it, too.”
I glanced through the back door. Ham was still in the backyard with the dozen or so basket weavers. “I don’t know. Jah just got back from his conversation with the police. He grabbed Mary, and they took off down the street.”
“Grigg already called Detective Almond. If you don’t come soon, you won’t get to see it before they close off the area.”
“Maybe I could put the Closed sign up for a few minutes.” I didn’t want to miss the find that Chase was eager for me to see. “Ham probably won’t notice.”
I put the little bell on the windowsill and turned the Open sign. I glanced through the back doorway again. There was no change. If someone asked, I’d say there was an emergency. I wasn’t sure what kind of emergency, but I’d deal with that later if I got caught.
Chase hurried me through the sparse crowd, along the smooth cobblestones. Arlene waved from her horse, back in her skin suit again. I saw her and Tony exchange a meaningful glance as he emerged from Brewster’s. There might be something going on there. It wouldn’t be the first time for them.
“What is it we’re going to see?” I asked Chase, hoping it was worth running my feet off. Cobblestones aren’t all that easy to walk on.
“It’ll spoil the surprise if I tell you.” He smiled at me, and I decided not to argue. The summer was passing quickly, and it wouldn’t be long before it would only be a memory, like Rome or Parnassus. Chase and I might never be together again.
I grabbed his hand and smiled back at him. We hurried past Galileo, who was showing a group of middle school students how to read star charts. I could hear the sound of canon fire from the lake and knew it was time for the pirates to attack the tavern again.
“We found the open place in the wall, which I’ll have to have rebricked before Livy or Harry find out about it. It was where Jah found the monk’s robe and the funnel. Grigg and I came through it just like the killer might’ve done. The hole is behind Merlin’s Apothecary.”
“I can see we’re headed that way,” I said breathlessly. “Are you sure it’s the same hole in the wall and there aren’t any more?” There had been holes in the wall for as long as I’d been coming here. Someone always got caught sneaking in that way.
“We checked the entire perimeter,” he said. “It was the only place we could find.”
“I’m surprised Nurse Wanda didn’t see it and have someone walled in there.”
“It’s not a big hole. It would be easy to sneak in without being seen.” Chase slowed his frantic rush as we reached Cupid’s Arrow. “I’m hoping this is one time the police don’t beat us here.”
We skirted the edge of the wall behind the shops and privies. I could see Grigg standing guard over the hole in the wall. No one seemed to notice him or the broken wall. Most people were too busy watching the pirates.
“No sign of Detective Almond yet,” Grigg reported. “I didn’t think there would be. It’s a long ride from the office to here.”
“Stand here by the wall and see what the first thing is that catches your eye.” Chase had me put my back against the wall and face the back of the shops.
“Can’t you just tell me what I’m looking for?” I scanned the buildings, tiny yards and alleys. There was a pile of neatly stacked cement blocks partially covered with a blue tarp. “I don’t know what I’m looking for. Nothing back here looks that important.”
“Looks can be deceiving,” Grigg qualified. “You all taught me that with the sword in the stone trick. Look for the unexpected. That’s what you do here, isn’t it?”
I was getting impatient. Was this a new game show or something? If they didn’t tell me what they found, Detective Almond would be out here before I saw it.
“Doesn’t the blue tarp remind you of something?” Chase grinned. “We looked straight across from here and saw it.”
“Saw what?”
“The tent! There’s a tent between the wall and the pile of blocks.” Grigg rocked back and forth on his heels. “Guess what’s inside?”
“Come on, guys. Let’s get on with it.”
“Evidence that someone has been staying there. There’s a battery-powered lantern, some food, a sleeping bag.” Chase started walking toward the tarp as he spoke. “The rain probably drove him out last night. That might’ve been why you saw him out walking.”
“Even more impressive,” Grigg continued, producing a man’s worn leather wallet. “The wallet belongs to Abraham Shift.”
Twenty-two
“You know, history always repeats itself.” I was sitting at the table inside the Peasant’s Pub with Chase
and Grigg.
Detective Almond had come and looked around the Village with a team of officers. There was no sign of Abraham in any of the empty buildings. Almond concluded that Abraham was probably gone for good because of the pressure he’d put on him through his investigation.
I wasn’t sure I agreed with that, but I didn’t have a better answer for his disappearance. It seemed odd to me that he’d leave and not take his wallet with him. That made me believe he was still in the Village somewhere.
Chase argued that it was possible Abraham had lost his wallet without realizing it. Detective Almond ignored him as he bagged the wallet and the funnel. He had his men dust the tarp and lantern for fingerprints.
Grigg was congratulated on his role in the investigation. He accepted his boss’s praises, then abruptly quit his job rather than return to the office and his other duties. I wasn’t sure who was more surprised, me or Detective Almond.
“I don’t know what that means,” Chase said. “It looks to me like we still have a killer in the Village.”
“The police have an APB out on Mr. Shift,” Grigg said. “He won’t get far.”
Chase shook his head. “You don’t seem to get it. He’s probably still here. Just because you guys didn’t find him doesn’t mean he’s not better at hiding than you are at seeking.”
“Not if Detective Almond and the other officers couldn’t find him.” Grigg stuck to his beliefs. “They’re specially trained. Nothing misses their eyes.”
“You’ve seen this place. It would be impossible to look in every crack and crevice,” Chase argued. “Abraham didn’t leave without his wallet and clothes. He’s here somewhere.”
“Which brings me back to my original statement.” I looked at my two companions. “What caused the murder in the first place?”
“Probably Abraham trying to continue manipulating Mary and Jah.” Chase said exactly what I was thinking.
“And right now, he thinks he has them where he wants them. But what if history repeated itself, and something else happened to change their lives? What if he was forced to do something else to gain control?”
“Like what?” Grigg slurped his coffee.
“Like get Jah out of here, away from Mary’s influence.”
“I’m not following this whole history logic thing,” Chase said. “Just tell me what you think we should do.”
“I think we should put him on the offensive again. What does this Village do best?”
“All these questions are giving me a headache,” Grigg complained.
“That would be debatable,” Chase replied. “What do you think it does best, Jessie?”
“Gossip. You said it yourself. Everyone knows everything going on here. All we have to do is get it out that Mary and Jah are leaving but not going back to their home. That should force Abraham’s hand. He wants Jah to go home with him. He’ll have to do something to keep it from happening and we’ll catch him.”
“Where are they going?” Grigg asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” I answered. “It’s just pretend.”
“Even if it’s pretend, we still need one single answer,” Chase reminded me. “Like Mary and Jah are going to Pennsylvania to get jobs in a basket factory.”
“That wouldn’t happen,” I disagreed. “No one would believe that.”
“That’s why I asked where they were going.” Grigg finished off his hamburger and sat back in his chair.
“It would have to be something more like they were going to teach basket weaving at a museum in Virginia.”
“How is that better than working at a basket factory?” Chase asked.
“I can’t believe you don’t see the difference,” I argued. “Mary is an accomplished basket weaver, a master craftsman. She wouldn’t go make baskets at a factory.”
“Okay. Fine.” Chase threw up his hands. “They’re working at a museum in Virginia. Does that suit you?”
“I think that’s fine. You tell all the worst gossips you know, and I’ll do the same.”
“Where exactly will that take us?”
“It will flush Abraham out. He’ll have to do something unless he wants to lose his son.”
“So, he’ll try and kill Mary, right?” Grigg seemed to get it, even though I wasn’t crazy about his follow through.
“I guess so.” I considered the idea that Mary’s life could be in danger. There wouldn’t be a way to know when Abraham might strike. Maybe I was wrong, and there was a better plan.
We talked about it for another twenty minutes while Grigg munched down two hot dogs. I wondered how he was going to feed himself on his meager Village salary. We broke up without being sure what to do next. Grigg was intent on getting a job in the Village. Chase had to sit in on a meeting with Livy and Harry after security guards reported the hole in the wall to them. I kissed him good-bye and walked back to Wicked Weaves.
The Closed sign was still up in the window like I’d left it. There was no sign of Mary or Jah. Ham was in the shop, putting away basket materials. I surprised him when I came in the back door. He jumped, and I laughed. “Sorry!”
“That’s okay.” He glanced behind me. “Where did Mary and Jah go?”
“I’m not sure.” I thought I might as well start the process right here. We were going to have to do something to get Abraham back out in the open. My plan was as good as anything else. “Jah said something about him and Mary leaving the Village.”
“Really? Did he say where they were going?”
“No. But I’m sure they’ll let you know. You’re Mary’s brother.”
“That’s true.” He nodded. “Did the police find anything? They came tearing through here like the building was on fire.”
“I don’t think they found anything, at least nothing that really matters.” I told him about Abraham’s stuff near Merlin’s Apothecary. “I don’t think he left without his wallet. I don’t know where he is now, but none of us are safe until we find him. Who knows what he might do next?”
Ham left a note for Mary and said he had to get back to the smithy. “If you hear anything, you let me know.”
I promised I would and closed the shop door behind us. It seemed a shame all of this should happen just as I got really good at basket weaving. I told Ham that as we walked down the King’s Highway toward the jousting field.
“Don’t worry. It’s not something you’ll lose. I went years without picking up a piece of sweetgrass. The weaving came right back to me. It’s either in you or it’s not.”
“How did you end up shoeing horses and working in a smithy?”
“I’m not sure. Back then, there wasn’t as much money in making baskets. Mary and I had to make ends meet. We did the best we could.”
“It had to be hard for you.” I thought about his encounter with Abraham. “I hate to ask you to go through it again, but did you notice anything about the man who attacked you that might be helpful in finding him?”
Ham invited me into the smithy and sat down away from the forge that gleamed red in the cast iron. “I’ve tried to think on it, but I had my back turned and couldn’t see anything. It was over so quickly. Next thing I knew, I saw you, and my head hurt.”
“It’s too bad. You know Abraham as well as Mary. What’s he like? Is there some way we could play into one of his weaknesses?”
“Abraham is a man who likes to get his way.” Ham nodded sagely. “Like with Jah. My sister never had a chance taking that boy away from home. Abraham knew all along what he had planned. He wanted to replace his dead boy with my nephew. And for a while, it worked, didn’t it?”
I heard a strange scratching sound coming from the side of the smithy. I looked that way, wondering what it was.
“Rats,” Ham guessed what I was thinking. “We got a big problem with’ em down here by the stables. They love that feed.”
I shuddered and moved closer to the open door. “Anyway, I hope we can find Abraham. I’d like to feel safe walking around at night.”
; He put on his heavy black apron and gloves, then opened the forge to build heat back into the fire. “I hope so, too. He’s a bad man who’s due some comeuppance.”
“I agree. I’ll talk to you later. Take care.”
I could hear the ringing of his heavy hammer on the horse shoes as I walked away from the smithy. I hated not to tell him the plan, especially since I could see he was distressed by learning Mary and Jah were leaving the Village. It wouldn’t matter, I assured myself as I strolled toward the dungeon. We’d have Abraham soon enough. But in the meantime, if we were going to spread this rumor, we needed an additional plan for keeping Mary safe.
Wicked Weaves Page 25
