“You never heard the gunshots?” I asked.
“No. Someone’s been shooting?”
“Yeah, first I heard gunshots around the front and I called out to you and you called back saying you were okay.”
“No one fired a gun at me, and I certainly don’t remember you calling out to me or me calling back. Are you sure you’re okay?” Starnes said as she walked to the back porch.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Some bruises from the woodpile, but other than that. I’m good. I’m just not sure what happened here tonight. Somebody shot at me, and I thought somebody shot at you. But when I came back outside from the kitchen, the person who shot at me disappeared,” I said as I joined her on the porch.
“You were in the kitchen?” Starnes said. She opened the back door and entered the kitchen. I followed.
“Yeah, I was hiding near the door trying to keep from being shot.”
“When was that?”
“I don’t know, maybe ten minutes ago?”
Starnes looked puzzled but said nothing. Evelyn looked at Starnes and shrugged.
“And the person had gone by the time you came out of the kitchen door?” Starnes said.
“Actually it was a bit more dramatic than that. There was a grayish-white swirling mist around a figure in front of the wood pile, going round and round about as fast as you could imagine, and then suddenly the swirling thing stopped and the figure, the person, whatever it was, was gone. Disappeared.”
“I’m beginning to be concerned for you, friend,” she said. “Show me where you were when you heard the shots at the front of the house.”
I took the flashlight and walked to the backside of the wood pile. Starnes followed me closely.
“I was behind the two rows of wood; the wind started blowing and collapsed the wood on top of me. When I crawled out of the pile, that’s when I heard the gunshots from the front yard.”
“So, a piece of wood hit you in the head,” she said.
“Several pieces of wood hit me just about everywhere on my body. I was crouched behind the wood when it fell. The whole pile of stacked wood fell on me. Sam was with me. He can tell …,” I stopped short of saying what I was intending to say. Even to me it sounded ridiculous, so I just stopped.
“You can see that the wood pile has not collapsed, right?” Starnes asked. “Shine your flashlight over there.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
“Oh, wait a minute,” Starnes said as she followed the beam of my flashlight which had fallen on a large piece of wood lying on the ground. “Perhaps this is what hit you on your head.”
“I have no idea what happened,” I said. “All I know is that I was crouching behind this pile just a few minutes ago. A fierce wind blew across the backyard causing the pile to fall over on top of me. I heard some shots I thought were coming from the front of the house. I thought you might be in danger, so I climbed out of the fallen wood and limped back to the front to check on you.”
“I think you dreamed up some things, Clancy,” she said. “Come on back inside the house and we’ll sit a while to be sure you are okay. Evelyn will make us some coffee.”
I followed her into the house. I could feel the 9mm Luger in my backside. I was holding my own weapon in my right hand and the flashlight in my left. Adam had given me the flashlight. If I dreamed all of that stuff I just told her about, how did I get the flashlight?
Evelyn had made some coffee and poured me a cup. While Evelyn had her back to us, I put my handgun in my coat pocket. Starnes frowned at me as if to ask what on earth I was doing. Evelyn returned to the table and handed me the cup of coffee. The three of us sat around the kitchen table talking. Starnes made sure that the conversation did not venture into what I had said had happened.
Evelyn told us that neither she nor Adam had seen Sally even though she did say that Sally had come by yesterday. Evelyn told us that Sally Slater had told them she was planning to leave the county for good. Starnes then told Evelyn that Sally had shot Mina Beth in cold blood at the jail. Evelyn appeared to be genuinely shocked. I wondered.
Starnes offered thanks to Evelyn and we said our goodbyes. I excused myself by saying I needed to use the bathroom. I headed towards Abel’s bedroom down the same hallway. I passed a room where I heard loud snoring. Adam was in Never Land.
I switched on the light and headed to the closet. There were three boxes stacked on the floor that had housed the Lugers at one time or another. I checked all three. All three were empty. I took the Luger from my back and smelled it. It had been fired recently.
When I heard someone coming, I returned the Luger to my backside, closed the closet door and turned off the bedroom light. I met Evelyn in the hallway. Starnes was standing in the living room where she could see the two of us.
“You sure you feel okay, miss?” Evelyn said.
“Thanks. I’m fine. The coffee and conversation helped,” I said.
“Hope you can find her,” Evelyn said. Her words and tone sounded genuine.
Halfway home I told Starnes that we needed to go back to Jo Starling’s place. She thought I was crazy and said as much. It was then that I pulled the Luger from my back and told her everything that had happened to me all over again.
She told me to pull the car over and I did.
“Clancy, you have got to trust me. I think you have had a head injury and you are suffering from delusions.”
“Smell this gun,” I said and handed it to her.
She smelled it and then stared at me as if to say, “This is crazy.”
“Did you fire this weapon?” Starnes said.
“Did you hear any gunshots in the last few hours?” I said.
“No, I did not.”
“Then how could I have fired a weapon that you did not hear?”
“Fair question. But you heard four gunshots, did you not?”
“I did, but only two were fired at me and they came from that gun. You said you didn’t hear any gunshots. You have any answer for this mystery?”
“No.”
“Me either. That’s why I want to go see Aunt Jo.”
“Why on earth would she know anything?”
“Seriously? You’re asking me this question about your mysterious Aunt Jo who has the sight?”
“Okay, okay. I get it. But, you’re going after a long shot here. You think Aunt Jo will tell you anything?”
“She’s the only one who quite possibly can at this point. She sees what others do not see and hears what most of us cannot hear. She knows stuff she’s not supposed to know. Combine all of that strange ability with the fact that I have had one heck of a night out there with the Gosnell’s … well, friend, she’s likely the only one who can help me … and that’s as good a reason to visit her as I know.”
“I thought you were suspicious of her gift?” Starnes said.
“I am. Highly. I have serious doubts, but in light of what happened to me this evening, I have nowhere else to turn.”
“And what do you expect her to say to you?”
“The truth, hopefully.”
“The truth about what?”
“Who shot at me,” I said.
“Who do you think shot at you?” Starnes asked me.
“Sally Slater.”
Chapter Fifty-One
“Why don’t you call her and tell her we’re coming,” I suggested.
“She has no phone.”
“Hard to imagine.”
“She’ll be there. You sure you want to do this?”
“She might be the last person in the world who would help me … us …well, that’s not entirely true, but she’s the closest one who has the capabilities. I’ll say it that way.”
“And what is it you want her to do about this?” Starnes asked.
“Verify or clarify what I saw.”
“And you believe she can do that?”
“It’s a possibility. May be worth the effort.”
“I didn’t think you believed in the stuff
she sees and hears.”
“I don’t have to believe it to use it.”
“You have to believe enough of it to trust her answers.”
“Like I said, I want verification. If she tells me anybody but Sally Slater fired at me tonight, then I am suspicious.”
“You just want someone to substantiate your delusion,” Starnes said.
“Hold that thought.”
“Did you see Slater?” Starnes asked.
“To identify? No.”
“Then why do you believe Slater fired at you?”
“Who else? We went there believing that Slater was there. You thought she was there.”
“I did at first, but after talking with Evelyn, I think she had already left.”
“You didn’t talk with Adam?” I said.
“Adam was sawing logs the whole time we were there,” she said.
I started to repeat my story about Adam providing me with a flashlight, but I decided against it. She could have me committed if I pressed the point too much.
“And what about the Luger I found by the wood pile?” I asked.
“What about it?” Starnes said.
“It had been fired even though you did not hear it.”
“Well, it could have been fired before we arrived.”
“True, but I heard gunshots. And someone fired two shots at me and Sam.”
“Yeah, that’s a problem. But, we have no way of proving that, do we?”
“I don’t need any proof. I was there. I was the one being fired upon. I found the gun. I smelled the barrel. It had been fired. Recently. That’s all the proof I need.”
“I need more than that.”
“I appreciate your confidence.”
“Can’t help you. There’s a logical explanation for that gun being where you found it. And being fired recently.”
“And the logical reason would be what?” I said.
“I’m working on that.”
“Hey, you’re the one who took me to this old woman in the first place. You’re the one who introduced me to the mysterious sight, as you call it. Mountain folklore, if you ask me.”
“And yet, here we are … on our way to see her tonight,” Starnes said.
“Yeah. Makes for perfect sense.”
“A bit over the top.”
If it had been dark over in the Spillcorn section of the county, then it was midnight in Ivy Gap. I found my gloves in the back of the Jeep and put them on. I expected it to be a cold hike up to the house. I also took a flashlight in case we ran into the absence of light. I was preparing myself for the black hole we would surely walk into.
Sam was back at Starnes’ place resting. Since he had gone through my so-called delusional experience with me, I decided from whatever logic I had at the time to let him stay at Starnes’ and sleep it off. He was handling that job rather well when we left.
At some point along our walk to Aunt Jo’s in the darkness, the wind had completely stopped. An eerie calmness enveloped us as we approached her hovel of a house. The air was warm. It felt more like May instead of March. The stars were hidden by the massive cloud cover. I removed my gloves since my hands were actually sweating.
The absence of a burning candle in the front window made our approach to the house seem more ominous than I would have liked. There were no lights at all inside the home. Starnes knocked on the door several times, but there was no response.
“Let’s go around back together,” I said. “I don’t want you out of my sight for any remaining adventures we might have.”
“Which somehow speaks directly to my delusional theory about you.”
“We go together. Any delusions I have, you will be there with me. We shall share in the so-called delusions.”
“Fair enough,” she said.
We walked to the back of house. My flashlight aided our trek. To my surprise there was a double lined wood pile about fifteen feet from the house. Allowing for the darkness and my feeble flashlight, it appeared that the wood piles were identical. I kept my opinion about that to myself. I scanned the double rowed piles with my light. I could feel Starnes staring at me. I moved to the backside of the woodpile while Starnes remained standing between the house and the wood.
On the backside, part of one row had collapsed and was covering the ground.
“You want to come here a second?” I said.
I could hear Starnes walking towards me.
“Part of the wood collapsed,” I said as I put the light beam on the fallen pieces.
“Poorly stacked,” she said. “And before you say anything, it does resemble the wood pile that the Gosnells have behind their house,” Starnes said. “That is all I shall admit to you without coercion.”
“Yeah, it does.”
“Doesn’t mean a thing,” she said.
“Or it means something.”
“Maybe you were transported from there to here and whatever happened to you, happened over here and not there.”
“A la Star Trek?” I said.
“Hey, it was your experience. I’m just trying to make sense of it.”
“In your delightful sardonic manner.”
“I do what I can to keep you in check.”
“I’m gonna knock on the backdoor,” I said and walked over to the house. I could sense that Starnes was following closely behind me. And I could hear her footsteps as well.
I knocked a few times, but nothing happened. There was no sound from inside the house. There was no sound on the outside either. Silence surrounded us. No stars. No wind. No light.
“Let’s go,” Starnes said. “She’s not here.”
We moved away from the backdoor when the wind suddenly began blowing as hard as it had at the Gosnell’s. The grayish-white apparition I had seen earlier that night appeared by the wood pile in front of us. It swirled and swirled around the wood until more of the pile fell over on this side exactly like it had fallen on me. I couldn’t see Starnes’ face, but I would bet the ranch that she was as perplexed as I. Since I do not believe in coincidences, I was searching in vain for some other explanation. A rational one would be helpful.
The wind continued its wildness. In the midst of the wind’s roar, I heard two gunshots. They seemed to be coming from the front of the house. It took a great effort on our part to walk in the windstorm around to the front. It was no longer gusting. The wind was a steady force by now.
As we turned the corner to the front, the grayish-white swirl reappeared and circled furiously about ten feet in front of us. It was hovering as it did when I saw it earlier at the Gosnell’s. Then the high-pitched crying returned and lasted for several minutes.
“I hope you are hearing this,” I said to Starnes.
“Why? So I can share a nightmare with you?”
“Proof that I am not crazy as you suspected earlier.”
“You’re still crazy, of that I am certain. However, I simply said you had a bump on your head and were delusional. Judging from what is presently happening to both us, I’d say offhand we’re both crazy and we’re both delusional.”
“I’m not certain that it is normal for two people to share the same delusion.”
“The words normal and delusion connected by the verb share should never appear in the same sentence,” Starnes said.
“So, you see what I see.”
“I have no idea what you see, but I refuse to say out loud what it is that I see.”
“You hear the crying?”
“I’m not answering any questions either,” she said.
The crying shifted to wailing and the wind actually increased its velocity. On instinct, I think, Starnes and I grabbed hold of each other as if hanging on for dear life.
“I have nothing to compare it to. I wish Aunt Jo were here,” she said loudly in my ear.
“I have a horrible feeling that she is,” I said.
The wind abruptly stopped, as if someone had thrown a switch. It was quiet and still all around us. I could hear Starn
es breathing. I could hear my heart pounding. I wondered if Starnes could hear it. I could see Starnes now for the first time since we had arrived and without benefit of a flashlight. We were hugging each other as if we were holding onto some stationary object like a tree or fence post. We both looked skyward at the same time. The dense cloud cover had disappeared and a full moon was beaming down upon us spraying light everywhere.
We realized simultaneously our present position and separated quickly. I am certain we both felt a tad awkward. I certainly did.
“I’ve got nothing to say about what just occurred, so don’t ask me,” Starnes said before I could offer a similar ultimatum.
A light was on in the house.
“I think Aunt Jo has returned,” I said and pointed to the light in the window.
“Don’t ask me,” Starnes said as she walked toward the front door. “If we keep this between us, then we can go silently to our graves and the world will be none the wiser as to our sanity.”
Starnes barely managed two knocks on the door before it opened and Aunt Jo invited us inside.
“Saw you coming up the road,” she said. “I’ve got a special tea just for you two.”
I started to refuse but Starnes must have read my mind and stopped me from turning down the offered tea. When Jo turned her back to us and headed off in the direction of the kitchen, Starnes pointed to one of the cushioned chairs and I sat down.
“Never refuse the tea,” Starnes said simply.
After Aunt Jo served us, she sat between us on the couch. I was in the red chair and Starnes was sitting in the green one.
“Now, ladies. We have much to discuss.”
“Indeed,” I said.
“There will be no more bloodshed related to your investigation into the murders of Abel, Betty Jo, and, sadly, Mina Beth.”
“How can you know that?” Starnes asked.
“Sally is gone. She will not be coming back to McAdams County ever again.”
“Where’d she go?” Starnes asked.
“That’s not important. She’s gone.”
Josephine took a couple of swallows of her tea blend. We followed suit. It tasted delicious and appealing. I had the sense of purification. I had never had that sensation while drinking anything before that moment.
When Blood Cries Page 26
