African Violet Club Mystery Collection

by Elise M Stone

  “Oh, various things.” Then he flashed his warm smile at her again. “Such as what kind of people I meet along the way.”

  If her heart had been thumping before, it now was pounding with the implication of his words.

  “What brought you to Rainbow Ranch, if I might ask?” he said.

  She told him about Charles and how she’d come to like the community here in the peacefulness of the desert. “It’s comfortable here, you know. The people are nice, and it’s not a bad place to be if you’ve got nowhere to go.” She bit her lip. She didn’t want to sound needy.

  Christopher raised his mug to his lips and drained it. “Would you like more coffee?”

  Lilliana noticed a clock on the wall and was horrified at how much time had passed. She’d have to hurry if she was going to talk to Esmeralda before breakfast. “No, thank you. I really have to go.”

  “Would you like to accompany me to breakfast?” His look said the answer mattered to him.

  Regretfully, Lilliana said, “I would, but I was on my way for a hike in the desert when I heard your beautiful music. I still want to do that before it gets too hot.”

  “I can’t convince you otherwise?”

  “Sorry, no. Perhaps I’ll see you at lunch.” Before she could change her mind, Lilliana rose from the table and headed for the patio. She could feel Christopher’s eyes on her back as she went through the door.

  She hurried off into the desert, hoping to get to the cover of the vegetation before anyone else spotted her. The rocky path was barely visible, which reminded her she’d have to vary where she walked if she intended to go this way often. Otherwise, the path would become obvious to anyone heading this way, and a temptation for curious casual walkers. Not that many of the elderly people from the retirement home did much hiking, but Christopher looked as if he was perfectly capable of handling the uneven ground and scaling the incline that led to the cave.

  Or Lenny, she quickly added to herself, afraid of what these thoughts of Christopher might mean. Fortunately, Lenny and Nancy’s one excursion to try fishing in the pond had proved unfruitful. But there was always the possibility he might go this way again.

  She reached a clump of creosote bushes and relaxed once she passed behind them and out of sight. The ground began to rise, and it wasn’t long before she reached the muddy pond that was the current termination of the mountain spring. When Rainbow Ranch had actually been a ranch, the spring cascaded down to the valley where the retirement home now stood. The main building had once been the ranch house, and the surrounding desert the range for a thriving herd of cattle. But Arizona had seen a number of drought years since then, and water wasn’t as plentiful as it once was.

  Certain she was on the right path, she continued to where the spring lazily entered the pool from the foothills above. She followed the creek through its twists and turnings, and the water became clearer and ran faster the closer she got to its source. Almost there, she told herself once she reached the large ironwood which was one of the landmarks on the way to her destination.

  At last she arrived at the beautiful pond filled with crystal clear water. She gaped in amazement at the transformation. When she’d last seen this spot, it had been in the moonlight for the wedding of Queen Esmeralda. In daylight, the full beauty of the place took her breath away. What had been only desert was now a garden. A small grassy meadow formed a half-moon around the near side of the pond, and flowering plants popped up from the edges of the rich soil. Lilliana could only assume the fairies had worked their magic on the land to make this green space appear in the middle of the desert.

  She also wondered how wise it had been for them to create this out-of-character oasis so near to civilization. Anyone discovering it would realize it couldn’t be natural. She’d have to mention that, too, to Esmeralda when she got there.

  Speaking of getting there, the sun was awfully high in the sky. At this rate, it would be lunch time before she got back. Not that she would have a problem with missing a meal, but people would be curious as to where she’d disappeared to. She’d have to come up with a believable story to tell them.

  She followed the spring, which skipped and hopped joyfully down the hillside, until she reached the spot where it disappeared into the side of the mountain. Getting on her knees, she ignored the fact that the opening appeared to be only six inches high and about a foot wide. She knew the fairies put a glamour on the cave entrance to prevent unwanted visitors. The actual entrance was more than large enough to accommodate an elderly woman crawling on her hands and knees.

  She knelt and dropped her hands to the ground, feeling her way through the mud into the darkness of the interior. The narrow passage gave her a sense of claustrophobia, but it didn’t take too long before the changing air currents and the feel of drier earth under her hands told her she had emerged from the small passage into the larger room beyond. Lilliana got to her feet, brushed her palms on her pants, then pulled the small flashlight she’d brought from her pocket.

  Turning on the light, the cave burst forth in all its glory; pink crystals sparkled around her and stalactites and stalagmites glistened with the water dripping over them, which provided the source for new growth. But Lilliana didn’t pause to admire the cave formations. She was already running late. Beauty would have to wait for another day.

  Instead, she pointed the light toward the floor of the cave, disclosing a line of footprints leading to the far wall. Carefully placing her feet in the path of those who had come this way before, she headed toward a fissure she knew existed up ahead.

  She ducked her head to pass through the crevice and emerged into a large room where dripping water was the only sound. She threaded her way through a jumble of boulders and formations to continue on the path. The huge room narrowed and the path grew muddy as she approached a trickle of water that crossed it. This was the only dangerous part of the journey. She knew from previous trips that she was now on a narrow ledge. The water plunged over the side into the depths of another room below. It would be all too easy to slip and plunge over the edge, only to be impaled on the stalagmites on the floor of the lower room.

  Careful to stay close to the wall, Lilliana edged her way along the path, holding her breath. She let it out when the path widened into yet another room. The large column formed by the merging of a stalactite and a stalagmite at the center of it confirmed she had not taken a wrong turning on her journey. The path circled the formation, and Lilliana followed it to her destination, another narrow gap in the cave wall some thirty yards farther on.

  Curtains of white limestone striated with interlacings of red from iron in the water surrounded her, formations reminiscent of strips of bacon. A shield-shaped piece of the same material loomed over a turning in the path. Careful to keep her light pointed downward, Lilliana paused and let her eyes adjust to the dark.

  When she opened them, the glow from a niche filled with tiny delicate crystalline formations, helectites, shone just up ahead. She approached the niche carefully and curtseyed.

  “Queen Esmeralda.”

  The tiny fairy—no more than eight inches high—inclined her head in acknowledgement from her seat on a purple silk pillow that covered the top of a small stalagmite. Her pale purple wings slowly swung back and forth. “So good to see you, Lilliana. Are you well?”

  “I am. I apologize for not coming to visit you sooner. Somehow the days passed more quickly than I realized. And how are you? And Tam Lin?” she asked, naming the fairy prince Esmeralda had married a month ago. Lilliana had been instrumental in rescuing the prince and his troop from a box of delicacies shipped from Scotland so he could join Esmeralda and her group of fairies here.

  Consternation briefly crossed Esmeralda’s face, but her smile soon returned. “We are well.”

  Uaine, who was standing next to the fairy queen, tugged on her sleeve. Esmeralda bent down so the green fairy could whisper in her ear.

  “Uaine has told me there is something you’re worried abou
t.”

  Lilliana nodded. “Well, two things now. It might not be wise to leave the beautiful glen where you were married green with grass and flowers blooming. If someone were to see it, they’d know it wasn’t natural.”

  Esmeralda laughed her tinkling fairy laugh. “No need to worry. Only those we wish to see it can. Others see only desert there.” Esmeralda leaned forward and cocked her head. “But you said two things. What is the other?”

  “There’s a new shop in town,” Lilliana said. “A couple newly arrived from Scotland owns it. The store sells flowers, plants, and gifts. They also sell something called fairy gardens, miniature bits of furniture and houses you place in a dish with plants.”

  “Newly arrived, you say? What might their names be?”

  “Cameron. Penelope and Geoffrey Cameron.”

  Esmeralda’s eyes widened. “Cameron?”

  “Do you know them?” Lilliana asked.

  “Not I, but Tam Lin has told me about a couple named Cameron who caused him trouble. They were the reason he was so eager to leave Scotland.”

  Lilliana’s concern escalated. “I hope they’re not the same people. But it worries me more now that you’ve told me that. You see, I’m afraid people in Rainbow Ranch will start setting out fairy gardens around town, and your people will be attracted to them. It wouldn’t do for them to be seen.” Lilliana paused. “I’m suspicious about the way Geoff Cameron acted. It was almost as if he was purposely setting a trap for you.”

  “Or Tam Lin,” Esmeralda said. The fairy queen cupped her chin in her hand for a moment as she thought. “I think you are right, Lilliana. I shall have to warn my people not to be enticed into resting in one of those gardens.”

  “I think that would be a good idea.” A growl came from Lilliana’s stomach, reminding her that if she didn’t hurry, she’d miss breakfast. “I need to go now.”

  “You must not wait so long before visiting us again,” Esmeralda said.

  “I won’t. Please be careful until we know more about the Camerons and their intentions.”

  “We will be.”

  Lilliana bowed again and left, wasting no time on exiting the cave and hurrying down the hillside back to the retirement community. By the time she got to her apartment and changed into clean clothes, she had missed breakfast. She settled for a cup of yogurt at her dining table.

  CHAPTER SIX

  FOX Fordyce pitched the softball in Lilliana’s direction so hard, it was past her before she took a swing at it. The ball rattled against the chain link cage behind her.

  “You gotta try harder than that,” Fox called out and picked up another softball from the cluster at her feet. The two women had come to the elementary school field to test out one another’s skills.

  On a whim, she had looked up the former rodeo queen’s telephone number online—fortunately, she still had a land line—and called her to ask if she’d be interested in forming a softball team. Lilliana’s new bat hadn’t been broken in yet, and she was eager to start playing again. Unfortunately, in the short span of time since she’d last tried to field a team, those at the retirement home who had once expressed an interest had changed their minds, leaving her no one to play with.

  Fox Fordyce had quickly responded she’d love to, and the two women had set a time to meet. Fox went into her windup.

  This time, Lilliana was ready. When the ball crossed the plate, she hit it past her out to center field.

  “Yahoo!” Fox yelled. “That’s better. Ready for another one?”

  Lilliana wiped the sweat from her brow and set her stance for the next pitch. Fox doubled down. The pitch was inside, and Lilliana took a defensive swing at it. The ball hit the bat only a few inches from her hands and bounced toward third base. Fox darted after it as it rolled and turned as if to throw toward first. Then, realizing there was no one standing at first base, she dropped her arm and headed back toward the mound.

  The July evening was only tolerable because a slight breeze blew across the field. Next time they’d have to try this in the early morning. Or maybe in October. “One more,” Lilliana said.

  “Strike three!” Fox yelled as the ball sailed past Lilliana. “My turn.”

  Lilliana dropped the bat and gathered up the balls lying on the ground behind her while Fox headed toward the outfield to retrieve Lilliana’s solid hit. She headed toward the mound, determined to have her own against the formidable Fox Fordyce who, having dropped the ball at the pitcher’s position, swaggered toward home plate and picked up the bat.

  “Let ‘er rip,” Fox yelled as she crouched over the plate.

  Lilliana sent the ball toward her at the fastest speed she could manage, only to see it returned in a high arc over her head.

  “Home run!” Fox pumped her fist.

  Lilliana picked up the next ball and felt a great deal of satisfaction when Fox swung and missed. The cowgirl wasn’t invincible after all. She bent over and retrieved the third ball, focused on her target, and let it go.

  Another “home run.” Determined not to be shown up, Lilliana managed two more strikes in succession.

  “Another round?” Fox asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Lilliana said. “It’s getting too dark to see the ball clearly.” And she wanted to quit while she was ahead. Or at least even. “Besides, I should be getting back to the retirement home if I want to get dinner.”

  “How about we pick up a pizza and eat it at my place?”

  Lilliana was surprised, but pleased, at the invitation. “Why, that would be delightful.”

  Fox cocked her head. “You know, Lilliana, you gotta loosen up if you’re going to live in the West. We’re not as formal out here as they are where you come from.”

  “Old habits are hard to break, I guess.”

  “Where are you from anyway?” Fox asked as they started toward Fox’s pickup, a shiny silver GMC Canyon.

  “Massachusetts, near Boston,” she answered.

  “That explains it, then. You probably went to some fancy girls’ school or something.”

  “Well, yes.” She was somewhat embarrassed about her privileged background. People usually thought you were arrogant when you went to the kind of private school she’d attended, but she hoped that wasn’t the case for her.

  “Ever ride a horse?”

  Lilliana shook her head, then, realizing Fox wasn’t looking at her and probably couldn’t see her in the darkening twilight even if she had been, said, “No, I haven’t. Horseback riding wasn’t part of the curriculum.”

  Fox snorted. They’d reached the truck and two beeps sounded as Fox unlocked it with her remote entry key. Once inside, Fox started the truck and turned left on Main Street, surprising Lilliana by heading through town rather into the nearby residential section. She’d assumed, like everyone else she’d met so far, the woman lived on one of the streets surrounding the church, but clearly she didn’t.

  Briefly, she wondered if Fox didn’t live in the town of Rainbow Ranch at all, but she turned onto the side street just past Mike’s Garage before leaving the city limits. This was an area Lilliana hadn’t explored; indeed, she’d never noticed this road before, Starlight Drive from the name on the street sign. Fox swerved into the parking lot of a small building sporting a Mama’s Pizza sign. Hidden as it was behind the garage, it was no wonder she hadn’t seen it.

  “Sausage and peppers okay with you?” Fox asked as she swung the door of the truck open.

  “Yes, that would be fine.” Lilliana wondered whether she should get out or wait in the truck. Since Fox hadn’t said anything, she decided to stay where she was.

  Starlight Drive appeared to consist mostly of vacant land. She couldn’t see any other businesses or homes on the street. A few minutes later, Fox returned, carrying a flat pizza box. She held the box out to Lilliana, who took it and gingerly rested it on her knees.

  “Don’t burn yourself,” Fox said. “We’ll be home in a jiffy.”

  “Jiffy” was a matter of opinion,
but it certainly wasn’t too much longer before the two women pulled up into the dirt drive beside a stucco ranch house with a bright turquoise door beneath a portico.

  “Home sweet home,” Fox said. “Watch your step.”

  Her hostess pointed to the irregular blocks that created a zigzag path to the door. Lilliana wouldn’t want to attempt to traverse the path in the dark. It would be too easy to take a misstep and twist an ankle. Or worse. She followed Fox through the brightly-painted door, holding the pizza box, from which marvelous smells rose, slightly to the side so she could see where she was walking.

  A foyer all in tan, from the paint on the walls to the ceramic tiles on the floor, had openings to the left and right. Just inside the entrance, she caught a glimpse of a great room with a fireplace as Fox led the way toward the rear. A door on the opposite side opened into a powder room.

  “Put the pizza on the table.” Fox gestured toward a dining area at the back of the house. An oak table with four chairs sat in front of a window, and a door beside it led to the outside. The cowgirl halted before an arch leading to a kitchen with bright white appliances. “Then grab a couple of plates from the cabinet down there, if you don’t mind.” She waved at an area on the other side of the kitchen.

  Lilliana deposited the pizza as requested and was opening the cabinet in the indicated area when Fox asked another question.

  “Want a beer, Boston?”

  Lilliana cringed at yet another nickname. Yes, her name was longer than most, but she didn’t like being called Boston or Lily or anything other than her proper name. Fortunately Fox’s head was buried inside the refrigerator, so she didn’t see Lilliana’s grimace.

  “No, thank you. Ice water will be fine.”

  Finally locating the dinner plates, she grabbed two and put them on the table. She was wondering if there was anything else she could do when Fox arrived with a tall glass of ice water and a can of Budweiser in hand.