Mary Had a Little Scare

by Wendy Meadows

  Sarah shook her head. “Not yet,” she told Mary. “I’m not ready to release the name of my father’s killer.”

  “Why?” Mary asked.

  “Because I don’t know who the killer is,” Sarah replied in a tormented tone. She stormed to her feet, threw on her black cloak, and began running for the hidden door. Mary jumped off the bed and grabbed Sarah before she could escape. “Let me go!” she pleaded as tears flooded from her eyes. “The agony is…killing me. Please, let me go.”

  Mary pulled Sarah into her arms and held her. “Tell me what happened,” she begged. “Let us help you.”

  “Father…” Sarah said in a trembling voice, “I went to check on him…even though he was unconscious I took him water and kept him covered up with a warm blanket. It was too risky to move him…and that dog…all I could do was keep Father safe.” Sarah grabbed Mary. “I hid him in a different room…Matthew and Brenda became furious when they couldn’t find him.”

  “What happened to your father tonight?” Mary asked Sarah in a whisper.

  “I saw Father…from upstairs…stumbling into the foyer. He had…woken up while I was down in the kitchen gathering water. I saw him stumbling into the foyer…and then…and then…” Sarah threw her face into Mary’s shoulder. “The lights went out. When they came back on, Father was lying dead.”

  Mary wrapped her arms around Sarah. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Matthew and Brenda knew someone was in the house…they suspected it was me…but they couldn’t contact the sheriff. They decided to find me and kill me, along with my father,” Sarah cried. “I was going to…kill them first…but I never had the courage.” Sarah let go of Mary and looked into her eyes. “I decided to use fear to make them confess…confess to their guilt. I donned this black cloak and began tormenting their sleep…whispering behind the walls…keeping them awake at all hours of the night… Oh, but the fear wasn’t working. I should have killed them instead, but I was waiting for you to arrive.” Sarah pointed at Betty. “I wanted all guilty parties present…and then…I would…I would…”

  “You’re not a killer,” Mary whispered.

  Betty walked over to Sarah and wrapped her arms around the broken woman. “You’re very hurt,” she said. “Sounds to me like your plan was one you didn’t have the heart to carry out.”

  “Because I’m a coward,” Sarah cried.

  “No,” Mary said, “because you have a caring heart. You’re not a cruel person, Sarah.” Mary forced Sarah to look at her. “We hid your father’s body in a safe place. Now we’re going to leave this awful mansion and go find the sheriff.”

  “Matthew and Brenda hid my father’s body in an upstairs hallway,” Sarah told Mary. “I didn’t…I couldn’t…look at him. I wanted to take his body and run…but I felt obligated to carry out my mission. When I realized you two were innocent, I went after Brenda. You see,” Sarah explained, wiping at her tears, “Brenda is planning to kill Matthew. She wants all of my father’s money all to herself.” Sarah looked around the bedroom. “And Matthew is planning to kill Brenda. They’re both using you as puppets.”

  Mary locked eyes with Betty, nodded, and then pulled out the birth certificate hidden in her dress pocket. “We found this in your father’s wallet.”

  Sarah took the birth certificate. “Oh my goodness,” she gasped, “this is what Matthew and Brenda have been searching for all along. Without this, they can’t touch my father’s money.” Sarah kissed the birth certificate. “Where did you find this?”

  “In a hidden compartment in your father’s wallet,” Mary explained.

  Sarah wiped at her tears. “Father was always a brilliant man,” she said and kissed the birth certificate again. As she did, the bedroom door flung open. Matthew appeared in the doorway holding a gun.

  “I’ll take that, my dear,” Matthew said in a voice far from kind.

  Betty watched Matthew slither into the bedroom and close the door. Then her eyes went to the hidden doorway. “Oh my,” she whispered. She drew in a deep breath, and then, to everyone’s shock, she snatched the birth certificate out of Sarah’s hand and made a mad dash toward the hidden door.

  “Stop!” Matthew yelled and aimed his gun at Betty.

  “No!” Sarah hollered and threw her body in front of Betty, expecting to be shot.

  “Get out of the way!” Matthew yelled at Sarah. He ran forward and shoved Sarah to the side just as Betty made her escape. “Get back here!”

  Mary quickly slammed the hidden door closed. “You’re going to have to shoot us first,” she told Matthew, feeling her heart pounding in her chest. She looked at Sarah. “You were willing to die for Betty. Thank you.”

  Sarah glared at Matthew with furious eyes. “I didn’t want to give this monster the chance to murder a second person,” she growled.

  Matthew looked at Mary. “Move out of the way or die,” he threatened her. “Enough games, my dear. I was willing to be patient until morning but when I came back to check on you I happened to hear the entire conversation. How foolish of you to speak in the open.”

  Sarah kicked herself. Revealing her presence had been very foolish but as she glanced over at Mary and saw the woman’s determined face, she felt a new strength enter her broken heart. “Cowards remain hidden,” she told Matthew. “I should have killed you days ago.”

  A hideous grin appeared on Matthew’s face. “I knew you were hiding in the walls, my dear,” he said, “like a rat. I noticed the small amounts of food disappearing from the kitchen. Oh, I knew it was you, my lovely…so very lovely you are.” Matthew’s grin widened. “I knew you hid my brother’s body from me. But a gentleman such as myself is always patient. I used your crime against me to create a scheme to rid myself of that awful brat.”

  “You’re a monster,” Sarah yelled.

  “A clever monster,” Matthew hissed. “Did you truly think I wasn’t aware that you were listening to every word I spoke to Brenda, my dear? A gentleman must understand the rules of chess. I needed to do away with two rats at once and was using my time very wisely to do so…until your friends appeared.” Matthew’s grin faded away. “Now you all must die.”

  “How were you planning to kill me?” Sarah asked. “You couldn’t find me.”

  “Oh?” Matthew asked. “My dear, sometimes you must burn a rat out in order to kill it.”

  Mary’s eyes widened. “You were going to burn down the mansion?” she asked.

  “After I located the birth certificate,” Matthew explained. “I assumed Brenda was hiding the birth certificate from me after I failed to locate it in my brother’s possession. I assumed she was keeping it hidden from me in order to stay alive. I was wrong.” Matthew frowned. “I do not like being wrong…and it’s unfortunate that I was forced to waste my time on that brat, sparing her life, assuming she was hiding my golden ticket.”

  “You killed my father!” Sarah yelled.

  “Did I?” Matthew asked. “I don’t think you are speaking the truth, my dear. As pleased as I am that my brother is dead, I did not kill him. I never intended to kill him. After I lured him to the mansion for a weekend trip away from his…new wife, I frightened him in such a way that he had an episode. I knew my brother was suffering from a weak heart.”

  “You monster…” Sarah growled and started for Matthew with her hands held out.

  “Please don’t, my dear,” Matthew warned Sarah, aiming his gun at her. “I do not wish to hurt a lovely face.”

  Sarah paused. “You deserve to die.”

  Matthew waved off Sarah’s threat. “After my brother became…disabled, so to speak, I took his place and traveled to Tennessee. I took the part of husband and father and after a short period of time forced my new family to relocate to Maine after I failed to locate my brother’s birth certificate. The time had come to use…threats…but on familiar ground, so to speak.” Matthew motioned for Sarah to step back. “My threats failed,” he continued in a sour voice. “My brother’s wife refused to surrender to me
, therefore I pushed her down the stairs in a fit of rage and focused my attention on Brenda, hoping she would begin to take my threats very seriously.”

  “You mean surrender the birth certificate you thought she was hiding from you,” Mary corrected Matthew.

  Matthew sighed. “Alas, sometimes a gentleman must resort to threats in order to subdue his foes. I regret having to become violent, but Brenda’s mother had to be…disposed of. Unfortunately, she remains alive…for the time being.”

  Sarah looked at Mary. “I’m sorry I manipulated Betty. I’m sorry I used a dying woman to lure her into this dark night. I hope Betty will forgive me.”

  “I already forgive you,” Betty yelled. “I’m behind the portrait…look up.”

  Matthew threw his eyes up at the portrait and saw human eyes staring down at him. “My dear,” he warned Betty, “return to this room or I will be forced to shoot your friends.”

  “You harm Mary or Sarah and I burn this piece of paper to ashes,” Betty fired back in a tough voice even though she was trembling all over. My, she thought, staring into the bedroom, what an awful, confusing, and dangerous night. “I assumed Maine was supposed to be a peaceful state full of beautiful parks, lakes, and gorgeous coast lines,” she whispered. “Boy, was I ever wrong. Maine is full of quacks.”

  Matthew lowered his gun. “My dear,” he said, forcing his voice to become pleasant, “why must you be so difficult? All I need is the birth certificate you’re holding, and I’ll be on my merry way. Brenda is the culprit you want, not me.”

  Sarah glared at Matthew with furious eyes. “You’re going to answer to the sheriff and then spend the rest of your life in a jail cell,” she promised.

  “Oh, be quiet,” Matthew snapped. “I have won the chess game.”

  “How?” Mary asked. “You lack the final move you need to put our king into checkmate.”

  “Oh, do I?” Matthew asked. “I have hidden Brenda someplace in this mansion. If you do not find her in time she will certainly die.” Matthew looked at Mary. “Brenda stabbed my brother in the back, not I. My brother was attempting to escape. How he regained consciousness is beyond me.” Matthew focused his eyes on Sarah. “Brenda spotted my brother staggering for the door. She ran into the kitchen, grabbed a kitchen knife, and returned just before he reached the door. I became fearful, so I turned off the lights hoping to help my brother escape, knowing he wouldn’t get very far…but alas, Brenda managed to…kill him.”

  “How do I know you’re speaking the truth?” Sarah demanded.

  “My dear,” Matthew replied, “my brother suffered from a weak heart. All I had to do was let time take its course.” Matthew held up his hand. “My hands are, sadly, hands of a coward. I do not possess the courage to…step outside of the shadows, so to speak.” Matthew shook his head. “I frightened my brother and forced him to have an episode. The task was very simple and clean…no mess. However, Brenda is a very hostile woman.” Matthew looked up at the portrait of Sarah’s mother. “I hid Brenda away after I showed you to this room. It was upon returning that I heard you speaking to my brother’s daughter.”

  “How do we know you’re telling the truth?” Mary asked.

  “Go visit Brenda’s room, my dear. She is not there,” Matthew replied. “Search the mansion. You will not find her…in time, that is. However, I will exchange her life for my brother’s birth certificate.” Matthew focused on Mary. “You and dear Betty are decent women, my dear. You care about the value of human life as to where I simply do not. I care about me, myself, and I. You have a conscience. I do not.”

  Mary struggled to understand Matthew. Was the creepy old man speaking the truth or simply casting a deadly web to trap her in? She felt the cruel hand of confusion grip her mind. And to make matters worse, she had nowhere to escape to in order to clear her mind. However, she quickly reminded herself, Betty had managed to escape—dear ol’ Betty who fainted at every sound had managed to capture a moment of courage and escape the clutches of a madman. “Betty, take the birth certificate and go hide. Matthew is powerless without it.”

  “But,” Betty objected, “I can’t leave you, Mary.”

  “Run!” Mary begged. “You’re our only chance.”

  “Oh,” Betty fretted, but she quickly backed away from the wall and vanished down a short hallway.

  “That was a very ugly mistake,” Matthew hissed at Mary. He narrowed his cold eyes and shook his head. “I so wanted to let you live, but now it appears that you will suffer the same fate as Brenda.” Matthew motioned toward the bedroom door. “Out into the hallway, the both of you.”

  Mary stared into Matthew’s eyes. “He’ll shoot us,” she warned Sarah. “I’ve seen that look before back in Tennessee when I was forced to fight a very corrupt FBI agent.”

  “He intends to kill no matter what we do,” Sarah told Mary but decided to do as Matthew ordered. In order to avenge her father’s death, she needed to remain alive. “We’ll cooperate,” she told Matthew and walked out into a beautiful hallway that broke her heart. How had such a lovely mansion her father had built for her mother become such a horrible, dark monster?

  Mary followed Sarah into the hallway. Matthew followed right behind her with his gun at the ready. “Down into the kitchen,” he ordered.

  “Do as he says,” Mary whispered to Sarah.

  Sarah nodded and began making her way down the hallway. “Where do you think Betty is?” she whispered.

  Mary glanced over her shoulder and saw Matthew aiming the gun he was holding more toward the floor than at her. “You’ll have to find out,” she whispered. “When I say so…run. I’ll stay with Matthew.”

  “What are you—”

  Before Sarah could finish her sentence, Mary drew in a brave breath, shoved Sarah forward, and then swung around and collapsed down to the floor, forcing Matthew to either trip over her or step over her, giving Sarah precious seconds. Sarah stumbled forward and crashed into the left wall, right beside a hidden door resting under a portrait of Ralph McCane. The eyes of the portrait were missing.

  “Oh, you’re brilliant,” Sarah said and vanished through the door before Matthew could fire a single shot at her.

  Mary lay very still, pretending to be unconscious. If Matthew was going to shoot her…well, he would shoot a helpless, unarmed, unconscious woman. Mary hoped that Matthew, who seemed to have a weakness for a pretty face, didn’t have the nerve to shoot a beautiful woman lying unconscious at his feet.

  “Such games,” Mary heard Matthew hiss. “No matter. No one will leave this mansion alive. My guard dog will destroy the first person who steps foot outside. In the meantime”—Matthew bent down and examined Mary’s face—“perhaps it’s time to make a call. After you wake up, of course, my dear,” he told Mary.

  Inside the hidden hallway, Sarah ran into Betty. “Where’s Mary?” Betty begged.

  Sarah pulled Betty over to the wall and let her look out into the front hallway through two holes in the wall. “Mary helped me escape,” she explained.

  Betty spotted Mary on the hallway floor. “Oh my,” she gasped. “Mary.”

  Sarah pulled Betty back away from the wall. “You stay with Mary and watch her. You must figure out a way to help her escape Matthew. I’ll go find Brenda.” And before Betty could say a word, Sarah vanished into the mansion like a broken rose.

  “Oh my,” Betty whispered and ran back to the two holes in the wall and looked at Mary. “What am I going to do?” A powerful roar of thunder that shook the entire mansion answered Betty. “What am I going to do?” And then an idea struck Betty’s mind. “Well, maybe my idea isn’t fancy but it’s daring.”

  Betty ran back to the guest bedroom, slipped out of the hidden door, crept into the hallway, and then yelled to the top of her lungs: “Help! Sarah is trying to kill me…help me!”

  Matthew flung his head around, looked down the hallway, and then bolted to his feet. “So my brother’s daughter does have a vicious streak after all,” he hissed and charg
ed down the hallway, leaving Mary alone.

  Betty quickly ran back through the hidden door, hurried down the hidden hallway, peeked out into the hallway, spotted Mary leaning up, and smiled. “It worked,” she said and dashed over to the hidden door and eased it open. “Mary,” she whispered, “hurry.”

  Mary threw her head up, spotted Betty holding open the hidden door, smiled from ear to ear, and hurried to her knees and got moving. Right as she reached the doorway, she heard a single gunshot race down the hallway.

  “Stop!” Matthew yelled.

  Betty grabbed Mary’s arm and yanked her through the hidden door. “Run!”

  Mary slammed the hidden door closed, engaged a lock, and followed Betty down a dimly lit hallway. “You’re my hero,” she told Betty. “Oh, you were so brave. I’m so proud of you!”

  Betty blushed all over. “Oh, I was only trying to be brave,” she said, coming to a stop. “Which way?” she asked, spotting the hallway she was running down split off to her left and right.

  “This way,” Mary said. She grabbed Betty’s hand and dashed off to her right, hearing Matthew struggling to open the hidden doorway. “We have to find Sarah. If Sarah locates Brenda, there’s no telling what she might do.”

  Betty looked down another dimly lit hallway. “I heard that creepy old man say he wanted to make a call, Mary. There has to be a telephone inside of this mansion some place. We have to find it and call the local sheriff.”

  Mary bit down on her lower lip. “What to do?” she said. “Search for Sarah or search for a telephone?”

  Another roar of thunder shook the mansion, reminding Mary that she was trapped in a dark and rainy nightmare that was far from over. She closed her eyes and thought of her husband. “John, tell me what to do,” she begged as Matthew quit struggling to open the hidden door and slithered away into the night.

  8

  “You have to find the telephone,” Mary begged Betty. “I hate to separate myself from you, but honey, we have no choice. I need to find Sarah. I can’t imagine what she might do to Cousin Brenda.”