French Quarter Clues

by Eva Pohler

  The old Native American woman, who had lived for decades in the abandoned building across from Cain’s Ballroom, had seemed happy and at peace with what had become of her home. She’d been allowed to keep her old room, its interior walls and furnishings new, and she seemed to enjoy being the caretaker and manager of the place. Since its grand opening, Monroe’s Social Club had been booked every Saturday for wedding receptions, birthday parties, family reunions, and other celebrations, and its doors had been opened every Friday night for the public to skate, bowl, and dine.

  When they reached the front of the line at the Mercantile, an old man with bright blue eyes stepped from the restaurant, and Ellen, eager to learn everything there was to know about the Pioneer Woman’s menu, asked, “How was it? Was it good?”

  “Always is,” the old man replied in a gravelly voice.

  “This is my first time,” Ellen said. “What would you recommend?”

  “The Marlborough Man Sandwich,” the man replied. “It’s the best thing on the menu. And get it rare.”

  “Mmm, that sounds delicious,” Sue said. “Thanks for the tip.”

  “Can you believe they made me pay today?” the man asked.

  Ellen gave her friends a look of confusion. Why wouldn’t the man be made to pay?

  Before they could ask, the hostess waved them inside for a table, and, as the young woman handed over the menus, she said, “I see you met Chuck, Ree’s father-in-law.”

  Ellen’s mouth dropped open as she took her seat. “That was Chuck?”

  “As obsessed as you are with the show, I’m surprised you didn’t recognize him,” Tanya, taking the seat beside her, commented.

  “He seemed shorter in real life,” Ellen said. “On TV, he looks so much taller and bigger.”

  “Are you going to get the Marlborough Man Sandwich, like he suggested?” Sue asked, as she opened the menu.

  “I can’t believe I just talked to Chuck!” Ellen pulled out her phone to post about it on Facebook.

  Once the surprise had worn off, Ellen returned to her senses and decided to try the French Onion Soup and Olive Cheese Bread. Sue stuck with Chuck’s recommendation, and Tanya chose a salad. For dessert, the three friends shared a bowl of Tres Leches before heading over to the shopping side of the Mercantile, where Ellen bought a set of nesting bird measuring cups and an apron.

  Afterward, Ellen drove the rental past the Drummond Ranch to the lodge, where The Pioneer Woman was filmed. If it hadn’t been for the wind, the summer heat would have exhausted them as they walked across the parking lot, past a few other cars already there. The view out to the ranch from the hillside lodge was breathtaking, so they snapped a few photos before entering the building.

  Ellen rushed behind the kitchen bar, where Ree always stood during her show. “Take my picture!”

  Sue took one and then asked another woman if she would mind taking one of the three of them. Sue and Tanya joined Ellen behind the kitchen bar, where they pretended to be cooking together with the props on the counter. Ellen quickly posted the photo to Facebook but was disappointed by the shadow on Tanya. Otherwise, the photo was a hoot.

  From the kitchen, they walked past the farmhouse table and the chunky fireplace, to the living area, where the television was playing one of Ree’s shows.

  “I have to use the restroom,” Tanya muttered as she went on ahead of them down the hall.

  “Didn’t she just go before we left the Mercantile?” Sue said with a laugh.

  Ellen shrugged. “You know how it is for us of the thimble-sized bladders.”

  Ellen watched the show on the television for a few more minutes before she followed Sue to the first bedroom. They passed a pair of sliding barn doors leading to the restroom, and inside, as clear as day, was Tanya sitting on the commode behind a beveled glass door.

  Ellen grabbed the barn doors and cried, “Oh, my gosh, Tanya!” as she pulled them closed, noticing two women, who’d gone ahead of them, giggling.

  “You can see me?” Tanya shouted from the commode.

  “Can you see us?” Sue asked.

  “Yes, but…” Tanya leaned over her lap, trying to hide.

  As Ellen pulled the barn doors closed, she thought she saw something else, too: a dark, menacing face just behind Tanya.

  Sue shook her head. “If you can see us, we can see you. Or did you think it was like a one-way mirror inside an interrogation room?”

  “Oh, hush!” Tanya complained.

  Ellen turned to Sue, who stood beside her laughing. “Did you see that?”

  “Apparently everyone did,” Sue said.

  The women ahead of them broke into laughter.

  “Guys, I can hear you!” Tanya called out.

  Ellen lowered her voice. “Not Tanya. Look again.”

  Ellen pulled the barn doors apart, just a crack, so Sue could take another look. Crouched in the corner, behind Tanya, was a dark shadowy figure with bright, red eyes.

  “Guys!” Tanya shouted. “Close the doors!”

  Ellen closed the doors, but not before a chill crept down her spine and every hair on the back of her neck stood to attention.

  “We need help,” Sue whispered. “And we need it now.”

  Sue and Ellen didn’t mention what they’d seen to Tanya as they made the return trip to Tulsa, because they didn’t think it would do her any good. Moreover, Tanya had been feeling dizzy and carsick, and the terror of knowing she had a demon on her back wouldn’t help her condition. It was hard enough on Ellen and Sue knowing it was in the car with them. Ellen felt her hands shaking, and she found it difficult to concentrate on driving.

  During a roadside stop, while Tanya was in the restroom, Sue told Ellen that she’d texted Lexi about an emergency visit with her pastor. The pastor had agreed to meet them that evening at his church, which was in the same neighborhood as Lexi’s house.

  Once they were on the road again, Sue concocted a story for Tanya about wanting to see Lexi’s place. It wasn’t really a lie—they’d all wanted to see it before Tanya had become ill.

  “That sounds fun,” Tanya agreed, unplugging her phone from the car charger. “Something’s wrong with my phone battery.”

  Ellen and Sue exchanged knowing looks in the rearview mirror.

  The one-story bungalow was adorable. Lexi had her mother’s good taste in interior decorating.

  “This could be in a magazine,” Ellen said, as she admired the farmhouse style that had become fashionable from Fixer Upper.

  Lexi, playing along with Sue’s plan, said she really wanted to show them her new church.

  “I just love my new pastor!” Lexi said, feigning more enthusiasm than she probably felt—not that she didn’t really love her pastor.

  “I don’t know,” Tanya said. “I don’t think I feel up to it.”

  “It’s just around the corner,” Sue said.

  They all piled into the rental, including Lexi, who sat in the back seat with her mother. But when they arrived at the church, Tanya refused to go in with them.

  “Maybe it’s best you wait in the car,” Sue finally gave in. “We’ll just be a minute.”

  The pastor greeted them at the doors to the parish, shaking each of their hands and giving Lexi a hug. He was younger than Ellen and Sue—perhaps mid-thirties—with receding blond hair and green eyes. He was also short—about Sue’s height—and a little round in the center.

  “Thanks for meeting us on such short notice,” Sue said. “We have a bit of a spiritual emergency.”

  “Come into my office,” he said, leading them down the righthand aisle, through a doorway, and into a rectory. “It’s just this way.” He opened another door and motioned to a sofa and a chair opposite a desk, behind which he took his seat. “Lexi told me you’re concerned about a possible demon attachment?”

  “Yes,” Sue said. “It’s our friend Tanya. She’s out in the car.”

  “She wouldn’t come inside the church?” he asked.

  “She said she d
idn’t feel well enough,” Sue replied. “But she was just in the hospital, where the doctors found nothing wrong with her.”

  Ellen cleared her throat. “Pastor, would you mind explaining to me what a demon is?”

  Sue lifted a finger. “It’s one of the fallen angels who sided with Lucifer.”

  “Not always,” the pastor said. “In my experience, it’s usually someone who doesn’t want to let go of power after they’ve died. They latch onto a person who’s been weakened by illness, depression, or addiction.”

  “Tanya recently had surgery,” Ellen pointed out.

  “And I think she still suffers from depression,” Sue added.

  “What makes you suspect a demon attachment?” the pastor asked.

  Ellen and Sue recounted all they had witnessed in Tanya, including the peculiar odor, the nightmare, the nausea and dizziness, and the figure they’d seen behind her through the beveled glass of the bathroom door at Drummond Lodge.

  “I see,” he finally said. “Well, if this is, indeed, an attachment, you’ll want to act quickly, before the demon takes possession of her. If that happens, well, saving your friend’s life becomes much more difficult.”

  “Saving her life?” Sue asked.

  Ellen’s mouth dropped open. “She’s in danger of dying?”

  “Absolutely,” the pastor said. “Demons—whether human or not—feed on the life energy of souls. It will eventually take possession of her body and use it until there’s nothing left.”

  “Oh, my,” Lexi cried, covering her mouth. “What can they do, Pastor John?”

  “We need to bring her into the church and submerge her in holy water,” he said. “But, if she does have a demon attached to her, getting her into the building will be no easy task.”

  “Can’t we just squirt her with holy water, if she won’t come?” Sue asked.

  “You don’t want to risk the demon attaching itself to you,” he said. “Just bringing her into the church might be enough to get it to leave. The holy water is an insurance policy.” Then he added, “I’ll wait for you in the back of the church near the baptismal fountain.”

  “Now?” Ellen asked. “You want us to bring her in now?”

  “The sooner the better,” Pastor John replied.

  Ellen and Sue returned to the parking lot and were startled to find Tanya vomiting in the grass just outside of the rental.

  “Tanya?” Ellen rushed to her friend’s side.

  “I need to get back to the hotel,” she said. “I feel like I’m going to pass out.”

  Sue and Ellen each took an arm and helped their friend to her feet.

  “We need to tell you something,” Sue said. “But it won’t be easy.”

  Lexi stood on the church steps a few yards away, wringing her hands. “Mom?”

  “Coming, darling,” Sue said.

  “What?” Tanya asked Sue. “Aren’t we leaving now?”

  “Not yet,” Sue said.

  Tanya pulled away from them with surprising strength. “I said I want to go back!”

  “Easy,” Sue said.

  Ellen was too shocked to say a word.

  “You have a demon attached to you,” Sue explained. “We need to take you into the church to get rid of it.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Tanya said. She turned to Ellen. “Do you believe this crap?”

  Ellen nodded.

  “Well, I think it’s crazy,” Tanya said with a laugh. “I’ll be in the car when you’re ready.”

  “Wait,” Ellen said, finally finding her tongue. “Suppose it is crazy. What would it hurt?”

  Tanya stood by the opened door of the passenger’s side of the rental. “Me! You know I don’t feel well.”

  “It’ll just take a minute,” Sue said. “In and out. Then we’ll go get some Braum’s ice cream. How does that sound?”

  When Tanya began to climb into the rental, Sue surprised Ellen by grabbing their friend’s arm. She couldn’t recall ever seeing Sue move so swiftly. Ellen rushed over and took Tanya’s other arm. Together, they tried to drag Tanya into the church, but her strength proved too much for them.

  “Enough!” Tanya growled in a low, guttural voice. “Quit treating me like a child!”

  Ellen and Sue released Tanya and glanced back at Lexi.

  “Thank the pastor for us and come on,” Sue said to her daughter. “This isn’t going to work, after all.”

  Back at the hotel, Ellen and Sue sat on the bed opposite Tanya’s, trying to think of a way to help their friend. Each time one of them asked how she was feeling, Tanya insisted she was fine and that they were making a mountain out of a molehill.

  Then Ellen had an idea. “Maybe we should visit our old friends while we’re here—you know, Carrie French, Eduardo Mankiller, and Miss Margaret Myrtle?”

  “Good idea,” Sue said, taking out her phone. “I’ll see if any of them are available.”

  Tanya took out her phone, too. “Darn, my phone’s dead again. Would you mind getting my charger for me, Ellen?”

  “Not at all.” Ellen crossed the room, unplugged Tanya’s charger from the desk, and carried it over to her friend, whose face had returned to its pasty pale color. The dark circles had returned around her eyes as well.

  Sue climbed to her feet. “I guess I’ll turn in for the night. I’ll let you know if I hear from any of our old friends.”

  “You aren’t leaving me here alone, are you?” Ellen asked.

  “Gee, what am I? Chopped liver?” Tanya shook her head. “See you in the morning,” Tanya said to Sue.

  Ellen gave Sue an urgent look and mouthed, Don’t leave me here.

  Then Sue said, “Maybe it would be a good idea for me to go get my stuff and move in here for the night, just in case Tanya gets sick again.”

  “That’s crazy,” Tanya insisted. “I’m fine.”

  “I think it’s a good idea,” Ellen said gratefully as Sue left.

  Ellen was terrified to be alone in the room with Tanya and her demon. It was scary enough to be around benevolent spirits, let alone an evil one. The room was too dark and quiet as Tanya sat bent over her phone.

  “What are you doing?” Ellen asked.

  “Playing Solitaire. Why? Do you want to do something?”

  “Do you mind if I turn on the television?”

  “Not at all.”

  Ellen grabbed the remote from the bedside table and pushed the power button. Finding the guide, she looked for HGTV. She accidentally selected the wrong channel showing a gospel choir in blue gowns singing a lively hymn.

  Ellen glanced at Tanya to see if the religious hymns affected her, but her friend was lying on top of the covers playing Solitaire on her phone and seemed unchanged.

  Tanya looked up at her. “What?”

  “What do you want to watch?”

  “It makes no difference to me.”

  Ellen changed the channel to HGTV.

  After an episode of Property Brothers, during which Ellen had continually glanced over at Tanya, except when she was occupied with trying to decide which brother she had the biggest crush on, Ellen received a text from Sue: Carrie French is here. You and Tanya should join us downstairs for a snack.

  Ellen replied: Okay.

  “I just got a text from Sue. Carrie French is downstairs. Want to join?”

  “I don’t know,” Tanya said. “You go on without me.”

  “Oh, come on. Don’t be a party pooper.”

  “I said go!” she growled.

  Ellen jumped to her feet and slipped into her shoes. “If you insist. I won’t be gone long.”

  “Take your time,” Tanya said in her usual friendly voice.

  But Ellen wanted the demon to know she’d be right back and said again, “I won’t be long.”

  When she reached Sue and Carrie at the hotel bar, they wanted to know where Tanya was.

  “She wouldn’t come with me,” Ellen said. “What should we do?”

  “Carrie has some good advice,” Sue sai
d.

  Ellen noticed an ambulance parked outside the hotel, its lights flashing without the siren. “What’s going on out there?”

  “A woman had a heart attack in the hotel lobby,” Sue said. “I don’t think she made it.”

  “Oh, no. That’s awful.” Ellen took a second look at Carrie, who’d cut her long, curly brown hair into a much shorter style. Ellen liked it. “Anyway, back to Tanya. How can we help her?”

  “Before you do anything,” Carrie said, “You and Sue need to get authentic gris-gris, but it won’t be easy.”

  “What’s that, and where do we get it?” Ellen asked.

  “New Orleans,” Sue replied. “Carrie says it will keep the demon from attaching to us.”

  “But what about Tanya?” Ellen asked. “What if the demon possesses her before we get the, what is it called?”

  “Gris-gris.” Carrie lifted a small cloth pouch from between her breasts. The pouch hung from a thin leather strap around her neck. “I wear one at all times. Everyone on my team does.”

  “I wish you would have mentioned this before,” Ellen said.

  “It probably wouldn’t have done any good,” Carrie said. “Authentic gris-gris aren’t easy to come by. You need to visit an actual Voodoo high priestess in the Crescent City. And don’t buy the crap in the French Quarter shops or online. It’s fake stuff for ignorant tourists. Some of it might be authentic, but it’s best not to take any chances.”

  “How long do we have before Tanya’s possessed?” Sue asked Carrie.

  “It’s hard to know,” the paranormal investigator replied. “But I wouldn’t wait. I’d fly to New Orleans as soon as possible. Tomorrow, if you can. I’ll give you the name of someone who might help you.”

  “Might?” Ellen asked.

  “She’s extremely skeptical about people who come to her for help,” Carrie explained.

  “I wonder why,” Ellen said.

  “Propaganda.” Carrie took a sip of her drink.

  “What kind of propaganda?” Ellen asked.

  “Back in the day, Louisiana portrayed Voodoo as something evil and barbaric, either because of racism or because Voodoo threatened the spread of Christianity.”