The Lodge at Whispering Pines

by Melissa R. L. Simonin

  “What?” Xander exclaimed, visibly upset. “I don’t believe that! You know him too Miles, sort of, anyway. That doesn’t sound like him at all! He and my cousin are good friends, I can’t believe he’d do that!”

  “I’d never think so either,” said John, frowning a little. “But without Anika’s abilities, then it’s impossible to know what really lies beneath the surface. Have you been able to talk to him?”

  “No, but Xander’s trying to set that up,” I said. I wanted to calm Xander down, so I added, “I’m only repeating what we were told by Violet’s parents when we spoke with them today, before she was moved to Memorial Hospital.”

  “What?” said Annette, completely puzzled.

  “Violet isn’t dead,” said Doreen. “She’s in a coma.”

  “You’re kidding!” said John.

  “No, she’s telling the truth,” said Miles, and we all laughed, and then so did he. “I wasn’t trying to steal your thunder dear, sometimes that’s just the natural thing to say.”

  “That’s perfectly okay,” I said, squeezing him hard, which made him laugh again. “Violet has been in a coma ever since she was injured. She was moved today to Memorial. They can take much better care of her, than the hospital she was at.”

  “I’ve felt pressure exerted on the force field every day at noon, then it slowly dissipates over the next twelve hours. That’s when she wakes up. When that pressure is exerted again, she falls asleep for about twelve more hours, and wakes again around noon. This cycle is consistent, but the amount of pressure has increased. Something is trying to pull Violet away. She said this has happened many times before, and that’s what I feel. We wonder if it’s medication she’s been receiving.”

  “Could that—be a good thing, though?” asked John hesitantly. “If this medication or whatever is trying to pull her away, couldn’t it be trying to pull the part of her sitting out there in the chair, back where she belongs?”

  “She’s often confused, but one thing she’s certain of,” I responded. “She doesn’t want to be pulled away.”

  “If pressure is exerted again tonight after midnight,” said Miles, “then I’ll be inclined to believe it’s for her own good, in spite of how she feels about it, since she’s now at Memorial and under the care of a team of neurosurgeons that I know personally and trust.”

  “But if she’s still confused like she has been, you’re not lowering the force field, right?” I asked.

  “Let’s see what happens tonight and then make a determination,” Miles said.

  “Well if they were giving her something at that hospital that made her confused, then she’ll feel better the longer she’s away from there,” said Doreen. “Just because she wakes up doesn’t mean it’s all wore off, right? Couldn’t it still make her confused for a while?”

  “That stands to reason,” said Miles.

  “So if she doesn’t go to sleep but’s still confused, wait, and maybe we can talk to her tomorrow,” Doreen reasoned.

  “Is it possible the first hospital had her in a medically induced coma?” asked Jenny. “Maybe that’s what this medication is.”

  “I suppose it’s possible,” I said. “Why would they want to do that, though?”

  Doreen had her iPad out. I can’t say that surprised me. Everyone else considered the question, but came up with nothing.

  “Okay, so medically induced comas are the same as anesthesia,” said Doreen. “They use anesthesia to do it. The coma protects the brain if it’s injured, because the injured parts may not get the blood they need anymore, so if those injured parts need less energy then they can maybe heal, even though they aren’t getting as much blood.”

  “So if she’s been in a medically induced coma and that’s what’s necessary, we’ll know sometime after midnight,” I said. “How’s that pressure now, Miles?”

  “Continuing to lessen. I’ll let everyone know the closer she gets to waking up, so we can move into the sitting room with her.”

  “So when do we get to talk to Spence?” Doreen asked Xander.

  “As soon as I get a call back and can arrange it,” said Xander.

  “If Spence knows there’s a witness claiming to have seen him assault Violet, then he’s feeling overwhelmed right now,” said Miles. “It’s not surprising he hasn’t returned your call.”

  “Tell him if he’s innocent, then you have friends who will prove it,” I said. “But we’ve got to talk to him to do that.”

  “Call him now,” said John.

  “It’s kind of late,” said Annette, looking at her watch.

  “It is,” he agreed. “But if he’s been falsely accused of attempted murder, then he’s lying awake worrying about it, not sleeping.”

  “Good point,” Xander said, and took out his phone.

  “Leave a message if he doesn’t answer,” Jenny hurriedly added, and Xander nodded as he held the phone to his ear.

  “Hey, Spence. It’s Xander Thomas. Look man, I found out today what’s going on. I don’t think you hurt your girlfriend, and if you didn’t, I’ve got friends who can prove you’re innocent. You’ve got no idea what these people have done for others, they’re amazing. Call me back and I’ll put you in touch with them.”

  Xander ended the call, and we sat and waited. Doreen watched us wait for several seconds, then sighed deeply.

  “He may not call back tonight you know. We should talk about something else, not watch the phone.”

  “Alright Doreen, what do you suggest?” Miles asked.

  “Let’s talk about what Violet said today when we talked to her. We haven’t done that, we had to go right away to the hospital to help her parents.”

  “What happened to her parents?” Jenny asked in alarm.

  “The O’Neills had trouble getting their daughter transferred to Memorial,” I said, cramming the whole incident into a nutshell. “We went to the hospital and took care of it.”

  “So back to what we were saying, Violet went to the party and she and Spence wanted to leave,” prompted Doreen.

  “Violet brought a jacket with her,” I said. “She and Spence wanted to sneak out, so she went upstairs to get it.”

  “She put it on under her costume because otherwise people would see it and know,” said Doreen. “Why was her jacket upstairs, though?”

  “Maybe everyone put their jackets on the guest room bed,” said Annette. “That’s generally what people do.”

  “Oh.”

  I was trying to remember what else Violet said.

  “She said someone almost saw her, but didn’t,” said Miles. “She said it was dark and there was no moon.”

  “That’s right!” I said. “I don’t think she’d mention the absence of the moon if she was inside the house.”

  “There was a moon,” said Doreen. “A half moon, at least.”

  We all looked at her.

  “I’m not too old to go trick-or-treating,” said Doreen a little indignantly. “I remember there were dark clouds that would cross over the moon, and it looked so spooky when they did.”

  “Then the moon must have been covered by clouds when no one saw her,” I said.

  “Why would she be outside when she put the jacket on?” asked Annette. “If she was already outside she would have been seen carrying the jacket through the house, which would defeat the purpose.”

  “Once she was outside, what would it matter anyway?” wondered Jenny. “She could put the jacket on over her costume or even get in her or Spence’s vehicle and then do it.”

  “I don’t suppose anyone’s been to or seen Professor Frederick’s house, have they?” asked Miles. “I’d like to know if there’s an upstairs balcony.”

  “We can try and find out from Violet when she wakes up,” I said.

  Xander’s phone rang, and we all jumped and stared at it.

  “It’s Spence,” Xander said, controlling the excitement in his voice. “Hey, Spence. How’s it going?”

  Xander listened, his eyes serio
us.

  “That’s awful, man. So do you know who’s saying this?”

  We waited, motionless, as Xander listened some more.

  “I don’t know if I’d be so understanding. I guess I can see it from their side, but blaming the wrong guy doesn’t help anyone. Hold on just a second, and I’ll ask.” Xander turned to us. “When can you meet with Spence?”

  I thought fast.

  “Tomorrow morning, ten-thirty,” I said.

  “I have youth group then!” said Doreen indignantly.

  “Oops,” I said, and she scowled.

  Miles nodded slightly to Xander, and he turned back to his conversation.

  “How’s ten-thirty in the morning, tomorrow?” Xander asked Spence, and then looked back at us.

  “The coffee shop on Church Street and 7th Avenue,” I said.

  Miles and I would be able to talk to Spence openly without my sister listening in, and we’d be nearby and ready to pick Doreen up when her youth group let out. It was win-win as far as I was concerned.

  “I don’t know, do you remember my friend Miles? He took the same class I did last semester. Yeah, that’s him. You’ll be meeting with him and his wife. Like I said in my message, just tell them you’re innocent, and they’ll find a way to help you out of this. Yeah, I’ll do that. Talk to you later, then.”

  Xander pressed the end button on his phone.

  “Thanks, Xander,” said Miles.

  Doreen looked grumpy.

  “How about some popcorn?” I asked, looking at her. She gave me a slightly more cheerful look.

  “Do we have some?” she asked.

  “Sure,” said Miles. “You can help me make it, if you want.”

  “You need help putting it in the microwave?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. I rolled my eyes.

  “I could probably manage that much on my own,” he smiled. “I’ll show you how to make it on the stove top though, if you’d rather do that than be bored. It’s a lot better than the microwave kind.”

  “Can I put butter on it?” she asked, warming to the idea.

  “A reasonable amount,” said Miles.

  “What’s reasonable?” she wanted to know.

  “Less than you want, but probably more than your Mom would let you use at home.”

  “Okay, I’ll help,” she said, hopping up.

  “We’ll be back in a few minutes,” Miles said. He kissed me, then followed Doreen.

  “He may not need help with the popcorn, but that kid’s a live wire,” Xander said quietly to Jenny, Annette, and me, as he and John followed along. That made me laugh.

  “So, Annette,” I turned to her after the guys had time to get to the kitchen. “How do you like married life?”

  “I’m so happy we did this,” she smiled. “I didn’t want to wait, and I’m glad John didn’t. He thought I wanted a wedding, but I couldn’t care less about that.”

  “But you’ve looked at Bride magazines as much as I have,” said Jenny. “I thought that, too.”

  “Yeah… as a girl, you’re supposed to want that, right? I’ve listened to Miles and Anika talk though about what they wanted to do, and why, and I think of how brief a wedding is and how much time and money goes into making it happen, and I wanted to take that time and spend it being married, instead.”

  “I completely get that, and if I could go back in time, that’s the one thing I’d do differently,” I said. “No, I’d do two things differently. After freeing Miles, I’d be in the SUV driving to the hospital where he was, as fast as I could, and skip out on the month and a half of sheer torture. No, wait. I’d drive with Miles to the hospital parking lot, then free him, then go in and find the neurosciences ICU. Or I’d find the ICU, and go inside and free Miles once I was in Second-Miles’ room. Then, I’d demand that we get married immediately. As soon as he was out of emergency surgery.”

  Jenny and Annette were both laughing.

  “Do you think that would’ve worked?” asked Jenny.

  “Hospitals do have chapels, so they have chaplains, right?” I asked.

  Annette laughed too.

  “I can just imagine your parents discovering as soon as the heir awoke, you proposed marriage to him between surgeries, bringing a chaplain with you to seal the deal.”

  I started to laugh, oh my goodness, they would have been horrified at me! No way would Miles and I ever be left in charge of one of my siblings if I’d done that! If only I had! Life would be so much easier right now!

  Our laughter eventually died down a little.

  “Well you won’t believe this,” said Jenny, “as much as Xander talks the way he does and teases Miles and Anika, but we’ve talked about doing the same thing.”

  “You’re kidding!” I exclaimed. I did not see that coming.

  “I did not see that coming,” said Annette, as stunned as I was.

  “Yeah. Mom can’t afford a big wedding, and no way am I letting Xander pay for it,” Jenny said firmly.

  “Well… why have a big wedding?” I asked. “It doesn’t have to be. You told me about Nate and Lizzie’s wedding, and I’ve seen the photos. It was beautiful.”

  “Xander’s got a huge family though,” said Jenny.

  “So… invite just parents,” suggested Annette. “Or parents and grandparents, maybe siblings.”

  “He’s got a lot of siblings,” said Jenny. “All of them are married and have kids, too.”

  “So just parents and grandparents then,” I said. “See, Annette and I have this all figured out! Scoot over there Jenny, and let us take care of this for you. We’ll be sure and let you and Xander know when and where to show up.”

  Jenny laughed, and so did Annette and I.

  “You’ve given me something to think about anyway,” she said, looking thoughtful.

  I heard Doreen laughing, and soon she, Miles, John, and Xander walked back in the family room with bowls of popcorn to share.

  “Chip likes popcorn, did you know that?” she asked, laughing again as he followed her and sat down near the couch on which she sat, respectfully yet hopefully watching her and her bowl.

  “Yes, I know,” I said, and smiled at Chip. He looked at me when he heard my voice and smiled back, then turned his attention to Doreen’s bowl again.

  “Can I give Trixie some too?” asked Doreen. “Where is she?”

  “Asleep in front of the sitting room fireplace,” said Miles. “I’m not sure if she should have popcorn now, though… it’s got a lot of butter on it, do you think that would be okay?”

  Miles looked to me for the answer.

  “I’ve no idea what’s okay and what isn’t, when a dog’s expecting puppies—”

  “What?” our friends all said at the same time, their heads whipping in our direction. It startled me a little.

  “Yeah, did we not tell you that?”

  “No!” exclaimed Xander. “When in the world did that happen?”

  “Well, uh, about a month ago as nearly as we can estimate,” I said, giving him a strange look.

  “No, I meant—I don’t know what I meant!” said Xander. “So you didn’t know? When did you find out?”

  “We had no idea,” said Miles. “She’s never had puppies, and it never occurred to me that she would. But she informed us recently she’ll be having some in about a month.”

  “You must have been just—shocked,” said Annette, looking a little stunned herself.

  “You could say that,” said Miles.

  “Man,” said Xander, still trying to process that.

  “Well—what are you going to do?” asked Jenny.

  “What is there to do?” I asked.

  “I won’t be taking her to the vet to get checked out, she’s made that clear,” said Miles. “She insists she doesn’t need any help, and unless she asks for it, to let her alone.”

  “Well, dogs do have instincts,” said practical John.

  “Unless Trixie decides the puppies need their own homes someday, they’ll stay with us,�
� I said. No one had asked, but everyone would, if I didn’t make that clear. Who wouldn’t want one of Trixie’s puppies, after all!

  “There could be as many as twelve,” said Miles, still trying to get used to that thought.

  “Good grief, that’s a lot!” said Xander. “I can’t even imagine trying to walk them all! Will they even fit on the elevator?”

  “Not when they’re grown,” I said. “Not all at once. If we have them here once they are, they’ll have to go out in shifts.”

  “Or, they may be able to take themselves,” said Miles. “If they’re like Trix, they’ll just vanish and reappear outside, then show back up when they’re ready to.”

  Several sets of eyes got wider at that thought.

  “You know, in spite of how challenging life will be if they do have her abilities… the thought of only having to walk Chip, is kind of appealing!” I said.

  “When I think of fourteen dogs to walk, yeah, it is!” agreed Miles, and he laughed.

  His phone buzzed, and we all grew silent as he removed it from his pocket.

  “It’s our PI,” he said, and answered. “Hi, Jackson. What’ve you got?”

  Miles listened in silence, and the rest of us waited with bated breath. I was close enough to hear some of what was said, but not all.

  “Alright. Thank you,” said Miles. “That’s very helpful. When you hear back from him, let me know what else he says.”

  Miles pressed the end button on his phone and returned it to his pocket.

  “The eyewitness to the assault on Violet, is Professor Frederick’s daughter. Gina Frederick.”

  Chapter 20

  “You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Xander exploded.

  “What?!” I exclaimed.

  Jenny groaned and held her head in her hands.

  Annette looked annoyed and more than a little angry, and John rolled his eyes.

  Doreen looked really confused.

  “What? What’s the matter?” she wanted to know.

  “She’s his daughter?” I looked at Miles in disbelief.

  “Apparently so,” he said, his eyes serious.

  “It doesn’t surprise me at all, knowing her,” said Annette, her eyes snapping.