Bone-a-fied Trouble

by Carolyn Haines

  “Deputy, I need to tell you about something I’ve set in motion. I may need your help, but it could lead to whoever has my sister.” She continued to talk as Budgie led her to his back door and showed her inside.

  The minute the door closed against the cold night, Roger was sneaking across the lawn to Trudy’s car. He opened the door and Trouble jumped on the back seat where he had a pile of things—papers and a business card.

  “Let’s go.” Roger picked up the cat who frantically tried to grasp the things he’d collected. “Hold your horses, I’ll get that stuff.” He put the cat down to retrieve the things and Trouble jumped to the front seat and began pawing at the dash area. Roger checked to be sure Budgie was still inside, and then used his phone light to check what the cat was after. The strange symbol that he’d seen on Trudy’s calendar had been scratched into the bottom of the dash. Trouble bounced to the back seat and again pawed at the items he’d collected. Roger snapped a photo of the symbol, picked up the items and the cat and eased the car door closed. He hurried back to the pickup with the cat in his arms. “Mission accomplished,” he said as he closed the truck door.

  “Me-ow!” Trouble pawed at the paper. “Me-ow!” His cry was insistent.

  “Simmer down,” Roger said as he unfolded the paper. The Google map gave directions to Tom’s Big Sizzle, a local restaurant and bar in Drew, Mississippi. Tabitha had said she was meeting her date in Drew. This was the place, and Trudy had been there. He felt the net closing around the people involved in Trudy’s disappearance.

  Beside the map was a dead flower—he had no clue if it was important, but the cat seemed to think so. And the last thing he picked up was a business card. Expensive. Financial planning. And the initials T&S. “Fighting for a clean earth.”

  While he was waiting for Tabitha to return to the truck, he used his phone to google T&S. A list of possibilities came up, but it was T&S Financials that caught his eye. His mother had said something about Antoine working in finance. Antoine and Hannah had been in the Delta for several weeks. Had they run up on Trudy somewhere? A much darker thought took hold of him. Were his mother and her lover involved, somehow, in Trudy’s disappearance? His mother was selfish and unprincipled, but he’d never considered she might harm another human being. He gripped the steering wheel and tried to figure out the best way to tell all of this to Tabitha. If there was a good way.

  He didn’t have long to think about it. Budgie’s front door opened and Tabitha stepped outside, followed by the deputy. Roger was again struck by her easy grace, and the sincere way she shook the deputy’s hand, thanking him for his help. Budgie watched her as she walked to the truck and got in. The deputy went back to his work at the garage.

  “I see you found the cat.” Tabitha stroked Trouble’s fur, smiling and shaking her head. “He is truly a source of trouble.”

  “Me-ow!” Trouble arched his back under her hand. He nudged the map, the card, and flower toward her, then tapped Roger’s cell phone on the front seat.

  “So this is the stash he found in the car?” Tabitha began to examine it. “I’m impressed.”

  Trouble pushed the phone toward her. She picked it up and asked, “Is there something on the phone?”

  Roger unlocked it and went to the photos. “This was on the dash, just under the driver’s side. Someone scratched it into the leather.”

  “That’s the same symbol on Trudy’s calendar.”

  “I know.” Roger set the truck in motion. “We have to find out what this is.”

  “But how?” Tabitha asked.

  “Maybe Budgie can help. He’s a genius at research. We can send him the symbol in an email or message and maybe he can figure out what it is. I’ll try to avoid saying how we got the photo.” Roger sent the email and then pulled away from the deputy’s neighborhood and was about to head back to Long Hall, but Trouble indicated he should head in the opposite direction, toward Zinnia.

  “I’m telling you, his person is staying in town,” Tabitha said. “Let’s have a coffee or a drink at the Prince Albert. Trouble will show us who he belongs to. I’m willing to bet you a martini on it.”

  Tabitha looked wrung out. Roger could only imagine her emotions with her sister still missing. He nodded. “And we can talk about these clues. Just remember, we have to be back at the house for dinner and the séance.”

  “I need to pick up a few things in town,” Tabitha said. “Paper, pens, a chalk board. I learned a few tricks in the French Quarter and tonight I think it might be the best opportunity to use them.”

  “Medium tricks?” Roger asked. He liked the idea that Tabitha was all in for helping him with his mother. He had a fleeting moment of guilt that he was about to manipulate Hannah, but it passed quickly. His plan was to make sure his mother—and Charline and Samuel—came out on the best end of things.

  “Not really tricks, but opportunities for any spirits to communicate. If the spirits are there and willing to connect, this gives them tools.”

  “I trust whatever you decide to do.” They’d arrived in town and he pulled into the parking lot of the Prince Albert. As soon as Tabitha opened the truck door, the black cat shot out, ran across the lot, and was waiting for them to let him into the hotel.

  “He sure makes himself at home,” Roger said, but he was impressed with Trouble.

  “Let’s follow him.”

  * * *

  Tabitha let the black cat lead her through the lobby toward the hotel bar where several groups of people were drinking, laughing, and chatting. Trouble headed straight into one group and jumped into the arms of a pretty red-haired woman who caught the cat and gave him a big hug and kiss.

  “What in the world have you been up to?” she asked the cat.

  He gave his signature me-ow and leaped from her arms, going back to Tabitha and Roger. It was clear to Tabitha that the cat intended to introduce them. She followed him to the woman and held out her hand, making introductions. “So Trouble is your kitty,” she said. “I was afraid he belonged to someone.”

  “Yes, he’s here with me for a booksellers’ convention. I’m Tammy Lynn of Wetumpka, Alabama.”

  Roger ordered a round of drinks and brought them to the small table where Trouble had jumped into Tammy’s lap.

  “Tell me what Trouble has been up to,” Tammy said. “He’s something of an amateur sleuth, and yes, I know how preposterous that sounds,” she added. “I knew he was busy with a case, so fill me in.”

  For twenty minutes, the three chatted, sharing stories of Trouble’s remarkable abilities to communicate with people.

  “He’s helping me find my sister,” Tabitha finally confessed. “Could we possibly borrow him for another day or so?”

  Tammy picked up the cat and stared into his green eyes. After a long moment, she nodded. “You can keep him until Sunday, but then I have to head back to Wetumpka. I have a business there.”

  “We’ll deliver him back to you no later than Sunday morning at ten,” Roger said. “If that’s agreeable.”

  Trouble hopped down and ran to the door of the restaurant. He let out a long, plaintive meow. Tammy sighed and shook her head. “He’s ready to go with you. I’ve learned not to fight him when he’s working a case. If anyone can help you find your sister, it’s Trouble. He has an uncanny ability to solve mysteries.”

  “So we’ve discovered,” Roger said. He stood and Tabitha rose with him.

  “Thank you,” Tabitha said, shaking Tammy’s hand warmly. “We’ll take care of him and he’ll be ready to travel Sunday morning if not before.”

  Tammy put a hand on her shoulder. “Take care. Trouble manages to evade danger, but there are cruel and mean people in the world. Keep yourselves safe, and always listen to Trouble.”

  “That’s an easy prescription to follow,” Tabitha said.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Long Hall glimmered in the darkening night as they returned to the plantation. Vesta and Pluto came out to greet them, and Charline swept them in the fr
ont door tut-tutting at the cold weather. “Come inside and have something warm to drink before dinner,” she said. “Samuel is making some Irish coffees.” She leaned closer to Tabitha. “All is in readiness for the séance.”

  “Thank you.” Tabitha took the bags filled with colored pencils, paper, chalk and other drawing supplies to the dining room and left them on the table. “When we need these, they’ll be ready.”

  Tabitha was intensely aware of the ticking of the grandfather clock in the foyer as she sipped her coffee and studied the other people in the room. Samuel and Charline, she’d grown fond of. Antoine studied those around him with quick glances, never a direct, confrontational stare. Tabitha couldn’t account for it, but there was an air of introspection about him. Whenever the spotlight hit him, he responded as a greedy gadfly, but in moments when he thought he was unobserved, he seemed almost…reluctant to be there.

  Hannah was busy playing the victim or the flirt. Yet she kept one eye on her son, and his scowl seemed to tone her down. She ignored Charline and Samuel, which was probably for the best. Roger, well, he was a force of energy, a man’s man but one with tenderness. He kept a watchful eye on her, and she was surprised at how much comfort it gave her. She would get through the evening, and she would accomplish her given task of bringing up a dead beau from Hannah’s past.

  The dinner hour arrived, and they moved to the dining room for the meal, which was a delicious dish of quail gumbo. “The cats were extremely happy with their dinner,” Charline said as she supervised the serving of the meal. Nancy had brought in two young helpers to serve the wine and decadent amaretto cheesecake dessert. The minutes sped by, counted by the old grandfather clock. There was something to the timepiece. Tabitha didn’t know how she knew it, but somehow the clock would play into the events of the evening.

  When the meal was cleared and the candles lit in the dining room, Tabitha laid out the ground rules for the séance.

  “If someone or something, like a pet, comes through for you, please don’t break the circle. There’s nothing to be afraid of. There are several spirits here who wish to be heard. Suellen is here, for Samuel and Roger. And there’s a young woman here.” She hesitated. She hadn’t planned on saying that, but she did have the strongest sense that a young woman was eager to connect with someone in the Long family. She smiled. “Suellen loves this room. And the morning room. The younger spirit is more…adrift. I have the sense she’s not certain she’s dead. There’s confusion all around her.”

  Roger stiffened, but he said nothing. He cast a look at Tabitha as if he questioned what she was about. She only smiled and looked into a far corner of the room.

  “And there’s a gentleman here, though he isn’t too pleased with the term gentleman. He’s wilder, more free, and he’s proud of his independence. He is indeed a very handsome young man, and he says…” She laughed out loud. “It doesn’t make any sense, but he says, ‘Hang ten.’ I have no idea what that means, but he is balancing, arms out…” She imitated the stance of someone surfing. “Exhilarating!”

  Hannah had gone completely pale, and she staggered so that Antoine caught her.

  “What foolishness is this?” Antoine asked. “Hang ten. What could that possibly mean?”

  “You’ve never caught a wave, have you, Antoine?” Roger said. “It’s a surfing term.” He looked hard at his mother. “You remember that summer at Big Sur? I’ve never seen you so happy before or since. I miss that, Mother.”

  “The past is done, Roger.” She hesitated and Tabitha thought she saw a crack in her veneer. “The good and the bad. It’s all gone. I’ve finally come to accept that and to try to let go of the anger.”

  “That was a lovely summer,” Charline threw in. “Samuel and I took Roger to the northern California coast. He was just a tot but he was determined to surf. You met Micah that summer.”

  “Let’s not drag up the distant past,” Hannah said, but she lacked the vigor of her usual pronouncements and her pallor was evident to all.

  Tabitha meant to move on, but the ticking of the grandfather clock seemed to paralyze her. And then she heard Micah’s voice. “Tell her to be careful. She’s playing a dangerous game.” Tabitha’s gut twisted as the sense of danger flooded over her, passing as quickly as it had come.

  Roger was watching her, but he continued to talk to the group. “Micah finally let me surf,” Roger said. “He said you were his perfect Gidget, Mother.”

  “Yes, and then he smashed his brains out on a rock.” Hannah had recovered her balance. “Thanks for the memories, Tabitha, but you can move on. I’m not about to fall prey to a little goading from the past. Did Charline or Roger put you up to this?”

  Tabitha shook her head. “No one can control the spirits that show up—or don’t show up. Not even me. I simply relay messages, and Micah says he’s never far and will always love you. He warns you that you’re involved in something perilous. Something secret.” She did see the young man clearly, amazingly so. If she took a minute to consider what was happening to her—to everyone in the room—she might be freaked out herself. Beneath all that she saw and felt was the ticking of the grandfather clock. “Time is fluid in the land of death,” Tabitha said. The words came to her, unbidden. “Micah says he expects great things from you, Hannah. Something about a law degree. And I’m seeing lush, green fields.”

  Hannah jumped to her feet. The glass of wine slipped from her hand and crashed against the fireplace hearth. “Enough. This is over.”

  “He’s fading away,” Tabitha said. “He says to live up to your potential, Hannah. He…He put his hand on his heart and then pointed at you. And he wants you to remove the layers. That’s what he’s saying. He says to reveal yourself. That others will be…amazed.”

  Roger spoke. “He did that all the time.” He looked at Tabitha. “How did you know that?”

  Tabitha felt a cold chill pass over her, and her teeth began to chatter. She wasn’t practiced at hosting séances, but the ones she’d attended—or the few she’d performed—had never left her feeling this way. It was almost as if someone whispered in her ear and the words came out of her mouth without effort. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t. I’m just saying the things that come to me, the images, the messages.” She tried to tamp down the fear that assailed her. She was no medium and certainly no psychic. She’d never really seen a ghost in her life, but right now, she clearly saw Micah Malone, a tanned beach boy with a shock of sandy white hair and a ten million kilowatt smile. “I love her,” he said before he disappeared. “Make her believe in herself. If she ever really did, she would allow herself to believe in others.”

  As he faded away, the clock struck ten.

  Tabitha was exhausted, but determined to relay the message. “He says he loves you, Hannah. He wants you to believe in yourself.” She slumped in her chair, exhausted.

  “What foolishness is this?” Antoine demanded. “Hannah has nothing to reveal. Nor do I. Messages from a dead lover don’t mean a thing to me or to her.”

  Looking at Hannah, Tabitha thought differently. The message from Micah meant a great deal to Hannah. Micah Malone’s visit had smote Hannah in a place Tabitha didn’t believe existed—her heart. She inhaled deeply and continued, hoping she might pick up something from Suellen for Charline and Samuel. If not, she’d make up something that gave them hope and comfort.

  “I’d like to try some automatic writing,” Tabitha said. “It’s a technique I’ve seen used a lot. You have to understand that I’m not practiced at it, but I have a sense it will be helpful.”

  “You’re going to put yourself into a trance and then let a spirit take over your hand to write on those blank pages?” Hannah had recovered from the shock of Micah Malone’s message.

  “I’ve had enough of this foolishness.” Antoine stood up. “If you’ll excuse me and Hannah.” He reached for her hand but she pulled back.

  “I’m staying. This is the best free entertainment around.”

  “If you insist
.” Antoine took his seat but remained worried and aloof. Tabitha wondered if he was frightened of something she might reveal.

  “Please, dim the lights and let’s light the remaining candles. I need to concentrate on emptying myself, so it would be helpful if you all focused on the candle in the center of the table. Try to allow yourself to see and feel whatever sensations or emotions come over you. Those of you who are sensitive will pick up on the spirits who are here to give us a message, and there are plenty here. Yes, Suellen, I will tell them.” Tabitha inhaled slowly. “Suellen wants you all to know she is happy to have everyone gathered here at Long Hall. It was a dream for her to see the family united.”

  “Hogwash,” Hannah muttered. “She’d be happier to see me on the far side of the planet. And the same goes for Roger.”

  When Roger started to respond, Tabitha lightly stepped on his foot under the table. “Empty your minds and open yourself to feelings and emotions.”

  She tilted her head back and went through the process Mama Bettite had taught her. She focused on exhaling all negative energy and allowing only white light to enter through her crown chakra. Calling upon the spirits around her, she mentally urged them to connect and communicate. Her fingers found one of the pencils Roger had sharpened for her and she put her hand on the page he held and began to let her hand circle. When the lead in the pencil snapped, Roger put another one in her hand. She filled the page with large, looping circles. Roger removed it, and she continued on a clean page.

  The only sound in the room was that of the pencil on the page, a light scratching. Tabitha forgot herself. She forgot the room and the people in it. She was lost in a floating sensation.

  Beside her Roger stiffened, but she ignored it. Tension built in the room around her, but she felt it only as if from a great distance. She was aware that she was making a strange sound, a seal-like bark under her breath. Her hand was moving across the page and she had no idea what symbols or words she was creating.