“Willy?” Elsbeth asked. “Were you scared?”
Willy trilled her melodic laugh. “Mon amie, I was petrified. I thought we would die down there with Monique. That they’d hide us in the food lockers, too.”
I glanced sideways at Willy. “It was pretty close. Too close.”
Elsbeth sighed long and low, and then with a teary sob, she linked arms with both of us. “I don’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to you two. First Siegfried, then…”
I leaned my head sideways, touching cheeks with her. “But we made it. We’re still here.”
Willy squeezed her arm and smiled. “Don’t cry, little one. And please. Tell us how your brother is doing.”
Elsbeth slumped a bit. “He’s no different. Well, his face has healed and they took off the awful mummy bandages. That part’s better, because I can see him again and talk to him easier, you know?” She took a deep breath. “They’re talking about moving him back to Rochester at the end of the summer if he doesn’t respond by then. They’ve been looking into special places for coma patients near where we live.”
The idea of Siegfried not coming around sooner than the end of August made me shudder inside. How could that ever happen? We needed him to complete our trio. After all, we were the three Musketeers of Sullivan Hill, weren’t we?
Willy gave a sad smile. “We never got to do our ceremony for Sig. Do you think they’d still let us go up there together now?”
“I don’t know. After all that’s happened…” I glanced up at the house, where my parents were having a deep discussion with Officer Lawson.
We’d already told him the whole story about Pierre and his father. They’d found Monique’s body inside the fireproof freezer locker. And they wouldn’t say a word to us about the whereabouts or status of the LaFontaine men, which was driving me crazy. I think they were trying in some misguided way to protect us, but the more we didn’t know, the harder it was not to imagine the worst.
“I’ll ask if we can go up with my parents,” Elsbeth said brightly. “They still go up every day to visit him.”
“Bon,” Willy said. “We really need to try.”
“Maybe we can cause some kind of distraction,” I said, thinking aloud. “If we could just get him to ourselves for fifteen minutes without people coming in and out of his room…”
The girls looked at me as if I’d become a criminal mastermind.
“Well, I don’t mean to do anything illegal. I’m just trying to figure it out,” I said apologetically.
“Non, non,” Willy said quickly, shaking her head. “I think that is brilliant. We need to come up with something.”
Elsbeth sat up straighter. “Maybe we could release a bird in the hallway. Something they’d have to chase for a while.”
“I like it,” I said, warming to the idea. “Or a little rabbit. Something harmless.”
“Would they let us stay overnight, Elsbeth? Like you do? At night it would be quieter and easier.”
Elsbeth brightened “Maybe. I can ask my mother. Tell her I need my friends to be with me, something like that.”
We all exchanged a conspiratorial glance.
“A little prayer, guys.” Elsbeth took our hands and we closed our eyes. “Lord. Help us heal Siegfried soon. Amen.”
“Amen,” Willy and I said simultaneously.
Chapter 40
Elsbeth, Willy, and I gathered on the living room porch that evening with Carmen, Bosco, my grandparents, my parents, and the Marggranders. Elsbeth swung on the glider with Willy and Bosco. I stood gazing over the lake, where the eerie tremolo of the loon wafted across the silky black surface. The water was calm, swelling lightly against the granite boulders below the dock. The moon was nearly full and its silver rays danced on the shimmering surface as if thrilled to take over for its cousin, the sunlight.
“So you see,” Elsbeth said in her sweetest voice. “We need to be with Siegfried after all of these terrible things happened to us. He is the glue that holds us together.”
“He grounds us,” I added, turning back to the adults who had been listening politely to Elsbeth’s proposal of a sleepover at the hospital tomorrow night. “And he’s my best friend.” I let a little wobble enter my words, but it wasn’t hard to do as I really felt it coming on, anyway.
Elsbeth said, “We could stay in those guest rooms they let us use. Those two couches would be good for Gus and Willy to sleep on. And Mama and Papa, you would be with us at all times.”
My father spoke up for the first time after Mr. and Mrs. Marggrander turned to him with a questioning glance.
“There could be some real benefit in getting the kids away from this crime scene, folks. A night away in a clean, safe place could be just the ticket. And then there’s the chance to see Siegfried together, as a group. Now that they are lifting his visitor restrictions, it might be, um, cathartic for them to see him like that. Together.”
Mrs. Marggrander added in a soft voice. “You would have to listen to all the rules, meine Kinder. No loud talking. No eating in his room.”
Elsbeth almost scoffed. “But of course, Mama. We already know that.”
My grandfather stood and stretched. “I think it’s a great idea. I’ve drafted a number of staff members from The Seven Whistles to help me cook and feed our swelling crowd here. So I don’t really need you kids to help in the kitchen for a while until we find a way to get these folks released and home to the Bayou.”
That addressed my last concern. I hadn’t wanted to let my grandfather down in the kitchen. But with his blessing, I knew we were almost there.
“Aunt Carmen?” Willy said in her sweetest voice. “Would it be okay with you?”
Carmen chuckled good-naturedly. “Oh, mon Dieu. I feel like we have been mightily ambushed, folks. By a group of pretty smart kids, too.” She let out a long sigh. “And there’s nothin’ in my heart that says it’s a bad idea. So, it is okay with me.”
I tossed a questioning glance at my mother, who’d been quietly listening. “Mum?”
“Um, yes. I’d rather get you away from here for a bit. I feel like the police still haven’t resolved all the issues, you know? Like who set the fire. Like who’s still missing. It could be dangerous. So yes, you have my vote to spend tomorrow and the next evening overnight at the hospital with Siegfried and his parents.”
The three of us sensed that this was the final word, and we jumped for joy, grabbing each other’s hands and swinging in a circle.
By the time we all dispersed and wandered off to bed, my mind was reeling with possibilities. At night, we might just be able to sneak into Sig’s room without having to smuggle a rabbit inside. It might just work.
***
In the hospital the next night, I lay on the couch beside Elsbeth’s bed, checking my watch every few seconds by the light of the hallway. Almost two in the morning. Almost time for our ceremony. I shivered with excitement under my covers.
We’d scoped out the schedule and from what we could figure, they didn’t check Siegfried as often as they did before, now that he was stable and only on a few machines. It looked like a few minutes past two would be our window of opportunity as the nurse who did his checks worked her way down the whole ward and back again within the next hour.
I saw Elsbeth’s eyes gleaming with excitement as she peeked at me under the sheets and let out a quick giggle.
Willy shifted on her couch on the other side of the room.
Mr. Marggrander let out one huge snore worthy of a lumberjack, making me jump. He rolled over, snuffled a little, and then went quiet.
A few equipment bells dinged in the distance, and I now realized they meant someone’s IV was ready to be changed or that one of their machines needed resetting. Soft footsteps pattered in the direction, farther down the aisle.
We sat up in unison when I loosed a low hoot. Just one hoot. Not two or three. Not enough to gain anyone’s attention.
Mrs. Marggrander sighed and spoke a few
muttered words in German in her sleep. I hoped she wasn’t dreaming of the concentration camps again.
We froze until she calmed down, and then carefully grabbed our knapsack. In stocking feet, we slithered to the doorway and peeked out.
One nurse pushed a cart from the opposite direction.
We shrank back against the wall, and when she passed, we padded down the hall to Siegfried’s room on the far end. Grateful that he wasn’t anywhere near the nurses’ station now, we waited a beat while Willy checked to be sure the room was empty, then slid inside and let the door close softly behind us.
Chapter 41
The light in the bathroom cast its rays into Sig’s hospital room; the very same bathroom my friend had never used or even seen with opened eyes.
I hurried after the girls. Willy quickly unzipped the backpack at the foot of his bed.
There was only one IV in his arm now, and the catheter that helped him pee was on his left side, too, so we avoided the tubes and stayed on his right.
He looked so much better, like the Sig I loved and missed. Although there was still a small square bandage on the side of his head, it was clean and dry. His hair had grown so long it almost covered the thing. I could imagine him whole again. Normal again, my good old pal.
“Hey, buddy,” I whispered in the softest voice possible. “It’s us. We’re here. Together.”
I swore I saw his face twitch into what I wanted to interpret as a smile. Just briefly. Just a hint. But then again, I wanted it so much, I may have imagined it.
I stood at his head, Willy took the middle, and Elsbeth leaned over the foot of the bed, arranging the items we’d all brought.
Willy chose a few items first. “Siegfried, mon cher ami. I haven’t known you too long, but I have grown very fond of you. I feel a connection with you, and I know you are in there, waiting to be released.” She picked up two white pine branches with soft feathers of pine needles still attached, then dripped several droplets of oil from a vial on top of them. It smelled of cinnamon and cloves, and when she waved the branches over his body like a fan dancer, the room filled with the fragrance of Christmas. “Blooga meeka reezie,” she whispered three times. “This means, ‘O spirits, release our friend back to this realm,’” she said to him. “Blooga meeka reezie.”
We froze and spun toward the door when a sound came from the hall, but whoever it was passed by without noticing us.
Willy turned back to the bed. “Phew. Elsbeth, your turn,”
Elsbeth brought out one of Sig’s favorite books, The Call of the Wild by Jack London. She splayed open the cover and held it wide open, letting the pages flutter and ripple above his legs and feet. “Dearest brother. I know you love this story and I want it to flow inside you so you can feel the pull of the real world. The Call of the Wild now means The Call of Us, your family and friends, pleading with you to return to us. We need you. We miss you.”
Willy nodded to her. “Now say the words.”
Elsbeth lowered the book reverently and laid it on the rolling cart. “Blooga meeka reezie.”
It was my turn. “Last summer when we trimmed our horses’ manes and tails, we saved three hunks of hair, remember?” I removed a braid from the pile of items on the foot of the bed. For some reason, I always carried it in my backpack to remind me of my horse when I was away from home. “This has hair from Pancho Villa, Golden Boy, and Frisbee, all three of our horses. And we will ride again this fall when you are back to yourself. I want you to hold this and remember. Remember how wonderful our times were in the woods and our amazing adventures with Penni and Tully. We will have so much fun this year when we go home to East Goodland again, Sig. And you need to be right there by our side, riding on Frisbee. Okay?” I tucked the braid under his pale, cold hand.
Willy gave me the nod.
I whispered the words with all the feeling I could muster, praying a bit at the same time. I figured God could really help with this. “Blooga meeka reezie.”
Elsbeth began placing items around Siegfried’s pillow and blankets. His calculus workbook, a yellow yo-yo, a stuffed bear that no one was supposed to know he still kept close at hand, and his favorite tee shirt. I added his goggles and the ball of rubber bands we’d been working on growing all year.
“Now,” Willy said. “Hold hands and repeat the mantra three times.”
We linked hands solemnly.
“Blooga meeka reezie. Blooga meeka reezie. Blooga meeka reezie.”
We stood quietly for five more minutes, watching and waiting.
Elsbeth uttered a little sob. “Nothing’s happening.”
Willy shushed her. “No worries, little one. Sometimes it takes time. Now, it is time to remove these healing items so no one knows we were here.”
Reverently, we repacked his things as well as the pine branches. A slight trace of the oils remained in the room. That we wouldn’t be able to erase, but I also figured there was no way they could trace it to three little kids staying down the hall.
We tiptoed back into the empty hallway and ran back to our room to wait. And hope. And wait some more.
Chapter 42
The next morning, we said our goodbyes to Siegfried, and except for the lingering essence of the cinnamon and clove aromas, there was no trace of our ceremony the night before.
Siegfried’s eyelids didn’t flutter. His fingers didn’t twitch. And we left feeling heavy-hearted.
Back at Loon Harbor, the place was awash with people and activities. Two police cars were parked at the top of the hill, and I spotted Officer Lawson in a head-to-head conference with my grandparents on the office porch.
Willy went off to find her aunt and brother—who were staying in a cabin near Wee Castle—and Elsbeth followed her parents down the hill.
I wandered over toward the office, trying to be quiet so no one would notice me. I sat on the bench beneath the railing by the sandy trail that led down to the first dock, where I could hear the conversation above me.
“So, I just wanted to give you an update, folks,” Lawson said somberly.
My grandmother muttered something encouraging, and he went on.
“Mrs. LaFontaine is doing well in the burn unit up in the Augusta hospital; they moved her there yesterday. She needed a special team to deal with the burns.”
My grandfather made a sympathetic noise in is throat. “Poor woman. She’s been through hell and back. Losing her daughter. And what with her son and husband missing…”
I inhaled sharply. So Mr. LaFontaine and Pierre were among those they hadn’t found yet. I didn’t like the sound of that.
“We have news, however, about Mr. LaFontaine,” Lawson said. “I'm afraid it’s rather unsettling. You might want to brace yourselves.”
My grandmother snorted. “For Heaven’s sake, Officer Lawson. We’re not tenderfoots. Blurt it out.”
“Sorry, Odette. I should know you’re made of strong Maine stock.”
“You’re darned tootin,’” she said emphatically.
Lawson paused for a moment. “Okay, here it is. We found Mr. LaFontaine in the basement of the lodge. He’s dead.”
My grandfather said, “He died in the fire?”
Officer Lawson cleared his throat and lowered his voice. “No, he didn’t. He was murdered before the fire was set. Shot in the head with what seems to be an old service revolver. One of the workers pointed out that Mr. LaFontaine’s weapon was missing from its lockbox when we had them go over the charred remains of the owner’s possessions.
Visions of Pierre waving a gun around swam at me. I remembered seeing a black metallic revolver poking out of his mattress during that mad rush to find the padlock key.
They kept talking, but my mind had taken over now.
Mr. LaFontaine was murdered?
There was no one else who could have done it. Pierre killed his own father after they both locked us in the freezer. Then he set the whole place on fire.
But why?
Had his father tried to re
ason with him and suggest they turn themselves in? Or was it something else? And how would we ever know?
Worse than that, where in the world was Pierre?
I glanced around the woods, wondering if he was spying on us even now.
Had he run for the hills? Turned tail and tried to put as much distance as possible between himself and the camps?
How would he survive? What would he eat? Where would he sleep?
I had to talk to the girls and let them know what I’d found out.
Like a jackrabbit, I hopped up and flew down the hill toward Elsbeth’s cabin. When I reached her front porch and was about to knock on her screen door, my mother hailed me from Wee Castle.
“Gus? Honey? You’re home?”
I realized with sudden shame that I hadn’t even said hello to my parents since coming home from the hospital. Without missing a beat, I hurtled down the steps and over to my mother. “Hey, Mum. We got home a few minutes back. I was just—”
“Come over here.” She pulled me to her and hugged me, right out in public on the porch.
I didn’t fuss about it, because she seemed really glad to see me. “Where’s Dad?”
“He’s fishing, actually. Went out at dawn. I packed him a lunch and he’s been on the lake all morning.”
“I hope he catches some nice bass,” I said. “I love the way you fry them in the skillet.”
She smiled down at me and ran her fingers through my long hair. “I know you do, sweetheart. And my, your hair is really long now. Are you happy with it?”
This was one battle I’d won. Finally, my hair hung over my collar in the back and over my eyes in the front. I’d been ecstatic that they let me take over the decision on when to get a trim. So far, I’d pushed it as far as I could without any repercussions. Maybe they figured that if I couldn’t see where I was going I’d ask for a trim some day.
Voodoo Summer (LeGarde Mysteries Book 11) Page 18
