A Shadow of Death in The Woods (34 page)

Chapter 58

The Lawn Gathering

Lydia rode to Bill’s house in my car. I parked on the street so that I could easily leave when I wanted. There was a mob of people and cars. We walked around the house to the back. What I saw didn’t surprise me because I knew the Woodwards and Simpsons. They had a large tent erected and long tables of foods and tables for sitting and eating. We got our food and sat at a table by ourselves. I had explained the situation to my friends so it wouldn’t be embarrassing. I told them that we would be treated as pariahs.

Woody and Lorraine came over and sat with us. I introduced them. I half expected Dragon to show up but he didn’t. He was probably higher than a kite. I was hoping that Ann would show up but I didn’t see her. Probably she was afraid it would upset Katherine because of our romantic past or maybe she had a medical emergency.

The food was great and we had our fill. It was time to get away. I remembered that Bill wanted to talk with me but I didn’t take it very seriously. I didn’t owe anyone here anything but before we could leave Bill came over to get me. Bob said he was flying back now, which was fine since I was driving anyway. I said my goodbyes and followed Bill into the office that he had in his house.

On the way Katherine intercepted us. Bill went on into his office and left us alone. I didn’t know what to say and since she is the one who initiated the contact, I let her take the conversation lead. She said that she was glad that I came and she wished me well with my girlfriend. I explained that Lydia as not my girlfriend but was my neighbor. Katherine’s voice was a little slow and maybe slurred. I imagined that she was on drugs to get through the day. She said, “Jack, wake up and smell the coffee. That woman with you is in love with you.” I denied this and she insisted. She said, “Lydia hasn’t left your side or lost visual contact with you the whole time today. Even as we speak she has her eyes boring into me. And furthermore, I know you and you are in love with her. Don’t waste it. I am happy for you.”

I was stunned. I didn’t know what to think. Lydia and I had been spending a lot of time together and it was a good time but I had never thought of her as girlfriend. I didn’t think I was ready for that kind of relationship and besides I thought that Lydia would take my head off if I suggested such a thing. After all she didn’t date. I would have to think about it later. Bill was waiting for me.

He fixed a Manhattan for me with a thick slice of orange and two cherries. Bill had been planning this. You don’t have thick orange slices unless you plan ahead. Bill said that he wanted to talk with me about a few things. He wanted me to give him a dollar and sign a contract, making him my legal lawyer so anything that was said would be confidential by law. I gave him a dollar and signed the contract, mainly out of curiosity.

He then began telling me that he had a pretty good idea that I had a key role in finding Will. He cited the things that he thought he knew. He also pointed out that I was one of the few people who could turn a man’s head around backward. He knew that I had done that to the guy who killed Will.

I was wondering where all of this was going. Confidential or not I wasn’t telling Bill anything or confirming anything.

When he finished, he said that he and the family wanted to thank me and those who had helped me for getting Will back. I didn’t know what to say. I was horrified that he had talked with the family about this.

I said, “Look Bill, even if I did what you say, there is no way I could confirm it with you, confidential agreement or no. We all have lost a child in death. This is a terrible tragedy and I don’t wish to say anything to minimize the pain you all must feel. However, I draw your attention to the fact that almost a year ago you all deprived me of two children I loved as my own. I was not allowed to see the children even at a distance. Because of that I lost my home, my job and I had to leave town. Now after all that why would I do anything to help you or your family? Think about it. Have your family think about it. If I did do anything to get Will back, it would have been for Will and myself, not for you or your family.”

Bill, sat back in his seat, looking shocked. It was clear he was not expecting this. I told him it was time that I got back to West Virginia.

He said, “Wait. Jack, I think I can get the family to relent and give you visiting rights with Laura.”

This surprised me. I thought about it and said, “No, Bill, it is too late. If I visited Laura now, it would only be a selfish act. It would confuse her. She has already lost me. It is better that we keep it that way. It breaks my heart but it would break my heart to see her go through the pain of seeing me off and on and try to deal with me not being there for her. Let’s leave it where it is.”

I got up, leaving him sitting in a chair, a defeated man. I walked outside. It felt good to get out of the house into the fresh air. The fall air was crisp. I drew in a chest full and blew it out with a lot of stress going with it. I felt freed from a group of people who had never accepted me as I am.

I noticed that most of the people had left. There was a small group around Katherine, consoling her. I was about to cross the lawn and make my way to my car when someone grabbed my arm. I turned and was surprised to find Lydia. She was back hanging onto me for dear life.

She said that the rest of the gang had flown back. They left her here to ride back with me. They didn’t think I should be left alone. After hearing what Katherine said to me and the fact that they let me drive out here alone, I wasn’t so sure that this was the case. Maybe Lydia had manipulated things to ride back with me.

Surprisingly, it gave me a good feeling, thinking that maybe she had managed a ride back with me. We walked to my car and got in. In the old days with bench seats, you could tell where you stood (or, in this case, sat) with a woman. If things were romantic, she would sit over next to you. If things were cooler, she stayed over on her side of the car or perhaps in between. It was Detroit’s romance scale but sadly, it was gone and guys like me were left on our own, isolated by the console. And that wasn’t a good thing. I fired up the motor and we started back to West Virginia.

We were two lost souls driving along in a car as if we knew where we were going. In truth we had no idea where we were going. We acted like we knew. So much of life is faked.

Chapter 59

Home

Most people think that Ohio is flat and boring. That is true in the north but southeastern and eastern Ohio have beautiful rolling hills We were taking secondary roads back to West Virginia. It wasn’t as fast as roaring down the Interstate but we would see more. I wanted to drive more slowly and mull things over.

Lydia sat on her side of the car, watching the scenery, not saying anything. Both of us were silent, thinking whatever it was we were thinking.

The last year of my life was unbelievable. I had lost my home, my family, my job and had to move out of my city. I moved to West Virginia and, with one thing leading to another, I had killed five men. I felt terrible about the first. It made me sick. The other four had little effect on me, which made me wonder what kind of person I had become. Was I now a soulless man, a killer of no remorse? Somehow such thoughts were more upsetting than getting sick over the first killing.

I felt bad seeing Will buried. It is heartwrenching to see a child buried no matter whose child it is and if it is yours, it is very, very sad. This is especially true in modern times where with the advances of medicine we expect children to live. This wasn’t always true. In the 1800s parents had many children and didn’t expect them all to live. They even reused names, which is very confusing to genealogists.

My love for Katherine was extinguished over the past year. Still my heart went out to her during the funeral and interment. She looked like she had aged substantially. Her anguish over losing Will had to be awful.

I decided to focus on the positives, and there were many. I was lucky and had landed in a group of great people who had become my friends. That in itself was remarkable. When I first met Bob and Jane, I thought that I had a very good chance of dying on that weekend. I remembered feeling guilty about my family losing me. I guess the joke was on me because I ended up losing them instead.

I know that my death was considered very carefully that weekend. Mike wanted to kill me. Bob and Jane wanted me to live. Paul was on the fence. It was still my belief that Frankie saved my life.

She is an amazing person. She is extraordinarily beautiful and a talented artist. She made two paintings for me and refused payment. She delivered them to my apartment and spent a lot of time talking about her paintings. She and I had become friends.

One time when Frankie had been at my apartment a long time, Mike showed up wanting to know what was going on. I told him that I had received a painting from Frankie and she was explaining her ideas behind the painting. He looked at the painting and saw only a picture. I saw feelings. The painting pulled me into the scene and gave me great feelings of hope and rejuvenation. It was a scene in a forest in the spring time when the wild flowers were in bloom. There were some shadows in the painting alluding to the possibility of evil. I loved the painting and I loved to hear Frankie talk about painting it. Frankie had painted it specifically for me. I tried to explain to Mike how deeply the painting affected me. I think I half convinced him. Some generous glasses of Bob’s brandy worked on the half that wasn’t convinced.

The painting told me that Frankie knew a lot about what had happened in The Woods that day. She understood it and she understood me. The painting had deep emotions embedded in it. Strangely it didn’t remind me of the event or depress me. Just the opposite; it gave me hope for a better day. I guess that is why I liked the painting so much. I am sure that is the message that Frankie was sending me with the painting.

Frankie was one of the surprise characters in the group. She was smart and excelled at judging the character of people. She had a tough childhood, which she refused to talk about. I always enjoyed talking with her. She was an excellent artist and a good friend.

And my job at Bob’s company was another unbelievable development. It was a job that I loved and I got paid more money than I ever dreamed of making. Along with the truck garden I was living better than a king.

The wild card in the deck was Lydia. She was another surprise character. I had not come to terms with her. We ate meals together but that was mainly because I hated being alone. At least that is what I told myself. It was also an excuse to cook some decent food. It was always better to be cooking for more than one person.

Interestingly, it took Lydia a while to accept the painting from Frankie. Lydia accused me of being in the woods with Frankie looking for wild flowers. It took me hours to convince Lydia otherwise. I hadn’t thought about it before but now I wondered why Lydia cared so much whether I had been with Frankie looking for wild flowers.

I missed my family and previous life but to be honest I was well set up in the mountains of West Virginia. We were an unusual and great group of friends.

I was deep in thought when I had the sensation that someone was calling my name. Finally, I realized it was Lydia, trying to get my attention.

She said, “Wow. Where were you? You seemed to be a million miles away.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I was. Sorry.”

“I was just trying to ask you over to my apartment when we get back.”

At first I thought I hadn’t heard this right. Maybe I had fallen asleep and was dreaming. I was stunned. I said, “I would love that but I am okay. You don’t have to do anything for me tonight.”

She said, “I have several kinds of cheeses and crackers that you like. I have sweet green grapes that you like plus lots of other fruit. I have the olives that you like. I have a bottle of white wine that I know you like. And I have a bottle of Bob’s brandy. If that isn’t enough food, I can fix peanut butter sandwiches or toast.”

I noticed that there was no food cooked by Lydia. I said, “I had a lot to eat at Bill’s house. I don’t need much food. The wine, cheese, crackers and fruit sound great and I never turned down an olive.”

I moved around in my seat to see if I was awake. Conversations like this could be the results of a dream. I discovered that I was awake.

She had to have been planning this for some time because she had all the food lined up. I knew that Bob had flown up to get her and flew her to Ohio. So how did she get the food to her apartment? She must have had Momma deliver it to The Cabin. Or maybe Bob was in on the scheme. Bob or Momma wouldn’t be allowed in her apartment so the food must be in the general kitchen. It was a mystery. I would find out when we got to The Cabin.

Bob and the others had left Lydia in Ohio to ride back with me. Whose idea was that? Lydia claimed it was the group’s idea. Lydia had been planning this all along. She had stayed in Ohio to be with me. Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice would say.

I couldn’t move much in my seat. The Lexus was small for me. I really needed a truck but I didn’t like driving a truck on trips and to certain social functions. I spread out as much as I could. I usually rode with an arm on the center console with my hand on the shift lever. It gave me a little more room.

I was mulling things over when I felt something soft on my hand. It felt like a butterfly had landed on my hand. I looked and Lydia had put her hand on top of my hand. I looked at her and she gave me a smile that sent my nerves tingling throughout my body. It reminded me of the time I first met her and shook her hand. I smiled back.

Clearly something was going on. Katherine’s words came back to me. Maybe she was right.

I relaxed. For the first time in a year I felt like I was going home.