Beyond Midnight (29 page)

Two words, both music to her ears.
"
Yes?
"

"
I
'
ve wanted to call you but I wouldn
'
t let myself.
"

Her heart started a free-float. She was responding to his tone more than his words. She smiled and said softly,
"
You
'
re not under any obligation—
"

"
I decided I couldn
'
t go running to you for advice about every little thing,
"
he explained,
"
like some kid in his first chemistry class who
'
s afraid he
'
s going to blow himself up. So I
'
m toughing it out with Katie. I
'
ve made some
progress; it
does seem to feel a little more natural, although— hell, who
'
m I kidding? I have a notebook filled with questions for you.
"

Helen laughed and said,
"
That
'
s all tight. Fire away.
"

"
Wait, let me just close the door,
"
he said.

She heard him walk across the room, heard the sound of a heavy door slipping into place. His voice dropped to a low, concerned tone.
"
Katie seems to have changed her mind about The Open Door.
"

"
Because...? Is she having that hard a time with her mother
'
s death?
"

"
She has her bad days,
"
he admitted.
"
But it
'
s more than that. She seems to be afraid of the school itself. Afraid of the teachers there. Afraid,
"
he said finally,
"
of you.
"

****

Peaches waited until she heard him hang up the phone, and then she eased the extension into its cradle. Sooner or later she had expected Katie to voice her vague fears to her father. Sooner was better, actually. It might keep Katie out of The Open Door and away from Helen Evett.

But now she
'
d been thrown a curve. She
'
d just heard him invite the Evett woman to the house so that she and Katie could get to know one another. The direct approach: how very typical of him. It was his greatest strength and his most exasperating weakness.

Well, she
'
d have to deal with it. There were angles she could play. Helen Evett had been at the house just once before, and when she left, Katie
'
s mother was dead. It was an easy, frightening association, one which Peaches had been pointing out to Katie whenever she could.

How would it be, if she ratcheted up the fear? What if Katie were made to understand that the next time Helen Evett showed up, someone else might disappear?

It could be Peaches. Perhaps Daddy. Maybe even Katie herself.

On Saturday morning Katie
'
s father was in his office on the first floor of the mansion, running the numbers on a possible stock acquisition. A national HMO was rumored to be eyeing a regional HMO, and he had to decide if there was money to be made for his shareholders in the process. Quite obviously, he did not want to be disturbed.

Quite obviously, Peaches would have Katie to herself until the arrival of Helen Evett.

"
I
'
m expecting Helen at two, but don
'
t mention it to Katie,
"
Nat had remarked. He didn
'
t explain the reason for the secrecy and Peaches, of course, had no need to ask.

She took Katie, sluggish from a big breakfast, upstairs to the nursery to wash her and change her and poison her mind. Time was running out. Although Katie had been sad and vulnerable on Thursday, Thursday had felt too soon. Friday hadn
'
t been any good, either. The child had been cranky and unreceptive all day. It was now or it was never.

"
Come,
sweetie, time to get dressed,
"
said Peaches in her most caressing voice.
"
Would you like to wear the pink top, or the yellow one?
"

"
Pink,
"
said Katie, sitting on the carpeted floor of the dressing room, busy with her feed-and-wet doll.

"
And which jumper? The blue one, or the green one?
"
Katie looked up and pointed emphatically to the apple green gingham frock that Peaches was holding in her left hand.

"
Good choice! This will make a pretty outfit,
"
said Peaches to the child.
"
Would you like to wear a ribbon in your hair today?
"

"
Uh-huh. Can my dolly have one, too?
"

"
Oh, for sure,
"
cooed Peaches.
"
Let
'
s see. What would be a nice ribbon for dolly? I
'
ll look through the basket.
"

Peaches poked around in a basket of bows that lay on top of one of the painted white chests and pulled out a pink bow for Katie and a red ribbon for her doll.

"
You know, it
'
s a good thing I
'
m here, isn
'
t it, Katie? Because I
'
m big enough to reach things on this dresser.
"

"
But I
'
m not,
"
agreed Katie, taking the red ribbon from Peaches.
"
I
'
m just liddle.
"
She fussed with the ribbon, twisting it around the doll
'
s blond hair without being able to tie it.

"
And I
'
m big,
"
Peaches repeated,
"
so I can do things for you, and take care of you.
"
She knelt down next to the child and gently took the ribbon from her.
"
But sometimes I
'
m afraid that I won
'
t be here to do things like this; like tying this ribbon in dolly
'
s hair.
"

"
Why?
"
asked Katie with a surprised—and alarmed— look on her face.

"
Well, you remember how we talked about when Mommy went away so suddenly? Do you remember what we said?
"

Somewhere in her subconscious, the child obviously remembered that there was a distressing connection to her mother
'
s disappearance. Her fine, dark brows drew down in worry; her round cheeks got a little bit rounder as she pursed her lips in concentration.
"
When Mommy went away she diddent say good-bye,
"
she murmured, hurt all over again.

"
That
'
s right. She didn
'
t. And do you know why?
"

Katie started to say something, then stopped. Her mouth was a little open, as if her words were too afraid to make the leap.

Peaches wanted Katie to come up with the name of Helen Evett on her own.
"
Katie? You remember,
"
she coaxed.

Whether Katie remembered or not, she never got the chance to say so, because an ear splitting alarm went off just then on the first floor.

"
A fire!
"
said Katie, responding to a much more obvious association.

Who could tell? Peaches had no choice but to grab up Katie and rush her down the stairs to safety. Nine chances out of ten it was a false alarm, but Nat wouldn
'
t want his nanny making that judgment on her own.

At the door to the kitchen, they discovered the cause: billowing smoke from a pan on the stove, left to burn by the Cook Who Drank.

Damn!

Nat had got there first and was pu
ll
ing the safety on a large fire extinguisher as they watched. Unaware of their presence, he worked quickly to put out the flames, spraying chemical foam over the pan and some nearby newspapers that had also caught fire, not stopping until the extinguisher was emptied.

After he was done he turned to the cook, who was leaning against the wall, weaving in place and staring at nothing. Peaches wasn
'
t sure the woman even knew there
'
d been a fire.

"
That
'
s it. You
'
re fired,
"
Nat said with repressed fury.
"
Get out. Now.
"

The smell and the mess were horrendous. The commercial range and the butcher-block counters were covered in sticky white goo. Nat was clearly about to let loose with a stream of invective when he saw his wide-eyed daughter, clinging tightly to her nanny.

"
Katie,
"
he said soothingly.
"
Isn
'
t this a mess! I guess we won
'
t be eating chicken nuggets for lunch, will we? Maybe we
'
ll just have pizza.
"

With impressive sangfroid Katie said,
"
It isn
'
t even lunchtime.
"

Nat threw a deadly look at his retreating, staggering ex
-
employee and said,
"
You
'
re absolutely right, punkin. But when it
is
lunchtime, that
'
s what we
'
ll order.
"

He took Katie from Peaches and said apologetically to the nanny,
"
I hate like h—the dickens to ask you, Peach, but can I beg you to make some kind of pass over this mess? After that, call in some professionals to finish the job.
"

"
Think nothing of it, Nat,
"
she said reassuringly.
"
I
'
ll be glad to do it.
"

"
Thanks. You really are a Peach. And one last thing,
"
he added, lowering his voice.
"
Make sure she leaves. Pronto.
"

"
Where is she going?
"
piped up Katie. Her voice was high and strained, on the way to panic.

Excellent. Peaches bent her head sideways in a tender way and said with a soft smile,
"Shhh. N
o place very far, honey.
"

In a painfully jovial voice Nat said to his daughter,
"
How about a little horsie ride into Daddy
'
s office? While Daddy works, you can draw or paint or
...
something. Whatever. God—the timing!
"
he moaned, and marched off with Katie on his shoulders.

The timing stinks,
agreed Peaches, surveying the mess.

****

At exactly two o
'
clock they heard three strong whacks on the brass-ship door knocker.

Most visitors rang the bell. Peaches, who
'
d barely had time to peel off her rubber gloves and change back into decent clothing, allowed herself a startled gasp.

Katie picked up instantly on Peaches
'
s reaction.
"
What was that?
"
she asked, staring with big eyes into the hall.

"
I
'
ll get it,
"
said her father quickly. He threw down his newspaper and walked out of the music room, leaving Peaches alone with his daughter.

"
Goodness,
"
she said to Katie when Nat was out of earshot,
"
that scared me. Who could it be that doesn
'
t ring the doorbell? Someone mysterious, I
'
m afraid.
"