Bumpy Roads - A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book 11) (The Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery Series) (3 page)

“Good morning, Clarissa,” Mary said, opening her daughter’s
bedroom door and peeking inside. “Your dad has to leave early this morning, but
he didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye to you.
 
Are you ready to get up?”

Stretching and wiping the sleep out of her eyes, Clarissa
nodded, slipped out her bed, and started padding down the hall toward the
stairs. “Don’t you want to see what the tooth fairy left you?” Mary reminded
her.

Eyes widening instantly, Clarissa hurried back to her room
and stuck her hand underneath her pillow.
 
She pulled out the little chest, excited to open it. In her hurry, the
delicate piece slipped from her hands and fell onto the wooden floor. They both
heard the crack at the same time. Clarissa froze and Mary hurried forward,
picking up the pieces of chest from the floor.

“Don’t move,” she said, more sharply than she meant, because
Clarissa was barefoot and she didn’t want her to cut her feet. “I’ll be right
back.”

As Mary hurried into the bathroom for a damp washcloth, Bradley
came into the room. “What happened?” he asked.

A tear stole down Clarissa’s cheek. “I accidently broke Mom’s
chest,” she said.

“Oh, Clarissa,” Bradley said, distress in his voice. “How
did it happen?”

Coming back into the room, Mary shook her head. “It was just
an accident,” she said. “It slipped, that’s all.”

Bradley saw the sheen in Mary’s eyes as she wiped the wood
floor and knew this was upsetting her more than she letting on. “Mary, we’re a
family now,” he said. “We need to be honest with each other.”

Shrugging, she sat up and shook her head, wiping away a
stray tear. “My grandmother gave it to me before she died,” she admitted. “So,
I’m a little sad. But this is not Clarissa’s fault. It truly was just an
accident.”

Clarissa’s heart dropped “I’m so sorry, Mom,” Clarissa
sobbed. “Please don’t be hate me.”

“Oh, darling, I don’t hate you,” she said, hugging her
daughter. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I guess we’ll have to get something with reinforced steel
or rubber for the rest of the baby teeth in the Alden household,” Bradley
teased. “I have a feeling that butterfingers might be a family trait that I’ll
pass on to all of our children.”

Mary laughed and smiled up at Bradley. “Well, in that case,
I’m going to hide all of my breakable things.”

Mary was laughing, but Clarissa remembered her own mother
would laugh when her father was home.
 
Then when he left, the pain would show on her face and she would lie
down for a long time.
 
Mary must hate her
but didn’t want her dad to know.
 

She shivered as she remembered back in Chicago when she
dropped a candy dish at Mrs. Gunderson’s house.
 
Mrs. Gunderson had slapped her hard across her face and told her she was
a stupid child.
 
Mary probably thought
she was a stupid child too. Was Mary going to slap her once her dad left?

Bradley knelt down next to Clarissa and gave her a hug.
“I’ve got to go into the office early,” he said. “But I’ll see you tonight.”

“Okay,” Clarissa whispered. “Have a nice day.”

Pulling Mary into his arms, Bradley kissed her and then
tenderly looked down into her eyes. “I’m really going to miss you,” he said.

Clarissa stomach tightened even more. He hadn’t said he was
going to miss her. Did he love Mary more than he loved her?

“I’ll miss you too,” Mary said, tenderly running her hand
through his hair. “Be careful out there.”

They kissed once again and then Bradley bent down and
pressed a quick kiss on Clarissa’s forehead. “Goodbye my lovely ladies,” he
said with a wink, before he left.

Hearing the door close, Mary sighed softly. “Well, this was
an exciting way to begin our first day as a family, wasn’t it?” she asked
Clarissa with a smile. “Do you need me to help you get dressed?”

Shaking her head, Clarissa stepped away from Mary. “No, I’m
fine,” she said. “I’ll just get ready.”

“Okay, I’ll get your lunch ready and then we can have
breakfast together,” Mary said, as she leaned down and gave Clarissa a quick
hug. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Clarissa watched Mary go down the stairs.
 
When was Mary going to be angry?
 
When was she going to yell at her?
 

She looked at the large shard of china she had placed on her
nightstand and Mary hadn’t thrown away.
 
It was so delicate and so beautiful. Mary must hate her for sure.

There was a quick knock on the front door while Mary was in
the kitchen putting a bag lunch together for Clarissa.
 
She wiped her hands on a towel and hurried to
the door.
 
Opening it, she smiled when
she saw Ian and Gillian standing hand-in-hand at the door.

“Come in,” she invited. “I was just getting things together
for Clarissa.”

“Oh, good, then we haven’t missed her,” Ian said. “We wanted
to see her before we left town.”

Mary sighed. “I’m going to really miss you,” she said. “You
were the best roommate I ever had.”

Ian turned to Gillian. “She meant that only in the most
platonic way,” he assured her.

Gillian laughed. “Aye, I can see she only has eyes for
Bradley,” she said. “And it’s good for you that she does.”

He leaned over and kissed her. “And I only have eyes for you,
my love,” he said.

“What a charmer,” Mary laughed as she headed back to the
kitchen to pack the rest of Clarissa’s lunch bag. “Clarissa should be down any
minute and I know she’s going to love seeing you.”

“Hey, are you having a party and no one invited me?” Mike
asked, appearing in the living room.

“Aye, it’s a going-away party,” Ian said. “Gillian and I are
off to Chicago this morning.”

Gillian looked around the room. “Who are you talking to?”
she asked.

“Oh, it’s Mike,” Ian explained. “He’s the angel I was
telling you about.”

“The good-looking one,” Mike added.

“Aye, the poor disfigured fellow,” Ian said. “I’ve never
seen such an ugly bloke in my life.”

Gillian watched a mirror float through the room and hover in
front of Ian’s face.
 
Only Ian and Mary
could see that Mike was holding it there, but Gillian understood the joke. “Oh,
I think your angel disagrees with your evaluation of his looks,” she laughed.
“So, you are a handsome fellow, are you?”

The mirror moved up and down.

“How did you ever get a woman with brains?” Mike asked Ian.

Ian chuckled. “Mike wants to know how I got a woman with
brains.”

“Well now, I’m might be smart, but I’m shallow,” she said.
“I liked the way he filled out his shirt.”

Ian put his arm around her waist, pulled her close and
kissed her cheek. “I’m fine with shallow,” he said.
“As long
as you stay with me.”

She turned and kissed him back.
“Forever.”

“More mush,” Mike
groaned,
a
twinkle in his eye. “I feel like I walked into the end of a fairy tale. I’m
going to go back upstairs and see if I can get Clarissa to move along.”

“Thanks Mike,” Mary said. “That would be helpful.”

A few minutes later, Clarissa came down the stairs slowly,
trying not to make eye contact with anyone until she saw that Ian was in the
room. “Ian!” she exclaimed, running down the remaining stairs and throwing
herself into his arms. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

He hugged her and spun her around. “Aye, darling, I’m glad
I’m here too,” he said. “I couldn’t leave Freeport without saying goodbye to my
best girl.”

Gillian elbowed him. “Second best girl,” he amended with a
grin.

Clarissa froze. “You’re leaving?” she asked, her voice
echoing the surprised look on her face.

“Aye, we’re heading down to Chicago for a wee bit,” he said.
“I’ll be working at the University completing my research while Gillian finishes
up her assignment. But I promise we’ll come back to Freeport when we can.”

Clarissa shook her head, panic rushing through her little
body. “No, you can’t leave,” she cried. “I need you to be here. No one will
protect me if you go.”

Ian hugged her. “Darling, there are plenty of people here
that will take care of you and protect you,” he said. “Your amazing new mother,
Mary, has protected me a number of times. I’m sure no monster is a match for
her.”

Clarissa looked over her shoulder to Mary in the kitchen and
whispered, “She hates me.”

“What did you say, darling?” Ian asked.

She took a deep shaky breath. “Nothing,” she said. “I just
don’t want you to leave.”

He hugged her. “I won’t be too far away,” he said.
“Chicago’s not very far at all and I’ll come and visit you whenever I can.”

Tears brimming in her eyes, she nodded her head and stepped
away from him. “Okay,” she said softly. “Goodbye Ian.”

“Hey sweetheart,” Mary said, coming back into the room.
“What would you like for breakfast?”

Clarissa stepped back, avoiding Mary’s embrace and shrugged.
“That’s okay, you don’t have to make me breakfast,” she said. “I can just help
myself.”

Confused, Mary stood back as Clarissa helped herself to some
toast and peanut butter and placed it in a sandwich bag. “You don’t have to
hurry that much, sweetheart, you have plenty of time to eat your breakfast,”
Mary said. “The bus won’t be here for fifteen minutes.”

Clarissa picked up the sack lunch Mary and placed it in her
backpack. “I’m going over to the Brennans’ to wait for the bus with them,” she
said.

“Oh,” Mary said, disappointed. “I thought we could spend a
little time together.”

She’s just saying
that,
Clarissa thought,
because Ian
and Gillian are here. I know she hates me.

Shaking her head, Clarissa walked over and slipped on her
coat. “I promised Maggie,” she said, hoping Mary couldn’t see through her lie.
“I have to hurry.”

She picked up her backpack and hurried to the door. With her
hand on the doorknob she turned back to the room. “Goodbye Ian, goodbye
Gillian, I hope you have a good time in Chicago,” she said and then she opened
the door and hurried outside.

Mary turned to Ian and Gillian, her heart aching a little
bit. “Did I do something wrong?” she asked.

“Not that I could see from here,” Ian said. “Seems the
lass has
a bee in her bonnet.”

“Maybe she just needs to get used to all of you being a
family now,” Gillian suggested. “She really has been through a lot.”

Nodding, Mary took a deep breath and tried to smile. “You’re
right,” she agreed. “She’s been through more in the past few weeks than most of
us can handle in a lifetime.
 
We probably
all just need a little adjusting.”

“Aye, that’s right,” Ian agreed. “Things will be fine in no
time.
 
But if you need us, we’re only a
phone call away.”

Reaching over and hugging Ian, she nodded. “I’m going to
miss having you around,” she said. “But it’s nice to know you’re making Chicago
a safer city.”

Ian grinned. “Aye, those library books don’t stand a chance
with me around.”

“Take care of Sean for me,” she said. “I don’t know what’s
going on, but I could tell something was bothering him.”

“Yes, I think we’ll be able to help,” he said, sending a
sideways glance to Gillian. “Gillian has some ideas about his red-headed
mystery woman.”

“You do?” Mary asked her.

Gillian smiled. “Oh, aye, I have some contacts through the
church that might be able to help me track her down,” she said. “I’m always
willing to play matchmaker.”

Mary shook her head. “For some reason, I didn’t think Sean’s
interest was romantic.”

“When a man goes looking for a woman,” Ian laughed. “It’s
always romantic.
Unless, of course, she has him under a
spell.”

“Yes, that’s what I’m afraid of,” Mary said soberly.

The kindergarten play area, separated from the rest of the
school playground, was nearly deserted, only Maggie and Clarissa sat on the
swings, barely swinging in the cool spring morning. They both had their shoes
partially buried in the sand and gave half-hearted pushes to keep the swings
moving. “They really said they were going to kick you out when they had babies
of their own?” Maggie
asked,
horror and disbelief
warring on her face.

Sighing, Clarissa kicked at the ground again. “Well, not
exactly,” she admitted. “But you should have seen his face. He was so happy
about Mary having babies. I know they’re not going to want to have me around.”

“But you’re his own kid,” Maggie argued. “Of course he wants
you around.”

Clarissa leaned her head against the swing’s chain and
blinked back the tears. “No, he told Mary that he would miss her, but he didn’t
say he’d miss me. He just said he’d see me later.”

“That’s just how dads talk,” Maggie said. “He’ll miss you
too.”

“What if he sends me away?
 
What if he gives me up for adoption?” she asked. “No one wants me.”

“Of course people want you, your mom and dad wanted you,” Maggie
said.

“They left me too,” Clarissa responded with a spurt of
anger. “Both of them left me.
 
And Mrs.
Gunderson said I was a stupid brat that no one would want once my mom died.”

“Your mom and dad didn’t leave you,” Maggie said. “They
died. It wasn’t because of you.”

“My dad died because of me,” she countered. “He went to the
bad man and told him to leave us alone and the bad man killed him. I heard
people talking about it. And if my dad wasn’t dead, he would have taken care of
my mom and she wouldn’t be dead either.”

Maggie shook her head, knowing her friend was wrong but not
quite sure how to explain it. “You’re wrong,” she said, trying to come up with
some way to show it. “And I can prove it.”

“How?”
Clarissa asked.

“Let’s go back to your old house and see if your dad’s ghost
is still there,” she said. “And we can ask him.
 
He’ll tell you the truth.”

Clarissa lifted her head and stared at her friend.
“Really?”

Maggie nodded.
“Really.”

Looking around at the school children starting to mill
around the doors waiting for the entrance bell to ring, she jumped off her
swing. “We have to go now before the teachers see us.”

Maggie slid off her swing too.
“Now?
You mean skip school?” she replied. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Come on, Maggie,” Clarissa insisted. “It’s important.
 
Maybe if he’s still there, I can live with
him.”

“We’re going to get in trouble,” Maggie said.
“Bad trouble.”

“We’ll just tell them we got sick and were trying to go home
but we got lost,” Clarissa suggested.

Maggie looked at the school building and then looked back at
her friend. Sighing, she hitched her backpack onto her shoulders and nodded.
“Okay, we better hurry.”

Rushing through the schoolyard, they ran past the line of
children and ran out to the teacher’s parking lot.
 
Hiding between cars, they made their way to
the street on the far side of the school.
 
Secreted behind a van, they waited until the bell rang and the rest of
the students entered the school.
 
A few
minutes later, the crossing guard slipped her bright orange vest off and walked
over to her car.
 
As soon as the car was
out of sight, the girls ran out of the parking lot and crossed the street. “Do
you remember where your house is?” Maggie asked.

Pausing and looking around for a moment, Clarissa nodded.
“Yes, I remember my mom picking me up,” she said. “It’s only a few minutes away
from here.
 
Come on.”

Clarissa started running up the street with Maggie following
close behind.
 
They stopped at the next
corner and, after carefully looking both
ways,
they
ran across the street and continued their pace.
 
Three blocks away from the school, Maggie tugged on Clarissa’s backpack
to stop her. “I have to tie my shoe,” she panted. “We have to stop for a
minute.”

Looking around to be sure it was safe, Clarissa nodded.
“Okay,” she gasped. “You hide behind the tree and tie your shoe and I’ll look
down the street to make sure we’re safe.”

Shrugging off her backpack, Maggie collapsed behind the tree
and took her time tying her loose shoelace.
 
Clarissa walked across the grass to the curb, slipped between two parked
cars and peered down the street.
 
Across
the street, coming from the other direction, a car slowed and a window was
rolled down. “Excuse me, little girl,” the man in the driver’s seat said. “Are
you lost?
 
Do you need a ride?”

Her heart pounding and eyes wide, she shook her head. “No,
no, I’m fine,” she stammered.

Stopping the car across from her, he looked up and down the
street. “I don’t see anyone with you,” he said. “It’s dangerous for a pretty
young girl like you to be outside all alone.”

“I’m not alone,” she said, backing up. “My, um, my mom is
just coming out of the house.”

He quickly glanced up and looked around. “I don’t see anyone
coming at all,” he said. “Why don’t you let me give you a ride? I like pretty
little girls.”

Clarissa nearly screamed when Maggie came up behind her and
pulled on her backpack. “He’s a bad man,” Maggie whispered urgently. “There are
ghosts in his car with him. We have to run away, now!”

The girls turned and ran down street.

“Wait!” the man called, jumping out of his car and running
after them. “You come back here right now!”

Running as fast as they could, the girls ran toward the
corner. “Hurry, Clarissa, hurry,” Maggie urged, leading the way. “He’s starting
to come after us.”

Clarissa looked up to see Maggie running into the intersection
without looking.
 
Then she saw the black
car hurtling down the road. “Maggie, look out,” she screamed, jumping forward
and pulling hard on Maggie’s backpack.

The car screeched to a halt, but Maggie was already careering
toward Clarissa, sending them both backward onto the pavement.

“Are you okay?” the elderly woman asked, looking through the
passenger side window.

Bruised and scraped, the girls nodded, and slowly got up.
“I’m fine,” Maggie said.

“Well, you need to watch where you’re going,” the old woman
yelled. “I could have killed you.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Maggie replied, tears sliding down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry.”

“Why aren’t you in school?” she asked. “Do I need to call
the police?”

Clarissa shook her head. “No! No! Don’t call the police,”
she said. “We…we missed our bus and we had to walk.
 
That’s why we’re late.”

The woman stared at them for a moment. “Alright, I won’t
call the police,” she said. “But I’m going to follow you to the school and make
sure you end up where you’re supposed to be. I’m not going to offer you a ride
because I know you’re both too smart to get into a car with a stranger.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Clarissa agreed, looking over her shoulder to
discover the man and his car were both gone.

“Good,” the woman replied. “Now start walking.”