Case of Imagination (11 page)

The realization hit me hard. My phantom maternal instinct had surfaced like an Eberlin house spook. Not only would I go anywhere with Jerry, I wanted to look after him.

He was still looking up at me, and I think I would’ve done something seriously romantic, but there was a knock on the door, and Jerry got up to answer it.

Two men stood on the porch, one tall and red-haired, the other shorter and darker. Both had sour expressions and squinty eyes. They didn’t look like men you’d be glad to see, but Jerry was delighted.

“It’s my arch foe and his faithful sidekick! Hi, guys!”

If Geoff Snyder’s hair weren’t already red, Jerry’s greeting would’ve turned it that boiled lobster color.

“Fairweather, just what the hell do you think you’re doing? You can
not
start one of your séance scams in Celosia!”

Jerry wasn’t fazed by this attack. “It’s not a scam. I’m providing a valuable service to the community.”

I thought Geoff’s face couldn’t get any redder, either. I was wrong. He and his brother Sean were on a crusade to stamp out anything remotely psychic. Luck, chance, fate, whatever you want to call it, they’re against it.

“You miserable little charlatan. I’ll have you arrested for fraud. I’ll have this house condemned!” He started forward, fists clenched.

I stepped up to meet him. “Hold on.”

He stopped, glaring. “You keep out of this, Madeline.”

“What Jerry does in his own home is his business.”

Sean Snyder put in a few words. “Don’t tell me he’s got
you
fooled, too.”

When I took a step toward Sean, he ducked behind his brother. “No, I know it’s hokey, but I don’t let it affect my blood pressure. What are you two doing here? Aren’t there enough psychics in Parkland for you to harass?”

Sean peeked out from behind Geoff. “Our Aunt Flossie Mae lives in this town, and we won’t have her lured by your black magic.”

“It isn’t black magic,” Jerry said. “It’s white magic. The good stuff.”

He wasn’t helping the situation. “Jerry.”

He looked at me, all innocence. “Geoff and Sean haven’t even been to one of my séances. How do they know? I’m very entertaining.”

Geoff and Sean looked like twin rockets about to go off.

“Everyone calm down,” I said. “Geoff, if you don’t want your aunt to come here, just tell her. Jerry isn’t going to drag her into the house.”

“She’s very stubborn,” Sean said. “If we tried to warn her, she’d come here just to spite us.”

“Well, don’t warn her. There’s really nothing to warn about.”

Geoff Snyder shook his finger in Jerry’s face. “I swear, if she gives you one penny, I’ll beat it out of your hide.”

Jerry reached in his pocket. “Why don’t I give you a penny now and save you the trouble?”

“Come on, Sean.”

The Snyders stalked down the porch steps to their car, got in, and drove away.

I turned to Jerry. His eyes were sparkling. “Why do you bait them like that?”

“Because they’re so damn serious about everything.”

“Geoff could wipe the floor with you.”

“No, he couldn’t.”

“You’ve spent so much of your life running away, I doubt you know how to make a fist.”

He did, threatening me with a grin. “Come on, give me your best shot.”

“Go get cleaned up. We’re due at the Amrys’ by seven.”

***

It didn’t take him long to get ready. After I convinced him his plain gold tie would look much nicer with his dark suit than the tie shaped like a rainbow trout, we drove out to Autumn Fields.

The Amrys’ home was a beautiful redwood house with a wraparound porch, set deep in a lush woodland. Shana met us at the door, radiant in a short red dress and golden jewelry. I heard Jerry gulp.

“Gosh,” he said under his breath as she led us through the living room to a candlelit dining room. “If I’d known the women in Celosia looked like this, I’d have moved here years ago.”

Hayden was in the dining room, rearranging the silverware. Twenty was helping him, oddly attractive in a short silver and lime-green kimono, red leather boots, and fishnet hose.

She came forward, her hand extended, bracelets jangling. “You must be Jerry Fairweather. Aren’t you brave to sleep in that haunted house?”

“I’m hoping it’s haunted,” he said. “I think it would be fun.”

“Well, you sound like my kind of guy.”

No, he’s my kind of guy, I wanted to say, but caught myself. If I started reacting to every innocent remark, my little secret wouldn’t be secret for long.

Shana said, “Twenty, why don’t you sit at the end, and I’ll put a man on either side of you.”

“Just the way I like it,” she said.

I sat next to Jerry and across from Shana. She raised her wineglass. “A toast, please, to new friends.”

“To new friends,” we all said. We clinked our glasses and drank.

“To new helpful friends,” Twenty said. “I just had the most amazing brainstorm. Jerry, you and Hayden would be perfect for my fashion show. Please say you’ll be in it.”

“A fashion show?” Jerry said.

“I’ve been after Hayden for months, but I bet he’ll do it if you will.”

Jerry looked to Hayden for an explanation. Hayden grimaced. “She wants me to model some suits.”

Shana joined in. “And I told her that was all right with me if she didn’t mess with his hair.”

Twenty sighed. “Oh, come on. I just want to spike it up a little. It’s not like I’m going to color it blue or something.”

Jerry grinned. “You can spike mine. It’s already out of control.”

“Really? That would be so cool!” She leaned over to press Hayden’s arm. “Come on, Hayden. I won’t do anything to your hair. Just come model a couple of suits. You’d look so good in black.”

Hayden didn’t look convinced. “So you want me to wear a suit and walk around in front of a bunch of people? This sounds suspiciously like a Mr. Celosia Pageant.”

“Oh, my, no. This is a legitimate fashion show of Antoine Largen’s new fall line.”

“Fall? It’s July.”

Twenty looked at me and shook her head. “They have no clue. Guys, in the fashion world, you have to be months ahead.”

“Well, I’ll do it,” Jerry said. “Just tell me when and where.”

“Excellent! We have a rehearsal in two weeks, and the show is the last day of July. I have a dark blue suit that would look great on you, and a gray that you were born to wear.”

Hayden was still thinking about it. “Two suits? That’s all?”

“Yes, dear, a dark blue and a black. Please say yes. I may put you and Jerry in black at the end. You’ll look good together because you’re the same height.”

“I think Hayden’s a little taller,” I said, and Jerry gave my arm a punch.

I had noticed similarities between Hayden Amry and Jerry. They were about the same size. They both had youthful faces brightened by expressive eyes. But Hayden had a distracted air; he seemed anxious, even about something as simple as modeling a few suits. His every move was careful and deliberate. I vastly preferred Jerry’s cheerful demeanor. His movements were quicker, more decisive, and he certainly smiled more. As much as I admired Hayden’s blue-green eyes, whenever Jerry looked at me with his calm gray gaze, I still felt that sudden jump in my pulse.

Suddenly, something made us all jump, a jarring noise from somewhere on the front porch.

“What in the world was that?” Shana said.

“Are you expecting company?” I asked.

“No. Hayden?”

He was already on his feet. Another thump. “I’ll go see.”

“I’ll come with you,” I said, and Jerry followed me.

We stepped out onto the porch. A mild breeze sent a few leaves scurrying across the lawn. The moon shone faintly behind the clouds. Nothing else. No movement in the forest.

“Theo?” Hayden said.

A shape darted around the corner of the porch, small, humped, alien.

Hayden reacted with alarm. “Oh, my God. Another one!”

The shape was too large for a dog and moved with a curious sideways motion. It headed toward the back of the house.

“Another what?” Jerry asked.

Hayden spoke in a panicked whisper. “She’s sent something after us, an evil creature to do her bidding, a familiar, a demon.”

Jerry brightened. “A demon? Hot damn.”

We followed the shape. It stopped at one of the side windows. It was bigger than I’d first thought, and it was hunched over the sill doing—doing what? It moved on, heading for the dining room windows.

Hayden was shaking. “How can we stop it?”

Something crunched under our feet. I bent down and touched a grainy powder. The same substance was all over the window frame.

“Is it cocaine?” Jerry asked me.

“Why would anyone sprinkle it on the window sills?”

“We have to stop this creature,” Hayden said.

The figure turned the corner of the porch and halted just before the light spilling out of the dining room windows. We heard Shana call, “Hayden, is that you thumping around out there?”

He cried, “Don’t come out!” but she had already pushed open the French doors and stepped out onto the porch, face to face with the mysterious prowler. Twenty was right behind her. Shana screamed. The creature swerved, saw us coming up behind, and made a mad dash past Shana and Twenty into the dining room.

Shana ran after it. “Get out of my house!”

Twenty came next, shouting for Shana to leave the burglar alone. We ran back around the porch and in the front door, hoping to intercept the creature. We did better than intercept. We ran right into it. Yellow light flashed as if a gigantic camera had taken a group shot. When my vision cleared, I found everyone on the floor. Shana was coughing and waving smoke away with one of the sofa cushions, her dress smudged and her hair in wild disarray. Twenty was charred around the edges, her face outlined in smoke, her hair and clothes so tangled, I could hardly tell where hairdo began and outfit ended.

Jerry blinked from his soot-smeared face. “Is everybody okay?”

Hayden was sitting on the creature. “Bummer!” he said in surprise.

At first, I thought he was making an astute observation. Then I saw he was talking to the man I’d seen in the bookstore.

“What are you doing here?” Hayden asked him.

The little man was shaken. “Told you I’d come. Get rid of the ghosts, remember?”

The grainy substance. Bread crumbs.

Hayden glanced at Shana. She’d gotten to her feet, her hands on her hips and fire in her eyes. He stood and pulled Bummer to his feet. “What are you doing here?”

“This is Friday, ain’t it?” Bummer said.

“No, this is Thursday. My wife and I have dinner guests, as you can see. What the hell was all that light and noise?”

Bummer took a pack of firecrackers out of his pocket. “Loud noises scare ’em away, too.”

“Don’t tell me you thought we were ghosts,” Shana said.

Jerry wiped his face with his handkerchief and grimaced at the streaks of black. “What’s going on? What kind of ghosts do you have around here?”

Shana’s voice was tightly controlled. “This unfortunate man is a town character and one of Hayden’s many screwball friends. This was a cute little prank, Mr. Stevenson, but I think you’d better go now.”

“Want me to come back tomorrow?”

“No,” Hayden said. “Did you walk all the way over here? Let me take you home, and you can explain what to do. I’ll handle it from there.”

Bummer shrugged. “Well, all right, if you think that’ll do it.”

“It certainly will,” Shana said.

Hayden drove Bummer home. By the time he came back, we had cleaned our faces and attempted to straighten the living room.

We sat down at the dining room table to finish our dinner. Shana poured everyone another glass of wine. “Honestly,” she said. “You see what I have to put up with? Hayden, explain again why he was here.”

“He got the days mixed up.”

“He got the days mixed up. You were planning to explode firecrackers in the house, only not today?”

“No, there weren’t supposed to be any explosions. I thought he was just going to sprinkle some bread crumbs.” The minute the words left his mouth, we knew he was doomed. Shana’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits, and when she spoke, her voice was deadly calm.

“Bread crumbs?”

“It sounds crazy. I know it does. Bummer was only trying to help. You know how he is.”

“No, but I know how you are. You’re insane.”

“Hayden,” I said, “what did you mean when you said, ‘Oh, no, another one’? Have you been bothered by prowlers?”

“And who’s Theo?” Jerry asked.

Hayden glanced at Shana, who sighed. “Go on and tell them the whole ghost story.” He hesitated. “Go ahead. It’ll be like dinner and a movie.”

“All right.” He stood and paced as if to work up his nerve. “It’s like this. I’ve seen two ghosts in this house. One is a woman. She calls herself Portia. She’s very beautiful, but she’s very eerie-looking. She has very black hair and eyes like black holes. She’s been telling me the oddest story.”