Charlotte Figg Takes Over Paradise (31 page)

"Catch it, Rose. Please, catch it."

Smack. I heard the ball land in Rose's glove, a millisecond before their base runner slid.

"She's out," called the umpire. "Game over. Angels win!"

The Angels leaped and hollered and congratulated each other. Marlabeth picked Ginger up on her shoulders and paraded her around the field to the cheers of the crowd. Even Hazel and Mother jumped from the bench. They held hands and jumped up and down like two little girls. Asa ran around with one sleeve flapping like a pelican wing, and I thought he was looking for an extra hand to clap. So I lent him mine.

"You did it, Charlotte. You won!" he said.

"We won," I said. "We won."

The celebration continued for five minutes before I sent the Angels over to the Thunder to shake hands. I didn't want to be criticized for being unsportsmanlike.

I offered Cash my hand.

"Good game," he said. "I never would have believed it."

"Well, you have size and power and experience on your side. But we have something you don't."

"I know, I know," he said. "Heart. You have heart."

I waved his word away. "Nah, heart shmart. What we have is a hell-on-wheels midget and a one-armed pitching coach. Not to mention a lactating mother with sore breasts, a tattooed lady, a group of housewives who needed some fun in their lives, and two very special causes to spur us on."

Cash laughed. "Now that's dangerous," he said. "But you know what this means, don't you?"

"What?"

"Dinner. Friday night. I'll pick you up at seven."

"I can't, Cash. Not yet." I looked away from him and spied my mother coming near.

He grabbed my hand again, and this time I took it back. "I said I can't. Not yet."

"She said no." My mother glared at him.

"But why?"

"She has her reasons." Mother draped her arm around my shoulders. "Good game, dear. You really knocked 'em for a loop."

Hazel yakked it up with Asa and Rube. "Now, this is a team I am proud to sponsor," she said loud enough for Cash to hear. He shook his head and loped toward the waiting school bus.

The Thunder rode off with their tails between their legs and the sun setting behind the mountains in ribbons of purple and white, orange and red. "Better luck next time, ladies," I said with a two-finger salute.

I gathered the team around. "That was amazing," I said. "I knew you had it in you."

Gwendolyn cried. "We did good, Charlotte. We did good."

"Well," Thomasina said. "We did well."

Edwina chuckled and said. "Well? Now that's a deep subject."

Asa patted her back. "You did. You all did good."

"Let's go home," I said. "And don't let this go to your heads. We still have eight games to play, but if you play every game like you did today, then I'd say we're headed for the championship of the Trailer Park League."

They held hands in a circle and cheered for themselves. A well-deserved moment of joy.

"Look," called Edwina. "I see smoke. It's coming from the trailer park."

"It is!" hollered Asa. "That's a fire." He took off.

"I smell something bad," Marlabeth said. "It's not wood smoke or trash."

I grabbed my mother's hand, and we ran through the woods toward the smoke, followed closely by Rose and Ginger. We stopped at the tree line just where the asphalt began.

"Something's on fire," Rose said. "I can see flames through the trees."

"O my Lord," I said. We moved closer.

"It's the Wrinkel trailer," Rose said, as she dropped to her knees and prayed.

O
range and yellow flames enveloped the Wrinkels's trailer. Black, billowing smoke rose from the roof and the windows.

"Suzy," I said. "Where's Suzy?"

I searched through the gathering crowd in the darkening light. I didn't see her or Fergus. I did notice that his truck was missing, and I hoped against hope that they were together.

"I can't believe my eyes," Mother said. She moved back from the intensifying heat. "Charlotte, come away from there. You'll burn up."

"Suzy! Suzy!" I called.

Just as the words left my mouth, Fergus pulled up in his truck. He stopped so fast the truck lurched forward and back. He dove out of the cab and headed for his front door.

Asa and Rube ran toward him. "No! Fergus. Don't!" they hollered. "Don't go in there!"

But it didn't matter. All we could do was watch. Fergus pulled open his front door, and BLAM! an explosion shook the ground and sent sparks and flames and debris hurtling toward us.

Asa grabbed Rose and flung her as far as he could. I scrambled toward them, my knees shook, my heart pounded. I could barely breathe from the heat and smell of the fire, burning wood and plastic that stung my nose and lungs. My ears rang from the sound.

"Fergus," I said. "Is he . . . dead?"

Asa swallowed and wiped perspiration and soot from his face. "There's no way he survived that."

Tears welled in my eyes, tears from the surging heat and the impossible emotions.

"Do they all explode like that?" I asked Asa. "Do all trailers just explode like a bomb?"

Asa helped Rose to her feet. He brushed off her back."Propane. It was the propane tanks, I'm sure."

"Propane?" Mother said. "Charlotte, you are not staying here any longer. I demand that you move to Cocoa Reef with me. Tonight!" And she marched off toward my trailer.

"Why did he do that?" Rose asked. "Why did he run back inside?"

"Suzy?" I said. "Do you think he went in after Suzy?"

I stared at the flames shooting into the sky.

"I don't want to think about that," Asa said. "But she . . . she was most likely in there."

Rose stood near the fountain area. She stared at the flames with fixed eyes.

"Come on, Rose. We have to find Suzy."

But she wouldn't move. She just stood there with a look of horror on her face. I knew in that moment she was remembering what had happened to her. She closed her arms tight against her chest. I looked for help, anyone to help Rose back to her trailer. Back to the hand of God.

Ginger appeared and then Marlabeth. "Please, Marlabeth," I said. "Take Rose home. She can't see this."

Marlabeth put her arm around Rose. "I have chamomile and valerian root in my Thermos," she said and led her away. Ginger followed.

All the men formed a line as near as they dared to the fire and chased the women and children home. I refused to go.

"Not until I find Suzy." The searing hot flames were loud like rushing wind as they spewed out of the trailer like huge tongues lapping at the air, drinking in the oxygen.

I heard sirens in the distance. "They're coming, but where is Suzy?"

I hollered as loud as I could for her. "Suzy! Suzy!"

A long fire truck pulled into Paradise, just barely missing the palm trees. The firemen went to work immediately. They uncoiled hoses and hooked into the fireplug on the road. Two men trained their hoses on the trailer, while another fireman kept a hose aimed between the Wrinkel trailer and the one on the other side. He kept a wide, steady mist flowing, almost like a spring shower. I could see color reflected in the water droplets, tiny, oily rainbows.

Asa and I stood with Rube until the flames were finally extinguished. There was still no sign of Suzy. "She must be inside," I told Rube.

Rube turned his head toward the trailer. "Maybe not. Maybe she got out. Maybe she got scared and ran off."

"Where? Where would she go?"

I wiped tears and perspiration from my face. I watched the firemen. They kept water on the wreckage for the better part of an hour until the last bit of smoke and embers died.

The crowd dispersed in eerie silence. I stayed with Asa and a couple of other men. We continued watching.

"I can't believe it," Asa said. "I wonder what happened."

"We'll know soon," Rube said. "The fire marshall will investigate. He'll get to the bottom of it."

"Good," I said. "But what about Fergus? What about the body?"

"What's left of it," Asa said.

A strange dark car with its high beams blaring and a blue light flashing on the roof pulled onto the scene.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Medical examiner," a passing fireman said. "He needs to deal with the remains."

I swallowed. It was hard to imagine Fergus's charred body under all that blackened and smoking rubble. Even harder to imagine Suzy's.

A short but stocky man emerged from the driver's side and a taller man got out of the passenger side. They went straight to the fire chief. I watched them speaking, trying my best to overhear. But I didn't hear much except the name
Wrinkel
and the word
idiot.

The two officials made their way to the wreckage and with the help of two firemen uncovered what I assumed was Fergus Wrinkel. I needed to turn my head as they removed the remains. The two men carried it in a black bag to the car, a station wagon. They opened the back and slid the body inside.

Asa tried to hold me back but couldn't, and I rushed to the car. "Is that all?" I asked. "Just one body? Was it a man's?"

The medical examiner stepped away from the car. "Just one body, Ma'am. And, yes. It's a male."

The smaller man, who sounded a little like Peter Lorre, said, "Was there someone else inside?" I half expected him to rub his hands together and drool at the possibility of another body.

"I'm not sure. A woman—"

The officers shook their heads in unison. "Just the one."

I went back to Asa, who was speaking with the fire marshall.

"Are you certain?" Asa said. "A gas can?"

The fire marshall nodded. "Yep. It will be evidence." And he walked away toward the still-volcanic carnage.

"What does that mean?" I asked. "So what? A gas can."

"Arson," Asa whispered. "It means the fire was deliberately set."

Shock wriggled through my body. "Arson. You mean Fergus or—"

"Shh," Asa said. "We have to find Suzy. Let's go."

"Where? Where would she go?"

"I don't know," Asa said. "But if she's in Paradise, I'll find her. You go check on Rose. She probably needs you now."

"I'm sure Ginger is with her."

"That's good. But she needs you, I think."

I had never felt so glum and helpless. There was absolutely nothing I could do but wait. It was almost like the day Herman died. But with him, well, it was easier, different somehow. I held him. I held his big head in my lap while I waited. But this time, this time I had nothing to hold on to.

The closer I got to Rose's trailer, the lower I felt. I could not begin to imagine the horror that Rose had endured, and now this—this fire was certain to bring it all roaring back.

I saw her up in the hand with Ginger.

"Rose," I called. "Are you okay?"

I waited a few seconds but heard no response.

Ginger came down the ladder. "She's okay. Been praying the whole time."

"I figured," I said.

Ginger grabbed my pant leg and shook it to get my attention."She'll be okay, Charlotte. I imagine God will get her through better than we can."

"I guess. But I still want her to know I'm here. Sometimes you need help you can touch."

I climbed up the ladder. "Rose, it's me, Charlotte." I noticed a small lantern between the thumb and pinky. It cast eerie lights and shadows.

Tears streamed down her face. She blubbered and sobbed and reached out her arms. I fell into them and held her for a good long time. I petted the back of her head. I cried with her.

"The flames," she said. "It was the color of the flames. Orange and red and purple. That's what did it. For so long after what happened, I saw those colors whenever I closed my eyes. And now they're back."

"For now," I said. "The colors will go away, Rose. God will take them away."

She blubbered and wiped her nose on a tissue she pulled from her pants pocket. "Did you find Suzy?"

I took a breath. "No, Rose. We didn't. But Asa is out looking for her. He'll find her."

"Fergus?" she asked even though she knew the answer.

"Dead."

Rose closed her eyes a moment. "No sign of Suzy?"

"Not in the trailer, Rose. Not in the trailer."

A look of relief passed over her face.

"Asa thinks she might have run off somewhere. Got scared and ran."

She nodded.

"There's something else, Rose."

Ginger started up the ladder again. "I heard that. Tell me too."

I waited until Ginger was sitting with us. "The fire marshall is calling it an act of arson."

"Arson," Rose said. "You mean, it was deliberate?"

"Uh-huh, they found a gasoline can, and apparently that leads them to believe it was arson."

"Fergus," Rose said. "It must have been Fergus."

"Then why did he run back inside?" Ginger asked.

"And Suzy wasn't in the trailer," I said. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe he felt guilty after he did it," Rose said. "Maybe he ran back in for Suzy. Maybe he didn't count on the thing going off like the fourth of July."

"And Suzy got out in time," Ginger said.

"She could be hurt." Rose closed her eyes. "Dear Lord, help us find Suzy."

The three of us sat for a few more minutes, hoping against hope that Suzy would appear in the night.

"Rose. It's getting late," I said finally. "I should go check on my mother. Maybe you should get some sleep. You can stay at my house if you want."

She shook her head. "No. I think I'll stay here."

"In the hand?"

"Yep. Won't be the first time I spent the night up here."

"I'll stay with you," Ginger said.

"Thanks," said Rose.

"But it's getting chilly," I said. "Are you sure?"

"I'll go get blankets," said Ginger. "We'll be safe and sound."

I hugged them both. "I don't know what I can do. But I'm just up the road if you need me."

I
heard Asa calling my name just as I reached my wooden path.

"Any sign of her?" I asked.

"No. Not a clue. I'm worried, Charlotte. I think Fergus did something to her and then set the trailer on fire to hide the evidence."

"But why would he run back?"

Asa scratched his head. "That's the part that makes no sense. Maybe he forgot one of his precious stamps."

"But to risk his life for a stamp?"

"Greed is powerful. And it's the only thing I can think of. There was something inside that he needed. And he thought he had time. He didn't count on the propane tanks going so fast."

I heaved a huge sigh. "Crazy."

"Yep. Look, Charlotte, I know this was a lousy way to end the day, what with the game and all."

I nodded. "That doesn't matter anymore. Finding Suzy is most important."

"I'm gonna keep looking. But let's hope and pray that she comes wandering out of the woods with daylight and this was all an accident. That would be best."

We stood together a minute. Quiet.

"Good night," he said. Then he kissed my cheek. "We'll find her."

I watched until Asa disappeared into the darkness. About a million stars were visible through the trees. "God," I whispered, "I suppose if you know where every single one of those stars belongs, then you must know where Suzy is. Help us find her."

It was weird walking up to my front door that night. The little path lights were not turned on, and for some reason I didn't see Lucky bouncing at the kitchen window. It was eerie, but it might have just been the mood. I stood a moment before turning the key. The smell from the fire still lingered. It probably would for a while.

I gave the door its usual hip action, expecting to see Lucky bound through the door. But he didn't. I saw my mother standing there looking about as awful as she did the day Daddy died.

My heart pounded so hard I could feel it in my ears.

"Mom, what is it? Did they find Suzy? Is she . . . is she dead?"

Mother shook her head. "Now, Charlotte. You need to settle down and not say a word. Just let me talk a minute."

"Where's Lucky?"

She took my hand and led me to the sofa. "Sit down, Charlotte."

"Lucky. Did something happen to Lucky?"

He barked. I heard his bluster loud and clear coming from my bedroom. I tried to get up, but Mother held my shoulders."Charlotte. Stay. Let me say what I have to say. Lucky is fine."

I swallowed. Mother handed me a glass of water. "I had this ready. Figured you'd be parched from the smoke. Drink. It will help."

"Mother."

"Shh. Now listen. Suzy is here. She's in the bedroom with Lucky."

"Why didn't you tell me? Let me go see her."

"Not yet. I have to tell you something."

"Mother. This isn't right."

"Suzy started the fire, Charlotte."

"What? You're making that up."

"No, I'm not. I've been with her all night. She told me everything."

"I have to go see her."

Mother let me go this time. "Charlotte, I didn't tell her about Fergus."

Suzy sat on the floor with her back against my bed. She had her arms so tight around Lucky he could barely move. He barked once, but low and not with his usual bluster. He squirmed and wiggled and Suzy had no choice but to let him go. He bounded toward me and licked my face. "It's okay, boy. I'm home."

I knelt near Suzy.

"Are you all right?"

"I did it, Charlotte. I burned the trailer. I set the fire."

"But . . . but . . ." I didn't have a clue about what to say. I just pulled her close. "It's okay, Suzy. It's okay."

"I couldn't take it anymore, Charlotte. Fergus, he was real good for a while but then he started again. He wouldn't let up. Something snapped inside my brain and I set the fire. I just set it. I did it."

"But he wasn't in the trailer when you set the fire."

"No, no. I could never . . . I just . . . just thought I'd get rid of the trailer, you know. Burn the place and those stupid, lousy stamps of his. He cared more for them than me. That's why I did it, that's why. So I waited until I knew he'd be gone for a while. Until he went into Cranston like he always does on Tuesday, you know. He was fooling around with some two-bit hussy."

I pulled her close again. "Come on, let's go into the living room."

"I'm scared, Charlotte."

"I know. Now look—" Mother and I helped her up. She seemed so stiff, like she had been in the same position for hours. "No one knows you're here. Let's just go get a cup of tea or something, a glass of water, and sit."

She nodded, and I led her into the living room.

I was going to have to tell her about Fergus. But this wasn't the time.

"That stamp collection was worth thousands of dollars, Charlotte," she said. "He told me he was getting ready to sell it and then run off with that Tuesday woman. And I snapped."

"But the whole trailer. Your home. Why would you destroy your home?" Mother asked.

I gave Suzy a glass of water.

"I got a little carried away, I suppose." She sipped. "I was just gonna burn the stamps, you know, take them outside and do it. But he hit me so hard—" She touched her swollen left eye. "I went berserk, I suppose, and dumped gasoline all over the place. Then I tossed in two matches, just two matches, and—"

"And then you came here."

She nodded. "I knew you'd all be at the softball game. And I hoped you didn't lock your door.

"I waited here with Lucky. I was happy about it for a little while, Charlotte, but when I heard the sirens I started to get scared and regret what I did, but I was so upset. Do you think they can find out I started it? Do you think they can put me in jail?"

My mother held Suzy's hand. "We'll get you a lawyer, Suzy. Don't you worry. You acted in self-defense."

For someone who barely spoke ten words in all the weeks I'd been living in Paradise, Suzy sure poured it on that night. It was almost as though setting the fire had opened a valve or something inside of her.

"Fergus will be coming home soon. He always gets back before two in the morning. He's gonna blow his ever-lovin' stack when he sees it. Does it look bad?"

"It's destroyed, Suzy. Completely and utterly gone."

She swallowed twice. "I am in so much trouble, but I just wanted to get back at him, that's all. Honest. I just wanted to get back at him."

"Well, that you accomplished," Mother said.

I raised my left eyebrow at her. "Mother."

I stood there a few minutes, hoping for the right words to drop out of my mouth, but I didn't know what to say to a woman who had just burned down her house and inadvertently caused the death of her husband—even if he was a rat.

The kitchen clock read one-thirty. I yawned. "You don't have to do anything right now, not this minute. Let's get some sleep and see what the light of day brings."

"Have you seen Asa?" Suzy asked.

"He's out looking for you. I should go try and find him."

"No," Mother said. "I won't let you go out in the dark under these circumstances. Asa will find his way home, and you can tell him in the morning."

The morning brought more rain to Paradise. I rose before Suzy and Mother. I peeked into Suzy's room just to make sure she hadn't run off. She was still asleep, snug under the covers like a caterpillar in a cocoon. I felt thankful she was able to sleep. Lucky spent the night on the floor nearby.

"Good dog," I said. I patted my thighs, and he came running."You wouldn't have let her get away."

Lucky went outside. The acrid smell of charred metal and wood drifted inside the trailer. The rain made the smell even heavier as dark clouds rolled overhead.

Lillian woke next and padded into the kitchen.

"You have to tell her," she said over the rim of her coffee cup.

"I will. As soon as she wakes up."

"I imagine the police will want to talk to her," Mother said."It'd be best coming from you."

Suzy woke around nine. She stood in the living room, still wearing the same thin dress she had worn the day before, and stared at me.

"Are you okay?" I asked. "Want some coffee?"

"I'm a little scared, Charlotte. My legs are shaking."

"I guess I'd be more concerned if you weren't scared."

She made her way to the sofa. "Wonder what happens now."

"I think we wait."

I could hear Herman hollering at me from the grave. "I told you if I ever left you on your own you'd get into a heap of trouble. You probably spurred that woman onto doing that heinous act. It was your fault, Charlotte."

I shook him from my brain and almost spoke out loud to him. I kept my thoughts to myself and poured coffee. "Suzy, do you take cream and sugar?"

"Just cream. But you don't have to give me coffee."

"It's okay. Are you hungry?"

She twisted her mouth. "Nah, not hungry. My stomach feels a little funny. I been worrying all night about Fergus coming home. I thought for sure we'd hear some kind of ruckus once he saw the trailer."

"Maybe he didn't come home this time," Mother said.

Suzy looked away and then back at me. "Maybe. It would make sense, since I didn't hear him tearing up Paradise trying to find me, unless he thinks I was inside the trailer and got killed in there. You think he could be thinking that, Charlotte? Maybe he went to the police to check on me."

"Charlotte, you need to tell her now, or I will."

"Tell me what?"

I had no choice but to tell her the truth. But I wasn't ready. I wanted to have the right words. "Breakfast?" I asked instead.

"Charlotte," Mother said. "I'll do it."

"Raisin toast, maybe, or how about a bacon and marmalade sandwich?" I called from halfway to the kitchen.

Suzy shook her head. "My stomach is funny. I better not."

"Suzy," I said, walking back to the sofa. "Do you have family?"

She sipped her coffee. "No. Just me. My mama died a few years back, and I never knew my daddy. I married Fergus in high school."

"Fergus," I said. I sat next to her on the sofa and patted her knee. "Suzy, I have to tell you something."

"It's about Fergus. He—"

"Hold on," Mother interrupted. "Here comes Asa."

"Asa?" Suzy said. "I can't let him see me. Not like this. He'll be so angry at me."

I patted Suzy's knee. "It's okay. He'll understand. He's been worried sick about you."

Asa stood on my stoop looking like a lost sheep. "I can't find her anywhere, Charlotte. I looked everywhere, been over every inch of Paradise, and I—"

"She's here, Asa. She's inside."

His eyes grew wide. "Really?"

I let him inside, and he went straight to Suzy.

"Suzy, honey, are you all right? What happened? Where you been?"

"Asa, oh, Asa." Suzy hid her face in her hands and sobbed."I am so sorry. It—it just happened."

Asa pulled her hands from her face. "What happened, Suzy?"

Mother and I stood close together and listened.

"I did it, Asa, I started the fire. I—"

"You? But—"

"Asa," I said. "She doesn't know it all."

"Why, Suzy?" he asked. "Why?"

She explained to Asa what happened. "And that was all there was to it. I dropped two matches, just two matches, and then I ran. I ran as fast and as hard as I could, straight here, straight to Charlotte's."

"So you didn't see?" Asa sat next to her on the sofa. He took both her hands in his hand and looked into her eyes. "So you don't know about Fergus."

"Fergus?"

"He came back, Suzy. He came back minutes after the fire started. We saw him run into the trailer and it . . . it exploded. Fergus was killed."

Horror stretched across Suzy's face. "No, he was supposed to be out all night, like he always is, you know, Asa, with his girlfriend."

"He came back. No one knows why he ran into the trailer. Maybe he thought you were in there."

Suzy shook her head. "No, no. Not me. His stamps. He went in for his stamps, I'm sure of it." Then she buried her face in Asa's shoulder and cried.

Lucky perked his ears and ran to the door.

"Now what?" I said.

I pulled open the door. "Charlotte Figg?"

Two men stood on my stoop. The shorter of the two men said, "I'm Lieutenant Dix, and this is Officer Pelka. We'd like to speak with you."

"Uh, certainly," I said as I backed away from the door. "What can I do for you? Would you like a nice slice of pie or is it too early for cherry? I'm sorry, but that's all I have at the moment. Maybe a cup of coffee?"

"No, thank you, Ma'am, that's very nice of you," Officer Pelka said. He had a nice, smooth baritone voice, and I wondered if he practiced it into a tape recorder.

Mother joined me at the door. The officers introduced themselves again.

"Pleased to meet you," she said.

"Mrs. Figg," Dix said. "Have you seen Suzy Wrinkel?"

My mouth dropped open as my brain instantaneously rolled through every possible answer in this situation. I could have said no. I could have said I saw her yesterday but not since. But I knew I couldn't lie.

"Yes. She's in here." My mother and I answered in unison.