Devil May Care (28 page)

--we're going to take it to some people who can tell us all about it. Then the danger will be over. It's not over yet. We think he--whoever he is--may be out there right now, waiting for one of us to leave with the thing he wants so badly. We've got the house all locked up, so he can't get in; but none of us is going to leave, not till morning. I think--I think that's everything, isn't it?"

She glanced at the others. They were all smiling, except Henry, who looked dazed, as well he might.

"Very nice," Kate said approvingly. "Nice and simple; I suppose you know how to talk to Henry in terms he can understand, after living with him so long ... I'm getting hungry. Let's have a bite to eat, and then we'll go down and see my movies."

"I--I never heard such a pack of nonsense," Henry said weakly.

"Well, these things do happen," Kate said. She extended a hand, and yanked Henry up out of his chair.

"Come along, Henry; nobody feels like cooking tonight, so we'll have to forage for ourselves. Sandwiches and coffee. Can you make drinkable coffee?

If you can't, it's high time you learned."

Recovering from his shock, Henry tried to fall back so that he could talk to Ellie alone, but Kate gave him no opportunity. She herded him into the kitchen, and put him to work. He managed to break into her chatter long enough to ask one question.

"You did--you did make sure the house is secure?"

"Oh, yes, Frank and I went around while Ellie was DEVIL-MAY-CARE 231

letting--while Ellie was upstairs with you," Kate assured him.

Ellie wondered why she had ever worried about Henry rushing into danger. He was very careful of his precious skin.

"What about the library doors?" she asked. "Kate, I never did have time to put in a new pane of glass."

"We've got a couple of tons of pots and pans strategically arranged," Kate said. "And Franklin is in there. He'll let us know if anyone tries to get in. Donald, I hope the document is not in the library."

"No," Donald said.

"Cheese, ham, bread, mustard, mayonnaise," Kate said, removing these items from the refrigerator.

"Get some plates, Ellie. Lettuce, tomatoes, rolls, pate--"

They sat around the kitchen table reaching for what they wanted and eating hugely. Even Henry seemed to relax--until Donald suddenly took it into his head to discuss the apparitions. The white lady on the stairs was the piece de resistance; Donald let out all the stops on that description.

"The cold was frightful," he said in a deep throbbing voice. "I felt encased in ice, cold to the depths of my heart and soul. Those eyes--those terrible, frozen eyes seemed to pierce me like a sword ... "

"Stop that," Ellie said sharply.

"I guess I shouldn't remind her," Donald said to Henry. "She fainted, you know; passed out cold, in my arms ... " "Oh, indeed," said Henry.

"On the floor," said Ellie.

"That's interesting." Kate had both elbows on the table; the sandwich she had made was so thick it required both hands to keep it together. "Did you really faint, Ellie?"

"I had a hard day," Ellie said.

"It was the ghastly aura of that visitor from another world," Donald added. "Only my well-known

232 Elizabeth Peters courage prevented me, too, from ... " He stopped, meeting Kate's steady regard; when he went on his voice had lost its mock solemnity. "No kidding, Kate, it really was pretty bad. I'd give a thousand bucks to know how that stunt was rigged. Ellie mentioned the cold that accompanied old man Lockwood's appearance.

We discussed how that could have been accomplished, by someone who knows how your house is designed. But that method couldn't have been used with the white lady. I tell you, the cold was piercing; it cut right down into your bones. And it was localized in a very peculiar manner, all in one spot--"

"That's right, it was," Ellie said. "Like a wall of ice."

"Oh," Kate said softly. She put her sandwich down on the table, where it spread out in an unbecoming manner. Her eyes were a smoky blue and her mouth was wistful, yearning. "Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a real ghost after all? You don't suppose ... " "No," Ellie said loudly. "I don't. And it wouldn't be wonderful at all. Really, Kate, we've already got three or four separate subplots already; you can't drag in a ghost to account for everything that's left over. Just wait till we talk to Ted, he'll be able to explain the whole thing."

"I suppose you're right." Kate's mouth drooped; Ellie felt like an adult who has just told a child there is no Santa Claus. "Oh, well, this world is full of disappointments. Speaking of Ted, I think I'll call the hospital."

"I'll call." Doctor Gold rose. "I can pull rank and get more information than you could."

He went to the phone. Kate contemplated the mess on her plate with disgust.

"I knew I shouldn't have let go of it," she said. "I can't eat this. What--"

DEVIL-MAY-CARE 233

"Kate." The doctor was standing quite still; he held the receiver in one hand. "The phone is dead."

"What?" Donald jumped to his feet and then doubled over, arms around his chest. "Dad, are you sure?"

"Either a telephone is functioning or it is not," the doctor snapped. "It is hardly a matter for debate."

"Try one of the other lines," Kate said. "He may have missed the one in my workroom, I had it put in later than some of the others."

But no one moved. Henry stared at them, his expression a blend of incredulity, suspicion, and horror.

"This is some sort of sick joke," he said. "I don't think it's particularly clever, I must say." "I'm afraid it's not a joke," Kate said. "What Ellie told you was true; she didn't tell you the half of it.

Donald, are you all right?"

Donald straightened up, still clutching his ribs. He was pale and perspiring, but he produced a weak smile.

"I'll live. Damn it, what a time to be crippled. I don't like this development, Kate." "Let's keep calm," said the doctor, whose hair was standing straight up on end. "This merely confirms what we suspected--that someone is lying in wait out there. It is a sensible move for him to cut the wires; he doesn't want us calling for help, or checking up on anyone's alibi for the hours to come.

Things are no worse than they were before. I--I think I'll just have another look around, make sure all the doors are secure." "This is disgusting," Donald said angrily. "Here we are, five relatively strong and capable people, acting like a city under siege by howling barbarians.

It's only one man--" "Or woman," Kate said. "That's what we've been assuming. It might be all of them. Did you ever consider that?"

234 Elizabeth Peters Donald had considered it; he showed no surprise.

The idea came as a shock to Ellie and to the doctor, who spun around with a muffled croak of protest.

"Now, Kate--"

"We don't know," Kate insisted. "Several of them have motives. What's to prevent them from banding together to protect their precious names? I tell you, Frank, we don't know what is out there. And we aren't five able-bodied people; one of us is injured-- stop looking stalwart, Donald, one clap on the back and you'd be flat on your face--one of us is small and fragile"--it was obvious that she was not talking about herself, but before Ellie could protest, Kate finished, "and one of us is uncommitted. Usually the defenders have the stronger position, but in this case we are at a disadvantage because we don't know what to expect. Now what I propose is--"

"Are you ever at a loss for an idea?" Donald inquired disagreeably.

"Never. We'll check the doors and windows again.

I really don't believe anyone can get in--" "Hey," Ellie interrupted. "What about that secret entrance Marian Beaseley uses? If she could get in when all the other doors were barred and bolted--"

"Now how could you suppose I would be foolish enough to forget that?" Kate demanded. "That door is always locked, and Marian and I are the only ones who have keys. It's not a secret entrance, it's the old cellar door. It's rather overgrown, and most people have forgotten it exists. But we'll check that one, too.

As I was saying when I was so rudely interrupted, I don't see how anyone could enter the house; but we'll barricade ourselves into one of the rooms. Then--"

"I don't suppose the room you have in mind could be your new projection room?" Donald inquired gently.

"Well, why not? It's quite solid; soundproof, you know; and we may as well be entertained while we wait for morning." Kate's eyes shone. "We should DEVIL-MAY-CARE 235

be able to watch three, maybe four games before it will be light enough to leave."

Even the doctor looked slightly horrified.

"I don't think I can stand four consecutive Redskin games," he said.

"But these are games they won," Kate said. "Oh, well, if you're going to be like that, I'll show A Night at the Opera in between the Giants game and the Philadelphia game."

The doctor began to laugh. He laughed so hard his knees gave way and he had to lean against the wall.

"Kate, you are impossible," he said finally, wheezing.

"Whatever happens tonight, I love you. Will you marry me?" "No. But I'll live in sin with you," Kate said promptly. "Come on, let's go the rounds. Frank, you and Donald--"

"No, let's not split up." The doctor was entirely serious now. "All for one and one for all."

So they went in a group, albeit a rather straggling group. The house had never seemed larger, more sprawling, more full of moving shadows.

Ellie found the opportunity to exchange a few words with Kate while the men were erecting a barricade across a particularly vulnerable window.

"Look, Kate, no more jokes about real ghosts, okay? I know you're trying to tease Henry, but-- you're getting to me, too. You didn't see that thing on the stairs."

"I didn't have to. Donald gave me a very vivid description of it--and of your reaction." "Kate, I said no more jokes, please."

Kate opened her mouth as if to speak, thought for a moment, and then said mildly, "Okay. Sorry."

They covered the entire house without encountering anything more dangerous than Roger, although the rat's sudden appearance, on a bust of Keats in the mid-Victorian morning parlor, almost sent Henry E36 Elizabeth Peters into a fit. He recovered himself more quickly than Ellie expected; in fact, he got quite cheerful as the tour neared its end. Apparently it had finally dawned on him that he was the obvious hero of the night, being the only one who was male, young, and healthy. He started patting Kate on the head and making remarks like

"Nothing to worry about, girls.

We can handle anything that comes along."

"What about taking a little light refreshment?" he inquired jocularly, as they ended the tour where it had begun, in the kitchen.

"There's a bar in the theater, naturally," Kate said.

"Quite well stocked, I assure you. But thanks, Henry; you reminded me of something we certainly ought to take with us. Donald, where's the parchment?"

"It's perfectly safe where--"

"The safest place for it is under all our eyes," Kate said. "You're taking a chance if you leave it up here, unguarded. Where is it?"

"Oh, all right. It's in your workroom."

"Good heavens! That's the most open room in the house. Those bay windows--" "It's also the messiest room," Donald said cuttingly.

"You can never find anything; a poor burglar wouldn't have a chance."

"Well, let's get it--no, not you, we'll go together."

At that moment they were electrified by a loud crackling noise that seemed to come from the empty air around them. Henry yelped and grabbed at Donald, who echoed the cry in a different tone.

"Thought you might be about to faint, old boy," Henry said weakly. "Uh--what was that?"

"The intercom," Kate said. "It makes noises sometimes.

... Who turned it on?"

No one remembered having done so. Kate's face grew longer and more pensive as the denials followed one another, but the doctor said impatiently, "You probably did it yourself, Kate, without DEVIL-MAY-CARE 237

thinking. Or else you've been fooling with the wiring again and messed it up."

Kate didn't deny the charge, but it was clear that she was uneasy.

"Let's get that parchment," she said. "Hurry, can't you?"

She relaxed visibly when they reached her workroom and found no signs of disturbance, although, as several of them pointed out, it would have been difficult to tell whether anyone had been searching; the room was always in a state of chaos.

"Get it," Kate said impatiently. "Hurry up, Donald; let's get out of here."

"I stuck it in one of these magazines," Donald said, indicating the untidy stack of Ms., Pro Quarterback, and Cat Fancy that spilled over one of the tables. He began looking.

Kate stood tapping her foot nervously, her eyes searching the room. Her nervousness had infected everyone; Ellie felt a crawling sensation, as if unseen eyes were watching them. Suddenly Kate said, "Why did you move that screen, Ellie? It should be in the library."

The screen, a heavy three-leafed, man-tall structure of carved wood and gilded stamped leather, stood in the corner farthest from the window. It was a comparatively dark corner, since the table lamp at that end of the room had not been lighted, but Ellie recognized the screen.

"I didn't move it," she said. "Donald, did--"

And then she was struck dumb, like all the others, as Ted's last and greatest effect got under way. It began with light--the same sickly greenish glow she had seen once before. At first it was a dim circle hanging unsupported in midair. Gradually it strengthened; and as it did so, the figure took shape, dark as the shadows from which it seemed to draw its substance, but impossibly transparent. The gilt tracery of the screen shone faintly through its body.

238 Elizabeth Peters Shrouded in black it stood, hands hidden in the wide sleeves of the garment that covered it from crown to floor. The cowled head was lifted, but there was no face under the hood, only an expanse of darkness.

Slowly one arm lifted and straightened, as if pointing. The wide hanging sleeve seemed to be empty, but suddenly a blast of cool air ruffled Ellie's curls and a low humming moan began to rise and fall. The tall, faceless figure wavered in that inexplicable wind like something drawn on paper. Abruptly it solidified. The lifted arm gestured and the cold air moved with it like an emanation from an invisible weapon.