Gold Hill (5 page)

“
Uncomfortable,” Valerie
said. She lay down on her back with her hand on her belly. He put a
hand on her protruding belly. “But I had a nice time tonight. What
a great distraction to go over to Jeraine and Tanesha’s
house.”

“
I’m glad you said that
because I wasn’t sure if you had a good time.”

“
I thought it was fun,”
Valerie said. “The penthouse was really nice. I haven’t been to the
Pinnacle before. It was kind of like ‘imagine your
life.’”

“
Would you want to live
there?”

“
No,” Valerie said. “But
it’s fun to look.”

“
Delphie is sure you’ll
have the baby this week,” Mike said. “Everyone’s geared up. Do you
think it will happen?”

“
I hope so,” Valerie said.
“I’ve had a lot of contractions
and . . . ”

“
And?”

“
I keep thinking I see
Mom,” Valerie said. “That’s what I was doing.”

“
I thought you were
cleaning the kitchen floor again,” Mike smiled.

“
No, but that’s a good
idea,” Valerie said.

He chuckled.

“
What were you doing?”
Mike asked.

“
I was coming up from the
kitchen and I thought I saw Mom,” Valerie said. “I went to where I
saw her and . . . nothing. So I started up the
stairs again and I swear she was at the top of the
landing.”

“
That’s weird,” Mike
said.

“
I went to ask Delphie,”
Valerie said.

“
And?”

“
She just smiled and put
her hand on the baby,” Valerie said. “It’s weird.”

“
Sounds weird,” Mike
said.

“
I want Mom to be here so
bad,” Valerie said. “I want her to be with me when I have the baby,
to be a grandmother, and everything. I miss her so much right now.
I wish she’d lived long enough to be here for this. She’d have
wanted to be here.”

“
I’m sure she wishes she
was here now,” Mike said.

Valerie made some
nondescript sound and pretended to go to sleep. Mike rolled over
onto his side. He watched her face for a moment then fell sound
asleep. Valerie opened her eyes when she knew he was asleep. She
stared at the ceiling for a while.

“
Is that really you, Mom?”
Valerie whispered. “Or is it some kind of hormonal insanity? If
it’s really you, can you give me some kind of a sign? Something
only I would know?”

She waited for a moment and
then looked around room. She hoped beyond hope that something would
happen. But nothing moved in the dim, quiet room. Turning over, she
told herself she was imagining things and tried to get some sleep.
A few hours later, a strong contraction woke her and Valerie opened
her eyes. She was lying on her side facing away from
Mike.

She was about to roll onto
her back when she noticed a tattered stuffed white bunny with one
missing button eye. Mr. Bilfry. She’d slept with the bunny every
day of her life until she left for college. And even then, she
slept with Mr. Bilfry every night she was home from school. She
stroked the super soft pink inside of the bunny’s ear.

She’d left Mr. Bilfry at
home when she’d gone to college. College wasn’t a safe place for
such a precious and vital creature. But sadly, Mr. Bilfry
disappeared when her mother and Delphie had moved to the Castle.
Secretly, Valerie had searched through boxes to see if she could
find him. She never did. Until now.

Mr. Bilfry had appeared
right exactly when she needed him the most.

“
Thanks Mom,” Valerie
whispered and fell sound asleep.

Chapter One Hundred and
Ninety

Blue Sky

Tuesday mid-day — 12:15
p.m.

Brighton,
Colorado

Standing on the small hill
in Brighton, Delphie looked up at the warm late August sky. From
where she stood, she could see out over the home construction site
to the Rocky Mountains on the horizon. She was standing on the site
where Saint Jude had killed his first victim after hanging her in
the horrible barn. Soon it would be a gorgeous gem of a
park.

“
Excuse me,” A small but
beautiful woman touched Delphie’s arm. Her face held the washed out
look of extreme grief. She spoke in her native language. “I’m
sorry. Were you meditating?”

Delphie smiled at Ava’s
best friend’s mother.

“
You must speak English,”
Beth’s father said in the same language.

“
It’s all right,” Delphie
smiled. “My mother spoke Slavic when I was a child. Was that
Croatian? It’s similar.”

“
Yes,” the man said. “You
may speak English. She understands much but refuses to
speak.”

“
I was taking in the day,”
Delphie said in English. “Oh look, it’s Amelie.”

Delphie waved to Amelie and
Dale getting out of a car nearby. They jogged up the slope toward
the group of people gathering on the small hill.

“
What happened to
the . . . ?” The woman gestured toward the
fenced off dirt area.

“
Jacob took the terrible
pole barn down by hand,” Delphie said. “Have you met
Jacob?”

“
Yes,” Beth’s father said.
“He has been very kind.
Everyone . . . ”

He gestured to the people
gathering around them. The families of Saint Jude’s victims were
joining Delphie today to celebrate the lives of their loved ones
and the end of Saint Jude.

“
But these people?” Beth’s
mother gestured to the men and woman standing near where the pole
barn had been. Ava hugged Beth’s father and then her mother. Her
mother hugged Dale and her father shook his hand.

“
They’re from the Museum
of Nature and Science,” Delphie said.

“
They’re scientists,” Ava
said. “They’re going to dig up the barn to see if they can
determine what happened here. Seth said they may be here for more
than ten years working on everything that’s here.”

“
Like they have done in
Bosnia,” Beth’s father said. “Find the crimes. Find the criminals.
That is very good.”

“
Won’t they find
the . . . ” Beth’s mother looked at her
husband.

“
Zmaj,” Beth’s father
visibly shook.

“
No, he and his mate are
gone,” Delphie smiled. “The women and children in my family
destroyed them with their light.”

“
And her babies,” Ava
said.

Beth’s mother began to
weep. Dale hugged her.

“
He is our son now,”
Beth’s father said. “We are glad to have him. Please forgive us. We
miss our Beth so very much.”

“
Don’t be sorry,” Delphie
said. “I wanted everyone to get together here to see that they
don’t suffer alone.”

“
That Saint Jude was an
evil man,” Beth’s father said.

“
Without Beth, we never
would have caught him,” Ava said.

“
Yes,” Beth’s father said.
He took a breath at his pain and then changed the topic. “We were
told this is going to be a park?”

“
Did you see the design?”
Delphie took them to a 3-D model of the future park. “One of Jill’s
teachers at the Art Institute came up with the design. The
construction company is going to create it.”

“
How did you get them
to . . . ?” Dale asked.

“
After he got out of the
hospital, he just wanted to do it,” Delphie shrugged.

“
Delphie told him about a
big blockage,” Ava whispered and gestured to her heart. Her eye’s
spoke to the size of the block. “Widow maker.”

“
He’s very generous,”
Delphie said with a twinkle in her eye.

They laughed.

“
What’s going to happen to
the house?” Dale asked. “It’s really lovely. Huge.”

“
I don’t remember,”
Delphie said. “I mean, there’s a sold sign and I think someone told
me, but I was making sure the park happened
and . . . ”

“
She ignored me,” Sam up
his arm over Delphie’s shoulder. “Sam Lipson.”

Beth’s parents shook his
hand and introduced themselves.

“
The house will be moved.
I remember that,” Delphie smiled at Sam. “And the land will be the
first part of the park. The City is deciding whether to build a rec
center on a part of it. But Sam bought all that land and this land
so it would be a really nice park.”

“
Don’t let her fool you,”
Sam said. “She made this happen. Did she tell you about the people
who lived in the mansion?”

Beth’s father shook his
head.

“
Why don’t you show them?”
Sam said. “I’ll call the kids and see where they are.”

Delphie nodded and led
Beth’s parents to the row of old graves.

“
The original owners of
the house died in the flu epidemic of 1918,” Delphie said. “One
child got sick and by morning almost everyone was dead. It was a
terrible tragedy. They were buried and forgotten here. I found them
when we were here and Sam promised me he would take care of them.
He bought those lovely grave markers and Jake set up the metal
fence. The heirs even came up with a photo.”

Delphie took them to a
plaque with the family’s photo on it and an explanation of their
graves.

“
So many children,” Beth’s
mother put her hand on her heart. “Poor babies.”

“
I was glad they weren’t
moved,” Delphie said. “It was quite a fight, but in the end it all
worked out. There will be baseball fields over there – a big
playground for kids, where the driveway is now. Soccer fields over
in the corner. They’ll even be a couple of ponds for fish and
birds. And the city is going to maintain the park.”

“
Delphie is being modest,”
Ava said. “Seth said she convinced the City to allow these people
to rest in peace. She even went to the bank on her own and set up a
fund to help maintain the park.”

“
We will donate,” Beth’s
father said. “Of course.”

Delphie smiled. Beth’s
mother touched her arm.

“
The statue?” Beth’s
mother said in Croatian. “Amelie tells me my Beth’s name will be on
a statue?”

“
My friend Mike created
the image,” Delphie said. “We took it to a sculptor who was able to
translate it into . . . well, I’ll show you the
pictures.”

Delphie took a photo album
out of the pocket of her floral skirt. The original oil painting
showed a running boy engrossed in catching a yellow butterfly just
out of his grasp. His hands were above his head and his arms
covered most of his face. His mouth was set in a wide
grin.

“
You can almost hear him
giggle,” Ava pointed to his mouth. “Fabulous.”

“
And the sculptor created
these study models,”

Delphie showed a series of
pictures of small wax statues of the child carved out of
wax.

“
The second one is the
best,” Beth’s father said.

“
I’m glad you said that,”
Delphie said. “That’s the one we picked. The victims’ names will be
carved around the stand. The final bronze statue will be installed
behind where the back of the house is now. It will sit on the edge
of the smaller pond. It should be truly lovely. We’ll have you back
when it’s done.”

“
So expensive,” Beth’s
mother said.

“
We had an anonymous donor
pay for the statue,” Delphie smiled.

Ava mouthed “Seth” to
Beth’s mother. Beth’s mother nodded. Looking up, Delphie noticed
that most of the families of the victims had arrived. The City of
Brighton was having its own ceremony later that day. But right now,
they had gathered to celebrate the end of Saint Jude’s rampage
against homeless children and the lives of his victims.

There was a noise near the
mansion. Delphie looked down to see gravel fly as Jill’s SUV pulled
into the driveway. Jeraine’s Cadillac Escalade followed Jill’s with
Heather’s Subaru not far behind. The women and children were
laughing as they piled out of the cars. Jacob pulled up in a Lipson
Construction SUV with Aden, Blane, Tres, Honey, and Tanesha’s
father Rodney. Mike and Valerie, carrying Mr. Bilfry, got out of
the back of Jeraine’s car.

Her family was
here!

“
Would you excuse me?”
Delphie asked.

“
Please,” Beth’s mother
said. “My Beth . . . Amelie tells me
you . . . ”

“
Beth is at peace,”
Delphie said. “Such a beautiful, good soul, she’s at peace. You can
rest assured that she is celebrated for all she was and she will be
there when you are done here.”

Beth’s mother gave Delphie
a watery smile and her husband led her toward where the other
victim’s families were waiting. Delphie turned just in time to pick
up Katy as she ran to her. Katy gave Delphie a Shasta Daisy and
kissed her cheek.

“
Sorry we’re late,” Sandy
said. “We were waiting for Sissy
and . . . ”

“
Just got behind,” Jacob
hugged Delphie. He offered to take Katy but Delphie shook her
head.