If Catfish Had Nine Lives (Country Cooking School Mystery) (22 page)

I lifted the
mochila
out of the trunk and handed it to Gram. She was gentle and more curious than I would have predicted she’d be. She opened two flaps on one side and looked inside. When she turned it to look into the other two, something fell out and to the ground.

“Oh, no. Sorry,” Gram said.

“A letter? Jake and I looked though it thoroughly, Gram; there was no letter.”

“You must have missed it. Let’s see what it is. Be careful. It will probably be very delicate.”

“Should we call Joe over? I mean, it’s a letter from a
mochila
; maybe he should see it too?” I said as I crouched to pick up the weathered envelope. Time had made it look like someone had spilled coffee on it and wadded it up before straightening it again.

“Makes sense to me,” Gram said.

I held the letter as I stood up with the intention to signal Joe to join us. But as I glanced over at the group, I was stopped by the look on Jake’s face as he talked to Orly. Something was wrong.

With letter in hand, and with Gram and the
mochila
behind me, I made my way back to Orly’s tent.

“What’s going on?” I asked Jake.

“I couldn’t find Esther. I told Orly, and he said that he saw her with Vivienne earlier, walking along the back of the campsite.”

“I told them to stay out of the woods,” Orly said as if to somehow appease Jake.

“And then he mentioned that Esther and Vivienne were two people who had access to his truck,” Jake continued, worry now pinching his voice.

“Well, yes, but they’re on a list of about six people, Jake. I’m sure those two are fine. I didn’t mean anything by it. Sorry.”

I wasn’t sure they were fine. And I wasn’t totally aware of what I was doing as I stuffed the letter into my pocket. I wanted to find Esther and Vivienne before I did anything else.

“We’ll find them,” I said to Jake. “Come on.”

Those who were paying attention would have seen me, Gram, Jake, and Orly tromping toward the thick woods. But Gram and I both saw that Jerome and Joe and a horse were part of the pack of explorers, too, though they were mostly silent. I sensed that Jerome was somehow out of sorts, but he stayed close by.

“Orly, how far away are we from the spot where Teddy was found?” I said.

Orly shrugged. “I didn’t find him.”

He had mentioned that, and he’d mentioned that one of the cowgirls had found him, but I’d never asked for a name. I remembered that I had been so worried about Teddy’s state that I’d missed that important question. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t, but I didn’t hesitate to ask it now. “Who found him? Which cowgirl?”

“Vivienne,” he said. “She helped him back to the tents.”

I looked into the copse of trees and felt small and unsure. I’d been in the woods plenty of times, and I could easily find my way out, but there were so many options as to which path Vivienne and Esther might have taken if they had, in fact, gone into them.

“Should we split up?” I said. “Orly, you go with me or Jake. We know our way around in there. We won’t get lost.”

“Wait a minute, Betts,” Joe said at the same time Orly said, “I’ll go with Miz.”

“Let me look first. I can ride much more quickly than the rest of you can walk. I can do this, I can find them,” Joe said with such emotion that Gram, Jerome, and I looked up at him. Was he going to cry?

I nodded and then turned my attention back to the others. Orly and Jake, of course, hadn’t heard Joe, so I responded to Orly’s comment about going with Gram. “Okay, but Jake, you go with them, too. Hang on a second, though. Gram, how about you take the short path around to the south end and then back up again?”

“Will do,” she said, knowing that trail was easy and wouldn’t take them long.

Once she and Orly set off, I held on to Jake’s arm to keep him back a moment. I quickly turned my attention to Joe. “Go, I guess. Find them and yell for us. Hopefully Jerome or I or Gram will hear you.”

Joe’s mouth formed a straight intense line before he said, “I will find them. I was supposed to find Astin, Betts. I was supposed to find him. I won’t fail again.”

He nudged the horse with his heels before I could ask any questions.

“He said it had been his job to find Astin,” I said to Jake. “Maybe Joe was a law enforcement officer from that time and it was his job to find the downed rider. He said he wouldn’t fail again.”

“I haven’t researched that aspect. I can, but right at the moment I’d like to find Esther,” Jake said.

“I understand. Go on. Catch up to Gram and Orly.” I nodded.

But a scream cut through the trees and stopped us in our tracks.

The scream came from the direction I’d sent Gram and Orly. It had only been less than a minute; they couldn’t have gone far, but I didn’t see them.

“Gram!” I said before I set off into the trees. Jerome and Jake probably followed behind, but I didn’t take the time to look.

Even though I knew the woods, the worn paths weren’t all that well-marked and I had to jump and dodge through and around nature’s obstacle course.

“Gram!” I yelled as I ran.

It was as if they appeared out of nowhere, but in fact, Gram and Orly simply stepped out from a turn in the path. Orly grabbed me just as I was about to run over Gram.

“Betts, I’m okay. It wasn’t me,” Gram said. “But we need to find who it was. Come on. This way.”

She turned and stepped away before I could even catch my breath. She wasn’t running, but she was moving at a good clip.

“You all right?” Orly still had his hand around my arm.

“I’m fine. I thought . . .”

“I know, and I understand, but I need to go catch up to Miz. You sure you’re okay?”

I nodded.

Jake stepped around me. “She’s fine, Orly. Let’s go.”

Jerome and I followed behind them.

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?” I said to him.

“No, I don’t, and I don’t mind saying that I’m more than a bit uncomfortable about it. I tried to go find who was screaming, but I can’t seem to leave your side, Isabelle.”

“Which means I’m in danger,” I said.

“That’s my only guess.”

The sound of rhythmic horse hooves from up ahead caught Gram’s and my attention.

Joe brought the horse to a halt in front of Gram and said, “They’re in the Express station. The two women.”

Gram turned and said, “I think they’re in the Express station. We need to hurry.”

If Orly wondered why Gram thought what she thought, he didn’t ask the question.

If we hadn’t stepped into the woods in the first place, we could have gotten to the station quickly and easily. But now we had to decide if we wanted to continue through the woods and take a roundabout way to the station, or backtrack and go the other way. Time-wise it was probably sixes. Gram chose to keep moving forward, so we followed behind.

Though we moved quickly, it felt like our feet were having to be pulled from thick mud. It was only a minute or two later when we reached an edge to the dense woods. We stepped out into the clearing and hurried to the Express station. When we reached it, Orly stepped in front of Gram and put his hand on the door.

“Why don’t you all just cross back over to the campsite. I’ll go in and see if they’re in there and what’s happening. You all try to get ahold of the police again.”

“Excuse me, Orly, but I’m not waiting for anyone,” Jake said as he gently pushed Orly aside and opened the door. He was in a second later. Orly followed him. Gram and I looked at each other and the ghosts. We weren’t waiting either. Another second later, Gram and I and the ghosts, the horse included, joined the others.

Unfortunately, we walked into a situation that was much more dire than any of us had predicted. If we would have taken at least a moment to hoist ourselves up to a window so we could see that a gun was being held to one of our visitors’ heads, we might have all chosen to stay outside instead and make that extra call to the police. And even more unfortunately, it became quickly clear that we weren’t going to be allowed to escape.

“Stay back, Isabelle,” Jerome said as he put himself in front of me. I quickly put my hand through his arm.

“How many more are out there?” Vivienne said. One of her arms was tight around Esther’s neck. The other hand held the gun, and currently it was aimed at me.

“The police are on their way,” I said.

Esther’s fair skin was even paler than normal, and she was bleeding profusely from her arm. I assumed she’d been shot. I didn’t think I’d heard gunfire, so I wondered if she had been shot before we’d returned to the campsite.

“Then we have only a few minutes. Here’s what’s going to happen: You are going to let me and Esther get out of this building, and then I’m going to leave. I’ll leave her where you all can find her and get her to a doctor.”

“Fine, Vivienne,” I said. I hoped it would actually play out that way and no one else would get hurt. The space was too small for us all, and gunfire could be extra deadly.

“What’s going on, Vivienne?” Orly asked. “What’s the paper on the floor?”

I truly hadn’t noticed the piece of paper, and I wished Orly hadn’t either. If only we could just get out of there.

Vivienne laughed. “Ask her.” She squeezed her arm a little tighter around Esther’s neck. Vivienne nodded to the piece of paper close to her left foot.

“Esther?” Orly said.

Esther shook her head. She either didn’t want to tell what the letter was, or she couldn’t because she was in shock or in pain—or both.

“It’s what brought her here,” Vivienne said as she kicked the letter away.

It floated in the air a second and then it landed at Jake’s feet.

“Go ahead, pick it up,” Vivienne said.

Jake did as she instructed. He read over the letter silently and then said, “It’s a letter that tells her she’s a descendant of Astin Reagal, a Pony Express rider who was lost on the trail,” Jake said. I thought he was angry that Esther was hurt, that she was being held, that he couldn’t figure out what to do to help her. Tension straightened his back and tightened his voice.

“So?” I said.

“Really?” Orly said. “I’m a descendant of Astin Reagal, too. It’s part of the reason I came to town last summer. Do you remember me asking you about him?” Orly looked at Jake.

“I don’t, Orly, but I get a lot of visitors and a lot of questions.”

Vivienne forced a chuckle this time. “Of course you are, Orly. And let me introduce you to your daughter. Esther, say hi to dear old dad.”

“What?” Orly said.

Esther blinked, and a tear fell from the corner of one of her eyes.

“That’s right. That’s why I got her and Norman here. They’re yours, Orly. Twins, of all things, parted at birth and given away for adoption. My mother was their biological mother.”

“Vivienne, I don’t understand what is going on,” Orly said. “But I don’t think it matters. Let’s get Esther to a doctor and we’ll sort it all out.”

“Right. The police are going to let me go, even after I killed Norman and shot Esther? I doubt it.”

“Why did you kill Norman? Why would you hurt Esther?” Orly said.

Vivienne laughed again, even more maniacally this time. “I didn’t even mean to kill Norman. I meant to kill Cody.”

“Why?” Orly said.

“Because he knew what I was up to. He found out I was trying to get Norman and Esther to buy into my idea and blackmail you.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I would ruin your reputation if you didn’t pay up, but they had to be in on it with me. It wouldn’t have worked otherwise. Both Cody and that other guy, Teddy, overheard what I was doing. I talked Cody into helping me with Teddy, and then I knew I had to get rid of Cody, too. I thought Teddy was dead. I tried to kill Cody, but hit Norman instead.”

I thought about Amy’s measurements and her words. She thought that an accident or a mistaken aim might have been a possibility.

“Why in the world didn’t Cody come forward?” Orly asked, but it was more to himself than to Vivienne.

Jake had said that Cody was one of the better actors he’d seen in Broken Rope. Apparently his appraisal had been spot on. Cody had acted the goofy innocent so well that almost everyone, including myself, had believed his act.

“Ended up I had to promise him some money, too. I brought Esther out here today to try to convince her again that you owed her something, anything. But she wouldn’t listen.”

“So you shot her?” I said.

“I was only threatening her with the gun. It went off by accident.”

I wanted to say something about Vivienne’s horrible gun-handling skills and suggest that she should never, ever again carry one, but it didn’t seem like the right time.

“Now, here’s—” Vivienne said as she wielded the weapon at Orly. Evidently she was going to tell us again what we were all going to do. I hoped Orly would just listen this time and we could all get out of the small space without further injury. I thought about pushing my way out the door and running for help, but I was afraid that Vivienne just might shoot at someone because she was angry I’d tried to escape.

But before she could finish, the world shifted. It was as if the light dimmed a little and we were all suddenly inside a walled-in cave.

“What’s going on?” Vivienne said.

“I don’t know,” Orly said.

“Uh-oh.” I looked at Gram and then at Jake. “You seeing this?”

“Yes,” Jake said. “Totally.”

Not only did the sights transform, but so did the smells. Suddenly, we were in something like a real station, one from olden times, but without distinct walls, and so were a couple horses—seemingly real horses. The scents that went along with horses, their feed, and their riders were all around us.

“Miz, what’s going on?” Orly asked.

“Everyone will be fine,” Gram said. “Just hang on. We’re about to see a show, I think.”

Gram and I had both experienced something similar with the old bakery, but the other living souls in the room had probably never seen a real ghost or been part of a real ghostly experience. Jake was clearly interested, but his concern for Esther took priority. Esther was having a hard time remaining conscious, and though she was a small woman, was becoming heavier and heavier for Vivienne. Vivienne was just as perplexed as Orly and wasn’t sure where to aim the gun or what to do with the body she was trying to keep hold of. I sidled my way that direction with the hope that I might be able to get either Esther or the gun away from her—or both. Jerome stayed close by my side.

A loud rumble preceded the arrival of who I hoped was our last ghost of the day.

“I’ll be jiggered,” Astin Reagal said as he pulled his horse to a strong-reined halt on the open side of the station. The space had become bigger than it would have been in reality and the walls had all but disappeared into a muddy murkiness. He looked behind himself at some of the murkiness and laughed, and then looked at us.

“Hello,” he said with a blink. “Where’s my man? Where’s the next rider?”

“Astin,” Joe said as he got off his horse and walked to Astin’s side. “I’m here. I’m here, Astin.” Joe turned to me. “You have a letter, I presume.” At first, I had no idea what Joe was talking about, but then I realized that he meant the one I’d put in my pocket. I nodded. “Read it. Now.”

I pulled it out. It was in terrible condition, but I carefully opened the flap and reached inside for the small piece of paper.

I looked around at the confused and concerned faces in the station. I wanted to get this over with, but I saw no shortcuts. I was going to have to read the letter.

“My dearest Josey. If you find this, I’m sure I will have passed to the great beyond. I fell off the horse, sweetheart. I took a shortcut and somehow the horse’s legs got caught in some bramble and I went down, and broke both my legs. The horse ran off. I’m sure to die if no one finds me soon, and I don’t see that many people will travel this way. I love you and our dear son. I’m sorry to leave you. Astin.”

Sure to die.
They were the few legible words from Joe’s last letter. This must somehow be the same letter.

I looked up to see Joe removing his hat. His—no,
her
long black hair cascaded down her back. Her grimy face became distinctly ungrimy and very pretty—that’s what I’d been seeing, a watery version of the beginnings of that transformation.

“I searched for you, my love,” she said as she looked up at Astin. “I searched for so very long.”

“Oh, Josey, I’m so, so sorry.”

“No need to be. I found you now.” Josey looked at Gram. “I couldn’t tell you. It was . . . well, I don’t know why, but I think it was some sort of punishment for abandoning my remaining family, but I just couldn’t say the words. I couldn’t admit to who I was until I did what I’d set out to do. My name is Amelia Josephine. Astin always called me Josey or Joe. I hope you understand.”

“I do,” Gram said.

Josey looked at me. “I’m so terribly sorry for the trouble I caused you, but I’m beginning to think that if it weren’t for you, we still might not have a solution. An end to my torture. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I said.

“I think things are good now,” Josey said.

“We had our fun over the years. Thank you, Joe. Josey,” Gram said.

“We did. And Astin and I will be back someday, I’m sure. And we’ll be together,” Josey said.

“We’ll see you down the road, then,” Gram said. “And, Josey, I’m ever so glad you aren’t alone anymore.”

Josey’s horse stomped and looked directly at me. Our eyes made contact, and I was certain he was trying to tell me something. It was too bad that even in the midst of all this weirdness, it seemed that animals still couldn’t speak. I wish I could have known what he was trying to tell me right before he faded away completely, but I’m going to go with gratitude. The horse was either happy to have the truth come out or was so fed up with the rest of us for not being able to figure out that Joe was a she and not a he that he needed one last look of “sheesh.” No, I’m going to go with gratitude.

Astin pulled Josey up onto his horse. She sat behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. They smiled at each other as he heeled the horse and pulled on the reins to turn it back toward wherever he came from. In a moment, they were all gone, except for Jerome.