Queen (36 page)

Winter was back. No more hints and promises, no more mild days and cool nights. The afternoon wind whistled as it tunneled through the trees, buffeting the eaves of the house before careening down the valley toward Snow Gap.

Less than an hour ago the first flakes of snow had started to fall, and now the ground was more than half covered with the downy stuff.

Queen shivered nervously and then shook off the feeling, certain that it was caused by nothing more than the wind's mournful wail and her dread of the upcoming holiday season.

Her prediction of doom had not yet been fulfilled. More than a week had passed since she'd escaped to Cody's room in terror, and when nothing had happened she'd almost convinced herself that nothing would.

It would be her first Christmas without her sisters. Even though she was going to be sharing it with her soon-to-be family, she still felt slightly off course and a little bit sad, despite being extremely preoccupied with the situation at hand.

The scent of holiday baking already permeated the air, though the actual day was still several weeks away. Cookies in various stages of development were strung across tables and counters as well as on Will's and J.J.'s faces. She had more help than she needed yet would not have wished to trade their presence for a neat kitchen.

"Queenie, can I cut out the next batch?"

J.J.'s imploring question interrupted her thoughts. She looked down at him, smiling at the liberal dusting of flour all over his face and shirt, and nodded.

"Yes, you can do the next batch, and Will can mix instead, okay, Will?"

He agreed. Baking cookies was a new experience for both boys. Heretofore they'd been involved solely in the eating of them. When they realized that Queen was giving their creativity free rein, it knew no bounds. Colored sugar of various hues was scattered about the work island and the floor and suspiciously stuck to their faces. Queen pretended not to notice that both boys were wearing red-and-green-sugared mustaches—a dead giveaway to the fact that not all of the sugar was going on the cookies.

"Donny, don't eat them all," Will whined, imploring Queen to make him stop.

She gave Donny a mock frown. He grinned and left the kitchen, shoving one last star-shaped cookie into his mouth on the way out.

Lord save me from hollow-legged boys, she thought. Then she realized that when it came to feeding and raising endlessly hungry boys, she'd just begun.

"Queenie! Someone's coming!"

Donny's bellow from the front of the house sent both boys tumbling from the stools they'd been using to elevate their height to cabinet level.

"Wash first!" Queen called. "Your dad will get the door." Then she added, mostly to herself, "Besides, it's probably Dennis."

Dennis had established a regular routine of a weekly visit on the pretense of discussing the survival camp or the new trainees in residence, though these matters could just as easily have been dealt with over the phone or at the camp itself.

Cody knew why Dennis really came. He'd become as entrenched in the warm, homey atmosphere Queen had created for his family as they had. And he loved her cooking.

The boys made a U-turn and headed for the downstairs bath. In less than a minute they emerged, still dripping, and went into the living room, leaving Queen to deal with the last batch of cookies coming out of the oven. But the sudden abandonment didn't hurt her feelings at all. She was grateful for the space and quiet.

Cody heard the two car doors slam and frowned. Dennis always came alone. And who else would be coming unannounced or without calling? Especially this far up the mountain and on a day like this, with the impending threat of a storm.

The knock was swift and abrupt. Two short, staccato raps and then nothing. He opened the door, and the smile on his face stopped short of wide and inviting.

"Allen! Lenore! What a surprise!" It was all he could say.

Donny walked up behind his father. His heart sank, and he was entertaining thoughts of escaping to his room when he realized he'd been spotted. He forced a smile on his face and went to greet them.

"Hi, Grandpa, Grandma. I didn't know you were coming. Dad, why didn't you tell us? Was this supposed to be a surprise?"

"Yes," Lenore said, as usual answering for everyone, "it was meant to be a surprise, for your father as well as you boys. I always say surprises bring the best results."

Her smile was small and secretive. Cody stood aside for her to enter and noted absently that her expression matched the weather of the day—cold and wintry.

Allen grasped Cody's hand warmly in return, hoping to make up for the aggravation of his wife and the rudeness of their unexpected arrival.

Will and J.J. came running, with smiles of welcome spread across their faces in place of the colored sugar that had been there minutes earlier. They came to a sliding halt on the polished floor as they rounded the corner to come face to face with their grandmother—high heels, fur coat, lacquered hair, and all.

Both had the look on their faces that Cody had come to recognize meant retreat. He intervened before they could act on it.

"Boys, give your grandparents a big welcome. They've come a long way to surprise you."

Lenore offered her cheek to each boy and then couldn't resist swiping at a stray bit of sugar on Will's shirt and a matching one on J.J.'s face.

"What on earth have you two been doing? Cody, they're a mess!"

"We've been baking cookies with Queenie," they said, suddenly remembering the fun they'd left behind. "Come see! We have stars and Christmas trees and everything!"

Allen smiled. "I'd love to," he said. "Just let me put down my bag and I'll—"

"I'll take it to the den, Grandpa," Donny offered. "You go with the guys. But don't eat all the green ones… they're my favorite."

Allen laughed as each boy took him by the hand and began leading him toward the kitchen.

"Lenore, aren't you coming? This sounds like the place to be. And from the wonderful aroma, it smells like the place to be as well."

"I want to talk to Cody," she said. "I'll join you later."

Allen frowned, suddenly unsure of leaving her alone with his son-in-law. They'd fought for three days until she'd grudgingly agreed to desist in her attempts to discredit Queen. Surely she wouldn't go back on her word. The boys' chatter intruded into his worries.

"Lead away," Allen said. "I'm already getting hungry."

The boys shrieked with laughter as they pulled him through the house.

"Something smells wonderful," he said as he unwound himself from his grandsons.

Queen turned, surprise spread across her face, and then her eyes lit up at the wide grin on the elderly man's face.

"Allen… I mean, Mr. Whittier, it's great to see you again."

"Please, call me Allen," he corrected her. "And now that we've settled that, how many may I have?"

She laughed and pushed the plate toward him. "With an offer like that, there are no limits."

Allen hovered over the cookies, still warm from the oven, and chose one. He quickly admired the handiwork, praising each boy in turn, and then bit into one with relish.

"Uummm," he said. "They're even better than they look."

Meanwhile Lenore had maneuvered Cody into a corner in the hall. Regardless of what she had promised Allen, she wasn't budging from her intended mission.

"Cody… if you don't mind, we need to talk."

Cody frowned at the tone of Lenore's voice. He didn't like what he was thinking. He stepped aside as she walked past him into the living room. He followed her in and motioned for her to sit, but she shook her head.

"No, what I have to say needs to be said standing. Unfortunately I do not come bearing good news."

Cody shoved his hands in his pockets and stood his ground, staring down at Lenore, waiting for her to continue.

"It has come to my attention that the woman you have hired to care for my grandsons comes from a less than desirable background."

Cody inhaled sharply. The implied slur she used when referring to Queen as "that woman" made him see red. Queen had been right! Lenore had to have been behind Wally Morrow's appearance in Snow Gap. How else would she now be in possession of any information regarding Queen?

"What you don't realize, Lenore, is that none of this is your business. And what you also don't know is that I know everything there is to know about Queen, right down to the fact that I love her and I'm going to marry her."

"No! I won't have it!"

Lenore's shout could be heard all over the house. Allen jumped, dropping his half-eaten cookie back onto the plate, and made a dash for the living room. Damn her, she promised!

Queen should have known that their arrival meant trouble. She wondered if this was what she'd sensed coming over a week before.

"Boys," she said, "let's take a plate of cookies to your grandmother and your dad, okay?"

They nodded, but the frowns on their faces were imprinting deep worry lines across their foreheads, and Queen would have liked to march into the room and shake some sense into that witch. What was wrong with her, anyway? Why couldn't she just sit back and accept the love that was due her as a grandparent and not try to meddle in the other facets of Cody's life?

Cody too had to restrain himself from shaking Lenore. "I don't care whether you like it or not. I'm past trying to work things out with you. No matter what happens, you don't like it. You don't want to try. You just want to cause trouble."

Lenore glared at him; the total lack of emotion in his voice made her angrier. "Well… I don't think you'll feel so positive when you read this," she said, and produced Wally Morrow's latest report with a flourish.

Cody brushed aside the paper, refusing even to dignify her actions by looking at it. That only made things worse. Allen Whittier entered the room on the run, but Lenore went on before he could speak up.

"She's nothing but white trash!" she shrieked, forgetting her proper
upbringing in the fury of her tirade. "Her father was a no-account gambler. They
lived in a terrible slum, next door to a bar, and across the street from
harlots. Think of what she's surely seen… think of what she's probably done!
Why, for that matter… they were all probably nothing but a lot of whores
themsel—"

The sound of Allen's slap reverberated across the room. Cody didn't know who was more stunned—himself for having witnessed something he'd thought impossible, Allen for standing up to his wife, or Lenore for having suffered it.

And then a noise shattered the silence, and all heads turned toward the sound. Queen stood just inside the doorway with a boy on either side of her. The plate of cookies she'd been holding was at her feet, broken and ruined, just like her dreams.

Queen had walked into the room just in time to hear Lenore's ugly accusations. And in the space of time it had taken for her brain to register the unfounded rumors of her immorality, something had happened. She'd felt the room tilt. Just a bit, and just enough for her to lose her grip on the plate.

It had crashed at her feet, shattering cookie and china alike, as well as the last of her hopes. No matter how far she ran, she couldn't outrun her past. Judgmental attitudes had simply followed behind, waiting for her to let down her guard, to actually think that she could love… and trust… and not be hurt again.

She shuddered. The roaring in her ears got louder, and the room started to darken and then turn black. The last thing she remembered seeing were the shocked expressions on Will's and J.J.'s faces as their grandmother shrieked and the cookies broke.

"Honey…" Cody never got to finish what he'd been about to say. He watched Queen's face turn pale as she swayed on her feet, staring at the broken plate and cookies as if she'd never seen them before, and then, without a word, fell limply to the floor.

"Oh, no!" Allen's gasp was nothing more than an echo of what was in all their hearts.

All, save Lenore, made a rush toward Queen, who was lying, unconscious, in the midst of the broken glass and food.

The boys were frozen with fear. All they knew was that their grandmother had yelled and then Queenie had fallen on the floor. J.J. started to cry, and Will turned pale and backed away from the onrush of concerned people hovering over her.

"Queen, honey…"

But she had no answer for Cody as he knelt and gently cradled her head upon his knees. His fingers were shaking, his voice deep with concern, as he touched her clammy skin. It was evident she was in shock. "Damn you, Lenore," he muttered without looking up.

"That wasn't my fault," she said, suddenly aware of other implications. What if the stupid woman had hurt herself? She wouldn't be to blame.

"Yes! Yes, it was!" Will yelled.

His cry startled everyone. He was backing into the hallway and pointing a shaking finger at his grandmother, his face suffused with anger.

"It was your fault. You said bad things about Queenie. You hurt her feelings. I hate you! I hate you!" he screamed.

"There! You see!" Lenore's exclamation did nothing to calm the mess in
progress. "She's already turned him against me. I told you, Allen. They have no
business being exposed to her kind. They should come live with us like before.
There we can give them—"

Cody erupted. "Dammit, woman. Just shut the hell up!" The look he gave his father-in-law was telling. "Allen, for God's sake, please… get her out of here."

It was all the urging Allen needed. He got to his feet, leaving the care of Queen to those who loved her best, and grabbed his wife by the arm, leading her from the room, ignoring her protests.

Cody lifted Queen into his arms and carried her to the sofa. "Donny, go get me a wet cloth, will you, son?" he asked as he smoothed her curls away from her pale, silent face.

Donny did as he was told.

"J.J., you and Will go get a dustpan and a broom from the kitchen and sweep up the cookies and broken glass before someone gets cut, okay?"

Tears were puddling in J.J.'s eyes as he leaned over Queen's inert body and patted her cheek with a smudgy hand that had missed getting washed. "Is she going to die?" he asked.