Twisted (25 page)

R
onnie was whistling as he opened the door to the formal dining room and carried in the props for his skit. He was in a very good mood. Jennifer and Tim had chosen him to receive Kelly's note, and he could hardly wait for the séance to see what else they had up their sleeves. It was clear they were going to have Kelly's spirit speak directly to him and he was more than willing to take part in their little drama. Of course, he'd act surprised when Kelly's spirit contacted him. Maybe he'd even make everyone think he was a little scared.

As he arranged his props on the dining room table, Ronnie began to smile. Susie's reaction to the note had been a real eyeopener. She'd actually been afraid that he might get hurt! And that meant she liked him much more than he had realized.

Ronnie's smile grew wider as he thought about Susie. He'd known her for years and their parents did business together. The bakery supplied all the bread that Susie's parents used in their deli. Susie was plump but that didn't bother him. He liked women with curves, and he'd always thought that most of the girls at Foothill High were too skinny. Susie was pretty, too, and she had a good sense of humor. Now that he thought about it, he wondered why he'd never thought of dating Susie before. They were already friends and their families got along just fine. Just as soon as this Halloween weekend was over and they were back in Foothill again, he'd ask Susie for a date.

It didn't take Ronnie very long to arrange the plate and silverware he'd brought with him from the kitchen. There was only one place setting and it was at the head of the table. His skit was simple, but it was very frightening. Ronnie was playing a judge who'd sentenced a man to death by hanging. The man he'd sentenced had been innocent and he came back to haunt Ronnie, the judge who had condemned him.

There was only one thing that made Ronnie's skit tricky. In everyone else's skit, Brian was behind the scenes to do the special effects. In Ronnie's skit, Brian played the condemned man's ghost, and since he was on stage for most of the time, they had to rig everything by remote control.

The skit started with Ronnie at the head of the table, eating a solitary meal. There was a sound from above and Ronnie looked up to see the dead man swinging from a noose attached to the massive chandelier one floor above the table. As Ronnie watched in horror, the dead man dropped down from the chandelier with the noose still around his neck.

Naturally, they used a dummy, and after it fell, the lights went out. That gave Ronnie time to shove the dummy under the table so Brian could take its place. When the lights came back on, Brian moaned and got up to play the dead man's ghost.

The dummy hadn't worked at all last night. Ronnie had tugged on the hidden wire, but it hadn't fallen. They'd rigged it again, right after the performance, but Ronnie still wasn't sure it would work. He wanted to test it before tonight's performance.

Ronnie sat down at the table and reached for the hidden wire. There was a snap as the rope separated and the dummy came tumbling down. It was perfect and Ronnie grinned. They had it right, this time. The dummy looked very realistic and everyone who saw it fall would scream in terror.

Now that he'd tested the dummy, Ronnie had to hook it back up again. He grabbed the dummy's arms and dragged it over to the base of the narrow circular staircase that led to the mezzanine area overlooking the dining room.

Dragging the dummy up the stairs was impossible. Its arms and legs flopped around and got stuck between the balustrades. Ronnie finally gave up and draped the dummy over his shoulders, holding the legs in one hand and the arms in the other. It was called a “fireman's carry” and Ronnie had seen pictures of firefighters carrying people out of burning buildings that way. It looked easier than it actually was, and by the time Ronnie got to the top of the circular staircase, he was panting.

Ronnie rolled the dummy off his shoulders and let it fall to the floor with a thump. This was really a two-person job, but Brian was busy rigging things for the other skits.

“Hey! Is anybody around? I need some help in here!” Ronnie called out, but no one answered. That wasn't surprising. The dining room was set apart from the rest of the lodge by two sliding wooden doors and Ronnie had closed them when he'd come in.

Should he go back down the stairs to find someone to help him? Ronnie thought about it for a moment, but then he shook his head. He'd try to do it by himself, first. He might not need any help.

Lifting the dummy to the railing was awkward, but Ronnie managed to bend it in the middle and drape it over the rail. Now all he had to do was lean out, pull the wires in, and attach them to the dummy. Once the wires were in place, he could lift the dummy over the rail so it would hang down from the chandelier.

Ronnie was about to reach out for the wires when he thought he heard someone climbing the stairs to the mezzanine. He turned around with a smile on his face, expecting to see one of his classmates who'd heard him call out. But the footsteps stopped and although Ronnie waited for a moment or two, no one appeared at the top of the stairs.

“I must be hearing things.” Ronnie frowned slightly as he turned back to the dummy again. “No one's there.”

Ronnie reached out, but he couldn't grab the wires. They had tangled when the dummy had fallen and they were just out of his reach. He leaned out as far as he dared, but then something happened that made him realize that he'd better be extra careful. The sunglasses he always carried in his pocket slipped out and tumbled down to the dining room below.

“Uh-oh!” Ronnie shivered slightly as the lenses shattered on the marble floor. What if he lost his balance? Would his head shatter like the lenses of his sunglasses? The thought was frightening and Ronnie decided that there was no way he'd lean out any further without some sort of safety harness.

“Just look what you're putting me through.” Ronnie gave the dummy a baleful look. “I do all the work and you just hang there, grinning.”

Ronnie pulled off his belt, secured it to the rail, and buckled the end snugly around his leg. If he leaned out too far and lost his balance, the belt would keep him from falling. Ronnie felt much more secure as he leaned out and attempted to reach the wires again.

He was almost successful. His fingertips brushed against the tangle of wires, but he couldn't quite grab them. One more try and Ronnie was sure he'd be able to do it. He leaned out again, straining against the belt that held him securely. And then, just as he was about to grab the wires, he felt someone loosen the belt!

Ronnie didn't have time to think about who had loosened his belt. He didn't even have time to scream. He fell and his head hit the marble floor with sickening thud, and all the thoughts and memories and hopes and dreams that belonged to a boy named Ronnie Hughes were erased for eternity.

 

Tim and Jennifer sat on one of the couches, waiting for the rest of the group to arrive. The first to come in were Tommy and Lexie, and Jennifer grinned as she saw that they were holding hands. Lexie looked happy and so did Tommy. That made Jennifer happy, too . . . until Cheryl arrived.

Cheryl was smiling when she came in, but the moment she saw Lexie with Tommy, her eyes began to glitter dangerously. Jennifer held her breath. There was bound to be an ugly confrontation. But Brian walked through the doorway carrying a makeup case, just in the nick of time.

Brian took in the situation at a glance, and he walked over to Cheryl. “Hey, Cheryl. You're just the girl I want to see! You know a lot about makeup, don't you?”

“Of course I do. You know that.”

Cheryl sounded sullen, but Brian pretended not to notice. “I need the advice of an expert. I'm supposed to be dead and I can't seem to get my makeup right. How about it? Can you fix me up?”

“I guess so.” Cheryl gave Tommy and Lexie a withering look. “It's pretty clear I'm not needed around here!”

Tim squeezed Jennifer's hand and leaned over to whisper in her ear. “It's a good thing Brian came in when he did. I thought we were going to see fireworks.”

“Hey, guys.... what do you think?” Susie was grinning as she came in. She was wearing a black hat with an ostrich plume that dipped down low over her left eye. The plume was dyed black to match the hat and it suited her perfectly.

“That hat looks great on you!” Jennifer complimented her. “Where did you get it?”

“I found it on top of a shelf in the linen closet. One of the guests must have left it behind.”

Dale came in just in time to hear Susie's comment. “It doesn't belong to a guest. When my uncle bought this lodge, it had a clothing store in the lobby. That hat was on one of the mannequins.”

“Do you think your uncle would let me buy it?”

Dale laughed. “You don't need to buy it, Susie. Just keep it. It really looks good on you.”

“Are you sure?” Susie looked hopeful. “I mean . . . shouldn't you ask your uncle?”

“I don't have to ask him. I'm the one who packed up all the other stuff and gave it to charity. I just missed the hat, that's all. Consider it a gift from Saddlepeak Lodge.”

“Thanks, Dale!” Susie gave him a delighted grin. “I just love this hat. It's totally me!”

Pete came in, carrying his clipboard. “Okay, everybody. Are we all ready to start?”

While the other students crowded around Pete, Lexie pulled Jennifer over to the side. “I need to talk to you, Jen.”

Her friend looked worried and Jennifer began to frown. “What it is, Lexie?”

“It's Tommy. He asked me to the Thanksgiving dance. If I go with him, will that be a problem for you?”

Jennifer managed to hide a grin. “It certainly will!”

“Oh.” Lexie looked very disappointed. “Well . . . I like Tommy a lot, but my friendship with you comes first. I'll just tell Tommy that I can't go to the dance with him.”

Jennifer couldn't hide her grin any longer. This was working out even better than she'd expected. “Thanks, Lexie. Our friendship is very important to me, too. Just tell Tommy you won't go out with him unless it's a double date.”

“A double date?” Lexie looked confused. “What do you mean?”

“It's Tim's week to drive the Jeep, and we're using it to go to the Thanksgiving dance. If you and Tommy want a ride, you'll just have to double-date with us.”

Lexie started to grin. “Shame on you, Jen! You really had me worried for a minute.”

“Listen up, gang!” Pete called out for order. “Is everybody ready to start?”

“We're ready,” Susie called out. “But Ronnie's not here yet.”

“He's probably in the dining room, rigging that dummy.” Tim spoke up. “He said he was going to try it first, before the rehearsal.”

“Okay. Since you've already rehearsed the séance, you two go and help him. Tommy and Cheryl can start their skit and you can join us whenever you're through.”

Jennifer was smiling as she left the room with Tim. She was still thinking about the joyful expression on Lexie's face when she realized that Jennifer didn't care if she dated Tommy. It would be fun to double-date with her best friend. But the sight that greeted them when Tim pushed open the dining room door made Jennifer's happy smile disappear in a hurry.

“Oh, my God!” Jennifer stared at Ronnie's crumpled body in utter disbelief. And when she turned to Tim, there was genuine fear in her eyes. “Is he . . . ?”

Tim didn't say anything. It was clear that Ronnie was dead. No one could survive a fall like that.

Jennifer tore her eyes away from the gruesome sight and reached for the wall to steady herself. Tim would need her help. “Do you want me to get the guys?”

“Yes.” Tim looked grateful as he stepped closer and gave her a brief hug. “Are there any more tarps?”

“I'll find one. And this time I'll come back with the guys to help you.”

Tim shook his head. “Stay with the girls, Jen. Susie's going to take this really hard. She'll need you.”

“Right.” Jennifer turned to go. But then a terrible thought crossed her mind and she turned back to Tim with a worried expression on her face. “Ronnie got that note from Kelly. They're never going to believe that this was an accident!”

Tim looked very grim and Jennifer could tell he'd thought of that, too. They stared at each other for a long moment and then Jennifer sighed. “Do you think it was? An accident, I mean?”

“I don't know, Jen.” Tim took a deep breath and then he said the words that struck terror into her heart. “Zada's dead and so is Melanie. And now Ronnie's dead, too. I really thought our séances were a fake, but now . . . I just don't know what to believe !”

“
O
kay, everybody. Calm down and let's talk about this rationally.” Pete looked very serious as he faced them. “What happened to Ronnie was a terrible accident, but it was an accident.”

Susie wiped her eyes with a tissue from the pack that Jennifer had given her. “Are you sure?”

“I'm positive.”

“But what about the note he got from Kelly?” Dale began to frown. “Doesn't that prove that it wasn't an accident?”

“Of course not. Be reasonable, Dale. That note was just a part of Jennifer and Tim's séance, and it had absolutely nothing to do with Ronnie's accident. You don't really believe that Kelly wrote that note from the grave, do you?”

There was a long silence while everyone thought it over and the seconds ticked by without a sound. No one seemed willing to speak.

“Well? Do you?” Pete glanced around the room.

Tommy looked uncomfortable, but he was the one to answer. “No. I don't believe that note was from Kelly. She loved me and I loved her. We were planning to get married and spend the rest of our lives together. If Kelly could send notes from the other side, she would have written to me.”

“But she didn't.” The look Cheryl gave Tommy was sizzling. “Maybe Kelly didn't love you quite as much as you thought she did.”

Jennifer held her breath. The tension in the room was growing thicker by the minute. It was obvious that Cheryl was still fuming about catching Tommy and Lexie together and she was trying to hurt Tommy, any way she could.

Lexie turned to face Cheryl. “That's not true, Cheryl. Everybody knows how much Kelly and Tommy loved each other!”

“So I've heard.” Cheryl shrugged. “But it didn't take Tommy very long to get over Kelly. He's been trying to pick up on me since the first day of school.”

“That's only because you threw yourself at him.” Lexie began to frown. “We all noticed it. And Tommy's too polite to tell you to get lost.”

Cheryl put her hands on her hips. “I've never thrown myself at anybody in my life! And if I did, it certainly wouldn't be Tommy!”

“Oh, really? I saw you, Cheryl. And so did everybody else!”

“How about you?” Cheryl sounded outraged. “You're the one who's throwing herself at Tommy. I saw you trying to hold hands with him. You were practically slobbering at his feet!”

Jennifer glanced back and forth from Cheryl to Lexie as the two girls traded insults. She'd never seen Lexie get this mad before and Jennifer felt like a spectator at a tennis match, holding her breath as she waited for the sizzling backhand that would knock someone's head off. But before things could turn truly nasty, Brian stood up between Cheryl and Lexie.

“Simmer down, girls. The last thing we need is to fight with each other. We've got enough problems without that.”

“Brian's right.” Pete took charge. “Let's all try to act like adults. I think the best thing is to go right on with our rehearsal.”

Jennifer spoke up fast, before Lexie and Cheryl could get started again. “Which skit is next, Pete?”

“Let's start with Dale and Susie. I want everyone to make a final check of their props. We'll all meet in the library in ten minutes.”

Jennifer waited until everyone except Pete had left the room and then she hurried to his side. “Pete? I've got to talk to you.”

“What is it, Jennifer?” Pete smiled at her. “Do you have a problem with the séance?”

“No. I mean, yes . . . in a way. I think we should cancel our séance skit.”

Pete looked surprised. “But why? It's going very well. I think most of the class is really starting to fall for your act.”

“I know.” Jennifer was very serious. “That's the problem. Everybody's starting to believe in Kelly's ghost. And some of them are getting scared!”

“I realize that, but the best way to reassure them is to go on with your séance. If we stop now, it might cause someone to panic. When you plant the next note and the person who gets it doesn't die, everyone will start to relax.”

“But we don't plant the notes! Someone else is doing that, and I don't know who it is!”

Pete laughed and patted Jennifer on the back. “Good girl! You're a real professional, getting back in character already. Come on, now. Let's hurry up or Dale and Susie might start their skit without us.”

 

Jennifer was just opening the door to the makeup room, when she heard a muffled cry. Susie was standing in front of the lighted makeup table, staring down at something on the ledge.

“What's the matter, Susie?” Jennifer hurried across the room.

“You know what it is.” She sounded freaked as she handed Jennifer a piece of lodge stationery. “It's another note from Kelly. It was wrapped around this lipstick in my makeup case.”

Jennifer read the note aloud. “
Susie. My killer is among us. Be patient and I will tell you who it is.”

“Look, Jen . . . these notes are very clever. But I really wish you and Tim had picked somebody else.”

Jennifer opened her mouth to object. She was about to swear that they hadn't planted the note, when she remembered what Pete had said.

“I'm not mad at you, Jen.” Susie sighed. “I know these notes are just a part of your skit. But look what happened to Melanie and Ronnie. They got notes from Kelly and they wound up dead!”

“That's true, but it's only coincidence. It's not like somebody actually killed them. You know what happened, Susie. Melanie pulled out the wrong log on the woodpile and Ronnie fell over the rail when he was rigging that dummy. They were accidents, pure and simple.”

“I know that, but everybody's getting very nervous about the séances.”

It was the opening she'd been waiting for and Jennifer took a deep breath. “That's exactly why we need your help, Susie. You know that our séance is only a skit, but some people actually think that I contacted Kelly's spirit.”

“And you don't think you did?”

Jennifer hesitated and then she shook her head. “Of course not! And that's the reason Pete wants us to go right on with our skit. He wants us to prove that our séances aren't real.”

“How can you do that?” Susie looked curious.

“It's simple. When everybody finds out that you got a note from Kelly, they'll watch you. And when nothing bad happens, they'll finally realize that there's absolutely nothing to worry about.”

“I guess that makes sense. I see what you're trying to do, Jen.”

“Then you'll help us?”

“What choice do I have?” Susie gave a rueful smile. “You and Tim chose me to be your guinea pig.”

“I guess that's true. But being a guinea pig isn't all there is to it. You're also our fearless leader.”

“No one's ever called me that before!” Susie started to laugh. “Okay, Jen . . . I may hate myself for this later, but I'll do it.”

Jennifer reached out to hug her. “Thanks, Susie. You won't be sorry, I promise.”

But as Jennifer followed Susie out the door, she hoped she could keep her promise. The notes from Kelly did seem to bring bad luck to anyone who received them. One thing was very certain : She was going to talk to Tim about it. Between the two of them, they‘d keep a very careful eye on Susie until this Halloween weekend at the haunted lodge was over.

 

He sat in his room and tried to think. They'd all been very upset when they'd discovered that Susie had found a note from Kelly, especially when they'd realized that the lipstick was Kelly's color. Of course, anyone could have known Kelly's shade of lipstick. He wasn't concerned about that. It was the appearance of another note that upset him. It meant that killing Ronnie hadn't stopped the threat.

Who had written the note? He really had no idea and there wasn't any way to find out. It could be Susie. Kelly had worked only a block from the deli and she'd gone there for lunch several times a week. Kelly might have decided to confide in Susie and ask her for advice.

He'd always liked Susie. She was a warm, genuine person with only one fault and that fault would be her downfall. Miss Voelker had discussed something called the “fatal flaw.” Hamlet's fatal flaw was indecision and it had caused his death. Captain Ahab was obsessed with the whale and that obsession had been lethal. Miss Voelker had used Midas as another example. His greed had killed him in the end. These were all literary characters, but Susie had a fatal flaw, too. She loved to gossip. All her friends had warned her that her big mouth would get her into trouble someday. Unfortunately for Susie, that day was today.