Watch for the Dead (Relatively Dead Book 4) (3 page)

“Yes, of course. I know what I’m doing, and I’m careful.” Ellie was already deep into reading the manual that had come with the camera, so Abby decided to leave her to it and unlocked the front door, leaving it open. The old house was not air-conditioned, and probably never would be, but Abby had already learned that if she opened strategically placed windows throughout the house, there was good airflow, and the house cooled off at night. Ellie quickly settled herself in the window seat in the back parlor, still absorbed by the manual, so Abby made for the kitchen, already thinking about dinner, but stopped to check the landline. There was a message from Leslie, and she played it immediately.

“Hi, Abby. I’m calling on this line because I didn’t want Ellie to overhear and I figured you might be out. Things with George were a little more complicated than we expected. It’s not all bad news—I won’t go into details over the phone now—but it’s going to take a little longer than we thought. I hope you and Ned can handle Ellie for a few days. Sorry to dump this on you with such short notice. I’ll give you a call later so I can talk to Ellie, and I’ll fill you in then.”

Oh, dear,
Abby thought. Poor George. Poor Leslie. Of course she and Ned could manage with Ellie, so that was one less thing for Leslie to worry about. She wondered what the problem had turned out to be, but she didn’t want to speculate with no information—she’d have to wait until Leslie called later. So, back to planning dinner.

She was concocting an improvised spaghetti dish that she figured Ellie would eat. At some point Ellie had gone outside: Abby had seen her going past one or another window, snapping pictures as she went. How many pictures did a big card hold? Hundreds, she assumed. She heard a car pull in, and then Ned’s voice and Ellie’s, as Ellie explained her new acquisition and he listened patiently. A couple of minutes later he came in, alone, and kissed Abby.

“Any news?”

“Leslie left a message. Not good, I’m afraid, but she’ll call back with details. Looks like we’ll have Ellie a little longer.”

“That’s fine, isn’t it? Was the camera your idea or hers?”

“A little of each. It looks like it’s a big hit, doesn’t it?”

“That it does, and she really seems to know what she’s doing. And I’ve got an idea for something else we can do, since Ellie will be around longer now. I’ll tell you over dinner.”

“Ready in fifteen,” Abby told him with a kiss.

At dinner Ellie all but inhaled her spaghetti, clearly eager to get back to her camera. “Ned, you said you had an idea?” Abby asked him.

“First things first. Ellie, it looks like you might be staying with us for a few days—your dad needs to rest after today. So I was wondering if you’d like to spend a few days on Cape Cod?”

“Uh, okay, I guess. Will Dad be okay?”

“We think so, but it might take longer than your mom thought,” Abby said.

“What’s Cape Cod?” Ellie asked.

“It’s that funny curved piece of land that juts out into the sea at the south end of the state. It’s been settled since the first colonists arrived, but now it’s a popular place to take vacations—lots of beaches and touristy things.”

“Oh. Okay,” Ellie said, apparently satisfied.

Abby turned to Ned. “I’d always heard that everything on the Cape was booked up by January. Do you know a place?”

“I’ve got a friend who has a house there, in West Falmouth, right on a harbor. You’re right—usually it would be booked for all of August, but he had a last-minute cancellation and he asked if I might be interested. Are you?”

“Me? Or you and me? With Ellie, of course,” Abby asked.

“I can’t get away until the weekend, but you two could go out now and get settled, and I’ll join you there. How does that work for you?”

“It isn’t some big mansion where I’d be afraid to track sand all over the floors, is it?”

“Not at all,” Ned said, smiling. “It’s a nice shingle house, built around 1900, with a porch overlooking the water. There might be some flashier places in the neighborhood, but this one’s just the right size. Are you up for it, Ellie?”

“Can we swim?” she asked.

“I think so,” Ned told her. “There’s a nice beach not too far away. Maybe you could even fish, or go sailing. Lots of things to do.”

“Sounds good,” Ellie said. “May I be excused now?”

“Sure, sweetie,” Abby said. When Ellie had gone upstairs, she turned back to Ned. “It’s available until September second? Because that’s when school starts for Ellie. Of course, I hope she’ll be back home by then.”

“Don’t worry about it. At least through the weekend, all right?”

“Then it sounds lovely. Thank you.”

Chapter 3

It was after eight when Leslie finally called back. Abby and Ned exchanged a glance when Abby saw the caller ID, but she decided to pick up, rather than letting Ned do it. “Leslie? How’re things going?”

“Is Ellie nearby?” was Leslie’s first question.

“You mean can she overhear us? No. What’s wrong?”

Leslie sighed. “What we thought was a simple gallbladder problem turned out to be a bit more complicated than that. Instead of a quick arthroscopic procedure, they had to open George up. They found it was a tumor than had created the original problem.”

“Could they remove it?” Abby asked.

“Yes, they think so. We’re still waiting on the biopsy results, but they think it was benign. But he’s still in the hospital, since it was a more invasive surgery, and might not even be home tomorrow. Anyway, I hope you don’t mind keeping Ellie.”

“Of course not,” Abby volunteered quickly. “She’s a great kid.”

“We think so. Can I talk to her? Or is she already in bed?”

“Oops—I forgot to ask if she has a set bedtime. How strict are you about that?”

“Should be about now, but it’s her last week of vacation, so don’t worry about it.”

“Well, she’s still awake, so I’ll go get her.” Abby handed the phone to Ned and set off looking for Ellie. She found her in her bedroom, looking out at the cemetery in the dark. “See anyone?” Abby asked when she walked in.

“Not right now. Do . . . dead people sleep at night, like we do? Or are they just invisible?”

“Ellie, I really don’t know, but it’s a good question. Look, your mom is on the phone, and she wants to talk to you.”

“Okay,” Ellie replied without any emotion. “Downstairs?”

“Yes.” Abby followed Ellie down the stairs and found Ned still on the phone.

“Here she is,” he said quickly, handing off the phone to Ellie.

When Ellie took it, she said, “Hi, Mom,” and then listened. Whatever Leslie was telling her went on for quite a while. Ellie didn’t ask any questions, but said “uh-huh” a couple of times. After a few minutes she handed the phone back to Abby. “She wants to talk to you again.”

Leslie cut straight to the point. “I told her to behave herself and do what you and Ned tell her. I’ll stop by in the morning with some more clothes for her, on my way to the hospital.”

“How much did you tell her?”

“About George? Only that he can’t come home right away, and when he does, he’s going to have to take it easy.”

“Okay, I’ll stick to that. Anything else I need to know about her? Food allergies? She hates baths?”

“Nothing important. She’s not allergic to bee stings and such, and nothing like asthma. Just a normal all-around kid—except for that thing of yours.”

Abby decided to ignore the dig. “Bring a bathing suit—we might find a place to swim.” Abby decided not to mention the Cape, since she wasn’t sure they’d actually go.

“She should like that. Take sunscreen.”

“Of course.”

“Look, I’ve got to go. I’m exhausted, and I need to get some sleep before tomorrow morning. If I remember anything else, I’ll let you know then, okay?”

“Fine. I’ll keep my cell on. Take care of yourself, Leslie, and let me know if you need anything else.”

They hung up at the same time. Ellie hadn’t left the room, but was hovering around the corners, trying to look invisible. Abby took a wild guess and assumed that she wasn’t buying her mother’s “everything is okay” message. “You want some ice cream?”
Good job, Abby—when somebody is upset, bribe them with sugar and carbs.

“Okay,” Ellie said with little enthusiasm.

Abby led the way to the kitchen and dragged out a gallon of ice cream. “Vanilla, I’m afraid, but we might be able to find something to add to it.”

“Sprinkles?” Ellie asked with a bit more interest.

“We’ll find out.”

Abby insisted on eating in the kitchen, until she was sure that Ellie could handle sprinkles without spilling them all over the floor. It turned out not to be a problem. “Is Daddy really sick?” Ellie asked.

Abby sighed inwardly. Clearly Ellie picked up on signals a lot of kids her age would miss. Heck, a lot of adults Abby knew would miss them too. “Sweetie, we just don’t know yet. I don’t want to pretend everything is fine, but I don’t want you to worry too much either. We’ll just have to wait and see. But your mother or I will tell you as soon as we know anything. All right?”

Ellie nodded without comment, and turned her attention back to her ice cream.

Ice cream consumed, Abby decided to skip the bath and put Ellie to bed. Ellie didn’t object, and even brushed her teeth when Abby found her a new toothbrush. In the bedroom, Ellie said, “You have any books?”

Abby laughed. “Of course I do, although I’m not sure we’ve unpacked a lot of them. What do you like to read?” She was pretty sure there weren’t a lot of kids’ books in the house, but she’d been reading well beyond her grade level at Ellie’s age.

“You have
The Hobbit
?”

“In fact, I do. Have you read it?”

“Yeah, a couple of times, but I like to reread things sometimes. It’s a nice book.”

“That it is. Do you want me to read it to you?”

“No, I can do it myself. It helps make me sleepy.”

“Then let me go find it.” Abby darted down the hall to the bedroom she and Ned shared, amused that Ellie shared her affection for the book. She’d read it many times, and had made a habit out of rereading the whole Tolkien set every summer since the first time, a decade before. It was easy to find. She grabbed it off the shelf and returned to Ellie’s room and handed it to her. “Here you go.”

“Thank you, Abby. I’ll be all right now. You don’t have to stay.”

“Okay,” Abby said dubiously. “Do you want me to leave the door open? Maybe leave the hall light on?”

“Just a crack, please. Do you wake up early?”

“Yes, I do. It’s peaceful here in the morning. If you’re not awake, do you want me to wake you up?”

“Please. I can help you with breakfast.”

“Then I’ll see you in the morning. Good night, Ellie.”

“Good night, Abby.”

Abby slipped out and pulled the door nearly shut, then went back downstairs. Ned was sitting in the front parlor. “Did Leslie say anything more to you?”

Ned shook his head. “Not really. She was pretty distracted.”

“She’s worried. She didn’t happen to say whether there was anything we . . . shouldn’t say?”

“No. She trusts us, I think.”

“It’s just that I don’t want to lie to Ellie if she asks me a direct question. Kids can always tell when you’re lying.”

“I know. But sometimes they’re afraid to ask the really big questions—they might not really want to know the answers.”

“I get it.” Abby sat next to him on the couch. “So, what about this house on the Cape? What do we need to do?”

“My pal—his name’s Daniel Eldridge—uses a local rental agency to oversee the place, since he doesn’t live on the Cape. He said he’d give them a call and let them know you’ll be coming, and they’ll let you in. Otherwise, the place was already cleaned, ready for the next tenants.”

“Have you been there?”

“A couple of times, for parties. Do you know the Cape?”

“Not really. I drove out to Provincetown once with friends, just to see it. But I’ve never spent any real time there.”

“I’m told there will be basic food supplies in the house, enough to get you two started anyway, and of course you can go shopping. I warn you, the roads can get pretty crowded in tourist season, so allow plenty of time to get where you’re going.”

“Maybe I’ll just wait for you to go sightseeing,” Abby said, snuggling up against him.

“If you want. You’ll be close to Woods Hole, which might interest Ellie. Oh, and I should warn you—there’s no television in the house.”

Abby recoiled in mock horror. “What about Wi-Fi?”

“Yes, for good or ill. My friend is kind of an Internet addict, and he can’t live without it, and he assumes everyone else feels the same way. So if you get desperate, you can watch stuff on your laptop.”

“I’d rather not. We can take plenty of books along.”

“Yes, and there are a couple of good bookstores in the area.”

“Ned, don’t worry about us—we’ll be fine.”

“I’m sure you will,” Ned said, putting his arms around her and leaning his chin on her head. “It’s a nice place, off the main road, so it should be fairly quiet. There’s a beach with a lifeguard a couple of miles away, if you want to swim. There’s another beach on a spit on the other side of the harbor, but that’s kind of private property. I think you can walk on the beach there, but no swimming.”

“I’m sure your friend and his agency will have an extensive list of dos and don’ts waiting for us. Stop worrying.”

“I wish I could be there with you,” he said wistfully.

“So do I, but you’ll be joining us, right?”

“If all goes as planned.”

Abby thought he didn’t sound very sure, but his proximity was nearly overwhelming, and she didn’t want to talk anymore.

• • •

The next morning Ellie’s bed was empty—and neatly made—when Abby checked, so she went on down the stairs to find Ellie in the kitchen taking pictures of an egg.

“Hi, Abby,” Ellie greeted her. “I was going to make something, but then I figured I didn’t know where everything was, and I didn’t want to wake you up, so I decided I could take some more pictures. It’s kinda cool to take really close close-ups of things, you know? Like if you get right up to the egg and take a picture, you wouldn’t even guess it’s an egg.”