Brother Willy's Traveling Salvation Show (19 page)

Scott
turned away and walked about twenty feet to the edge of the water to consider the options. The stories Beth and Michelle both told were almost identical and for that to happen, they must have collaborated with each other. The big question for Scott was why they would make up their story unless it was nothing more than a joke.

On the other hand, if
Michelle’s “ghost experience” were nothing more than a joke, then they were both excellent actors. Scott had carefully watched their expressions and reactions as each other talked. He also knew with some certainty that Michelle was feeling nervous and apprehensive. Still, his few moments of solitude were not going to provide any answers so he made his way back to where they stood talking.

Like two gun fighters
of the old west, Michelle and Scott looked at each other for several minutes without speaking. From the corner of his eye, he could see Beth as she studied Michelle’s face and then his. As time went along, Scott was sure Beth could pick up the hint of a grin on both of their faces. Finally, Beth looked at them as she spoke. “What on earth are the two of you doing?”

Never taking her eyes off
Scott’s eyes, Michelle replied, “He is getting ready to say something that he knows I don’t want to hear. He knows I am not going to listen to him tell me that there is no logical explanation for what we experienced last night. He also knows that if he wants to live long enough to see the sunset, he better be careful that he doesn’t tell me I am acting like some hysterical girl by letting my imagination run away with me.”

Beth
took a few steps as she moved closer to Michelle and offered the same relentless stare. “I’m sure he knows that our not having a logical explanation for what happened last night doesn’t make us hysterical females.”

Slipping into his
Sherlock Holmes personality, Scott placed his finger to his lip and then pointed at Beth. “Thank you Beth. Until this very moment, I was unable to confirm my theory and provide the logical explanation you both crave. Having seen the evidence you just provided, I can now solve the mystery of the ghost in our bed last night.”

Beth
turned to Michelle, clearly doubting his credibility. “He is not going to tell us the butler did it, is he?”

Scott
continued speaking, despite her lack of confidence in his detective skills. “As we can all see, Beth is a living and healthy female.”

Michelle
was grinning as she took her turn casting doubt on his skills. “He never misses even the smallest detail.”

Scott
once again ignored their cynicism. “Therefore, we can conclude Beth is not a ghost. Michelle is neither suffering from hysteria nor is she hallucinating, as you both report the same strange event. I am only left to conclude that the two of you, acting as co-conspirators, have fabricated this tale for reasons that escape me. Shall we all go swimming now?”

Beth
looked at him with a sense of conviction and determination. “I understand why you would reach that conclusion, but your theory is wrong. I didn’t tell anyone until just now what happened to me last night.”

Michelle
nodded her head and was equally serious. “She’s right Scott. We didn’t make up this story. It’s real.”

Scott
stood watching both of them for a few moments realizing that Michelle and Beth were both serious and unyielding in their convictions. He offered them the only explanation he could think of. “Neither you nor Beth is crazy. Beth is not a ghost and you both say you are telling the truth. What is the explanation?”

Michelle
thought for a few moments before she spoke. “All this leads to only one conclusion. Beth and I apparently share some strange type of psychic connection.”

Beth
gave another reason to support the idea of a mental connection between them. “Just a few minutes ago, you said you thought I had a good idea about going swimming and we both started to get up. Michelle, I didn’t say a word to you about anything before you said that.”

Michelle
appeared completely confused by Beth’s statement. “You said you were hot and you thought we should go swimming.”

Scott
looked at Michelle for a moment before he replied. “Sweetheart, I was wide awake and Beth didn’t say a word about anything. You just came out of nowhere with your idea.”

Beth
came to Michelle’s defense. “But Scott, that is exactly what I was thinking when she said it.”

Scott
turned his attention to Beth. “You told Michelle you wanted a Coke before she asked what we wanted to drink. I didn’t even know she was going after drinks. I thought we were going swimming.”

Beth
shook her head. “I thought we were going swimming too. I don’t know why I assumed she was going for drinks.”

Michelle
pointed out what she thought should be obvious to all. “Doesn’t that mean that Beth is reading my mind and I’m reading hers?”

Beth
started grinning. “This could be interesting.”

Michelle
also smiled for a moment. “Saying this could be interesting is putting it mildly.”

After sitting quietly for a few minutes,
Scott gave them his opinion. “I don’t think that’s the explanation. It might explain some things, but not everything.”

They both looked at
him for a moment trying to understand his hesitation to accept their idea. Scott asked them each to tell him what they experienced from the very first moment. Michelle spoke first. “I went to the dresser to get my gown and that’s when I felt like someone was watching me. I pulled it over my head and turned around to face the bed. That’s when I first got the idea Beth was lying next to you. I just stared at her for a few minutes.”

Scott
stopped Michelle and asked Beth the same question. “What is the first thing you remember?”

Her reply suggested her memory was clear. “I was lying next to you when
Michelle got up and started for the dresser. She opened the third drawer and took out her blue gown. She pulled it over her head and turned to face the bed before she seemed to be staring at me.”

Scott
decided to test Beth. “Was I lying on my side, my stomach or on my back?”

“You were on your back and you had one arm around each of us.” She replied.

Michelle nodded. “That’s the way I remember it too. You were warm and Beth and I were close to you. It’s strange because I knew she was cold too.”

“Do either of you remember anything else?”

Beth looked out at the ocean as she tried to remember what happened. “I remember Michelle and I smiled at each other.”

Scott
suggested they all sit back down before he continued. They were sitting so they could face each other as Scott continued. “This is why I don’t think you are just reading each others mind. If Beth were reading Michelle’s mind, she would not have seen Michelle pulling the gown over her head. She would have the experience of pulling the gown over her own head. In other words, Beth would see what Michelle saw but instead, she was watching Michelle.”

Michelle
understood his idea. “And if I was reading Beth’s mind, I would not have seen Beth, I would have been looking at me, which is what Beth would have seen.”

Beth
also understood their point. “So you’re saying the perspective is all wrong. If that is the case, then what is the explanation?”

Scott
waited for a moment before offering an opinion. “I have a theory, but it’s so far out there that it can’t be right. Suppose what the two of you saw last night did not actually happen last night but is something that will happen in the future. That would explain everything.”

Beth
was completely surprised with his idea and had serious reservations about it. “Are you suggesting that your girlfriend is going to let me climb into bed with you at some point in the future? I don’t see that happening.”

Scott
threw up his hands. “I don’t have any other possible explanations, do either of you?”

Michelle
was looking out at the ocean when she replied. “I don’t know, but this is getting scary.”

Beth
reached out and touched Michelle’s arm. “I know what you mean. Maybe I should pack my things and go home.”

Michelle
looked at Beth as she replied, “I’m not sure leaving is going to solve the problem. I have a feeling something else is going on and we can’t run from it.”

Beth
nodded her head in agreement. “I have the same feeling as you and I don’t think we can hide from it either, but I still wonder why Scott didn’t experience anything last night. Why was it just the two of us?”

They
continued bringing up different ideas as they tried to reach some understanding. After a half hour of sitting in the hot sun, they spent the next forty-five minutes in the ocean being distracted from their previous conversation. At times, they would stand on the ocean floor as the waves were breaking all around them. 

Scott
could not help but notice the interaction between Beth and Michelle. They talked to each other with a sense of familiarity as though they had known each other for years and had been best of friends for quite some time. He could not think of anything that would account for what he was seeing as they shared nothing in common from their past.

To
his surprise, Beth extended the same sense of familiarity to Scott that she felt with Michelle. She would climb on his back proclaiming Scott was her horse. While demanding he carry her around, she made several suggestive sexual comments as her legs were wrapped tightly around his waist with her arms around his neck.

Michelle
’s reaction to Beth was not what he would have expected either. At times, she seemed to encourage Beth’s physical interaction with him and laughed at most of her suggestive comments. Scott was becoming more concerned about Michelle than he was with Beth’s actions.

Having known
Michelle for so long, he now saw her as being different from what he expected. Scott had become accustomed to her being assertive, but now she seemed to be almost complacent if not actually submissive with Beth. Still, his greatest concern was because she appeared far more nervous and distracted than he had ever seen.

Being ready to get out of the ocean,
Beth suggested they go to her cabin a lay next to the pool. With Michelle also ready to leave for a while, she quickly accepted Beth’s offer. Beth then headed for shore to gather her things while Michelle and Scott stayed in the water for a few minutes longer at Michelle’s request. He was ready to have time alone with Michelle.

C
HAPTER XV

Michelle
was watching Beth walk up the beach toward her house when the sound of Scott’s voice appeared to startle her. “Michelle, are you alright?”

As she moved closer,
he put his arm over her shoulder. “No, I don’t think so. I don’t know what’s wrong but there are some really strange things going on.”

Michelle
wasn’t telling Scott everything she wanted him to know, mostly because she had not had the opportunity. Knowing there was something she wanted to say, Scott thought the time had come to have their talk. “You need to tell me what’s bothering you.”

Michelle
showed none of the hesitation Scott had expected. “Last night, Beth and I were talking and she made the point that you and I started going to bed together to save our friendship. Her implication was that we didn’t let our relationship take its natural course. It didn’t make sense to her or me at the time. If Tom had never been in my life and you and I both had jobs in New Bern, would we have taken our relationship to the next level at this time?”

Scott
was unhappy with the idea of Beth injecting herself into his relationship with Michelle and didn’t directly answer her question. “I don’t think Beth is in a position to know why we do what we do with each other and I don’t know that it’s really any of her business.”

Michelle
felt she needed to explain her own thoughts as well as defend Beth’s idea. “Scott, I had been having the same thoughts as Beth. Is that what we are doing? Are we trying to make our relationship different so we don’t have to say goodbye to each other? Is that the only reason we are going to bed together?”

Scott
did not care for the direction he thought their conversation was going so he offered a suggestion that might clarify what Michelle wanted. “Do you want us to go back to the way we were?”

Her answer came without thought or any sense of reluctance. “No, I don’t want to go back. I am very happy where we are
, but I have to know that what you and I have going on between us is real and not temporary.”

Scott
started smiling having gotten the answer he wanted. “Are you saying you want to get married?”

Michelle
thought about his question. She did not want to go back to the way they were. She also was not ready to commit to marry him a week after having broken her engagement with Tom. Michelle knew he was not issuing a proposal when she put both arms around his waist and she replied with her devious smile. “I don’t know yet. I need to know that you can get the job done in the bedroom before I make a commitment to you.”

Scott
began to rub her lower back as he held her close. “I didn’t hear any complaints from you last night.”

Michelle
’s rebuke came quickly. “Last night was very nice for me, but that was fourteen hours ago. What have you done for me lately?”

Scott
’s answer was also quick and reflected a slight tone of frustration. “Nothing, and with Beth around, I don’t see my sex life with you getting any better.”

Michelle
thought about how she would respond before a sinister grin appeared. “The way I’m feeling right now, I don’t really care if she is around. You and I came here to be alone so we could discover both the physical and emotional part of our relationship. I don’t feel like I’ve had you to myself since we woke up on Friday morning.”

Scott
agreed with Michelle. “Do you realize you and I would have had more privacy if we had stayed at my parent’s house?”

Michelle
became far more serious as she wanted to share her thoughts with Scott. “I really like Beth. We had a good talk last night, we had a great time shopping, and we had fun at lunch today. I even enjoyed having her out here swimming with us.”

Scott
’s confusion was evident in his question. “I guess I’m different or something, but if some guy had been coming on to you like Beth was coming on to me, I would not be very happy about it.”

Michelle
smiled as she explained her thoughts to Scott. “It’s obvious she is very attracted to you.”

Scott
was more argumentative with his reply. “I don’t think you realize how obvious she is. Twice today, she put her hands in my swim trunk pockets while exploring the territory.”

Michelle
shook her head slowly as her smile continued. “Scott, she is playing a mental game with both of us, especially you.”

“And that doesn’t bother you?”
Scott asked.

The smile left her face. “This is where it gets strange and this is what I wanted to talk to you about.
This is so weird that I don’t even know what to say.”

After a long and very passionate kiss,
Scott looked down at Michelle. “We trust each other and that means we can talk about dinner, the weather, or weird stuff and still love each other when we get finished. It’s always been that way.”

Michelle
gave Scott a quick smile before she disclosed her feelings. “At this moment, I can’t believe she had the audacity to throw herself at you like she has been doing since we first met her. So in that respect, what she is doing does bother me.”

Scott
understood her concerns. “It’s not at all strange that you would feel that way. I would too if I were you.”

Michelle
was about to share those feelings she knew Scott was not going to understand. “When she is with us, I don’t have those negative feelings. I feel like we are in some three way symbiotic relationship where we are supposed to co-exist as a team and what one of us wants, we all want. I feel no jealously, resentment, or anger towards her or you. In fact, I feel like she and I are as close as she wants to be with you.”

Scott
took a few steps away as he considered her confession. “Your idea explains something I could not get my head around. When both of you described the ghost experience last night, you both said we are all in the bed together and that you and Beth were smiling at each other. That didn’t make sense to me then and I don’t understand it now.”

Michelle
had an understanding Scott had missed. “The ghost thing wasn’t a sexual experience for us. In fact, it was far from sexual. I had just put my gown on, not taken it off. Beth wasn’t wearing a sexy gown; she was wearing cute little pajamas. What appears to have been going on last night was gathering of our spirits. You had your arms around both of us and there was no jealousy or competition. It was as if we had come together as one.”

Scott
had doubts that he needed to clear up. “We don’t even know what happened last night, so how do any of us know what it means?”

Michelle
talked to Scott as though she was gaining a personal understanding. “Scott, you don’t remember anything that happened. However, the two women remember it very clearly. I think she and I know what it means. I also think that women have a level of communication that men either don’t have or don’t use. Beth and I are apparently working together to bring you into our world.”

Scott
moved closer to Michelle as he listened carefully to her words. From the way he was looking at Michelle, she knew she had touched a nerve. “Let me say this again just to be sure you understand something. I love you and that is not going to change. What in the hell are you talking about bringing me into your world with Beth?”

Michelle
looked directly in Scott’s eyes while waiting for his reaction. “I don’t have the slightest idea what it means and I don’t even know why I said it. You are standing there trying to decide if I have been crazy all my life and you just didn’t know it, or if I am going off the deep end because of Beth.”

Being in a total state of confusion,
Scott took Michelle’s hand. He didn’t know what was going on with Michelle, but he knew with absolute certainty that he had to be as supportive as he could be. “First of all, you are not going crazy and you have never been crazy. You’re intelligent and you think things through. You and I both know there is a logical explanation for whatever is going on here. We just have to find it.”

Scott
stopped talking for a moment when another thought occurred to him. “Maybe we don’t have to find the logical explanation. Maybe we just need to get the hell out of here and let Beth deal with this.”

Michelle
started laughing while trying to appeal to his ego. Michelle knew at a different level that she did not want to leave and she knew why. “You know as well as I do that we can’t run away. This is a real mystery and my hero Sherlock would never run away from a problem.”

For reasons she would not be able to explain, she was beginning to feel aroused.
Michelle stepped away as she moved behind him a put her arms around his waist. After a few moments, Scott felt Michelle reach into his swim trunks. “Also, don’t forget why we came here in the first place, because we haven’t finished what we started yet.”

Scott
realized from both Michelle’s actions and words, she was trying to find a way to make sure they stayed at the beach for their one remaining night. Scott was beginning to conclude Michelle had been under too much stress with Tom, her own family and perhaps Scott himself.

Michelle
spoke, which distracted him from his thoughts. “I have been honest with you and it’s time for you to be honest with me.”

“What do you want me to be honest about?” He asked.

Michelle was direct with her question. “If you and I had not made a commitment to each other, would you think Beth is someone you would be attracted to? Maybe I should be more to the point. Are you attracted to her even though you have made a commitment to me?”

Scott
quickly considered how he should answer her question without stepping in proverbial quicksand. He watched her inquiring eyes assuming he could get by with a brief but honest answer. “I would be attracted to Beth if you and I had not made a commitment to each other. I think Beth is very attractive, but keep in mind, I’ve only known her for twenty four hours.”

Michelle
was looking for a different answer from Scott. “Forget the physical attraction you might have. Do you feel a mental connection to her as if the two of you are moving along the same path?”

Scott
’s level of concern for Michelle was growing each time she spoke. , he continued to be honest with her. “I feel more like Beth and me are playing a game with each other where we are on opposite sides. Unfortunately, I don’t think I even understand the rules of the game or the final objective.”

This time when she spoke,
Michelle left Scott in a far more concerned frame of mind. “Scott, you and I make up an entity that we call us. You, Beth and I make up different entity that is a form of us. Beth and I are trying to help you become a part of the second entity. The three of us have no effect on you and me being together.”

Scott
was unsure if his reaction was due to lack of patience or total disbelief, but in either case, his response was the same. “What does that mean she has no effect on us? I haven’t had you to myself in two days now. And apparently, her ghost is going to bed with us at night.”

Michelle
understood his point but showed no signs of yielding her idea. “Scott, you have to trust me about this.”

Scott
put his hand on her shoulders and looked at her for a moment. “What exactly do you want me to do?”

Her answer was one he would pretend to embra
ce, but was an answer he had no intention of accepting. “I want you to allow yourself to trust us and become a part of the entity that makes up the three of us.”

While they had carried on an open discussion,
Scott had no idea what Michelle was trying to tell him. As far as he was concerned, she was all over the map and showing no clear path and very little direction.

After
Scott spent several minutes in silence trying to decide what he should do, Michelle decided it was time to get out of the water and go sit by the pool. He then asked what he thought was a reasonable question. “What am I supposed to do if she keeps throwing herself at me?”

Michelle
looked up at the cabin and then back at Scott. “She is afraid of men right now so just go along with her. It won’t hurt anything if she gains a little more self-confidence. She’s just playing a cat and mouse game with you because she thinks she’s safe with you. You can play along with her up to a point.”

Scott
could not believe what Michelle was saying. Not only was she being illogical, she was completely out of character. “Is that something you are asking me to do?”

Michelle
was confident in her response. “Absolutely. She needs your support right now. She knows she can trust you and I know she can trust you.”