Ghastly Glass (3 page)

I couldn’t decide which course would be better. You know how sometimes when you defend yourself it makes you seem guiltier than when you keep your mouth shut? I didn’t know which way to go with this. No matter what, it was only a stupid kiss. How upset could he be?

Before I could ascertain whether he was really upset, a varlet, now dressed all in black instead of varlet brown, came breathlessly running up. “Bailiff! It’s happened again! Except this time it’s Death.”

Chase frowned. “What are you talking about, Lonnie? Did another visitor collapse? ”

“No. It’s Death. Really.”

“You mean another one died? ”

“No. Really, Chase. Death died.”

“I think he’s talking about Ross.” I pushed into the conversation before I had to hit one of them. “You know, the tall guy with the scythe.”

Chase glanced at me as if he’d forgotten I was there. “Oh yeah. Where is he? ”

“In the Village Square,” Lonnie replied. “One minute he was threatening a few visitors and telling them he’d take their souls, and the next minute, boom! He was on the cobblestones for the count.”

“Let’s go,” Chase said.

“Me, too.” I started running after him. “Have visitors died in the Village? How did I miss that? ”

“Too busy, I guess,” Chase returned as we cut through the alleyway between Squire’s Lane and Harriet’s Hat House. “Too busy to watch CNN, or call anyone.”

“CNN was down here covering visitor deaths?” How had I missed that?

“Yep.” Lonnie’s little ratlike face twisted up as we ran across the cobblestones. “That’s why I left Sir Latte’s Beanery. Chase needs all the help he can get.”

“So what killed them? It was probably the heat, right? Lots of visitors wear those heavy clothes and get heatstroke over the summer.” I looked from Chase to Lonnie.

“We don’t know for sure yet,” Chase finally answered.

A large crowd of visitors and residents had gathered near the Good Luck Fountain right in the middle of the Village Square. I stayed next to Chase, almost having to push Lonnie out of the way as we broke through the crowd to take a look at the man on the ground.

Ross’s black robe had fallen open around his bony body, but his hood covered his face. The scythe lay beside him, not too far from his reach. There was blood everywhere and something sticking up out of his chest. Everyone was whispering around us as Chase knelt beside the giant’s form.

“Call the police,” Chase said finally. “He’s dead. And I don’t think it’s heatstroke.”

“
Y
ep.” Detective Donald Almond took another swig from his Cheerwine. His white shirt had a brown food stain on the front, and his suit jacket looked slept in. “He’s dead all right. Looks like that steel reinforcing bar went right through his heart. That makes three this month, right, Manhattan?”

Chase and his helper, Lonnie, had their hands full keeping people away from the dead figure of Death on the Village Square, until the police took over. The media swarmed around like mosquitoes before a storm. Even though we were away from the main area and behind a temporary stage, visitors knew something was going on when they saw all the TV cameras.

I kept trying not to look at Ross’s dead body. I’d just been through a similar experience over the summer and I was beginning to stress out. It was terrible thinking he’d just been alive while I was waiting for my costume. What had happened to him?

“I’m afraid so. But this one is different.” Chase frowned as he looked at the dead body, covered now by a Renaissance banner.

Chase is not only the bailiff for the Village, he’s also judge and jury when it comes to vegetable justice in the stocks. The Myrtle Beach Police Department had officially appointed him an auxiliary police officer for his role at the Village. A lot depended on him to keep the peace, including turning over shoplifters and other petty crooks to the authorities. Besides that, he’s a good jouster.

“I don’t know.” Detective Almond scratched his balding head. “Could be an accident, I suppose. We’ll have to check it out. Are you sure this boy’s name and information are accurate? ”

Chase nodded. “It’s what Adventure Land has on file for him. Will you contact his family? ”

Detective Almond said he would. He used his gloved hand to uncover the dead body again. “What do you make of these words on his robe?
Death shall find thee
. Is that some Village saying? ”

“If it is, it’s the first time I’ve ever heard it.” Chase asked Lonnie, who’d been standing really close to the body (too close if you ask me), if he knew what it meant.

“Maybe it has something to do with him being Death,” Lonnie suggested.

Both Chase and Detective Almond seemed to disregard that idea. Roger Trent (hopefully my new mentor) joined us. He had once been the Village bailiff before Queen Olivia and King Harry decided he was too old, despite his police experience from his former life. Roger didn’t seem to care. He tried his best to keep everyone on the straight and narrow while amusing all of us with tales of his youthful exploits as a cop. “Did you get the autopsy results back on those other two visitors who died here recently? ”

“Hi, Roger.” I smiled. “It’s good to see you.”

He glanced at me but didn’t return my smile. “Jessie.”

“Not yet,” Detective Almond responded to Roger. “The Horry County medical examiner thought something might be suspicious with two visitors dying from heatstroke in only a couple weeks. He sent his findings off to Columbia. Might be months before we hear back.”

“That’s not good enough,” Chase told him. “What if there’s something more going on? ”

Detective Almond seemed to give up on his cute idea of pacifying Chase with silly answers. “Look, Manhattan, it might be the food or it might be the excitement. People die, son. It happens everyday. There was no sign of trauma on the other two. And until I think otherwise, this boy’s death could be an accident. Maybe you should give OSHA a call. I think you’re taking this too personally. You do a good job here. We’ll get this sorted out.”

“Thanks.” Chase’s voice was deadpan. I knew he was humoring the detective in return.

“Okay, boys,” Detective Almond called to his officers. “Let’s get this cleaned up so these nice people can get back to doing whatever it is they do. Mac, call in those crime scene boys. We’ll need this area cordoned off until we say it’s okay.”

It was like being dismissed in school. No matter what was going on, you were supposed to take the hint and get out of there. Roger stood beside Chase, the two of them talking about what had happened, no doubt. Henry had sneaked up and managed to get close to me again. It was an unpleasant sensation. I just didn’t want to snarl things up any further with Chase.

I moved away from him, over to Chase and Roger. I was right. They were talking about the three people who’d died.

“It’s not like Ross was a visitor like the other two,” Roger said. “If something bad was going on, the killer would keep going in his same pattern. That’s how you can tell it’s different.”

Roger was a plain-looking man in his fifties with a shaved head. He always wore a leather jerkin, leather britches, and a blousy shirt with the neckline open. He wasn’t very tall, but he’d stayed slender (for the most part) since his long-ago police days. Despite his tendency to be melodramatic, and the stories I’d heard every summer since I got out of college (I don’t want to think how long ago that’s been), I’d always considered him an okay guy.

“I still don’t like it,” Chase said. “Livy told me our numbers are up, but part of that is probably due to curiosity. This isn’t a good way to bring in more visitors.”

“Maybe it is.” Roger shrugged. “After all, this is Renaissance Faire Village Halloween. What could be scarier than Death dying here? We’ll probably have buses of teenagers dying to get in.”

Chase didn’t respond, and Roger nudged him. “Get it?
Dying
to get in? ”

“Maybe we should think about hiring a few more security guards,” Chase suggested. “Something about this doesn’t feel right to me.”

“Don’t worry so much, Chase. Look! Jessie’s here. She’s going to apprentice with me through Halloween. I’m sure everything will be fine. Just try to relax and let the police do their job.”

Henry smiled and offered Chase his hand. “I’m Roger’s nephew. We haven’t met as yet, good sir. I hope we haven’t gotten off to a bad start.”

All three men looked at me. I ignored them and watched the crowd of onlookers leaving the Village Square. There was nothing for Chase to be jealous of and less than that for Henry to think was going on between us. Better not to say anything.
At least for right now.

“Yes. This is Henry.” Roger completed the introduction. “Jessie, if you’re ready we can get you settled in at the shop. There’s plenty of room upstairs if you’d like to skip Village housing and stay with us.”

I was caught between the sword and the stone, so to speak. I didn’t want to tell Roger I’d been expecting to stay with Chase in case Chase had other ideas. Of course, if Chase
had
other ideas, staying above the glass shop would probably be better than staying with Debby. Maybe Roger would even consider feeding me for the time I was here. Food and other common necessities could become very dear with the Village’s tendency to accidentally forget paychecks.

I glanced at Chase without moving my face or even my eyes. I have very good peripheral vision. It came from trying to communicate with my twin brother, Tony, after our parents had died and we felt we couldn’t be ourselves with strangers. We were both pretty good at it, and for a while, we always seemed to know what the other was thinking.

Now I tried to use that skill on Chase. Would it work? Or did it only work because Tony and I were twins?

“No need for that.” Chase grabbed my hand. “Jessie’s staying with me at the dungeon. She’ll be at the Glass Gryphon first thing in the morning. Thanks for your help, Roger. See you later. Nice to meet you, Henry.”

 

 

W
e walked together down the King’s Highway past the Village Madman, who was taking dirt out of a pot and smearing it on himself. As visitors walked by, he held out his hat, begging for coins as he spouted gibberish. I didn’t remember his name, but I recognized him as one of the Merlin’s Apothecary servants from last summer. I wasn’t sure if being recast as the Madman was a step up or down.

I glanced at the side of Chase’s face as we headed toward Brewster’s Tavern. He hadn’t said a word since we’d left Roger and Henry in the dust as we hot-footed across the crowded center of the Village. I was perfectly happy with the resolution he’d presented to Roger. He didn’t seem as happy.

The King’s Tarts, next door to the tavern, were in rare form, actually trying to lure visitors into their bake shop by standing outside flirting with them. That tactic usually wasn’t necessary since the combination of pie and low-cut dresses seemed to coax people inside all the time.

Once inside the tavern, I sat down across a small wooden table from Chase. I didn’t know if I should wait or jump right in like I usually do. I decided to give him a minute to see if he’d get the conversation started. I wouldn’t wait any longer than that. I was tired, hot, and hungry, among other needs. The dungeon was a long walk from here.

“You don’t have to stay with me,” he said abruptly.

“Beer? ” Jake called out from behind the bar.

“Two.” Chase held up two fingers.

“You know I want to stay with you.” I revealed my heart above the rush-strewn floor.

“Chips? ” Jake yelled.

“Nothing for me.” Chase glanced up. “You? ”

“No. Thanks.” I tried to gather my thoughts again. “You know I care about you.”

“Wings? ”

I glared at Jake. “Will you please stop that? I’m trying to have an important conversation.”

The tavern keeper shrugged his broad shoulders and laughed, making his little belly jiggle. “Sorry, Jessie. Go on.”

The moment was totally spoiled. I grabbed Chase’s hand and pulled him out of the tavern to a bench outside. It was one of the few spots in the Village where a large tree had been planted. I sat down beneath its gold-red leaves and asked Chase to join me. I
dared
Jake to walk out the tavern door with our beer before we were done talking.

“What’s the problem?” I got up and paced the cobblestones as soon as Chase sat down. “Aren’t you happy to see me? I waited by the gate for you for a long time. Where were you?”

“You didn’t say what time you were coming. I tried to keep a lookout for you, but I had other things I had to do.”

I thought back to my last e-mail. He could be right. “I’m sorry. It’s been really hard coming up with the time to be down here during Halloween. I’m exhausted. I was hoping you’d understand.”

“I do. Or at least I
did
.”

“You mean Henry?” I guffawed. That’s allowed in Renaissance Village. Unfortunately, the rest of the modern world has all but outlawed a good guffaw. “You know he doesn’t hold a candle to you, right? He just saw you coming and wanted to cause trouble. Believe me, that tarted-up Craft Guild dandy means nothing to me.”