Nobody Can Say It’s You: A Hadley Pell Cozy Mystery (19 page)

M
argaret-Dean Angeline was a witch
!

Incredible!

Chandra had a lot to think about. She didn’t tell Estill, but she knew exactly what she was implying. Some of Chandra’s spells had not gone as planned.

Botched is the word she’d use.

What to do now?

Floyd Carlisle could not get his hands on Button’s land. If he did, it would be catastrophic. The portal would be discovered. Most people would not be able to decipher the ancient language carved into the rocks, and the portal would remain forever closed or destroyed. But Margaret-Dean Angeline might be able to.

Estill had encouraged Chandra to get close to Berth. She’d wanted the girl to infiltrate the Carlisle camp, spy on them, but Chandra had been able to turn up nothing of value to help Estill.

Now things looked bleak. Just shy of hopeless.

She’d gone through the portal and spent all night gathering herbs and plants for Estill. Later that day, she’d driven into Hope Rock County to see if there was anything she could do to help Estill’s cause. Turns out there wasn’t. And she’d been spotted by some gray-haired crone standing outside the library who visited Granny Dilce once in a while.

Nobody else had noticed her. She’d let the time slip away. Her spell was only supposed to last for an hour, but Chandra had gone past that by several minutes. The fender bender she’d caused had provided sufficient diversion. Everyone’s attention was on the wreck on Main Street.

Stop lights were easy to control.

But that nosy old lady who visited Granny had spotted her.

Hadley Pell.

That was her name.

Chandra changed gears and sped around the corner. She took the dirt road that led deep into the mountains.

Granny’s friend, Chandra brooded.

Probably under both the old lady’s protection and Dara’s.

Yes, indeed, Chandra thought, there is an awful lot to think about.

A
urora walked
up the mountainside on the way to her old cabin in the glen. The climb was arduous for an old woman of her years. Onward she trudged, wondering if there was any place she might be able to find shelter and rest for a spell. As Aurora put one tired foot in front of the other, she felt the presence of someone near. She raised her weary head and looked to see the glowing form of Alswyth McClanahan slowly appearing in the path in front of her.

“Hey,” Alswyth said, “they call you Aurora, don’t they?

Aurora shook her head ‘yes.’

“I felt you coming up the hill,” Alswyth said. “I know you are special. You have the gift.”

Aurora waited.

“I want you to tell my mama I love her and thank her for taking care of my two girls for me. Her name is Dilcie. I want you to find her and tell her that everything’s gonna be all right.

“I know I’m askin’ a lot from you. I know you don’t tell what you see and hear, but my mama will understand. She is special, too, healing and helping. She’s done that her whole life.

“Mama’s a root doctor. She cures people. I didn’t put much stock in what she done when I was livin’ at home. Now I know she does mighty important work. Tell her to be careful and watch for the darkness.”

Aurora saw Alswyth begin to fade. Before totally disappearing, Alswyth placed directions in Aurora’s mind. Aurora would know exactly how to find the old cabin where Dilcie lived.

Aurora sighed, straightening her back and staring straight ahead.

The way to the cabin shown brightly in her mind’s eye. There was no mistaking it. Wearily, she began the journey, one foot placed gingerly in front of the other.

The day ended. Aurora was surrounded in total darkness. Only the night watchers were out foraging for food. Aurora trudged on.

The moon passed by her on its nightly journey to the western horizon. Aurora never noticed. She willed her exhausted body on.

After hours of steady progress, she smelled the faint whisper of smoke. The fuzzy light of dawn had just begun to creep over the eastern edge of the skyline when she saw the faint wisp of chimney smoke.

Standing at the edge of the wood, Aurora saw a wizened, old woman open the cabin door and step out onto the hardpan. The old woman turned and looked directly in Aurora’s direction.

“You must be the one they call Aurora,” said Dilcie. “Welcome.”

“
I
want to thank you
, Aurora,” Dilcie said. “I knowed that was not a easy thing fer you to do. But it does ease my heart to knowed Alswyth loves me. Love is a strange thing, ain’t it.”

Aurora got up to leave.

“You must stay,” Dilcie said. “I saw it in the leaves. The tea leaves never lied to me, Aurora. And Alswyth’s words to take care and watch for the darkness don’t bode well. I been knowing somethin’ bad’s on the horizon for a long time now. And whatever’s out there is pow’ful. Maybe, mo’ pow’ful than we know.

“I learnt Dara, but she’s still young. A small green sprout don’t have the strength of a old oak tree.

“I might be a oak tree, but I ain’t as young as I used to be. I gotta sinkin’ feelin’ I may need your he’p. Whatever storm cloud is building, it is gonna be a blaster.

“The Good Book says ’at two is better than one. If one falls, t’other can he’p ’em up. Though one may be overpowered, two can defend theyselves.”

“I know that passage well,” said Aurora. “I will stay.”

“You can have my bed,” Dilcie said. “I’ll make a pallet on t’other side of the hearth.”

“I will sleep by the hearth,” said Aurora. “The ashes are like a crystal for me. They foretell of what’s to come.”

“Very well,” said Dilcie. “Very well.”

N
obody had come
from the hills to eat Button Dudley’s sins. Nobody.

The old man had lived for so long and had pawned his soul for so many others that no mortal would risk his own soul’s damnation by pardoning Button and assuming the guilt of so many transgressions. Button’s soul was too black, the list of offences too great.

Dara often thought of the midnight service. She’d never been to any quite like Button’s.

And no one came to eat his sins.

No one.

It was sad. No one would even agree to speak a few words over the dead man. Certainly, no preacher worth his salt. Everyone in the far backcountry knew what Button did. Everyone was afraid the stain would somehow fall on them. Only Granny Dilcie was brave enough to tell the small group of elders that she would agree to say something over his sin-filled corpse.

“Ever’body deserves a decent burial,” Dilcie had said.

The elders had vetoed the idea of Button being buried on his land. Such an act would curse the mountain forever. Someone said they were kin to Harvey. They agreed to contact the cemetery man. Harvey would let them have a spot for Button dirt cheap, the man said.

So, it was agreed that Button Dudley’s body would be brought down in its hand-hewn wooden coffin and interred in Memorial Gardens down in Hope Rock County. That would be all right. Those city folk did not believe as they. Let the curse be on that small plot there. They would bury him at midnight.

Dara had wanted Chandra to attend the service with her.

“But. Chan,” Dara said, “you gotta go. I’m gonna be the only one there my age. It’s spooky. I don’t want to go there alone.”

Chandra would have none of it.

“You go if you want to, Dara,” Chandra said, “but count me out. I don’t want nothing to do with that circus. You and Granny can have it. I got a date with Berth.”

Chandra was lying. Berth was out of town with his daddy. Floyd was having some kind of medical tests. But Dara wouldn’t know that.

Chandra would have the house to herself. If it got too lonely, she might head over to Estill’s. Dougal might pitch a fit, but not a very big one. For some time now, it seemed the Estill had finally managed tame him. Chandra wondered what spell Estill had used.

W
hat was
the Elanor twin doing riding around in Button Dudley’s truck? Had Estill given her the vehicle?

Hadley had the copy of the essay in her front seat. As she drove the short distance home, these questions kept eating at her.

What had caused Button to run down the street like a mad man?

Why was he buried under the cover of night with only a handful of the Ancients standing by?

Where was the preacher?

Why hadn’t he been buried on his land as was the custom of so many of the old-timers?

Was it any of her business?

She parked the car and got out.

“Shoot,” she said, opening the door to retrieve the essay.

What was it about these two papers that intrigued her?

She fired up her computer. While she waited, she brewed herself a pot of strong coffee. Both were ready about the same time.

Onus was somewhere in the back part of the house. Sometimes, when he wanted to make himself scarce, it was like living alone. The house was too quiet. Hadley brushed off the uneasy feelings that were nipping at the edges of her nerves.

She poured herself a huge mug of steaming goodness. Googling the name Chandra, Hadley learned what it meant.

“I wonder what Dara means?” Hadley muttered, typing in the name. “Umm. Well, let see what Elanor means.”

Hadley typed in the letters.

Hadley got a pencil and piece of paper. She wrote the following:

A
lswyth had given
her twins beautiful names, Hadley decided. She printed out the first essay and compared it to the second.

What was it? She wondered.

There was something there.

After an hour of coming up with nothing, Hadley decided to call it a night. She left the door to her bedroom open because she was sure Onus would find his way to her bed to snuggle up before morning.

“
H
ey
, Bean!” Hadley said. “What you got going on today?”

“Nuthin’ much,” Beanie said. “I thought about goin’ ’simmon huntin’.”

“You don’t think the possums and raccoons and squirrels and turkeys have gotten the best ones by now?”

“I don’t know, Hadley,” Beanie said. “I wait till now to try to find some. I’ve found ’em plum up to Christmas. Them thangs can put a awful pucker to the insides of your mouth if they ain’t ripe. I plum puckered mine inside out more than once. I can tell you, it wadn’t purty. But boy, howdy! If you can find a few this time a year, they like eatin’ honey sweets.”

“They are,” said Hadley.

“You ’n’ Maury ever have a ’simmon war?” Beanie asked.

“No, Bean. I think Maury would have murdered me if I’d pelted her with those ripe, slimy balls.”

“Oh,” said Beanie. “Guess you ain’t never fought no manure wars, like me ’n’ my brother, Dixie Nardell.”

“You ’n’ Dixie threw paddies at each other?”

“Oh, yeah. We had some mighty fine fights, me ’n’ Dixie did. We’d take them biscuits ’n’ toss ’em like rocks at each other. Horse apples hurt like heck if you take a direct hit in the face. Don’t taste too bad, though.”

“Weren’t you and Dixie afraid of diseases or something?”

“Well, if it’ud kill ya’, me ’n’ Dixie wouldn’t be here today. Cow buns is the worst.”

“Beanie!”

“Whut?”

“That’s enough. I’m knee deep in poop stories, and my waders are at home. Put your bucket in the back seat. We’ll head up into the country and see if we can’t spy us some ripe ’simmons.”

“Okay,” Beanie said.

They drove for a while in silence.

“Hadley,” Beanie said.

“Umm.”

“It looks like we’re goin’ to Granny’s,” Beanie said.

“We are,” said Hadley.

H
adley had spent a restless night
. Maybe it was the coffee. Maybe it was the fact that Onus decided to ignore her threats and fumings and make her pillow his own.

Well, more like the top of her head his pillow.

She’d tossed the cat down off the bed at least a hundred times. There was no use closing the door. Onus only sat outside it and meowed like he’d lost his best friend.

He had, Hadley guessed.

Her warm pillow.

Or maybe, it those two disturbing essays.

She bolted up in bed that morning. Something had congealed in her mind overnight. Something in her subconscious that had finally nibbled a hole and skittered into her conscious brain. She had to check it out. It was the reason she was tooling down Main Street so early.

Good thing Beanie was an early bird. Even luckier that he was off today.

She had a pal to take a road trip with. They headed farther back into the backcountry. Maybe she should think about getting a four-wheel-drive something, she brooded. Nah, she thought. Then, she’d have to buy a cowboy hat and a camo jumpsuit. Maybe some camo cowboy boots with big silver spurs. A big belt with a five-pound brass buckle with
4x4
on it.

On second thought, ditch that. That cinched waist was sure to be a thigh exploder. Not to mention the fact that if she went that far to adopt the off-road look, she might as well start chewing tobacco, too. Somehow a big old wad of dark black-brown goo the size of a baseball in her cheek made her feel like gagging.

“We’re almost here, Hadley,” Beanie said, breaking Hadley’s reverie.

“We sure are,” said Hadley.

“
W
ell
, if it ain’t Hadley Pell,” said Granny Dilcie.

Granny and Dara were out at the old pump. Dara had two buckets of water in her hands. Granny held one.

“Come on into the house,” Granny said.

The door opened. Aurora stepped out onto the porch. She recognized these two from the cemetery in town.

“This here’s Aurora,” Granny said. “Aurora, this is Hadley Pell and her friend, Beanie.”

“Pleased to meet you, ma’am,” Beanie said.

“Beanie’s ’simmon huntin’, Granny.”

“I know where there’s some beauties, Beanie,” Granny said. “They’s a bit far off, but well worth the walk. Come. I’ll show ye.”

“I’m comin’, too,” Aurora said.

“Me, too,” said Dara.

They had hiked for some time. Beanie was beginning to believe Granny had taken them all out on a wild goose chase. The rounded a corner by some giant rocks. The dirt path was not very wide, so they walked the trail in single file.

“Granny!” Hadley exclaimed. “This is gorgeous.”

“Look at all them ’simmons,” Beanie said.

They were standing in a meadow filled with all kinds of trees. The persimmons hung like apricot jewels from the branches. A large portion of the fruit had already fallen from the trees.

“Careful not to slide up in the ripe mush, Beanie,” Granny Dilcie said.

“I’ll be careful,” Beanie said. “If I did, Hadley might make me walk home.”

“That’s exactly right, Bean,” Hadley said. “I’d never get all that goop off my car seat.”

Beanie was like a kid in a candy shop.

“Will you make me a puddin’, Hadley?” Beanie asked.

“I’ll make you a half-dozen, Bean,” Hadley said.

“He’s a good man,” Granny said.

“I know,” said Hadley. “Granny, do I hear water?”

“Yes,” Granny said. “Come over here. There’s a waterfall. I’ll show you.”

Granny and Aurora and Hadley left Beanie to his picking.

“It’s just over here,” Granny said. “Chandra Elanor. What are you and Estill doing way out here?”

The two looked shocked that they had been discovered.

“I might ask you why you’re trespassing on my land,” said Estill.

“I always had permission to come here,” Granny said. “And I been comin’ here long before you was ever borned, Estill Orner.”

“That was when Button was alive, Granny,” Estill said. “He’s dead ’n’ buriet. Land’s mine now.”

“This particular piece of property belongs to no one,” said Granny. “And to everyone.”

“Chandra,” Dara asked, “What are you doin’ here?”

“None of your business.”

“Is this where you got the crazy root, Chandra?”“Shut your stupid mouth, Dara! Before I shut it for you!”

“What’s this about a crazy root?” Granny Dilcie asked. “Chandra Elanor, please tell me that you have not entered through the Door to the Beyond.”

“How do you know about that!” Estill screamed.

“You have passed over, too,” Aurora said to Estill.

“What of it?” Chandra said.

“Oh, my child,” Granny Dilcie said. “It is worse than I imagined.”

“What do you mean?” Chandra said.

“You did it,” Dara said. “You did it, Chandra.”

Chandra stepped back toward the ancient writing rocks.

“You took the plants from the Beyond,” said Aurora. “Button has visited me. I know, Chandra. And your sister knows the truth as well.”

“You can’t prove anything! Nobody can say it was me! Nobody!” Chandra screamed.

“What did you do, Chandra?” Estill asked.

“I did it for you, Estill,” Chandra said. “You told me about the will. About the spell you cast on Button to get him to write it. How you hypnotized him and fed him the herb. How he did your bidding.

“He wrote it out, giving everything to you. You said that together, our combined powers could make it happen. And that one day, this place would be mine! You promised, Estill! You promised!

“I was always asking you when, when we could set out plans in motion.

“Soon, you always said. I got tired of waiting. I just thought if Button went ahead and kicked the bucket, you and Dougal could get what was yours. You wouldn’t have to wait decades for that old man to die!”

“You gave him the crazy root?” asked Estill. “But I warned you never to take that from here! Chandra! Tell me you didn’t do that.”

“Yes! I did!” said Chandra. “I went over to his shack. I had it in my pocket. I didn’t know how I was going to use it on him. I only knew that I was.

“Button was dressed in his rags. I’d never seen him dressed like that before, but I knew what he did. I knew why everyone in the valley shunned him.

“He was going to a funeral. He didn’t want me anywhere near him. Told me to get off his land. He looked real mean, but I wasn’t afraid. I noticed he was limping. He kept telling me to leave, but I wouldn’t. He had some place to go. He told me that much.

“I told him I’d drive him. He couldn’t walk that far.

“‘Ain’t you a’feared this evil that I carry on my soul will blacken yourn,’ he asked.

“I just laughed. When he saw I wasn’t afraid, he agreed to let me take him. It was way back in the hills. Button told me how to get to the place.

“We got there early. It was a small family graveyard. Old stones. Thin, you know. There were a few people near the old house. He hid in the woods. I went up to them. Acted like I was part of the group. I made my way into the kitchen. They were preparing Button’s bread and wine. It was easy enough to slip the crazy root into the jug they had for the old sin-eater.”

“But child,” Granny said, “that root is dangerous to use. It is forbidden!”

“What do I care about your stupid rules? It came out of the ground easy enough. I only took a small piece.

“I thought it wasn’t going to affect him. It really didn’t at first. He acted fine. Got in the back of the truck,” Chandra said. “I’d been driving awhile when I looked in the mirror. Button didn’t look so good. His face was red, and he was breathin’ funny. He put his black hood back on and started actin’ crazy. I was scared. I drove toward town. I was just outside the city limits. He screamed at me to stop the truck. I did.

“There was road kill in the middle of the road. A deer. Crazy man grabbed a knife and a sickle from the back of the truck. Jumped out of it like a demon possessed. He ran up to that carcass and started stabbing it for all he was worth. Then he took off like a shot towards town. I drove the truck back to his house and left it.”

“I knew you killed Button,” Dara said quietly. “It all came to me in dreams. I didn’t want to believe it. It couldn’t be real, but I knew, Chandra. I knew. They will take you away. What will I do? Oh, Chandra.”

Chandra’s eyes rolled back in her head. Only the whites could be seen. She threw her head back and began chanting. The sky blackened. Lightning struck, scorching the earth around the group.

Estill screamed.

“No!” Granny Dilcie said. “Don’t do this, child!”

The water stopped on the waterfall. The wall of rocks was exposed. It was like looking at a glass mirror, slick and eroded by the water’s action from untold ages. The thunder rumbled. The winds blew.

Chandra continued to speak in her strange tongue.

A dark rolling cloud developed in the center of the rock wall. Sparks flew. Every color of the rainbow showed in the center of the black cloud.

Aurora stepped in front of Granny Dilcie and Dara. She raised her hands and bolts of light from her palms struck the roiling mass of energy. Chandra and Estill screamed.

From the depth of the unknown, Aurora began to chant. She had all the forces of the dead behind her. Together, they sounded like a massive ocean wave beating against the glass-like wall. A small opening appeared in the center of the turbulence.

What was going on? Hadley could not speak. She could not move.

The slit widened and a withered hand appeared from nowhere. It snatched Chandra and pulled her through the wall. She disappeared in an instant.

“No!” Dara cried. “Oh, no!”

Granny Dilcie grabbed the girl as she lurched toward the place where her twin had vanished. Aurora collapsed in a heap of rags and ashes. There was nothing left of the silent old woman. The ground steamed where she had stood.

Granny glanced toward Estill. She looked different. Changed, somehow. Her hair was solid white. Small strands flew wildly in the breeze.

“What on Earth just happened,” Hadley said, finally finding her voice.

“I cannot tell you, Hadley,” Granny Dilcie said. “I cannot even tell Dara. Some things are better left alone. They happen because they do.”

“Estill,” Hadley said, “are you all right?”

Estill stood looking at them. She no longer had a voice. She was as silent as Aurora had been.

“Dara,” Granny Dilcie said, “I want you to go home with Estill. Don’t worry about her son. Dougal will not give you any problems. It has been arranged. This mountain will never be more than it is now. That has been arranged, too.

“You will look after Estill and keep the Book safe. Do not let it fall in the wrong hands.”

Granny Dilcie placed her hands on the sides of Dara’s temple. Dara’s eyes rolled back in her head. Then the girl appeared herself again.

“You know what to do,” Granny said.

“Yes, ma’am,” Dara said.

Dara took Estill by the hand and led her away.

“What did you do, Granny?” Hadley asked.

“Do not worry,” Granny said. “The Ancients will see that nothing happens to the child.”

“But Granny,” Hadley said.

“Hush, Hadley,” Granny said. “There is still more work to do. Help me pick up these rocks.”

The rocks Granny alluded to were the ones with the mysterious etchings on them.

“But Granny,” Hadley said, “we can’t lift these things. They’re boulders. They must weigh tons.”

“Hush,” Granny said. “Concentrate. Believe.”

The two women put their hands under a giant rock, and it began to move.

“Toss it against the wall where the waterfall was,” Granny said.

Hadley did as she was told, flinging the giant boulder toward the glassy wall of shimmering rock.

The boulder disappeared into the wall. They repeated these actions, throwing all of the boulders into the wall, until every one was gone. A rumble began above. Instantly, water began cascading down the falls. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

“Come here,” Granny said.

Granny placed the palms of her hands on Hadley’s temples.

Hadley fell to her knees. It was as if a giant stream of electricity pierced her brain. Granny removed her palms.

“Hadley,” she said, “do you see those mushrooms. Pick them all. They are about the best ones I’ve ever seen.”

“I think so, too,” Hadley said, picking the delicate fungi and putting them in a basket that had mysteriously appeared beside her.

“We need to go check on Vesper,” Granny Dilcie said.

“Yeah,” Hadley said, rising from her knees. “Beanie ought to have a whole mess of persimmons, by now.”

The two women walked to the place where Beanie stood. He was smiling from ear to ear.

“Any luck, Bean?” Hadley asked.

“Boy, howdy. You betcha, Hadley,” Beanie said. “I ain’t never seen so many ’simmons in one place! I got this bucket plum full.”

Hadley looked at Beanie’s bucket.

“I’ll say,” Hadley said. “With that many, I’ll be making you persimmon pudding, cookies, and a few cakes.”

“I can’t wait,” Beanie said. “You’re the best.”

“Come on,” said Hadley. “It’s getting late.”

As they drove back into town, Hadley could not help but think that there was something she should have figured out by now. She dropped Beanie off at his house and took his fruit home with her. She stored the bucket in the bottom of an old refrigerator she kept out in the garage for such things.

She fed Onus and emptied the litter box. She showered and fixed a bite to eat.

She’d lain the two essays near her computer. She did not turn the laptop on. Instead, she picked up both papers and reread them once more.

Strange. Haunting. Anna was right in her description, Hadley thought.

She took the papers and went to the fireplace. She lit a match, placing the flame at the edge of the papers. They began to blacken, curl, and burn.

C
razy howlings in his head
.

Hard to hear. For now, he’s dead.

Asylum’s child. Lost in the maze.

Nothing’s clear. It’s all a haze.

Doom is heavy on his brow.

Ready! Set! Go! The time is now. The time is now.

And he is lost. And he is lost to horrors unimaginable.

S
he caught
a glimpse of these words before the flames devoured them. If she’d studied the verse a bit longer, perhaps she would have seen that the first letter of each line spelled CHANDRA. But, perhaps not.

The paper she’d scratched the results of her research still lay on her desk.

D
ara = star
Elanor = star sun

S
he saw
the dark images of the flowers brown and burst into flames.

She did not realize the two signatures at the end of each essay were slightly different. Both were symbols, not of flowers, but of star anise.

The graphic in the center of each, not the same. If she had looked closely she would have seen the sun star in their center. And if she’d peered closer still, the four button holes in the center of the second graphic which belonged to the essay about the sin-eater.

The answers had been there all along.

Dara had known from the beginning and, in her way, was trying to tell the world that Chandra had destroyed Button Dudley.