She Smells the Dead (6 page)

I hadn’t seen Calvin yet and when I walked into the physics class we had together his desk was depressingly empty. I tried not to read too much into his absence but the empty desk haunted me all through class. Maybe he’s just coming in late today. If that were the case, I would make sure to see him at lunch. If he was in the building at noon, he would be in the cafeteria. No one would get between Calvin and his burgers. That boy had a crazy healthy appetite.

Lunch was even more depressing. There was no sign of Cal and without anyone to tease about the injustices of meat processing Emma sat picking at her orange wedges without her usual enthusiasm.

“This sucks,” Emma finally stated. “I need a victim and no offense Yuki, but your carrot sticks are lacking in controversy.” She raised one eyebrow at my bag of carrot sticks and for a moment my stomach twisted at the memory of Calvin pulling the same face just a few days before.

“I did hear someone once claim that carrots had nervous systems and so could therefore feel pain,” I said trying to keep the conversation going. I knew I was desperate when Emma’s rants were a necessary distraction from my thoughts.

“Really?” she asked hopefully. Both of Emma’s eyebrows were raised now and the hopeful look on her face was kind of funny.

“Mm hmm, though the information hasn’t been verified,” I added trying to sound serious. Emma was big on scientific proof for her arguments.

“This sucks,” she moaned again and put her face down on her hands. “Where is Cal when I need him?” she whined.

My thoughts exactly
.

“So Emma, want to go on a spying trip after school?” I asked.

“Like double-oh-seven?” she asked picking her head up off the table.

“Totally,” I replied. “There may even be multiple counts of bee slavery on the premises.”

“Really? I’m so there,” she answered.

Thank goodness for bee oppression
.

“Should I dress up? Do you think there will be any hot double agents?” she asked hopefully.

Thinking of Jared Zempter I shuddered.
More like Frankenstein’s monster
. “Maybe. Bring lip gloss,” I said and forced a laugh.

Emma waved as she shoved an orange wedge into her mouth and ran to class.
Looks like she got her appetite back
. If I couldn’t get my boyfriend back today, then maybe I could settle for getting rid of my ghost.

Chapter 16

Emma pulled her car onto the gravel road and I told her to pull us to the side and park. When we got out and stretched she looked from the sign for Green Orchards Apple Cider Vinegar Company with its
Always natural. Now certified organic
claim and back to me. She was looking at me like I had three heads.

“What?” I asked rolling my eyes.

“Yuki. This is an organic farm. Please tell me we are not doing some covert raid on an
organic farm
!” Emma demanded.

“But they’re the evil overlords of bees,” I said lamely.

Son of a dung beetle
. This wasn’t going as planned, though I had to admit that I didn’t actually have much of a plan. “Emma look, I just need to go up to the main house and get a sense of the old lady inside. If she seems like a nice grandmother type and invites us in for cookies, then I can fix my ghost problem. If she is more of an evil stepmother who murders her sons and husband type, then we can run like crazy back to your car. Either way you can write an article for the school paper about how they oppress bees and steal their honey,” I pleaded. “It would help to raise awareness,” I added hopefully.

Emma crossed her arms but agreed. “Alright, but you owe me one,” she said as we walked towards the house on the hill.

Grace Green turned out to be an energetic woman who my mom would say has lots of spunk. She was dressed in blue jeans, a flannel shirt, and a sun hat that left a cross-hatch of shadow across her tanned face. Grace was busy working in her herb garden at the side of the house, but stopped when we approached. We had explained that we were working on an article for our school paper and Emma went on to ask her questions about raising honey bees. I was doing my best to observe Grace while trying to sense any difference in her husband’s smell impression.
This is harder than I thought
.

I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to get a fix on a ghost’s intention from a smell. When we were looking for clues I had known that we were getting warmer when the smell became stronger. But would a strong smell around Grace mean she was the one to give the inheritance to, or just the opposite? Would it mean he loved his wife, or that his wife was a cold hearted murderer?

Emma and Grace were talking about pollination, and I was about to give up my search, when a black and yellow butterfly landed on one of the plants in Grace’s herb garden.
Black and yellow butterfly
.

“Mrs. Green,” I said startling them both by finally speaking, “What kind of plant is this one here?”

For a moment a look of horror crossed her face but then she answered, “Oh that silly thing? You don’t want to touch that one dear. It’s for constipation.”

I pulled my hand back, but thoughts were racing though my head. I was also overwhelmed with the smell of vinegar. Emma seemed to get the drift that things had just gone in a weird direction and asked if we could see the hives before leaving. Grace looked relieved to have us out of her garden and on our way. Before walking away though, I bent down pretending to tie my boot laces. I snapped a few photos of the plant with my cell phone and ran to catch up with Emma and a woman who I was beginning to suspect of murder.

Chapter 17

Emma and I walked casually back to her car trying not to burst with excitement.

“Ohmygosh!” Emma blurted as soon as we pulled onto the highway ramp.

“I second that emotion,” I said trying to calm my rapid heartbeat and shaking hands.

“I think I just scored the best story for the school paper,” Emma exclaimed.

“Wait a sec. What?” I asked suddenly wondering if we were on the same page.

“That woman is the queen bee overlord. It will make the best headline for the school paper,” Emma said obviously excited.

“So what you’re saying is that you’re just psyched to have scored an interview with a mastermind of bee oppression?” I asked incredulously.

“Well duh, what were you talking about,” Emma shot back.

Patience Yuki
.

“I was talking about finding out Grace Green is probably a murderer,” I blurted out defensively.
So much for patience
.

“Yeah girl, a murderer of defenseless bees,” Emma said.

I couldn’t tell if she was teasing me or serious.
Probably serious
.

“Emma, do you know much about plants?” I asked hoping she might be able to help me identify the plant from my photos.

“I know I like to eat them if they’re chemical free,” she said with an evil laugh.

I sighed in exasperation.

“What?” asked Emma. “I’m hungry.” Right then Emma’s stomach growled out loud and we couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’m hiding my African violets when we get to my house,” I said and we laughed again.

We were silent the rest of the way home.
Well, except for Emma’s stomach
.

When we reached my house Emma had decided to go home where her mom already had a dinner ready. I told her I had research to do and would see her tomorrow at school. I went up to my room and downloaded the pictures from the Green farm off my phone onto my laptop. Zooming in I could tell they didn’t look like the herbs I was familiar with like rosemary, oregano, mint, sage, and thyme. My next step was to try searching for the plant on the Internet. I tried “green oval leaves,” “bell shaped purple flowers,” and “poison” for a search. After a few useless searches, I found pictures of a plant that matched the one in Grace Green’s herb garden. It had the same dark, dingy purple bell shaped flowers and deeply veined green oval leaves.
Son of a dung beetle
. The plant was listed as
Atropa Belladonna,
what is commonly known as Deadly Nightshade.

Chapter 18

I went to bed that night feeling spooked. I knew it was probably silly to worry about Grace Green coming after me in my sleep, but I still felt uneasy. I pulled a box down from the top of my closet and pushed things around until I found the sleigh bells I had used to decorate my room last Christmas.
Better than nothing
. I grabbed a hair ribbon off my vanity and strung a few of the bells across the ribbon then tied the ribbon across my windows. I grabbed the largest bell and with a piece of string and a bent thumbtack hung it above my door. Similar to the gift shops on Main Street, the bell would jangle if anyone opened the door while I slept. Feeling satisfied that at least no one would be sneaking up on me, I crawled into bed.

Sleep, however, wasn’t as easy as my new alarm system. Every time I closed my eyes I would picture Calvin leaning in to kiss me. I would force my eyes open and try to think about anything but Calvin, yet questions continued to spin around my head.
Where had he gone
?
What was he not ready for
?
Why did he have to leave
?

I must have finally fallen asleep because I was standing beneath a full moon on the drought stricken hilltop from my previous dream.
You’re not in Kansas anymore Yuki
. There was the silhouette of a man standing before me against the light of the moon and a huge silver wolf lay at my feet. Having the wolf with me made me feel safe, though I realized that this wasn’t very logical. He was larger than any dog I had ever seen. His silver fur reflected the moonlight and seemed to dance as a breeze rolled across the hilltop. This land seemed to emanate sadness and I remembered the man’s tears when he had appeared in my previous dream.

“Spirit Walker,” said the man though his mouth didn’t appear to move. “Bringer of the dead. There is much to tell you and little time,” he said and his words echoed inside my head.

I nodded and reached down to sink my hand into the wolf’s fur. I wasn’t sure what the man needed to say, but understood that our time was limited.

“You must help the lost find their way. You must lead your people to the river of light. Too many walk the in-between worlds. Too many souls are lost,” the man said pausing to look at the wolf at my feet.
My wolf
.

“Your path will not be an easy one. You have been granted a guardian and now both of your destinies are bound together. If you lose your way, listen for the howl of the wolf and in all things follow your heart,” the man said as he began to fade.

“Wait! I don’t understand,” I yelled. The wind was rising creating a roaring dust cloud between us.

The man reached out, placing his hand on my shoulder, his voice again in my head, “Keep your feet on the path of healing. Help the lost ones find their way. You must be the flame in the darkness.”

Before the wind tore him from me I looked down at his arm. His bicep was ringed in a black tattoo of a wolf chasing a hawk. I realized as I drifted out of the dream that the hawk was also chasing the wolf. Then there were no thoughts at all.

Chapter 19

After a long day of school filled with flitting images of wolves and lost souls, I was exhausted. I sat on the edge of my bed and grabbed an old notebook off my bookcase. It was already half used but there was plenty of room for a dream diary. I tore out the used pages and wrote Dream Diary across the cover.
There that’s better
. After this last dream, I had to replace my hair dye flyer with something larger. These new dreams were confusing and I was determined to figure out what they meant.

The black and yellow butterfly in Grace Green’s garden had seemed like more than a coincidence and the man in last night’s dream talked about helping lost souls into the light.
That’s what I’m doing right
?

I dialed Cal’s number and it went to voicemail.
Again
. He still wasn’t answering or returning my calls. Fine, I would just go to him. I grabbed a black scarf and arm warmers and stuffed them into my bag. It was still warm out, but the evenings were starting to get chilly. I lifted my bag and with a shrug tossed the dream diary in too.

Without a car I had to walk the three miles to Calvin’s house. I could have called Emma for a ride, but I needed time to think and the walk helped to clear my head. When I was about a block away I heard music blasting and as his house came into sight I could tell the garage door was wide open. As I got closer I could see Calvin lifting weights in the open garage.
Shirtless
. His arms were bulging and for a moment I was dumbstruck.
When did you get so hot Calvin Miller
?

Glad he was facing away from me I tried to stop the blood from rushing to my face. Yoga breathing wasn’t working.
Maybe I should have paid more attention in class
. I could feel my face turning a brighter shade of red with every thrust of the weights. I started walking forward again wondering how I was going to get Calvin’s attention with the music blaring. Just then he stopped. He hadn’t turned around yet but somehow he had known I was there.

It was then that I saw it. I was still focused on Calvin’s flexed arms, how could I not be, when I saw a tattoo ringed his right bicep. I knew he didn’t have a tattoo earlier this summer which meant the tattoo had to be new.
Weird
. Cal never seemed interested in tattoos or piercings before. It looked good on him though.
Really good
.

Calvin set the weights down slowly and walked to the stereo on the workbench. He turned the music off, but still hadn’t turned around to face me. The silence felt like a wall between us and I was tired of his hiding.

“Calvin Bartholomew Miller,” I yelled at his back. “You haven’t been to school and I was worried about you. You disappeared and you don’t return my calls,” I said my voice getting shaky.
Son of a dung beetle
. If he didn’t turn around soon and say something I was going to cry.
Don’t make me cry Calvin Miller
.