Talisman (23 page)

“Be home in plenty of
time to get ready for the dance!” Charlotte barked.  “I don’t want you keeping Mike waiting…
UNDERSTAND?
”

“I
won’t
be late,” I yelled back as I slid into my car and cranked the engine.

What a witch
, I grumbled as I plowed out of our drive, leaving a fresh trail of slung gravel and dust in the air.

There wasn’t any traffic to speak of, so I made it to Ms. Sutherland’s house at eight on the dot.
I remembered on the drive over that I’d loaned Daddy the cell phone charger I usually kept inside my car. 
I’ll just have to charge it when I get home…No big deal
.

A rented box truck
sat in Ms. Sutherland’s driveway, so I parked on the street outside her house.  Beatrix Sutherland lived on the “north side” of town.  It was a much classier section of Welch, where all the houses appeared impeccably well-kept and their lawns had to be manicured to perfection in accordance with their strict neighborhood covenants.  Though her house was one of the smaller ones in the neighborhood, it was undeniably charming.  The modest one-story cottage was clad with white siding and black shutters, while a cheery red-painted front door added a tasteful touch of class to its façade.  Every window donned ornate metal planters, which were currently filled to their brims with pansies.  It reminded me of an oversized dollhouse.  The driveway was lined with towering cypress trees, which by their appearance were in need of a good pruning.  Their branches looked straggly and hung over the driveway in a chaotic manner.  In fact, they covered the entire right side of the box truck parked in her drive.

No wonder it’s backed in
, I thought.
Mr. Mayfield would’ve had to climb a daggone tree just to get out of the cab
.

I followed the curved
cobblestone walkway that led to her front door.  I pushed the doorbell once.  As I stood there fixated on the peephole, I started thinking,
What if Ms. Sutherland really can see?  How can I find out?  Why would she hide it?
  My suspicions were bordering on obsession.  I’d had enough of unresolved strange occurrences.  Every one of them had prompted extraordinary questions, but what I craved were ordinary answers. 
I’m going to get them today…one way or another
.”

I started to press the buzzer again
when the front door flew open.

“Oh, Shiloh.  You’re here,” Beatrix Sutherland remarked, before I could say anything.  “
Come on in, dear.”

I found her greeting amusing.  “How on earth did you know it was
me?
” I asked skeptically as I walked past her.

“I told you, dear…
Freesias
.  My eyes may not work, but my nose still does,” she laughed.

In a dubious manner, I took a quick sniff of my shirt. 
I still don’t smell anything.  I’m not buying her answer for a second
.

“Plus, you said
that you’d be here at eight sharp, and since there’s only one other person who would be here around that same time…I had a 50/50 shot.”

Well, at least that one holds a little more water
. 
She’s pretty slick…I’ll give her that
.

If I were going to get any answers, my best chance would be to bombard her with tricky questions.  Surel
y even the most cunning adversary would slip up —
eventually
.  A sly smile stretched across my face while my eyes crafted a hard-core look of determination.

Ms. Sutherland escorted me into her living room.  It was like any other you would walk into — fully furnished with a large sofa, several cushy chairs, and strategically placed tables.  It was decorated to perfection
too, with everything coordinating nicely — well past the threshold of “anal”.

“This is really beautiful, Ms. Sutherland,” I commented.  “Did you decorate this
yourself?
”

Beatrix Suthe
rland let out a sharp laugh.  “Oh goodness no, dear.  Monique Culbert, the lady who has the tailoring shop downtown…Well, she’s a good friend of mine.  Monique helped me with the decorating.  She picked out all the furniture and sewed my draperies for me.  I’d hate to think what this place would look like if
I
had made all the selections…
by myself
.”

My eyes squinted. 
Maybe,
I pondered, but something inside me still didn’t believe her.

Suddenly a melodic chime rolled through the house. 
“Excuse me, Shiloh.  That’s probably the little fellow from Helping Hands,” Ms. Sutherland revealed as she hurried off to answer the door.

I heard a familiar voice entering the house.  A few seconds later, Ty Smith came strolling into the room, taking off his varsity jacket.  He had that, I-just-fell-ou
t-of-bed, but-I’m-still-hot-as-Hell look going on.  His tired, droopy eyes lit up with surprise when he saw me.

“Oh, Shiloh, you probably already know Tyler.  Aren’t you both in the same grade?” she asked.

We both smiled and answered, “Yes,” in unison.

“He’s been my assigned helper for the past couple of years.  He’s a
godsend
,” Ms. Sutherland beamed as she felt for his hand and gave it a tight, affectionate squeeze.

“Yeah, this is my girl right here,” Ty declared as he tenderly placed his arm around Ms. Sutherland and gave her a cuddly hug.  “I’m going to miss her when she leaves.  I’ll have to find someone else to
let me
cut their grass and clean out their gutters,” he teased and then gave her a peck on the cheek.

That’
s so sweet.  Could he be anymore perfect?

I stood there smiling at them.  I didn’t realize
that it was
Ty
who would be here helping with the packing today.  I hadn’t really seen him since he spied me avoiding Professor Grey in Geology class yesterday, nor spoken to him since our chat in the cafeteria on Thursday.  His comments were still floating around in the back of my mind, as well as the way he was staring at me in Ms. Fitz’s class.

“Her
e, Shi…I’ll take your coat back to the kitchen and hang it up for you,” Ty insisted.  I peeled off my jacket and handed it to him with an appreciative smile.

Good manners, too…
Yeah, totally perfect
, I thought as my eyes followed him out of the room, mentally noting that he looked just as fine “going” as he did “coming”.

Beatrix Sut
herland cleared her throat in a slightly suggestive manner.  I jumped slightly and whipped my head around. I’d let my suspicions about the sweet little old
blind
lady slip my mind for a moment, but seeing her standing there —
with a grin on her face
— begged the question of whether or not she caught me checking out Ty’s ass.  My eyes narrowed instinctively.

Oh yeah…
It’s definitely on!

“You two can get started in the living room.  All I really need is a place to sit for the next week, so everything else can be packed up,”
Ms. Sutherland instructed.  “Tyler…Did you bring the packing paper and boxes?”

“Sure did, and I have miles of tape,”
Ty announced as he returned to the living room.

I looked closely around the room.  I found it sort of odd that there were little trinkets
everywhere
.  Figurines and ceramic collectables were scattered all around the space.  Most of them were little porcelain birds.  There were all different kinds.  Some sat perched on branches while others were fashioned to ornate porcelain flowers. 
Why would she have so many of these?  She wouldn’t be able to see them, and they’d be a pain in the butt to dust
.

“Excuse me for asking, Ms. Su
therland, but um…Why do you have so many of these little knickknacks lying around?” I inquired.

Tyler shot me an odd look.  I was a bit embarrassed by how rude he must’ve thought that sounded.  Needing to tread lightly, I
quickly rephrased my question.

“I mean…
Doesn’t that create a lot of extra cleaning for you?” I posed.

“What? 
My little birdies?
” Ms. Sutherland asked.

“Yes,
Ma’am,” I replied respectfully, feeling the overwhelming need to show Ty that I did have
some
manners.

“I collect those, dear.  I’ve always been fascinated with the
…
thought
of birds.  I’m even a member of the
Audubon Society
.  I went out to Oregon last year on one of their retreats.”

My mouth dropped.  “The bird-
watching
organization?” I blurted skeptically.  I could feel the heat from Ty’s stare.  Any hotter and he would have burnt my eyebrows slick off.

“That’s the one.  But th
ey’re also a conservation group.  I’ve been a member going on thirty-five years,” Ms. Sutherland confirmed proudly.

Still baffled, I
decided to carry on with my interrogation.

“So what did you
…
do
on the retreat?” I inquired, causing Ty to almost drop one of the delicate baubles he was securing in bubble wrap.  I had to admit, I wasn’t exuding any sort of tact.

“We went on outings into the forest.  The others bird-watched, but I
listened
.  I’m quite the aficionado when it comes to distinguishing a bird by its call, if I do say so myself,” Ms. Sutherland boasted.  “There’s just something remarkable about standing in the stillness of the forest, waiting for a beautiful melody to call out.  It’s indescribably thrilling to imagine such a delicate creature flying from tree to tree while it showers the woods with its special song for all the animals to hear.  There’s nothing like it —
in my opinion
.  I love the feeling of freedom they must get from flying.”

I’ll give her that one.  Beatrix Sutherland
- 2 — Me - 0
.   Her answer turned out to be a logical one, but I wasn’t in search of logic today.  I wanted the truth.

Ty chuckled.  “But you don’t ride on airplanes,
do you?
  Didn’t Mrs. Culbert drive you out to Oregon for the meeting last year?” he asked with a grin.

“
Oh, Tyler
.  Now you know I don’t like the idea of being cooped up in a long steel tube with my life in someone else’s hands.  Where’s the freedom in
that?
” Ms. Sutherland quipped back with a smile.

Ty
returned her affectionate gesture and then purposely looked my way, clearly trying to analyze my intensions.

“Well, I’m off to whip up a pot of apple cider.  I guess I’d better let you two get to work,”
Ms. Sutherland announced and then headed off to the kitchen.

With a deter
mined stance, I watched the sly silver-haired fox sashay proudly down the hall. 
Clearly it’s time to “up my game”
.

We immediately went to packing.  The
noises in the room were random, like boxes being assembled or items being wrapped in thick paper.  Every time I heard the sound of packing tape being stretched across a box, it served an awkward reminder that Ty and I hadn’t said one word to each other since Ms. Sutherland had left the room.  Ty eventually broke the silence first.

“What’s up with you
, Shi?” Ty asked cautiously.

“What do mean?” I answered
with a nonchalant shrug.  I already knew the answer to that one.

“The
questions
for Bea…I mean, you aren’t acting like your usual
sensitive
self.”

“Just
curious
,” I replied innocently.

Ty’s
eyes narrowed as he processed my reply.  He wasn’t buying it. 
I’ll have to be a little more careful with carrying out my scheme
.  I didn’t know whose suspicions were greater — mine about Ms. Sutherland, or Ty’s about me?

I strolled over to the corner of the room where Ms. Sutherland’s television was sitting.  Not just any TV, but a ni
ce sized 52” inch flat-screen.

“Why would
she
need that?” I posed aloud.

Tyler finished taping up his box.  “The
TV?
  I’m sure to
listen
to it,” he replied sharply.  “She’s not deaf.”

“Yeah, but why does she have one
that big?
” I rebutted critically.

“Maybe for
company? I’m sure she has some from time to time.”  Ty shook his head and started assembling a new box.

I still wasn’t convinced, but I followed suit and got back to the job at hand.  Neither one of us
initiated any more conversation other than “I need more tape” or “Hand me another box”.