Dae's Christmas Past (15 page)

“Yes, thanks. And if you could scrounge up something to eat, I’d be grateful. Wasn’t Kevin with us? I thought I remembered seeing him.”

“He went to get your prescription, and Mary Catherine. She stayed at Missing Pieces to keep it open for me.”

“She’s really something, isn’t she?” He grinned. “I never really thought I’d see her again. I knew she’d kept the shop, but her goodbye was pretty final when she left. I’ve never met another woman I could compare to your grandmother besides MC.”

I started the coffee and took out some eggs. He was going to need something in his stomach to take those pain killers. “Speaking of Grandma Eleanore, I finally got to meet her.”

He did a comical double take. “What? Have I finally lost it—or have you?”

“Neither. I had a vision, and she was in it.”

“That’s not the same thing, Dae. You see all kinds of strange things in your visions.”

“And Grandma Eleanore explained how to control them instead of letting them control me. We talked about you, and Mom, and Kevin. She told me to tell you that she loves you.”

“It’s not real, Dae. I know you understand that.” He was beginning to look worried and uncomfortable.

“It’s no less real than anything else I’ve seen. She gave me some helpful advice.”

I scrambled the eggs, and poured some coffee in a cup. I could tell he didn’t know what to think about me seeing my grandmother. Like she’d said, it was difficult for people without a gift to completely understand. I found an old TV tray, and put his eggs and coffee on it so he could eat in the recliner.

“I’m not saying you don’t see real things when you have visions,” he corrected. “All I’m saying is that you see what you want to see sometimes. I remember that with her.”

“She said you’d say that. She gave me proof for you since you’re so practical.”

He smiled as he sipped his coffee. “She always said that. But it was your grandmother who got us through on a deputy sheriff’s pay for many years.”

“That’s not my proof,” I told him. “She told me about the sapphire brooch that belonged to your mother. You found it in a junk box and were going to throw it away. She stopped you by grabbing it so she could tell you where it came from.”

“That’s right.” He nodded. “I remember.”

“That was the night you proposed to her. You thought she fainted, and when she came to, she told you about the brooch.”

“She told you that? I’m not sure if your mother even knew about it.”

“She wanted you to believe that I’d seen her in my vision. Do you believe?”

He stared at me with tears in his eyes. “If I say no, will she come and haunt me every night?”

I got up and knelt beside his chair. “We can try. I love you, Gramps. I never realized from the pictures how much I look like Grandma Eleanore.”

He smoothed back my hair with his rough hand. “I realize it every day. And I’m glad for it. You’re a comfort to me just like she was.”

Kevin and Mary Catherine got back. They’d brought take-out from the Curbside Bar and Grill. Cole and Molly had called Kevin and insisted that he should take food to us after Gramps’s accident.

Gramps wasn’t hungry, but the three of us were starving. We ate the fried chicken and potato salad while Mary Catherine entertained us with stories about her day at Missing Pieces. She’d brought Treasure and Baylor back with her. They were eating too—from separate bowls of course.

“It was fascinating being there today,” Mary Catherine said. “I can only imagine what it must be like to know the story of everything you have on your shelves.”

“Except for the bad things,” Kevin said. “Speaking of which, did your experiences today convince you that the man in the animal skins is real, Dae?”

“Yes. Osisko is real. I think he has a gift too, and that’s why I keep seeing him here in the present. He’s definitely not a ghost. I’m sure of that.”

“I’d feel better if you weren’t the only one seeing him.” Kevin took a sip of his sweet tea.

“The crow saw him too,” Mary Catherine remarked. “They are very truthful creatures.”

Gramps held his head. “I don’t know. Talking to crows might be crossing the line for me.”

Mary Catherine laughed. “Well we’re all back safely from our travels today anyway. Maybe tomorrow there will be some answers that everyone can understand.”

Kevin kissed me goodbye before he left. “You know I only want to make sure that you’re safe. It’s not good for someone who has visions to imagine little green men.”

“Not green—dark and covered with animal skins.” I smiled even as he continued to scowl. “Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll figure it out. With demon horses running around Duck, I don’t think Osisko is so bad.”

“Just be careful. I’m glad you met your grandmother. I know spirit guides can be helpful. I’m not so sure about the little man.”

We walked to his truck through the chilly night air. “I’ll see you tomorrow. You be careful too. I wouldn’t want you to get run over by a herd of invisible horses.”

Gramps and Mary Catherine went to bed early. I couldn’t sleep, so I sat in my room and looked at town documents that Chris had posted on the town administration site for the meeting. It was all new ordinances that were going to be introduced tomorrow night and information about speakers that had requested time at the council meeting.

One of them was the corporation that wanted to put in a gambling ship that would use Duck as its home port. The town would have to pass several new ordinances to allow the ship to dock on the Atlantic side, close to the Blue Whale.

There was also an ordinance to allow the ship to have gambling even though they couldn’t use it until they were twelve miles out. I still didn’t understand why the town had to pass that ordinance since it was regulated by the state and the Coast Guard. But if Chris said it was something we needed to do, we needed to do it.

Shops in town had been very vocal about allowing the gambling ship to dock here. Everyone thought it would be good for business before and after tourists left the ship. Some people were still old fashioned about it, and felt like nothing good could come from gambling. They believed it would attract a bad element to Duck and wanted us to vote against it.

I stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, thinking about the upcoming controversy. I’d already received emails from the only two council members still on the board. Both of them wanted to hold the vote tomorrow night.

But I was against that idea. The gambling ship investors wanted us to give final approval for the project as quickly as possible. I thought we should appoint our two new members for the council and then hold a special meeting the week after so they had enough time to review the information. Five heads were better than three. It was easy to say yes to something, but difficult to get rid of it once it was in place.

I heard a sound outside on the road and immediately, my heart started pounding. Treasure meowed sleepily and put his head back down. The sound continued to grow, like thunder coming from a storm at sea. I ran up the stairs to the widow’s walk, and looked down on the town.

From that vantage point everything looked calm and serene. But the sound grew louder, becoming a roar coming toward me from Corolla. I cowered behind the wrought iron railing, peeking between the scrollwork.

I still couldn’t see anything on the road, and yet trees were swaying, wind chimes loudly ringing out. The wind grew stronger, pushing against the house. The noise became more distinguishable—the clatter of horses hooves on the pavement below me. As the sound grew closer and more abrasive, I could see bushes being trampled alongside the road. Snapping sounds—like pottery breaking and glass shattering—accompanied the turmoil. It was like a hurricane rushing by us, destroying everything as it went.

Was I the only one who could hear the snorts and other screams related to a large herd of horses?

And there was Osisko again, standing under a streetlight, watching as the ghost horses blew by him, a cloud of sand and dust flying in the air as they passed.

Even though I was behind the rail, the man on the ground looked right up at me, his eyes fixing on my face. I admit to being cowardly and sneaking down from the widow’s walk. I didn’t want to see him or talk to him that night. I was still recovering from our meeting in the cave.

I turned off the light and the laptop in my room, and held Treasure tight against me. He wasn’t happy with the extra cuddling while he was trying to sleep, but he put up with it and finally settled down.

There was a knock on the bedroom door. I was terrified that Osisko had come into the house, but it was only Mary Catherine. “Are you awake, Dae? May I come in for a moment?”

I was glad to have her company. I didn’t want to wake Gramps after the day he’d had. Mary Catherine sat on the bed beside me, holding Baylor.

“I know you heard that,” she said. “Whatever it sounded like—it wasn’t horses—at least not the living kind that I can connect with. I pushed out my awareness to try to communicate with them. I thought there might be something left of the animals they once were. But there was nothing, but blackness. Those things have
never
been real horses. I don’t believe they come from a place animals could exist. They’re only taking their shapes to terrify people as they always have.”

My hands that were buried in Treasure’s fur were shaking. “I saw Osisko down on the street again. I was too scared to face him.”

“As well you should be. These are not forces to be trifled with. They are stronger and more deadly than the elements. You should stay away from that man, Dae. I don’t like to think what could happen to you if he has a chance to touch you again.”

“I don’t know what to do. I can’t think of any way to help Duck. I think the excavation is what’s causing this, but I don’t see what I can do to stop it.”

“I think we should plan our trip to Corolla tomorrow, don’t you? I’d like to spend some time with the wild horses. I think they might be able to help us better understand what’s going on. I’m willing to bet that they relate to us more than they do to those things out there.”

I nodded, hoping it would be light soon. “We could go over to the excavation site. I have a standing invitation from Dr. Sheffield to visit. I don’t want to touch anything else out there, but there might be something to be gained by a visit.”

So we agreed to try to go back to sleep and be ready tomorrow for our early morning trip. Corolla wasn’t that far from Duck, but I needed to have Missing Pieces open and begin putting up Christmas decorations. I really wanted to check on Jake too. I hoped sure I could accomplish all that in one day.

I finally fell into a restless sleep that was haunted by Osisko and the tomb where he’d died. My dreams of him in a time long past were vivid and scary. I was up early, eager to get away from those nightmares, and the feeling that he was still out there waiting for me.

Gramps was up early too. I helped him out of bed and into the kitchen. He refused to sit around in the recliner all day. “I have a pinochle game. I can’t miss that. I called Howard. He’s willing to come get me. Don’t fuss, Dae. I’ll be fine.”

I made a large stack of pancakes. They were ready to eat as Mary Catherine joined us. She was dressed in brown today with touches of orange that went well with Baylor draped around her neck.

“He’s insisting on going with us today.” She sat at the table. “He says he has some ideas about what’s going on. I think he just wants to get out for a while. How can he possibly have any clue about the horse cult?”

Gramps chuckled. “I can’t believe you’re still letting that cat boss you around, MC. Come with me to the pinochle game. You’ll have a lot more fun than hanging out with Dae trying to figure out the secrets of the universe.”

“I’d like to, Horace. Maybe some other time.” She laid her hand on his. “Something rare and unusual is happening here. I don’t think the police will understand it. I’m glad I could be here to help Dae so she doesn’t have to do it alone.”

Gramps was blustery after that remark about the police not being able to handle the situation. As ex-law enforcement, he didn’t believe there was anything that couldn’t be handled by the police.

“I’m going to check in on Chris Slayton and make sure he’s okay after his misadventure yesterday,” I told him to break his tirade. “If he can’t make it to the meeting tonight, I’m cancelling. We’re already down two council members. I don’t want to make any mistakes.”

“The people from the gambling ship won’t be happy about that,” he said. “Are you planning to take a vote on that tonight?”

“I hope not. I’m going to try to get the two members on the council to hold off on that vote until we have our two new members seated.” I shrugged as I served the pancakes. “I guess we’ll see.”

“You know how I feel about it.” He stabbed some pancakes with his fork.

Boy, did I!

“We don’t need something like that here. It will only cause trouble. That’s why I had Tuck and Ronnie sign that document against it. I added my signature to support the rest of us old folks who like Duck just the way it is.”

“I know, Gramps. And that’s why we’re having the public hearing tonight before the vote. That way everyone can express their opinion.”