Dreams of Fire (Maple Hill Chronicles Book 1) (29 page)

“I took her to the best doctors possible!” He protested.

The avenging lawyer nailed him with her gaze. “You may have, but you did nothing to ease her suffering at home, reduce her stress level, or her obligation to play for you. You locked her in the basement when she disagreed with you or defied you in any way. You did that when you knew that she feared the basement above all because of what happened to her brother when she was a child. That is a direct violation of the ‘to love and to cherish’ clause of your marriage vows.”

“How dare you judge me! She had an obligation to obey me as our vows also stated,” George roared back, outraged.

“I think God will judge you more harshly than I will, Mr. Rutherford. In any case, based on the fact that you reneged on your social contract numerous times and the fact that she died before you, you no longer have a hold on her. She is no longer ‘yours’ in any way.” Sarah raised her hands before her, palms pressed together, and drew them down sharply, saying, “Death has parted you both. She has crossed over, and it is time that you crossed over as well.”

George was nearly apoplectic, face darkening. “You cannot tell me what to do!”

“I can, and I will. This case is closed.” Sarah’s flat voice was relentless as judge, jury and executioner. “There was a reason you never made partner. You were so cold and hard, you were not deemed worthy. A family lawyer has to have a heart, Mr. Rutherford. It is time to go home to your natal family. Your mother, father, brother, and sister are waiting for you.”

George opened his mouth to argue further but turned his head suddenly as if he heard something. Both women waited with bated breath.

“It is time to go, George,” Sarah said softly.

Listening to something neither of them could hear, George’s spirit turned away from them toward the front hall.

“Mother, no, please!” His voice, when it came, no longer held chilly disdain. Instead it sounded younger, pleading. “Not the basement. I was good!” The expression of growing horror and shame on his face was something Marianne would never forget. Then, he suddenly vanished like a blown light bulb.

They stood in the abrupt silence. Marianne finally whispered, “I don’t think he wanted to go.”

“No, I don’t think he did,” Sarah said quietly.

“What did he hear? I didn’t hear anything—did you?”

Sarah’s posture relaxed. “Nope, and I’m okay with that. Some things are better left unknown.”

Marianne breathed out a sigh. “Is he really gone?”
 

“I think so.” Sarah took a deep breath and let it out. “I can give you a few things to protect your house and make sure he doesn’t come back, if you like.”

Marianne nodded fervently. The motion jarred her hand, and she hissed with pain.

Sarah immediately helped her to sit on the sofa. “Are you okay?”

Marianne opened her hand gingerly and saw fresh blood seeping through the bandages. They unwrapped them carefully and saw she’d pulled the stitches in her palm, and her middle and ring fingers wouldn’t open properly. “Damn. I was afraid of that. I think I broke them punching George.”

Sarah exclaimed, “Holy cow, we need to get you to the doctor!”

Marianne nodded, cradling her hands gingerly. “I know. I’ll go in a bit.”

Sarah made a small impatient noise in the face of the other’s stubbornness, but Marianne set her jaw. Sarah said, “I’m glad I came back when I did—although you were doing quite well without me.” She smiled. “I’m sorry I had to leave like that.”

“Yeah, what was that all about? I really thought you’d gone and left me alone with George,” Marianne said distractedly as she fumbled to rewrap her hand.

Sarah reached up and unconsciously turned her crystal pendant between her thumb and forefinger. “I had to give him a reason to come out of hiding. He was more likely to come if he thought you were alone. I’m sorry. I would
never
really leave you in dire straits like that,” she added fervently.

Marianne acknowledged her with a nod and said, “How did you know the legal angle would work on him? What did you mean ‘you never made partner’?”

Sarah sat back and smiled slyly. “I did my research too. When you told me who was here, George’s name sounded familiar. Turns out he used to be a lawyer who worked for Arnie Walgust’s father in his day.”

Marianne goggled. “That’s your law firm! You’re kidding!”

“I asked Arnie about it last week, and he told me that Rutherford was a good lawyer, tenacious and meticulous, but he was cold. Arnie’s father never liked how he treated his wife, and even though he could see George was desperate to become partner, Arnie’s father never offered it to him. They were a family firm, and they dealt with people in the community all the time. Arnie’s father cared about the social side of things. I guess he felt George would not have treated his clients well.”

“George must’ve been very frustrated.”

Sarah nodded. “Too bad he took it out at home. By the way, I meant what I said earlier. You were awesome with Anne and were doing pretty well with George. Are you sure you’ve never talked to spirits before?”

Marianne shook her head emphatically. “No, not before living here! I didn’t have a chance to tell you, but I talked to Anne the other day. She seemed to be watching as I was fixing up the office space, and so I talked to her.”

Sarah was fascinated. “I have to say, it is so…unusual and refreshing to hear someone else talk about this kind of thing. Go ahead, sorry to interrupt.”

Marianne said in some consternation, “Honestly, it’s not something I’m used to doing at all. I took your advice and thought of her as standing there with me. At the time I thought the angry ghost might be Adam Sullivan. When I asked her if she knew who it was, some papers fell off the desk. I didn’t know what to make of that. After that, she faded away.”
 

She suddenly remembered her conversation with her grandmother. “Sarah, remember I told you about my Grandma Selene? She’s the one I used to visit when I was a kid. I forgot to tell you she’s been here, in this house, long ago, and she heard Anne play one of her concerts!” With growing excitement, she forgot her pain and gestured with her hands. “She said the whole Rutherford family was controlling, and that my ex, Geoffrey, was one of them!” Her reinjured hands were clumsy and one banged the back of the sofa, and she gasped in pain.

It was Sarah’s turn to goggle. “What?”

Wincing, Marianne continued, “Geoffrey’s grandmother was George’s sister. She married into the Chubb family, and that’s why I never put the two together. Geoffrey always acted like he owned the world. Grandma Selene said he was a late child and very spoiled. Which explains so much really,” she finished, her hand throbbing painfully.

Sarah gently touched Marianne and said, “You look like you’re in real pain. I wanted to clear your house and protect it before we leave today, but I think we need to take care of you first.”

Marianne shook her head and said, “Just do it now. I’ll go back to the Urgent Care Center when you’re done. I want to know my house is safe and protected when I get back.”

Sarah frowned reluctantly. “Okay then.”
 

Marianne showed Sarah where her dustpan and broom were, and the lawyer swept up the glass shards in the living room. Marianne got a dishtowel and gingerly wiped up the remains of the spilled water and threw out the wilted flowers. Sadly, there was a big water stain on the corner of the piano lid and all down the side where the water had dripped.

When they were done, Sarah relit the iron pot with a new white sage bundle with cedar incense while Marianne took a couple of ibuprofen. Together they walked from room to room.
 

In each room Sarah declared, “Let all bad emanations and feelings be gone from this space. Let this be a place of happiness and light. With cedar and sage, so mote it be.”

They went up into the attic through the little door a second time and wafted cedar and sage smoke into the area. Lastly, they walked through the basement touching all the walls and corners with smoke. After all the drama, the cellar seemed very ordinary, just a little dark and shabby. Marianne was amazed both that she’d been so afraid of the basement, and that it seemed so unthreatening now.

When the third smudge had burned out, they adjourned to the kitchen.

Sarah regarded her with respect. “I’ve never seen a newbie do what you did with Mrs. Rutherford. You have a gift for communicating with people—living and dead—did you know that?”

Marianne was flustered and shrugged. “I never really thought about it. You and Kelly said to treat Mrs. Rutherford like a living person who was having trouble communicating. So, I tried to do that.”

“That was quite a story you told. Did you make it up or were you seeing it as you were telling it?” Sarah rinsed the ash out of the pot as she talked.

Leaning against the counter, Marianne replied, “I read about some of it at the library for starters, but I’m not sure where my imagination left off and where I was reading Anne’s memories. It’s kind of a disturbing idea to think about reading a ghost’s mind to “see” and “feel” events that happened more than a hundred years ago. But some of the things in telling the story just seemed right.”

Sarah laid the pot in the sink and put her hand on Marianne’s shoulder. “You’re good at this. Under the right circumstances it’s pretty safe to do. I can hear spirits in my head sometimes as words, sometimes just as feelings. And sometimes I get snatches of images that I know come from a spirit. Other times I just know when something feels right or wrong. Kelly was right. You are a brave woman.”

“The Rutherfords scared the willies out of me plenty of times. But Anne scared me less when I thought of her as a person.”

Sarah looked at her appraisingly. “I get scared too. But I don’t have an option to not hear or feel a spirit if they really want to communicate with me. Are you sure you haven’t ever dealt with spirits before?”

“No, I don’t think so. I’ve always had a vivid imagination. My mom told me I had lots of imaginary playmates and made up elaborate stories with them. Geoffrey used to tell me I had too much imagination.”

Sarah wrinkled her nose and said, “Figures.”

Marianne nodded and handed her a dishtowel. “He had virtually no imagination at all by comparison.”

Sarah wiped her bowl dry. “Well, you could probably do some training and become more aware of the spirit world if you wanted to. You should definitely make your home a protected safe space and learn to protect yourself. You’re too sensitive to ignore it.”

Marianne looked anxious. “I don’t know. It was pretty scary when I didn’t know what was going on. I’m not sure I want to open myself up more. I’m too tired to think about it right now. Would you show me how to protect myself, though?”

“Absolutely.”

“And would you show me what you were doing with the little crystal thingie?”

“For a person who doesn’t want to get involved, you’re asking a lot of questions,” Sarah said with a smile.
 

“Well, even if I’m not sure about jumping in further, I have enough experience now that I can’t pretend it doesn’t exist.”

“Smart.” Sarah approved. She tilted her head to one side and asked, “What are you going to do with the little rabbit?”

Marianne thought about it and then said, “I’ll take it to the cemetery and put it on Samuel’s grave.”

“That sounds right,” Sarah agreed.

The analgesic had dulled the throbbing in her hand, but she said, “I think I really need to go back to the Urgent Care place now.”

“Let me give you a ride,” Sarah offered.

Mercifully, it was a different duty doctor than the one they’d encountered before. He cleaned up the stitches and fixed her dislocated fingers. She and Sarah had concocted a reasonable story on the way over and, after receiving a stern warning to be more careful, Marianne was allowed to leave with some stronger pain meds if she needed them.

Although she was exhausted, she refused Sarah’s offer of a place to stay. Instead she let Sarah warm some leftovers for her rather than try to do it all one-handed. After Sarah left, she sat on the couch and ate, filling the surprising hunger in her middle. Oscar sat pressed against her side, purring steadily as she watched TV, feeling like an invalid. She finally took herself to bed when she caught herself nodding off.

Chapter 24

Marianne awakened from the first deep sleep she’d had since she’d moved in. She rolled over and stretched lazily, flinching slightly at peak stretch when the healing cuts on her legs and arm twinged. Oscar immediately began nuzzling her face and urging her to get up and feed him. Smiling she petted him, her dark brown hair, frizzed in the humidity, surrounding her head like a cloud on the pillow. But her bandaged left hand ached where the stitches were, and her abused fingers refused to open all the way, reminding her of the drama of the past couple of days.

Scenes played and faded in her mind like images on her screensaver: Anne Rutherford’s ghostly, anxious face transforming into a peaceful smile as she realized she was free; George’s rage at his loss and the look of dawning horror and shame as he vanished; Sarah’s steely prosecution of George’s life as she made him realize he had no reason to stay any longer; the vivid images of Anne’s childhood trauma and the loss of her little brother. She knew without a doubt that she and Oscar were the only people inhabiting the house now.

She wanted to thank her new friends for all their help and thought a housewarming party might be a good way. Her hand was going to prevent her from painting anything for a while. Well, they knew she had a house full of boxes and probably wouldn’t care.
 

Her invitation list was fairly short with Sarah and Kelly at the top. She needed to do something special for them and had a few ideas. Ruari was next. He had asked her out—was it only yesterday? So much had happened; it seemed like ages ago. But her stomach flip-flopped pleasantly at the thought of seeing him for a social reason rather than as handyman for the rental company, and she grinned. The Cavarellis, John Irving, her mom, and Grandma Selene completed the guest list. She thought about food and drinks and toyed with a few dates before Oscar’s insistence got her out of bed.