The Obituary Society (23 page)

They crept through the kitchen door and outside.  She shivered in her light nightgown.  The first breath of cold air cleared her mind and gave her energy to keep moving.  As they passed through the large backyard, she kept glancing out of the corner of her eye, half afraid and half hoping that Max would return before they disappeared into the woods.

All too soon they were within the tangled cover of trees.  Leaves rustled underfoot, and twigs scratched Lila's bare arms and jabbed at the tender arches of her feet.  All of her mental faculties were focused on controlling her body;  the chattering of her teeth, the shaking of her arms and legs, putting one foot before the other without falling down.  If she allowed herself to be swallowed up by fear or self-doubt, there was no chance of this ending well.

Soon they reached the overgrown part of the trail.  It had been traveled enough that it was better than her first journey through, but there were no green leaves to soften the sharp branches now.  Asher let go of her and grabbed the back of the scarf tightly instead, as if holding the reins of a horse, so they could maneuver their way through.  Lila held both arms up to clear their path and protect her face.  She pulled one thick, flexible branch back and ducked her head quickly, stifling a laugh at Asher's yelp when it made contact. 

They broke through and saw the pond, shimmering silver in the moonlight, and reflecting the dark tangled shapes of the branches above.  Lila breathed a sigh of relief that was quickly overcome by an uncontrollable shiver.  The same eerie silence she remembered from her last visit pervaded the air. 

He untied the scarf.  “Show me.”

“
I c-can't.”  Lila's legs buckled beneath her.  She looked up.  Asher's eyes widened in rage.  “I can't go in there.”  The shrillness of her own voice sounded strange.  “I don't have any strength left.  I'm afraid I'll go under again.  And the box is heavy.  I barely pulled it out last time.”  She sobbed, wrapping her arms around her head and rocking her body.  “I can't take any more.  Kill me if you want.”

Asher reached down, roughly pulling her off the ground.  He tied the scarf tightly around her wrists and dragged her to a tree, securing her to a thick, low branch.  The fabric stung her wrists and her fingers began to tingle.  He breathed into her face, his nose almost touching hers.  “That depends on whether or not you're telling the truth.”  Lila's stomach twisted.

“If you're lying to me—” 

Lila's breath caught in her throat.  “I promise,” she whispered.  “What you're looking for, it's in there.”

Asher removed his clothes, then found a long stick.  He waded in, cringing and cursing the chilly water.  He pushed the stick around in search of the metal box.  Lila waited.  Her breath was caught in her lungs.  The moonlight shone gently on Asher's shoulders as he continued, the water reaching his thighs.

“
Where is it?” he yelled impatiently.

“
You're almost there.”  The words sounded hollow as they floated across the water.  She watched bubbles rise up around Asher.  The scent of Old Spice wafted through her nostrils.  Her head snapped up, and her heart felt like it would bust through her ribs.  “Asher, get out!  Get out now!  I'm sorry.  I can't let this happen.”  She sobbed, trying to pull her wrists free until the skin burned and her shoulders ached.  
“Does that mean I'm close?” he shouted.  “Or that you lied to me?”  His voice became quiet and dangerous.  “If you lied to me I'm going to take it out on Ada, and your boyfriend, and his bratty little girl.  That'd kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.  Erica has some payback coming to her too.” 

Anger burned in Lila's chest.  She extinguished it with a deep breath, and let the tension in her muscles release.  She stared at him calmly.  “Do you smell that?”

His face contorted.  “I know that smell.”

“
Your father wore it?”

He closed his eyes and inhaled.  “Yes.”  He appeared to be deep in thought.  His brows creased and his lids flew open.  “He put it on extra heavy when he drank, as if that would cover the stench and the shame.”  His face suddenly appeared boyish and vulnerable.  His voice cracked as he spoke.  “The worst moments of my life smelled like this.  It was the first warning that something terrible was about to happen.”

The air around them became heavy.  It felt electric and alive, raising the hair on Lila's arms and buzzing in her lungs.  The bubbles grew larger, and gurgled around Asher.  His face froze in fear as the water rose around him, black as tar.  It slithered against his skin like glistening snakes, wrapping around his arms, his legs, his neck.  The image of his wide, fearful eyes before he was pulled down into the depths burned into Lila's mind.  She was still screaming and sobbing, her hair wet and sticking to her face, when Max found her.

Chapter 30

Raspberry Rumba

Max hurried up the walk to Lila, who crouched on the porch steps fixing a railing post.  He carried a gallon of paint, and his brows were pinched together.

Lila frowned.  “What's wrong?”

“
There's been a mistake.  Char said it was a custom order, and there are no returns  on custom orders.  I tried, but she—”  He sighed, dropping his head.  “There are like ten gallons of this stuff.”

Lila pulled Max down to sit beside her on the steps, then smoothed his hair with her fingers.  “I'm sure everything's fine.  Show me what the problem is.”

Max took a big breath, wincing as he popped open the paint can.  “It's pink.”

Lila frowned.  “No it's not.”  Her voice was cynical.  She stood, pulling Max to his feet.  Keeping hold of one hand, she twisted herself inward until his arm was wrapped around her, then unfurled gracefully, one hand stretched in a dramatic pose .  “It's r-r-raspberry r-r-rumba!”

His eyes widened.  “You did this on purpose?”

“
In honor of Grandma Elaine.  But don't worry.  I'm going to give it some of my own flair:  white trim, black shutters.  She's going to be the most exciting house in town again, but with a little more sophistication to match her years.”  She gazed at the house, envisioning every detail.

Max smiled, pulling her back in with a little less grace.  “As long as you're not worried about resale.”

Lila kissed his cheek.  “I'm not.”

“
Alright then, give me a paintbrush.”

Juniper walked across the grass, squinting at a crumpled paper in her hand.  “What's be-queath?”

“It means to give,” Max answered as Lila hefted a box of painting supplies up off the porch.  He rushed to take it from her, then carried it down the steps and dropped it on the grass.

Lila looked down at him, smiling.  “I didn't think it would be so easy to convince you.”

“I'm secure enough in my masculinity to live in a pink house.”  His face reddened, and he rubbed his chin.  “I mean—if I lived here—I wouldn't mind—”  He rooted through the box, piling all the brushes on the grass.  “You're very talented.  You'll make it work.  But I hope we use it all up on your place, so you won't be tempted to put the leftovers to use when you start working on mine.  Some of us are concerned about resale.  You know, someday I might want to—”  He smirked at himself, shoving a hand through his hair, then closing his fingers around it.

Lila leaned against the porch rail.  Her smile stretched into a grin as she watched Max suffer.

He stood up straight and strode over to the porch, then reached up and grabbed her hands.  “If we sold mine, we could put the money toward finishing this one.”

Lila stared blankly.  It took all her effort to keep a smile from breaking out.  “But where would you live?”

Max blinked, and the muscles in his face tightened.  “A whole lifetime of this?”

Lila kissed his head.  “Sounds nice.”

“What's will and testament?”  Juniper asked.

Max pulled his eyes away to look at Juniper.  “What are you reading?”

She shrugged.  “An old letter.”

Max walked across the lawn to join her.  “Where did you find it?”

“In that truck.”  Juniper pointed to The Beast, which had been hauled back to Ada's.

“
I thought I told you not to play in there.  Lou's supposed to be picking it up any minute.  You're lucky you didn't get hauled away with it.  You wouldn't like living at Lou's.  He yodels.”

“
At least he doesn't
snore
.”

Max glanced quickly at Lila.  “I don't snore,” he whispered.

“And I wasn't playing in the truck,” Juniper said innocently.

“
Fine,” Max said.  He took the yellow, crumpled paper from Juniper's hands, then pushed up his glasses.  “This is handwritten.  And old.”  He paused, and his brows shot up.  “Lila, you need to come and see this.”

Lila rushed over and Max handed her the paper.  Along the top were the words Last Will and Testament.  At the bottom was the name Phillip Moore.  A rush of excitement pounded in Lila's chest and sent tingles to her fingertips. 

“Can you show us exactly where you found this?” she asked Juniper.  The little girl nodded.

The three of them hurried down the street together.  They waved at Ada and Elmer, who sat on the porch drinking tea.

“I thought you were painting today,” Ada called.  “You'd better get it done quickly.  We're lucky to have a few mild days before the cold sets in for good.”

“
We are,” Lila answered.  “We just wanted to take a look at your truck.”

Ada tipped her head and stood.  “What do you want with that old thing?” 

She and Elmer left their rockers and walked arm-in-arm down the porch stairs.

The truck door creaked as Max tugged it open.  After its exciting last ride, The Beast was even more defiant than before.  Dust motes swam through the warmed air inside.  Max lifted Juniper in.

“Well?” he asked.

She climbed up on the seat backwards, her knees pressing into the vinyl.  Her tiny fingers felt along a vertical seam, then pulled it open.

Max and Lila stared at each other, mouths gaping.

Juniper reached inside the seat and pulled a beaten, bulging envelope out from between the springs.  She grinned, handing it to Max. 

Max held the envelope toward Lila and Ada, waiting for one of them to take it. 

“
You go ahead, dear,”  Ada said, her face pale.

The envelope was brittle, and crackled as Lila opened it.  She froze as her fingers closed around a stack of soft paper, bound with an elastic.  When she pulled out the bills, everyone stared with wide eyes.  Lila handed the stack to Ada, then peered into the envelope.  Behind the piles of bills and what appeared to be a stack of stocks and bonds, was a folded piece of paper.  She pulled it out and unfolded it. 

“This is for you,” she said, handing it to Ada.

Isaac and Ada,

The first time my mind wandered to the past, I wanted to stay.  It was a nice place for the most part.  We were all together in our fine house painted pink just for Elaine.  I knew I'd be back.

Now I'm in the past more often than not.  Before my mind is gone for good, I want to make sure I leave you with the parts of the story you don't know.  The way I grew up, finances weren't spoken of much.  Every man kept his business to himself.  Besides that, I always wanted you to know where my heart was, and what really mattered to me.  But I suppose you were curious when you opened this envelope, and when I think about it, finding my fortune led me to my real fortune, and you ought to know about that.

There was a time many years ago I hope never to return to.  I thought I was a grown man when I joined the service.  But when I was far away from home, witnessing horrible things, I was just a frightened boy.  There was a young man in my outfit named Stuart Hobbs, no doubt you've heard me speak of him.  We became good friends.  He was a boy whose head was always spinning with ideas.  We'd talk about them at night in our cots, to crowd out the fear and the loneliness.  Together, we'd figure out how we could make them work, and dream about how we'd go home and make money for our families.

Only one of us went home.  For awhile, I felt too guilty to think much about our plans.  But as I worked my father's fields, those ideas started drifting back in.  I experimented with some of them.  One of them was a mixture you added to fertilizer, meant to increase crop production, of course.  I tried it out, and was surprised to find it was a success.  So I traveled around selling the stuff.  I made a lot of money, and invested some of it.

But I got feeling bad about Stuart, because he wasn't here to share in the success of our invention.  I wanted to make it right, so I went to his hometown, Auburn, Nebraska.  When his sister Elaine opened the door, I knew how I'd make it up to him.  One way or another, I was going to take care of her, and his mother and father.  Luckily, Phoebe made it easy and married me. 

Eventually we built our dream house and took care of her parents, like Isaac and Phoebe take care of me.  We had many good years together.

What you find in this envelope is not the stuff happiness is made of, but I sure enjoyed watching the happiness it enabled me to bring to others.  I hope it will bring a little more enjoyment to your lives, and the lives of those you love.

Love,

Dad

Ada wiped tears from her eyes.  “I know just where this money should go.” 

“A new car?”  Lila laughed.

“
Well, I won't argue with that, but . . .”  She handed the envelope to Lila.

“
I can't take this,” Lila said, shaking her head.

“
I'd like to see that home completed.  Dad and Mother would have liked that, and Isaac and Phoebe too.  Will you do that for me?”

“
Of course I will.”  Lila took the envelope and wrapped her arms around Ada.  “We're going to be neighbors for a very long time, Aunt Ada.”

“
That's right dear, until they put me six feet under, and even then I expect you to put lilacs on my grave every year when they bloom.  And speaking of that sort of thing,” she leaned over to whisper in Lila's ear, “we're going to have to figure out what to do about that pond behind the house.  I have a feeling if it was a problem before, it will be doubly so now.”

“
We'll figure something out.  But let's not think about that now.”  Lila dropped one arm and turned to walk Ada back to the porch.  “For now, I'd like to share a cup of tea with you and Elmer and Max and Juniper.  And when Lou comes to pick up that truck I'll tell him he can take it over my dead body.  Turns out, I've finally made peace with it.  I think we can turn it into a lovely flower bed.”
Ada's eyes brightened.  “Oh, the gardening club will die of jealousy.”

After bringing out the tea, they sat on the wooden steps, Juniper leaning into Max's right arm, Lila resting her head on his left shoulder.  Lila sighed as she sipped her hot tea, thinking how little she cared about what other girls her age were doing, and imagining many years of front porches and steaming tea and club meetings with miniature cakes.  -And if a hint of Old Spice mingled with cinnamon wafted past her nose, she pretended not to notice.