Aunt Dimity Goes West (31 page)

“I’ll do it,” I said. “I’ll spend the night in the play-

room. It’s not that I doubt you, Dimity—”

I understand, Lori. You’re protecting your sons. It’s what
mothers do. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Nor would I.

“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll let you know if anything

happens.”

If a demon happens, you won’t have to let us know.

I smiled wryly as the two sets of handwriting faded

from the page, then closed the journal and put it on

the bedside table, next to Reginald.

“Do you think I’m being silly, Reg?” I asked my

pink rabbit.

Reginald was understandably noncommittal. The

notion of spending a night on a cold, hard floor when I

had a warm, soft bed at my disposal was already begin-

ning to strike
me
as silly.

“Nevertheless, I can’t afford to take chances where

Will and Rob are concerned, ” I said staunchly, then

bent low to whisper in his ear, “But don’t tell Toby or

Annelise what I’m planning to do, okay? They’ll think

I’ve gone off the deep end.”

Reginald’s black eyes gleamed supportively. I

touched the faded grape juice stain on his snout and

cocked an ear toward the corridor, listening for the

thunder of little feet that would signal the twins’ return

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from Bluebird.When I heard nothing, I left the master

suite and returned to the playroom.

I gazed speculatively at the freestanding tent for a

moment, then grabbed hold of it with both hands and

slid it to one side. I was so afraid that my sons had

spent the past week sleeping on a bloodstained, curse-

ridden, demon-haunted remnant of the Lord Stuart

mining disaster that it took every bit of courage I had

to look at the spot where the tent had been.

It was indistinguishable from every other patch of

floorboard in the playroom. I got down on my knees

and rapped the floor with my knuckles. It sounded re-

assuringly solid. I pushed on the floorboards, stomped

on them, and hopped up and down on them, but they

didn’t emit so much as a squeak. I was beginning to

wish that James Blackwell had left his pickax behind

instead of his lantern when I heard telltale noises com-

ing not from the floor, but from the foyer.

Toby and the twins had returned. I stomped on the

floor one more time, then gave up and went to join

the others in the great room.

Toby had decided that Caroline’s Cafe wasn’t the

only local eatery that deserved our patronage, so we

dined on pizzas from Mile High Pies and peach ice

cream from Sweet Jenny’s Emporium. The ice cream

eliminated any possibility of s’mores at the fire pit,

but I eased the twins’ disappointment by announcing

that they would spend the night in the great room.

Will and Rob were enthralled by the idea of

mounting an expedition to another part of the Aerie

Aunt Dimity Goes West

265

and ran off after dinner to help Toby move the tent

from the playroom to their new camping spot.

Annelise, by contrast, was . . . Annelise. After con-

sidering the vast number of things the boys could break, dismantle, and /or wedge their heads into in the great

room, she elected to sleep on the sofa, where she could

keep a close eye on their nocturnal activities. Since it would be easier to sneak into the playroom after lights-out if I had the family suite all to myself, I put up token resistance, then happily allowed her to have her way.

I pushed furniture aside to make room for the tent,

Toby set it up in the space I’d created, and the twins

furnished it with foam pads, sleeping bags, headlamps,

and fuzzy buffalo. After Annelise had made up the sofa

and I’d popped the boys into their jammies, Toby said

good night and retired to his apartment.

Will and Rob were so tired that it didn’t take long

to get them settled in their tent. I kissed them good

night, thanked Annelise for taking the night shift,

turned out the lights, and went into the foyer, where I

stood listening at the double doors. When the boys’

drowsy whispers died down, I tiptoed to the master

suite, changed into blue jeans and a thick woolen

sweater, gathered up a pillow, a blanket, and my head-

lamp, and carried them to the playroom.

The full moon shining through the tree branches

outside the picture window cast an intricate pattern of

shadows across the room. I felt a twinge of guilt as I

thought of Annelise trying to sleep in the bright moon-

light streaming through the great room’s window wall,

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but after a few moments on the floor, I would have

gladly traded places with her. It didn’t take long for me to realize that it was impossible to sleep comfortably

on a floor while fully dressed, though I doubted that a

pair of silk pajamas would have made any difference.

I was on the verge of retreating to my cozy bed

when a queer sound brought my heart into my throat.

I couldn’t tell whether it was the creak of a door or

the tenor in a demonic chorus, but it seemed to come

from the corridor. I sat up, turned my headlamp on,

and nearly jumped out of my skin when a shadowy fig-

ure loomed over me in the darkness.

“I knew I’d find you here,” said Toby. “Is it time for

me to throw you in the lake?”

Twenty-three

“

W hat are you talking about?” I demanded,

pressing a hand over my galloping heart.

“Keep your voice down or you’ll wake

Annelise,” said Toby.

“What are you talking about?” I whispered.

Toby switched on James Blackwell’s lantern, set it

on the floor, and sat next to it. “You gave me your per-

mission to throw you in the lake if you showed the

slightest sign of being obsessed by the curse.”

I scowled at him. “I’m not obsessed by the curse.”

“Uh-huh,” Toby said disbelievingly. “Amanda’s act

this afternoon had no effect on you whatsoever. You

changed everyone’s sleeping arrangements simply

because you thought it would be fun to sleep in here

instead of in the master suite. I admire your spirit of

adventure.”

“I didn’t change the sleeping arrangements be-

cause of Amanda’s act.” I lied without hesitation. I did not intend to tell Toby, of all people, that I was on the lookout for a lurking demon. “If you must know, Will

and Rob used some pretty ripe language at the ranch

yesterday.”

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“I know,” said Toby. “While we were waiting for the

pizza they reviewed all the words they mustn’t say.”

“Audibly?” I said, wincing.

Toby grinned. “Don’t worry, I shushed them before

they got too far down the list.”

“How long was the list?” I asked, horrified.

“Not very long,” said Toby. “But what does their

cursing have to do with the curse?”

“Nothing,” I said. “I’m not here because of the

curse. I’m here because Will and Rob heard those

smutty words while they were sleeping in the tent.

I’m convinced that they’re telling the truth, so I want

to find out what’s going on and put a stop to it.”

“Okay,” Toby said, drawing the word out to twice its

normal length. “You want to find out how the twins

learned to swear in the middle of the night while they

were all by themselves. Shouldn’t you be searching for a hidden tape recorder left behind by the Auerbach boys?”

“Gosh,” I said, brightening. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“You don’t have a very high opinion of the Auer-

bach boys,” Toby said dryly.

“I’ve never met the Auerbach boys,” I said. “For all

I know they could be potty-mouthed pranksters.They

could have rigged a tape recorder to come on when

the clock strikes midnight. The twins wouldn’t know

it was weird.They’d think it was just another fantastic

feature of the Aerie.”

Toby stared at me wordlessly for a few moments,

then got to his feet and picked up the lantern.

Aunt Dimity Goes West

269

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“To get a couple of lawn chairs,” he replied. “It’s

only ten o’clock. If we’re going to be here past mid-

night, we might as well be comfortable.”

“You don’t have to stay,” I said, though I hoped he

would, not only because I enjoyed his company, but

because I’d be less tempted to abandon my vigil if he

shared it with me.

Fortunately,Toby had already made up his mind to

keep me company.

“If you think I’m going to miss the Auerbach boys’

nightly tutorial on swearing,” he said, “then you’re not the model of mental stability I thought you were.” He

chuckled softly to himself as he left the room.

He returned a short time later with two folding

chaise longues, which he set up side by side on the

spot where the tent had stood. I offered him half of my

blanket as we stretched out on the chaise longues, but

he refused, so I covered myself with it and leaned back

with a contented sigh.The chair was a great improve-

ment over the floor.

We doused the lights to save the batteries and en-

dured five grueling minutes of utter silence before

one of us couldn’t stand it anymore. Much to my sur-

prise, it wasn’t me.

“You know,” Toby said softly. “It’s possible that Will

and Rob could have heard a
live
voice in their tent.”

“Whose?” I asked. “The smut fairy’s?”

“No,” said Toby. “A real, live human being’s.”

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Nancy Atherton

I snorted derisively. “Are you suggesting that some

pervert crept into the Aerie in the dead of night in or-

der to teach my sons how to swear?”

“He wouldn’t have to enter the Aerie,” said Toby.

“Did I ever tell you about the mine shaft underneath

the Aerie?”

“There’s a
mine shaft
underneath the Aerie?” I said, sitting bolt upright.

“I’ve been trying to picture it in my mind,” Toby

murmured. “It’s a horizontal shaft, and I’m pretty sure

it runs beneath the family suite.”

“We’ve been
sleeping
over a
mine shaft
?” I said, thun-derstruck.

“Relax, Lori,” said Toby. “It’s a small shaft and it’s

been underpinned, so it’s perfectly stable.”

“How do you know so much about it?” I asked.

“I’ve been in it,” he replied.

I switched on my headlamp, swung my legs to the

floor, and sat sideways on the chaise longue. “I thought your grandfather ordered you not to go into the

mines.”

“He did,” said Toby, “but I went into them anyway.”

“Toby,”
I said, scandalized.

“What else was I supposed to do?” said Toby. “I was

already the city kid, the kid from back east.You think

I wanted to be the goody-goody as well? Forget it. By

the time I was thirteen, I’d explored every abandoned

mine on this side of the valley.” He glanced heaven-

ward. “Sorry, Granddad, but a kid’s gotta do what a

kid’s gotta do.”

Aunt Dimity Goes West

271

“It’s a miracle you lived long enough to go to col-

lege,” I said, shaking my head.

“Anyway,” he went on, “if someone was in the

shaft, the boys could have heard a voice coming up

through the floor.”

“But how would anyone get into the shaft?” I asked.

“I’ve seen the Lord Stuart’s main entrance, and it’s

blocked good and proper.”

Toby tilted his head to one side. “I can think of at

least three other ways, if they haven’t caved in.”

“But—” I broke off suddenly and stared at the

floorboards between our chairs. “Did you hear that?”

Toby nodded, swung his legs over the side of his

chair, and seemed to hold his breath as he, too, stared

at the floor.

A faint thumping noise sounded beneath our feet,

followed by a few indistinct words uttered by a muf-

fled voice.

“Somebody’s down there,” I whispered.

“I don’t think it’s the smut fairy,” Toby whispered

back. “I’ll bet you anything it’s one of the crazies from Amanda’s commune.”

“Why would . . . ?” My voice trailed off as the an-

swer to my question exploded in my head. It didn’t

take a huge amount of brain power to figure out ex-

actly why someone from the commune would prowl

beneath the Aerie, frightening Tammy Auerbach and

unwittingly entertaining my fearless sons.

“That conniving
cow,
” I whispered furiously. “She’s been sending her acolytes into the mine shaft to make

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spooky noises so we’d buy into her story about the

curse. She’s been
manufacturing
the curse.”

Toby’s jaw set in a grim line. “They’re trespassing

on private property. I’d love to catch them at it.”

“Me, too,” I said fervently.

He raised an eyebrow. “Well, then?”

“Well, then, what?” I said.

“Let’s go.” He pointed at the floor. “Let’s go down

there and get them.”

“Are you out of your
mind
?” I squeaked. “No, no, no, and absolutely not-in-a-million-years
no.
”

“Fine,” Toby shrugged. “I just thought you might

want to get back at Amanda for teaching your sons to