Mysteries of Holt House - A Mystery (21 page)

“We’ll still have weekends together. When
the snow sets in you’ll see more of me than you want to. The work really falls
off during the winter months. That’s when we start doing more interior work,
like remodeling kitchens.”

“Hmm. I’ll put out some cold cereal or
something so you won’t have to go without breakfast in the morning.”

“Thanks. Give me a goodnight kiss?”

I did so willingly. Mike climbed the
stairs while I walked off to find Jem. He was sitting outside the back door,
waiting patiently.

“Hey, little guy. You know this is your
home now, don’t you?” He wagged his tail and licked me when I picked him up,
and nibbled on my fingers while I walked to my room.

“Ouch! You’ve got sharp little teeth. I’m
going to have to find something for you to chew on besides me.” I’d have to get
him some chew toys as soon as possible.

Picking up a mystery, I read while Jem
made mincemeat out of an old shoe I gave him. He soon tired and fell asleep. I
found a blanket for him to sleep on and laid it in the corner. He woke up when
I moved him, wanting to play some more. I took a sock out of my drawer and tied
a knot in it, and he played tug-of-war with me. It was eleven-thirty by the time
he wore out again. I put him in the corner and after turning in a circle three
times, he curled up in a ball and immediately fell asleep. I’d heard somewhere
that dogs turn in a circle to make sure there are no predators nearby.

I climbed into bed and also curled up into
a ball, and slept.

Around two o’clock I woke to find Jem
staring at the wall behind the bed. He was growling and his hackles were up. In
the morning I didn’t know if I’d really awakened or if it had been a dream. I
didn’t recall hearing noises, but I’d been awfully tired.

Whether it was a dream or not, it still
spooked me. Once again, I should have been paying more attention to what was
going on around me, but nothing else happened for a while. It lulled me into a
false sense of security.

Chapter
Twenty-six

Summer ended abruptly. It was hot one day
and chilly the next. That was typical Northern Nevada weather. By the end of
September it felt more like the end of October. It was the coldest autumn I could
remember, but at least it hadn’t snowed – yet.

Mike’s job was moving along slowly but
steadily. I didn’t see much of him, but we made the most out of our weekends.

Marion caught a cold as the weather
changed, and Josh took her to see her doctor when her cough refused to go away.
At her age it was rough on her.

“I’m not going to lie around in bed, and
that’s all there is to it. I need to be up and around people.”

“Okay, Marion, but I’m going to wait on
you whether you like it or not,” I said. “If you need anything all you have to
do is let me know. Lucy made some chicken soup. If you’ll go into the dining
room I’ll bring you some. Do you want crackers with the soup?”

“No.” She was a little cranky, but I would
have been, too. We were all relieved when she was back to her old self and once
again doing her exercises.

David, Sharon and I kept an eye on Richard
English. He remained his usual obnoxious self, but none of us saw him do
anything out of the ordinary, or at least anything that would be out of the ordinary
for him. The only thing that even came close to arousing my suspicion was when
Richard stopped me in the dining room one night.

“Someday, baby,” he said, suggestively.
“Someday. I’ll find a secret place to – ”

“Knock it off, Richard. You keep it up and
you’re going to have to find a secret place to live, because you won’t be
living here.”

“A secret place with a spunky broad. Hmm.”
He walked away laughing, but he didn’t bother me again. I remembered him making
a secret place remark some time back, and I didn’t like his second reference to
a secret place. I shook my head, wondering why I hadn’t asked him to leave long
before the cold weather set in.

J.T. seemed to like the change in the
weather. He joked about the cooler air being easier on a man with his large,
yet boyish, figure. I noticed he began eating more, and he put on a few pounds.

 “If I’m happy the way I am then
nothing else matters. It’s a waste of time for anyone to concern themselves
about my weight. Besides, I’d rather have my big appetite than Richard’s big
mouth. Please pass the potatoes.” Typical J.T.

Richard gave him a look but didn’t
respond.

Marjorie Banks worked out quite well. She
was friendly, although still somewhat reserved, and she got along with almost
everyone – although she avoided Richard. When Marion became ill, Marjorie
provided her with samples of her medication to save her some money. She said
that as a pharmaceutical salesperson she always had free samples, and she
happened to have what the doctor had prescribed for Marion.

Ted changed to warmer clothing, still
always looking like he just stepped out of the shower, with never a hair out of
place. The one time I saw him let his hair down was with Jem. He didn’t know I
was watching out the window or I doubt if he’d have relaxed with the dog. He’d
pulled his car into the driveway, but instead of coming in the front door he
walked around to the back. I looked out the window and saw him pull a tennis
ball out of his pocket.

“Come here, doggie. I brought you a toy.”
He held it out to Jem, who wasn’t too sure about Ted because for the most part
he hadn’t gone near the dog. When Jem finally took the ball Ted patted the
puppy on the head. I was mildly surprised at the affection he showed toward the
dog.

Jem had grown quite a bit in the short
time I had him. He slept in my room at night. Mike just shook his head about
it. I laughed at Jem when he really got excited, because his whole body shook
when he wagged his tail, and his tail went round in a circle instead of back
and forth. Every time I looked into those eyes of his, those pools of gold, my
heart melted. I never received a response to the “Found Dog” ad I’d placed in
the newspaper. I figured I’d done my duty and Jem was mine.

Things were quiet around Holt House. Even
my nightmares ended with the onslaught of the cold weather.

The first snow had fallen in
mid-September. Jem loved it. Lucy had become very fond of him, against her
better judgment.

We had more snow before the end of the
month.

“I guess I’d better put snow tires on my
car,” J.T. said, turning to Marjorie. “I’ll put yours on for you, too, if you
want me to.”

“Thanks. I’d appreciate that. Living in
the country is one thing, but being
stuck
out here is quite another
matter. Maybe I’d better think about buying some tire chains, too.”

“You might want to think about putting put
extra clothes and a blanket in the trunk of your car,” I said. “If it ever
broke down on one of the lonely roads between town and Holt House, you’ll be
glad you have them.”

Time flew by rapidly. The leaves turned to
brick reds, oranges, yellows and crimsons, and in the blink of an eye they
turned brown and began falling off the trees. The wind blew and the leaves
floated through the air like small airplanes, making soft landings. The grass
turned brown and prickly, and the air grew colder by the day. When I looked
toward the sky I saw solid fronts of clouds – not wispy, but dark and
foreboding – and then the wind would help push them on to darken someone else’s
day. We’d have a few days of blue skies, but then the clouds would overtake us
again.

October passed and November arrived and we
all turned our thoughts to Christmas. It wasn’t far off and there was so much
to do. I talked to the boarders to see who would be staying with us for the
holiday. Marion was going to visit a daughter and son-in-law in California,
Marjorie would be returning to New York for a few days, and J.T. said he was
going to visit a sister in Colorado. The remaining boarders were agreeable to
having our own celebration. They really didn’t have anywhere else to go.

Richard would be staying, but he didn’t
seem to care too much about what we did for Christmas. It was just another day
to him.

Ted was, as usual, standoffish, but he
agreed to the celebration. He was such a loner. Maybe this group activity would
give him a new perspective.

“Josh is thrilled with the idea,” Lucy
said, one morning while we prepared breakfast. “He told me he spent the last
several years working on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day because he’d rather
work than spend the days alone.”

Although we hadn’t even had Thanksgiving
yet, Lucy, Sharon and I began our Christmas shopping.  Lucy had been
humming
Beautiful Dreamer
to herself ever since she and Josh had gotten
together, so when Sharon and I found a musical figurine which played the same
tune, we knew it would be a winner. The figurine was a young woman sitting in a
swing, and as the tune played the girl swung back and forth.

The next names on our list were Mike’s and
David’s.

“Men are so hard to buy for,” Sharon said.

I nodded. “It seems like if they want
something, they just go out and buy it. That doesn’t leave much for us to do.”

Sharon finally decided on a chambray shirt
and a watch for David.

Being practical, I bought a couple of
drawing tools for Mike. My practicality sailed right out the window when I
spotted a coin shop near the mall. I knew Mike collected coins, so I couldn’t
pass by the place without stopping in. I bought him a small silver bar with a
Christmas scene and the year etched on it.

Returning to town on a different day, I
searched for Sharon’s gift. I also wanted to buy something for David and each
of the boarders. Sharon wasn’t hard to buy for because she loved jewelry. After
looking in several stores, I found a gold chain that had five tiny pearls set
in the middle. It was very delicate and feminine, perfect for Sharon.

Having trouble picking out David’s gift, I
finally decided on a wooden tray for his dresser. It would hold his change,
wallet and watch.

That left only the boarders’ gifts. They
were the hardest to buy for since there were so many things I didn’t know about
them, but I tried to pick out things I thought they’d like. J.T. would receive a
tin box of imported Swedish cookies, Marjorie a scarf, Marion would get a
lavender shawl, and Josh would be receiving a small seascape for his room. As a
former Californian, he’d said he missed the ocean. Richard and Ted were even
harder to buy for. Books seemed to be the best idea. I bought Richard a book
about sports and Ted a book about famous paintings. I had a feeling that with
his precise ways, he might appreciate the artists.

I loved going into town during the holiday
season. All the stores had been decorated by November, and they were playing
Christmas music. The city had put up decorations running the length of the main
street.

I talked Mike, Sharon and David into going
to the Christmas Parade with me. We took a large thermos of hot chocolate with
us, and blankets to sit on. We were sitting on the curb when it began to
lightly snow, and Mike reached over and pulled the hood of my jacket over my
hair. He gave me a quick hug and turned back to the parade, leaving his arm
around me.

“Here comes Santa Clause,” Sharon said.
After looking up at the sky and noticing darker storm clouds, she added, “And
none too soon, either. The weather is about to get worse.”

David patted her head. “She doesn’t deal
with adversity very well.”

Santa waved and passed out candy canes to
the children, ho-ho-hoing all the way down the street. After he passed we
gathered our belongings and hurried to the car. The snow was coming down
heavier.

We were still wound up when we arrived home,
so we made popcorn. Josh, J.T. and Lucy joined us. Around midnight things
quieted down and we each went to our rooms. After I brought Jem inside and he’d
settled in for the night, I took off my make-up and put on my nightgown.

As I turned to place my watch on the
dresser, I saw a piece of paper, neatly folded, with my name on it. I picked it
up, thinking it was probably some kind of a reminder from Lucy. What a short
memory I had. My mouth dropped open as I unfolded it and read:

“
I know you’ve always been fond of
quotations, so here’s one

to go to sleep on.

‘Innocence is no protection.’

Thomas Fuller

Gnomologia No. 3100”

Now what on earth did
that
mean? I
didn’t know what to make of it, and I certainly didn’t like the thought of
someone sneaking into my room to leave another note. It had been so long since
Ruth’s fall and the other notes that I’d convinced myself whatever was going on
was over. It wasn’t.

“This is ridiculous,” I said, to myself.
“I wish I knew what it’s all about.”

Jem opened one golden eye to peer up at
me, obviously wondering who I was talking to, before going back to sleep.

Another thing was that I’d never cared one
way or another about quotations, which made the note even more curious. This
time it had been typed, so I couldn’t even guess who it had come from.
Obviously someone thought this was funny, but just as obviously they didn’t
want me to recognize the handwriting.