Purling Road - the Complete Second Season: Episodes 1-10 (4 page)

“Caleb’s fine, I suppose. Extremely put out that I don’t want to live in Circe de la hell anymore.” She folded her arms. Her fingers itched for a cigarette.

“Oh, I’m… sorry.” What does one say to someone who looked very close to their breaking point while revealing troubles on the home front?

“David helped me convince him to build a small house on the other side of the barn. We’re going to move her there,” she said flatly, her eyes wandering around Ava’s clean house. Arianna was envious. Her house was no pigsty, but she found it difficult to keep after it properly under the circumstances.

“Oh, maybe Aryl and I can help with that?” Jonathan offered. He sat down, hoping she would, too. She looked like a cat ready to pounce. Instead, she started pacing.

Ava hurried downstairs, her low heels clicking on each step. She smiled, somewhat shy when Jonathan saw her. She never had an occasion to get dressed up like this anymore, and the sight in the mirror took her by surprise. It apparently had the same effect on him.

Jonathan wasn’t entirely comfortable with Ava heading out into the night in a white dress that accentuated her hips, even if it was sleeved and high cut. He could see it was fun for her to get dolled up and knew she needed to take the time for herself and be with her friends. He restrained the protective husband in him that wanted to throw a large wool coat around her shoulders and tie the waistband tight. Yes, men would look at her. That didn’t mean she’d look back. Men might even try to talk to her and that sent Jonathan’s blood pressure too high to think about it. He’d just leave it at they might look.

“Where are you girls going tonight?” he asked.

“Why must men be so concerned about the
details
?” Arianna asked with a little too much enthusiasm for a sane person. “We are three beautiful ladies, desperate for some time away. We’ll go wherever the night takes us.”

“Well, if you go to Boston to see a show, be careful. Don’t pick up anyone needing a lift along the way.”

“We won’t,” Ava said, kissed him and they were off.

Claire was waiting not only outside, but by the road. Arianna hardly had to stop Caleb’s truck and she was pushing Ava to the center and slamming the door.

“And to think you weren’t keen on this idea at first,” Arianna said with a smirk as she started driving.

“Well, I’m keen on it now. I just hope Aryl will be all right with Jac tonight.”

Arianna let the truck swerve into the other lane as she struck a match and lit a cigarette. “He’ll figure it out,” she said and held the case out to them.

“You’re right,” Claire said, plucking a cigarette. “He’ll figure it out.”

***

They turned onto an unpaved road. There was no moonlight. It was narrow, with not enough room for another car to pass, much less turn around.

“I imagined it to be closer to town,” Claire said, eying the dark treed wilderness outside the window.

“Well, if you’re going to run a hooch house, you don't want to be neighbors with the sheriff. It’s better to be out here in the middle of nowhere.”

Claire let out a sharp, sudden scream, and Arianna slammed on the brakes as two men stepped out into the road before the truck.

Ava squeezed her eyes shut.

“Go! Go! Go! Arianna!”

“Go where? Run them over? They’re just checking to make sure we’re not the police. Calm down, both of you.” She rolled her eyes at her friends and then rolled her window down.

The burly man, who would have been attractive without the old scars of acne in his youth and presumably a knife scar on his cheek, looked at each woman in turn. The corner of his mouth hitched.

“You ladies looking for anything in particular out here on this dark and lonely road?”

“A drink,” Arianna said. “Preferably…” Her eyes flickered to his bicep. “A strong one. We heard this was the best place for miles.”

He nodded, stood back, and craned his neck to see into the small bed of the truck. Then he swept out a hand. “Have a good time, ladies.”

Arianna began driving again and Ava and Claire both let out the breath they were holding. Arianna laughed at them.

As they pulled up, the house wasn’t much to look at on the outside. It was a massive home, old, and built in the colonial style of days long gone. With peeling paint and weeds overtaking the foundation, neglected was a compliment.

“I heard this house was built in the 1700s,” Arianna said. “No one will live here because it’s supposed to be haunted.” She grinned viciously.

“Why are all the windows boarded up?” Claire asked. Streaks of light came through an occasional crack.

“To keep the light and noise inside, I assume. If I were running this place, I wouldn’t want to draw any unneeded attention.”

There were large dirt lots on either side of the decaying mansion. They were full up with parked vehicles.

“Looks like we chose a good night to come,” Arianna said with excitement.

They stepped inside, and the fast beat of jazz music filled their ears. Whatever Ava was expecting, it wasn’t this. It was a large room, much bigger than even a grand foyer. Big enough to hold fifty people. There were men and women, nicely dressed, she noted, everywhere. They chatted loudly over the music coming from the next room, laughed and drank. This place, the inside anyway, was actually nice. While the outside had been ignored, a great effort had gone into the club itself. Velvet drapes hid the sight of ugly, rough-cut lumber, floral arrangements and lounging chairs placed all about. Ava spotted two girls dressed in short skirts and revealing white blouses running to and fro with trays. The servers, she assumed. There was a mix of electric and candle light. Off to the side, a wide staircase led to the upper floor with a few people heading upstairs and down, as well as some who simply sat talking.

The music came from the left, the raucous laughter from the right.

Arianna grabbed both their hands and pulled them toward the laughter.

Tables dotted the large room, a grand parlor in the house’s prime. A long, mahogany bar stretched across the back with glass shelves behind, displaying dozens and dozens of bottles of alcohol.

“This is unbelievable!” Arianna cried. “This was here all this time and we never knew! We’ve been sitting and rotting at home, and we could have been having fun!” She threw her arms out.

“I have to admit, I was picturing a broken down shack with two rickety tables and a few drunks passed out in the corner,” Claire said.

“And yet you were still willing to come,” Arianna said soberly, shaking her head. “See what we’ve been reduced to? See how boring and stressful our lives have become that you’d be willing to settle for that?” Her face lit up. “I’ll go get drinks. You two find a table.”

She sauntered off.

“Is it just me, or…”

“It’s not just you,” Ava said. “She’s in rare form tonight.”

“It’s rare now. Remember when she was like this all the time?”

Ava wrinkled her nose. “I like her better now.”

“I do, too.” She watched Arianna leave the bar, throwing a flirty look over her shoulder at the bartender as she went. “I do hope we’ve not recreated a monster by agreeing to come here.”

Arianna plunked down three glasses and pulled a bottle of bourbon from under her arm.

“You bought the whole bottle?”

“Well, yes.” Arianna sat down and threw one leg over the other. “I didn’t see any sense in running back and forth to the bar.” She made a point to get Ava’s attention. “You did say I could drink as much as I wanted.”

“Yes, but…I was just saying that.” She laughed. “You drove here, so I thought…”

Arianna shrugged as she poured. “One of you two can drive if you want.”

“Um, next question,” Ava said, leaning forward. “How did you afford to buy a whole bottle? I don’t think Claire and I have that much between us.”

Arianna giggled, drank, and giggled again. “I skimmed some out of Caleb’s savings.”

Their eyes went wide.

“Oh, stop it. He’ll never know it’s gone.” She poured another drink. “Come on, you two. Hurry and get a drink down. I want to go listen to the music.”

“We’ll sip on the way,” Claire said as she stood. Arianna led the way out of the bar area and across the grand parlor. She walked with a glass in one hand, the neck of the bottle in the other, hips on full pivot, head held high, knowing she was catching men’s eyes left and right.

As they approached, the music got louder, the lights brighter. The magnificent double doors were propped open, and in this room, the party was in full swing. The band was loud and fast, the dancers wild and carefree. The room was as busy as an anthill; it vibrated with energy and excitement.

Arianna stopped. The scene seemed to have taken her breath away.

She lowered her head. Her eyes narrowed, and her lips pulled into a slow smile.

“I’m back.”

Episode Two

Rebels Rising

Muzzy was nervous to type the words. Her decision to write an article at Maura’s suggestion explaining she was the owner of the Rockport Review was the most difficult one to make. But Maura was right. She had to take ownership—publicly—of this paper if it was ever going to be truly hers. It was time to stop dancing around the questions and just be out with it. Was it rare for a woman to own a business? Sure. But it wasn’t unheard of. Her kind was few in number, but they were out there.

She might lose some subscriptions and she was prepared for that. She happened to think she might gain a few as well, from other strong, independent women in the community. Or at least she hoped.

***

“Did you girls have fun last night?”

Ava took a slow sip of coffee. She had a mild headache, but nothing she couldn’t fake her way through. “We did,” she said, smiling. “Very relaxing.”

“Where did you go?”

Ava froze, unsure of what to say. The truth was out of the question. Jonathan reached for the newspaper and accidentally knocked his coffee over. The sudden movement and how everyone at the table jumped scared Amy and she started to whimper.

“Oh, let me get a towel,” Ava said, jumping up.

“It’s all right, Amy. Daddy just made a mess,” Jonathan said.

“Silly Dadee,” Jean said, leaning over toward his sister. She never broke out into a full sob, and by the time Ava returned, she was giggling at the funny faces Jonathan was making.

“Help me get the tablecloth off before the stain sets,” Ava said. She breathed a sigh of relief at the distraction.

“Do you have any plans today?” she asked, hoping once the subject was off the girl’s night out, he would stay off of it.

“I said I’d help Caleb get started on that house for his mother.”

“You’re going to build a house?” Jean asked, both amazed and impressed.

“Well, what hopefully will pass for a house,” he said with a laugh. He was confident in Caleb’s building talents. His own, not so much.

“Can I come?”

“I’m sure Caleb would appreciate every helping hand.”

“Why don’t we all go over?” Ava asked. “It’s been a few days since I tended to the garden plot.”

“You spent the whole evening with Arianna. You aren’t sick of her?”

“No,” Ava said, laughing off his comment. “I’ll go gather some things for Amy.” She ducked out quickly, hoping to avoid the dreaded question of where they were last night.

In the hall, she stopped, closed her eyes, and leaned her head on the wall.

“That was such a bad idea,” she groaned, wishing she could rewind time.

***

“If I tell you something, do you promise to keep it a secret?”

“Of course,” Aryl said. He sat on the edge of the bed.

“I need your word that you won’t say anything to Jon or Caleb,” Claire said, wringing her hands, pacing.

“I said I would.”

She clamped her lips, giving herself one more moment to decide whether or not to back out.

“And I need you to promise me something else.”

He waited.

“Promise you won’t be angry at me.”

He rocked back, grinning. “What on earth did you girls do last night?”

She was glad he appeared lighthearted but didn’t have much faith he’d stay that way.

“A secret? You swear?”

“I swear.” He went to her and held her shoulders. “Why do you look so scared?”

She lifted her eyes. “We went to a club about ten miles from here.”

The grin slid from his face.

“It’s not…what you’re thinking. It’s a legitimate club, not a…broken down shack or something.”

“Legitimate?” he asked, eyebrows hitched. “How can something illegal be legitimate?”

She frowned. “You said you wouldn’t be angry.”

“I’m not angry, I’m concerned. Places like that aren’t safe for women alone.”

“If you’d seen it—”

“I probably have,” he said, interrupting her.

She stiffened. “This place was different. Walking in, it was almost like walking back into our old life.”

Aryl’s eyebrow cocked. “Then maybe I haven’t seen it.”

“There was drinking and dancing and beautiful clothes…” Her eyes went to some far off place, remembering.

“Is that good or bad you got to experience that again?” he asked cautiously.

“I don’t know,” she said with a sigh, fingering the hem of the dress she planned wearing that day.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked. He’d waited for this, for her to need something, a chance to prove he was capable of being there for her when she needed him.

“Not about that. It’s about Arianna.”

“I’m sure she was right at home,” Aryl said and laughed. Claire didn’t.

“She went wild.” No sense in beating around the bush.

Aryl tried to gauge how serious she was. He didn’t like the pained look on her face.

“She scared me, Aryl.”

He sat on the bed and gestured for her to join him.

“Tell me what happened.” 

***

Arianna moved through the crowd hoping for an open table. She poured and drank another drink as she walked. Ava and Claire pushed through the crowd, struggling to keep up with her.

She found a small table near the band and claimed it.

“Isn’t this fun!” she yelled over the band.

“What?” Ava yelled back. It was so loud her ears hurt. Claire leaned across the table. “Let’s go back to the bar!”

“Why!? This is where the party is!” Arianna laughed and refilled everyone’s glass.

“You should slow down!” Ava yelled as Arianna polished off the drink with a hard tilt.

“Oh, no. I’m making up for lost time!”

Ava leaned close, but still needed to raise her voice to be heard. “We know where this place is now. We can come back. You don’t have to cram everything into one night.”

Arianna’s look answered, her smile devilish, her eyes sparkling.

“We should dance!”

Ava looked out at the sea of people. Everyone was having a good time, and she found herself in that familiar place, watching others having the time of their lives while she sat on the sidelines, nervous and shy. She swallowed hard. That wasn’t who she was now. She wasn’t scared and mousy anymore. She was starting to find her place in the world and that place wasn’t nearly as frightening as she’d once thought. She was allowed to have fun. She grabbed both her friend’s hands.

“All right then. Let’s dance.”

Claire tried to relax even as something nagged. She tried to be a good friend and pushed the worry aside to enjoy the evening with her friends.

An hour went by and they hardly noticed. Out of breath and grinning, they went to find their table again. Arianna’s eyes blazed. “Someone drank our bourbon!” she said, holding up the bottle that was nearly empty.

“That someone was you, Arianna. You ran back to the table a half dozen times, remember?”

She frowned. “I’ll just go get some more.”

“No, I think we’ve all had quite enough,” Claire said. She had stopped after two drinks, seeing that Arianna would need someone to look after her. Ava stopped after four, and not having any sort of tolerance, that was plenty.

Arianna scoffed and tossed the bottle aside. It crashed on the ground. She giggled as she turned.

“I’m going with her,” Claire told Ava.

The band was taking a break, sitting at the back of the stage, wiping sweat from their necks and foreheads, drinking copious amounts of water. The ballroom was abuzz with a more subdued chatter, the collective catching their breath.

When they returned from the bar, Arianna was wearing a new accessory. He was very tall, standing several inches over her. Mysterious eyes were ringed with lashes so thick they bordered feminine. His smile was relaxed as he brushed a lock of dark hair from his forehead. That hair looked like it might have been styled well at the start of the night but had mostly fallen out of place. Arianna came strutting back to the table, a new friend on her arm with Claire behind her. The look on Claire’s face as she sat down said it all. She and Ava locked eyes. This evening had officially gotten out of control.

“Girls, this is Josh. He works in Boston.”

They struggled to smile and didn’t bother to introduce themselves. Neither did Arianna.

She opened her newly purchased bottle and began pouring all around. Claire put her hand over her glass. “I think we should head home soon.”

Arianna’s eyes became fierce. “We only just got here.”

“It’s been a few hours and it’s getting late,” Claire countered.

Arianna acted as if she didn’t hear her and stared coldly as she downed another drink.

After several silent, tense moments that didn't seem to affect Josh’s good time in the least, the band started back up.

“That’s my cue!” Arianna said and threw her chair back. Her new friend followed, taking her hand and off they went.

Claire leaned over. “We have to get her out of here.”

“But how? There’s music, endless alcohol, and…” she looked in Josh’s direction, “a new toy.”

Claire’s eyes found them on the dance floor and she cringed. “This was a bad idea. Can you imagine if Caleb could see her right now?”

“He’d go crazy. One of us should play sick. That can be our excuse to leave.”

“You think she’ll care? In her head, it was five years ago, and this is all that matters. Not us, not Caleb, not responsibility. The party is all that matters.”

Only this was worse, Ava said to herself. Because Caleb wasn’t here to temper her self-destruction.

Claire tried to keep a close eye on her, and the more they danced, the more she groaned. She covered her eyes with her hand. “Look where he has his hands.”

A half hour later, they, as well as everyone else in the room, were watching the show Arianna was putting on.

“She was never happy until every eye was on her,” Claire said, sitting back with a huff. She was genuinely tired now and desperately wanted to go home and end this nightmare of an evening.

The crowd burst into applause—at the band or Arianna, they weren’t sure, and they prepared what they would say to convince her to leave. They waited. And waited. And waited five minutes more. Desperate eyes searched the crowd.

“She’s not out there anymore,” Claire said.

“Well, where did she go?” The second bottle of bourbon was still half-full. “I don’t know, but we need to find her.”

They searched the ballroom, squinting between throngs of people, checked the grand foyer and, just to be safe, the bar.

Claire held her hands up. “She just disappeared!”

“Let’s try the ballroom again,” Ava said.

Their heads were on a swivel, dipping and stretching to see through the crowd.

“There!” Ava pointed. “She just walked out!” They pushed their way to the door, and once they got to the grand parlor, there was no sign of her.

“I can’t believe this. We’re supposed to be relaxing and having a good time.”

“Unfortunately, this is Arianna’s idea of a good time.”

They were both panicked. Before, they’d always had the men there with them helping to keep Arianna in check. Caleb knew especially well how to deal with her when things got too out of hand. And neither wanted the night to end in disaster or they’d ruin their chances of getting away alone again.

“If we were Arianna, where would we go?”

Claire turned to look back into the ballroom. No—no one joining the band or dancing on tabletops. They raced over to the bar. It was subdued there, no wild women running to and fro.

Back in the parlor, they discussed splitting up to look for her but decided against it. Being alone was the last thing they wanted.

“What if he took her up to one of the rooms?”

“She wouldn’t!” Claire said. “As crazy as Arianna goes, I don’t know that she’s ever gone that far.”

“So far as you know,” Ava said with her eyebrows raised in question.

“Let’s check the bathrooms, and if she’s not there, we’ll go look upstairs.”

A man who looked in his late thirties with stylish blond hair sidled up between them, draping an arm over each of their shoulders.

“Hello, ladies. How are we this evening?”

Claire spun around with a ferocious look, and he backed off, hands up.

She wasn’t in the bathrooms. Ava was beginning to become truly frightened. “What if they went outside?”

“It’s pitch black out there. We’d never find her.”

“I heard about a woman who disappeared from a place like this. They found her dead in the woods.”