The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor (21 page)

I
t was Brad. He lay on the floor, eyes closed, his leg bleeding profusely where an alligator had bitten him. I gasped.

“I know. It looks pretty bad,” Heath said grimly.

“That's not what I mean,” I told him. “That's Brad!”

“Brad? Your ex-husband? What's he doing here?”

“I have no idea. I thought he was in Chicago!”

Brad's eyes fluttered open, then closed again. I stared at him in astonishment then remembered the dispatcher on the phone.

“There's a man here who's been bitten by an alligator!” I told her.

She briskly gave me a list of supplies we would need to give Brad first aid and then waited as we found everything we needed in the emergency kit. Then she walked me through the process of administering first aid to keep Brad stable until the paramedics could get to the house.

We dragged an air mattress into the dining room and placed a heavy sleeping bag on top. Heath and Graydon carefully lifted Brad onto the mattress and he lay there, motionless, as I bandaged his leg, his arm, and his head. There was nothing else we could do but wait for an ambulance to arrive. My thoughts turned to Lucy. I didn't want her to know her father was in the house, and I certainly didn't want her to see him in his condition. I called Evie over.

“Can you keep Lucy occupied in the drawing room and upstairs until the EMTs can get here and take Brad away?”

She nodded. “No problem.”

Graydon and Heath had been drying off and getting warm drinks. They both came to stand near me, as did Vivian and Ruby.

“I wonder why he's here,” Graydon mused.

I shook my head. “I have no idea. I thought he was in Chicago.”

“What do you suppose he wanted?” asked Vivian.

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

Heath decided to spend the rest of the night at the manor. He sat with me in the dining room where Brad was curled in a fetal position on top of the sleeping bag. Though it was nearly impossible, I must have dozed out of sheer exhaustion, because I awoke to a strange silence in the house. Mercifully, no tornado had come.

Vivian was opening the door to the EMTs and police. I could see daylight outside. Heath and I stood up quietly and tiptoed to the front door. I showed them where Brad was still lying—either asleep or unconscious, I didn't know—on the dining room floor.

They quickly took charge of the situation. The police pulled Heath and Graydon and me to the side while the EMTs got to work on Brad's leg. I heard one paramedic utter the terse phrase “in shock.” I peeked into the hallway just in time to see Evie leading a still-sleepy Lucy upstairs. Thankfully she seemed to be completely unaware of the drama in the dining room.

Heath and Graydon and the police were looking at me. I had missed a question from the police officer.

“I'm sorry. What?”

“Do you know that man?” the officer repeated.

“He's my ex-husband.”

“Where does he live?”

“Chicago.”

“What was he doing here?”

“I have no idea. I didn't know he was in South Carolina.”

“Would he have any reason to be here that you know of?”

I shook my head. “Not unless he was here to check up on our daughter. She's here with me while I'm working on restoring this home. But she talks to him every night on the phone and he never said anything about being in the area.”

The officer was writing in a small notepad and turned when one of the paramedics walked up to him.

“We're taking him in,” the medic said. “You coming?”

“Yes,” the officer answered. He turned to the rest of us. “I'll be back once the other side of this storm moves through.” Then he followed the paramedics steering Brad on a stretcher around to the front of Peppernell Manor.

Heath and Graydon were staring at me; Vivian and Ruby had joined them.

“I'm so sorry, all of you. I have the same questions that you must have.”

“Brad isn't the only problem,” noted Graydon. “There's an alligator on the property that we have to take care of. I'll call Animal Control after the storm ends. They'll know what to do. The gator could have come out of the river, or it could have been in the pond. The storm probably stirred it up and it came out of hiding.”

“I hope they don't kill it,” Ruby said quietly.

Vivian looked at her in disgust. “Ruby, how can you say that? I only hope it doesn't attack someone else before Animal Control can catch it.”

Graydon addressed his sister. “I don't think they'll kill it. They'll probably capture it and release it far away from here.”

“Good,” she said with a sigh.

“Heath, if you want to get back to the carriage house you'd better do it now before the storm worsens again,” said Graydon.

Heath nodded and whistled for Addie. He looked at me, concerned. “Don't worry. We'll figure everything out once the storm is over. Just be glad Lucy never found out Brad was here.” Then he kissed me. I smiled wanly.

He descended the front steps, then turned around just as Evie came up behind me.

“What happened to Mother's car?” He nodded in the direction of the garage.

Evie rolled her eyes. “Long story.”

“You'll tell me later, I gather.”

“Of course. Daddy's mad at her, but I think it's just a mask for his relief. She got home during the storm last night, long after you left.”

Heath winced. “Thank goodness she's all right.” He turned around and headed back to the carriage house.

“Lucy's asleep in her bed,” Evie told me before I even had a chance to ask her.

Ruby brought me a cup of tea, which I drank gratefully. I walked to the front door and looked outside again. It was still. I could see the damage wrought by the wind, but it seemed to be mostly confined to tree branches, plants, and some roof shingles from the garage, at least from where I stood.

As everyone made their way into the kitchen, Phyllis appeared and set out slices of homemade banana bread and fresh fruit. Luckily, there was a gas stove in the kitchen and she had been able to heat up water for tea. She said that there were eggs in the refrigerator but since the power had gone out at least seven hours ago, she was reluctant to use them.

We waited for just a short time before the wind started howling again. The back of the storm had arrived, bringing with it more slashing rain. It was somehow easier to wait through the rest of the storm during the daytime. We played games in the drawing room by candlelight since we still couldn't open the shutters to let in the light, and we read books. Everyone took turns reading to Lucy.

At last the storm was over. The wind petered out slowly, and the rain slowed to a steady drumming. Heath came over and he and Graydon went around the manor, opening shutters to gray misty light. A couple of windowpanes were cracked, but Ruby's shutter and window seemed to have suffered the worst damage. The rest of the house had made it through another storm intact. Phyllis reminded us as we ate a late lunch of bread and fruit that it was the work of her ancestors that had kept us all safe from the hurricane.

The police and paramedics had my number and had said someone from the hospital would call later. I hadn't heard from anyone yet, so after lunch Lucy followed me around as I gathered the supplies I would need to refinish the staircase in the entry hall. I began the tedious job of sanding and restaining each step. Around midafternoon, Heath called.

“Feel like going into Charleston with me?” he asked. “I need to check on things at the office.”

“I'd love to, but I assume I'm going to have to talk to the police again and I should probably find out what's going on with Brad. Besides that, I've taken the past few days off and I should really get some more work done,” I explained. “Lucy will have to go back to school tomorrow and I have a couple of shops I need to visit after I drop her off. Want to meet for lunch then?”

“It's a date,” he said.

The hospital finally called later that evening. Brad was stable, the nurse told me, but he could not yet receive visitors. Someone would call when he was awake and alert. The police called, too, and said they wanted to talk to Brad before they questioned me again.

T
he next morning Graydon called Animal Control to discuss the alligator that was possibly still on the property. They were quite busy, they said, with displaced animals from the storm, so they would get to Peppernell Manor as soon as possible. I took Lucy back to school, where she was thrilled to be reunited with her friends, all of whom chatted excitedly about things other than the hurricane. It was peculiar—the adults talked of nothing else, but the kids seemed to have forgotten it already.

Another nurse called after I dropped Lucy off and said that Brad was doing better, but he had asked that I not visit him yet. That was fine with me.

I was excited to begin talking with a few shop owners about my ideas for restoring the slave cabins. I felt a twinge of guilt over not working on the stairs that morning, but I needed to get the prep work done on the cabins so I could work on them as soon as the stairs were completed. I stopped first to talk to the woman who had sold me the dining room wallpaper. She loved the idea of being involved. I had done some research on the subject and consulted with Phyllis, and the shop owner also shared some of her knowledge with me. We eventually decided to cover the walls with a special type of reinforced paper printed with reproduction newsprint from the nineteenth century. The paper would look just like pages from newspapers. Phyllis's ancestors would have used newspapers to cover their walls and keep out drafts, and I wanted to be true to the cabins' original interiors.

I went next to the workshop of a steeplejack. I wanted to make sure that the chimneys in the cabins were safe and in working condition before beginning the restoration of the ceilings, walls, and floors. The man offered to visit Peppernell Manor sometime over the next day or two to have a look at the chimneys and make his recommendations. He was familiar with the slave cabins at Peppernell Manor, he told me, and was thrilled to have the opportunity to help in their restoration.

I had a delightful early lunch with Heath before returning to the manor to work again on the staircase. We sat outside a café in the bright sunshine, his hand on mine. It was
almost
easy to forget that we had been in the middle of a hurricane just two days earlier, and that my ex-husband had been seriously injured while trespassing during the storm.

After lunch we walked leisurely around the block hand in hand, talking of things other than my job, his job, Brad, or Lucy. I told him about winter in Chicago and he told me about winter in South Carolina. I was looking forward to spending winter in the South.

I left him at his office and went back to work at the manor; I was actually able to get a lot done before I had to pick up Lucy.

The power was finally restored to the manor that night after Lucy went to bed. Though she was thrilled by the use of candles for light, I had begun to grow tired of it and I was glad when the lights came on again. Evie and I went into the drawing room, each with a glass of wine, and she turned on every lamp.

“Isn't that overkill?” I asked.

She laughed. “Maybe, but I don't care. Now that the power's back on, I intend to use it.”

The morning dawned windy and pleasant. The hospital called and said Brad was ready to receive visitors. I called the police and was told that two officers were going to talk to him and that I could talk to him when they were done. After I ate breakfast with Lucy and sent her upstairs to get ready for school, Vivian came into the kitchen.

“Carleigh, are you going to the hospital in the morning to see your ex-husband?” she asked.

“Yes. I'll stop there as soon as I drop Lucy off at school.”

“I feel violated,” Vivian exclaimed. “To think that an unwanted visitor was on our property!”

“I am very sorry about it,” I told her. “If I had had the slightest inkling that he was planning to come here, I would have put a stop to it immediately.”

“I'm sure you would, dear.”

“Would what?” asked Evie, coming into the room.

“I would have stopped Brad if I had known he was coming here.”

“Are you going to see him in the hospital?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to tell Lucy that he's in South Carolina?”

“No way. She doesn't need to see him like that. It would just scare her.”

“What are you going to say to him?”

“I don't know,” I answered grimly, “but he's got a lot of explaining to do. His leg is going to be the least of his worries.”

“I think you'd better take Heath with you,” Evie fretted. “I'm not sure it's safe for you to go by yourself.”

“There's nothing Brad can do to me in the hospital. He can't even walk. But I'll take Heath if he wants to go. He may not want to be there for my tender reunion with Brad, though.”

“Maybe he should go to keep
you
from killing Brad,” Evie said with a wry smile.

“That might be a good idea,” I agreed.

As it turned out, Heath didn't want me to go see Brad alone, so we dropped Lucy off at school and drove over to the hospital together. I located Brad's room and we went up and stood in the hallway. The police were just leaving. They said they had gotten very little information from Brad and would talk to me later.

Suddenly I was reluctant to go in. Heath said, “You don't have to go in there, you know. You can just let the police do their job and do your talking through them.”

I shook my head. “No, I have to talk to him face to face.”

“Okay, if you're sure. I'll wait for you out here. Just give me a shout if you need me.” I squared my shoulders and pushed Brad's door open. He lay on the bed with his eyes closed. He had IV tubes stuck in his arms and his leg was heavily bandaged. His face was worn-looking and haggard with several days' growth of beard. It looked like he had lost weight.

He looked terrible.

I shook his free arm gently and his eyelids fluttered open slowly.

“Carleigh.” The word came out of his mouth dry and sticky.

“Yes. How are you feeling this morning?”

He groaned. “Miserable. The gator got my leg.”

“I know. What on earth were you doing out there? And during a hurricane?”

He turned his head slowly away from me and didn't answer. I was about to repeat myself when he turned back toward me. He closed his eyes and spoke in a low voice.

“Checking up on you and Lucy. I was holed up in the outhouse—”

“It's called a privy,” I interrupted.

“I was waiting out the storm in there and didn't think the hurricane would be as strong as it was. I just wanted to make sure she was safe, but I couldn't see in the windows of the manor. I thought I would be able to get back to Charleston.”

“Why? What's wrong with a phone call? And what do you mean, ‘back to Charleston'?”

“I wanted to see everything for myself. And I've been staying in Charleston.”

“For how long?”

“About a week.”

“A week?! And you wanted to see what for yourself?”

“I wanted to see where you and Lucy are living. I wanted to see what your life is like down here. I wanted to see . . . everything.”

“I trust you satisfied your curiosity?”

His form seemed to shrink under his thin sheet. He winced, whether from pain or from shame, I don't know.

“Well, did you?” I asked.

“I guess.”

“How long were you at the manor?”

“Several nights in a row.”

“What?!” I yelled. I could see Heath's head out of the corner of my eye, checking on me through the window.

“Several nights. I wanted to know who that guy is and what you're doing with him.”

“What guy?” I knew perfectly well which guy he was talking about.

“That really tall guy who lives next to the mansion.”

“Why do you care who he is?”

“I just do,” he said petulantly.

“His name is Heath Peppernell.”

“He's your boyfriend?”

“Yes, though that's none of your business.”

He turned away again.

“It is my business because of Lucy.”

“I don't get it.”

“You can't see him if he's not good to Lucy.”

“First of all, you can't tell me what I can and can't do. Second, do you think I'd date someone who isn't good to her? Honestly, Brad, do you think I'm stupid? Heath adores her, and she adores him, too.”

“You should have told me that you're dating him.”

“It's none of your business.”

“Are you going to marry him?”

“That's also none of your business.”

“I expect you to tell me what your plans are.”

“The same way you did when you fell for that stripper?” I jeered. “How is Jiggly—I mean Jilly, anyways?”

“Don't call her that.” He turned to face the wall again. “Anyway, she and I are through.”

“I'd love to stay here and chat about it, but I don't have time. I've got to get back to work. Listen to me, Brad. The police aren't done with you yet. They're wondering why you were trespassing on my employer's property during a hurricane. They're going to love it when you tell them you were there to stalk your ex-wife and daughter. The family court judge back in Chicago ought to enjoy the story, too. Good luck with that, and don't come near me or Lucy again without telling me first.”

I turned on my heel and went out to where Heath was standing in the hallway.

“How'd it go?” he asked.

“He's a jerk,” I answered. “He's been spying on me! He's been at Peppernell Manor for several nights!” I paused suddenly, thinking. “I'll be right back,” I told Heath.

“Where are you going?”

“I have to ask him something.”

I went back into Brad's room. His eyes were closed again, but he opened them when I walked in. “Brad, when did you and Jiggly break up?”

“Around the time you left Chicago. Why?”

“Did you call me at the manor and threaten me?”

He looked away.

“Brad?”

“Yes,” he mumbled.

“Why?”

“I wanted you to bring Lucy back to Chicago. Jilly and I had broken up and suddenly I was alone.”

“You're unbelievable,” I said with a scowl. He didn't answer and I left.

“Everything all right?” Heath asked when I joined him in the hallway again.

“Yes. Brad was the one who called me that night and threatened me. So that's solved.”

“He called and threatened you?”

“Yes.” I had forgotten that Heath didn't know about the phone call.

“He
is
a jerk.”

Heath looked pensive as we walked to the elevator together and he finally said, “I'll bet that's why Addie has been barking so much at night. She knew someone was there.”

“Of course! That has to be the reason! Poor thing, she was trying to warn everyone and nobody would listen to her.”

“We'll have to give her a treat.” He smiled and put his arm around my shoulders, then became serious. “Was it upsetting to see Brad?”

“A little, but I surprised myself. It was easier than I thought to stand up to him. Of course, he
was
in a hospital bed. I don't know that I would have been as brave if he hadn't been an invalid.”

“Why was he spying on you?”

I grimaced. “He wanted to know who you are.”

“Me? Why?”

“He wants to make sure that you're good to Lucy.”

“Does he think you would tolerate anyone who wasn't good to Lucy?”

“That's what I said. He's a stalker, plain and simple. He just wants to keep tabs on me, that's all. He's always been like that—you can ask Evie.”

“She doesn't like him?”

“Never did, apparently, in part because he was so controlling. I didn't recognize it as that when I was in college, but I see it clearly now.”

“He makes me a little nervous. What's going to happen when he gets out of the hospital?”

“I don't know. I'm going to ask the police how they recommend dealing with him.”

“Maybe you and Lucy should stay with me,” he said, grinning and waggling his eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes at him, laughing. “I'd love to, but with Brad in town, I think we'd better stay in the manor house. The last thing I need is to be giving Brad ammunition by living with my boyfriend.”

“Let's hope he just goes back to Chicago.”