Lewis & Ondarko - Best Friends 03 - Now and Zen (18 page)

“Neither was he,” Deb replied. “Let’s see the photos!” She tried not to laugh when she realized that in all the pictures, the women looked like pinheads, not recognizable to anyone else but themselves. As she rescanned through the digital images, Deb stopped at the last one.

“This is probably the best one of all of them,” she said, looking closer. “Look at this, will you?” She pointed to the blurry image of a woman who, unlike all the others, appeared to have light reflecting on her face. The woman was resting a hand on a dog’s head. Her hand also reflected light.

“Do we know this woman?” Deb asked, recognizing the dog. “Maybe the dog belongs to her.”

“I haven’t seen her before,” Linda replied. “But then again, with all these people here, I couldn’t begin to tell you who I’ve seen and who I haven’t!”

“Maybe the historical society would like one of these pictures,” Carolyn suggested.

Ignoring Carolyn, Linda grabbed the megaphone from Deb’s hand.

“Ladies! Ladies! I just want everyone to know that I will make a complimentary photo for each of you! All you have to do is get me your name and address on a piece of paper, and I’ll take care of getting it to you.”

A murmur arose from the dispersing crowd.

“Really? That’s really nice.”

“Just bring your names to me at the… “

She paused.

“Wait a minute! What am I doing?” Linda muttered under her breath. “I can’t believe I just said that.”

Putting the megaphone back to her mouth, she yelled, “Sorry about this, ladies, but disregard what I just said… I will put a post on Lotta’s bulletin board of an on-line cite where you can order a photo if you choose.”

“Whew!” Pat said. “That was a close call.”

“I’m learning,” Linda replied.

“Good for you,” Pat said.

“Well, I’m off to put photos online. What are you going to do now?”

“Hey, Pat, let’s go for a ride out in the woods. I need a chance to clear my head,” Deb called out just then as Pat helped the others stack chairs to return to the church.

“Sounds good,” Pat replied. “Let’s finish here, first, and then let’s stop by Tommy’s and grab something. I haven’t had lunch yet.”

Eager for some lunch, Pat didn’t notice the skinny guy until he was almost upon her. Standing toe to toe with her, whiskey on his breath, he raised his fist, and Pat drew back in alarm.

“Are you the ones?” You’re the ones, aren’t you?” he taunted. “The ones who have been gossiping about me.”

“What?” Pat asked. Then she got mad. “Who the hell are you, and what are you talking about?” She took a step forward.

“I heard you were spreading rumors about me and my girlfriend. Do you make it a practice to listen to guys in men’s toilets?”

This is the weasel Carolyn heard,
Deb thought, stepping between Pat and the man.

“Why would you care anyway, unless she’s really disappeared?” Deb asked. “Answer this: Where is she?”

He backed up, confused.

“It’s just that we had a fight, and she left.” He started to turn to leave. “Stay out of my business,” he said, turning his head towards her. And he left.

“So that’s the guy,” Deb said. “We’ll add him to our list of suspects.”

“Come on, buddy, let’s go get lunch,” Pat said.

Not all the retreaters felt the need to go to workshops. Some thought it was a higher calling to go to the beach. Greasy with suntan oil and fortified with ice tea, beach blankets, and books, they allowed the lake to draw them. Some of these women were even members of Pat’s own family. Go figure.

“Wake up, grandma, wake up.” Jessie was suddenly startled from her afternoon nap in the sun by a small stick poking her in the side.

“Huh? Oh, yes, Willow dear. I’m awake. See, my eyes are open.”

“No, you’re not.” Willow looked closely, stomping her little foot in the sand. “No, you’re not! You haven’t seen the world I’ve been making.” She pointed with her stick to the mounds of sand where she had been digging.

“How lovely dear. What is it?”

“If you were really awake you, would know.” Relenting, Willow continued. “Its okay, Grandma. I’ll show you. This is my house,” she said in her sing song voice as she pointed. “This is Skylar’s house, and this one way over here is Grandma Pat’s. You can stay with her,” she explained.

“Where is your little brother’s house?” Jessie asked gently, knowing that the new interloper was a sore point for Willow.

“Oh, he just comes to visit. This is girl town. If you want to come, you have to STAY AWAKE!” she said, noticing her great-grandmother’s drooping eyelids.

Staying awake,
Jessie thought,
how much of my life have I chosen to sleep away? But no more,
she thought resolutely.
What time I have left I’m going to spend awake.

She settled back in the comfortable Adirondack chair.

“A lot can happen when you let yourself go to sleep,” Willow said sternly, looking up from her digging.

Out of the mouths of babes,
Jessie thought.
But you, my little darling, I’m betting that you will stay awake through it all.
She sent the thought up to whatever beneficent spirit was watching.

All around the white-haired matriarch and the blonde little girl, women were laughing and splashing in the lake.

“This was a great idea,” Deb said, as she looked around. “Would you look at these signs?
Let’s Make Getting into Trouble Fun Again,”
she read aloud.
“If you can’t dazzle ‘em with brilliance, baffle ‘em with bullshit.
I’ve forgotten what a riot this place is.”

“Yup, the Burned Down Cafe is one of a kind, alright,” Pat answered. “No, thanks, one’s enough for me,” she said, putting up the front of her hand toward the bartender. “How’s the bar business been with all us women here?”

“It’s great being crazy busy, but it must be the full moon,” he said wiping up the bar next to them.

“What’s been happening?” Deb asked.

“Oh, you know… crazy stuff. Right before you came in there were some mainlanders in having drinks. One guy asked for a martini right here, can you imagine? So I made him one, and then he complains. ‘Is this Stoli’s gin in this martini? I only drink Stoli’s.. ‘ Where does he think he is, anyway? Look around you. This is a tent, for goodness sake! Our drink of choice is Heinies. Typical non-islanders.”

He leaned forward on the bar.

“The guy came in here with big dreams. He was trying to impress the woman he was with. First thing he does is light a cigarette. I told him he couldn’t smoke in here. He told me how he had investors just waiting to build some kind of huge fun land resort like the Wisconsin Dells, right here. When the woman was skeptical about where he would get enough land, he said he had a plan to get it from the east side.”

“The east side!” Now Deb wasn’t just pretending to be interested in what he had to say. “Isn’t that the Native land?”

“Yup, can you believe it? Evidently, he picked the wrong woman to impress. When she got mad and said she wouldn’t let it happen, she would make sure of it, he got real quiet-like, and said something like, ‘nobody gets in my way.’ Then he stood up and raised his fist menacingly at the woman. Just like that. Tell you what, that guy gave me the creeps. I was just about to reach under the bar for my handy deterrent.”

He lifted up a baseball bat for them to see.

“I think the woman took him seriously. She stood up and said, ‘I won’t tell, really,’ and then she left in a hurry. And the guy? He followed her out.” Shaking his head, he turned to get a beer for another customer. “And he didn’t even leave a tip. That was a frickin’ mistake. See if he ever gets a martini here again. Like I said, it must be the full moon.”

Deb nodded her head in agreement, and then turned to Pat.

“Do you think this one could be the missing woman?”

“Don’t know. Let’s just take a little drive up the road and see how we feel about it after a walk in the woods. If we decide it’s important, we’ll call Gary. Remember, we have to be back for the writing workshop before three.”

There is something about encountering evil, no matter the form, that makes one want to forget. Afterwards, Deb didn’t want to remember this walk in the woods with Pat. Her reticence remained, despite her knowledge that it is better not to forget such encounters, in order to be better prepared to fight.

It all started out ordinarily enough, as do most such encounters. Before getting out of the car, Deb glanced at the clock. It was one-thirty.

Plenty of time,
she thought. Looking around to try to get her bearings, she took in the intrinsic beauty of the wild island. The sun was shining almost straight down, lighting the leaves and branches on its way to warm the earth.

Great time for a walk,
she thought.

What was that?
She paused and sniffed. Something was in the air. A smell.
Not a smoke smell… no, not exactly a scent, but something more. Usually I can walk all of Madeline without a fear, but now, it’s as though the sun isn’t reaching me.
She shivered, noticing the shadows on the ground, at the same time the sun shone above.

Closing the car door, she turned to her friend.

“Where are we? How could we possibly get lost on Madeline Island?” Deb shook her head. “We’ve been coming here for years. And the truth is, I don’t remember this road at all.” She glanced around, trying once again to get her bearings, and hoping to find a sign displaying the words, “Go This Way, Sillies.” It didn’t happen.

“Like we have to
try
to get lost.” It was a standing joke that traveling together anywhere might lead them to end up in Canada. Deb locked the door and stretched.

“Let’s walk back to the last road sign. I’m tired of being in the darn car.”

“Road sign? Isn’t that why your hubby bought you that shiny new box?” Marc had tired of the women complaining about being lost, and had bought her a G.P.S. for Christmas.

“Fat lot of good that thing is doing. It’s as if we’re in the Bermuda triangle.” She got serious for a moment. “Do you feel it?”

“You mean that cold?” Pat responded, walking beside Deb. “I thought it was just my imagination. I wish we were back in town. What’s with this place?”

Looking uneasily at the woods on both sides of them, Deb started walking down the center of the dirt road, rather than by the edge. Maybe it was silly, but she couldn’t help herself. Pat walked right next to her, not wanting to be left behind.

“You know what it reminds me of? It reminds me of the woods Dorothy and her crew went through when they were seeking the wicked witch.”

“Oh, that makes me feel so much better.”

Coming upon the sign, Pat reached up and brushed off the dirt covering its face. Instead of a direction, it read, Dead End.

“Well, that’s informative.” She looked up at the sky, searching for the sunlight. There were no clouds above them, and yet, here in the dense woods, it was positively gloomy.

They stood close, instinctively knowing it was safer that way. Safer from what, they couldn’t say. Their arms touched as their eyes adjusted to the gloom.

Watching the light from above, she followed it with her eyes as it filtered down catching on the tips of leaves, trickling through as if trying to reach them.

Pat stood listening so hard that she unconsciously held her breath. They stood like two frozen statues.

What am I listening for?
she wondered. Her heart beat as fast as a sparrow caught in a cage.

CAW! CAW!

“Snap!” Deb said, startled out of the invisible spell by the sound of a gigantic blue-black crow that landed right in front of them. “What’s she got there?” she asked curiously, as she leaned toward the bird, still holding onto Pat’s arm,

Pat moved a step closer to get a better look, her ill feeling dispelled some by her friend’s use of the silly child’s swear word. The magnificent bird seemed to look right into Pat’s eyes and had landed on the carcass of a porcupine. As they watched, fascinated and appalled, it casually ripped off a piece. Throwing it up it the air, it caught the meat and swallowed.

“Shoo.” Deb gestured with her arms to scare it away. Pat stopped her before the motion was complete.

“It means no harm. But where are the other birds?” she whispered. “We should be hearing birds. Something here has scared them away.”

She squinted, and an involuntary shiver went through her.

“What is it?” Deb asked. “What do you see?”

Pat shook her head.

“Nothing, I guess. For a moment, I could have sworn I saw a form… an outline of someone standing just out of range. I suppose it could have been a birch tree. Their branches sometimes look like arms. It’s nothing.”

The crow cawed again, as if in warning. Taking Deb’s arm, she slowly turned, easing them back down the road to the car. The new red shoes she was wearing were slick on the bottom, and she slipped, barely staying upright. She held onto Deb once again.

With one last CAW, the crow flew up and away. Then, silence.

“Deb, do you still carry that small flashlight on your key chain?”

“Yes,” Deb answered as she fumbled around in her pocket. “Here it is.”

A thin beam cut through the eerie fog, and a figure stepped casually into its light. They gasped. From their vantage point, they could see the silhouette of a man. The light showed an elegant figure with tangles of long black hair. They heard the flick of a lighter as the man cupped a hand to his face, bringing the flame to the end of his cigarette. He took his time to inhale before looking up with a smile that didn’t even try to reach his eyes.

“Hello ladies. I’ve been expecting you.” He calmly walked closer to them onto the road. The women stood frozen, clinging to each other.

Pat reacted without thinking.

“You scared the crap out of us! What the hell are you doing out here?” she barked in a hoarse voice. She had one hand in Deb’s, the other held to her breast, trying to keep her heart from pounding right through her chest.

Funny what you can notice in an instant,
she thought.
Designer slacks, Italian shoes, immaculate black shirt, rolled up sleeves showing off his tan. But it’s his eyes! Such a handsome face. If cruel can be handsome.