The Cellar (15 page)

Over the sound of the television, Donna heard a car drive up. Sandy looked at her, worried. Putting down the newspaper, Donna climbed off the bed and went to the window. A dark green Chrysler pulled to a stop just outside the door. “It’s Jud and Larry,” she said. She opened the door for them.

“Any sign of him?” Jud asked.

Donna shook her head. “No. How’d you do?”

“Not too bad.”

“Not too bad, indeed!” said Larry. “We got away scot-free, slick as thieves, and cast your eyes on
this
.” He waved a leather-bound book. “
This
is the diary of Lilly Thorn. Her own words. Good heavens, what a find!” He went to the edge of the bed and sat down beside Sandy. “How was
your
afternoon, my little lady bug?”

Donna turned to Jud. “Did you find the beast

suit?” “No.” “What about Mary Ziegler’s body?”

“Not that, either. There were a couple of places we couldn’t search, though.”

“Did someone come back?”

“No. One of the rooms was already occupied, and we didn’t check the cellar because there was a light down there.”

“Then somebody was home?”

“Several somebodies, by the looks of it.”

“There’s only Maggie, Axel, and Wick,” she said.

“And two were over at Beast House running the tours.”

“So who was in the house?”

“Axel, I suppose. And at least two others.”

“But who?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s a little spooky.”

“Yeah. I wasn’t too happy about it, myself.”

They sat on the side of Jud’s bed. “What was the house like?” Donna asked.

She listened closely, intrigued by what he told her of the blue lights, the living room with no furniture except pillows, the bathtub with its strange handles. Most of all, she was fascinated by the bedroom.

“You wouldn’t think Maggie Kutch was the type. And Hapson! That guy’s an old weasel. It’s hard to picture them making love at all, much less under mirrors. The bondage part I’ll buy, though. The
sadism. Did you see the look on his face when he went after Mary Ziegler with his belt?”

Jud nodded.

“I always thought they were a bunch of sickoes. I mean, you have to be, don’t you, living off tours of a place like Beast House?”

Except for a half-hour walk up a hill that overlooked the ocean, they spent the afternoon in Cabin 12. Larry read the diary in less than an hour, at times shaking his head in disbelief, and muttering. Sandy watched television. Donna sat next to the window with Jud.

At four-thirty, Donna mentioned that she’d like to find out about her car. The four of them walked to the Chevron station. As they approached it, she saw her blue Maverick along with three other cars parked beside the garage. “I bet he hasn’t touched it yet,” she said.

Jud walked with her to the office, where the bony mechanic was busy on the telephone. They waited outside until he was done.

“All set, lady,” he announced, coming out.

“You mean it’s ready?” Donna asked, unwilling to believe the surprising news.

“Sure is. Radiator came in around noon.” He walked ahead of them to the car and raised the hood. “There she is. I test-drove her, and she runs sweet as a pie.”

They returned to the office. He showed her the bill, pointing out the cost of parts and labor. “That be cash or charge?”

“Charge.” She searched her purse for the proper credit card.

“Where you staying?” he asked.

“Over at the Welcome Inn.”

“That’s what I figured. No place else
to
stay.” He took her credit card. “That’s what I told the fella looking for you.”

The words hit her hard. She stared at the man, stunned, until Jud’s firm grip on her elbow brought her back. “Who?” she asked.

“A fella come driving up in a ’76 Rolls, says he knows your car. He find you?”

She shook her head.

“Do you always give out information about your customers?” Jud asked.

“Don’t come up that often.” His eyes narrowed. “You folks in some kind of trouble?”

“No,” Jud said, “but you may be.”

The man handed the credit card back to Donna, then gave her the charge slips to sign. Slowly, he turned to Jud. “Piss off, mister, before I kick your fucking ass from here to Fresno.”

“Shut up!” Donna shouted into his face. “What right did you have to tell that man anything…
anything…
about me?”

“Hell, lady, I didn’t tell him nothing. He had your name. He was gonna find you. Like I say, no place
to
stay but the inn. He was gonna find you,
anyway.” The mechanic flicked a hard glance at Jud, then looked back at Donna. “Gonna step out on your husband, lady, you gotta be more careful.” He grinned and walked away.

“Let’s go!” Donna called to her daughter and Larry. They were across the street looking in store windows. As they started back, Donna said, “I don’t want Sandy to know, okay?”

“She’ll be more careful if she knows.”

“She’s terrified of that man. And after what she’s already been through, today…”

“We won’t tell her. But we’ll have to be damned careful from now on. Especially back at the inn.”

Donna took his hand, and found confidence in his eyes. She met Sandy and Larry with a smile. “Miracle of miracles,” she said. “The car’s fixed.”

On the way back to the Welcome Inn, Donna watched for a Rolls-Royce but didn’t see one. There was no Rolls in the parking lot, either.

“Park in front of your cabin,” Jud said.

She did. Then Jud led them across the asphalt to his cabin. He entered first, and made a quick search before allowing them inside. “I need to go to the office,” he said. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

He was back in less than five. With a slight shake of his head, he let her know that nobody had been asking about her at the office. “Why don’t we have supper now,” he suggested.

“I’m starving!” Sandy blurted.

“You’re a bottomless pit,” Larry told the girl. “An abyss.”

“
You’re
the pit,” she said, laughing.

“Sandy,” Donna warned, “don’t use that kind of language.”

“
He
did.”

“That’s different. He didn’t mean ‘pit’ the way you did.”

“I most certainly did not.”

As they walked to the motel restaurant, Donna put her arm around Jud’s back. Her hand touched a hard, jutting object just above his belt. She fingered the outline.

“So that’s why your shirttail’s out.”

“Actually, it’s out because I’m a slob.”

“A well-armed slob, at that.”

The dining room was nearly deserted. As the hostess led them among tables, Donna checked every face. Roy wasn’t here.

“We’d like a corner table, please,” Jud said.

“How’s this?” asked the hostess.

“Just fine.”

Jud took a seat, Donna noticed, that would give him a wide view of the dining room.

A young, blond waitress came. “Cocktails?”

Donna ordered a margarita.

Sandy asked for a Pepsi.

“I’d like a double martini,” Larry said. “Very dry. Bone dry. In fact, dispense with the vermouth entirely.”

“So that’s a double gin, straight up, with an olive.”

“Precisely. You’re a gem.”

“And you, sir?” she asked Jud.

“I’ll have a beer.”

“Budweiser, Busch, or Michelob?”

“Make it Bud.”

“An incorrigible snob,” Larry muttered.

Donna laughed. She laughed very hard, harder than the remark deserved, but it seemed like a long time since anything had struck her as funny, and the laughter felt good. In a moment, a giggle escaped from Larry. That triggered Sandy. Soon the three of them were convulsed with mirth. Jud grinned at them, but his eyes kept sweeping the room.

During the whole dinner, Jud kept watch as if he weren’t part of the group, but their guard. Then he insisted on paying the bill.

When they were leaving, Donna caught his arm and stopped him from following Sandy and Larry outside.

“What’s…?”

“Thank you for dinner.” She hugged him tightly and kissed him. She could feel him begin to relax, to open, to let emotion into his kiss. Then he forced her away.

“We’d better stick close to Sandy,” he said, tearing down her good feeling so that she wanted to cry.

From the window of the end cabin, Roy watched Donna, Sandy, and two men enter Cabin 12. Her car was parked in front of 9. He guessed that 9 was her place, and 12 the men’s.

That simplified matters. Sometime during the night, Donna and Sandy would return to their cabin alone. Maybe in five minutes. Maybe not for hours. But sometime. Regardless, he would wait until after dark.

He looked around at the two beds, at the two girls tied to them and gagged. The older one, the owner’s kid, was still sniffing. He figured she was sixteen, maybe seventeen. He didn’t know her name. She’d been good, though. She’d been wet and slippery, and Roy suspected that she’d enjoyed herself. He’d spent nearly an hour with her after the four had walked off, probably for dinner. She hadn’t started crying until afterward. Guilt, more than likely.

He wondered why no one had come around looking for her. Maybe her folks were used to her disappearing.

Roy lifted an edge of the curtain, and looked again at Cabin 12. The door was still shut.

He looked around at the girls. Right now, he didn’t want either of them. Still, they were nice to look at, lying there naked and powerless in the darkening room.

Later, maybe he could find time to take one of them.

Which?

Hell, he had lots of time to think about that. Lots of time.

He got up. The older girl’s eyes watched him closely as he approached her. He bent over the bed. He traced a circle around her right nipple, watching the dark skin pucker and grow rigid. “Like that?” he whispered, smiling down at her.

Then he jerked the pillow out from under her head, took it to the chair beside the window, and used it to cushion the straight wooden back. He sat down and leaned against the pillow. That felt much better.

He inched open the curtain and continued his watch.

Leaving the others inside his cabin, Jud walked the perimeter of the Welcome Inn. He saw no Rolls-Royce nor any sign of a six-foot-two man who might be Donna’s ex-husband. He returned to his cabin. He motioned for Donna to come outside.

“Now,” he said, “we’ll go over to your place and wait for him.”

“What about Sandy?”

“Her, too.”

“Does she have to? I’d rather…I don’t want her to see him, if it’s possible.”

“Here’s the problem. He doesn’t seem to be around right now, but he might be. I could’ve missed him. If he’s watching, he’ll know we’ve left Sandy in 12. He might try for her.”

“Suppose she’s with us,” Donna said, “and Roy
comes and somehow he…gets by you. Then he’s got Sandy. If we leave her with Larry and that happens, she’ll still be all right.”

“Whichever way you want it.”

“Do you think he’ll know, if we leave her in 12?”

“He might,” Jud admitted.

“But there’s a good chance he won’t?”

“I’d say so.”

“Okay. Let’s leave her in 12 with Larry.”

“Fine.”

He instructed Larry to stay inside, to keep the door locked and the curtains pulled, and, at the first sign of trouble, to fire a signal shot and lock himself and Sandy in the bathroom. Low in the tub, they should be be safe from bullets. Jud would come running. He’d be there five seconds after the first shot.

“Perhaps,” Larry said, “I can pot the bugger with my signal shot.”

“If he gives you a clean shot, take it. But don’t hang around waiting. You’ll be fairly safe once you’re in the tub with the bathroom door locked.”

Jud left him the rifle. He picked up Lilly Thorn’s diary. Then he and Donna crossed the shadowy parking area to Cabin 9.

He went in first, and searched it. When Donna was in, he locked the door and made sure the window curtains were completely shut. He turned on the lamp on the nightstand between the two beds.

“Where do you want me?” Donna asked.

“I’ll be on the floor here between the beds, so
I’m out of sight. You might as well take one of the beds. Maybe this would be best,” he said, patting the one farthest from the door.

“Looks good to me. What’ll we do while we wait?”

“You can watch TV, if you want. Doesn’t matter. I want to see what Lilly’s got to say.”

“Can’t I?”

“Sure.”

“Why don’t I read it to you?”

“All right.” He smiled. He liked that idea. He liked it a lot.

Donna took off her sneakers. Her socks were white. Her feet looked very small to Jud. He watched her climb onto the bed and sit upright, bracing her back against the headboard.

He sat down on the floor between the beds. With a spare pillow, he padded the front of the nightstand, and leaned back. He placed his Colt .45 automatic on the floor beside him.

“All set?” Donna asked.

“All set.”

“ ‘My Diary,’ ” she began to read. “ ‘Being a True Account of My Life and Most Private Affairs.’ ”

“ ‘January 1,’ ” she read. “I guess this whole thing’s 1903. ‘This being the first day of the new year, I devoted myself to solemn meditation. I gave proper thanks to the Lord for his bounty in providing me two fine boys, and the wherewithal to meet our
needs. I asked Him to forgive my transgressions, but most of all to look kindly upon my dear Lyle, who had a fine noble heart and strayed from the path of righteousness only because he loved his family to a fault.’”

“He was a bank robber,” Jud said.

“But he had a noble heart.”

“Maybe you can skip some of this.”

“And get to the good part?” She slowly flipped the pages, scanning them. “Oh, here’s something. ‘February 12. I was sick at heart, today. The Lord continued to remind us that we are outcasts in this town. Several of the local youngsters attacked Earl and Sam as they were returning from school. The cowards wounded my boys with stones, then fell upon them, further bludgeoning them with fisticuffs and sticks. I know not the reason for their cruelty, only that its source lies in the reputation of the boys’ father.’ ”

Donna turned more pages. “Looks like she went around town for a few days, telling the parents what their kids had done. They were polite to her, but cold. She no sooner got done making the rounds than her boys got beaten up again. One had a bad knock on the head, so she went to a Dr. Ross. ‘Dr. Ross is a kindly, cheerful man of fortyodd years. He appears to bear no grudge against myself or the children because of our kinship to Lyle. On the contrary, he looks upon us with the kindliest eyes I have seen in many months. He assured me that I need not fear for Earl’s condition.
I invited him to take tea, and we delighted in one another’s company for the better part of an hour.’”

Jud listened to the whisper of turning pages.

“Looks like she’s seeing Dr. Ross almost every day. She’s started calling him Glen. ‘April 14. Glen and I took a picnic basket to the hilltop behind the house. Much to my surprise and delight, he produced from his medicine case a bottle of the finest French Burgundy. We enjoyed ourselves marvelously, feasting upon chicken and wine, and upon each other’s company. As the day progressed, our passion rose. I was hard put to restrain the man. Though he kissed me with an ardor that stole my breath away, I allowed him no further liberties.’ ”

Donna stopped reading. She looked down at Jud, smiled, and sat down beside him on the floor. “I’ll allow you the liberty of a kiss,” she said.

He kissed her gently, and she pressed her mouth to his as if hungry for the taste of it. When he put a hand on her breast, she pushed it away.

“Back to Lilly,” she said.

Jud watched her skim the pages. She was sitting shoulder to shoulder with him, the book propped against her upraised knees. The soft downy hair on her cheek looked golden in the lamplight. The closeness and smell of her excited Jud so he stopped caring much about Lilly Thorn.

“She doesn’t get very specific, but I think she’s well beyond the kissing stage, at this point. She’s hardly writing about anything, now, except Glen.”

“Mmmm.” Jud put a hand on Donna’s leg, feeling the heat of her thigh through the corduroy.

“Ah-ha! ‘May 2. Last night, long after the children were abed, I stole outside at the appointed hour and met Glen in the gazebo. After many protestations of love, he asked for my hand in marriage. I accepted his offer without hesitation, and he joyously clutched me to his bosom. Through much of the night, we embraced and planned our future. At length, the chill became too great for us. We stole into the parlor. There, on the couch, we held one another tenderly, blessed by the fullness of the moment.’ ”

Donna shut the diary, keeping place with her forefinger. “You know,” she said, “it makes me feel kind of…dirty, reading this. Like a peeping Tom, or something. It’s so private.”

“It might tell us who killed her family.”

“It might. I’ll go on with it. Only…I don’t know.” She lowered her head and began turning the pages. “They’ve set a date for the wedding. July 25.”

Jud put his arm across her shoulders.

“ ‘May 8. We held another rendezvous in the gazebo, last night, meeting at the stroke of one. Glen had the presence of mind to bring a comforter. With the chill of night vanquished, our ardor burst upon us without restraint. We were caught as in a tide. Powerless to resist its pull, we allowed the tide to buoy us upon its bosom and sweep us into blissful delight such as I have never
known.’ I guess,” Donna said, “that means they screwed.”

“Christ, I thought their raft had capsized.”

Laughing, Donna pounded his leg. “You’re awful.” She faced him, and he kissed her. “Awful,” she said into his mouth.

He brushed his fingertips along the smooth skin of her cheek, traced the outline of her jaw and throat. She put the book down. Turning so a breast pushed against Jud’s side, she plucked at his shirt, unbuttoning it. Then she slid her hand beneath it, stroking his belly and chest.

Jud pulled her down, away from the nightstand. Lying on his side, with the length of her pressed against him, he pulled her shirttail free and slipped his hand down the back of her corduroys, feeling the cool smooth curves of her buttocks. He moved his hand up her back to unhook her bra.

“Wait,” she said.

“What’s wrong?”

“The floor was last night,” she said, pushing away from him. She stood up.

With her eyes fixed steadily on Jud and a slightly apprehensive look on her face, she unbuttoned her blouse. She tossed it onto the bed near the door. She shrugged off her bra, and tossed it. Sitting on the side of the bed, she pulled off her socks. She stood, tugged open her belt, and unfastened her pants. They dropped to her ankles. She stepped out of them. Now she wore only brief panties. The
dark of her pubic thatch was visible through sheer blue nylon. She slipped the panties off.

“Stand up,” she said. Jud noticed a tremor of fear or excitement in her voice.

He pulled off his shoes and socks. He set his Colt .45 beside the lamp. Then he stood, taking off his shirt. While he unbuttoned it, Donna unbelted his pants. She lowered them, kneeling. Then she slid the underpants down his legs. Her tongue licked and she took him in, sucking.

He moaned. As Donna stood, he brought her tightly against him. For a long time, he held her there between the beds, kissing her, exploring the slopes and crevices and orifices of her body, stroking and probing while she did the same with him.

Then they parted. Donna pulled back the covers, and they lay on the bed.

They didn’t hurry.

Part of Jud’s mind remained cautious, listening and alert like a guard standing watch. The rest of him joined Donna. He became part of her smoothness, her hair, the quiet sounds she made in her throat, her dry places and her slippery places, the many smells of her, the tastes. And finally the slick scabbard that took him, taunted him until he ached for release.

Arching his back, he thrust deeper, deeper than ever. Again. Crying out, Donna lurched up and grabbed him. He fell on her, ramming and ramming, and all the tight ache blasted out of him.

They lay together afterward for a long time.
They talked softly; they said nothing. Donna fell asleep holding his hand. Finally, Jud got up. He dressed, and resumed his position on the floor between the beds, the .45 automatic next to his leg.

“Was I asleep long?” Donna asked.

“Half an hour, maybe.”

She pulled herself to the edge of the bed and kissed Jud. “Want to get back to Lilly?” she asked.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

“I really conked out.”

“Yeah.”

She smiled. “All your fault.” She reached down a bare arm for the book.

“Maybe you’d better get dressed.”

“Mmmm.” She sounded as if she didn’t care much for the idea.

“If we have a visitor…”

“God, did you have to remind me?”

He stroked the side of her face. “You get dressed, and I’ll look in on Sandy and Larry.”

“Okay.”

She covered herself with a sheet when Jud opened the door.

Sometime during their lovemaking, darkness had come. Light showed through the window of Cabin 12. Jud stood beside Donna’s Maverick and searched the parking area. A woman with two children came out of Cabin 14. They got into a
camper van. He waited for the van to leave, then he crossed to Cabin 12 and knocked lightly on the door. “It’s Jud,” he said.

“Just a sec.”

A moment later, Larry opened the door. Jud looked in. He saw Sandy sitting cross-legged in front of the television, looking over her shoulder at him.

“Everything okay?”

“Until you frightened the heebie-jeebies out of me a second ago, everything was marvelous.”

“Okay, I’ll see you later.”

He went back to Donna’s cabin. She was sitting on the floor between the beds, dressed in her cords and blouse, the diary resting against her upthrust knees. He sat down beside her, and put his .45 next to his right leg. “They’re fine,” he said.

“Okay. Back to Lilly. If you remember, her boat has just capsized.”

“Right. And she was drowned in waves of passion.”

“Which gave you the idea of making waves of your own.”

“Is that what happened?”

“I think so.”

Jud kissed her quickly, and she smiled.

“None of that,” she said. “Back to Lilly.”

“Back to Lilly.”

“Okay, after she made it with Glen that first night, they ‘indulged their passion’ on a regular basis. Almost every night, in fact. I don’t suppose you want to hear about that.”

“In my present condition, not especially.”

“Okay, let’s see what’s next.” She turned several pages as she skimmed them. “ ‘May 17. Today, I posted a letter to Ethel, requesting her attendance at the nuptials. I am hoping she will, at long last, journey down from Portland…’” Donna read the rest to herself and flipped the page. She remained silent. Looking up at her, Jud saw her eyes moving over the words. Her lips were pressed tightly together.

“What is it?” he asked.

Her eyes met Jud’s. “Something’s happened,” she muttered.

“ ‘May 18. A most disturbing sight greeted me, this morning, when I went down to the cellar to fetch a jar of apples from among those I’d put up last autumn. In the light of my gas lamp, I saw that two of my canning jars lay broken on the floor. Another was open as nice as can be, and empty. My first inclination, naturally, was to blame the boys. However, the label of the empty jar told me it had contained beets, a vegetable abhorred by both boys. This discovery chilled me to the heart, for I knew that a stranger had trespassed within my house, and I knew not the nature of his intentions. Resisting my impulse to run upstairs and have done with it, I searched the confines of the cellar.

“‘In a corner near the east wall, hidden from view behind half a dozen bushel baskets, I discovered a hole in the dirt floor—a hole large enough to permit the passage of a man or large animal. I quickly fetched my canned apples, and fled the cellar.

“ ‘May 19. I gave much thought to informing
Glen of the stranger’s visit to my cellar. At length, I decided to leave him in ignorance, for I know that his protective instincts would call upon him to destroy the visitor. I could hardly abide such a stern measure. The visitor, after all, has thus far harmed no one.