Wolf Moon Rising (37 page)

Lara Parker

“She’s too young,” said Liz. “You’re the naughty bearcat who

necks.”

“Well, boys dance most with girls they can kiss,” Lucy

Anne said to Jackie. “Don’t you love to dance? In sheer aban-

don! And listen. I’ll give you the goods. It doesn’t matter what

you do or don’t do. As long as they think you will do it.”

“Is necking what I think it is?” asked Jackie.

“Kissing passionately but keeping his hands off the rest of

you.”

“And the rest of you is petting?”

“I kiss lots of boys, but after kisses I make them stop,” said

Constance. “Girls who go all the way are fools.”

Jackie suddenly remembered being in the car with David.

“Oh, I think so, too,” she said, wanting to be part of the conver-

sation.

“You are all so naive,” said Liz, who stood back and sur-

veyed her work. She winked at Jackie. “Obviously you have

never been in love.”

“I really don’t see a bit of harm in kissing a boy you like,” said

Lucy Anne, “even one you don’t want to marry. I get such a thrill.

I think it’s natural to want men to kiss you. If I have a few nights without dates I go nearly crazy. I want to go to an all- night necking party!”

“Petting can lead to an engagement,” said Constance

thoughtfully. “He will want you awfully. You can say, ‘Aren’t

you terrible,’ and let him go a little further. But the point is always to turn him into a husband.”

“Preferably rich, so you can go to Eu rope every year and

have peaches for breakfast.”

Feathers fl ew, a jeweled headband with a few sprigs of pea-

cock. “Here are some new step- ins, no pantaloons for you!” said

Liz, now excited. “Stockings rolled up to your thigh. Th

ere,

now when you dance you can show the back of your knee.”

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Th

e silver fl ask went round again.

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“All I want is to be in love.” Lucy Anne sighed.

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“You don’t want to work?” Constance asked.

Liz answered seriously, “Just being in love is work enough

for a woman.”

Jackie found Liz fascinating. She did seem spoiled in the

way a wealthy girl who went to fi nishing school is something

of a natural snob, but she was so delighted with herself, so

charming, that Jackie forgave her any conceit. Th

e slip of a

dress clung to her body, each bone and curve accentuated, but

it was her radiance, her slow smile, her air of mystery that

seemed to suggest a capacity to give plea sure to others simply

with her presence in the room. Her dark eyes possessed a far-

away look, slightly troubled or preoccupied. Th

en Jackie real-

ized why.

“Oh, come closer, don’t back away,” Liz cried, “I’m so near-

sighted I can barely see across the room without my cheaters!”

Liz rummaged through her bureau while the other two

girls leaned back on the settee, a lovely picture of insouciance

and laziness.

“Would you kiss a man you didn’t like?” said Constance,

drawing on her cigarette.

“I’ve had enough kissing. I’ve decided to become more mys-

terious!”

“But you’re still a fl apper, Liz. You’ll always be a fl apper.”

“I know,” she said thoughtfully, pursing her mouth.

“And you’ll always have lovers.”

“Stop . . .”

“Where is Quentin to night?”

“Don’t call him that. He’s in disguise.”

“He’s much too old for you, you know.”

“How old is he?” asked Constance.

“Well, he’s not a silly boy, if that’s what you mean,” insisted

Liz. She was applying makeup to Jackie’s face, kohl around her

eyes, and bloodred lipstick. “He’s the kind of man who can do

anything, and he will take care of me. At least he didn’t die in

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the damn war. He’s going to make a delivery for Daddy to night,

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Lara Parker

and I’m going with him. I want to meet these gangsters he talks

about.”

Constance gasped. “Aren’t you afraid?”

“No. Why should I be?” she said, pausing with her brush.

“Th

ey have guns.”

“I know. Isn’t it thrilling?”

“Liz, you can’t be serious.”

“Why? I’ve done it before. And you’re coming with me,

right Jackie?” Something fl uttered in Jackie’s chest, and for a

moment she was afraid, but she pushed what ever it was back

inside.

“Sure,” she said. “Of course I’ll come.”

“He needs us to sit on the whiskey! He says two girls in the

back seat won’t arouse suspicion. We’ll be the decoys! We only

have to drive it as far as the Blue Whale.”

“But they shut the Blue Whale down. It’s only a restaurant

now,” said Constance.

“No, silly, have you ever looked in the back beyond the

ladies’ room? Th

ere’s a blind pig hidden behind the door.” She

lifted Jackie up by her fi ngertips. “Now, tell me what you think,

baby. Aren’t you just the cat’s pajamas?”

Slowly she turned Jackie to a cheval mirror, long and oval on a

mahogany frame and reached back to adjust the glass. Jackie

watched her refl ection fl y past in a blur until it revealed her bare shoulders, her delicate neck, and fi nally her face beneath the golden satin cap. She did not recognize herself.

“You look beautiful! Do you like it?”

She stared a second at Liz’s eager face before she turned back

to the mirror. Her eyes were a shade of turquoise blue she had

never seen before. She lifted her hands to cover them, but the

refl ection remained motionless, breathing and alive, and stared

out with a look both arrogant and defi ant. Jackie gasped in ner-

vous disbelief. Th

is could not be her refl ection. She looked ex-

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actly like her mother!

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Trumpet music wafted up through the window and a loud

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Dark Shadows: Wolf Moon Rising

voice could be heard shouting. Someone seemed to be making

an announcement.

Jackie stared at herself dumbly, afraid to move. Th

en she

reached for the cloche covering her hair.

Constance grabbed Lucy Anne’s hand. “Hurry! Th

e show’s

starting. You don’t want to miss it!”

“What . . . what is it?” said Lucy Anne.

“One of those Houdini imitators,” said Liz, who was watch-

ing Jackie. “Daddy made him show he could open his safe be-

fore he would hire him for to night’s entertainment. Th

ey plan to

strip him naked and search him for wires before he begins.”

Jackie pulled the golden hat off her dark curls.

“You don’t like it?” asked Liz.

Jackie bit her lip and shook her head. Th

e champagne, the

cigarettes, and the swallows of whiskey were making her feel

nauseated. Her legs gave way and she thought she was going to

faint.

Quickly, she looked around. “Where am I?” Fortunately,

there was a china washbasin on a small table beside the bed,

because up it all came.

“It’s fi ne,” said Liz gently. “Here, lie down. I’ll get you a

cold cloth.” Jackie lay back and closed her eyes. Th

e world was

spinning. She felt something cool on her forehead before she

passed out.

A few moments later, after Liz cleaned her up and combed

out her hair, and apologized for giving her whiskey, Jackie found

herself sitting up in bed listening to the older girl spill out her heart.

“What should I do?” asked Liz. “I just got out of one ridicu-

lous marriage and Daddy won’t let me marry again so soon. Quen-

tin works for him, and Daddy needs him, but for some reason

forbids me to even be seen with him. He won’t tell me why.”

“He’s probably protecting you,” murmured Jackie, think-

ing of her own mother, who was critical and disapproving of

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David.

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Lara Parker

“He’s protecting his fortune. He doesn’t want it squan-

dered, and he wants me to go on the stage. He even disapproves

of the talkies. Can you imagine?”

“You’ve been in movies?”

“Yes, and it’s ever so much fun. You could do it. Have you

done any plays? Th

ey always want girls from the stage who can

speak well.”

Jackie looked at Liz’s perfect pert profi le. “You don’t want

to give that up, do you?”

“I want to be with Quentin. Have you any idea? Th

e hunger

here . . .” And she rubbed the lower part of her stomach. “But

we must marry!” Th

ere were tears in her hazel eyes. “Oh, I am

so in love.” She sat on the bed and took Jackie’s hands. “Have

you ever had a great love? No, of course not. You’re much too

young. But it will happen to you, that’s certain, because you are

so beautiful, and then you will remember what I told you, and

you will know how I feel.”

She reached for a small box on her dressing table and ex-

tracted a pleated piece of paper that she unfolded as she sat on

the edge of the bed. “Listen to this,” she said, and began to read

in a quivering voice.

My Dearest Elizabeth,

Nothing is more painful than the hours spent away from you.

Th

ey are like years. Run away with me. To night! After we take

the whiskey to the cemetery. We can catch the train to New

York and then we will fi nd a liner to Paris. I cannot live with-

out you. I will do everything in my power to make you happy.

Marry me and become mine forever.

Liz stopped a moment to catch her breath before she con-

tinued in a hushed voice.

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I long to press my lips to yours, to feel your sweet body in my

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arms. No other woman in the world exists for me. I must spend

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Dark Shadows: Wolf Moon Rising

my life at your feet. Even if I could not touch you I would still

worship you from afar. I would kill for you. I would die for you.

Your adoring Quentin

Jackie was stunned. “Th

at’s beautiful . . . I— I can’t imag-

ine . . .”

“You have to help me, Jackie,” Liz said in a hushed voice.

“To night, after the whiskey is hidden, we will trade dresses.

You can wear the yellow cloche and when we return to the

party, from a distance, everyone will think you are me.”

“I could never do that!”

“Yes, you must! Quentin and I will take the Doozie to the

train station. Daddy will be off at his Klan meeting. He will

never know. Say you will help me. Please! Please?”

Jackie felt her will was not her own. All she heard were the

words “Take the Doozie.” David had said the most important

thing was that they stay with the car. It was their only way back

home. But she was sinking deeper into this world of glamour

and recklessness. Where was David? She should fi nd him before

he became too worried. Th

ey were no closer to fi nding the paint-

ing than when they fi rst arrived. She had been certain that was

why they had been sent here. For the fi rst time she wondered if

they were stuck in the past and what would happen to them

if they never got back.

The two girls ran out into the yard where a crowd was already

gathered. At the far end of the lawn workers had con-

structed a wooden platform that supported a glass cabinet about

six feet high. It was fi lled with water. A banner tied to the trees read, the world famous houdini’s chinese water torture

trick. As Liz dragged Jackie through the crowd, she heard

several people whispering among themselves.

“Does someone have an ax just in case there is an acci-

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dent?”

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Lara Parker

“He’s too large for the trick. Houdini was a small man, and

double- jointed.”

“Don’t worry. It’s an illusion. He’s not really in the water.”

A photographer appeared, lugging a black box camera and

fl ash gun, anticipating a couple of fi ne shots of the per for mance.

When he saw the two pretty girls in the crowd, Liz and Jackie,

in their shimmering dresses, he said, “Hey dollies, look over

this way!” Th

ey turned and posed cheek to cheek, their faces

alive with excitement, and the gun fl ashed. He made them an

exaggerated bow.

“Don’t forget to send Daddy a copy,” Liz cried as he disap-

peared into the crowd.

Up on the stage the magician whirled off his bathrobe to

reveal a tan one- piece bathing suit that fl aunted every sinew of

his muscular anatomy, even the curve of his private parts. Liz

giggled, but Jackie was distracted, searching the crowd for

David.

Th

en, after the magician was shackled and bound in a strait-

jacket, the helpless man was lowered into the cabinet headfi rst

until the water splashed over the sides, and the lid was screwed