Page 14 of Jason
“No!”Mallory laughed…but she didn’t mean to laugh quite that hard.“I work for a Blackthorne.”
“You never know around here,” he said.“There’s dozens of them if there’s one.”He held open the door of the terminal for her, then hurried on to the van a few feet away.He slid open the side panel door and Mallory was instantly hit with the strong scent of roses.He shoved her bag behind the passenger seat and a large cardboard box, then opened the front passenger seat, picked up a stack of papers and a map book, and tossed them in the back.“There you go.”He didn’t wait for her to get in—he was already hurrying around to the driver’s side of the van as if he suspected the airport was going to blow at any moment.
Mallory hesitated.This van, those flowers—Jason had said alimoservice.It didn’t seem particularly smart to get in a flower delivery van with a man who was not the limo driver.Which, come to think of it, was not a bad premise for an episode ofBad Intentions.She’d just make a quick note on her phone.
George RR Martin climbed into the driver’s seat, picked up a clipboard and jotted something down, then tossed it onto the dash.He cranked up the van then looked at Mallory, still standing where he’d left her.“Well?Come on, now, we’re already late.We got some weather moving in.”
She glanced at the sky.It was sunny and blue with some stripes of clouds across it.She glanced back.The airport was definitely closing and she hadn’t figured out a lot of options.So she got in.
“The name is Ned,” he said.
“Hi Ned.”
“You been out to the Blackthorne place before?”
“Never.”
“Nice drive.Scenic, if you’re into oceans.”
She was into oceans.Who wasn’t into oceans?
Ned wasn’t kidding about the scenic part.He took a route along the rocky coastline.The tide was coming in, great waves crashing against the cliffs.They passed two lighthouses, and in the distance she could see trawlers and sailboats bobbing on the surface.
They entered a quaint fishing village with a wooden sign that proclaimed it to be King Harbor.It looked like something you’d see on a postcard, a colorful fishing village that looked rustic and quaint with it’s Cape Cod-style houses facing the water, the fish and tackle shops along the docks.The harbor was calm, the surface smooth, and boats were peacefully anchored, hardly moving at all.
Ned drove past restaurants that boasted the best Maine clam chowder.Several of them advertised the availability of Blackthorne whisky.From one shop, a colorful array of wind socks in the shape of fish dangled along the overhang.Shop windows were filled with miniature lighthouses at varying sizes, and of course, red lobsters were the symbol of most businesses.
After they had gone through the village, Ned turned left onto a narrower road.It wended around the cliffs and through thick stands of trees until they came to a halt outside a tall white wooden gate.“Here you are,” Ned said, and put the van in park.
“Here we are?”Mallory said, but Ned was already out the driver door.
She got out of the van as Ned retrieved her suitcase.With his chin and beard, he indicated the gate.“You’ll find the Blackthorne place through there.”
Mallory looked at the gate and theNo Trespassingsign.“Through there.There’s a sign that says no trespassing.”
“Just a warning.”
She blinked.“But isn’t there a door or something?”
Ned looked a little exasperated.“Look, it’s on the other side of that gate, and there ain’t much space between us and the ocean.You’ll find it well enough.Just go through the smaller gate there,” he said, and pointed to a small door next to the big gates.He rolled her suitcase to her, then hurried back to the driver’s seat.
Mallory stood dumbly and watched him back the van up and drive off with a cheery wave, leaving her utterly alone on that road on the wrong side of a big wooden gate.
She took out her phone and phoned Jason.No answer.He’d probably misplaced his phone.“Predictable,” she muttered.
She adjusted her backpack, gripped her suitcase, and walked to the small door in the fence and tried the handle.It was open.She stepped through to a jungle of overgrowth on the other side.“This is not the Blackthorne place!”she shouted in exasperation.The undergrowth grew up and over the footpath.But she could see a road, and she managed to get her bag down the uneven path to a drive.Given how many weeds were poking up through the asphalt, this didn’t bode well.She pictured some sort ofGrey Gardensscenario.Rolling her suitcase behind her, Mallory started down the asphalt road, glancing back over her shoulder every now and then, sort of wishing Ned would come through and pick her up.The wind had picked up quite a bit, and it felt as if her hair was standing straight up because of it.Plus, it was a fairly steep road, and her suitcase kept bumping into her heel.
The road slowly began to curve, and as it did, the top of a massive structure came into view.
She could see a roof.And then…a hotel?But it had dormers and a widow’s walk.An inn?It had to be—this looked much bigger than a house.Had Jason ever mentioned a Blackthorne inn or resort?
Her phone suddenly startled her and she almost killed herself trying to get it out of her pocket.“Jason!” she shouted into the phone.
“Whoa, that wasloud,” Jason said.“Where are you?”
“Walking down a road toward this inn.Where are you?”
“Mallory?Are you there?I can’t hear you—you’re breaking up.”
