Page 87 of The Lady on Esplanade
“He hasn’t said anything, although he and Uncle Bernie spent a lot of time talking after the funeral, so maybe there’s news.”
Henry was already headed toward the stairs.“Let’s go.There might still be food left.”
Felicity shook her head.“Remember—anything at all, I’m here.And tell Sarah I said good-bye,” she said as she rushed to catch up to Henry.
As soon as the door shut downstairs, Sarah reappeared.“No open windows.I still need to check the bathroom, but I’m going to give it a little more ti—” She stopped, her eyes focused on something behind me.
I turned to the small tray table where I kept my water glass andpain pills.The first thing I noticed was the pill bottle, now righted and with its top screwed on, all loose pills presumably returned inside.But it was the glass that Felicity had recently refilled and that sat next to the pill bottle that made me lean back as if to get away from it.It now appeared to contain solid ice, its sides frosted over.
Sarah reached up to stroke the peacock brooch on her sweater.
“Do you know what this is about?”I asked.
She didn’t answer right away, which scared me more than any answer would have.“I don’t know.But I saw the same thing happening in the kitchen when we were in there with Felicity.The coffee in the glass pot froze, too.We had the freezer and refrigerator doors open, and I thought maybe that was why….”Her voice drifted away as she realized how much that didn’t make sense.
“Are you’re saying that Felicity has powers she’s unaware of?”
“Maybe.”She bit her lower lip.“It’s like how when Beau and I are in the same room together there’s this sort of static electricity thatbings in my head.”
I didn’t ask her what she meant by “bing”; Melanie had used that exact word when describing how it felt when she and her sister, Jayne, were together.She likened it to the spark given off when striking a match.
“She—Adele—came in with Felicity, but Felicity didn’t seem to be aware of her mom’s presence.Or maybe she was but she’s so used to ignoring it that she doesn’t notice it anymore.”Sarah frowned.“I don’t think Adele likes Henry very much.She kept poking him in the back to annoy him.Anyway, there goes our theory that once Adele was put in the family mausoleum her spirit could rest.Her funeral was hours ago.”
“True.”My gaze strayed to the side table.“I think she tidied up my pills, too—unless you did that?”
Sarah shook her head.“Wasn’t me.”
My gaze immediately shot to the coffee table, where Adele’s rings had been inside a plastic bag.Except they weren’t there anymore.
“Don’t panic,” Sarah said.“I found the baggie in my sweater pocket when I went to check on the windows.So I hid it for safekeeping.And I’m not going to even try to guess how it got into my pocket.”
“Good thinking.”I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm my racing heart.If the rings had disappeared, they could have been taken only by Felicity or Henry, and both scenarios were equally disturbing.
Sarah plopped down in the armchair across from me.She looked exhausted, her skin appearing pasty, with a thin sheen of sweat on it.I wished that I could call Melanie and ask if this was normal.Instead, I decided to wait for thirty minutes to see if Sarah improved.If she didn’t, I’d figure it out.Forcing a smile, I said, “So, pizza or one of Jolene’s casseroles for dinner tonight?”
Before she could answer, the unplugged landline phone—the same one that wouldn’t stay hidden in my closet—rang, making us both jump.“I guess you want me to get that?”she asked.
“No.I don’t think you should.And I don’t want to break my other ankle trying to get to it before it stops ringing.Stay where you are—it’ll stop eventually.”
We stared at each other, listening to the incessant ringing.Finally Sarah stood.“I can’t take it anymore.”With heavy steps, she approached the desk and picked up the receiver.I could hear only the faint sound of static and the echoing of a high-pitched voice that seemed to be coming from deep space.Sarah didn’t speak, but she closed her eyes to concentrate on listening.After she hung up, she approached me wearing an expression of confusion.She fell back into the chair, her face even paler than before.
“It was Bonnie,” she said quietly.
“Bonnie,” I repeated.The name unsettled me, the sound of it foreign to my ears.I hadn’t heard my mother’s name spoken out loud in a very long time, and I had to think for a moment to recall where it fit.
Sarah nodded.“Yeah.She said Sunny told you that she was watching out for you.”
I recalled the note Sunny had made for me and stuck in my purse before she’d skipped town after we’d discovered her true identity.In it she’d said that Adele and Bonnie were watching over me to help fight the demons that hadn’t stopped chasing me.I’d used the purse a couple of times since then, the wrinkled note still at the bottom.
“Why?Am I in danger?”I was only half-serious; danger seemed to be a running theme of the conversations on that phone.
“She kept saying the same thing over and over, but it didn’t make any sense.”
I hesitated, not knowing if I really wanted to know.“What was it?”
“ ‘Find the stones.’ ”
“What does that mean?”
