Ask a Shadow to Dance (34 page)

Chapter Thirty

Lisette thought her head would burst. She could only stare at the
Cajun Star
,
sailing farther and farther down the river.

She screamed in terror when the percussion of a thousand bolts of lightning knocked her down. The
Cajun Star
exploded, engulfed in a fireball, red and orange and white. Lisette was thrown on top of Aunt Portia. The riverboat splintered into a million shards, pelting them, piercing bare skin, raining about them until they were covered with debris. She thought surely they must be dead and descending into hell.

By the time Lisette was able to sit upright again, the last thundering report had died. The
Cajun Star
, what was left of her, burned, the crackling of the flames punctuating the pitiful screams and moans of the dying.

“David.” She closed her eyes, grief crushing the life out of her.

Chapter Thirty-One

David realized within minutes there was no use in trying to doctor these people. Their wounds were too extensive, their numbers overwhelming.

The captain was shouting, “Abandon ship!” People flung themselves into the river, some of them able to swim for shore, others disappearing beneath the water, littered with the debris of a dying riverboat. David saw a large clump of white material floating on the surface of the water and realized, with sheer horror, it was a baby! A woman, shrieking the baby’s name, managed to swim to it and save it from sinking into the river. The baby’s voluminous clothing had saved it from drowning.
Incredible. The mother pulled the baby back on board. Its chances of survival might have been better in the river.

Wind stripped the smoke from the boat, gusting in such strength David could hardly stand. Lightning webbed across the sky, producing thunder so loud people around him screamed, thinking the boat had exploded again. David expected torrents of rain, but there were none. The heavens ripped themselves apart, yet there were no tears for the dying.

Andrew Westmoreland hurled himself at David, screaming, “You did this! We’re all going to die because of you!”

David braced himself against the railing, arms raised in defense. When Andrew slammed into David, he pushed him around, into the railing. Andrew tumbled into the churning river; his face grotesquely illumined by the red glow of the riverboat, sank beneath the dark waters and did not rise again.

The captain jerked David around, his face livid with what he’d seen. “How did you know?” he yelled into David’s face.

David knew what he had to do.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Lisette had never seen such lightning nor heard such deafening thunder. Yet there was no rain, no torrents that should have accompanied such a cataclysm. The
Cajun Star
was sinking. Lisette searched the waters in vain, hoping to see David clinging to one of the scraps of wood, that afforded many survivors a way to stay afloat until they could get to the riverbank. But his face was not among them. Lisette wished there could be a way for her to help these people.

A hollow space opened inside her when she realized David—a doctor—would never leave injured, dying people, to save himself. “David, how can I live without you?”

The wind began so suddenly; it took her breath. They clutched the sides of the sounding boat, fearing it would capsize and they’d be thrown into the river.

The wind stopped.
Just stopped. The skies shone with stars. How could this be?

Lisette wiped the soot from her eyes with her skirt and peered into the still, dark night.

There was no evidence of any boat on the river.

The
Cajun Star
had disappeared.

No one spoke for a long moment while they tried to comprehend what they’d just seen. Eddie was first to react.

“Are you all right, Ma’am?”

Lisette nodded. He asked Aunt Portia. She, too, had escaped serious injury.

They managed to get to the east bank and out of the sounding boat. They couldn’t have done it without Eddie. As a man would have done, he took responsibility for the two women entrusted to his care and brought them to safety.

Once on dry land, he left them to rest while he went for help. No one had heard an explosion and no one, even people fairly close to where the blast occurred, had seen fire or smoke. When Eddie took them back to the river, the sounding boat was gone. Eddie begged Lisette to tell them it was true, but she couldn’t speak. She no longer cared for herself, anyone, or anything. Part of her soul had been ripped away, leaving an unbearable emptiness behind.

Aunt Portia answered everyone’s questions. When they realized she was describing the explosion of the
Cajun Star
, everyone seemed to talk at once.

The doctor who was summoned to treat their wounds gave Lisette laudanum to help her rest. She welcomed sleep when it came, but awoke screaming, the
Cajun Star
exploding again in her dreams.

The next day, when they finally got home to Memphis, Sedonia met them at the front door, with Seth.

Home.

After a while, Sedonia brought tea and sandwiches, but Lisette couldn’t eat. She heard Aunt Portia tell Sedonia that David had died on the riverboat, and it would take time for Lisette to heal.

Time.

That night, Lisette’s dreams were filled with David’s anguished face, calling, begging her to come to him. She awoke again and again, sobbing, wishing the dreams would go away.

The next morning, Aunt Portia roused her. “Lisette, you have to get dressed. Hurry!”

Lisette’s mind was clouded with grief. “Please leave me alone.”

“I won’t! We have to get to the Peabody.”

Lisette managed to open her eyes.
“The Peabody?”

“To the fountain.
He’s there! Don’t you see?”

“But, Aunt Portia, didn’t you see the flames, feel the explosion?”

“Of course I did. I can’t explain what happened to that boat afterward, but it exploded, it surely did.”

“Then why—”

“I can’t explain why. I just know we have to get to the Peabody.”

Lisette dragged herself from bed, wishing Aunt Portia would leave her alone, let her grieve.

“Perk up, now. You don’t want David to see you like this.”

The delusion brought a fresh spill of tears. Portia’s mind must have been affected by the blast, and she had not been able to accept the fact David had died on the boat and she was living in a dream world. “Aunt Portia—”

“You’ve been so intent on grieving, you haven’t been listening. I dreamed about David last night. He told me the two of us should meet him at the Peabody today, as soon as possible. He tried to tell you, but you haven’t been listening. The laudanum has turned your mind into mush.”

“I, too, dreamed about David, begging me to come back to him.”

“He’s alive, don’t you see?”

If only it were true. Lisette sat on the side of the bed, letting the dizziness pass before Portia helped her dress. Did she dare let herself believe it could be possible?

Seth brought the carriage around front and helped them inside. Lisette scarcely saw or heard anything as they drove down Adams Avenue toward town. David’s face, his voice, pleading, consumed her totally. No matter where she went in the world, no matter what she might ever do, nothing could be complete without David.

At the Peabody, Aunt Portia urged Lisette down from the carriage.

“Aunt Portia, can this possibly be true?”

“Never mind the truth. I have no idea about what’s true anymore. Let’s get inside. Hurry, now.”

Entering the lobby was like losing David all over again. She remembered him standing by the fountain, leading her upstairs to the Memorabilia Room, the scandalous clothes on women of the twenty-first century, his tender kisses. If believing David was alive was part of a fantasy world, then living in that world would be preferable to her never-ending nightmare.

Aunt Portia took her hand and dragged her toward the fountain. “You have to be at the fountain, or you can’t go through, isn’t that right?”

“Yes, the fountain.” Lisette’s heart pounded until she felt faint. A tingle began in her hands and feet, circled on the crown of her head, then slid down her spine. The same tingle she’d experienced once before when she and Aunt Portia had come to meet David. She stepped back toward Aunt Portia. The tingling stopped. “What if it’s true? How can I leave you?”

“How can you stay? I have Sedonia and Seth, and Morgan Enterprises to run. They’re coming today to ask me more about the explosion. I’ll tell them you and Jacob and David were on the boat. History will stay the same.” She clutched Lisette’s hands tightly, tears dampening her lined cheeks. “Your happiness has always been my happiness. Go to him, child. Be happy.”

Lisette held her, cried with her, kissed her cheek, then turned back to the fountain.

When she reached it, she took one look at the water, placid and unmoving, and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. Another tingle shimmered through her, crown to toes. The melodious tones of a piano intruded softly, then louder. Ducks quacked. Lisette opened her eyes, saw the mallards swimming, watched a woman walk past, wearing pants so short, Lisette could see practically every inch of her legs.

There. In the shadows.

Holding his head with both hands, elbows propped on knees, David reclined on a sofa, asleep. A uniformed man approached him, shook his shoulder. “Doctor Stewart, you really must go home, Sir.”

Lisette pressed her hand against the man’s shoulder. “I’ll take him home.”

In one motion, David was in her arms. He wept like a child, his shoulders shaking, his body trembling. “I thought I’d lost you.”

“How did you get off the boat?” she whispered between frantic kisses.

“The Captain and I appeared on the third deck of the
Memphis Queen III
with our clothes on fire, in front of a dozen people. Scared the hell out of them. And the captain.”

Relief and joy flooded through Lisette. She laughed when she’d thought she would never laugh again. “You brought him with you?”

“He’s still in shock. I had a lot of explaining to do. Captain Dale and Jim had a million questions for him.” His expression became solemn. “What happened to the
Cajun Star
?”

“After the explosion, it disappeared. Even the smoke and debris were gone. The stars came out. No one believed us at first. It was as though it never happened.”

“Just like the article said.”

“‘Only Ol’ Man River knows.’” He said the rest along with her. “But he don’t say nuthin’ at all.’”

He smiled. “Your house is here.”

“I can’t wait to show you my secret room. It’s where I first dreamed about you.”

“And there’s no need to worry about Aunt Portia. She lived to the ripe old age of ninety-six after bringing Morgan Enterprises into the twentieth century with a bang. And, you won’t believe what happened to Eddie Crump. There’s a lot more, all of it good. I’ll tell you everything.”

“We have a lifetime. But first, I want to sample some ice cream.
Lots of ice cream.”

David grinned like a small boy. “We’ll taste every flavor. Then, we’re going to buy you a bikini.”

“What on earth is that?”

“You’ll see.”

They left the lobby of the Peabody Hotel. The twenty-first century wrapped its arms around them and welcomed them home.

About the Author

Linda George has been a professional writer for more than 25 years. Her career as a novelist began in 1998 with
Gabriel's Heart
, under the name Madeline George for Harlequin Historicals. She and her husband, Charles, have published 68 nonfiction books for children.

Linda lives in West Texas with Charles, and spends a lot of time at their “little piece of paradise” in the NM mountains.

Ask a Shadow to Dance
was originally published by Five Star Expressions in hard cover.  Linda is proud to make this book available in e-book format through Amazon Kindle.  Another of her previously-published novels,
Silver Lady
is also available in Kindle format.

In April, 2013, Linda published the first novel in the Kiss Me Series of sweet contemporary romances,
Kiss Me, Chloe
.  The second book in this series,
Kiss Me, Cindy
, will be available in September, 2013 for Kindle.

Additional information about Linda’s books, along with her blog, can be found on her website: 
www.LindaGeorge.net

If you enjoyed this book, Linda would appreciate your posting a review on the book’s Amazon page.