Blackwood Farm (48 page)

“Nash was on his feet too and attempting to take me by the shoulders and turn me aside, and very slowly Petronia rose to her full height of over six feet, and with every inch over six feet grew out of femininity and into manhood, looking at me quietly with a gloating satisfaction in her pretty smile.

“Aunt Queen was frantic.

“Nash was begging me to be quiet.

“ ‘Deny it, I dare you,' I said. ‘Say you didn't come into my very room and drag me from my bed.'

“ ‘Mrs. McQueen,' he answered. ‘I did not come into this house at any time before tonight.'

“ ‘ “My honored Lord, you know right well you did,” ' I flashed on him from Ophelia in
Hamlet.
‘You came into my room. You accosted me outside. You made threats. You know you did. You come here to torment me. That has to be the reason. You play with me. It's a game that amuses you. It began with those bodies, dumped in the moonlight, when you knew I stood on the island and saw you there.'

“ ‘Quinn, silence!' Aunt Queen declared. Never had I heard such a cry from her, such a total command. ‘I won't have it,' she said. She was shaking.

“ ‘Let me take my leave quietly,' said Petronia. She took Aunt Queen's hand.

“ ‘I am so sorry,' Aunt Queen said. ‘So dreadfully, dreadfully sorry.'

“ ‘You've been very gracious to me,' she said in the same feminized voice. ‘I'll never forget it.'

“He turned his pretty face to me, and I saw the woman in him, and then he was gone, with straight shoulders and big long strides, gorgeous hair flying, and I heard the heavy vibration of the big front door.

“All those around me were shocked. Cindy, the nurse, was full of concern. Nash didn't know what he should do or for whom to do it. And I sat down, knowing I was drunk and that I was going to be sick, and Aunt Queen stared at me with blazing anger and disappointment in her eyes. Jasmine was shaking her head.

“Finally, sinking down into her armchair, Aunt Queen spoke:

“ ‘Do you honestly expect anyone to believe the things you are saying?'

“ ‘It's all true,' I said. ‘How in the world could you believe her instead of me? What did she tell you—that she was man and woman, so much of each that she was neither one? You believe that? And that she believes in reincarnation? You believe that? That she made the cameos she gave you? You believe that? And that the mausoleum on the island was made for her great-great-grandmother. You believe that? I'm telling you, she came at me. Or he came to me. And he has the strength of a man, that I can vouch for. And he does read minds and that's dangerous. And all the rest I've said—all along—is true.'

“Aunt Queen couldn't look at me. Cindy brought her a hot toddy. It sort of sat there in the cup. Aunt Queen asked:

“ ‘Where were you tonight?'

“ ‘I had dinner with the Mayfairs,' I said. ‘I went over at two p.m.' I stopped. But what was the point of holding back? I had to tell Aunt Queen everything, didn't I? She had to know the full measure of what I felt. And so I blurted it out:

“ ‘I saw a ghost while I was there. I spoke with him. I talked with him for twenty minutes or more without knowing he was a ghost. It was the ghost of Julien Mayfair, and he told me he had conjugal knowledge of Grandfather William's wife, and I'm descended from him.'

“Aunt Queen sighed. ‘You are stark raving mad.'

“ ‘Not raving,' I said. ‘I became a bit heated, yes, at the effrontery of that creature, but not raving, not really raving. That's a far worse state, wouldn't you say?'

“ ‘What do I do?' she asked.

“ ‘Let me call Stirling Oliver. Maybe he can vouch for my sanity. He sees Goblin. He was at dinner tonight. I must see him and talk to him. I must tell him my feelings as regards that creature! I must talk to him. I don't feel safe. I don't feel anyone is safe from that creature. He'll help you to understand.'

“ ‘And you think I'm the one,' she asked, ‘who needs the understanding?'

“ ‘I don't know, Aunt Queen. I want to kill that creature, that's all I can say. And there's something very vile and awful about the being. It isn't merely that it's a hermaphrodite, that I could well endure and find fascinating. It's something else. Goblin senses it. Goblin calls it evil. I tell you the creature frightens me. You must understand, at least that I believe what I'm saying even if you do not.'

“She wouldn't look at me.

“I went into the bathroom. I was sick. After a while I was able to drink a paper cup of water. And then I came out. They were all there, in the same state of shock as when I left them. I apologized to everyone.

“ ‘But you have to see it,' I said, ‘from my point of view. You have to understand what my experience of this creature was. And then I come home and find him with my Aunt Queen.'

“Nash made the kind suggestion that perhaps I ought to go to bed. I looked very tired indeed. I agreed to it immediately, but I couldn't let it go without stating that the stranger, alias Petronia, was no great respecter of my being in or out of bed.

“But when I bent down to kiss Aunt Queen, she was loving to me, and I was as tender with her as ever, and I told her that I had really told the truth.

“ ‘We will call Mr. Oliver,' she said. ‘We'll ask him to come here tomorrow. And we'll talk to him. How would that be?'

“ ‘I love you so much,' I whispered. ‘And there's so much I want to tell you about Mona.'

“ ‘Tomorrow, my darling,' she said.

“I could hardly drag myself up the stairs. And as soon as I had the comfort of the soft flannel nightshirt I was dreaming of Mona, with my arm around Big Ramona, and thoughts of talking to Nash running randomly through my mind. Every now and then I'd wake with a start, fearing Petronia was on me, strange evil Petronia, bent on hurting me, bent on destroying me, but it was only drunken imagination and finally I went into a deep comforting sleep.”

33

“IT WAS
about nine a.m. when I called Stirling, and, unable to contain myself, spilled out all of the story of recent events, as I invited him to dinner to discuss them in greater detail. Perhaps I wanted him to know this was a loaded invitation. I thought it only fair.

“He surprised me. He insisted that we meet for lunch. He asked if it wouldn't be too inconvenient if we gathered at twelve noon. I went down to see Aunt Queen immediately. And finding her already awake, sitting up in her chaise lounge, watching a movie, saying her Rosary and eating strawberry ice cream, I was happy to have her agreement to lunch right away.

“Would Stirling come to Blackwood Manor? Of course.

“As Blackwood Manor was booked solid, we set up the small table in Aunt Queen's room, and her bed was dressed in its finest satin along with a broad collection of her red-cheeked boudoir dolls, all got up in the flapper attire that Aunt Queen herself so much adored.

“Stirling arrived promptly at five minutes before twelve, though his flowers, a huge vase of pink roses, arrived before him, and we gathered in Aunt Queen's room for Jasmine's finest veal scallopini and pasta and white wine. Nash, who offered several times to absent himself, joined us, and to my amazement Aunt Queen started right in with the ‘strange tale' of Petronia and how she or he—it varied during the story because at times Aunt Queen had seen Petronia differently—had arrived at Blackwood Manor with the gift of the cameos, which were then produced for Stirling's inspection.

“Now this was the first time that I had seen these priceless pieces myself, and priceless they were. Because they were not cameos in the sense that we think of them, that is, ornaments carved from contrasting strata of shell or stone. They were portraits carved from gems, and in this case the gems were large amethysts and emeralds of Brazilian origin, and whereas amethysts are no longer very expensive gems, due to the discovery of such a supply of them in the New World, emeralds are expensive. And the carving of these small heads, each obviously of a particular Roman deity, was excellent if not absolutely magnificent.

“They were four in number, these gifts, and Aunt Queen had of course been incredibly grateful for this tribute, and then I had come home and pitched the gathering into confusion, as she was sure I was willing to explain.

“I did explain. I started at the beginning. I explained everything. I ate veal and pasta and guzzled white wine, forgetting to blot my lips before drinking and thereby going through two and three wineglasses before remembering, but I was passionately pouring out my tale, beginning with Rebecca and her visions and how they had driven me to the island, and what I had seen there in the moonlight, and how things had spun out from there, and how in a rage I had burnt the trespasser's books, and how he or she had come at me, and on it went. I left out nothing.

“Jasmine brought plate after plate of veal and pasta for me. I was happy to devour it.

“ ‘So there you see it,' I said. ‘And then you have Goblin saying “Evil, Quinn,” in my ear, and then that shock when I take Petronia's hand, that feeling of something like electricity that reaches out for Goblin and travels through Goblin to me! And this thing, this being, this creature, this interloper who threatens me, he can't see Goblin but he knows that Goblin is there. He knows Goblin can send showering glass at him, and for all his speed and strength, he doesn't want to be cut.'

“At last I came to a halt. I knew Aunt Queen and Nash were watching me. I knew they were watching Stirling as well.

“ ‘No,' said Stirling quietly. He had finished his meal in spite of many many pauses in which he had stared at me with rapt attention. ‘It doesn't want to be cut.'

“ ‘Do you say “it,” on account of her ambiguous sexuality?' asked Nash politely. There was some subtle tension between Nash and Stirling. I couldn't figure it.

“ ‘No, I don't think so,' said Stirling. ‘I hope not. But who knows? Let me say, she does not want to be cut.'

“ ‘Do you believe my nephew?' Aunt Queen asked. ‘Does all of this make any sense to you?' She was very kind in her tone. She sat to my right and pressed my shoulder softly as she spoke. ‘My nephew is prepared for what you have to say.'

“ ‘Yes, I am prepared,' I said. ‘I know you to be a frank and truthful person. Michael and Rowan respect you. Mona respects you. I know what I see in you. Tell me what you believe.'

“ ‘Very well,' said Stirling. He took another swallow of his wine and set the glass aside. ‘Let me advise you first as if you were my son. Go away now. Take the trip with your Aunt Queen that she wants you to take. No, don't be upset with me. Let me explain. Mona Mayfair is sick. But she may get sicker. The time to leave Mona is now. You will obviously write to her, call her, stay in touch with her. And when and if she takes the turn for the worse, perhaps with your aunt's permission you can come home.'

“ ‘Oh, absolutely,' said Aunt Queen. ‘I think that's a very sensible way of looking at it, and we can ascertain from Dr. Winn Mayfair whether or not he agrees. We can talk to Dr. Rowan Mayfair. And of course, Quinn, you'll speak to Mona herself.'

“ ‘Now, let me explain further,' said Stirling. ‘I think you should leave on this trip at once. I think you should get away from Petronia. I think you should leave tonight if you can, and if not tonight then tomorrow, and if not tomorrow the day after that. But go. And go quickly, and in the meantime, have all the refurbishments done to the Hermitage on the island, exactly as the creature has insisted, but never, and I mean, never, have a workman on Sugar Devil Island after dark.'

“ ‘Well, that's no problem,' I said hastily. ‘These guys come on at six a.m. and they want to be home in front of the television with a beer in hand by four o'clock in the afternoon.'

“But my speedy rejoinder hadn't taken the edge off Aunt Queen's response to this last remark on the part of Stirling, as I had hoped.

“ ‘You're saying that everything Quinn saw . . . happened?' she asked.

“ ‘Yes, I am saying that,' said Stirling. ‘He's sane; if he testified in a court of law, I'd believe him. I believe him here and now.'

“ ‘Stirling Oliver,' said Aunt Queen, ‘are you telling me that the swamps hereabouts are infested with vampires?'

“ ‘No, I'm not telling you that, Mrs. McQueen, because if I did, you'd think me mad and disregard everything else that I told you. Let's just say that Petronia is a creature of nocturnal habits and accustomed to having Sugar Devil Island to herself. Now, one night when she thought herself to be alone, she was caught up short by the landlord, and consequently began a game of cat and mouse with him, and has been his enemy ever since.'

“ ‘You do believe all this,' Aunt Queen said.

“ ‘Oh, definitely. But the important thing is this. Do what the creature wants right now. Refurbish the Hermitage. And remove Quinn from the vicinity. Take the trip to Europe. And expect to have big long-distance phone bills in every hotel. This young man is very much in love with Mona Mayfair, that I know full well from what I saw with my own eyes.'

“ ‘I don't know what to say to you, Mr. Oliver,' Aunt Queen responded. She was discouraged. But I was overwhelmingly glad to be believed, though not to leave Mona for a moment.

“ ‘Mrs. McQueen,' said Stirling. ‘It is best that Quinn leave here with you now, you know that. The refurbishing of the island can well take place without him, and if he never sees Petronia again, all the better for him, surely you agree.'

“ ‘Yes, I do.'

“ ‘Then forgive me for this, but I'm going to say something to you which is going to make it simpler for Quinn to come to his decision. Please believe that I use this power respectfully.'

“ ‘Which power is this?'

“ ‘The same one Petronia claimed to have,' said Stirling, ‘and when I came into this room today I used it, accidentally as always, unwillingly as always. But I couldn't help but know that your doctor had been here earlier, and he had told you that this trip to Europe would have to be your very last.'

“ ‘Oh, dear,' she sighed. ‘I didn't want Quinn to know.'

“ ‘But I
should
know!' I said at once. I was chilled to the bone. ‘Aunt Queen, we're going! I had no idea the doctor was here. I just have to discuss this with Mona; Mona will understand everything.' My heart ached.

“Jasmine appeared out of nowhere at this opportune moment and declared with full authority, ‘That doctor said there should be no trip to Europe, that's what he said! And then Aunt Queen said she was going and then that doctor said this trip had to be her last, that's what happened here this morning, I know because I heard!'

“ ‘We'll go,' I declared. ‘We'll all go together, and we'll stay as long as we can.' Oh my precious Mona, what else can I do?

“ ‘It's the best thing,' said Stirling. ‘You asked me to come here, to listen to these stories, and I tell you, based on all I've heard, including this unforgivable little mental eavesdropping, that you should take Quinn away from here, away from Petronia's temper and whims and go. You have a great prize to give your nephew in this trip. Give it to him while you can. And give it to yourself. You deserve to have this great gift from him.'

“ ‘Yes, that's so true, Aunt Queen,' I said. ‘Stirling, you're a magician with words. You've teased out the truth of it. We're going. I only need to talk to Mona.'

“ ‘Well, I think this is a marvelous resolution,' said Aunt Queen, ‘but I'm still left with questions. Stirling, you speak as if you know of Petronia—.'

“ ‘No, I know nothing of her. I've never heard her name. I was judging from your story. All the elements were there to drive me to my conclusion that her tastes were nocturnal. Why else would she have agreed to split the usage of the Hermitage with Quinn, he for day, and she for night, were she not fond of the swamp after dark when few people like it save those who hunt for alligators, I suppose? As for the rest of her habits, she seems vicious and violent, and Quinn showed an enormous amount of courage in confronting her. I would imagine she left here very surprised last night.'

“ ‘She looked triumphant,' I said. ‘She'd made me out to be a lunatic.'

“ ‘But you're not a lunatic,' said Stirling.

“ ‘No, you're not,' said Aunt Queen. ‘I'm immensely relieved. You're not. But Stirling, you speak of her as though she's a species of creature.'

“ ‘I didn't mean to do that,' he said. ‘That was unwise of me. I meant to disclose a feeling of impersonality by using that word, I suppose. As I said, I was trying to judge purely from the things you told me. I believe she's a menace to Quinn and she'll keep toying with him if you remain here. The important thing is to go away.'

“ ‘Nash, what do you think?' Aunt Queen asked.

“Of course Nash demurred. It wasn't really his place to comment, but Aunt Queen pressed him, as he had met Petronia and he had witnessed some of what had gone on.

“ ‘Quinn seems more than sane,' Nash explained in his deep commanding voice. ‘I have to agree. As to the trip to Europe, I think it's a marvelous idea. Now, Petronia, I must say that her theories on reincarnation gave me pause. She claimed herself to have lived in ancient Pompeii as we have discussed, and she spoke of witnessing the eruption of Vesuvius, and I must confess that I experienced a faint, what would you call it, a faint . . .'

“ ‘Disorientation,' I said immediately.

“ ‘Yes, exactly, I experienced a disorientation while she was talking, as though she were a hypnotist. It wasn't entirely comfortable. And it left me with a feeling of confusion that I didn't much like. I would never have mentioned it, except that you've asked me. But I can say in conclusion that Petronia seemed otherwise to be charming and perhaps, perhaps a little sly.'

“ ‘How so sly?' asked Aunt Queen.

“ ‘When a person hypnotizes a whole room, yet never acknowledges it, there is a slyness there,' said Nash. ‘Don't you think?'

“I was very impressed with these statements. I had expected Nash to claim neutrality, and I loved him now more than ever before.

“Lunch was concluded, but not before I had eaten all the veal and pasta on Goblin's plate, with his respectfully requested permission, and Jasmine and Big Ramona cleared away both dishes and table so that we could sit and talk.

“Aunt Queen made the necessary calls to set our plan in motion. Nash averred that his suitcase had never been unpacked. And tipsy as I was, I asked if I could drive Stirling around Blackwood Farm to show him the old pastures and a little bit of the swamp that one could see from the road. Before we would drive I would take him down to the cemetery to see the tombs and the old church.

“I could see that neither Nash nor Aunt Queen wanted me to be alone with him, but they couldn't very well object to it, and as soon as we were alone, headed down to the cemetery, I understood quite fully why.

“ ‘Listen to me,' Stirling said. ‘I don't want to frighten your Aunt Queen or say things to her that will make her suspect my sanity as she now suspects yours. But I believe completely that you saw this creature dumping bodies in the swamp and I mean every word of it when I ask you to promise that you will never, never return to Sugar Devil Island at night.'

“ ‘You've got my promise,' I said. ‘If it hadn't been for Rebecca's dream, I would never have been there in the first place.'

“ ‘That is a story unto itself,' he said, ‘and for now I can't comment on it, but reaffirm your promise to me and never waver, and from now on, please keep in touch with me. Realize that I am your good friend.'

“We had reached the tombs and I showed him Rebecca's headstone. Of course he knew the full story. We went into the little chapel. I was distressed to see so many leaves. I would have to tell Allen to sweep it out.