"Robert Butt was released, clean bill of health, no probation. No warrants in Alaska or Colorado. Duncan Thoth has no record, but he did ministry at the hospital."
"Same year Robert Butt was there?" Archer asked.
"Yes."
"And what about getting in the house?"
"They suggested charm. We have no cause to pull rank or use force," Andre answered as he broke away from Archer when Nell called to him.
"Are they checking if Thoth owns the house?" Archer asked while he followed the trooper to the bank as the canoe drifted to shore.
"They'll look at land records tomorrow," Andre said and then he didn't want to talk about Duncan Thoth anymore. The canoe had made it across the water and through the ice and was now at the riverbank. He pulled Nell up and out of the canoe. Nell passed the paddle back to Josie who stowed it before she reached for Archer.
Just as he took her in his arms and she said, 'good to see you', the guy in the canoe with the bird on his hat hollered:
"Watch it fella! No bear hugs for Miss Josie."
***
Billy walked behind Mama Cecilia even though he would have preferred to run ahead. He had the weird idea that Hannah's spirit would lead him back to her. He thought Duncan's evilness would be like breadcrumbs dropped along the way. But neither Hannah's goodness or Duncan's wickedness were anywhere to be found. There were only trees and cold and an old woman in front of him. Without her, he would be lost.
In Billy's boots, scraps of leather covered the holes in his soles. Oki had put a scarf around Billy's neck. He found mittens that didn't match and he put them on Billy's hands. He gave them food and worried that they would not have a place to sleep, but Billy said they would not need a place to sleep. When they were close, he would send Mama Cecilia back. Billy had thought it would be easier if she just brought him to the river and he could follow that but Mama Cecilia said it was too far. A straight line would get him where he was going sooner.
They walked a long way and it was only when Mama Cecilia stumbled that Billy realized he had been lost in his own fantasies about what he would do and say to Duncan when he saw him again. He skipped ahead a few paces and took her arm.
"You should sit down."
Mama did not disagree and they sat together on some rocks. He took out some food to give her, and some water. They ate and listened to the nothing until Mama said:
"Is your friend a good person?"
Billy nodded. "You are, too, Mama Cecilia."
"My son has left me," she admitted.
"Sons do that sometimes," Billy said.
"Did you leave your mother?"
Billy shook his head and his sadness was so great that Mama Cecilia did not ask about his mother. Instead, she said:
"Will you come see me? You and your friend?
"Yes," he said. "I promise."
They ate some more and rested longer than Billy wanted to. But that was how he thought it should be. Worrying about Mama Cecilia instead of only about Hannah made Billy think that maybe Oki had retrieved just a little bit of his soul after all.
***
Nell was on the big boat Andre and Archer had rented. Andre was on the phone yet again. Stu had gotten himself off somewhere. Josie and Archer had tired of waiting on them and walked up the path so she could see the house. Now they stood at the edge of the forest looking at it.
"There are at least four people inside. Two upstairs in separate rooms when last I saw them. I saw one woman. She looked like she was probably young."
"Young like Hannah?"
Archer shook his head, "No, babe. Chin length hair. Bigger than Hannah. She was watching Duncan from the room downstairs. I assume that's a living room."
"So what's up on the third floor? One of the dormers is boarded up."
"Your guess is as good as mine," Archer said. Josie took his hand. He turned her so they were facing one another. His hands hovered around her waist but he didn't touch her. "Do you hurt?"
"Yes," she said and then she kissed him. "I want to go home. I want to go home with Hannah. I want to get married on a warm beach."
"I'm with you, babe," he said.
"I know. You always are, always will be." Josie kissed him lightly. "Watch my back, will you?"
Archer laughed as she slipped away and walked across the clearing. No one looked out the windows. No one came to the door and Josie wouldn't have slowed down if they had. She took the steps, knocked, waited what she considered a decent amount of time and then looked over her shoulder at Archer as she turned the knob and walked into a time warp.
The place was at least a hundred years old if it was a day. Upstairs, all was quiet. She looked down the hall to the side of the staircase and saw a dining room table. To her left was the living room where Archer thought he had seen the woman. The room was empty.
Josie walked into the room and looked at every inch. There were chairs, a couch, a low table, but no television, magazines, or books. There were pictures on the walls, beautifully, gruesomely executed pictures of religious suffering. As she passed the window, she looked to see if Archer was where she left him.
He saw her and raised a hand. She turned to the far corner of the room. There were more pictures on the long wall and one that was particularly well done over a deep-seated chair. It was a cozy corner with the painting, the chair, a standing lamp and two baskets. The small one on the side table was a basket of threads and buttons and even a darning egg. The other one on the floor was filled with clothes.
Josie figured to push her luck and try upstairs, but she changed her mind, bent down, and balanced on the balls of her feet. Carefully, she folded back the clothes on top of the mending pile until she found the pair of jeans that had caught her eye. They were small, narrow in the hip and boot cut at the hem. They had recently been washed, but the bloodstains on them were forever. They were ripped up the left leg. Josie took the other clothes out of the basket, set them aside, and then looked at the label in the jeans.
Size 2.
7 For All Mankind.
"What are you doing in here?"
Josie pivoted. In the doorway stood a young woman dressed in a high-necked shirt and a long full skirt. In one hand she held a pair of gigantic scissors. Her other hand was empty, deformed and twitching. On her face was a look of utter hatred. Still holding the jeans, Josie stood up.
"Where is Hannah?"
"She's not here," the woman replied.
"Is she dead?" Josie advanced but the woman did not retreat. Her good hand clutched the scissors like a dagger.
"Don't try it," Josie warned.
"God is on my side."
"Then he better step up his game, because I'm coming through."
CHAPTER 29
I thought I had seen Archer out the window. I thought Duncan was taking me to see him. I was wrong – at least about where he was taking me.
He put his arm around me and I leaned against him. We walked out of my room but instead of going down the stairs, he opened the door of the room next to mine; the one where the prophetess, Pea, lived.
When he locked the door I knew three things. One, Archer was here, two Duncan was pulling a
Flowers in the Attic
trick to keep me right where he wanted me, and three, I was screwed.
Hannah's eyes adjusted to the darkened room and the first thing she saw were the paintings covering every inch of every wall. The next thing she saw was the bed with its beautiful quilt. It wasn't until she looked at the room a second time that she saw the woman kneeling with her hands against the shutters, her head down, and her white gown puddled around her bare feet. Hannah twirled out of Duncan's grasp and tried to run. She didn't get far. Duncan twirled her back into his body and held her tight.
"You haven't met your sister-in-law."
"Let me out of here," Hannah whispered.
"Un-huh, Hannah. That would be against God's wishes."
"Not against mine, Duncan. You don't want me if I don't want you."
"It isn't a matter of want, Hannah," Duncan said. He yanked her toward him and clamped a hand on the back of her neck. "Stop fidgeting. Stop."
Hannah stared at his chest and tried to calm herself. Her strength was limited. She needed to wait for her moment.
"That's better," he said. "As I was saying, my life has never been about what I wanted. Now, God has been very clear about why you are here. You are to be my wife. I have followed God my whole life, and I will follow him in this. Okay? Okay?"
"Yes, Okay," Hannah answered.
"Okay, Duncan." He pulled her tighter.
"Okay, Duncan. I'm sorry. But I can't breathe. You're holding me too tight."
"I'm sorry. You have had a bad time of it," he relaxed his grip a little. "It was so unfortunate what happened with the tea. I had no idea that poison was in my house."
"What poison?"
"It doesn't matter. None of it has anything to do with you except that you have survived. Another sign, Hannah. Twice you survived the unsurvivable. I can see why you were chosen. We will still have trials ahead, but nothing compared to what you've been through."
"I guess. Sure – Duncan."
Hannah pulled back. She had never been this close to him before and she didn't want to be this close to him now. He was stronger than her but not smarter. But smarter didn't matter because he had the conviction of his faith. Dark and twisted as that faith may be, it was his and she hoped reason could penetrate that wall.
"My family is here," Hannah said. "They will be your in-laws and–”
Duncan pulled her so hard and tight the words were pushed out of her.
"They aren't your family. That is a State Trooper and he has no jurisdiction here. We've done nothing wrong."
"My friend Archer is here, too." Hannah eased back a bit more. "That hurts, Duncan. Really. It does. Please. You're holding too tight."
"Alright." He loosened his grip. "Sit on the rug. If Pea chooses to talk with you, she'll do it if you sit on the rug."
"Thank you." Hannah sat down but kept her knees up and her hands on the floor.
"You're welcome," Duncan said. "You are safe with Pea. No one will harm you in here for sure."
"Archer wouldn't hurt me," she said. "He won't leave until he knows I'm okay. I don't want you to get in trouble for helping me and Billy–”
"Get it through your head!" Duncan screamed and Hannah cringed, startled by his explosive anger. It took everything he had to calm himself, but when he did Duncan said. "Billy is gone and he won't come back." He worked his jaw. "I'm getting a little tired of people talking about him."
That was it. Hannah had no choice. She stopped trying to make nice.
"Yeah, well get used to it because I'm not going to stop talking about him," she said. "I know you did something to him, and I'm going to find out what it was. I am going to, Duncan."
Hannah got to her knees but that was as far as she got. Duncan took a step forward and looked down on her.
"It's God's will that he is gone. That's all you need to know."
Hannah smirked. She couldn't play this God game as well as Duncan. But she would play another one; one she had learned watching the cool girls in school. She would play one against the other.
Hannah's eyes narrowed, and she raised her voice. "Hey! Hey! Pea. Turn around."
"Stop it," Duncan ordered. Hannah ignored him and started to crawl toward the woman in white.
"Pea. Hey, Pea! Look at me. Your brother hurt Billy! Do you know Billy? That's not very godly, is it? Hey–”
Duncan moved faster than Hannah thought possible. He swooped down and grabbed her, pulling her up until she thought he would pull her arm out of its socket.
"Pea," Hannah screamed, but Pea paid no attention. Not when Hannah screamed her name one last time, and not when Duncan hauled off and backhanded her. Hannah's head snapped back. Her body went limp. Duncan Thoth dropped Hannah Sheraton onto one of Pea's pillows and then pushed his hair away out of his eyes.
"The Lord works in mysterious ways does he not, Pea?"
With that, Duncan stepped over Hannah and left the room.
***
"Guillard!"
Archer called for the trooper at the same time he ran for the house. He'd seen enough to know that Josie wasn't having a nice little talk with the lady of the house. Behind him, Andre called for Nell to stay put. A man came out of the shed and yelled, "Stop." Archer didn't stop.
He was up the steps and in the house with Andre closing in fast. There was a woman on the floor of the living room and a pair of scissors on the other side of the hall. Archer reached for her, but she jerked away.
"Don't touch me. Get out of here," she screamed, but Archer grabbed for her again. This time he got a good hold of her arm only to pull back when he realized he was holding bone as delicate as tinder wood. Then he grabbed her hard and pulled her up. If he broke that arm, so be it.
"Where is Josie? Where's the woman who was in here?"
"You will burn in hell–”
Archer let her go just as Andre stormed into the house. Archer was about to tell him to check the back of the house when both men heard Josie calling Hannah's name. Archer and Andre hit the second floor landing running. Josie was at the far end of the hall, throwing her shoulder against a door.
"Jo," he called.
"Archer. She's here. She's here. Somewhere. These are hers."
Josie waved the jeans at him like a red flag at a bull. Archer barreled down the hall and pushed her back. He put his shoulder into the door but the old wood was solid and all he got for his effort was a whole lot of pain. He was about to go at it again when he heard the lock engage. Andre had come up beside them and together they watched the knob turn. The door stayed closed.
"Open up. Whoever is in there, open this door," Archer said as Josie called out Hannah's name. Archer looked over his shoulder. "Guillard. You're a cop. I want this door opened. You have cause."