Kelly McClymer-Must Love Black (15 page)

I’d wanted one for a long time, but Dad had always
refused, saying they gave him a headache. Now that he’d married a woman who gave
me
a headache, I figured that meant I didn’t have to consider his comfort when choosing a wind chime. And so I bought a smallish silver and gold wind chime that made a delicate tinkle that would wake me nicely every morning and gently lull me to sleep in ghost-free luxury.

Laurie came over, curious about my purchase. “Hmm. Goth girl is into wind chimes. I’d never have guessed.”

“Yeah, well, I’d never have pictured you as the thong-out-of-the-pants type. What would Lady Buena Verde say?” I only meant to tease her a little. It’s not like I thought it was any of my business if she wanted to walk down the street practically naked. But she seemed to get really angry and stalked away from me without a word.

I grabbed my change and my wind chime and followed her out. She had the keys to the truck, after all. “Hey! I’m just teasing. I’m not interested in being the fashion police.”

Laurie relented and slowed down enough to let me catch up with her. “I know you think I’m just Lady Buena Verde’s lapdog or something, but I’m not. This job is important to me, and I take it seriously. I don’t need you judging me for that.” Whoa. I knew I had to make nice.

“Sorry, Laurie. I don’t mean to be making your life harder. I take my nanny duties seriously, too, you know?”

Laurie was less than appeased. “I’m not a kid anymore. You still have another year of high school left, but I’m done. This is my profession. I don’t want to jeopardize it.”

I realized I hadn’t given a lot of thought to Laurie and her
situation. She was a person, just like me, trying to survive. “You’re not going to college?”

“I am, part-time. But this is the job I want. And I don’t have a dad who’ll send me to college. I have to pay my own way.”

I’d never thought of myself as lucky before. But Dad was going to pay for my college, unless Krystal talked him out of it. As much as I disliked her, I didn’t think she was that evil.

Laurie backtracked from her complaint a bit. “It’s good for the character to make your own way, my mom says.” She smiled. “I’d love to manage Chrysalis Cliff once I’ve earned my degree. It has so much potential. I know I could do a lot with it.”

“Great.” I didn’t know what else to say.

“I have some innovative plans for the place,” she said conspiratorially. “Geoff thinks they’re brilliant.”

“Really?” My stomach suddenly felt like a chunk of concrete.

Laurie nodded. “An outdoor yoga garden, like they have in spas out west. And a real stone massage, where the patron is on one of those people-size rocks on the beach. Doesn’t that sound fabulous?”

“I guess.” It wasn’t anything I’d considered before. “But we don’t have the weather they have in California.”

“I know. We’d have to find a way to keep the rocks heated on cloudy days. But I bet we could do it.”

“Have you asked Mr. Pertweath if he likes the idea? Or is it just something you talked about with Geoff ?” I tried to ask
the question in a way that would open the door for her to tell me just how close she and Geoff were.

Unfortunately, Laurie was focused on the great idea. “Lady Buena Verde says it might have some promise, but I haven’t spoken to Mr. Pertweath yet.”

“Lady Buena Verde should know. She’s all about business, isn’t she? They even do business at the dinner table.”

“She’s always like that, which is why she makes a good partner for Mr. Pertweath. He wouldn’t work nearly as hard if he didn’t have her keeping him on track.”

“It doesn’t hurt to stop and check out the butterflies now and then, you know?”

“So they say. I’m not so sure. Although I have wondered about how hard Lady Buena Verde works. For someone who’s supposed to spread peace, she’s not very good at leaving me in peace.”

We laughed at that one. I couldn’t help hoping Laurie might become an ally for Triste and Rienne. I’d be gone at the end of the summer, but Laurie would be staying at Chrysalis Cliff full-time. It wouldn’t hurt to try to win her over to their side. “The girls could use a little more time with their dad than they’re getting right now. And it kills me to see them so unfairly imprisoned in our domain. Something’s got to give. They’re little girls. They should be able to swim, to visit the butterfly garden—even to occasionally come down and ask their dad to help them solve a problem.”

“Well,” Laurie hedged. “I think Chrysalis Cliff takes a lot of attention to run.”

“True.” I thought of a win-win suggestion. “So, what if we
convince Mr. Pertweath to turn over some of his duties to you and schedule a little more time with his girls?”

That got her to smile a smile so wide and happy that I saw her left eyetooth was slightly crooked. Maybe that was what had charmed Geoff ?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

There are things in this world that even the most sensible among us fear to examine, Miss Putnam. I cannot yet say whether you are sensible or fearless.

—Lord Dashwood to Miss Adelaide Putnam,
Manor of Dark Dreams
, p. 156

When the girls decide to tackle learning a subject, they’re nothing if not relentless. When I got back from shopping, they were using the computers to research better swim techniques and how to perfect the most efficient strokes.

Triste explained their plans as she held the wind chime in place while I screwed it into my window frame. “We’ll be sure to be very good swimmers by the end of the summer. Perhaps we may even join a team.”

“Teamwork builds stamina,” Rienne added. “You need stamina for all kinds of activities, including studying and problem solving, and of course swimming a mile or more.”

“Yes, you do,” I agreed.

I couldn’t help noticing the difference in behavior they exhibited when they were enthusiastic about something. They were in their bathing suits and ready to go as soon as our scheduled swim time arrived each morning. I didn’t have to cajole or remind—not even about sunscreen. They had rubbed it on each other before I could get the word “sunscreen” out of my mouth. Swimming might have counted as fun, but for Triste and Rienne it was very serious business.

Lady Buena Verde had noticed us, and several times I saw her standing under the shade of an awning over Mr. Pertweath’s office window, watching us swim with an eagle eye. Every time I looked up, she smiled at me, but I didn’t get a friendly vibe from her crossed arms.

There are some people who can seem as friendly as can be, but your fake radar—Sarah calls it fakedar—signal is so loud that you want to run away. Lady Buena Verde was sending my fakedar into hyperdrive. It didn’t help that she looked like a giant towering over us as she approached the edge of the pool, peering down and smiling as if she thought it a grand idea that we were out in public where we could disrupt the peace of the patrons.

“Are the girls enjoying their swim?” she boomed down at me, still smiling.

I took pity on her nervous anxiety. “They’re eager students when they get on board with the point of the lessons.” I smiled back up at her, shading my eyes from the bright sun just over her shoulder. “We’re almost finished with our session; we’ll be out of here before the pool opens to guests.”

She didn’t indicate reassurance by relaxing her vigilant glance, but her smile got a touch wider as she recited the
correct response. “Of course, I don’t doubt it. You’re doing a very fine job, Philippa.”

“Thank you.” So what if my fakedar was ringing alarms? With people like Lady Buena Verde, it’s better to pretend they mean what they say. If you call them on their fakeness, they’ll only try to convince you they’re sincere and/or you’re crazy. Lady Buena Verde and Krystal had quite a lot in common. Fortunately, my highly sensitive fakedar prepared me to deal with both of them.

“I don’t say that lightly. I believe in saying positive things, but not meaningless ones.” Okay, so Lady Buena Verde had fakedar of her own.

“Me too.” I glanced at the twins, who were dividing their attention between perfectly executing swim strokes and watching me carefully, as if they were afraid I was about to be eaten by a shark. “Don’t want to get ticketed by the pointless police for inane rambling, do we, girls?”

They grinned and came over to stand beside me, the sun sparkling on the water rills their movement created.

Lady Buena Verde shielded her eyes from the sunlight glinting off the water. Triste swirled the water even more. Smart girl.

I wondered if Lady BV knew that Laurie and I were in cahoots now. She was certainly smart enough to figure it out. Especially when Mr. P came out in casual clothes and said cheerfully, “Time to see to Misty Gale, girls.” I had to admit, I hadn’t thought Laurie would be able to convince him so quickly. Maybe he really did want to spend time with his girls, even though he didn’t show it at all.

The three Pertweaths headed for the little pen that Geoff had built out by the garage for their goat without a backward glance at Lady Buena Verde. I climbed out of the pool, and Lady Buena Verde moved back a little, as if she was afraid her flowing silver silk would be ruined by the water. I knew from Geoff that the water was naturally purified by the movement of the waterfall, and so was not chlorinated, but I still had to put forth an effort to resist the urge to splash a little more than necessary.

I grabbed up my towel and my discarded clothes, probably faster than I might have if I wasn’t in such a hurry to leave her sight. Strange how someone could beam at you and still make you feel you aren’t welcome. It was an art, I guessed. I suppose if I watched her closely enough, I might learn to do it. I could definitely see how such a skill could be useful for senior year, when the cheerleaders started ragging on my fashion sense. Or, as they liked to call it, my fashion senselessness.

Just as I was about to follow the twins to the goat pen, Lady Buena Verde put her hand on my arm. Very lightly, like the quick slide of her silk wrap. “Philippa, I sense the shadow in your aura, as I’ve said before. There is a difference now, from when you first arrived. I must ask you again if there is anything I might do to help you?”

I shrugged and gave my standard answer. “I just like black. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“I’m not speaking of what you wear. I’m speaking of your aura. Your soul.” She spoke condescendingly, as if only a child would need such a thing explained.

“I know what an aura is,” I lied. I didn’t feel guilty about
the lie. As soon as I was safely back in my domain, I’d get the scoop from the Internet and the twins.

“Yours suggests you may have had a frightening encounter with the spirit world recently. I must ask: You haven’t seen the ghost of the sea captain’s wife, have you?”

I wasn’t prepared for the question. I’d thought she was going to ask about my mom’s death. That’s what people who weren’t into the woo-woo world did. Ask about grief and loss and sorrow. Not comfortable territory, but I’d been there plenty of times before, so I was prepared for it—a quick glance at the ground, a sad little sigh, and, “I’m going on as she would have wanted me to.” That always handled the mom queries.

The ghost question? Not so much. So I did what I was infamous for at school. I told the truth. Plain, unvarnished, and probably not to my credit. “I may have seen it a few weeks ago.”

“Where did you see it?” She leaned forward. Apparently she didn’t share my doubts that I’d actually seen a ghost.

“By the woods near the pool.” I hoped I wasn’t going to get in trouble when she realized that meant I’d been disobeying the order to stay out of the public areas except during scheduled times.

“Really?” Her interest was well and truly piqued—the opposite of what I wanted.

I tried to minimize the damage. “Maybe. Or maybe I was just spooked out. You know, new place? Dark? Spookiness all around?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I see it in your aura. You saw a
ghost. If you want me to help you take the shadows away, you need simply to ask.”

Weird thing? She meant it. My fakedar was totally silent as she stood grasping my arm tightly and staring into my eyes.

“What can you do? It’s just a ghost.” Or not. “I’m sure it will find something better to do in a little while.”

“I wouldn’t count on that. It senses the sorrow in your soul, Philippa. You must act to rid yourself of the ghost’s interest.”

“Act how?” I pictured scenes from
The Exorcist
and shivered. I so was not going there. No way, no how.

“I can speak to it. Find out what it wants.” She beamed. “Ask it to stop darkening your soul.”

“Does that work?” I tried to picture it but failed completely.

“Oh, yes. It’s as simple as arranging a séance.”

She seemed too pleased with herself. I started to worry. Clearly, it would please Lady BV if I agreed to this séance. But frankly, a séance wasn’t my idea of fun, fun, fun. Lady Buena Verde would just have to be disappointed. I thanked her, said no, politely but firmly, and walked off to join the Pertweaths and Geoff.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN