The Drifter (25 page)

Jean hugged her and laughed. “Well, it might as well be authentic—and if I can suggest any historical decorating tips, I'm glad to do it. Oh, Carolyn, here's your mail. I stopped at the post office and thought I'd save you a trip.”

“Thanks.” Carolyn nodded. “I'll go make us some tea.”

Leaving Jean and her mother to chat, Carolyn went to the kitchen. She flipped quickly through the stack of bills and letters and started to put them down on the table when one particular envelope caught her eye.

It was addressed to her.

The postmark was from Canada.

With trembling fingers Carolyn tore it open, her eyes hastily scanning the message written inside:

My dear Carolyn,

The night is stormy as I write this … it fills my head and heart with bittersweet memories. I don't know when this letter will reach you, or where I might be when it does … on some foreign sea, no doubt, exploring new and uncharted territories.

The journey has not been without its problems—or its dangers—but among my men there has been not one fatality, I'm happy to report.

Who can say what the future will bring? Perhaps someday we shall be reunited once more with those whose paths have crossed with ours.

The enclosed trinket is for you. I acquired it from a rather solitary gentleman who had no further use of it, and I knew at once that you should be the one to have it. Of itself it is worth very little … and yet the gentleman assured me it would bring you good fortune. When you wear it—and use it—I hope you will think of me.

Your loving Matthew

Carolyn stared down at the envelope. She tilted it up and let the contents slide out into her palm.

A necklace.

A tiny key on a delicate silver chain.

They never found Molly's body. And the next time I went down to the cave, it was as if no one had ever lived there at all.…

Yet somehow Carolyn knew that when she went to the beach this afternoon and made her way to the back of Molly's cave, that all she'd have to do was unlock the hidden door, and there it would be.

The golden hook.

Covered with jewels and sand and mystery, but not a trace of blood.…

“How's that tea coming?” Mom asked as Jean wheeled her into the kitchen.

“Just fine.” Carolyn shoved the letter and chain into her pocket. “Ready in a second.”

“Oh, honey, it's so good to be home.” Mom patted Carolyn's hand and rested it against her cheek. “You
do
think it could be home now, don't you?”

Carolyn looked down at her mother's hopeful face. She lifted her eyes to the window, to the cold rainy morning, and then her heart quickened in her chest.

Was that something out there? Far off in the distance? Someone standing in the fog? Watching the house?

“Carolyn …” Her mother nudged her. “Do you think it
could
be?”

“I'm sure it could,” Carolyn murmured, and she moved to the windowpane and gazed out at the endless gray world beyond. “And every single traveler will want to come here and stay.”

She turned to her mother with a smile.

“Every one of them.”

Born on April Fool's Day 1952, Richie Tankersley Cusick was destined at a young age to write scary books. In a career spanning three decades, she has paved the way for young-adult horror writing, a genre she continues to publish in today.

Although born in New Orleans—home to some of the country's most ancient ghosts—Cusick spent her early years in a small bayou town called Barataria, which once provided a safe haven for the fearsome pirate Jean Lafitte. A true Southern writer, she took early inspiration from the landscape of crumbling mansions, Spanish moss, and aboveground cemeteries, and began writing stories at a young age. For years a ghost lurked in her family's house, making particular trouble around the holidays, when he would strip the Christmas tree of its ornaments and hurl them to the floor.

After graduating from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Cusick took a job at Hallmark and moved to Kansas City, where she once again shared her home with a mischievous spirit. It was then that she started work on her first novel,
Evil on the Bayou
(1984), based on her childhood memories of life in the eerie Louisiana swamps. Its success allowed her to leave Hallmark and begin writing fulltime.

When Cusick's novel-writing career began, horror fiction for teens was a new genre. Along with authors like Christopher Pike and R. L. Stine, Cusick pioneered the form, finding success writing chilling stories with only a dash of the gore that defines adult thrillers.

Since
Evil on the Bayou
, Cusick has written more than two dozen novels about everything from vampires to pirate ghosts. In 2003 she began
The Unseen
, a four-volume series about a young girl who is tormented by the occult. Cusick currently lives with her three dogs in Missouri, where she enjoys listening to classic horror-movie soundtracks as she writes on an antique roll-top desk once owned by a funeral director. The desk is, of course, haunted.

Richie Tankersley Cusick at age three in front of her grandparents' house in Rolla, Missouri. From left to right: Richie's father, Dick; her mother, Lou; Grandma Tankersley; and Aunt Deanie. Richie's grandmother was the biggest inspiration in her life, and the first one to really encourage her passion for writing.

Richie in her senior year at Riverdale High School in Louisiana in 1970. Richie was editor in chief of the school newspaper, the
Scotichronicon
, and was also voted most creative of her senior class.

Richie's official press card as editor in chief of the
Scotichronicon
. Her responsibilities included writing editorials, thinking up topics, conducting interviews, and assigning stories to the staff.

Richie started playing guitar at an early age, inspired by her uncles and their love of country music. She has always loved singing, and has written several hundred songs.

Richie in her cubicle at Hallmark Greeting Cards, Inc., where she worked as a writer from 1975 to 1984. In addition to writing every type of greeting card imaginable, Richie wrote poems and prose for posters, puzzle backs, calendars, plaques, key chains, buttons, coloring books, mugs, and more.

Richie with her maid of honor and lifelong friend, Lise, at her wedding in 1980.

Richie's haunted roll-top desk, located in her home office in Missouri. The desk belonged to a funeral director in the 1800s, and has been the source of some spooky occurrences, including eerie footsteps, muffled voices, and ghostly singing.