The Piper (11 page)

Robbie gave them a cold glance from the hallway as she headed toward the shredder in the back.

The figures on the screen began to waver and jump, which always happened when Olivia got tired or stressed. ‘Shut the door, will you, Teddy?'

Teddy folded a page of the book and set it on the floor. ‘Good idea. That person doesn't like me.'

‘What person?'

‘Mrs Arliss. She gives me funny looks.'

‘If she doesn't like it, too bad.'

‘Yeah, 'cause you're the boss.'

Olivia smiled but her stomach was tight. She was on very shaky ground. Kids at work were questionable enough, but dogs were strictly against corporate policy, and Olivia wondered if having Winston in the office could get her fired. Robbie had been very unhappy when Winston had chugged through the back door with her that morning, though he had been good as gold and only barked once. Robbie did not seem to be an animal lover. Admittedly, there was a certain amount of shedding, but that was what vacuum cleaners were for. Olivia wondered if putting Winston in a UT football jersey would help.

‘Can we go back to California, Mommy?'

‘No, Teddy, we live here now.'

‘I miss Daddy.'

Olivia nodded. ‘I know you do. Why don't you call him tonight, after we get home from work.'

Olivia's cell phone rang.

‘Maybe that's Daddy. Maybe he knows I needed him to call.'

‘No, it's Dr Amelia. She told me she wanted to talk to you today, when you got home from school.' Olivia handed Teddy the phone.

‘Hello?' Teddy stood at attention right by Olivia's desk. ‘Yes. Yes. Okay. Uh huh. His name is Mr Ogden.' Teddy turned pink. ‘You might say so.'

Olivia wondered what Amelia had said.

‘We have a lizard in our class room, his name is Eduardo. No, he doesn't have a last name, or if he does, Mr Ogden didn't tell us. What?' Teddy crossed the room and picked up her book. ‘No, it's
The Ghost of Blackwood Hall
, I finished
The Secret of the Old Clock
ages ago.'

Teddy slumped suddenly, shoulders sagging, little tummy poked out. ‘No, ma'am. No, ma'am. No, there aren't any red leather belts in the book.
They don't hurt animals in Nancy Drew
.'

Teddy snapped the phone shut and slammed it down on the edge of Olivia's desk.

‘Didn't she want to talk to me?' Olivia asked.

‘I hung up.'

‘
Teddy.
'

Teddy grabbed her Nancy Drew book and threw it at the wall.

Olivia stood up. ‘
Teddy
. What's the matter with you?'

‘You told her, Mommy. You told Dr Amelia about Duncan Lee and she said it was all a dream. It was supposed to be private, just between you and me, and now we're all going to get it,
because he told me not to tell
.'

T
uesday night was the spaghetti special at Naples Italian Restaurant, so Olivia told Teddy they'd have dinner out. It would have been a matter of five minutes to stop at the house and drop Winston off, along with Teddy's backpack, to give Olivia a chance to put on a pair of jeans. But somehow, they didn't. Olivia told herself that her fantasy of cuddly dinners with Teddy in the little sunroom off the kitchen would have to wait until all the kitchen boxes were unpacked, and they were better settled in.

Naples was a block down the road, on Kingston Pike, and their parking lot was half full. Olivia and Teddy giggled about how close the restaurant was. They'd done a lot of driving in LA. They parked the Jeep on the left hand side of the restaurant, and left the windows down a double snout length. Winston seemed content to curl up and sleep and Teddy promised him a share of her spaghetti for later on.

The restaurant was small, and had not changed, which made Olivia feel nostalgic and relieved. This was where she'd celebrated birthday dinners as she grew up, where she and Hugh had their first date. She and Teddy could smell garlic sautéed in olive oil, and freshly baked bread. Wooden booths with red upholstery, darkly papered walls, two tiny alcoves in the corner for private, intimate dinners – a traditional family Italian restaurant right down to the wine bottles along the wall.

Olivia and Teddy slathered herb studded butter on warm bread from a basket, ate spaghetti with meat sauce, and ended by splitting an order of tiramisu. Normally Olivia would have had a glass of Chianti or Shiraz, but for some reason it didn't seem wise. She was glad, later, that she had passed.

Teddy ate a good dinner. Olivia was relieved. They took the leftovers with them for Winston. But eventually, they had to go home.

Olivia was sure she had left a light on in the kitchen, but the house was dark when they pulled into the drive. The dog was barking again, the one Olivia had heard the night before. Winston stuck his head in the crack of the window and growled.

‘Mommy, do you hear that dog? I think he's trapped in that yard, where that house is for sale.'

‘Which one, Teddy? There are a lot of houses for sale.'

Teddy pointed. Past the trees to the privacy fence, the tangle of bamboo, honeysuckle and forsythia that shrouded them from the house next door.

Olivia shook her head. ‘That house is empty, Teddy, nobody lives there.'

‘But listen.'

Olivia stepped out of the car. Teddy opened the door for Winston, who jumped out and headed straight for the woods that divided their yard from the one next door.

‘I don't hear it anymore, Teddy. The barking's stopped,' Olivia said.

‘But what if the dog is in there, trapped in the backyard?' Teddy pushed her glasses up on her nose and her eyes seemed to glint in the dark.

Olivia had an image of the way her daughter had looked last night, so still and afraid in her room.

‘People do that, you know. They move away and leave their animals, I heard it on the news. Please, Mommy. Can't we just look? If they left him in the backyard, he'll starve.'

Olivia left her purse and briefcase on the front seat of the car. The truth was the barking
had
seemed to come from the fenced in backyard. ‘Okay. We'll take a quick look.'

Teddy went first, calling to Winston, who led the charge. Olivia lagged awkwardly in her heels. She trudged behind Teddy and Winston, past the koi pond that was now full of dead decaying fish, and the old brick barbecue grill gummed up with the dried, charred remains of cookouts past. Chris and Charlotte had left things in a bad way. Olivia knew she needed to clear things out, but she didn't have the energy right now.

But it reminded her of how things used to be, and she liked thinking about those days, the early ones in particular, when they were all there and safe, Emily, Chris, her mother and father and Hunter the dog. They played Monopoly every Saturday night, and cooked barbecued chicken outside on the grill, and sometimes on cold weekend days her daddy built a fire in the fireplace. The images were good ones, a timeless loop she liked to play in her head.

The
For Sale
sign next door was crooked. It had been up a while. The windows of the house were dark, with the bereft glaze of vacancy, no shutters, curtains or blinds. The grass was high and weedy, wet and itchy on Olivia's ankles. Slats of wood had fallen from the side of the house. Someone had heaped branches and grass clippings in a pile that was too close to the house for the garbage men to pick up.

Olivia hesitated in the driveway. Teddy and Winston charged ahead.

The wood gate that led into the backyard was not locked. It swung inward with ease. A security light on the utility pole in the back made spotlights and shadows. Olivia went in first, with Teddy at her back, and she took Teddy's hand as Winston rushed past them. He covered every inch, running in a zigzag, following scents, nose to the ground, investigating every tree, every dip of ground. The yard was terraced, tangled with neglect, and lonely somehow. There was no dog to be seen.

‘I know I heard him, Mommy,' Teddy said.

‘I heard him, too. He's just a neighbor dog, honey. Maybe he lives over there,' Olivia pointed. ‘Or even across the street.'

‘The barking came from here.'

Olivia didn't argue.

‘I can prove it. Let's come back tomorrow, when it's daylight, and look for poo.'

‘Come on, Kidlet. You need a hot bath and I want to get out of these shoes. OK, Winston, here boy.'

Olivia was careful to close the gate behind them. She noticed, as soon as they turned back for home, the light in the kitchen was on now, just the way she'd left it that morning.

Olivia knew that she was tired. She knew that she was stressed. And she knew the house had been dark ten minutes ago when she and Teddy drove up.

Olivia kept an eye on Winston. If someone had broken in, he'd tell her.

O
livia put it down to imagination, but the house did not seem to welcome her anymore. It seemed distant somehow, and strange. When she looked at the stone fireplace, the wide planked wood floors, the high ceilings in every room, the aura of magic was gone. They were just rooms. Her rooms. As long as she lived.

Winston charged in first, heading for his food bowl. Teddy chucked softly in her doggie voice, and filled his bowl with kibble, then dumped the leftover spaghetti on top. Olivia wondered if Winston would even notice an intruder if there was spaghetti to be had.

‘Go get your bath, Teddy. It's almost time for bed.'

‘Can I take a bubble bath?'

‘Not tonight, Teddy. You need to take a really quick bath and get to bed. It's already a half hour past your bedtime.'

But Teddy did not move. She squatted beside Winston and did not look up. ‘Mommy, can we play boat tonight?'

Boat. The game where everyone piled in the same bed, dogs included, and the bed was the boat with water all around.

Olivia rubbed her forehead, wondering how much sleep she'd get with Teddy in the bed. Then she thought about SUNDS and changed her mind.

‘Okay. But you and Winston have to get on the boat ahead of me. You need to get to sleep, and I have some boxes to unpack.'

‘Will you run the water for me?'

Olivia looked over her shoulder at Teddy, who was still squatting beside Winston, and would not meet her eye. Clearly, Teddy did not want to go upstairs alone. This whole damn thing was getting out of hand.

‘Fine then.' Olivia dropped her briefcase on the sunroom table and kicked off her shoes. ‘Come on, let's get moving, and get you tucked into bed.'

Olivia went first up the stairs, but Teddy and Winston scrambled ahead. Teddy was at the turn of the staircase when she stopped and cocked her head.

‘Mommy, do you hear that?' Teddy said.

‘Hear what?'

The three of them paused on the landing at the top of the stairs, and Olivia flipped the wall switch, felt relief when it actually came on. Teddy took a step forward, but Olivia touched her arm.

‘Hang on a minute, Teddy, I do hear it. Did you leave the bathroom faucet running this morning when we left?'

‘No, Mommy, I promise.'

Olivia went down the hallway, eyeing the grill of the attic fan. The mercury light in the hallway was dim, but growing slowly brighter. The sound of running water was unmistakable, and the bathroom door was closed. Olivia opened the door. Switched on the light.

The hot water tap for the claw foot tub was turned full blast, and the tub was full but not overflowing, the drain working overtime.

‘
Teddy, come in here
.' Olivia twisted the tap shut, and turned to look at her daughter, who hung in the doorway, her backpack sliding down one shoulder. ‘Did you do this? Leave the water running all day? Do you have any idea what our utility bill's going to be like? Teddy, we don't have the money for this kind of thing.'

‘Mommy, I didn't do it, I promise.'

‘Teddy, if you tell me
honest
, then I believe you. But just don't lie. I won't be mad at you if you tell me the truth. Did you leave the water on, Teddy? Just answer me, come on, will you, I'm tired. Did you leave it on or didn't you?'

Teddy would not meet her eye.

‘Teddy?'

‘I don't remember.'

‘You don't remember or you did it and don't want to say?'

‘I don't know.'

‘I don't know isn't a good answer.' Olivia moved swiftly, so fast that Teddy stumbled backward when she took her arm. ‘Look. I just need to know the truth about what happened here. Because either you left the water running or it came on by itself. Are you telling me it came on by itself? Or are you going to tell me
Duncan Lee
did it?'

Teddy folded her arms and stared at the floor. ‘Maybe I did do it.'

‘
Maybe
you did do it? That's just great. You know what, just brush your teeth. There's not going to be any hot water anyway, so forget the bath. Get your pajamas on and get into bed.'

‘Can we . . . can we still play boat?'

‘
Fine
. Just get on with it, Teddy, I'm tired and I've had a long damn day.'

‘You promised I could call Daddy. I need to talk to Daddy
tonight
.'

‘
Teddy. Go to bed
.'

T
he North Shore Brasserie was in an upscale shopping strip off South Northshore Drive. The sign beneath the green awning promised Belgian/French cuisine, and announced a Sunday Brunch, from ten until two. McTavish guided Olivia through the double doors.

The floors were dark hardwood, polished to a shine. A chalk board of features was propped on an easel in front of the bar, which was on the right, quietly elegant, with high wood tables, a granite top, two big screen TVs, and a head spinning assortment of interesting bottles and Belgian beer on tap. A hostess led them to the dining room on the left, settling them at a table/booth combination, comfortably tucked in the far corner of the room.