Watch for Me by Moonlight (18 page)

And I have to tell him what I just saw, Mallory thought. I can’t run home. I can barely get to the bottom of the hill. I have to call Drew. He has to come for me. And these two have to get to Ridgeline Hospital.

“Ben,” Mallory said. “Your mother is dying.”

WATCH FOR ME BY MOONLIGHT

D
rew was there in what seemed like less than a minute, having run every stop sign between Pilgrim Street and Mallory’s distress call. “I’m going to sit in the front,” Mallory said. “And Meredith is going to sit in the back.”

“What?” Drew said. “What’s that got to do with the price of rice? I didn’t think she was going to sit on the roof.”

“She’s going to sit in the back.”

“There’s nowhere else she can sit, Brynn,” Drew told her, not realizing that the comment was not intended for his ears and was an invitation to get across town quickly, to the hospital. Mallory had no idea how ghosts covered ground. Meredith got into the back and slid over behind the driver’s seat. They raced through the early afternoon sunlight to the doors of the hospital.

Mallory said, “Sasha’s with Mrs. Highland. I saw her there.”

“Ben’s mother had a heart attack last night. I guess she’ll be in the hospital for a while, but Sasha called Mom and said she was there in time to make sure that at least Mrs. Highland would survive. And that she was going to go to the hospital to be with her.”

“Sasha’s a wonder girl,” Mallory said.
Wonder what she brought with her,
she thought, hard, to her sister and could hear Merry catch the thought.

“Except maybe not,” said Merry. “I think that Mrs. Highland was given something. I don’t think it was something that would kill her.”

“What about the note?” Ben asked. “My father found it.”

“I guess he didn’t believe it,” Merry said.

“Who didn’t?” Drew asked.

“Or maybe what she gave your mom
would
have killed her if Sasha hadn’t been there to save her. Mally didn’t say she did. She said your mother passed out.”

“Whose mother? ” Drew asked.

“What if she does both? Kills people and saves them? What if she does it too much? ” Mallory asked. “What about that little girl? ”

“I’m not going to ask which little girl. I’m just the chauffeur,” Drew said sullenly.

“What if that’s what she’s doing to Owen? And that’s why no one can find out why he throws up all the time?”

“That would have to mean Sasha was with him every time it happened and she wasn’t,” Merry said. “But she was there right before. She prepared things he had before she left. She could have done the same thing with Mrs. Highland, and even more freely. Medicines. Things in her food. Think of all the times she’s cooked for Owen.”

“I can’t bear to,” said Mallory.

On the floor the receptionist gave them the room number for Mrs. Helene Highland, cardiac care. They found Sasha in the waiting room.

“I came to see Mrs. Highland,” Merry said. “It’s important.”

“They’re trying to figure out what’s going on with her now. She was coming along and now she isn’t. But they stopped the crisis, so far. Her husband is in there with the doctors. I don’t think they’ll let you in.”

“I’m going to try anyhow,” Merry said. “Come on.”

“I’m supposed to stay out here,” Sasha said.

“Right,” Merry said with a nod. “You stay right there. Mally and Drew will stay here too.”

The sweet-sick smell of medicines and cleaning fluid and the kind of food that seemed to curse only hospitals swelled up and caught Merry like a blow. She had to swallow back a wave of nausea. The anxiety didn’t help either. Mrs. Highland was only the immediate crisis. From all the doors came pleading or moaning or silences even more ominous than the moans and the pleas. Before she even attempted to open the door, she could hear the doctor saying how glad he was that Mr. Highland had brought the full range of medicines his wife was taking every day and that he had no idea how she had gotten hold of or been given a lethal drug Meredith could not pronounce or understand. As she listened, the physician said that it was essential that whoever cared for Mrs. Highland’s know exactly what she need and make sure that she had exercise and fresh air.

Exactly what she hasn’t had,
Merry thought. She turned a grieving mother who found comfort in the trees into an invalid.

“She’s out there. The young woman, the nurse,” said Mr. Highland. “She ... I didn’t know everything that Helene took. But I know she’s become weaker this fall. Progressively weaker and weaker.”

“Can you introduce me to this woman?” the doctor asked.

“Of course,” Mr. Highland said. The two men came out of the room and Mr. Highland saw Meredith. “Hello honey,” he said. “What brings you here? We had a bad scare a few minutes ago. Apparently, Helene’s medicine was reacting to something else Sasha gave her. But she’s resting now.”

“Mr. Highland, is it all right if I see her? I really need to,” Meredith said. The doctor looked unsure, then nodded.

“We trust this young woman. She is a friend of our family’s,” said Mr. Highland.

“Just for a moment,” the doctor said and stepped away to consult the chart in his hand. Soon, he was busily making notes.

“Mr. Highland, try to believe why I need to see her,” said Merry in a low voice. Mr. Highland’s eyes opened wide and he bit his lips. Softly he said, “My boy,” and added, “I think she would like that, Meredith.”

Through the door, Merry could see Mrs. Highland propped in bed, her long, thick hair loose around her shoulders, her hands busily kneading the coverlet. Her graceful hands were bruised and taped to hold down the lines pushing fluids into her body, and she wrinkled her nose against the intrusion of the oxygen prongs.

She noticed the two men as they began to glance around for Sasha, so that the cardiac specialist could speak to her. Meredith heard Mallory say that Sasha had just gone to the restroom and would be back in a moment.

Mally offered to go and look for her.

And so Ben and Meredith slipped into the room with Mr. Highland. Helene Highland turned a composed and curious face toward the door.

“Mrs. Highland,” Meredith said.

“Meredith! Hello! How did you hear about my being in the hospital?” asked Mrs. Highland. It crossed Meredith’s mind to say that her mother had let her know because, strictly, this was true. But she had little time, and she knew she had to do what it was she had come to do.

To Ben, she said, “I’ll speak for you,” and to Mrs. Highland, she said, “I know that you remember that night, when I came to your house. How I knew about Ben?” Mrs. Highland nodded. “I don’t know what you believe in your life, Mrs. Highland. I don’t know what I believe. But you said you’ve felt Ben closer in the past couple of weeks.” Again, the woman in the bed nodded. “He has been closer. He’s here now.” Mrs. Highland gasped and her husband started forward, but she waved him away. “If you get sick, I have to leave. Please just take a deep breath. And see if this really seems so strange to you.”

“I’m calm,” Mrs. Highland said then, in a strong voice. “I can’t see him. I can’t see my boy.”

“But I can. And I’m not a liar. I love Ben. Ben wants to talk to you, but he has to talk through me.” To Ben, Merry said, “Say something that will let her know it’s you.”

“Little Mama,” Ben said, and Mallory repeated it. Mrs. Highland didn’t flinch. But first one, then another tear rolled down her face. “Little Mama, I know now what happened to me. Merry told me. Don’t be angry. She had to tell me. And I suppose I never knew because I didn’t want to leave you. I never wanted to leave you. Do you believe me when I say so?” Mrs. Highland nodded. “I was wrong. I was a fool. But ... you’re my best girl, right?” Mrs. Highland nodded. “And you want what’s best for me? I think that you have to let me go now, Little Mom. David needs you. David’s kids need their grandmother. You don’t pay enough attention to them because you think of me all the time. And Dad needs you. So I won’t be there, in the house.”

“Benjamin, no. Wait.”

“In the house,” Merry said, repeating after Ben. “But I’ll see you and I’ll hear you, right? I’ll hear what you say when you walk in the garden under your tree. I’ll be there. Not so much in the ... in the cemetery. I know now that all those times that I was supposed to walk down the path, I didn’t go because I was afraid to leave you. But I think I kept you from living all the way, Mama. Just like if I stayed with Merry, as much as I love Merry, it would keep her from living all the way.”

Mrs. Highland was crying freely, and her husband had removed his glasses and was wiping his own eyes with another huge starched handkerchief. Ben went on, with Meredith’s voice, “You have to live all the way in this life, Mama. And in the next life, your boy will be there waiting for you. Not too soon though. Okay? Not too soon.”

Ben tried to look every inch the strong guy and the soldier, but his face was falling apart. It was clear to Merry that she and Mrs. Highland weren’t the only ones having trouble letting go. Ben’s lip quivered as it must have done when he was a young boy—or as his little boy would have done, had he lived long enough to have a child. Merry bit her own lip and dug her nails into her palms so that she wouldn’t fall apart. For this moment, she needed to be strong for Ben. She knew there wasn’t much time. Ben said, “I’m going to kiss you goodbye.” Merry leaned over and kissed Mrs. Highland’s soft, seamless cheek. Ben held Mrs. Highland’s hand and kissed it; Merry saw the older woman glance down at her hand.

“Did you feel that?” Meredith asked.

“Like a spark? An electric spark?”

“That was Ben. He kissed your hand.”

“Meredith,” said Mrs. Highland. “Don’t let him leave! Oh, please don’t!”

“She’s gone,” the doctor said, entering the room suddenly. “This young woman called Sasha Avery is gone, and I need to talk to her urgently.”

“It’s all right for now,” Mrs. Highland said. “We don’t need Sasha anymore. I don’t think she’ll go far.”

Charles Highland said, “I swear ... Merry? Is this what you meant about Ben? This feeling? In the room? I can almost smell that pine and spice stuff he liked so much.”

“I’ll explain,” said Mrs. Highland. “And don’t worry about me crying. It’s good for me. I haven’t cried this way in forty years. I know something I never knew.” Meredith turned to slip out of the room, leaving Ben with his parents. “Meredith, thank you.”

Ben turned to look longingly at Merry. “I should spend these last days with my parents, now that they know.”

Her heart echoing, Merry said, “Of course you should. The night after graduation. Two weeks from today.”

“Fourteen little days. How will they know I’m there?” Ben asked.

“I think they do,” Merry said, her own cheeks wet.

“How will they know when I’m gone?”

“It will be like before, but better. At least I think so.”

“Watch for me by moonlight,” Ben said. “You know where.”

“Though hell should bar the way. Is that okay?” Meredith told him.

“You’re my girl,” Ben said.

RESCUE

T
he following Saturday at three, Merry arrived with the squad for the statewide meet in Westchester County.

Bonnie Jellico, Mrs. Chaplin, and Coach Everson were sponsoring, and the girls had a bank of hotel rooms at a Hampton Inn. They were planning some good mayhem. Even though they weren’t favored to win this year, and even though her family couldn’t be there because of Owen, Meredith was determined to be in a good mood for the last formal meet of the year.

They went over to the gym at Trafalgar County High School for a quick warm-up before dinner. It felt good to Merry to have her pyramid under her again, good to finally actually listen to the gossip instead of only hear it. Being with Ben had been like being married, and as much as she loved him, Merry knew that she wasn’t ready to give up all the beloved foolishness of being one of many instead of only two. Neely was officially going out with Pearson. Kimmie, who had grown another inch over the winter and was now 5’9”, had a crush on Dallas Jameson, a freshman, who was also three inches shorter than she was.

Rumors immediately began to circulate about Sasha, and Meredith wisely kept quiet, even though the seniors and her close friends asked her repeatedly what she knew. Sasha apparently
had
called Coach Everson the night before, saying her aunt was elaborately ill, which only confirmed the twins’ beliefs. As the girls chattered, Meredith texted Mally and let her know what was going on. Mallory already knew and added that the police were now interested in talking with Sasha, along with the doctors.

That night, after the cheerleaders had spent the night flirting until one a.m. at the pool with some cute golfers from New Jersey, one of whom disappeared briefly with Erika, the girls ordered massive pizzas and asked about Owen.

For some reason, they could routinely stay up until four a.m. and cheer like demons five hours later.

“He’s so much better,” Merry said. “Whatever it was, it’s over now.”

“How can you be so sure?” Kim asked.

“We think we found the cause of it,” Merry said. In fact, their mother would only find out about Mrs. Highland when she went in to work, but Campbell wasn’t stupid. She would connect the dots. The twins were hoping that Sasha still trusted Campbell and would show up for work on Monday—feeling safe in the assumption that if Mrs. Highland were better, whatever she had done would go undetected.

“That’s great about Owie! But where have you been?” Allie demanded. “I mean, I know when your brother’s that sick, it’s totally understandable. But text much? Come on! I’ve sent you forty-two text messages, and you never answer.”

“That’s just it. Once practice is over, there’s just so much I have to deal with,” Merry said. “My mom’s in school. We have to constantly be taking care of the baby or Adam or worrying about them. I hope it’s over now. I could use some rest.”

“I like this kind of rest,” Kimmie said, waving from their window to the boys who were batting a volleyball around in the pool.

The next day, they were second after the cheer portion, far higher than they thought they would go without Sasha’s amazing tumbling run, when they ran out onto the floor for their dance, choreographed to “Bella Bella You.”

As they all ran out onto the floor, the captain, Trista Novak, said, “Get this. Sasha isn’t here, and she’s not at work. I called the old lady’s house where she works, and the old man there said they fired her. Do you know why?”

“I guess the lady is getting better, I heard,” Meredith said. “Maybe they don’t need a live-in anymore.”

“Would she go to your house then?” Erika asked.

“Not on a Saturday,” said Meredith, but she nearly stumbled and not for any kind of psychic reason. Sasha! Gone from the hospital! She wouldn’t go back to the Highlands’ house now, except maybe to collect her things. Where else would she go? Off with the guy in the almost-crummy car? Meredith grinned and flirted with the crowd, doing her best to make every step crisp, every landing slam-picture-perfect—all while worrying her brains out.

When they ran off the floor, the scoreboard said they were tied for first, and her teammates were going crazy. Merry slapped hands but slipped away from her place to kneel at the end of the row, as they were taught, to wait for the performances of the final teams. It could take hours to finish, and they were more than two hours from home. Meredith ran into the locker room to call Mallory. No answer. She tried home.

To her relief, Campbell said, “Hello?”

“Mom ...”

“I’m just walking out the door, Mer. Make it snappy.”

“Where’s Mallory?”

“She’s sick. It’s weird. She came into the kitchen this morning and ate some oatmeal I had for Owen, and she’s been sick as a dog ever since,” said Campbell. “Maybe we have ... environmental toxins here. When Sasha showed up, I made Mallory go to bed. I was glad she stopped by. Mrs. Highland is in the hospital after all, but she seems to be doing better.”

Merry felt the sweat run like a cold river down her chest. No. No! She would throw it to Mallory. She would say Mallory came across something from reading for her psychology class about people who get attention by making people sick. Did Campbell know that neither of them even had a psychology class?

“You haven’t been to work yet?” Merry asked.

“No.”

“You haven’t heard about Sasha and Mrs. Highland?”

“No. Is she worse?”

“Well, I went to see her, the way I said I would and ... I heard that someone apparently messed with her medicine and has been messing with her medicine for a long time.”

“I’ll look in on her.”

“No, Mom! Listen! The person who gives Mrs. Highland her medicine and was with her when she had this heart attack was with her when she got sick again, right in the hospital.”

“Meredith, make sense! You’re blabbering.”

“It was Sasha, Mom. It was Sasha. And when the doctor wanted to talk to Sasha, all of a sudden she got up to go to the bathroom, but she never came back.”

Campbell said, “Mother of God. Get off the line, Meredith.”

“Mom, listen!”

“I am listening, Merry. Get off the line. Sasha left about half an hour ago to do some errands for me.”

“So she isn’t there, thank goodness. Do you think she actually made Mally sick?”

“Get off the phone,” Campbell said. “Sasha took Owen to the shopping center with her. I’m calling the police.”

Meredith wanted to scream, but she couldn’t. She didn’t know if she could move. And then, since she didn’t know what to do, she let her body take over its familiar routines. She ran back to her place. It was torture to watch the routine by the home team, the Westchester Warrior Princesses, who eventually won. Even as they were handing out the trophies, Meredith heard the ripple through the crowd of Ridgeline parents and fans. Kimmie was finally able to pass it down the line of girls waiting in ranks for their own trophy. The gossip was that some chick their age hit a tree with a baby in the back seat and they were on their way to the hospital now.

Meredith threw down her pom poms and ran for the exit.

But where would she go? How would she get anywhere?

She ran back.

Suddenly, she noticed Trista chasing her to the exit.

Trista’s father, Mr. Novak, Meredith remembered, was a cop, one of Ridgeline’s twelve finest. “Merry,” Trista said. “My car is the old blue Volvo. Let’s run for it.”

“Is sit ...?”

“Yeah, it is. My dad called. Let’s go.”