Dae's Christmas Past (3 page)

It had been easy to put Jake’s request on the back burner since I was busy and hadn’t wanted to do it. I knew wasn’t being fair to him. I just didn’t know what to say.

“We’re on my way to my post-election parties, Jake.” I summoned up a bright smile. “I’ll have to wait to examine the horses until later. Come with us.”

His usually warm gaze was cold and hard on me. “I need you to do it
now
. You’ve put it off too long. Tom Watts wants to help Martin Sheffield and the others continue this madness. I thought he was my friend. You’ve said
you’re
my friend. Now’s the time to prove it.”

Tom and Jake had been good friends for many years. I hated the idea that this excavation had come between them.

Martin Sheffield was the lead archaeologist on the horse project. I’d only met him a time or two, but I knew that Jake’s feelings about him ran deep. Dr. Sheffield had offered Jake a substantial sum of money to sell his property outright so that the excavation could take over everything. Jake had flatly refused. The tension between the two men had continued to grow.

It was one of those awkward times when someone was intent on having me touch or find something or someone for them that went against my better judgment. Sometimes I had to say no for my own good. Very few people understood that. They hadn’t seen the terrible things I had.

Nancy glanced between us with worried eyes. “I think I should go home and get ready for the parties, Dae. I’ll see you later. Bye, Jake.”

He didn’t reply.

“Thanks for the lift, Nancy,” I said. “I’ll see you later.”

I wasn’t afraid of Jake, but I was very uncomfortable with him at that moment. I was sorry to see her go. She’d supplied a buffer between us. Now I was out there alone with him. He was making me nervous.

“Let’s go inside and talk,” I suggested. “Wouldn’t you like a piece of Gramps’s strudel?”

“You said you’d help, Dae. What are you afraid of? I’ll be here with you, I swear. I just need to know the truth. I don’t know if I can stop Sheffield and Tom without an ace in my pocket. You’re the only card I have up my sleeve. He doesn’t know about you. You have to help me before it’s too late.”

“Jake, you’re letting this take over your life. You wanted to dig up these things from the horse cult. Why are you backing out now?” I knew the answer. I was just making conversation, hoping to see some little spark of the man I knew in his dead face. “When did you sleep last? You look like you’re falling apart.”

“I’m not afraid of the horse cult. That was a long time ago. I’m afraid of these buzzards circling around wanting my land. If I can’t stop them, I can’t take care of the
living
horses that need my help. I can’t lose my property over this.”

“How will anything I find by touching the horse statues make any difference? I don’t think Martin Sheffield is going to care what I think about the horse cult. Maybe you need someone else to come in—another archaeologist or historian. You know a scientist isn’t going to recognize my gift as anything important.”

He grip bit into my arms, and his eyes bored into mine. “Please, Dae. You can do
this
. Don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you.”

The bag with the horses dangled on his wrist close to mine. I could feel the vibes, as Mary Catherine had called it, even through the cloth. The cloth protected me, like gloves, kept me from being drawn into the past and whatever secrets were buried with the horse cult statues.

I pulled away from him. “I can’t do it, Jake.” I said the words in a firm tone so that he’d know this was it. I’d been too wishy-washy about his request. I had to disappoint him, make sure he knew I wasn’t going to touch any of the horse statues that he’d dug out of the sand. “I’m scared. I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to do this. Please try to understand.”

I could feel his anger as strongly as I felt the darkness surrounding the stone horses in the brown bag. He grabbed me again, his hands tightening again on my arms. He pulled me closer until there was barely an inch between us. His need to see this done battered at me like gale-force winds.

“Hey, everything okay out here?” Gramps pushed open the back door. “Dae, you don’t have all the time in the world to get ready, you know. You’d best come inside. You can see Jake at the party.”

I wasn’t sure if Jake was going to let me go. His gaze burned into mine and his hands continued to clench on my arms.

Then suddenly he let go and stepped to the side. He glanced at the bag he held. “All right. I guess you have to do what’s right for you. I have to do what’s
necessary
for me. I’ll see you later.”

I was happy to see him climb in the old truck and back down the drive. I sighed, rubbed my arms, and walked toward the house where Gramps was still waiting with a concerned look on his face.

“What was that all about?” he asked. “If you’re having trouble deciding between Jake and Kevin, you’d better say something
now
. That looked pretty intense to me.”

“That’s not what he wanted.” I explained about the horse statues.

He’d known about the problem for a while. Like Kevin, he understood what could happen if the pull of something I held with my bare hands was too much for me. He’d lived with my grandmother having the same abilities.

“He’s gonna have to get over it.” He shrugged, already dressed in his khaki cargo shorts and a yellow button-down shirt with colorful fish on it—his idea of party clothes. “You need to keep saying no, Dae. And mean it. I’ve heard the way you say no sometimes, and it sounds more like maybe. Do you want me to talk to him for you? I can handle this once and for all.”

I felt like I was a teenager again. “No, thanks. I can handle it. I’m going to get ready for the party.” I changed the subject. “So you and Mary Catherine, huh? Or should I say MC?”

“Get in there and get ready and stay out of my personal life,” he said. “Just because we live together doesn’t mean you get to poke around in my stuff and tell me what to do.”

“That’s funny. Wasn’t that what
you
were just doing with me, Jake, and Kevin?”

“I can do that. I’m older and wiser. The sooner you acknowledge that, the better off you’ll be. I recall explaining how this works years ago. It hasn’t changed. No matter how old you get, I’ll still be older.”

I laughed out loud at his statement, given in his professional law enforcement voice that I remembered so well. “You’re addressing the newly-elected mayor of Duck North Carolina,” I reminded him. “That gives me a certain amount of wisdom and foresight that someone my age wouldn’t necessarily have.”

“Whatever. Don’t forget to feed your cat before you go accept your accolades, Madam Mayor. If I decide to come home early, I don’t want to hear him crying all over the place and looking pitiful.”

Mary Catherine was staying in the spare bedroom. I ran lightly up the stairs with my cat following me. I’d named him Treasure because he’d come to me like so many other important gifts I’d found. Now he was so much a part of my life, I couldn’t imagine how it would be without him.

I wouldn’t say I could talk to animals—not like Mary Catherine—but Treasure and I communicated. I sat on the bed, and he jumped up beside me. I could tell that he wasn’t happy that I was going out again.

“I’m sorry.” I rubbed his white tummy. “People expect me to celebrate winning the election. I’ll be back later. I’ll feed you before I go.”

He meowed and jumped on the floor before pacing back and forth with his black tail swishing.

“I know you don’t like having Mary Catherine’s cat here. It won’t be for long. You’ll just have to get along with him. I think he mostly goes out everywhere with her. I know. You’d like to do that too. But you’re not the scarf type that I can drape over my shoulders.”

I smiled and stroked his shiny black fur. “I have to take a shower and get dressed. Life will be back to normal tomorrow. Maybe you can come with me to Missing Pieces. You like that.”

He was still complaining when I went into the bathroom. I ignored him, getting into the shower and rubbing some flower-scented shampoo into my short brown hair. The hot summer sun had bleached it out more than normal this year since I’d been outside so much. My tan was darker than usual too. Kevin had reminded me several times about using sunblock.

The hot water felt so good. I closed my eyes and let it pour down on me.

I felt guilty about not helping Jake when I could see he was in such bad shape. He needed someone. I just wasn’t sure I was that person. I didn’t know how to overcome my fear of the artifacts. Mary Catherine said she thought it was healthy. I felt cowardly about it.

Convincing myself to get out of the shower—I couldn’t hide here either—I swiped my hand across the steamy bathroom mirror. I practiced my big mayor’s smile that had become second nature to me. The smile looked as it always did, but didn’t reach my troubled blue eyes.

What if Mary Catherine was right and bad things were about to happen to us? Storms and floods we’d weathered—what about a horse cult? I didn’t really even understand yet how something like that could be a threat.

I’d made it through a pirate’s ghost, and a dead man trying to help me find his daughter. I’d been hoping for a slowdown in that kind of thing. I needed a nice, long vacation where only good things happened. It could be me and Kevin on a nice, calm beach together. No ghosts. No secrets. And definitely no possibly evil horse cults.

I opened the closet door and went to find the outfit I’d set aside for my possible re-election party. It was breezy, blue and purple, mid-length. I had beautiful, though uncomfortable, shoes that went with it. They matched so perfectly I couldn’t leave them at the shop.

My spirits began to pick up once I was dressed. I remembered all the exciting plans I had if I was elected mayor for another term. I was proud of my town and wanted to be part of its future.

Because it was the first time I’d worn the dress, I could also see that it was made in Duck at Sunflower Fancy. I could see my friend, Darcy, in her little sewing room in the back of the shop. She was a wonderful seamstress and I enjoyed wearing her clothes. They felt happy. It was much better than sensing a dress had been made in some far-off country by people who were miserable at their jobs.

The shoes were a different matter. As soon as my feet were in them, I could feel the large factory in China where they were made. At least, I reminded myself, no one had died while they were wearing them before me. I’d once put on a dress that a woman had drowned herself in. Not a pleasant experience.

There wasn’t much to do with my hair. I combed the flyaway brown wisps—it dried straight, like always. I put on some eye makeup and lipstick, and studied myself in the mirror again.

Treasure yowled.

“I know I look stupid smiling at myself. I can’t explain it. Mayors have to do it. Be glad you’re a cat!”

He slunk away. He really didn’t like that idea at all. I didn’t blame him.

I met Mary Catherine in the hall as I left my room. Treasure walked out before me. Baylor was on the floor at her side. He watched my cat intently but didn’t run after him. Treasure hid behind a chair, frightened.

“You look fabulous,” Mary Catherine complimented with a wide smile of her own. “The people of Duck are lucky to have such a beautiful and clever mayor.”

“Thanks. I take it you like purple.” I noticed that she’d changed clothes but was still wearing purple, in a different shade, with a wide-brimmed hat that matched.

“I adore it.” She started down the stairs. Baylor shadowed her every move. “I think it’s good for a woman to know what works for her, don’t you?”

Gramps was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. “Maybe for the woman, but not for the men around her.” He took her hand as she came closer to him. “You look like a queen, MC. I’d be honored to escort you to the parties.”

“What about Dae?” she asked.

“She has Kevin. We’ll pick him up after the first party at the Blue Whale Inn. You’re gonna love that place.”

“Then I would be honored for you to be my escort, Horace.” She laid her hand on his arm as she reached the bottom of the stairs. She looked down at Baylor who butted his big head against her leg. “Not tonight. Wait here like a good boy. I’ll be back.”

Baylor jumped on Gramps’s recliner and made himself at home. Treasure watched him from a crouched position on the floor. I could tell he wasn’t sure yet what to make of the large tabby.

We were ready and out the door very quickly. Gramps started the golf cart, and we ambled down Duck Road. The golf cart was very slow compared to a car but it was great for getting around town. In the summer when traffic was at a standstill, walking and riding in a golf cart were the only ways to get through. During the rest of the year, it still saved on gas and was easy to maneuver.

“I’ve never seen a golf cart with sides.” Mary Catherine touched the clear plastic panels Gramps had installed for rain.

I was riding on the seat behind them, watching the road slip by behind us. Listening to their conversation without being involved was nice. I could save my energy for the parties to come when all my friends and the people of Duck who had voted from me would have plenty of questions.

The sky was a delicate shade of pink across the Currituck Sound. We turned left and headed toward the other side of the island which faced the Atlantic Ocean. People were walking toward the Blue Whale for the party, waving and smiling as we went by. Others were in golf carts too. One or two cars passed us, but there weren’t many.

The Blue Whale Inn was right in front of us as we dead-ended at the beach. Kevin had restored the old three-story hotel after retiring from the FBI. I’d helped paint the crazy shade of blue that closely matched the original color and made the inn easy to find. There was a circle drive with a stone fountain, in the grassy middle, that featured a pretty mermaid and a hitching post. Usually there were plenty of places to park—but not this evening.

“Looks like the whole town is here.” Gramps pulled the golf cart into a spot by the old hitching post. There was a hand-painted sign that said the spot was reserved for Mayor Dae O’Donnell and family. It was a nice touch that warmed my heart.