The Piper

TWELVE




There was a bad moment with the back door when it almost seemed as if the house would not let them in.

Teddy touched Olivia’s arm. ‘How come the key won’t work?’

‘It works, hon. Old houses have personalities and so do the doors, so you just have to baby it.’ Olivia gave the door a push before she twisted the key, and the lock released. The door was tacky, though, the wood had swelled into the frame, and Olivia had to shove.

The entry way was old warped linoleum, water damaged, avocado green. Olivia went in slowly, inhaling the moldy scent of old house. She flipped the light switch, the illumination so dim it was hard to know if the light was on. Chris and Charlotte had installed energy saving mercury bulbs all over the house, and the lights came on gradually, as if they needed to warm up.

Olivia and Teddy crept hand in hand into the kitchen, like Hansel and Gretel crossing the threshold of the witch’s cottage. The kitchen floor was red brick tile, dark with age and old stains in the grout. The appliances were stainless steel, the countertops old yellowed Formica, but the ceilings were white plaster with old beams of wood, Chris had just installed mahogany wood cabinets, and a lovely arched doorway led into the little sunroom that faced the driveway and the side of the house.

Winston rushed them the minute they were through the door, and both Olivia and Teddy were relieved to find that he was quite okay, happy to be hugged and kissed on the head, and ready for dinner after a quick whiz in the yard.

The first thing Olivia did was check the outlets in the sunroom.

‘Teddy? Come here and look.’

Teddy peered in from the kitchen, as if she were afraid to come into the room.

‘Come on, honey, see that? It’s a timer, just like I said. That’s why the light came on like that. Okay? Now go take your book bag upstairs, then come back down and feed Winston.’

Olivia turned on the television in the living room, to give the house a sense of mundane normality. She and Teddy liked to watch boxed sets of old television shows, so they could see as many episodes in a row as they liked, with no commercial breaks. Teddy liked westerns and was mad at Olivia for not letting her watch Deadwood, because of the cursing. But Olivia stood firm. It wasn’t just cursing, it was violence and sex. Teddy was way too young for the good stuff.

Olivia was relieved when Teddy headed upstairs, no protests or hesitation, with Winston right behind, carrying his squeaky yellow chicken. It was not long before the aroma of leftover meat loaf warming in the oven and the scramble of Winston’s toenails on the wood floors gave Olivia the sense that they had regained their dull, suburban edge. She and Teddy ate side by side on the couch in the living room watching TV, instead of at the tile table in the sunroom, which is where Olivia had imagined them taking their meals. Comfort was all she wanted. Comfort was easy to achieve.

Teddy took her dirty dishes into the kitchen, scraping her leftover meat loaf into Winston’s bowl. The dog hesitated over the catsup, then gobbled the meat and the rest of the kibble in the dish. Teddy was being quiet and obedient enough to make Olivia nervous.

‘Bath time,’ Olivia said.

‘Can I take a bubble bath and read Nancy Drew in the tub?’

Olivia checked the clock on the stove. ‘I don’t know, Teddy, it’s getting late. And I’m not sure the bubble bath is unpacked.’

‘I found it in a box in my bedroom. And I got all my homework done. Mommy, please, I’ve been waiting and waiting to take a bubble bath upstairs, like you and Aunt Emily used to do.’

Olivia nodded. ‘I’ll get the water running, you get me the bubble bath out of the box. And your homework is done? All of it? Even the math?’

‘Even the math. Can we fill the bathtub all the way up?’

Olivia tried not to think about her utility bills. ‘All the way up.’

It was the perfect bathroom for bubble baths, and Olivia turned the taps on the claw foot tub and poured in a full cup’s worth of Ragin’ Cajun Strawberry Foam. Chris and Charlotte had refinished the tub, and put dark tile down on the floor and in the glassed in shower stall, but been wise enough to leave everything else alone. The mahogany bead board around the pedestal sink was clouded with moisture, as it had been when Olivia was a little girl, brushing her teeth at that very same sink. She sat on the edge of the tub, swirling her hand in the water, encouraging the bubbles, just like her sister Emily had done for Olivia when she had been a very little girl. The candy sweet scent of strawberries filled the room.

Olivia kept an eye out for Winston, who appreciated a nice hot bubble bath as much as she and Teddy did. He had been known to jump into a tub full of water when he got the chance.

‘Winston?’

The dog whimpered, and sat at attention in the hallway outside the bathroom door. He turned his head to Teddy, who was wandering naked down the hallway with her nightgown in her hand.

‘Is it ready, Mommy?’

‘Just be careful, the water’s hot.’

Olivia left Teddy soaking with a giant sponge, finishing up The Whispering Statue, her latest Nancy Drew. She pushed the overflowing clothes back down in the hamper, and headed for the laundry room.

‘Mommy? How come Winston won’t come into the bathroom?’

‘Hang on, Teddy, I think I hear my phone.’

Olivia let the wicker hamper bump down the steps behind her, holding onto the rail because the wooden stairs were slippery. She headed for the sunroom, where she’d left her phone. She wondered how long it would be before her hands stopped shaking every time it rang.

The caller ID showed Amelia’s number. Olivia snatched a wine glass out of the kitchen, and sat at the sunroom table, filling the glass half full.

‘Amelia?’

‘Hey, Olivia. I just wanted to call and see if we were still mad.’

‘No, I don’t have the mind space to argue with anybody right now.’

‘You sound funny. You are still mad at me, right?’

‘No, honest, I’m just a little shook up. I had a weird run-in with my sister-in-law today. It seems she doesn’t want Teddy at her house in the afternoons after all.’

‘What, just out of the blue? Didn’t she offer to take Teddy after school?’

Olivia took a sip of wine. Told Amelia everything, beginning with Charlotte distraught over the dead fish, and telling her not to stay in the house.

Amelia listened, then laughed.

‘You think it’s funny? This from the woman who was freaking about warnings from the dead?’

‘I’m sorry, Olivia, I know it’s not funny, but this is like every stereotype I’ve ever heard about the south. Holy water in the basement? Really? Is there a picture of Jesus taped to the fridge?’

‘If there was, Charlotte took it with her. But don’t let that disappoint you. I still drink Jack Daniel’s whiskey straight from the bottle, went barefoot as a kid because my parents couldn’t afford shoes, and they use rattlesnakes at the Sunday afternoon services at the Baptist church down the road. Oh, and don’t forget that I was an unwed mother in a high school teeming with racial unrest, while I lived in a trailer home and f*cked my cousins.’

‘Just so long as your cousins were cute. Listen, maybe your brother was warning you about his crazy wife.’

‘That’s not helping, Amelia.’

‘Okay, the doctor is in. Tell me about this niece of yours. Janet. How old is she?’

‘Going on thirteen.’

‘Well, there you go. She’s going to be in a bad mood for the next eight years. Bottom line, Livie – your sister-in-law lost her husband, these little girls just lost their dad. They’re angry and they’re grieving and looking for something, anything, to blame.’

‘How about scared, Amelia? They were really afraid, Charlotte and Janet both. And it wasn’t just this afternoon. They were both pretty strange at Chris’s funeral.’

‘Think about it, Livie. If somebody you love dies mysteriously in his sleep, you might be afraid it could happen to you. Or your sister or your mom.’

‘That’s a good point. Though I have to say I agree with you about that SUNDS diagnosis. I don’t believe people just die in their sleep. Charlotte says Chris got his heart checked out a few weeks before he died. Maybe it had something to do with that.’

‘Look, if it would make you feel better, I can take a look at your brother’s medical records and autopsy report. They may be a little tricky to get hold of, you’ll have to get Charlotte’s permission.’

‘I have a friend who might get the autopsy report for me, without going through Charlotte.’

‘A friend in that tone of voice sounds like a man.’

‘Old boyfriend who’s a local cop – one of those good old boys who has connections every place you look.’

‘The McTavish? That one you’re always talking about?’

‘I’m not always talking—’

‘You should definitely give him a call.’

‘Why are you whispering all of a sudden, Amel?’

‘Little Bit was stirring in her sleep. She’s pretty drugged up, but she responds to my voice.’

‘Little Bit? Are you in the hospital with Marianne?’

‘Just checking in and giving Alexis and Jack a chance to grab a late dinner. It’s hard to get them to leave her, even for a second, but they do have to eat.’

‘Bad?’

‘She was scheduled for surgery this morning, but they’re going to have to hold off until her white count goes back up. All I can do right now is sit here and watch her struggle for every single breath.’

‘Have you had anything to eat today, Amelia?’

‘Two hash brown patties from McDonald’s for a dollar, it’s a hell of a deal. Look, I was thinking about coming out for a visit, Olivia, when things here . . . sort out. I could use a break, but I know you’re just getting settled in.’

‘You’re welcome anytime. Always.’

‘Thanks, kiddo. In the meantime, get me that autopsy report. Maybe I can figure out something that will make everybody feel better, so the kiddies won’t be afraid to go to sleep.’

‘I’d sure appreciate it.’ Olivia heard noises, coming from upstairs. She put her wine glass down. ‘Look, I have to go. Some kind of thumping sounds coming from upstairs, sounds like all hell is breaking loose. Teddy’s upstairs taking a bubble bath, so I better go check.’