"You're in the grave, Honey in the Sunshine," I answered. "That is, the body you want is in the grave, and all you've got is a vagrant spirit, now isn't that so!"
A look of fear flittered across her expression, and then the face hardened once more, as she freed herself from my hands.
"You know nothing about me, Mister," she said. She was baffled, as spirits often are. She couldn't keep the cocky expression on Merrick's face. Indeed, the whole body shuddered suddenly. The true Merrick was struggling.
"Come back, Merrick, throw her off, Merrick," I said. I stepped forward once again. She moved back and towards the foot of the high bed. She turned the cigarette in her hand. She meant to jab me with it.
"You bet your life I do," she said, reading my thoughts. "I wish I had something I could really hurt you with. But I guess I'll have to settle for hurting her!"
She glanced about the room.
It was all I needed. I advanced on her and caught her by the shoulders, desperate to keep hold of her in spite of the sweat that covered her and her writhing to escape.
She shrieked. "You stop that, lemme go!" And she managed to grind the cigarette into the side of my face. I reached for her hand, grabbed it and twisted it until she dropped the cigarette. She slapped me hard, so that for one moment I felt faint. Nevertheless, I held on to her slippery shoulders.
"That's it," she cried. "Hurt her, break her bones, why don't you just do that? Think it will make Joshua come back?
Think he'll be any older for you, David, think it will make everything right?"
"Get out of Merrick!" I shouted. I could still hear the broken glass under my shoes. She was perilously close to it. I shook her hard, her head flopping from side to side.
She convulsed, wrenching free, and again there came a slap of awesome strength that all but knocked me off balance. For one split second I couldn't see.
I lunged at her and lifted her under the arms and threw her back on the bed. I knelt on the bed over her, gripping her still. She was struggling to reach my face.
"Let her go, David," Aaron cried out behind me. And I heard the voice of Mary, suddenly, that other loyal member, begging me not to twist her wrist so hard.
Her fingers struggled to reach my eyes.
"You're dead, you know you are, you've got no right here," I roared at her. "Say it, you're dead, you're dead, and you've got to let Merrick go."
I felt her knee against my chest.
"Great Nananne, get her out!" I said.
"How dare you!" she screamed. "You think you can use my godmother against me." She caught my hair with her left hand and yanked at it.
Still I shook her.
And then I drew back, I let her go, and I called upon my own spirit, my own soul to make itself into a powerful instrument, and it was with that invisible instrument that I plunged towards her, striking her at the heart so that she lost her breath.
Get out, get out, get out! I commanded her with all the strength of my soul. I felt myself against her. I felt her collective power, as though there were no body to house it. I felt her resist. I had lost all contact with my own body. Get out of Merrick. Go!
A sob broke loose from her.
"There's no grave for us, you bastard, you devil," she cried. "There's no grave for me or my mother! You can't make me leave here!"
I looked down into her face, though where my own body had fallen—onto the floor or onto the bed—I didn't know. Call on God under any name and go towards him! I told her. Leave those bodies wherever they lie, do you hear me, leave them and go on. Now! It's your chance!
Suddenly the strength that was resisting me contracted, and I felt its intense pressure dissolve. For one moment I thought I saw it, an amorphous shape rising above me. Then I realized I was lying on the floor. I was staring up at the ceiling. And I could hear Merrick, our Merrick crying once more.
"They're dead, Mr. Talbot, they're dead, Cold Sandra's dead and so is Honey in the Sunshine, my sister, Mr. Talbot, they're both dead, they've been dead since they left New Orleans, Mr. Talbot, all those four years of waiting, and they were dead the first night in Lafayette, Mr. Talbot, they're dead, dead, dead." Slowly I climbed to my feet. There were cuts from the broken glass on my hands. I was physically sick. The child on the bed had shut her eyes. Her lips weren't sneering, they were stretched back as she continued her plaintive wails.
Mary was quick to lay a thick robe over her. Aaron was at her side. She rolled on her back and made a face suddenly.
"I'm sick, Mr. Talbot," she said hoarsely.
"This way," I turned her over, away from the perilous glass, and lifted her and carried her into the bathroom in my arms. She leant over the sink, and the vomit poured out of her.
I was shuddering all over. My clothes were drenched.
Mary urged me to step aside. It seemed quite outrageous to me for a moment, and then I realized how it must have seemed to Mary.
And so I withdrew.
When I glanced at Aaron I was amazed at the expression on his face. He had seen many cases of possession. They are all terrible, each in its own way.
We waited in the hallway until Mary told us we might come in.
Merrick was dressed in a white cotton gown to receive us, her hair brushed to a marvelous brown luster, and her eyes rimmed in red, but otherwise quite clear. She was in the armchair in the corner, under the light of the tall lamp. Her feet were safely protected with white satin slippers. But all the glass was gone. Indeed the dressing table looked quite fine with only one lamp and all of its intact bottles.
Merrick was still trembling, however, and when I approached her, she reached out and clasped my hand.
"Your shoulders will hurt for a little while," I said apologetically.
"Here's how they died," she said, looking at me and then at Aaron. "They went with all that money to buy a new car. The man who sold it to them picked them up, you know, and he went with them to Lafayette, and there he killed them for the cash they had. He knocked them both hard over the head."
I shook my head.
"Four years ago, it happened," she said, going on intently, her mind on her story and nothing else. "It happened the very next day after they left. He beat them in a motel room in Lafayette and put their bodies in that car and drove it into the swamps. That car just filled up with water. If they woke up, they drowned. There's nothing left of either one of them now."
"Dear God," I whispered.
"And all this time," she said, "I was so guilty for being jealous, jealous that Cold Sandra had taken Honey in the Sunshine and left me behind. I was guilty and jealous, guilty and jealous. Honey in the Sunshine was my older sister. Honey in the Sunshine was sixteen and she was 'no trouble,' that's what Cold Sandra told me. I was too little and she'd come back for me soon."
She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.
"Where is she now?" I asked. Aaron let me know he had not been prepared for that. But I had to put the question to her. For a very long time she made no response. She lay staring, her body shivering violently, and then finally, she said:
"She's gone."
"How did she come through?" I demanded.
Mary and Aaron shook their heads. "David, leave her for the moment," said Aaron as politely as he could. I had no intention of dropping the matter. I had to know.
Again, there was no immediate answer. And then Merrick heaved a sigh and turned to one side.
"How did she come through?" I asked again.
Merrick's face crumpled. She began very softly to cry.
"Please, Sir," said Mary, "let her alone just now."
"Merrick, how did Honey in the Sunshine come through?" I demanded. "Did you know she wanted to come through?" Mary took a stand to Merrick's left and glared at me.
I kept my eyes on the shivering girl.
"Did you ask her to come through?" I demanded softly.
"No, Mr. Talbot," she said softly, her eyes drifting up to me again. "I prayed to Great Nananne. I prayed to her spirit while it was still near earth to hear me." Her tired voice could barely carry the words. "Great Nananne sent her to tell me. Great Nananne will take care of them both."
"Ah, I see."
"You know what I did," she continued. "I called on a spirit that had only just died. I called on a soul that was still close enough to help me, and I got Honey, I got more than I ever wanted to get. But that's how it works sometimes, Mr. Talbot. When you call on les mystères you don't always know what you're going to get."
"Yes," I responded. "I know. Do you remember all that happened?"
"Yes," she said, "and no. I remember your shaking me and I remember knowing what had happened, but I don't really remember all the time that ticked by while she was in me."
"I see," I said gratefully. "What do you feel now, Merrick?"
"Afraid of myself a little," she answered. "And I'm sorry she hurt you."
"Oh, darling, for the love of Heaven, don't think about me," I answered. "I'm only concerned with you."
"I know that, Mr. Talbot, but if it's any consolation to you, Joshua went into the Light when he died. He didn't hate you when he was falling down the mountain. Honey just made that up."
I was stunned. I could feel Mary's sudden embarrassment. I could see that Aaron was amazed.
"I'm sure of it," Merrick said. "Joshua's in Heaven. Honey just read all those things from your mind." I couldn't answer her. At the risk of more suspicion and condemnation from the vigilant Mary, I leant over and kissed Merrick on the cheek.
"The nightmare's over," she said. "I'm free of them all. I'm free to begin." And so our long journey with Merrick began.