Page 99 of Eldritch

“One thing I wanted to look at again is the printout you sent me on the repairs the house still needs,” Clarice said. “I forgot it at home, though.”

“I’ll grab it from the office,” Letisha said. Moments later, she came back and handed the multi-page document to Clarice.

Clarice examined the list and sighed. “Well, you warned me. I will finish all of this before I list the house. I’m excited about it, though. This house would thrive with a big family with lots of kids. Fresh blood.”

Why would a young family with kids ever want to live here?

Sybil glanced out the window. “Clarice, I hope you’re not thinking of trying to drive back to Estes Park? The weather is looking even worse than when you got here.”

Clarice threw Sybil a smile. “Oh, no. I’ll take one room upstairs. I’ve got an overnight bag.”

Sybil couldn’t ignore the underlying discomfort now that Clarice had arrived, and the time had come to explain why they wanted to leave early.

Sybil cleared her throat. “You noticed our luggage stacked here in the Great Hall?”

Clarice looked around. “Yes. What’s happening?”

Letisha heaved a big sigh. “We hoped to reach you and explain everything, but when we weren’t able to get through by phone…” Letisha shrugged.

Clarice’s eyes narrowed, and guilt for leaving this house early hit Sybil. That twinge of shame came from thinking that perhaps she’d been to blame for everything going sideways on this job. She knew that wasn’t logical, but she also understood complex post traumatic stress tricked her brain into reacting as if she was culpable for many things she wasn’t.

“Clarice,” Sybil said, taking the plunge. “We were preparing to leave the house when you arrived. Some things have happened since we’ve been here that are just....” How did she say this? “Strange.”

Clarice tilted her head to the side and looked genuinely perplexed. “Strange? I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

Letisha started in, explaining the sleepwalking and dreams. Sybil’s anxiety level eased at little as her friend gave the details. Letisha didn’t leave anything out, and to Sybil’s amazement, Clarice seemed to take it all in stride.

When Letisha finished, Clarice’s expression had lost the bewilderment it had started with. “I see.”

Letisha winced. “We were worried you’d think we were nuts or trying to rip you off somehow by not finishing the job.”

Clarice nodded, her lips compressed a bit. She sighed. “I’m surprised all of this happened so quickly. I would’ve expected it to take longer and given you plenty of time to finish cleaning the house before things progressed.”

Sybil exchanged a confused glance with Letisha.

“What do you mean?” Pauline said into the momentary silence.

Clarice smiled. “Perhaps I should give you some background before I explain further. Let’s talk about the deputy that was killed.”

Sybil blinked, wondering why they had segued in this direction. “Okay.”

“What relation is the deputy to your family?” Letisha asked.

Clarice eased back in her seat and clasped her hands demurely. “I looked into my genealogy a little closer. My great-grandfather had an affair with two women outside of his marriage. There’s definitely a family connection between Annapolis and my family. The deputy was related to one of those women.”

That unease rippled up Sybil’s spine, but in a way, she found it oddly exciting. Like a campfire story. “Oh?”

“Interesting.” Letisha’s voice sounded hushed as she leaned forward. “What do you think she was doing in the woods?”

“I’m not sure,” Clarice said. “The one and only time I talked with the deputy, I told her that a strange forest like this makes people believe a lot of hogwash. Rumors are started about isolated families living in a forest with these enormous trees. When I was a child people whispered strange things about my family. My father and mother weren’t particularly friendly types, so the isolation was intimidating. Well, not for me, really. I loved it. Plus, everyone believes old houses are haunted, and this one categorically is. Still, it is very odd about the deputies murder. Very odd indeed. I can’t imagine what she was doing heading off into that forest.”

The silence that dropped on all of them hung there for a minute.

“You never had a dream like the ones we described in this house? You never went sleepwalking?” Maria asked.

“No.” Clarice sagged in her seat almost as if a weight had settled on her. “I’m so sorry you’ve experienced these strange things, ladies. Very distressing.”

“We’ll get over it.” Sybil recognized the hardness in her voice.

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