The Legend of Peg Powler
(A Sewing Box Mystery)
Chapter 1: Friday, November 1, 1991, 1:51 am
Chapter 2: Saturday October 29, 2011, 11:37 am
Chapter 3: Sunday October 30, 2011, 10:30 am
Chapter 4, Monday, October 31, 2012, 8:01 am, Halloween
Chapter 13: Monday, October 31, 2011, 11:02 am
Chapter 17 - Monday, October 31, 2011, 12:43 pm
Chapter 20 - Monday, October 31, 2011, 2:06 pm
“But we can’t just let it happen,” countered Missy.
“Like we are going to be able to stop it?” Jeanette was now highly agitated, which, if the past had taught Missy anything, meant she needed to choose her words very carefully. Her aunt, now pacing, went on, “No. I say we go to the Sheriff, tell him all we know and get the hell out of Dodge long before sundown.”
“We can’t do that. Paul Muntz will just laugh at us and tell us to go home.”
“Good, he’s right. That’s exactly what we should do.”
“But if we could be of help…”
“How?” Jeanette’s voice had now reached the upper limits of what one might term reasonable. “You mean like last time? Absolutely not. I have no intention of finding myself locked up in some dark little room trying to figure a way out. And this time, we don’t even have a ‘Prince Charming’ to come rescue us.”
Missy’s heart clenched. That last comment hit deep.
“Besides,” Jeanette pointed out, “Look at the time. You promised me we were going to be back to the cities in time for me to go to that Halloween party. You promised. So if we’re going to make it, we need to leave soon. As I see it, you have enough time for one more move, Missy. So, what’s it going to be?”
Stunned, Missy scrambled to get her wits about her. Finally, all she could muster was, “I don’t know.” She placed the ‘October 31, 1951’ folder on top of the others as a weight fell upon the room.
Dorie braved the silence. “Would you like me to return these folders to Arthur?”
Numb, Missy merely nodded her head and her mother gathered up the files before making her way to the door. At the door, Dorie paused and turned around. “You know… I could ask Arthur who called him to let him know we were coming. He’d tell me.”
In unison, Missy and Jeanette responded with a resolute, “No.”
Taking them at their word, with an armful of files, Dorie managed to open the door on her own. “Alright, then. I’ll… umm. I’ll be right back.” As she exited, Jeanette moved to close the door behind her.
Still facing the door, Jeanette whispered, “Sorry.”
“For?”
Jeanette slowly turned around as she spoke. “For the ‘Prince Charming’ comment. I… I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Missy shook her head. “No. It’s okay. And… you’re right. I mean, I guess that’s why I’m not sure what to do next. We have no one in this town we can trust. Except, maybe Sam, and now that we think he may have fathered a kid with Hedda - a kid who, I might point out, turned up missing - well, I don’t know that we can confide in him either.”
“Let’s just go home.” Her aunt placed her left hand on Missy’s right shoulder and gave it a tiny squeeze. “I don’t want to play Nancy Drew anymore.”
“Ha!” The thought made Missy smile. “We’re more like the Hardy Boys, don’t you think?”
“Well,” mused her Aunt, “I am.”
Missy leaned forward and placed her elbows on the table in front of her. Then bowed her head and ran her fingers through her hair as she spoke. “I don’t know. It’s so… weird. I mean, what are we doing here? Chasing ghosts. Rutting around in a past that doesn’t belong to us. Or…” And with this, Missy raised her chin, cocking her head to one side, allowing the fire to relight in her eyes. “Or is this what we are supposed to be doing?”
Jeanette, not understanding, shook her head.
Missy turned in her chair slightly, looking over her shoulder and continued. “What if this is exactly what Grandma Jean wanted us to do?”
“I don’t follow…” mumbled Jeanette.
Missy got up and began to pace back and forth on the left side of the room. “What if… what if Grandma Jean plants these things… a map, a poem, a little doll…”
“Kitchen witch.” interjected Jeanette.
“Knowing that we would find them - at the exact time necessary - so that we can do what she could not during her lifetime or her dreams. Break the cycle. Put an end to this town’s suffering. What if that’s our purpose.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that…” Jeanette took a step back.
“But that must be the case,” Missy persisted. “We’re here. Now. October 31st, 2011. Every twenty years. And we just happen to be here? What does that tell you.”
“That coincidences happen.” Jeanette stood firm, crossing her arms in front of her. It was clear she was not buying what Missy was selling.
“And last time? That? That was all a coincidence? Come on, Jeanette. We solved it last time. We found Jack Arneson. We actually made a difference.”
“At a price.” The look in Jeanette’s eyes had become hard. “I don’t know what kind of history you’re reinventing, Missy, but I… I don’t want to go through all that again.”
“You won’t have to.”
“What are you suggesting? That I sit in the car?”
Jeanette looked as tired and rung out as Missy felt. Missy didn’t want to push her aunt, but she also didn’t want to give up this opportunity. In her heart of hearts, she merely wanted to be of service to others, something she had felt compelled to do from the moment she had a cognitive thought. Still, without Jeanette totally committed to the cause, Missy had to admit - the cause was lost.
“Okay. We’ll get out of Dodge.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s… it’s fine. We’ll live to fight another day.”
Dorie swung open the door with a wild look in her eyes. With great urgency she said, “So, I don’t know what happened with Arthur between the time he gave us the files and when I returned the files, but he’s not a happy camper. We need to make ourselves scarce. Fast.”
Without any further discussion, the three women made their way as quickly as possible to the staircase, the sound of their collective heels stirring up a cacophony of clicks, clacks and shuffled thuds. In a time span that felt like forever, they made it to the bottom of the stairs and shot out of the main doors lickety split. Once safely at the car, they paused to catch their breath, something they did not get a chance to do, for Arthur was now standing on the top outside step, yelling something at them that they could not, and did not want to, hear. Car doors were opened, car doors slammed and Missy all but peeled out of the parking lot, heading toward she did not know what.
Jeanette was frantic and a bit angry. You could tell by how flushed she was that the woman was not built to run full tilt for more than minute. “Dorie!” she managed, in between gasps. Her hand, pressing on her heart, she eked out, “What… what did you do?”
By comparison, Dorie wore a mask of composure. She already had a compact out of her purse and was powdering her damp upper lip. She took Jeanette’s accusation in stride without so much as a raised eyebrow. “What makes you think I did anything?” she demurred. “I mean, I suppose, you could consider my leaving him on his own for, what? Twenty - thirty minutes? That’s on me. But that was my only mistake.”
Missy looked in the rear view mirror, trying to catch her mother’s eye, “What happened?”
Closing her compact with a snap, Dorie returned it to her purse. “He was angry. I don’t know. Men. They get like that. If I don’t pay enough attention, they get pissed. I guess I should have stayed in the room and entertained him while you and Jeanette did all the research, but I didn’t want to miss out on the fun.”
Missy, unable to comprehend, shook her head. Her neck was damp and now all she wanted was a sink, a mirror and some running water. “I… I don’t get you.”
Dorie, astonished, now made eye contact in the mirror, her face, stupefied. Stifling a laugh, all she could manage was, “What?”
“You and… men.” There was just a touch of bitterness as she spit out the last word.
“What’s to get? Some people are smart at… science. Some play the piano. Some play hockey. Me? My skill is with men. Usually. I mean, obviously not in the case of Arthur, but then his energy was sort of all over the sexual map, so, who knows? Maybe I misread the situation.”
Jeanette, who had produced a packet of wet wipes and was using one after another in an effort to cool down, croaked out, “And that would be your other super power. Never getting it right.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say ‘never’. But you’re right…” she sighed. “I sure missed the boat on this one.” Taking in the sights, she then casually asked, “Where are we going?”
“The river.” Missy was staring straight ahead, gripping the wheel as if her life depended on it. She was one determined girl.
Jeanette cracked a smile, “Do you know where you’re going?”
Missy’s mouth pulled into a tight, puckered pout. “Well,” she spat. “I would, if I could use my phone and just Google map the damn thing, but seeing as how there’s no phone coverage here, we’ll just have to let my instinct work it’s magic. Maybe that’s my super power.”
Chuckling, Jeanette offered her niece a wet wipe. “So your plan is to just drive around until you run into it?”
“You got a better idea?”
“Why don’t you just pull over for a bit and calm down. I think we all... need a moment.”
“Fine!” And with that, Missy jerked the wheel to the right and slammed on the brakes, causing the tires to bite into the shoulder, sending gravel flying.
Jeanette, wet wipe still in hand, opened her door and stepped out into the dust. She then walked down into the ditch and up the other side.
“Does she have to pee?” Dorie now had her back to her door, her shoeless feet resting on the backseat.
“I think she’s just getting some air.”
“You know, hon. There’s no reasoning with that one. Once she’s made up her mind about something. It might be best to head home and just allow whatever is going to happen in this town to happen without you.”
Missy felt her body relax. Maybe her mother was right. Maybe she should just do what’s easiest and let this one go. She turned her head and looked out the passenger window. Where had Jeanette gone? In a tiny voice, she asked, “Mom? Where’s Aunt Jeanette?”
Not looking up, Dorie replied, “She’s over there, by those… trees.”
Leaning forward, Missy craned her neck for a better view. But… no Jeanette. “I’m not seeing her.”
Her mother placed the cap back on a tube of hand moisturizer, dropped it into her clutch and snapped it shut. Rubbing the lotion on the back of her hands she looked out the window opposite hers. After a brief scan of the area, she said with wonder, “I don’t see her either.”
Missy opened her car door and stepped out onto the lip of the blacktop. She peered over the top of the car. There was a slight breeze and for the first time, she noticed how warm the sun felt. Pricking up her ears, she listened carefully to the terrain around her, hoping to catch the sound of movement. Nothing but the breeze and an occasional bird calling. Her heart tightened.
Moving around the rear of the car, toward the ditch, her eyes never left the line where the dried out field grass ended and the woods began. Dorie, who just managed to get her shoes back on, was scrambling out of the passenger door closest to the shoulder, yelling for her sister. “Jeanette? Jeanette! Where are you?”
Missy, with a knot forming in her throat, joined her mother, calling for her aunt. Just as Dorie began moving helter-skelter down into the ditch, Jeanette appeared at the tree line, directly opposite them. “C’mon. Come here. There’s a path. Follow the path. You have to see this.”
Dorie stopped dead in her tracks and looked to Missy for guidance. Seeing none, she smiled and suggested, “Let’s do it. Let’s go explore.” Her mother ran back to the car, grabbed her clutch and then began moving swiftly toward the spot where they’d just seen Jeanette, who had since disappeared back into the woods.
Missy paused for a moment. And then thought, ‘what the hell’. She locked up the car and headed down the ditch just as her mother reached the tree line and disappeared. Within a few feet, Missy found a well-worn dirt path which led her toward the woods.
Once in the woods, the difference in the air quality was palpable. The day was sunny and dry with the slightest breeze, but, the deeper she walked, the cooler the air became. So dense were the trees, in a matter of yards, when she turned around, all she could see of the sunlight was that which rained in from where she’d first entered. “Mom?”
No answer. She looked to the trees. She had no idea what kind they were, so tall and so close to one another, their branches, entwined, formed an impenetrable ceiling high above. Fortunately, ahead she could see the way out, lined by the sun, serving as a beacon through the darkness. At the forest’s center, the chill hit her. She had no jacket. And the perspiration from their hasty exit from city hall still clung to parts of her body. She held her arms close to her body as she made her way toward the other side.
Stepping back into the sun, she felt some weight, some small sadness, melt away.
It was glorious: an open field surrounded by tall trees on three sides. There were also trees on opposite side, but they were sparse and significantly shorter than those she’d just walked through. Here, there was less breeze than where she’d left the car, but still enough to move, ever so slightly, what remained of the tassels of the tall grasses. The dirt path continued through the center of the field. Due to the height of the grass, she felt as if she were stepping into a labyrinth. The smell made her immediately think of autumn, so dry and crisp. Baking in the sun, the field offered the sweetest perfume.
Neither Dorie or Jeanette were anywhere in sight. She would have called their names, but Missy wanted to preserve the sound of the breeze skimming the sea of dormant, faded grass. It was the sound of a caress, the kind whose magic lingers. Lulled by her generous surroundings, Missy walked slowly forward, down the path. The field, even with it’s subtle valleys, couldn’t have been more than a football field’s length long. Just as she reached the other side, her mother appeared.
With a child-like joy lighting Dorie’s face, for a brief moment, Missy thought her mother looked twenty years younger.
“Missy. Come. We found it.” she beckoned.
“What?”
“You’ll see. Come.”
Missy followed a few yards behind. The opposite side gave way to a wider vista, populated with few trees and what remained of the underbrush. Here, there was no grass, only the damp clay ground. The reedy, dried-out stalks of summer vegetation stood guard over the occasional bare bush and rampant errant tree sucker. Once the thicket began to thin and plane down, Missy heard an unmistakable sound; the river! They had found the river.
“Missy!” It was a beaming Jeanette. “Look! We found it! Isn’t it beautiful?” There was an exhilaration to her voice which was contagious.
Slowing her pace, the river soon revealed itself, wider than Missy had expected and much wilder. Its surface was alive, like black snakes writhing over one another. The sound was near deafening and all Missy could do was stop and stare, astounded by the river’s strength.
Her aunt and mother soon joined her, standing on either side of her. The elated trio began walking to the north, toward what appeared to be a cliff rising down stream, looming forward as if it was born from the middle of the river. It was an optical illusion. As they came closer they could see it was actually on their side of the river. They discussed whether they should walk all the way to its ledge, but Jeanette, concerned with the time, vetoed it. Instead, they turned back, bravely walking ever closer to the river’s edge. The bank soon gave way to a small, sand-less beach.
Missy stopped dead.
Jeanette happened to look over and catch the moment her niece froze. “Missy? What is it?”
Missy said not a word, but merely pointed; there, where the water and the land met…
Three pairs of shoes.
Small; those of children.
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