Dae's Christmas Past Read online

  “What a wonderful place to work,” Mary Catherine said as we stepped out on the sunny boardwalk. “I remember thinking that when I bought this shop.” She smiled as we passed Mrs. Roberts Spiritual Advisor.

  “Were you actually advising people with tea leaves and tarot back then?”

  “When you’re in my line of work, you do what you have to do survive. I’m a little more solid now—more than anything thanks to a generous bequest from my third late husband. I’m not so worried about the future anymore.”

  Shayla hailed us as we passed what had become her shop that she rented from Mary Catherine. “I need to talk to you, Dae. Where are you off to?”

  “Lunch,” I told her. “Why don’t you join us?”

  “I don’t want to take up your time.” She glanced significantly at Mary Catherine.

  “Don’t be silly.” Mary Catherine smiled. “I’d love to get to know you.”

  Shayla seemed fine after that. She accompanied us to Wild Stallions, wearing her usual chic black pants and sweater. It didn’t matter what she wore, she always had style and panache. Her black hair was drawn away from her face in braids that she’d looped around her head. She had brown eyes and finely drawn brows in her cocoa-colored face.

  Mary Catherine and Shayla were chatting about the business of being psychic as I told Cody Baucum that there would be three of us for lunch.

  “Make that four,” Kevin said from behind me.

  “Good party last night.” Cody shook his hand as he grabbed four menus. “I couldn’t believe someone died after it. Any update on that yet, Dae?”

  “I haven’t heard anything since early this morning,” I told him. “You know these things take time.”

  “I know.” Cody led us to a table that overlooked the Currituck Sound. “You know, I’m thinking about throwing my hat in the ring for one of those two council seats. You all are deciding on that tomorrow night, right?”

  “Yes. We’ll be filling the seats, at least temporarily,” I told him. “There won’t be an election for two years. Whoever we choose to fill those seats will be there until then.”

  Cody summoned a waitress. “I think I’d be good as a council member, don’t you? We need business owners represented on the council. I also think we need some younger blood.” He said it like it was a dirty word, sneaking glances behind him to see if anyone was listening.

  I didn’t want to get involved in talking about the council’s decision. I thought Cody would be fine, but it wasn’t only my vote. I knew there were other people interested in the seats too.

  “We’ll have to see what happens,” I told him with a smile. “You might be the only one interested in a seat. When I ran for mayor the first time, no one ran against me.”

  “And they probably won’t ever run against you again, right Kevin?” Cody slapped Kevin on the back. “I mean, you slaughtered Mad Dog in the vote.”

  I thanked Cody for his kind words and he left to welcome other diners waiting at the door. The waitress, Cole Black’s daughter, Amy, took our drink orders and left to get them. She was in her second year of college and was having a disagreement with her parents. She was refusing to work at The Curbside until it was over.

  “Is that the way your day has been going?” Kevin asked me.

  “No. I almost forgot about the council meeting tomorrow night after finding Tom Watts dead on Duck Road and having ghost horses run through me.”

  “I thought it must be something like that since I’ve heard about Tom from ten other people, and nothing from you.”

  “Sorry. There was a lot going on. Are they calling them ghost horses?”

  “Yes. That’s all anyone wants to talk about. I think the horses ran through everyone’s yards last night. They were at the Blue Whale too. I found hoof prints everywhere, but no damage done.”

  “It was quite a night,” Mary Catherine declared. “I felt the horses. They had no substance. I couldn’t communicate with them.”

  “I heard you could do that,” Shayla said. “I’ve listened to one or two of your radio shows. Nice shtick.”

  “I’ve heard animal voices since I was a child,” Mary Catherine said. “I wouldn’t have chosen it as a gift.”

  “So what did you actually see when you found Tom?” Kevin changed the subject.

  Amy came back with our drinks and took our food orders. I explained everything to Kevin from finding Tom to the hoof prints embedded in Duck Road. I passed around my cell phone with the pictures.

  “Wow!” Shayla’s dark eyes were huge. “What is the world could cause something like that? Normal horses don’t leave marks in pavement. How could ghost horses leave marks?”

  “They aren’t technically ghosts,” I explained. “They’re more like demon horses that were summoned by the early tribal people.

  “You are getting weirder and weirder,” Shayla said. “No wonder your aura is so far off this morning. Your chakras are probably all messed up again.”

  Tim and Trudy stopped by our table. The only aspect of his appearance that gave away his all-nighter was his pale blond hair. It was usually combed up into a tall flat top. Today it was just flat.

  “Afternoon,” he said with a nod, his hands resting on his duty belt.

  “Why don’t you two join us?” Kevin suggested. “We have plenty of room.”

  We made space for them at the table. Trudy tucked her arm through Tim’s, still nervous about their relationship, especially around Shayla. She saw Shayla as a rival, though Shayla had never even liked Tim.

  “Anything new on the investigation?” I asked Tim when they were seated.

  He nodded. “Chief Palo from Corolla called to tell us that Tom’s truck is still at his trailer. Chief Michaels thinks someone just dropped him off on Duck Road after he was killed. It doesn’t look good for your friend, Jake Burleson, Dae. He’s everyone’s favorite suspect right now—if we can ever find him.”

  Chapter Eight

  Kevin frowned at me. “You didn’t tell me that part.”

  “Sorry. I just didn’t get to that part yet.” I turned back to Tim. “What do you mean? Why can’t you find Jake?”

  “I don’t know. Chief Palo has been out there. He wasn’t home. We have an APB out on his truck and him,” Tim said. “It won’t be long.”

  “Jake doesn’t get around much,” I added. “I can’t believe that he killed Tom. He just isn’t that kind of man.”

  “Really?” Kevin stared at me. “You still feel that way—even after last night?”

  “What about last night?” Trudy asked.

  She was hoping she could turn the conversation away from boring police matters, but she also didn’t like talking about supernatural things.

  “Jake gave Dae one of his stupid horse statues to hold, even though she told him she didn’t want to know anything about it. She passed out on the ground.” Kevin sipped his water and didn’t seem to care that he’d started a ball rolling that couldn’t be stopped.

  “Is that what happened?” Trudy’s gaze was disbelieving. She’d known about my gift as long as I had. “I knew everyone said you were sick when you missed the other election parties. I didn’t know that’s what they meant.”

  “He just didn’t understand.” I contradicted Kevin. “I told him no, but I haven’t completely explained to him why I have to be careful.”

  Tim’s eyes narrowed. “You shouldn’t have to explain. When a woman says no, it’s no. Sounds like we have something else we should discuss with Jake when we find him.”

  “I don’t think handing me an ancient horse against my will is a crime exactly.” I didn’t like where this was going, and I wasn’t happy with my new fiancé sending it there.

  “I understand what he’s saying.” Trudy, not surprisingly, took Tim’s side. “It’s kind of like mind rape.”

  “I’m not sure I’d go quite that far,” Mary Catherine said.

  “No. I think Tim is right for once,” Shayla agreed. “Dae said no. Jake should’ve res
pected that. I might be able to whip up a little spell to help find him.”

  “I’m sure the police will be able to find him,” Tim said. “We do a good job around here. We have the sheriff helping too. We don’t need any hocus-pocus.”

  “Just offering.” Shayla shrugged.

  Amy brought our food out with Cody’s help. I was glad to see it. Everyone needed something else to occupy their minds.

  The food brought a fresh change of subject to the Christmas festivities that were coming up. Everyone was excited about the concept. It was one of Chris’s better ideas, and that was saying a lot since he came up with great ones every day.

  “August Grandin is putting up Christmas ducks.” Trudy laughed. “They are the sweetest things. They have little red bows around their necks. He’s going to float them on the sound the last day of the event. Isn’t that a cute idea?”

  We all agreed that it was.

  “What are you going to do, Dae?” Shayla asked.

  “I don’t know yet. There’s been so much going on, I haven’t had a chance to think about it. But I’ve got some old decorations in the closet. I’ll probably put those up.”

  “The Duck Shoppes leasing company is putting up a big, lighted tree on the boardwalk.” Trudy clapped her hands. “I’ve got dozens of snowflake lights to put up, and I’m holding a contest each day to win a free service. You know—like manicures, waxing—that kind of thing.”

  “Maybe I should offer free palm reading,” Shayla said. “I’ve got some red and green skull lights to put up.”

  “Skulls?” Trudy couldn’t believe it. “Oh, wait. Is that like from Nightmare Before Christmas?”

  Shayla had no idea what Trudy was talking about. Cody joined us for a moment. He and his brother had plans for their Christmas events and decorations too. He was also hosting a children’s parade around the boardwalk leading to a visit from Santa at town hall.

  They were all wonderful ideas. I didn’t quite feel in the Christmas spirit yet but I hoped it would come to me soon. When the lights and decorations started going up and late fall visitors started stopping by, I’d feel much better. I was just in a funk of sorts. I never stayed down for long.

  My phone rang. It was Nancy at town hall. She needed me to come down right away. She didn’t elaborate, but I knew she wouldn’t call unless it was important. I told her I’d be right there.

  “Do you want me to go with you?” Kevin asked when I said I had to go.

  “I’ll be fine. I’m not even leaving the boardwalk. You stay and finish lunch. I’ll be right back.”

  Everyone else continued eating and talking. Kevin grabbed my hand as I turned to go. “I’m sorry if you’re upset about what I said.”

  “It’s the truth, I suppose. But now it’s going to be everywhere.” I squeezed his hand. “Don’t worry about it. The story will pass in a few days.”

  I walked out of Wild Stallions. The Currituck Sound was beautifully blue with white puffy clouds above it. The clouds urged me to sit and daydream for a while. While I wanted nothing more at that moment, I had to go to town hall.

  There was a spot where the boardwalk turns to the left from Missing Pieces. Duck town hall was tucked into a shadowed corner there where rain didn’t fall and the sun had a hard time reaching into the shade. The boardwalk stayed damp all year and moss grew at the sides where the wood slats met the buildings.

  As I walked into the area, I was aware of someone being there, watching me. I looked across and saw the man who’d been in my vision of the horse cult in the past. He was short, a little hunched, and dressed in animal skins. His hair was long and ragged, as though it was normally cut with a knife. He had a full beard and no shoes.

  My heart skipped a beat. How he could be there? The other men in the vision were from a far distant past that no one alive could remember today. And yet there he stood, glaring at me from the dark corner.

  “Who are you?” I asked in a trembling voice. I cleared my throat and blinked a few times. “Why are you here?”

  I’d spoken to assure myself that this wasn’t real. This man was still from my vision of the past. He wasn’t really standing here on the boardwalk with me. That wasn’t possible.

  His words in reply were gibberish to me. It wasn’t any language that I’d ever heard. He pointed and waved the big bone he held. I still couldn’t understand him.

  He lunged at me with the bone, and I took a step back. Far from proving that he wasn’t real, I’d proven that a nightmare could follow me back from the places that I went. The idea was terrifying.

  “I can’t understand you. I’m sorry. I don’t know what you’re saying.” I held my hand cupped by my ear hoping he’d understand.”

  His hand lifted to point at the parts of Duck that we could see through the open entrance to the boardwalk. His words were unintelligible, but his meaning seemed clear to me when he pounded the bone.

  I shivered. “Something else bad is going to happen, isn’t it? Something worse than Tom’s death.”

  His dark gaze roamed the sunny water on the other side of the boardwalk behind me. He searched for some way to communicate with me as he ran back and forth to the rail and pounded the bone on the wood.

  “I don’t know what you mean.” I thought about the horses I’d heard but couldn’t see. “Are you talking about the demon horses?”

  The door to town hall opened behind me. “There you are, Dae,” Chris Slayton said. “Thank goodness.”

  I glanced back, and the other man was gone. I walked to the edge of the damp wood. The shadows were empty. “Did you see him?” I asked Chris.

  “See who?” His head shifted back and forth outside the doorway. “Were you talking to someone? I’m sorry. I thought you were just pumping up before you came inside. I didn’t see anyone out here with you.”

  “That’s okay.” I put my hand on the door as he started to shut it again. “Whoever he was, I guess he left.”

  Chris stared at me for a long moment. “Are you okay, Dae?”

  I couldn’t quite summon my bright mayor’s smile, but I did the best I could. “I’m okay. What’s going on?”

  Dozens of Duck residents had come to town hall and were refusing to leave until someone explained to them why there were wild horses running up and down Duck Road in the middle of the night.

  “I started having them come back here in the meeting room until Chris showed up,” Nancy whispered an explanation. “More came in with Chris. They wanted to talk to Chief Michaels, but the chief is out with the sheriff looking for Jake Burleson. I’m hoping maybe between you and Chris you can handle the situation before I have to shut down the office.”

  Nancy was out of sorts, unusual for her. Usually she handled every crisis calmly. She was still wearing her pink bunny slippers that she always wore at work but her hair was frazzled and her mouth had become a thin line.

  “We can handle it from here, Nancy,” Chris said. “The people like the mayor. They trust her more than anyone. I’m sure they’ll believe what she tells them.”

  I stared at him. “And what’s that going to be? I can’t explain what happened last night. The horses ran right past me—maybe even through me—I’m not sure. They left hoof prints burned into the street. How do I explain that?”

  Chris pushed me into the meeting room with a gentle but firm hand. “I don’t know. But I’ll be there with you. There are a lot of frightened people, Dae. They need someone to tell them it’s going to be all right, even if that someone isn’t really sure it will be.”

  About fifty people, the maximum amount of chairs we normally have in the meeting room, were full of scared, questioning Duck citizens. They were noisy, shouting back and forth at each other, until they saw me and Chris. Then silence hit them, and they stared at us with watchful eyes.

  I forced another smile and avoided the podium at the front of the room. We pushed our chairs together to form a semi-circle. Chris grabbed a chair and sat close by.

  “Hello, everyon
e. I know you all want a chance to speak. Let’s take it one at a time, no shouting, and we’ll try to work through everyone’s problems.” I tried to appear confident and helpful even though I was as nervous and worried as they were.

  One man stuck up his hand. I nodded and acknowledged Andy Martin from the Ice Cream and Slushy shop.

  “Mayor, I don’t know what’s going on, but those horses crushed a bunch of my wife’s azaleas and broke some pots. Why are they coming up this far?”

  Everyone around Andy nodded. They wanted to ask the same question.

  “I can’t really explain why this happened, Andy. Sheriff Riley and Chief Michaels are looking into it.”

  “Did the horses kill that man from Corolla I heard about?” Mark Sampson from the Rib Shack asked.

  “I don’t think so. The last I heard, Chief Michaels thought Tom was a victim of hit and run.” It was close to the truth.

  There was a great deal of whispering and shock that anyone in our small community could be responsible for something so terrible.

  “But if it was horses,” Mark continued. “They’d need to be put down or something, right? They must be rabid if they’re going around attacking people.”

  “Horses didn’t attack Mr. Watts,” Chris said. “He was killed, but not by horses.”

  “That doesn’t answer the question of why those wild horses were up here in Duck,” Agnes Caudle charged. “They never come up this far. I guess there should’ve been a horse round-up this summer to get some of them off the island. They’re probably looking for food.”

  “Looking for food is one thing,” Carter Hatley said. “Did you get see the streets and the ground around your houses? I understand that the ground is wet from the snow, but I have hoof prints burned into the concrete on my driveway. I saw some hoof prints burned into the streets on the way here this morning. What kind of horse is responsible for that?”

  “It’s coming from Corolla,” Vergie Smith, our Duck postmistress, said. “We all know it’s from all that digging and those crazy statues down there. I heard the police say Jake Burleson killed Tom. I’m telling you, it’s all coming from that historic excavation on Jake’s property. Somebody needs to shut that thing down before we all go to hell in a hand-basket.”