The Fire Night Ball Page 16

  “Why, I believe he was only picking up some papers. I’m expecting him back home shortly. But if what you say is true, then he probably won't show up for hours.”

  Lila came closer to Marlena and peered at her intently. Marlena dropped her eyes.

  “So, you've made your trip through the ice for nothing, hon. You probably passed him on the road. What a shame.”

  “Well then, I’ll be going back. Sorry to disturb.”

  “You know, you have the most amazing eyes I've ever seen on a Native American. What’s your name, again, girlie?”

  “Nevada Carson.”

  “Pretty name, too. I've been meaning to hire some of your people to entertain my guests. Ritual dancing, that sort of thing. Do you know of anyone I could contact?”

  “No, I don’t, ma’am. I’ve never lived on the reservation.”

  “Yes, well, you don’t have the look of them, that’s for sure. You remind me of my sister.”

  Again, her eyes swept over Marlena’s face and figure. A look of suspicion crossed her eyes, but then they glazed over again, and Lila resumed her air of supreme indifference.

  What she had to do was hold on tight, Marlena thought fervently.

  Just hold on tight and get the hell out of here.

  The butler now came forward. He opened the door with a flourish. Simultaneously, the Wyoming wind hit him, almost bowling him over. In trying to right himself, he stumbled against Marlena, who was already pushing her way out.

  “Oh God, mith, I’m tho thorry!”

  A flashy ring on one of Alexander's plump fingers had got entangled in one of Marlena’s long fake braids. When he pulled away, attempting to extricate the ring, the wig came off the right side of her head.

  Out tumbled long, floating feathers of red-gold hair. They seemed to hover in the air. Marlena gasped. Then she cowered, trying to hide behind the butler’s bulk.

  Lila Drake stood akimbo, frowning, hands on hips. “Let’s cut through the crap. I know who you are. What in hell are you doing here, Marlena Bellum?”

  What dignified recovery was possible? Marlena laughed ruefully and pulled off the wig entirely, tossing back her curls.

  “I came to talk to Harry. That’s all.”

  “Must be important. Seems like you were willing to make quite the fool of yourself to get to him.”

  Lila was pacing along the foyer in rapid strides. Reluctantly, Marlena had to admire the power and grace in every step. She looked like a movie queen of old, with the litheness of a Joan Crawford and the sultriness of a Bette Davis. She could pass easily for my age. She's delectable.

  Lila whirled around to face Marlena, whose cheeks were burning hot.

  “Not as Johnny on the spot as he used to be, is he?”

  Marlena's eyes flashed, dropped away, then came back up. They stared at each other. Finally, Lila broke the silence.

  “Where do we go from here?”

  “I’ll take my leave now. My apologies, Mrs. Drake. Most embarrassing. Goodbye.”

  “Not so fast,” said Lila. “What were you coming to tell Harry? Why the getup?”

  Marlena held out the wig as though it were a piece of evidence in a court of law.

  “This,” she whispered with all the strength she could muster, “is a costume for a party I’m going to. I’m sorry to be…I know it looks…weird.”

  Lila shook her head. “Couldn’t be anything at the hotel would be so important to undertake anything so daring. What possessed you? Must be personal.”

  Marlena’s mind was racing; her heart was pounding in her throat. What to say?

  After a second of silence, she came up with a dodge.

  "Isn't everything personal?"

  Lila shrugged.

  “My mother’s in town, and there's family business we must attend to. When you came out instead of Harry, I panicked. In point of fact, there’s no labor trouble at the hotel, and the phone lines aren't cut. It’s just that ...well, there are some important events in the community I won’t be covering for Harry as I….I usually do. I wanted to ask him personally for an extended leave of absence.”

  She was barely aware of what she'd said by way of an excuse. From the expression on Lila’s face, it didn't appear to be passing muster. In her own head, though, something she'd just said was ringing true.

  Yes, she did want an extended leave of absence from her duties at the hotel, where all she did was wait for Harry!

  “Yeah, you cover for him all right.” Lila laughed. “You’ve made yourself into quite the little love slave. But it hasn’t done you one bit of good, has it? What do you have to show for it, girlie?”

  “I prefer not to discuss my private life. It has nothing to do with you.”

  “Ha! That’s a good one!” Lila swept back her glossy black hair from one side of her face. The motion pulled up onto her delicate neck-bones the gold necklace that was supposed to have been Marlena’s. Again she felt its talismanic power, and she felt her heart sink lower.

  “So, what’s with the getup? Is this supposed to be trick or treat? Now, tell the truth, Bellum.”

  At that moment, Marlena felt an urge to confess all, but overpowering her urge was an automatic gag reflex.

  She tossed her cookies in a jerky stream of pure, projectile vomiting, directly onto the Oriental carpet, six inches from Lila’s feet.

  Fuck!

  She spit.

  There was a long silence. The only sound was the butler talking to himself as he scrambled down the hallway enroute to the kitchen for a mop.

  “You’d better sit down for a minute, hon,” said Lila quietly. “You don’t look so good.”

  She put an arm around Marlena's shoulders, which were shaking hard, as though she were in shock.

  “I’m fine…I do apologize. Do you have a rag? Let me clean this up before I go." She was wiping furiously at her chin with a trembling hand.

  “Please, don’t look at me!” Marlena moaned.

  “Alexander will be back in a minute, and he’ll take care of everything. Just sit.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t want him to….”

  “No sweat. He used to be a nurse.”

  “Please, just let me go.”

  Marlena made it to the door, but she wasn’t strong enough to prevail against the wind. She got it open only halfway, and then collapsed. Lila sprang forward and helped her up.

  “Take it easy. What's the rush? I'm not gonna bite. Follow me, this way.”

  Lila was supporting Marlena with one arm and leading her into the largest reception room she'd ever seen.

  Under its domed ceiling of painted cherubs, there were two white grand pianos, surrounded by plush seating. At one end of the cavernous room was an alabaster bar that rivaled B.L.Zebub in size, though not in character.

  Pushing Marlena into an armchair, Lila gingerly removed her guest's jacket, which was covered with vomit. She tossed it onto a table.

  “There, that’s better. I have to say it. You totally remind me of my kid sister. She’s got that long, frizzy mop of reddish-gold hair like you do, only Marty’s eyes aren't colored that mermaid shade you've got-- hers are boiled green. She’s a wiccan, so she claims. One Halloween she dressed up as Lady Godiva and rode through Harvard Square. God, how I miss her.”

  Lila sighed.

  “I miss everything, living in this godforsaken place. Why do I stay? Why do you? Is it because of Harry? I heard you have a good job in San Francisco and used to have a perfectly good husband."

  Marlena tried to stand.

  "Sit down," Lila commanded. "Listen, kid, I'm not your enemy. Let’s say we call a truce. After today, if you want, we can go back to ignoring each other. But you’re not leaving here today until I’m sure you won’t die on the road."

  Marlena slumped back in the chair. “Is that what passes for noblesse oblige in your set, Mrs. Drake?”

  Lila brushed off the remark. “You grew up here, didn’t you? I heard your grandmother was one of the Scattergoods.”


  Marlena nodded, too weary to resist her antagonist's questioning.

  “When I was eight, we moved East, where my mother’s family lived,” she said drowsily.

  “Pity you didn’t stay in the East. Oh, I don’t mean because of Harry. If it hadn’t of been you, it would have been someone else. All I meant was, a girl with so much on the ball like yourself, your talents are wasted here. There’s so much more to do in Boston, New York, or Miami, the theater and the ballet, all the parties before and after.”

  “I never saw the ballet,” said Marlena. “We lived in the suburbs of Cleveland, in Parma.”

  “Oh, dear, how terrible for you.” Lila laughed again, but it was without malice. “Poor baby. And then the big, bad wolf came along, smiling with all his big white teeth. Harry made it seem the world was his oyster, and you bit."

  Marlena was wiped her face; she was silent, but she was listening.

  "Honey, I've got news for you. There are no pearls to be found in this mausoleum. Let me tell you a few other things. Those fancy connections, the partnerships with moguls of industry? They came through my family, not his. Harry’s your classic big fish in a small pond, BFSP, and a snake."

  Marlena glared at Lila helplessly, but it was impossible to come to her lover's defense.

  "I hope you don’t imagine you’ve been the only one he’s consoled himself with, hon, when I couldn’t stand it and went off to do my own thing. There were three before you came along. Two others that I know of in the past six months. But you’ve hung in there like snot; I’ll give you that much.”

  “May I go now please?”

  She felt indignant and dizzy. And also turned on by the enemy.

  “Are you feeling any better?”

  “I feel fine. Truly I do.”

  “Then you may go.”

  “I’ll see my way out.”

  “Oh, Marlena.”

  “Yes?”

  “Harry and I have agreed to go cold turkey on the extra-curricular activities over the holidays. I’d appreciate it if you’d back off while we give peace a chance."

  Lila smiled at her rival's numb look. "However, don't despair. Between us girls, I'm looking for a way out of this rock-pile without losing everything I put into it, which is a lot. Harry is better at taking than at giving. It will take some doing for me to get rid of him. He's no prince charming, hon, but if you want him that bad, well, maybe we can work something out between the two of us. Capiche?”

  “Goodbye, Mrs. Drake.”

  “Good luck, kid. Alexander will see you to the door.”

  She pulled a silk cord at the side of the room, and a few moments later, Alexander appeared and escorted Marlena out.

  Once she was alone, Lila paced up and down, going over in her head every detail of what had just happened. Finally, she picked up the house phone on the wall.

  “Alexander, what’s the name of that woman who applied for the housekeeping position here, the one who used Dr. Huddleston's office as a reference? She cleans there. Oh yes, Rosa Brown. Find her phone number, will you, in my rolodex. Then get her on the phone for me. Wait, Alex. Let’s do it this way. Tell her you think there’s a job in it for her, if she’s willing to do me a small favor. If she goes for it, then put her on the line with me. I’ll take it from there. Got it? Good.”

  Five minutes later, Alexander appeared at the door.

  “Rosa Brown’s on the line, ma’am, and completely at your thervith.”

  The one who gets to the lawyer first in a divorce usually wins. Based on her past exploits, Harry could probably discard her and take her money. That would be if the circumstances were normal.

  But if what she suspected proved to be true, that he'd managed to knock up Marlena Bellum, then truly, the circumstances were anything but normal. Tagged with an illegitimate baby, Harry couldn't play the righteous husband in a divorce court. She might have old Harry over a barrel, thanks to the redheaded kid!

  However, all in all, she’d kind of liked the kid. Imagine, showing up in a wig and pretending to be one of Harry’s Injun employees! She'd be a lot of fun to hang around with in this dullsville. Too bad she couldn’t see more of her.

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  After her humiliating, confusing ordeal, Marlena was so numb she could hardly feel her fingers as she gripped the wheel.

  What had just happened in there? Was Lila in denial, or was Lila in the driver's seat?

  And what was up with that pull of attraction she'd felt for Lila?

  Lila's resemblance to the beautiful woman in the painting had been dazzling, knocking her for a loop, and then, when Lila laughed, she'd sounded just like June.

  Tinkling laughter, tickling fingers, and soft cunts.

  It was difficult to think of Harry in the same resplendent light after looking at him through the lens of his wife’s poor opinion. Lila didn’t even respect Harry as much as Marlena did Coddie!

  Clearly, in Lila’s eyes, their divorce would be a pole cat fight over status and real estate. Gross! And then it hit her. If Lila managed to find out about the illicit pregnancy, she’d take Harry for everything.

  No more secret dallying for the sake of a pipedream. For Harry's sake, she must end the pregnancy quickly, before Lila figured it out. Chloe and Dr. Ron would know where to go and what to do. That was the new plan, and they’d be her support team going forward.

  When Marlena got to Mill’s Creek, she found a team of local men finishing work on the antique mill wheel by the pond, making it operational for the Fire Night Ball. Marlena brought out cookies and cider, hoping the activity would lighten the gloom in her soul.

  “What more needs to be done?” she asked the foreman.

  “Pump needs to be primed. Hey, you over there, hold this rope for me, will you? We had a time getting the rope out of the pond; it fell in and got tangled up on the bottom. It's attached to the fly wheel under the housing. Hey, you, hold this rope so the wheel don’t move!”

  “I’ll hold the rope,” she said. “They’re busy.”

  He shrugged. “You’re the boss. Just don’t let go.”

  Holding the rope didn't require any exertion, but after a minute, beads of sweat began forming on her forehead; she felt as though she were about to vomit. The queasiness made her weak in the knees, and she felt her grip on the rope slipping.

  “Over here!” she called out. “Help me, please."

  No one heard her, and the mill wheel was slowly beginning to turn as her fingers were weakening and slipping off the rope that was holding it still. Just then a young man in leather chaps came out of nowhere at a run. He grabbed the rope from her and twisted it around his own hand, stopping the motion of the wheel.

  “You seem always to be saving me,” she said to Apollo, who blushed in response.

  The wave of nausea had passed, but she remained standing there for some time, staring into the water.

  Was this the end for her and Harry? Was she at the end of her rope?

  On her way into the house, she was stopped by Chloe, who noted her drawn face and vacant eyes with concern.

  "Getting some exercise out of doors, dear?"

  Several times she'd noticed Marlena standing by the pond, staring into the dark waters as if mesmerized by an image below.

  "I was holding a rope for the foreman. I almost got pulled into the water."

  Omigod. The very thing that had happened to Cassandra, as she clung to a rope over her grandfather's well and flirted with Nicholas Brighton! There was that odd feeling again, as though a ghost was hovering and directing her actions. Mustn't tell Chloe, though. It would worry her.

  "Are you all right?" Chloe gently examined Marlena's scraped hands.

  "That pond has deep, still waters," muttered Marlena. "Perfect for a watery grave."

  Then she shook her head, seemingly coming out of a trance. "I'm fine. Got to go wash some windows," she said brightly, "before Annie beats me to it."

  Alarmed, Chloe searched Marlena's face. She seem
ed unaware she'd spoken of the pond being a grave.

  Marlena abruptly excused herself and went up to her room. However, she was dragging her feet. She was thoroughly disheartened about her prospects for happiness.

  After washing the windows and before retiring for the day, she put a sign on her door: “No Molestar Marlena.”

  Annie tiptoed in at seven o’clock and put a tray of food on the table by her bed, but it remained untouched.

  During the evening, the phone rang five times. Four times Annie answered: “Mill’s Creek. Merry Christmas.” They were hang-ups. Coddie, on the other end of the line, was too drunk to speak.

  The fifth call Chloe answered, as Annie was in bed. Dr. Ron said he was calling to check on his patient. Chloe confided her worry about Marlena's state of mind, and Ron said he would make it a point to stop by in the morning.

  "Please do," Chloe said. She'd noticed the mention of his name brought Marlena out of the doldrums.

  After falling asleep, Marlena dreamed she was on a voyage in the Mediterranean with an older man. At times he seemed to be Harry and at other times her father, but the man’s most disturbing trait was his dark dead eyes.

  To escape him, she dove in and set off swimming toward an inviting pink beach, but slightly offshore, she began to falter. There was a small wooden boat coming toward her, and the man at the helm had eyes the same shade as hers. She floundered and began to drown.

  Her throat convulsing, she struggled desperately to awaken herself. Then she bolted upright in bed, gasping; her hand was at her throat, her heart wildly pounding.

  This sleep apnea is getting worse, she thought. It's so terrifying, it could literally frighten a person to death.

  On the other hand, she thought drowsily, death would be the ultimate escape from defeat and despair.

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  December 23, 1977

  Faith wasted no time in calling her old doctor friend in Parma first thing in the morning. When she read aloud the contents and strengths of the big brown pills, he readily recognized Faith’s daughter was taking vitamins prescribed for pregnant women.