Миранда Джеймс - Fixing To Die

Gamble shrugged, then shifted his attention to Endora. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cat that color. What is he?”

“ She is an Abyssinian,” Dickce said. “They’re usually brown or reddish brown in color.”

“Never heard of them before,” Gamble said.

Endora paid no attention to Gamble. She seemed more interested in sniffing, then licking, the fork that Dickce had forgotten to move out of reach.

“Naughty girl.” Dickce laid the fork aside and pinched off a small bite of the cake. When she held it close to the cat’s face, Endora sniffed for a moment before she grabbed it and started chewing.

Peanut whined, upset that Endora had been given a treat and he hadn’t. An’gel still had a little cake on her plate, and she pinched some off and let the dog have it.

“That’s all,” An’gel said. “Marcelline doesn’t spend her time baking for dogs and cats, you know.”

Peanut whined again.

“I said no more, and I meant it,” An’gel said, even as she reached for another small piece of cake. “This is absolutely the last bite, you hear me?”

The dog gulped down the cake and waited for more. This time, however, An’gel held firm.

“That’s enough, Peanut,” Benjy told him. “Quiet now.”

Dickce almost laughed at the piteous look that Peanut gave Benjy, but the dog did not whine again. Dickce did laugh when Endora batted her hand with a paw. Evidently Endora decided that if Peanut could have a second bite of cake, so could she. Dickce obliged with a bite that was a bit larger than the first one.

Marcelline returned with a cup and saucer for Gamble, and she also carried a dessert plate and fork. Dickce noticed that the slice of lemon cake she brought was almost half the size of the pieces she had given them.

The housekeeper set the cup and saucer on the coffee table and handed the plate to Gamble. He frowned as he took it. He started to speak but Marcelline cut him off.

“That’s all that was left.” She turned to An’gel. “Dinner will be at seven, if that’s all right.”

“That’s fine,” An’gel said. “Thank you.”

“What are we having?” Gamble asked around a mouthful of cake.

Marcelline regarded him with obvious distaste for a moment before she replied. “ They are having pot roast and vegetables. You’ll have to find dinner on your own.”

Gamble scowled and swallowed his cake. “How come they get dinner and I don’t?”

“ They were invited.” Marcelline glared at him briefly before she marched out of the room.

Gamble’s face reddened, and Dickce thought he might retort. He did not. Instead he scowled again and picked up the pot to pour himself coffee.

Dickce felt embarrassed for the man, and she suspected the housekeeper had informed them about dinner in order to give Gamble a snub. He might have deserved it, because he had forced himself on Mary Turner’s hospitality. Dickce nevertheless pitied him.

An’gel surprised her by saying, “You’ll have to excuse us now, Mr. Gamble. We have business to attend to, and I’m afraid we can’t put it off any longer.” She started to rise from her chair, and Dickce and Benjy followed suit.

Gamble remained seated. “Sure. Whatever.” He stared into his coffee cup.

Dickce could see that Gamble’s lack of civility annoyed An’gel. The man was rather graceless. She and An’gel were used to better behavior from the men they knew. The fact that Gamble did not stand when they did was further evidence of his lack of couth.

“Come along, Peanut,” An’gel said. “We’re going upstairs.” The dog followed her toward the door.

Dickce, still holding Endora, followed An’gel, and Benjy brought up the rear.

An’gel paused in front of the stairs to look first at Benjy, then at Dickce. “Shall we give this a try?”

Benjy nodded, then tensed in anticipation.

“Yes,” Dickce said. “You go up first and call Peanut to come with you.”

An’gel put her right foot on the first tread, then stepped up to the second, then the third. Peanut sat, watching, his tail swishing back and forth over the floor.

“Come along, Peanut,” An’gel said in a calm tone. “Let’s go upstairs.” She moved up another couple of steps.

Peanut didn’t hesitate. He trotted up the stairs past An’gel to the second-floor landing. An’gel shrugged before she turned and followed him. Dickce mounted the stairs with Endora, Benjy on her heels. They gained the landing and stepped a few paces into the hallway.

“I didn’t feel anything,” Benjy said.

“I didn’t either,” Dickce replied.

“Nor I.” An’gel looked thoughtful. “Of course we can’t expect it to happen every time one of us goes up or down. We’ll remain upstairs for a little while, then take them down again.”

“If they don’t react this time, will you want to try it again?” Dickce asked as Endora yawned and stretched in her arms.

“Perhaps,” An’gel said. “Let’s try one other thing, since Mr. Gamble is still downstairs. Come along, Peanut, let’s walk to the end of the hall.”

An’gel headed toward the front of the house, and Peanut went obediently along with her. Dickce and Benjy waited where they stood with Endora to see what happened.

Dickce watched Peanut carefully. The dog behaved normally until he and An’gel neared the bathroom between her bedroom and the French room. Suddenly he stopped and stared at the bathroom door. He emitted a low growl, then barked sharply, three times.

CHAPTER 16

An’gel awoke refreshed and relaxed the next morning. Not what she would have predicted after the strange and somewhat unsettling events of the day before. She had lain awake for nearly an hour when she first went to bed, tense, waiting for another weird thing to happen. Perhaps a repetition of the moving of her clothing from yesterday during her short tenure in the French room. She was actually relieved that Nathan Gamble had made a fuss over staying in the room. As night had drawn closer, An’gel had felt uneasy enough over sleeping in the room she was now in.

As the minutes had passed and nothing had occurred to disturb her, however, she had gradually relaxed enough to fall asleep. She had slept untroubled by either dreams or ghostly visitations.

She pushed aside the covers and sat up on the side of the bed. After a couple of yawns, she picked up her watch from the bedside table and checked the time. Nearly six thirty. Heavens, I slept almost nine hours . She laid the watch aside, found her robe and slippers, collected her toiletries bag, and went down the hall to see if the bathroom was free.

Some half hour later, dressed and ready to go downstairs, An’gel tapped on her sister’s door. After a moment, Dickce opened it and greeted An’gel with a yawn, quickly covered by a hand. “Sorry about that,” she mumbled. “I haven’t been up long. Slept okay but I still feel a little tired.”

“And obviously not dressed for breakfast,” An’gel said. “I’m going on down, I think. I’m ready for coffee.”

“I won’t be long,” Dickce said. “Leave some in the pot for me.” She yawned again as she closed the door.

An’gel heard another door open nearby. She turned to see Primrose Pace stick her head out her door across the hall. Mrs. Pace ducked back inside her room the moment she spotted An’gel looking at her. The door shut firmly but quietly.

An’gel smiled on her way downstairs as she recalled the scene late yesterday afternoon at the bathroom door. Peanut’s barking at the closed door made her wary, and when the door opened to reveal the medium behind it, An’gel had felt mighty relieved. Peanut hadn’t taken to the medium, nor she to the dog. Mrs. Pace had to be assured that Peanut wouldn’t shed all over her clothing, nor would he get in her room and chew up her shoes. An’gel had to wonder how many pairs the woman had brought with her and how many she had ever lost to a bored canine. The way the woman talked, she must travel with one large bag full of nothing but footwear.