Миранда Джеймс - Bless Her Dead Little Heart

Back in bed, she made an effort to relax and clear her mind until the pill could take effect. Eventually she began to feel sleepy and finally dozed off.

Sometime later a light rapping at her door roused her. Groggily she glanced at her clock—a few minutes past one. She stumbled a little getting out of bed as the rapping continued. She put on her robe and switched on the light before she opened the door. She blinked at Bernice. “What’s wrong?”

Bernice said, “I’m so sorry to bother you at this time of night, but my blood sugar is low, and I don’t have anything in my room to eat. Would you mind going down to the kitchen with me so I can find something? I’m a little afraid of going down by myself, and you know where everything is.” She smiled weakly.

“Of course,” An’gel said, her hospitable instincts kicking in. She yawned. “Pardon me.” She stepped past Bernice and started down the hall. She shook her head to clear it a little. Ah, that helped.

“Ma’am, is something wrong?”

An’gel stared at the man in uniform. What was he doing here? She started to ask, then she remembered. He was a deputy watching the house.

“Nothing,” she said. “I’m taking my guest downstairs for something to eat. Low blood sugar.”

The deputy nodded and resumed his post. An’gel wandered on, dimly aware that Bernice was shuffling along behind her. Lights on the first floor provided enough illumination that An’gel and her guest could navigate down the stairs and into the kitchen.

An’gel flipped the switch, and then she blinked at the sudden brightness. She headed for the refrigerator. “I’m not sure what you’d prefer,” she said over her shoulder to Bernice. She pulled open the refrigerator door and peered inside. “Maybe it would be better if you just ate some sugar.”

She started to straighten and close the door. She felt a blow to the back of her head and blacked out. Her body slid slowly to the floor.

CHAPTER 38

Why was someone shaking her so hard?

Dickce surfaced from a deep sleep confused and alarmed.

“What do you want?” she asked crossly. “Stop that.”

“Miss Dickce, you have to get up,” Juanita said urgently. “There’s a fire, can’t you smell it?”

Fire.

That word woke Dickce immediately. She tossed off her covers and climbed out of bed. She stuck her feet in her slippers and grabbed her robe.

“We have to get out of the house,” Juanita said. “Come on.” She took hold of Dickce’s arm and started pulling her toward the door.

Once they hit the hallway, Dickce could smell the smoke.

“We have to wake up An’gel.” Pulling herself loose from the younger woman’s grasp, Dickce darted over toward her sister’s door.

“She’s not there.” Juanita grabbed her arm again. “I already looked. I can’t find her or my mother. I’m praying they’re already outside. Come on.”

Dickce ran for all she was worth to the head of the stairs, then moved more carefully down until her feet hit the floor again. The front door was open, and she and Juanita dashed out. Wade was already out there, but there was no sign of Rosabelle, An’gel, or Bernice.

“Where are they?” Dickce asked. “Wade, where is my sister? Have you seen her?”

“No,” Wade said. “One of the deputies knocked on my door and told me to get out of the house. I pulled on some shoes and got out as fast as I could. I haven’t seen the deputies or anyone else since I got out here.”

“I’m going back in there,” Dickce said. “I have to find An’gel.” She pushed Juanita away when the girl grabbed at her. “No, let me go.”

“The deputies will find her,” Juanita said as she took a firm hold of Dickce’s arm. “You’ll only put yourself and them in danger if you go back in the house. You need to stay here. I don’t know where my mother is either, but we can’t go back in there.”

“What if they don’t know she’s not out of the house?” Dickce tried as hard as she could to get loose from Juanita but the young woman was stronger than she was.

“They’ll know,” Juanita said.

“Where is the fire?” Dickce asked. “Maybe that’s where An’gel is, helping them put it out.”

“At the back of the house,” Wade said. “In the kitchen, I think.”

“Let me go,” Dickce said. “I’ve got to go see if An’gel is all right.”

“I’ll go with you,” Juanita said. “Maybe my mother and grandmother are there, too.” She turned to her uncle. “You wait here in case they come out. The fire truck ought to be here soon.”

“There it is,” Dickce said. She could hear a siren in the distance, quickly coming closer. “Come on.” She started for the rear of the house, pulling Juanita with her.

The outside lights were on, and that made it easier for Dickce to see her way around to the back. Juanita kept pace with her, even caught her once when she stepped in a slight depression in the ground and stumbled.

Even before they reached the corner of the house, Dickce could see light from the fire. Her heart felt like it stopped for a moment. She worried that An’gel was trapped somewhere inside. Lord, let her be safe. I don’t care if the whole house burns down as long as my sister is safe .

Juanita guided Dickce toward the driveway in front of the garage, and Dickce did not protest. Her gaze was riveted on the house and the fire inside the kitchen. She prayed over and over that An’gel would be all right. As she watched, one of the deputies came out of the house with a woman in his arms, her arms around his neck.

Dickce darted forward, too quickly for Juanita to grab her and hold her back.

A few steps closer, and Dickce could see that the woman in the deputy’s arms was her sister. At that moment a fire engine swept around the house and stopped. Another was right behind it.

Dickce stopped and watched as the men from the Athena Fire Department went into action. Two of them ran up to the deputy with a gurney. They placed An’gel on it and then carried her across the driveway toward Dickce and Juanita.

“An’gel, thank the Lord you’re alive,” Dickce said. She wanted to cry with relief. The sounds and the activity around them were loud and disorienting. There was a light wind blowing the smoke away from them. Dickce was thankful for that small mercy. She thought the noise might drive her mad if it didn’t end soon. This was like a living nightmare.

An’gel looked at her strangely as the EMTs set the gurney down near the garage. “My head hurts,” she said. “What happened?”

“Let me have a look at you, ma’am.” One of the EMTs claimed An’gel’s attention, and Dickce moved back out of the way. She noticed that Juanita was gone, then she saw her speaking to the deputy who had brought An’gel out of the house.

“What’s going on?”

Dickce turned to see Junior and Benjy, the latter with Diesel in his arms, coming out of the garage apartment.

“Miss Dickce, are you and Miss An’gel all right?” Benjy asked.

“I am,” Dickce said. “They’re checking An’gel right now.”

“Where are all the others?” Junior asked. “I see Juanita, but I don’t see Uncle Wade, Aunt Bernice, or Grandmother.”

“They’re out front by now, I hope,” Dickce said. “I know Wade is, but I’m not sure about Rosabelle and your aunt. Juanita didn’t know where they were either. We hoped they would be back here, but I haven’t seen them.”

For the first time Dickce realized how odd it was that neither Bernice nor Rosabelle had made an appearance. Had something happened to them?

She looked at her sister. The EMT was still checking her out. An’gel said her head hurt. Had someone struck her?