James, Miranda - Out of Circulation (CAT IN THE STACKS MYSTERY)

I turned to Lily to tell her about her sister. “Would you like to come to the hospital with me?”

She nodded, her lips already working on a silent prayer, and went to fetch her coat.

When Stewart ran into the kitchen I told him quickly what had happened. He said he would keep an eye on the stove and on Diesel.

Lily and I made it to the hospital in about ten minutes. I’m sure Lily prayed the entire way, and I silently added my prayers to hers. Kanesha said it was a mild heart attack, but that didn’t make it less worrisome.

Dr. Sharp stood waiting at the emergency room reception desk when we arrived, and he escorted us to the small room where Azalea lay in bed. She had various monitors hooked up to her, and Kanesha sat in a chair near the bed, her whole body taut with tension. Azalea appeared to be asleep, but her eyes popped open as we approached her.

I hung back to let Lily talk to her sister first. Kanesha joined me and Dr. Sharp in a corner of the small room.

“How is she?” I asked. Azalea looked exhausted, and her skin had a gray tinge to it that alarmed me.

“Doing better than she looks,” Dr. Sharp said. “It was a minor cardiac incident, and fortunately Kanesha was with her when it occurred. She’s going to be fine, but she’s going to have to cut back on the salt and fried foods.”

Kanesha muttered something that sounded like “Ain’t gonna happen.” Sharp slipped an arm around her, and she leaned against him for a moment.

“I’m glad she’s in such good hands,” I said, greatly relieved by the cardiologist’s confidence.

Lily called to me. “Mr. Charlie, ’Zalea wants to see you.”

I moved toward the bed, and Lily stepped out of the way. I squeezed one of Azalea’s hands gently. “How are you feeling?”

A ghost of a smile flitted across her face and then disappeared. “Tolerable, Mr. Charlie. Tolerable.” Her stock answer when I inquired about her health. I had a sudden lump in my throat and couldn’t speak for a moment.

“Looks like they’re taking good care of you,” I finally said. “If there’s anything I can do for you, you let me know.”

Azalea nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Charlie. They say I got to take it easy for a while. Can’t do no lifting much and things like that. Be okay with you if Lily come help me awhile?”

“For as long as you need her,” I said firmly. “The important thing is for you to get to feeling better. Nothing else matters.” I would make sure she didn’t have to worry about the hospital bill, either. Unbeknownst to Azalea, Aunt Dottie had left money for just such a contingency, with firm instructions to me to take care of Azalea and not to let her talk me out of doing it. This was one battle with Azalea I would win, I promised Aunt Dottie silently.

“Can you pull up a chair and sit close?” Azalea said. “Need to tell you something.”

I glanced at Dr. Sharp, and he nodded as he approached the bed. “It’s okay as long as you don’t talk too long. You need to rest.” He smiled down at her. “I don’t want Kanesha carrying me off to jail if something happens to you. All right?”

Azalea nodded, and Sharp withdrew, taking Lily and Kanesha with him.

“What did you want to tell me?” I asked as I scooted the chair close to the bed.

Azalea’s eyes were closed, and one hand plucked at the blanket covering her. She sighed heavily. “I sure am sorry, Mr. Charlie. Should’ve told you this earlier, but I was feeling like a foolish old woman.” Her eyes opened, and she blinked at me.

“Don’t worry about that,” I said and risked patting her restless hand. Her fingers curled around my hand for a moment and squeezed briefly. “Is this about what happened in that stairwell the other night?”

She nodded. “I did see something I didn’t tell you about. It like to scare me to death, though. Ain’t never seen nothing like it. I thought it must be the old devil himself coming after that woman.”

I felt a chill along my spine. I could hear the terror in her voice, and I squeezed her hand again.

“What did it look like?” I asked.

She shuddered. “Horrible. I looked up those stairs when I heard that woman up there, and this shadow come up behind her. I saw it move and strike her, and I turned away and tried to hide myself so it wouldn’t come after me.”

How bizarre. “What did the shadow look like? I know it’s scary for you to think about, but if you can describe it for me, maybe I can figure out what it was.”

“All right.” She paused. “Reckon it was like a great big ole hand, ’cepting it had horns on it.”

What on earth could it be? I wondered. “How big was the hand?”

“Really big.” Azalea sketched out a shape in the air with one hand.

Even allowing for the distortion caused by light and shadow, it sounded like whatever Azalea had seen was larger than I would have expected a normal hand and arm to look like as they cast a shadow.

“That does sound really strange,” I said, “but I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for it. Don’t worry about it anymore. I promise you I’ll figure it out, but you will need to tell the sheriff about it later, when you’re feeling up to it.”

That seemed to reassure her. “Okay, Mr. Charlie. Thank you. I be all right now.”

“Good. You get some rest, and we’ll come see you tomorrow.”

I didn’t wait for any acknowledgment. I pushed the chair back as quietly as I could and slipped from the room. Kanesha and Lily waited right outside the door.

“Can I go in now?” Lily asked her niece.

“Go ahead. I’ll be with you in a minute.” Kanesha glanced at me.

Kanesha and I moved away from the door to talk. I shared with her what Azalea had told me, and Kanesha frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense,” she said. “Maybe she was so frightened of the dark she imagined it. It’s so bizarre.”

“Yes, it is,” I said. “But she seemed convinced of what she saw. It wasn’t the devil, obviously, but it was something with a distorted shadow. We just have to figure out what it was.”

Lily came out of the room and interrupted further conversation. “’Zalea says I should go back with you and finish up dinner.” She smiled, though her eyes were wet with tears. “She go’n’ be okay, she ordering me around like that.”

“You really don’t have to, Lily,” I said. “I’d rather you stay here with Azalea.”

Kanesha nodded. “I’ll take you home later.”

Lily shook her head. “No, ’Zalea be like to have a fit, she find out I didn’t do what she done told me to do. Besides, I be feeling better if I got something to do. You don’t worry ’bout me, ’Nesha.”

Kanesha hugged her aunt, and Lily clung to her for a moment.

“Thank you, Charlie,” Kanesha said, her voice husky.

I nodded and waited for Lily to compose herself. “Call if you need anything,” I said. “Anything at all.”

Lily was quiet on the ride home. I had plenty to think about, too. Azalea’s revelation puzzled me. What on earth could she have seen?

Whatever it was, it had to be part of someone’s costume, I figured. I needed to sit down and think carefully about what everyone wore that night and decide what could have made such an odd shadow.

Stewart, Dante, and Diesel were busy in the kitchen when we arrived. Lily took over at the stove and announced that everything was ready. I filled Stewart in on Azalea’s condition while Lily dished up the food. Dante and Diesel watched her with great interest, and Dante pranced around on his back legs for a moment. Lily grinned at the little poodle, and I was pleased to see it.

Diesel chattered to me while I talked to Stewart, and I patted his head and stroked his back until he finally calmed down. He obviously wasn’t happy that I had left him behind for the second time that day, and he had to tell me all about it.