The Marradith Ryder Series Part 48
It was a new experience for me to live in a house that’s actually big enough to have it’s own name.
And an even newer experience for me to own it.
Technically, it belonged to my Dad until I turned eighteen.
The house was a buzz of activity the morning my parents arrived. Rafael had arranged for Sojourner guards to get rid of anything undesirable. The first order of business was getting rid of the illegal booty out in the greenhouse and the sheds behind it.
There were people clearing out rooms, throwing out some of Leighton’s odd furniture (he liked a lot of white and asymmetrical shapes for such an old guy I thought, along with some things that I can only imagine were from the seventies). Fiona was in control of this project, and as always she ran around, a little bolt of lightening. Mostly I saw her red ponytail bobbing up and down on her back, her fingers pointing for workers to put this here and move that there.
By the time Justin left to meet my parents, things had calmed down. After going over my studies for the day, I decided to take a look around. Danny was playing basketball with Will outside, so I took the opportunity to slip away.
The main house had over thirty bedrooms. I didn’t have time to do a count myself, but I’d heard that number from Fiona. I was familiar with the ones Leighton kept furnished, which were only a few. There was the room that he’d actually slept in. The next room was the one that I had dreamed about - the bed with its dark wood, elaborate etchings and white canopy. I was relieved that Fiona had not disposed of it. That bed was an antique, a family heirloom.
Even Leighton thought of the furniture in that room as having belonged more to Caroline than to him. That was why he never slept there after she died.
I climbed up to the third floor.
At the end of the hallway on that floor was a narrow staircase. It led to the attic.
I climbed the stairs and was surprised that the door was not locked. The old brass knob turned easily beneath my fingers.
No one had been in this room for quite some time. A draft of stagnant, dust filled air surrounded me like a dirty cloak. I fumbled along the edges of the wall looking for the light switch, and sighed in relief when I found it.
Light flooded the room. Or at least, the part that was visible.
The room stretched across the length of the house, and was crammed with old furniture, some covered and some not. I found a book on the floor and propped the door open.
I walked right into the middle of the room, and turned left. Behind an old bookshelf, I found a wardrobe rack tightly packed with zipped up wardrobe bags.
I felt a tingling in my fingers. A shadow of the feeling that I often had in my spine when I sensed a Wolf.
I grabbed the bag, and rushed out of the musty attic, closing it behind me with a thud.
I had just gotten back downstairs when my cell phone rang.
It made me jump. I paused and took a breath before answering.
“Ryder,” Justin sighed into the phone.
I was familiar with that tone. I clutched the phone a little tighter.
“Uh oh. What’s wrong?”
He sighed, and then chuckled. “Baby. I think I really fucked up.”
“Well,” I paused. “You’re still speaking. Was any blood drawn?”
“No.”
“Is Dad in the hospital?”
“No!”
“Then it sounds like everything went well. What are you worried about?”
“Your expectations are low, woman,” he said. “You didn’t think I’d hurt your Dad?”
I waited a beat before responding. “I know how he gets. He can take it there.”
“I’m sorry. Let’s just say for now that Plan B is in action.”
“Okay,” it was hard for me to hide my disappointment, but I tried. “I want all the gore and play-by-play when you get here.”
“Alright, I’ll be there in about half an hour.”
After we hung up, I could hardly wait to open the package.
I hadn’t wanted to open it upstairs, where it would immediately be tainted by all the dust and grime in the attic.
I unzipped the bag and was surprised to find that the object was triple wrapped, in paper and a layer of thin cotton as well.
I carefully unfolded the treasure from its package.
Of course. Somewhere, in Leighton’s memory, which had become part of my own, I’d known that I’d find this.
I lifted it up to my body and looked into the mirror.
Leighton was obsessed with Caroline. Of course he’d kept her wedding dress.
©2009 Lori Titus
Lori Titus is the Managing Editor for Flashes in the Dark, and Short Story Editor for Sonar4 Ezine. Her work has been included in three anthologies so far. Most recently her stories appeared in Mausoleum Memoirs, and Toe Tags: 21 Spine-Tingling Stories by the Best New Authors in Horror. Meanwhile, she continues to write The Marradith Ryder Series, posted here weekly. For more info, see her blog at :
http://loribeth215.wordpress.com
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December 18th, 2009 at 8:40 am
A classmate urged me to read this page, nice post, fanstatic read… keep up the cool work!
December 18th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Thanks Sharon!
June 16th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
I wonder what plan B is, maybe her mom being the one to say they can get married.