Books of the Dead (16 page)

“All right then, let’s go.” Nora didn’t want to delay the process either.

There were huge panels separating each section from the other. A few locals were standing and browsing through books; they never looked up. The sitting arrangement was at the end of the room, and there were few people sitting there. The room was silent with occasional sound of flipping of pages and someone coughing or tapping on the table.

“Where can I find them?” Nora asked Mrs. Clarence.

“Over there ... right over there, third from the right. Good luck finding what you are looking for,” Mrs. Clarence said.

Nora walked over to the section to have a look at the pile of books, but like she predicted, there weren’t many. Nora found the one she was looking for and took the leather bound file and set it down on a nearby table to look through it. There was usual news, news that Nora already saw and knew. She flipped through the reports hurriedly, and never stopped at anything until she found the one she was looking for the entire time. There was no part of the news that was missing and the whole report was there. Nora started reading it and read the chunk of the report that was missing. Nora was trying to take it all in, and at times was at a loss, because she wanted to convey everything to Merly, but didn’t know how to and then she thought of something that would allow her to take these things as evidence. Mrs. Clarence was sitting a little distance from her, “Ma’am, can I photocopy a few pages from here, is that allowed?” Nora asked.

Mrs. Clarence looked up, and saw what she was holding, then said, “It is allowed, but the person working there is not present today and I am very foreign with the machine; perhaps you can do it yourself?”

Nora was grateful that at least she was getting what she wanted and although she was not familiar with photocopy machines, she decided to give it a try. “Where can I find the machine?” Nora asked.

“It is a floor below. While we were coming up, did you notice a small door on the side over a platform? Usually, it remains open, because Jim works there. Today, it is closed. Here, take the keys or do you want me to go with you?” Mrs. Clarence asked.

“It is all right, I think I can manage it myself.” Nora finished her sentence, but didn’t go half the way when Mrs. Clarence called her back.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but why do you need these for and which parts do you need?”

“For my work,” Nora replied without stopping, “I need few of the articles, just for reference. Is there a problem?”

“No, it is nothing, carry on,” Mrs. Clarence urged.

Nora descended the stairway to find a small door, which was locked on the right side of the platform. Nora lowered her head to fit into the space. She twisted the key to open the lock. A photocopy machine was there with a few papers strewn here and there. It looked like nobody ever came there to copy anything, but Nora shrugged the thought off and switched on the machine. Initially, it was difficult for her to switch on the machine, but she followed the instructions to start it. Shortly after she was copying pages, she did two copies, but folded and hid one of the copies in her trouser pocket. Nora locked the doors and went her way up to hand over the keys to Mrs. Clarence, and all that was left for her to do was to head back to her city, but before that she wanted to be clear with Mr. Kippler her real reason for being in the town.

“Are you done?” Mrs. Clarence asked once she was handed over the keys.

“Yes, it wasn’t much.” Nora wanted to leave as soon as possible, but she was stopped.

“Show me what copies you made,” Mrs. Clarence ordered firmly.

Nora had seen it coming, so she made a few copies of random news among others. She handed them to Mrs. Clarence in a very casual manner and they were snatched from her hands. She skimmed through them hurriedly and turned each paper to inspect. Nora didn’t want to lose control of the situation, and wanted to know why the town people were so skeptical of her. “You don’t look too pleased with the result. Are you looking for some other news?” she asked.

At that moment, Mrs. Clarence had paused at the story of the Keaton sister, and Nora saw it, but didn’t pay any attention.

“What?” Mrs. Clarence asked. “What are you talking about? It is my duty to check on the copies made. That’s all.” She sounded surprised.

Nora felt like a fool with her over-suspicious nature over the last few days. “Oh, I am sorry, I thought I was bothering you. I am really sorry.” Nora tried to cover her mistake and Mrs. Clarence bought it. She handed back the papers to Nora. “There you go. Anyway, when you are leaving town?” she asked Nora.

“In a day or two, or I might leave today. I haven’t decided. I like this town,” Nora said.

“Then I hope that you have a happy time staying here. Take care!” Mrs. Clarence wished her luck.

Nora made her way down, completed the formalities at the desk and went to meet Mr. Kippler for one last time. He was not at the house when Nora got there. Nora banged against the door a couple of times before noticing that the front door was locked. She couldn’t understand where they would go in such short notice. She looked around, but no one was there. She had to return the scooter keys and tell him about the meetings, but most importantly, confess her true identity. Nora was feeling unusual that day; she wasn’t sure why she was acting the way she was. She was not obligated to Mr. Kippler nor owed him any answer, yet she couldn’t leave. She stood there looking with hands on her hips, and the noon sun on her head. She decided to wait at the door before going back to the hotel.

Sitting at the front door, Nora thought of all the things she had to say to Merly or how she would present her findings to her. Will they be accepted, rejected, or countered? Nora didn’t know and they filled her with an overwhelming sense of horror and anxiousness. Nora waited at the doors for more than an hour, but still there was no sign of Mr. Kippler. She kept checking her watch. Nora must have dozed off when she was awakened by Mrs. Kippler. The Kipplers were standing in front of her looking surprised. Mr. Kippler spoke first, “What are you doing here, Dora, sleeping on our porch?” The sun was almost down and it was getting dark. Nora had dozed off and didn’t even take notice of the time. She sat up rubbing her eyes, “I … I just came to return your scooter, Mr. Kippler,’’ Nora said.

Mr. Kippler looked at the night sky; it was already dark. “You have to take one more ride on this,” Mr. Kippler said in an affectionate tone. “You don’t know the way here and it is already dark, go back.” The look on his family’s face conveyed the same thing. Nora wanted to say so many things and didn’t wish to go back. She wanted Mr. Kippler to invite her in and offer to hear her story, and her pleading eyes must have conveyed that, because Mr. Kippler said, ”You are coming back tomorrow to return my scooter. I will hear you then.” Nora had nothing else to say and saw Mrs. Kippler lean into whisper something in her husband’s ears, but he only shook his head.

“Well, thank you then. I must go, and I’ll be coming back tomorrow to return your scooter, Mr. Kippler,” and waved them goodbye. The ride back to the hotel was tedious, and Nora was having a nagging pain in her head, and she shook her head to wave it away, but it wouldn’t go. The headlights from cars coming from the opposite direction increased her headache by a notch and Nora desperately wished to be back at her room.

The hotel lobby was empty when Nora set foot inside; the front desk lady was the only one who smiled at her, Nora acknowledged it. She noticed that it was first night she was not asked if she wanted dinner, and thinking it was the last night left for her to spend in this town, Nora ordered dinner. The lady at the front desk was polite enough to comply and said, “Wait here, while I go and make arrangements,” and she left.

Nora saw a stray mobile phone and picked it up, typed a message and entered a number, and sent the message. Nora saw the desk lady coming, so she promptly deleted the message and the number, kept the mobile in place and pretended as nothing ever happened. The lady didn’t suspect anything either.

“Do you want your food to be sent to your room or do you want to eat it here? We have a special menu tonight and since you are ordering dinner for the first time, it is on the house.”

Nora was overwhelmed by the kindness, so she politely said, “I will have my dinner here.” Nora wanted to make most of that night, enjoy the food and to have a good night’s sleep.

Nora loved what was served from the “special” menu, although it was nothing special., She finished it slowly enjoying it all and relaxed in the chair. Sometime later when she got up to retire for the night, she didn’t forget to compliment the hotel owner. Going back to her room, Nora clutched her bag tightly and drifted off to a slumber.

1. Chapter 5
   

Nora woke up to a different environment. She blinked several times, but the room didn’t resemble her hotel room or her dorm room. She tried to sit up, but her back felt paralyzed. Nora panicked. She couldn’t feel her left leg either and it was heavy. Nora didn’t know whom to call or what to do, so she struggled trying to get up. Nora turned her head and saw a woman in a white dress, and as the woman walked up to her bed, Nora had to ask, “Where am I? And who are you?”

“Nora, it’s me ... your mother. Are you feeling all right?” the woman asked.

“Mother!” Nora exclaimed, “But when did I reach home, I was in…” Nora stopped before saying anything.

“You were your way to here, to your home, Nora, but you had a small accident and you injured your leg. Don’t move and you will be fine,” Nora’s mother said.

“How did I injure myself? What accident?” Nora was sounding confused; she couldn’t make sense or understand how she landed in her home. Her mother explained the situation to her obviously in hopes of calming her.

“Nora you were coming from a friend’s place to here, when you had an accident. You were the one who said this before you passed out. We were called and we brought you here, but dear, you never told me that you were visiting a friend and then coming here.”

Nora tried to recall what had happened, but all she could remember was clutching her bag and going off to sleep.

“Just rest for a while and it will all come back to you. I promise.” Nora’s mother tried to sooth her and left the room closing the door behind. Nora laid on one side wondering what changed everything so suddenly, and all she wanted to remember was if she finally was able to meet Mr. Kippler and explain to him everything. It made her distressed and hyper. She struggled to get up again and finally had the courage to look at her left leg. She touched it slowly and saw the leg was not broken, but there were several cuts, and Nora groaned. She was starting to feel the pain and it was terrible. “I need a break,” she said to herself while touching her forehead.

It was almost evening when Nora woke up for the second time that day, and then she started recalling the previous night’s events. Nora woke up the other day perfectly refreshed and fine and that she planned to go and meet Mr. Kippler. Nora turned to the other side and could envision herself going to return the scooter, and that she did. She remembered everything clearly.

Nora remembered that she paid the lady at the motel after packing her things early in the morning, and Mr. Kippler was ready to meet her that day. “Here are the keys,” and Nora had handed him the scooter keys. Mr. Kippler smiled and invited her in, but Nora declined saying that she had to leave early, “I have to go, Mr. Kippler, this is important and I came here to return your keys,” Nora briefly said. Then a long silence followed before she spoke again.

“Also, there is one more thing that I want to say to you,” Nora said and waited for Mr. Kippler to react, but he didn’t, so she continued and said, “I am not Dora. That is not my real name. My name is Nora, and I am also not a reporter.” Nora had planned to say something different, something more concrete, but these were the only lines that came out then.

Mr. Kippler, however, still didn’t say anything although it was a revelation. “Go on” was all he said, and Nora was taken aback by the nonchalance, but she didn’t show it.

“I came here to investigate a few things. My friend and I were having troubles at our college. We were sent these books anonymously. The books were about evoking spirits and ghosts, and I saw a picture in it of the Keaton siblings. They looked uncannily like one of the professors at our college. I wanted to get to the bottom of it, but these days, it is hard to trust anybody, so I kept my identity a secret and shied away from telling anyone anything.”

There was still no reaction from Mr. Kippler.

“I didn’t want to hide this, but I had to. I don’t know anyone in this town and you asked me to be careful, Mr. Kippler. I am awfully sorry for lying to you. Please can you forgive me for this?” Nora begged.

Nora thought that Mr. Kippler would say something about her keeping the truth from him or for lying, but he said something completely different instead.

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

Nora wasn’t expecting that so she merely nodded.

“Then I hope that you get to help your friend, but remember one thing. What you are venturing into is perilous and at times may be dangerous, so rethink what you are getting into,” he said to Nora in a warning tone.

Nora understood what he was trying to convey to her, but she was also a friend, so she said, “I understand, Mr. Kippler, and I take full responsibility for what I am doing, but I am a friend, too, and Merly needs my help, so I have to get back to her.”

“That means, you did found what you were looking for. Good luck then.” Mr. Kippler didn’t say anymore, neither did he ask any other questions about the Keatons nor the professor whom Nora claimed resembled the Keatons. Nora heard Mrs. Kippler calling her husband, so he got up and went inside. Nora had nothing else to do but to leave. Her work was done and she was ready to take off.

It was after that part Nora couldn’t remember, so she touched head and neck to see if there was an injury. But all she could find was her injured leg. Nora’s mother came in for the second time and she looked a bit stern.

“You are not asleep. Well good, then we have to talk,” she said, but Nora had no interest or intention of indulging in a conversation, so she declined.

“Can we talk later? I am having a headache.”

“No, we have to talk now, I just called your university to ask for a few days leave, and I was told that you took leave almost five days ago, and said that you were visiting home. You owe me an explanation, Nora. Where were you?” Nora’s mother’s voice was filled with irritation and anger, and Nora was fully aware of that. Her mother hated being lied to, and Nora was also aware of that.

She gulped down the water which she was drinking and looked straight at her mother. She had no explanations to offer and making up a story at that point was impossible, so she choose the next best option and remained silent.

“Don’t remain silent, answer me.”

“Mother, I have nothing to say in my defense. Yes, I lied because I had to, and I was out to do important business, nothing to be so shocked about. I am fine, all right?” Nora voiced was raised at that point.

But her mother wasn’t backing down. “You lied and now you are talking with a raised voiced? You are just in college, so don’t you dare think of yourself too highly, do you understand?” Nora’s mother was shouting at this point.

“But Mother!” Nora exclaimed.

“Fine, you don’t want to tell me, that is okay, but remember unless you do, you are not getting back to college.” Nora’s mother left slamming the door behind her.

Nora sat up clutching her forehead; she was feeling desperate and wanted to run away from home. She wanted to contact Merly, but she had left her phone behind and there was no other way she could contact her. Nora wished she could tell her mother everything, but that was not remotely possible. There was a dark cloud looming over her head and Nora could see that there were darker days ahead. When everything seemed bleak, Nora’s little sister, Poppy, came in. She was a girl of ten and extremely fond of her elder sister. Poppy constantly sought attention from her sister, and there were times when Nora wished that she was left alone, but for some reason, she didn’t feel the same way this time.

When Nora saw Poppy standing near the door, she urged her to come closer and sit on the bed. “Come here. Mother told you not to speak to me, didn’t she?” Nora asked. Poppy’s face was guilt-ridden and Nora knew that was exactly what she was told. “Then you shouldn’t be here.” Nora turned to the other side and didn’t face her sister for awhile.

“Did you really lie?” Poppy asked her sister.

“What if I did?” Nora questioned back.

“We are asked not to.” Poppy’s answer was simple and childish.

“Do you do everything that you are asked to?” Nora was only teasing her sister, but innocent Poppy was confused. She didn’t know what to do.

“Did I hurt you?” Nora asked her sister.

“Only a little,” was the reply she got.

“What else did mother tell you?’’

“Nothing much, just that you lied and I should never do it,” Poppy said innocently with tears in her eyes.

Nora couldn’t hold up her façade any longer. She got up and hugged her sister tight. “Yes, I did lie, but it was for a friend and it wasn’t meant to hurt anyone, so just relax,” Nora assured her baby sister, but Poppy wasn’t convinced.

“You think mother will forgive you for this?”

“Maybe she will, maybe she won’t, I don’t know, Poppy, but I hope she does, but can you?” Nora questioned her sister.

“If it is for a friend then I think it is fine. Is your leg hurting?’ Poppy changed the subject so randomly that it made Nora smile. She pulled Poppy closer to her and held her tight in hug and was thankful that she was not being judged.

“My leg hurts, and I cannot remember what happened, how I got here or who informed Mother. I don’t remember anything. It kind of got deleted from my memory completely,” Nora said this to herself more than her sister. However, Poppy kept an ear to what her sister was saying.

“I know what happened to you. I heard Mom talking on the phone with someone,” Poppy said truthfully.

“Do you know with whom she was talking?” Nora asked.

Poppy shook her head. “I don’t know but she said that you were on your way here, when you fainted and fell over a small slope. Someone rescued you and you gave our address, but by that time, your leg was already hurt. Mom said that you didn’t eat properly for days, so that must have caused it.”

Nora touched her injured leg. The wounds were bandaged, but she removed one of them despite the repeated protest from her sister.

“Don’t open them, Mom bandaged them for you. You were bleeding.”

”I will be fine.” There were deep cuts in her leg and it surprised Nora that she had sustained such a fall. Nora handed her sister the end of the bandage and said, “Wrap it around my leg for me.” Poppy obediently complied to it and tied the bandage carefully around her sister’s leg asking occasionally if she was hurting. Poppy’s kindness was like a soothing balm and it helped to ease some of the pain that Nora was feeling. Lovingly, she stroked Polly’s golden brown hair and said very quietly, “What would I do without you?” Their conversation was cut short when the girls heard their mother calling Poppy.

Poppy was Nora’s only resort in the hostile environment of her home, and she wanted to make sure that things stayed that way, so Nora patted Poppy and said, “Run before Mom finds out that you are here, and don’t tell her that you were here if she asks you, and don’t worry, this is not bad lying. Now go.” Poppy heartily agreed and was ready to do anything for Nora. Before Poppy was out of the door, Nora called her for one last thing. “Wait ... come visit me before you go to bed. We can talk.”

“I will,” was Poppy’s reply and she was out of the room.

Nora slumped back in her bed and felt bad for treating her sister that way, but she needed her help to get out of the situation or to inform Merly. She needed to make up a believable story to convince her mother; it was a lot of work, but Nora couldn’t think anymore. She was not even hungry and closed her eyes. The medication was probably working it’s way up to her system, because in no time, she was asleep. Nora dreamed that day, and she usually never has vivid dreams, but that day different. The dream was halted right after her meeting with Mr. Kippler and then everything was blurred. Nora woke up and her stomach gave out a loud growl. “I must have not been eating” she said out loud, checked her watch and saw it was past 9:00 p.m. Time was flying by quickly, but the thought soon escaped her mind when her stomach reminded her that she hadn’t eaten anything in hours. She hoped that her mother had left some food in the fridge. She dragged herself out of the bed and sat down immediately after getting up. The door was left ajar and a slight ray was coming from outside. Mother must be awake, she thought, and wanting to avoid meeting her, Nora delayed her journey to the fridge and instead started taking baby steps to relax her leg movement.

It was past twenty minutes, but the lights were still not out. Nora couldn’t wait any longer and stealthily went out of the room. The television was still on and it was playing some movie which Nora didn’t stop to notice. Her mother was on the couch and there were official papers all over. Nora saw that she hadn’t removed the glasses and pitied her mother for overworking. She paused and removed the glasses, then very carefully removed the pen from her hand and adjusted her head against a cushion. She must have been really tired, because despite the movement, she didn’t wake up, but merely made small movements. Nora crept to her sister’s room; she was not asleep yet, because Nora could see the light under her bedroom door. She turned the lock, but didn’t open it. She made her way to the kitchen, and found that there were a few leftovers and an untouched bowl of rice and chicken. It was for her and Nora devoured it within minutes.

Satisfied with the meal, Nora unlocked Poppy’s door who was still wide awake. “You are not sleeping?” she asked.

“You are not either,” Poppy replied.

“Can I come in?” Nora asked.

“Yes, why are you asking today? Sit,” Poppy gestured.

Nora didn’t want to sleep alone that night. She was cold and the memory of the cold hotel room in the little town gave her chills. Nora was injured, her mother was angry with her and she needed the warmth of a familiar bed, and an embrace from a loved one. Nora held her sister’s hand and requested, “Can I sleep with you tonight here?”

Poppy seemed overjoyed. Nora knew that there was nothing more she would like than spending time with her sister. She believed it may be the age difference that distanced the sister at times, but Nora had offered to be here and Poppy seemed very happy about it. Poppy moved aside to make space for her elder sister, arranged the pillows and asked Nora to climb in. Nora had tears in her eyes, and could only utter a low, “Sorry,” then hugged her sister tight and closed her eyes, and deep down wished to remember the next part of her dream.