Harbinger in the Mist (Arms of Serendipity) (20 page)

Fourteen

Lindsey bid farewell to her mother at a quarter to six that evening. Eli was sitting in one of the rockers on the front porch waiting on her; he stood as she closed the front door. 

“Shall we go and eat until out stomachs pop?” He extended his elbow.

“That’s disgusting,” she laughed as she slipped her hand through his crooked arm.

They walked slowly down the path to the Robbins’ property. They could hear laughter and glass bottles clicking in the distance. The air was still hot and thick, but there was a nice breeze blowing off the estuary. A kaleidoscope of colorful butterflies flitted from blossom to blossom as they passed.

“Is something bothering you? You haven’t said very much today and you’re being uncomfortably, no downright painfully, quiet right now.”

“I’m just… having a surreal day. The priest at the church wants me to hang a crucifix in my room and douse it with holy water. And Maddie informed me that her psychic aunt wants to come over and doing a reading in the house. You know, a few months ago I was watching my Amish neighbours tend their corn fields. Today … today I feel like I’m caught in some scary movie. I’m just wondering if my character lives or dies.”

“Ah,” was all Eli managed to say before Maddie came jogging up the path.

“Come on! Daddy’s getting ready to pour the boil!” She grabbed Lindsey’s hand and towed her to the backyard where several dozen people were mingling and sipping drinks. At least twenty round tables, each surround by six chairs, had been set up in no real order. A middle-aged couple was dancing on a parquet dance floor that had been placed near the water’s edge. A DJ had set up a booth nearby and was playing music from the 1950’s. A large banner hung from the Robbins’ deck railing that read:

CONGRATULATIONS, MADISON & MICHELLE!

Two long, rectangular tables sat in the middle of the yard.  One was covered with stacks of plates, napkins, plastic ware, glasses and a punchbowl. The second had large serving platters stacked high with various dishes on each end; the middle was empty with the exception of several layers of newspaper. Two large barrels full of ice covered bottles and cans sat in the place between the two tables. Mrs. Robbins waved at them as she adjusted the newspaper on the food table.

“Clear the way, clear the way! The Frogmore Stew is ready to eat!” Mr. Robbins shouted.

He and another man struggled as they carried a humongous silver pot toward the table.  They counted to three and tipped the contents of the pot onto the piles of newspaper.  The contents were a hodgepodge of edibles – large slices of Italian sausage, four-inch cobs of corn, whole red potatoes, and massive amounts of huge shrimp. Murmurs of excitement went through the crowd.

“Uncle Owen always throws a great party, but I think he outdid himself this year,” a good-looking guy in his early 20’s said as he trotted up to Maddie and picked her up in a bear hug. 

He was about five inches taller than Lindsey, tanned, and slender. His sandy blonde hair was shaggy, but the look suited him. His eyes smiled as he placed Maddie back on her feet.

“How the hell have you been? I haven’t seen you in ages. And when are you coming out on the boat with me?”

“Lindsey, Eli, this is my cousin Brent. He lives over in Mount Pleasant but is too good to come out here unless there’s free food involved.”

Brent laughed and shook Lindsey’s hand, then Eli’s, but he never took his eyes off Lindsey.

“It’s not a mount and it’s not pleasant, but its home. And it’s really Maddie here who’s too good to come out and go fishing with a simple country boy like
me
.”

Maddie play punched Brent in the arm then the two wrestled around for a moment. Brent looked up, laughing, and asked, “Y’all new here?”

“Yeah, I am. My mom and I just moved here from Indiana. Eli’s just visiting. His aunt Darby lives here, though.”

Before the conversation could progress, Maddie’s dad called everyone to attention.

“Welcome guests, to the 18th-annual Robbins’ family boil! This year we are celebrating the high school graduation of our girls. Let’s hear it for Michelle and Madison as they embark on the rite of passage we call college!” 

The crowd clapped loudly, Lindsey and Eli included. Brent placed his pinky fingers in the sides of this mouth and whistled loudly. Michelle beamed at the attention, Maddie blushed.

“Now. Dig in!”

The throngs lined up and made their way down the serving tables.

“What’s what?” Lindsey whispered to Maddie when they reached the food-ladened table. “Nothing’s marked.”

“Daddy never marks the foods. He wants people to be open to trying new dishes without judging them first. This one,” she pointed to a blue and white checked platter close by. “This is fried gator tail bites. No, don’t wrinkle your nose, it’s actually really good, especially dipped in Daddy’s spicy remoulade sauce. And this bowl here is elk chili. It’s really good with the sweet cornbread over there. Just get a little bit of everything and try it. You’ll probably like most of it.”

Michelle had joined them and whispered, “She’s right, try most of it. Dad’s an excellent cook. But stay away from the red platter at the end over there, the one with the little cows around the edge. Dad thought it’d be funny to serve swinging beef.”

Brent nearly choked on his soda and Maddie rolled her eyes.

“What’s – ”

“Cow balls. Deep fried cow’s balls to be exact,” Michelle answered Lindsey’s unasked question.

“I think you mean ‘bull testicles,’” Eli corrected. “Cows are females and, therefore, do not have, um,
balls
.”

Michelle gave Eli a dirty look while Lindsey suppressed a gag. “Ugh! People eat that stuff?”

They made their way down the line, each of them loading up on food with the exception of the innocuous looking dish in the red platter. Lindsey enjoyed the boil immensely, even going back for seconds. The other items were good, too, with the exception of venison. Its taste was too strong for her, too gamey. The girls introduced Lindsey to several of their aunts, uncles, more cousins, and friends from high school. As people finished eating, they made their way to the dance floor where they were doing some variation of a swing dance to oldies music.

“Would you like to shag?” Brent asked Lindsey as she was polishing off a slice of strawberry shortcake. She wasn’t sure what he meant and looked to Eli. Brent mistook the glance. “That is, if your boyfriend doesn’t mind.”

Lindsey blushed. “He’s not my boyfriend. He’s going to be a priest actually.”

“So, no boyfriend, right?”

Lindsey shook her head no, a little embarrassed.

“Then let’s go!” Brent grabbed Lindsey’s hand and pulled her to the dance floor.

“Let’s hear it for all those Carolina girls out there! This little ditty, as if y’all don’t know, is by the Chairmen of the Board,” the DJ shouted into his microphone.

The women in the crowd whooped as the music to a vibrant piano and brass number echoed over the water and into the dusky evening.

“I have no idea how to do this!” Lindsey panicked. She’d never seen this dance before.

“You’ve never shagged? Here, I’ll teach you. Just follow my lead. It’s all footwork. Watch.” He moved his feet and said, “Triple step, triple step, rock. If you’re feisty you can kick out like this instead of the rock step. Put your free hand out like this.” 

Brent twirled her around the floor effortlessly. By the end of the song, Lindsey had learned the rudimentary steps to the dance and was having a blast. She’d never had a dance partner like him before; he was a natural. As the song came to an end, everyone on the floor whistled and clapped.

“That was fun,” Lindsey laughed, clinging to Brent’s side. He had one arm wrapped around her waist and used his thumb and pointer finger on his free hand to whistle loudly. Another old beach song came on and he spun her into the middle of the parquet floor once again.

They sailed through the next few songs. By the time they left the floor in search of drinks, night had settled around them like a black velvet curtain. Tiki torches had been lit around the Robbins’ backyard, the citronella oil they were burning kept the mosquitos at bay. Lindsey was sweaty, but exhilarated. Maddie and Michelle were looking at her smugly. 

“Where’s Eli?” She sipped root beer from the bottle.

“He left a little while ago. Said he had a headache,” Maddie answered. She leaned close to Lindsey and added, “Personally, I think he got a little upset watching you and Brent.”

“I doubt it. It’s not like that. If anything, I bet he just slipped back home to nab a piece of left over pizza. All he ate tonight was cornbread, potatoes, and corn. He’s vegetarian, so there wasn’t much here for him to eat.”

Lindsey and Brent danced several more times before the night came to an end.

“Give me a call,” Brent passed her a piece of paper with his cell number on it as he walked to his truck. Lindsey had escorted him around the house since it was on the way to the nearest bathroom. “We can go down and dance on the boardwalk at Folly beach. Or I can take you on the boat. I’ve got a nice little 42-foot Bertram. We can go out on the Cooper River and watch the dolphins and otters.”

“That sounds like fun.”

Brent gave her a hug, planted a quick kiss on her cheek, and winked. “It will be.”

Lindsey watched him drive away into the night. She turned to walk back to the house when his red tail lights disappeared around a corner.

“Sooooo…. Brent seems to be in to you,” Maddie prodded as she walked with Lindsey to the pathway that led to Retreat House a little while later. “You two going to go out on the Clipper?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. He gave me his number.”

“Lindsey, take what I am about to say at face value, OK? Please don’t screw with him. He’s a wonderful, wonderful guy. He’s got a big heart. His last girlfriend took advantage of that and it nearly destroyed him. He’s just now coming out of his funk and I don’t want to see something happen to throw him backwards. So, if you and Eli have something going on, just… just don’t jerk Brent around, OK? Be honest with him.”

“I’m not that kind girl, Maddie. Besides, Eli and I don’t have anything going on. We are just friends.”

“Uh-huh. Well I’ve got to help clean up.”  Maddie turned and began to walk away. A few yards away she stopped and yelled back, “Oh! I almost forgot to tell you. Aunt Sadie will be over tomorrow night at 5:45. She’s excited about being able to read the house.”

“Cool! See you tomorrow and thanks for inviting me!”

The house was dark; Eli and her mother were obviously in bed already. She entered the house as quietly as possible and drug herself up to her room. She fell asleep on her bed without changing her clothes. Tired as she was, she wished she’d seen Eli when she’d gotten back.  She hated to admit that his absence had sent waves of disappointment through her.

Downstairs, Eli was lying in his room wide awake, replaying the evening in his head. After he’d slipped away from the gaggle of partiers, he’d gone to Uriel’s office. He had been agitated. He kept telling himself if was due to the ongoing issues in the house, that he was anxious to resolve the issue and get back to his brothers. But in reality, he knew it had something to do with seeing Lindsey in the arms of that, that
boy
.  The sight of his callused hands on her … 

He had stood in front of his superior’s door for several minutes, taking deep breaths to calm himself and trying his best to figure out what he was going to say. He knew there would be questions that he honestly couldn’t answer – questions about what in the hell he’d been doing instead of getting rid of the lost soul that had attached itself to that house. He didn’t want to admit that he hadn’t used any of his channelling abilities since moving in to the house.

“Enter, Elion,” Uriel’s voice had drifted through the heavy door.

Eli, having murmured a quiet prayer for guidance, had opened the door slowly. He then bowed to the rector and slowly took a seat in front of his large, mahogany desk.

“The situation is worse than we thought. There is one angry spirit and three benign stuck in the house. It needs to be thoroughly cleansed so that the dead may be loosened from their earthly hell,” Eli explained.

“Walk with me.”

He followed Uriel outside. They stood in the sinking sunshine near the reflection garden. “Elion, it has come to my attention that you have been spending a lot of time with a woman, is this true?”

The question he’d feared would be asked had come up first. He knew that he could not have lied. It went against every piece of his being. He had steeled himself to answer in a manner that did not incriminate.

“Yes, it is. Pater, I am not proud of that fact but I am also not ashamed. Nothing has happened nor
will
anything happen. I will not leave my calling for her. I just feel that I have to offer her protection against the negative force that has so obviously targeted her.”

“Are you sure about that, Elion? There have been other brothers that –”

“I am aware of the failures of others, but that won’t be me. Once this house is exorcised, I will return here to my post.”