Let's Play in the Garden (22 page)

She walked slowly from the closet to her puzzle and effortlessly slid in one more piece. It was shaping up well and full. It was quite vivid, and in no time, it would be done. Perhaps a few more months, then she could start a new one.

After dressing, she started downstairs to see what was going on, if she could spy anything strange occurring. She walked into the kitchen and found no breakfast on the table. That was odd. Instead, there was a rainbow-colored cloth on the table.
What’s going on here?
Merydith glanced at the clock. One-thirty!

“My God, why didn’t someone wake me?”

“There was no need, Merydith,” Marion answered. “No school until Monday and you stayed up late last night. We figured you needed your sleep, and missing one of Gladys’s breakfasts isn’t going to kill you.”

“I’m hungry.” She walked to the fridge for some orange juice and a muffin. When she opened the door she saw a large frosted birthday cake.

“A birthday cake, good Lord. Whose birthday is it?”

“Quiet down, Merydith,” replied Gladys. “It’s your brother Tobey’s, of course. It’s a surprise. He’s out in the yard right now. In a moment we’ll call him in.”

Merydith was silent. She took out the orange juice and poured it in a tall glass. Marion removed the cake from the fridge and Gladys put thirteen candles on it. Tobey was turning thirteen.

Merydith picked up a small brass bell shaped like a pilgrim and shook it as she sipped her juice. It had a very deep, low tone. She stared at the cake and watched as Gladys and Marion hung up streamers and balloons
. I don’t remember Tobey’s birthday
being this month. I would have remembered it being on January First, wouldn’t I?
I could have sworn that last year we gave him a party the second week of
May.
Could it be they’ve forgotten when his birthday is?
Or is it just that they’ve never really known, so they make it up from year to year? That’s it…a real mother doesn’t forget when she gave birth to her child.
Merydith watched quietly as Gladys went and pulled the chain leading to Simon’s workshop. It was time to begin the birthday party.

###

Simon walked briskly from his workshop and closed the doors behind him. “Come, Tobey, your mother wishes to see us inside for a moment.”

“I wonder why, Grandpa?” Tobey asked.

“Why, I have no idea, my boy. That’s what we’re going to find out.”

They entered the house together and walked into the kitchen.

“Surprise!” they yelled except for Merydith.

“Happy birthday, Tobey!” they then yelled.

Tobey was rightly stunned. It was his birthday again. He couldn’t remember his last. He really didn’t care. This was a big surprise, indeed. His eyes lit up with childlike excitement as he stared at the cake with its candles glowing brightly. Ah, he was now thirteen and would soon reach manhood.

“C’mon, Tobey, blow out your candles and make a wish,” Marion said.

Tobey closed his eyes, thought hard, and then opened them wide. He blew out all the candles with a great gust.

“Hope it’s a good one and that it comes true,” Gladys said.

“Me, too,” Tobey answered with a smile and his eyes turned toward Merydith. He watched as she wrapped her hand around the locket that he’d given her.

“Thirteen years old. You’re a fine boy, Tobey, and soon you’ll be a fine man. Able to take my place in the family,” Simon said to Tobey as he placed his strong arm around his shoulders. “Here, my birthday gift to you.”

Tobey took the small box from his grandfather and opened it. “It’s from both your grandparents,” Gladys popped in. Tobey took out a small pocket watch with a chain, one just like Simon’s. His eyes went wide with surprise.

“Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa,” Tobey said.

Merydith filled with such dread she felt sick to her stomach when Tobey held up the pocket watch. She tightened her grip on her locket. Simon was preparing to groom Tobey, to win him over to his side so he could continue his works of abominations and evil and cruelty.
No!
Merydith screamed inside. She would never allow it. She would fight it every step of the way.

Marion presented Tobey with her gift. Tobey opened it. It was a kite, something Tobey had talked about getting. He had seen some kids at school with them one day and they fascinated him. Now he had one. “Wow, thank you, Mother.”

Marion handed Tobey another gift. “This is from your sister, Merydith.”

The nerve.
Merydith thought.
How dare they buy my gift for him?
They could
have told me. I would have gotten my own gift. They’ve moved the birth date. I know they have.

Tobey quickly opened it and saw it was a collection of baseball cards. Old ones sealed in plastic, three strips of them. Quite a collection, and with such old cards they were probably worth a fortune. How had the family gotten the money for this? “Oh, Merydith, this is awesome. Thank you so much. It’s great!”

“You’re welcome, Tobey.” Merydith glanced at Marion with distaste.

“Come now, birthday boy. Let’s cut the cake.” Simon handed Tobey a long knife and he proceeded to cut.

I wonder when they’ll have my birthday. I remember it faintly. It’s in the spring sometime, not too far off. Close to Tobey’s last one, I remember. Maybe mine was before. I can’t wait to see.

19. The Demise of Winter

Vacation had ended and school reopened, but the children could not attend. Probably for the last time they were both struck by the sickness. Although this time it was not as strong, it was nevertheless mighty cold out and raining hard. No use in taking chances. Just a bit of cold could propel the sickness and claim the life of one or both of them. Once again they were both home and bedridden.

From the kitchen, Merydith carried two tall glasses of orange juice, one for Tobey, one for herself. She was able to get up and move about on her own. And she did not want to take those green pills anymore. She didn’t want Tobey to have them, either. God only knew what they were. She told her mother that she would nurse herself and Tobey back to health, that it was no bother, and it wasn’t.

“As you wish, Merydith. You take care of yourself and Tobey. But you know I’m here if either of you need me. Remember, nothing can replace a mother’s touch,” Marion said to her daughter.

Merydith climbed the stairs sluggishly. “Of course, Mother.” And then disappeared onto the next floor.

Marion continued to stare even after Merydith was long out of view.
Why would
Merydith act in such a way
?
Perhaps it’s the sickness. Not wanting me, her mother, to
nurse her and Tobey to health
.

Marion walked into the kitchen and set down to the cup of tea she had left sitting there. It was cold but she drank it anyway.

Suspicion poured into Marion’s thoughts, mixed with concern and doubt. She sipped her tea, her hand quivering, so she used her other to steady it
. She knows, doesn’t
she?
Or she at least knows something. It could not be just the sickness that has changed
Merydith so
.
The fights, the blaming, she has probed into every little corner of our very existence. She has turned so rebellious and harsh, it’s frightening. If she knows, what is
she going to do about it?
Is she working
toward destroying us, her family, our way of
life?
Should I tell Simon?
No.
He may harm her. She needs to be watched, and we must
be careful. She must not find out yet. It is not the time.

The wall Merydith had built between herself and her family was beginning to crumble. Marion had more insight than her parents did, and she could see the true side of Merydith. And some of what she was up to. The front that Merydith put up was not working on her mother any longer. Now she was suspicious. The grandparents were still fooled, but it was only a matter of time before enough fear swelled in Marion to prompt her to alert them

###

“Santaneen? Merydith Santaneen?” Mrs. McCormick called, but there was no response. “Absent again. That poor girl, there is so much wrong with her. I’ve got to try to help her.”

Mrs. McCormick went through the entire day seeing Merydith’s face everywhere. She remembering the day Merydith passed out, seeing her strange grandfather, seeing the fear in her eyes. She was having trouble giving her job one hundred percent. Merydith had touched her teacher’s life more than she knew.

The McCormick home: “What is it dear?” Gerard McCormick asked his wife. “You’ve been preoccupied all night, and you haven’t touched your dinner.”

“I’m sorry, honey, I just can’t get one of my students out of my mind. Something about her makes me feel afraid for her.”

“Why, what is it? Do you think she’s abused at home or something?”

“I just don’t know. It could be. She’s out of school a lot, more than is normal for a student, especially one that maintains such good grades as she. During this winter, she was out of school so much she nearly missed an entire term. Yet she managed to pull herself up to everyone else. From what I’ve heard, it’s a pattern, nothing new. One day she passed out in my class. When her grandfather came to get her, he didn’t seem to be the least concerned. He wasn’t even going to take her to a doctor. Gerard, if you had seen the look in her eyes…”

“Well, maybe you should mention this to the local police. Tell them your concerns and ask them to check the family out. If you’re that worried.”

“I don’t know. We’re here now. I don’t want to sound like some crackpot, then have the police think I do this for kicks. Besides, I don’t think they’ll just rush over to investigate a family because of a concerned teacher.”

“How about mentioning it to someone at work? They would know better. They know the town, they have records. Perhaps they know the family? How about Principal Meyers? Go to him.”

“You’re right. I’ll go to him. He can tell me about the family. Then I can maybe get an address from him and go down there myself.”

“I don’t think you should do that.”

“I think that’s exactly what I should do.”

###

Marion left the table and turned the TV on in the family room. She was just in time for the local news.

“Still nothing new in the search for the missing Willington police officers and the rash of strange events and disappearances that took place just before the winter. This has been a quiet, silent winter yielding nothing to the local and state police. One wonders what will happen once the spring returns. The town of Willington can only hope and pray.”

“Are the children in bed for the night?” Simon asked Marion, joining her and Gladys in the family room.

“Yes, I just checked on them,” Marion replied. “They’ll hear nothing. Now let’s discuss the spring.”

“Well, you know what takes place just after the garden is reborn, Harvest. We must enter and tend to the garden at night and receive what is owed to us.”

“But that’s not it, Simon. You know why we’re gathered,” Gladys jumped in, a nervousness about her. “You can deny it no longer. It’s there, in the garden. It’s hungry for our flesh…it waits for us. The winter may have weakened it, but spring will revitalize it. If we dare enter we will surely—”

“Enough!” Simon roared. “If we do not Harvest we will surely die. Do you want that? There is no dispute. We must enter the garden in the springtime and Harvest in the twilight hours, just as we have always done. Nothing has changed! There’s just added caution. We’ll have to be extremely careful. I’ll bring my shotgun with me. Believe me when I say we’ll be safe. I’ll blow the damn thing to hell if it steps a foot near us. Those seeds will be ripe for us to pick. They will sprout. We must harvest and use them or we will surely die.”

Harvest! Seeds! What seeds?
Merydith was shocked by what she heard. It was something completely new. She suddenly slipped, falling off balance from against the family room doorway where she’d been kneeling. There was a thud and a creek.

Marion turned and got up from the chair.

Merydith darted up the stairs with all her speed, masking herself in the darkness of the stairs and the halls. She tried to become part of the house.

Marion came out of the family room, looked around at the kitchen, and then up the stairs. She saw nothing, shrugged, and walked back into the room. “It was nothing,” she said to the others. “Probably the house settling.”

Merydith ran to her room and shut the door tightly. She went to her window and stared at the wall of the garden and the tops of the trees that sprang from deep inside it. “What is the Harvest? What is it you give them, you bastard? This must have been what Tobey had heard that time, about how if Grandpa betrayed the garden it would stop giving what it gives him. It gives them seeds that they harvest at night. But for what? What the hell do these seeds do? Wait till I tell Tobey.” She raised a fist in the air.

The Harvest would commence, evil beast or no evil beast. Nothing could keep Simon from his garden duties. He would get what he wanted; he always did. With his shotgun and his women by his side, he would enter the garden in the spring. The discussion was over. There was only one side to the arguments in the family. The TV was turned off and the adults went off to bed.

###

The next day the children again stayed at home to be quite sure that the sickness was gone. That was at Simon’s request. Merydith wanted to attend school but Simon forbid it. There was no fighting with him. She couldn’t walk there, and he was the only one who could drive, aside from Marion…and she did what Simon told her to do. So again she was his prisoner. No matter, Merydith and Tobey had a meeting of their own to attend.

###

Mrs. McCormick was true to her word. Upon noticing the absence of Merydith once again, she went right up to Principal Meyers to find out what she could about the elusive Santaneens.

“Why do you want to know about the Santaneens?” Principal Meyers asked.