Party Summer (5 page)

“S
ome welcome,” Cari said glumly, staring at the red door.

“Did he say they were
closed?”
Eric asked, his eyes behind the wire-rimmed glasses wide with disbelief.

“Maybe this is the wrong hotel,” Craig said, grinning.

Cari gestured to the engraved bronze sign set in the shingles beside the doorway:
HOWLING WOLF INN. ESTABLISHED
1853.

“For sure,” she said. “There are probably two Howling Wolf Inns on this island. Let's go find the other one.”

“Right. You lead the way, Craig,” Eric said, rolling his eyes.

Jan, who hadn't said a word, sighed and kicked her suitcase. “I don't understand it,” she said. “I
know that Aunt Rose arranged this very carefully. She spoke to the owner several times and—”

“But there's no one here!” Eric cried. “The place is empty. It's closed. Just like the man said.”

“Wow,” Craig said, shaking his head.

“That's a helpful comment,” Cari cracked. Then she immediately regretted it, seeing the hurt look on Craig's face.

“He was so rude,” Craig said. “I really don't believe this.”

“Maybe he's building a monster down in his basement laboratory,” Jan said. “He's about to bring it to life tonight, and he doesn't need four teenagers interfering with his plans.”

“Ooooooooo,”
Eric howled a scary movie howl. “Welcome to Castle Frankenstein!”

“Give us a break,” Cari said, sighing.

As Eric started to howl again, the front door was suddenly opened all the way. “Whoa!” Eric cried in surprise and stumbled down the steps off the porch.

A tall, distinguished-looking man with wavy white hair and a full white mustache stood before them in the doorway. He was wearing a khaki safari jacket over stylish, pleated white trousers. He smiled at them, and his dark eyes seemed to twinkle.

“Good evening,” he said in a deep rich voice. His smile didn't fade as he looked at them as if searching for someone he knew.

Jan said hello and started to stammer out something else. But he interrupted her. “Please accept my apologies for the behavior of my servant, Martin.
I am afraid that your appearance caught Martin a little off guard, and the poor man doesn't deal with surprises very well.” He chuckled, a warm, conspiratorial chuckle.

“I'm a bit surprised to see you here myself,” he said, staring at Jan. “Where is Rose? I understood she was coming with you.”

“My aunt got sick before we reached Provincetown,” Jan explained. “She told us to go on ahead. She'll come on the next launch. Didn't you speak to her?”

“You must be Jan,” the man said, not answering her question. He extended a large hand and shook Jan's vigorously. “Yes. Yes. I can see the family resemblance.”

“Thank you,” Jan said uncertainly, finally managing to disentangle her hand from his.

“Excuse me. I'm being as rude as Martin,” the man said, holding the door open wider and motioning for them to go inside. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Simon Fear. Simon Fear the Third, to be precise. I am the owner of this humble inn.”

“Simon Fear?” Cari blurted out. “I live on a street called Fear Street. Back in Shadyside. There's an old burned-out mansion down the block. It's—”

“It belonged to my great-uncle,” Simon said. “A very mysterious man, as I'm sure you've heard. I haven't been back to Shadyside in many years, not since I chose to live here year-round. Has it changed much?”

“I don't think so,” Cari said, not sure how to answer.

“Is everyone in the Fear Street cemetery still
dead?” Simon asked, and then he laughed heartily, throwing his head back and closing his eyes.

Cari and her friends, dragging their bags into the front hall and lobby, replied with nervous laughter.

Cari studied the lobby. It was huge but sparsely furnished, with dark wood walls and a high ceiling with exposed wooden beams. The chairs and tables, grouped along one wall and in clusters in the corners, were heavy and wintry, dark wood and plush velvet and leather cushions, not what Cari expected to find in a summer resort.

It looks more like a hunting lodge, she thought.

“Just leave your bags here,” Simon Fear instructed. “Martin is probably preparing rooms for you now. When he's finished, he'll take the bags to your rooms.”

“Where is everyone?” Jan asked, scanning the vast, empty lobby.

“We're closed,” Simon said, pulling at his white mustache and studying her as he answered her question. “I can't believe your aunt didn't receive my letter.”

“Letter?”

“Yes. The phones were out all last week. So I sent an overnight letter. Rose knew we were refurbishing the inn, redoing the dining room and some of the guest rooms in the old wing. I thought the work would all be finished by now. But in the middle of everything, the workers picked up and left. In my letter, I asked Rose if you could all come in two or three weeks when the work is finally finished and we're up and running.”

“Aunt Rose must not have received the letter,”
Jan said unhappily. “So we've come all this way for nothing.”

“I'll gladly put you up until the launch comes from Provincetown tomorrow evening,” said Simon sympathetically. “Martin is a very good cook. And you can use the pool and the beach while you wait.”

So much for our party summer, Cari thought, surprised at how miserable and disappointed she felt. So much for clambakes at night on the beach, and meeting new kids, and swimming in the ocean, and being on our own for an entire summer—and maybe meeting someone special.

“Have you eaten dinner?” Simon asked.

“No,” Eric quickly replied.

Everyone laughed. Eric's reply had been so impassioned.

“Come into the dining room,” Simon said, leading the way, taking long, expansive strides. “I'll ask Martin to prepare something.”

Cari and Jan exchanged glances as they followed Simon Fear to the dining room. Jan looked as disappointed as Cari felt. “What a shame. This place is neat looking,” Jan whispered.

Cari nodded in agreement. She checked out the boys. Eric seemed to be tense and unhappy, but Craig had his usual calm expression. He was always the same—he always seemed to float through any situation.

He
must
be disappointed too, Cari thought. Why doesn't he show it?

“Here we are,” Simon said, gesturing as they entered the large, carpeted room. He flicked on
several low-hanging chandeliers and the room brightened into view. Two long tables were set with tablecloths and china and silverware by the long windows across the back of the room. The rest of the tables had chairs stacked upside down on them. Scaffolding stood beside the wall to the left, a stained canvas drop cloth hanging over its side. Part of the wallpaper was peeled off behind the scaffolding, and some of the ceiling molding had been removed.

“My workers,” Simon said grumpily, pointing to the torn-up wall. “They were on the job for three weeks, and then they got a call to go work on some rich psychiatrist's house in Wellfleet. So they took off. Lord knows when they'll be back.”

Cari and Eric walked over to the big window that practically covered the entire back wall of the dining room. “What a view!” Cari cried.

The sun was setting. From the dining room, she could see the back terrace filled with deck furniture, tables, and umbrellas. And beyond that the hotel beach and the bay, silver-gray against the darkening sky. The water seemed to shimmer, unreal, like cartoon water, like an artist's version of what a beach scene should look like.

“Wow,” Craig said, joining them.

You do have a way with words, Cari started to say, but stopped herself, remembering how her last crack had hurt Craig. Besides,
wow
was the correct word. The view was spectacularly beautiful.

“I do hope your aunt isn't terribly ill,” Simon said to Jan as they all continued to admire the view, watching the evening sky.

“She was refusing to go to a doctor,” Jan said. “She's so stubborn. Can I give her a call?”

“Certainly you can, tomorrow morning. The lines are fixed but the hotel switchboard is down,” Simon said. “I'm afraid we can't call out. Someone is supposed to come out from the Cape to fix it tomorrow.”

At that moment Martin entered the room, coughing loudly, wiping his mouth with a white linen handkerchief. Everyone turned away from the window to look at him.

He was short and thin, and wore a starched, short-sleeved white shirt over black trousers. His black hair was tousled and standing out at the sides as if he had forgotten to brush it. He had a lean face with small gray eyes set close together over a long, pointed nose. His mouth was set in a straight line as if he disapproved of everything he saw.

“This is Martin,” Simon said, smiling. “I believe you met him … briefly.” Simon laughed heartily again.

Martin reddened but his disapproving expression didn't change.

“Martin, our unexpected guests are hungry. What can we offer them from the kitchen?”

“There's some barbecued chicken,” Martin said. His voice was thin and reedy, a contrast to Simon's deep, booming tones. “And I guess I can put together a salad.” He said this grudgingly, as if it were the last thing in the world he wanted to do.

“Excellent,” Simon said, ignoring Martin's attitude. He shooed Martin to the kitchen with a wave
of his large hand. Martin lowered his head and walked quickly toward the double kitchen doors without glancing back.

“Come sit down,” Simon said, pulling out a couple of chairs at one of the setup tables. “Let's have a nice chat. It's been so lonely here since we closed the place. I like it better when the hotel is streaming with young people.”

Me too, thought Cari with some bitterness.

She took a seat with the others and studied the vast, empty dining room. It seemed so sad, this giant room with all the chairs overturned, all the tables empty. That beautiful view, that beautiful beach with no one there to appreciate it.

Maybe we can get in a few hours on the beach tomorrow before we have to go back, Cari thought.

Back.

Back to Shadyside. Back to hanging around the house. She probably wouldn't even be able to get a summer job. Most likely they were all taken by now.

“We hope to open again by the end of July,” Simon was saying. “Maybe sooner, if my workers ever decide to come back. My brother Edward and I decided to do the renovation last March. We wanted to have it all finished in time for the summer tourist season. Maybe it was all a big mistake.”

It was
definitely
a mistake, Cari thought. For some reason, she found herself thinking about Lauren, her little sister. Lauren will think this is really funny, Cari thought. She was so jealous that I
was going away for the summer. Now she'll be laughing at me for months.

Cari was feeling so sorry for herself, she barely had any appetite when Martin reappeared with the food. Her thoughts wandered. She heard only part of the conversation, and only spoke a couple of times when Simon asked her a direct question.

Simon is really charming, Cari thought. He's so warm and friendly. I like the way his black eyes sparkle in the light—they always seem to be laughing. I wonder why he puts up with that sour-faced Martin.

“My brother Edward is quite moody and depressed,” Simon was saying. His expression darkened and his eyes watered over. “Quite depressed. It's really a pity. He won't come downstairs now when anyone's here. I'm doing this renovation mainly to cheer him. It was a bad business decision, but we don't really need the money. I only care about helping him. He likes projects of all kinds, so—”

“Hey, I've got a great idea!” Eric interrupted, swallowing a mouthful of barbecued chicken. “You know, Craig and I are really good in shop. We're good carpenters.”

“Yeah, that's true,” Craig said, forking more salad from the big wooden bowl onto his plate.

“Maybe we could stay and help with the renovation work,” Eric said eagerly.

“That's a
great
idea!” Cari chimed in, immediately cheered. “Jan and I could help too.”

“We could probably get a lot of it done while
you're waiting for your workers to return,” Eric said.

“It would be fun,” Jan added, “and we'd do a super job. Really!”

Simon Fear laughed. “You know … it might be a good idea.”

“I really wouldn't advise it,” a low voice said from the kitchen doors. Everyone turned to see Martin standing with a large tray in his hands. “Work like this should be done by professionals,” he said sharply, disapproval showing on his face.

“It's all very simple carpentry,” Simon argued. “And a little wallpaper stripping. I think they could handle it. Probably do a better job than those clowns I hired!” He laughed.

Martin didn't join in the laughter. His face remained rigid. “It isn't
safe,”
he said, staring right at Cari.

Cari had a sudden chill.

Something about the way Martin said that made her feel that he wasn't concerned for their safety. He made it sound more like a
threat.

It isn't safe.

“I really think it better if they leave on the next launch,” Martin said stiffly, still holding the large, empty tray at his side.

“I'm not sure I agree. It might be good for Edward to have some young people about the place,” Simon said thoughtfully, staring out the window into the now dark night.

“It would be better if they left,” Martin insisted, speaking each word slowly, distinctly, as if he were talking to a child.

“It might be nice for
me
to have some young people here,” Simon said, ignoring his servant's patronizing tone.