The Train (14 page)

    She watched with tears in her eyes as several porters unloaded Frog's coffin. I hate Lolly for killing Jean Marie, she thought, but she was right about one thing. We were mean to Frog. And it wasmy guilty conscience that wanted to think he was still alive.

    Now they were both dead… Frog and Lolly.

    She saw Dale and Eugene emerge from the train. Both looked thoroughly shaken by Lolly's suicide. Their eyes were clouded, their shoulders slumped. They looked lost and lonely.

    The tour group entered the big bus to San Francisco quietly and solemnly.

    But during the twenty-minute ride to San Francisco from Oakland, the mood began to change. When they crossed the bridge, windows were opened to allow the fresh, cool, salty air in. It was invigorating, and slowly, gradually, conversation began, a word at a time. Then there was a bit of laughter here and there, and people began craning their necks to see. Little by little, the tension and gloom evaporated like San Francisco fog.

    By the time they reached the city and disembarked, the mood had changed to one of excitement and eagerness.

    Even Hannah, looking out upon the tall buildings and the choppy waters of the sun-streaked Bay, began to feel her spirits lift.

    Mack came up to her outside the Transbay Terminal and said, "I just talked to Ms. Quick. Your plane doesn't leave for three hours, so we thought you might spend them sightseeing with us." Hannah surprised all of them, especially herself, by saying, "Okay. Why not?"

    Mack, Lewis, and Kerry stared at her.

    "Really?" Kerry squeaked. "You'll come?"

    Hannah laughed. "Yes. I've never seen San Francisco, I've never seen the ocean or even a bay and I'm not going to sit here all by myself for three hours. Yes, I'll come. Besides," she added softly, "dean Marie would want us to do this."

    Mack smiled at her and took her hand.

    

    

    

    The place Mack had in mind was called Rockview. "I read about it," he told Hannah as he led her to the waiting bus. "It's a big old house up on a hill looking out over the water. If we get lucky, we'll see sea lions on the rocks. And if it's too foggy, there's a restaurant and a gift shop upstairs and an arcade downstairs. You can do a lot in a place like that in three hours."

    Hannah knew Mack was trying to help her forget everything that happened. She gave him another smile, and he squeezed her hand. Hannah was glad to be off the train, but she knew that memories of that horrible ride would haunt her for a long time to come.

    If only Jean Marie could be with them…

    It wasn't foggy at Rockview when they arrived. But during dinner in the warm, cozy restaurant overlooking the water, they were able to watch in awe as the thick, white cloud appeared and rolled toward them, banishing everything in its path. The distant lights of huge ships out on the water disappeared, smaller boats vanished, even the great brown rocks closer to shore were swallowed up in one quick gulp.

    "Weird," Kerry said softly, her fork halfway to her mouth. "It's like a steamroller… but it looks so soft and fluffy."

    "Now you see it, now you don't," Lewis said, peering through the big picture window into what was now an unbroken blanket of gray-white mist. "I guess we can forget about the sea lions. We can't even see the rocks."

    By the time they went downstairs to visit the arcade, darkness had enveloped the concrete walkway on three sides of the house, all facing the water.

    Because the thick fog had robbed them of any view, they entered the arcade, noisy with calliope music and laughter and thick with bodies. Almost immediately, Hannah became separated from her friends but, rather than being upset, she was grateful. Now she was free to go outside alone. She felt as if she'd been cooped up forever, first on the train,, then on the bus. She needed fresh air, even if it was foggy and drizzly.

    Without telling anyone she was leaving, Hannah pushed her way through the crowd and went outside to the seawall overlooking the water. Except for the lights shining out from the arcade and the restaurant above them, it was dark, and very cold. Drizzle from the fog moistened her face and lips. It felt very refreshing after the stuffiness of the arcade.

    A large section of the stone wall protecting viewers had crumbled into the cold, choppy water. The destroyed area was roped off with a sign reading:

    

    

    But it was easy to avoid that area. The earlier sightseers had disappeared, leaving the evening chill for the warmth of the arcade or restaurant and gift shop. The walkway was hers alone.

    Grateful for the solitude, Hannah moved close to the wall, peering over the edge to watch the pounding surf below her. She felt she would like to remain there forever, watching the powerful, rushing tide collide with the rocks, the resulting foamy spray dancing high up in the air, almost close enough to touch. She licked her lips and tasted saltwater.

    Hannah leaned over the protective stone wall and let the sight and sound of the roaring waves crashing against the huge rocks below soothe her shattered nerves.

    Mack's right, she thought. It's all over now. She knew that the sadness she felt for Frog and Lolly and especially for poor Jean Marie would remain with her for a long time to come. But slowly, slowly, for the first time since she'd boarded the train, Hannah could feel herself beginning to relax. I should go in and join my friends for the little while I have left here, Hannah thought. Mack will be happy to see me.

    She was about to turn around and head for the arcade when an arm fastened itself around her neck and a voice she recognized instantly said softly, "Hi, Hannah. Fancy meeting you here."

    The voice belonged to Lolly Slocum.

    

    

    

    "I have a knife," Lolly whispered. Something cold and metallic pressed against Hannah's ear. "Make even the tiniest sound and you'll never make another."

    "Don't," Hannah begged when she could speak. "Please, don't…"

    Lolly began pulling Hannah sideways, yanking cruelly at her neck. It hurt, but Hannah didn't cry out. She was afraid to.

    "Where… where were you?" Hannah whispered. "When we were looking for you? We looked everywhere."

    "You didn't look everywhere," Lolly said with contempt. "Not in the coffin."

    They were scuttling sideways, toward the roped off area. Laughter and music rang out from the arcade. Hannah fixed her frightened eyes on the windows, trying to will Mack to realize she was missing and come rescue her. But in that crowd.. would he even realize she was gone?They reached the rope. Lolly ducked underneath and roughly pulled Hannah with her.

    She isn't going to stab me, Hannah thought with rising nausea. She doesn't have to. All she has to do is push me over that broken wall. I'll be smashed to bits on the rocks below.

    The roaring surf no longer seemed comforting.

    Stall, stall, Hannah ordered herself. Keep her talking until Mack or Lewis or Kerry realizes you're not in the arcade. Keep her talking…

    So she asked the question that had been torturing her. "Lolly," she said in a trembling voice as Lolly dragged her backward, closer and closer to the crumbled wall and that deadly roar, "if you were hiding in the coffin, where was Frog? Did you… did you move him?"

    Lolly's laughter pealed out into the thick mist, as if slicing it down the middle. "Oh, Hannah, he isn't in that coffin! He never was." Backing Hannah up against the broken wall, Lolly released her grip but stood blocking Hannah's way, an immovable bulk.

    She held something up in front of Hannah. The faint glow from the arcade bounced off the metal object she was holding. It wasn't a knife. It was, Hannah realized, peering through the darkness at it, a tin canister, short and squat.

    "This," Lolly said triumphantly, "is Frog!"

    Drizzle coated Hannah's hair and slid down her cheeks. Behind her she could hear the hungry pounding of the waves waiting to swallow her up.

    "Frog?" was all Hannah could manage as she stared at the canister. "Frog?"

    Lolly nodded. "You don't think anyone cared enough about him to provide a real funeral for him, do you? Too much bother to have him sent home to be buried. They had him cremated!"

    "Frog was never in the coffin? Then why was it on the train?"

    Lolly grinned. "I ordered it. I'm having it sent COD to his parents. As a reminder. That they had a son they didn't want, not when he was alive and not when he was dead. They'll get a call from the railroad station and they'll come down to see what they're getting and there it will be… their son's coffin. Only he won't be in it. They won't care about that, but they sure will be ticked off when they're given the shipping invoice." Lolly giggled with relish.

    "How… how did you get his ashes?" Mack, where are you? Hannah thought desperately. Why aren't you looking for me?

    "They didn't care. But I knew exactly what to do with them." Lolly lifted her head, gazed around her. "So they gave them to me. San Francisco was one of his favorite places. He used to talk about it all the time. I knew about the tour, and I knew it wasn't too late to sign up. It would be perfect. I'd bring him back here, where he loved to be, and I'd take care of you guys at the same time. And the great thing about the empty coffin was, I knew it would make a great hiding place." She held up thecanister again, shoving it in Hannah's face.

    And Hannah saw the tattoo. The winged rat, its fangs bared, exactly like the one Frog had, and in the same place - on Lolly's left wrist.

    "That was you in the coffin," Hannah said. "But.., if we'd opened the lid all the way…"

    "You would have seen exactly what you saw in the berth," Lolly said confidently. "And you thought that was Roger, didn't you? I put the makeup on before I climbed into the coffin every time. Just in case. No one would have known I wasn't Roger. I mean," she said with a chuckle, "it's not as though they'd look too closely, know what I mean?

    "It's funny," she added then with an evil grin, "that you and Roger are going to end up in the same place, after all. Don't you think that's funny? He always wanted to hang around you guys. I never understood why, considering the way you treated him. We fought about it. A terrible fight." Tears of pain filled her small, pale eyes. "And I never got a chance to say I was sorry. He didn't want me there that night, the night he died… I knew that. He wanted to be with Jean Marie. But I showed up anyway, pulled up right behind him when he parked. He was furious when he saw me. But I knew he'd need me when he got hurt. And he did get hurt, didn't he, Hannah? Who would know that better than you?"

    Then all the fight seemed to go out of her and she added sadly, "But he wouldn't let me take care of him then. He was hurt and angry and he pushed me away when I tried to comfort him." Suddenly, her head flew up and the sadness was replaced again by fresh anger. "Your fault, Hannah, all your fault!"

    Hannah's hands were behind her, trying to keep her body from touching the crumbling wall. One hand reached out tentatively, groping, searching for a piece of loose rock, or a piece of the crumbling wall. At last she found one, and grasped it tightly in her right hand.

    "You know, Hannah," Lolly went on confidently, her voice low and sinister, "if the fall doesn't kill you, I've heard there are man-eating fish in these waters. In a couple of days, you're not going to look so pretty - "

    The movement was so swift and sudden that Lolly never saw Hannah's arm dart out from behind her back. The chunk of concrete caught her directly above the left temple with as much force as Hannah could muster.

    As Lolly reacted, Hannah bent forward and leapt sideways, to crouch, hands over her mouth, on the solid side of the wall.

    Lolly grunted in surprise as the rock struck her. One arm flew to her head. But the other arm, the one that had been displaying the canister close to Hannah's face, jerked in a reflex action as the rock hit its target. The involuntary movement sent the canister spurting out of Lolly's hand. It flew up, up, and out over the edge of the crumbling wall.

    It was about to begin its descent to the roaring surf when Lolly, with a desperate cry, lunged for it, both arms outstretched.

    She caught it.But to do so, she had to throw her body, full force, against the broken wall.

    The crumbling concrete gave way, disintegrating completely under the force of Lolly's strong body.

    Still clutching the canister, Lolly plunged forward and plumeted to the rocks and crashing waves below.

    

    

    

    At the very moment that Lolly plunged into the sea, someone called Hannah's name. She heard nothing. Crouched in a wet, miserable little ball against the concrete wall and lost in shock and horror, she was deaf to everything but the roar of the water beneath her as the huge, hungry waves swallowed up Lolly Slocum.

    She covered her face with her hands.

    "Hannah! Hannah, it's okay! It's okay now!"

    She lifted her head. "Mack?"

    He reached down and gently pulled her to her feet. She sagged against him, clutching, hugging, so glad to be safe.

    Kerry and Lewis were with Mack. "ftat happened, Hannah?" Kerry asked, patting Hannah's shoulder.

    "Lolly…" she whispered.

    Lewis nodded. "We thought it was Frog when we spotted the two of you from the arcade window. Then her hair fell out of that cap she was wearing and we knew who it was. We ran to get out of there but it took us forever. No one would let us through." "It's my fault," Kerry said quietly. "I should have made sure you were with me. I didn't realize we'd been separated until I turned around and you weren't there. I thought you were playing video games with Mack and Lewis until Mack showed up and asked me where you were."