Chapter 14 – A Cat Amongst the Pigeons

Chapter 14 – A Cat Amongst the Pigeons

The air outside was crisp and still as Danni walked down through the path, foretelling the arrival of snow she could almost taste in the air. There was still enough light for her to find her way, but the deep shadows of trees and headstones covered their fellows, only her phone’s torch giving her enough light to see the names engraved upon the marble and stone. All the while, she hummed a little ditty under her breath, enjoying the sight of cloudy air leaving her lips whenever she pulled in a breath.

All the while she looked over the plots, taking in the decorations left by the bereaved families of the deceased. The Vicar… Nicholas, she mentally corrected, was unquestionably dedicated to his position as the guardian of his flock, past and present. Some of the graves had fallen victim to the rain and wind of what must have been centuries, if what few dates she could make out were anything to go by. But the spaces around them were clean, free of weeds with only small spots of dug up earth betraying where flowers would be allowed to grow when the weather turned warmer. In the sunny months, this place would be a riot of colour to dazzle the eye.

“Matthew…” She carefully rubbed some of the moss from where it obscured the fallen man’s surname. “Hugo… How long have you been alone? I’ll bring some flowers for you soon.” She promised, the smallest of smiles touching her mouth.

“Chester Christie… Succeeded by a wife… and… oh wow, that’s a lot of children… What’s your story sir?” In the back of her mind, she knew that a voice would be calling her insane for talking to inanimate headstones, that her prolonged isolation must have genuinely driven her insane. But she would not be put off. Not even when she reached the next space.

“Justine Shelley… So young…” She whispered, lingering before a tragically small plot. There was a tiny stork figurine by the headstone, knocked onto its side by the wind that she carefully replaced, firming its position with the help of the smallest, shiniest stones she could find.

“Aaron… Samuels?” Oh… Oh no. She moved away from the spot quickly, reminded far too soon of her run in with the widow.

She went back for her bike and walked it out past the many statues of angels, of faded and new portraits, through the gate. Only when she had left the premises of the church did she mount it again, remembering the adage ‘there’s a time and place for everything’. There were many reasons why she might not reach the pearly gates when her number was up, but it would not be because she had ridden a bike through a churchyard.

Any lingering villagers were, as usual for this time of day, huddled around Joey’s shop or were moving quickly in the direction of their homes. A trio of women were whispering amongst themselves, and Danni only realised the source of their curiosity when she had gotten close enough to see the reason she had come here. Joey was moving around the stalls and tables with as much practised ease as ever, but there was a noticeable tension in his shoulders, a lack of the usual care he might have given with the crates, dropping them down hard onto the tabletop instead of his usual delicate touch.

Then there was his face.

Gone were the boyish charms, the twinkling eyes, the smile that made something in her chest flutter. Standing before her, this was a man with a face like an oncoming storm. An angry bull glaring down the unwary matador and his fluttering flag.

At first, she hesitated in approaching him, torn between disappearing back up the lane before he could spot her and approaching as slowly and carefully as she could manage. Was this because of what had happened last night? Was the look of purest apoplexy on his face caused by her disrupting his sleep?

There would only be one way of knowing for certain.

Cautiously, as if she really were facing down a bull prepared to rampage, Danni stepped a little closer to the shop, right as the pile of oranges that Joey had been painstakingly arranging proved to be too heavy and the many citrus fruits fell onto the floor. Swearing for the first time since Danni had ever met him, he bent over to grab and swipe at the errant fruit. Taking the chance, Danni moved forward, pulling off her jacket, heedless of the approaching cold, and used it to cradle the fruits she retrieved. Each one that slipped from his fingers, Danni caught and added to the pile she was holding, transferring to them back into the box from whence they had come.

Only when they reached for the same fruit did Joey register her presence and pause in his furious movements. Time seemed to lock in place as their eyes met, her hand on the orange, his reaching for it, his brows knitting together then relaxing, the darkness in his eyes fading away to be replaced with a star-like twinkle, the deep frown of his lips smoothing into a neutral line. Though it was still not quite the smiling figure she knew, it was still a relief to see the abject rage fade away.

“Miss Danni, I… thank you.” Was all he said after a long moment, letting her be the one to take the orange and placing it amongst its brothers where they were held like eggs in the soft confines of her jacket. Without any further ado, she began to place them back into the box, building up the pyramid once more. Wordlessly, Joey began to help her, the only sound shared between them was that of their slow breathing. Already the cold was nipping at her arms, bringing goosebumps up over her skin even under the layers of clothing she had wrapped herself in that morning.

Once all of the oranges had been put back in their proper place, Joey seemed to lose himself in thought as she stared down at them. Danni, too, had a host of thoughts running through her head. It seemed that he really wasn’t angry at her… so what was the cause of his bad mood? Was he tired, but refusing to take it out on her? Did he not blame her? What was the story going on behind those brilliant eyes? Pulling her jacket back onto her bag and doing it up all the way to her throat, Danni couldn’t seem to find the words to broach the silence. There was so much that was she wanted to give voice, but she couldn’t find the words.

Nothing seemed right. The silence was growing heavier, already thick as tar around them. Mercifully, Joey took that responsibility from her.

“I appreciate you helping me… You didn’t have to.” The words were more like permission to finally exhale a deeply held breath she hadn’t known she was holding.

“It’s the least I could do. Especially after…” There it was. The elephant in the room had reared its ugly head once more. “Last… night.”

“It’s the least that neighbours can do for each other. You sounded like you desperately needed help and even though we didn’t find anything, I’d rather that than leave you in danger.” What he was saying was so impossibly sweet of him, it made Danni’s chest ache anew.

“But… I swear, I wasn’t dreaming. I know for certain that there were three men in my house last night. I know that they had to be there because…” Her jaw clamped shut the moment it tried to form the words that were almost begging to come out. But she couldn’t! “I found… footprints last night… in the house.”

“You did? Where?!” He begged to know, alert all of a sudden.

“I-I… I found it by one of the back windows. I-uh… I think that they were hiding in the cupboards or… somewhere you didn’t check. They must have opened a window and snuck out of that.” The lie tasted like ashes in her mouth, like she was trying to swallow smoke, but she couldn’t tell him about the note. About the hairbrush. About the coffins.

“I’m sure we checked everywhere…” Joey pondered, his eyes narrowing as he tried to remember. “But it was a late night… Maybe we missed something. We didn’t even think to check the cupboards.” He dug two of his knuckles into his forehead, as if trying to knead the memories back into the front of his mind.

“It’s all too possible, but they’re gone now… I’ll make sure that I check the locks every night from now on. I’m just glad that nothing was taken.” She tried to soothe, hoping that he would leave things be for the time being. She didn’t know what she would do about the coffins, but there had to be something she could do what lay within. The weaknesses of vampires were numerous and well known. Garlic, silver, salt, crosses, stakes, wild roses… There was plenty that she could use already at the house, but she still had more to gather.

“Let’s not dwell on what happened last night. Rather, I’d like to ask what has put you into such a mood. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look anything other than the epitome of joy.” Danni pulled her collar closer to her neck, wrapping her arms around herself in the hopes of preserving what warmth she still had. Fittingly, Joey’s own expression turned cold.

“It’s… my sister. She’s coming to visit and I hate to say it, but I’m not looking forward to it. We don’t exactly get along.” He confessed, rubbing at the back of his neck. He looked at once, extremely youthful and as if he had aged decades in a moment.

“I didn’t know that you had any siblings. I mean, you and your uncle never mentioned it?” Granted, it had been a minute since she had spoken to Richard, but it was a little disappointing that both Uncle and nephew had neglected to mention this third member of their family.

“Like I said, we really don’t get along with each other. That includes my uncle, sadly. You see, our parents…” He crossed himself and Danni understood immediately.

“I’m so sorry. I never intended…” The memory had to be painful for him.

“I’ve mourned them, I’ve moved on. Death comes for us all, sooner or later and I admit that I miss them. But back to what I was saying, our parents loved us both, though they had a tendency to indulge her a little more. She was younger than me and her interests could change at a moments notice. I didn’t mind it so much when we were growing up because they tried to keep things even, but there’s no real ignoring that there was a thumb on the scale, so to speak.” He explained, Danni listening rapturously.

She knew what he must have been feeling. Her own parents had seemed to like each of her friends, whenever and wherever she could make them, but somehow that affection never made its way to her. That was more than just a thumb on the proverbial scale of affection, it was if she exuded a shield around herself that blocked her from receiving any from her parents.

“How did she react when they passed?” Danni asked, a little tentatively. Somehow, she always managed to say exactly the wrong thing whenever she was around the subject of deaths.

“She was devastated… or so I thought. She cried aplenty at the funeral, but I was the one who put it all together. As much as I hate to say it, she seemed to brighten up the moment the will was read and she realised how much she had inherited from our parents.” Joey’s jaw clenched, as if the memory tasted sour on his tongue.

“Did you get anything from them?” Danni probed as carefully as she could.

“It’s how I bought my shop, my house and everything inside. I knew that I wanted to have a shop from the time I was little, and as soon as I found this place, it was like… destiny. Like it was calling to me.” Joey explained, finally readopting his fond tone again and it was a relief for Danni to hear again. She hoped that she would never have to hear him sound or look so furious again.

“If it’s any comfort, I know what it feels like not to get along with your family as much as you would like. Though my circumstances are a little different. Your parents wanted to have you, at least.” Just the sound of the words leaving her mouth seemed to lift something from her soul and replace it with something worse. She hadn’t ever told anyone about what she knew about her family, not even Tawney. But Joey seemed… safer. Like she could tell him anything and never worry about judgement.

“Your parents… didn’t want you?”

“They didn’t want children in general… so when I appeared, I was apparently destined just to be a disappointment to them in everything I tried.” Confessing this felt more like excising a wound or, rather, a limb that had grown gangrenous, yet she had been clinging to for some unknown reason.

“That’s awful. No one, absolutely no one deserves parents like that. Mine may have preferred my sister, but I know for a fact that they loved me. I hope that I never meet yours, or I’ll have some very unpleasant words for them.” Something in his tone seemed to promise more than just words and the very thought of someone as broad and friendly as Joey actually exchanging blows with someone like her mother or father, would be enough to keep her warm for weeks.

“You mentioned that you bought your shop with your inheritance, but what did your sister do with hers?” Danni questioned, just in time to get her answer in the form of a sleek silver car rolling up the lane to stop right in front of the shop. That alone would have been enough to stun the village into silence, but the cool air of the afternoon was shattered by the music playing so loud from inside the car, every word could be heard from outside!

Joey’s once bright expression faded back into exhaustion. “I think you can see it right there…”

With nary a moment to let them completely take in what they were looking at, the driver’s side door opened, and a figure wrapped head to toe in something fluffy and overly pink emerged. “Jo-eeeeeeeey!” The woman cheered, raising a hand to wave at him, running past Danni and the other onlookers to sweep her brother into a positively bone crushing hug.

“Hello Maggie…” He groaned, wrenching one arm free to gently pat her on the back. “Did you have a good trip?”

“It was a nightmare! We could barely see the road and we started at 3! 3! In the AM! Can you believe that! I swear, I just wanted to crawl back into bed and sleep! But that’s just the tip! It was hard enough getting onto the motorway, but then we had to find our way in the damn forest! It royally screwed up my tires, I think one of them might have gotten a puncture! Can you believe it!”

Her voice was shrill, jumping octaves in between words, sounding more like a squawking chicken than anything that sounded like a real person. It would have been suited to one of the farms than in what had previously been a quiet street. As her tirade continued, the other door of the car had swung open and a positive giant of a man rose from within. The moment Danni laid eyes upon him, her immediate thought was…

‘Did this chicken marry a brown bear?!’

The man was well over six feet in height, his black hair very much like Danni’s but she couldn’t make out the colour of his eyes out from underneath his heavy brows. A square jaw, aquiline nose and thin lips set in what appeared to be a firm frown completed the look of a predator in motion. The man went around to the boot of the car and removed several large suitcases from within, one a deep grey and the other was the same shade of pink as the sister’s clothes.

She was still chattering away like a parrot on a caffeine high, seeming to speak at top speed without needing to draw breath. She had, thankfully, released Joey who was looking incredibly uncomfortable as she jumped from topic to topic heedlessly, apparently not caring if anyone followed what she was saying. But, on the subject of parrots, this girl resembled a strange pink puffball, tottering around on a pair of garishly tall high heels, clad in what Danni hoped were leggings thick enough to keep out the cold, gloves with fur around the cuffs and a woollen scarf around her throat. If asked, Danni thought she resembled a pink bird cheeping at the top of her lungs, demanding all pay attention to her.

She shared Joey’s blonde hair, though hers was a significantly brighter shade, almost platinum that Danni wondered might have come from a bottle. Her eyes were a darker blue, but being away from the sun had kept her from gaining any of his freckles. The rest of her figure was covered by her clothing, and there was no telling how short or tall she might have been with those stilts she was balancing on.

Her husband, as that was who Danni assumed the man holding her bags to be, was wrapped in a dove grey winter coat, his neck protected by a long scarf in a similar colour. Both were so long, they obscured the rest of his clothing and everything apart from his hands which were considerable in size, given by the frankly enormous gloves he was wearing. He didn’t appear to have any problems with the luggage but there was something in his face, in his sullen expression that kept Danni from approaching.

As soon as his sister finally paused to realise what was going on around her, Joey took his chance to step away from her and address Danni. “I meant to ask; did you want something? From the shop, I mean?”

Danni had been so stunned by the arrival of these strangers; she had all but forgotten about why she had here. But now that she had adjusted to the brilliance of this bright pink figure in front of her, it all came back to her.

“Y-Yeah, I need garlic, bulbs and flowers both. I also need… uh… wi-wild… roses. I want to… uh… make garlic confit for the future and uh…the roses… are for the table.” She explained, a nervous stammer making her words come out disjointed but hopefully, her improvised reasons would make some modicum of sense.

“Uh, Joseph? Who’s this girl? I’m still talking here!” The sister’s voice came out of nowhere, making Danni jump from the suddenness.

“Maggie, this is Danni. She’s a customer. I need to take care of her first, then I’ll take care of you.” Maggie flounced away to the other side of the shop with a huff and her nose in the air.

Joey could only shake his head. This seemed to be water off a duck’s back for him at this point.

“Wild roses will look beautiful in that house. But… garlic flowers? I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen those. But… Give me a moment. I think I have something that will fit you perfectly.” He parted, heading towards the back of the shop and bending over to investigate a box tucked underneath the table. Meanwhile, Danni’s eyes were drawn to the sister again. She was looking around the boxes, picking up and putting down various pieces of produce with what looked like appraisal in her eye. Her husband was lurking towards the side, trying not to look at anyone or draw any attention to himself. Despite his height, he was surprisingly good at keeping to the shadows.

Joey returned with a bunch of pungent purple flowers in one hand and a bouquet of red roses in the other. Upon closer inspection, it was revealed that they were without thorns! “I managed to find them! I can’t believe it, but there they were. Just what I needed! I swear, it is just like magic how this keeps happening.” He pulled out a paper bag, tied the flowers together into a single bunch with twine and placed them inside before going back for the garlic. He picked up several of the largest bulbs he could find and placed them in the bag as well.

“These ought to do you well. I hope that you keep a window open for whatever you’re using the flowers for. If anyone thinks all flowers smell sweet, then these would be a rude awakening.” Joey joked, with a faint chuckle.

Danni took the bag with fingers she pretended weren’t trembling with the knowledge of what she was really using them for. She was out of excuses, sooner or later… she would have to head back to the house. Hopefully, she would be able to get back to the house before those… things got back. She had some preparations to make, and she wasn’t looking forward to any of it, the before, during or afterwards.

If she couldn’t keep them inside their coffins with the roses, she wanted to keep them inside the spare room itself by rubbing the doorway with the garlic, maybe even make a garland of the flowers. As the longest of long shots, she hoped to keep them at bay by throwing salt at before them and hoping what she had heard about their compulsive need to count every grain to stall them. She placed the bag in the basket of her bike, just in time to hear a familiar voice.

“What is she thinking, making so much noise? If she wanted attention, she’s certainly gotten it.” The way that her voice seemed to deepen on the first word and turn into a squeak as she spoke clicked something in Danni’s memory. Unless she was mistake, the speaker was one of the women who had attended her house party. Unfortunately, the darkness made it a little difficult to see her face or remember her name. Leaving her bag of purchases in the basket, trusting that she would come back and find it untouched, Danni ventured down towards them, dipping her head a little to listen in closer.

“I hope you’re not talking about me ladies, I’d hate to have to leave you out of my next party.” She teased with an airy quality to her voice she didn’t recognise. When had she gotten so comfortable talking to these women? Did this mean she was one of them? Had, at some point, she’d been accepted into their little clique?

The women seemed unaffected by her appearance aside from the first speaker quickly rearranging her scarf around her face, perhaps to hide a flush at being overheard. “Not you dear, never you. I was talking about Joey’s… sister. She’s quite the character.” Now that she was closer, Danni recognised her face, but her name still escaped her. She was the one who had gotten excited upon seeing her library and hearing about her writing. It began with a J… Joan? June? Janine? What was it! It was something simple, yet something that most would remember… What was it?

Jane! That was it! Jane!

With a mental sight of relief that she wouldn’t be kept up all night with the struggles of trying to remember, Danni backtracked through what she had said. “Well, there’s no denying that… you can’t say that she didn’t make an impression.” Danni could still hear the sounds of the car’s radio going, though the song had changed. If it were any louder, it almost certainly would have people turning on their lights and poking their heads out of their windows to see what was making all of the ruckus.

“I just hope that she doesn’t intend to stay long. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but I swear, I look at her and I can smell that there’s something off about her… Something bad.” Another woman, a stranger to her, remarked, touching her nose. “My nose never lies.”

“You give yourself too much credit Dorothy. This may be the one time you’re wrong.” Jane replied with a giggle.

“Oh, I’m never wrong. Whenever there’s something funky going on around here, you all know I can sniff if out.” Dorothy insisted, giving her head a toss that spoke as of immense pride in her talent.

“You say that, but I think it might be the garlic I bought that is setting off your nose.” Danni teased, already picking up the smell of the flowers lingering on her fingers just as the lavender clung to Joey.

The three of them, Danni, Dorothy and Jane all creased up laughing. When they had all regained the ability to speak coherently again, Dorothy was the first to chime in. “I think that may be the first time I’ve ever heard you tell a joke Danni! I must say, it’s a welcome change.”

“That’s very kind of you. Usually, I’m terrible at comedy. I can never seem to say the right thing at the right time, usually it’s quite the opposite. Believe me when I say, that tends to put a damper on encouraging people to laugh with you, rather than at you.” Danni remarked.

“Why would anyone ever want to laugh at you?” Jane asked but Danni pointedly chose to answer. Somethings you just didn’t talk about. Jane seemed to accept this without much resistance and let the subject drop.

“If you ladies will excuse me, I left the slow cooker on and I just know it’s waiting for me to come back. If I’m being honest, that music is beginning to give me a headache as well. If I don’t leave now, I’ll be pacing it off all night.” Dorothy nodded to the both of them, tipping her proverbial hat to both Danni and Jane before heading down the lane.

Glad for a reason to leave that she didn’t have to come up with, Danni and Jane soon departed as well. Danni retrieved her bike, purchases untouched, and mounted it, cycling slowly back up the lane. She carefully arranged her phone to shine its torch on the street in front of her, as she was without a proper light and pedalled slowly, cautiously. She doubted that anyone would be driving, as Richard and Joey’s delivery driver were the only people she had seen with a car up until now, but she still kept to the pavement, not wanting to get hit by any cars that decided to appear out of nowhere.

The longer the darkness lingered, the closer she got to the house, the deeper the pit in her stomach grew. She didn’t want to go back, in all honesty. Going back meant facing that… ghastly display she had seen that morning. Would she be able to face those coffins again? What’s more, could she summon the courage to look those three… creatures in the eye again? She was armed now… she knew what her options were… and leaving the house simply wasn’t one of them.

But this was far from because Tawney was paying her. In the few weeks since her arrival, she had grown immeasurably fond of this village and those who resided in it. Each of them had found this place and chosen to make it their home, had started families, founded businesses, dreamed of having a future. Call it foolish, call it a ridiculous sense of heroism, Danni wanted to protect them. Vampires held no mercy for those they saw as prey and plaything. How much ink had been spilt to impress that upon all who read it? So… maybe… if she could keep them at bay, even if it meant staying up all night as she waited for the sun to rise, resisted their mind tricks and flattery, she could… outlast them. She could watch the sun rise and those three fade away.

These thoughts lingered, filling her up not with courage but something deeper, something warmer. Even as she pulled up to the house, opened the door and walked inside with the bouquets in one hand and garlic bulbs in the other, that feeling sat like a sun-warmed stone in her chest. Not uncomfortable, welcome even.