Zoe Donovan Mystery: Haunted Hamlet Part 2

The cat seemed to be waiting for me to follow her, so I headed toward the hallway, where she stood. I paused as something crashed overhead.

"What's that noise?" Ellie whispered.

"I'm not sure." It sounded like someone was walking around upstairs.

"You should get out of there while you still can," Ellie warned.

"I'm fine. It was probably just the wind blowing in through an open window. I really want to find the kittens."

"Do you see the mother cat?"

"Yeah, she's heading down the hall. I think she wants me to follow her."

I began walking in the direction the cat seemed to be leading. She stopped and turned around every few feet, as if to ensure that I was following. If I had to guess, she hadn't been on her own for long and welcomed the help that she somehow knew I was willing to provide.

"Maybe you should just go back tomorrow during the day. I really don't like the idea of you poking around in there by yourself when it's getting dark. Weird stuff happens in that house after dark."

"I'll be fine," I a.s.sured her as I headed down a narrow hallway. "I really want to get the cat and her babies to safety. She looks overwhelmed."

"She's a cat. I doubt cats get 'overwhelmed.'"

"Obviously you've never had a cat."

"Maybe not, but we both know that you tend to attribute human emotion to animals. I'm sure the cat is fine, but I'm not sure you will be if you wander around that rickety old place at night."

"It's twilight, not night," I pointed out.

I followed the black cat toward the back of the house. Most of the rooms were bedrooms, covered in dust and cobwebs. Many still possessed the furniture that must have belonged to Hezekiah Henderson, while others likely had been stripped bare by vandals.

"She's headed to the bas.e.m.e.nt," I informed Ellie. "She just went down the stairs."

"Zoe Donovan, if you find another body, I am never going to speak to you again."

"Don't worry; I'll be fine." I walked slowly down the steps to the bas.e.m.e.nt and let out a short scream as I opened the door.

"What's wrong?" Ellie demanded.

"It's okay." I took a deep breath as my heart rate slowed back to a normal rhythm. "It was just a rat."

"Do you see anything?" Ellie asked.

I looked around. "Not so far. I'm going to check the back of the room."

I tried to convince myself that there was nothing to worry about in spite of the murky shadows and scurrying sounds all around me. I'd pretty much convinced myself that the feeling of being watched was all in my imagination until I saw a pile of old sheets shaped suspiciously like a body. I was about to tell Ellie to call 911 when the body in the sheets moved and I pa.s.sed out cold on the dusty floor of Hezekiah Henderson's house of horrors.

"So it was just a sheet full of old rags." Levi laughed as I told him the story.

"It was humiliating and not at all funny," I said with a groan as I looked around Mulligan's Bar and Grill to make sure no one was listening in on our conversation. Several patrons were sitting at the bar carving pumpkins for the annual contest, while "Monster Mash" played in the background. It appeared as if the occupants of the bar were busy listening to the music or involved in their own conversations, which was good, because the last thing I wanted was for anyone to find out what a fool I'd made of myself.

I, super sleuth Zoe Donovan, had not only pa.s.sed out when I saw the bundle I believed to be a body move, but Ellie had called Sheriff Salinger in a panic when I didn't answer her repeated attempts to make sure I was okay. Salinger then sent all four members of the Aston Falls Sheriff's Department to the house to rescue me. By the time they showed up and determined that I hadn't fallen victim to a poltergeist on a rampage, Zak, Ellie, and Levi had shown up as well, so we decided to go out for a bite to eat as planned.

"Maybe it was a ghostly pile of rags," Levi teased.

"Bite me."

"Leave Zoe alone." Ellie kicked Levi. "The mind can play tricks on us during times of stress."

"I've never been so humiliated," I complained.

Zak just looked at me.

"Okay, I've never been so humiliated recently."

"Define recently." Levi was still laughing.

"Okay, I've never been more humiliated this month."

Let's face it, I'm known to be something of a loose cannon when it comes to getting myself into embarra.s.sing situations. It's not that I'm careless exactly. It's more that I tend to power my way through life with my enthusiasm leading the way and my common sense trailing along at a distant pace. I couldn't help but feel bad that I'd lost track of the mama cat and failed to find the kittens. It was going to get cold tonight, and I hated to think of them all alone in that creepy old house.

Zak squeezed my hand. "She'll be fine until tomorrow," he offered as he apparently read my mind.

"I know. I just feel like I let her down. She seemed to be leading me to the kittens and then she just disappeared. It was dark in the bas.e.m.e.nt. I guess she must have stashed her babies toward the back of the room, out of the way. I don't even know if she had food and water."

"Do you want to go back now?" Zak asked.

Actually, I did.

"Are you crazy? It's pitch-black out," Ellie said. "The cat will be fine."

"We have flashlights," I said in what I hoped was a persuasive voice. "And there are four of us, and you know what they say about safety in numbers."

"That sounds like the opening line of every horror movie I've ever seen," Ellie pointed out.

"I'll just pop in, get the cat and kittens, and pop out. You can wait in the truck if you want," I offered.

"Alone? No thanks. Besides, if the cat and her kittens were in the bas.e.m.e.nt, don't you think Salinger and his men would have seen them when they showed up to rescue you? Don't you think you would have seen them when you came to? Chances are the kittens, if they're even in the house, are in a different room entirely."

"Good point," I had to admit. "Salinger hurried me out of the house, but I did have a chance to look around the room a bit and it was completely empty except for the rags. I wonder where she could have gone."

"After you blacked out, she probably left the bas.e.m.e.nt the same way she entered," Levi theorized.

"Let's face it: that house is huge. You'll never find the cat in the dark. You should do as Zak suggested and go back tomorrow," Ellie directed.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm sure the kittens will be fine one more night."

The problem was that even as I said the words, I didn't really believe them. I know that it was crazy to worry about the cat and her offspring. Ellie was probably correct and they were fine. As Zak drove us toward his lakefront home, I began to worry that the cat might have gotten out again when Salinger and his men were responding to my false alarm. I hated to think what would happen to the babies if they were separated from their mom overnight.

"You want to go back tonight, don't you?" Zak asked as we pulled off the main highway onto the road that led down to the lake and our home.

"I really do," I admitted. "I know it's dark, but it's only seven thirty. It's not exactly the witching hour."

Zak pulled over to the side of the road and then executed a perfect U-turn.

"You think I'm crazy."

Zak smiled. "Maybe a little, but I love that about you. In all the time we've been dating, I've never been bored."

"I just can't seem to get the cat off my mind. I know Ellie doesn't think cats can become overwhelmed, but she really did seem stressed. My guess is that she's a recent stray and this is her first litter."

"Don't worry; we'll find her. If she led you toward the bas.e.m.e.nt, then she's most likely still in the bas.e.m.e.nt, so we'll look there first."

"Thanks. I'll owe you."

Zak grinned. "I like it when you owe me."

"Yeah, I bet you do." I grinned back.

If the Henderson house was frightening by day, it was downright terrifying at night. At least I had Zak and the largest flashlight I could find with me this time. Two-storied, with an attic, it sits toward the back of a large, overgrown lot surrounded by an iron fence and an impenetrable gate that opens onto a dirt drive leading to a walkway comprised of four rotted steps and an equally rotted porch.

I began calling for the cat as soon as Zak and I entered the house. I was certain the kittens would be found in the bas.e.m.e.nt, but I could hear movement coming from the second floor. I followed closely behind Zak as we slowly climbed the stairs. He stopped abruptly as he came to the top.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You'd better call Salinger. It looks like your Zodar wasn't on the fritz after all."

Chapter 3.

Sunday, October 19

"The monsters look awesome," I commented as I walked in through the front door of the house Zak and I now shared carrying takeout bags filled with sandwiches and salads the following afternoon. Ellie had been experimenting with new menu items and had called to ask if I was interested in taking home some of her test subjects. Of course I was. I'm always up for free food, especially when it's something Ellie whipped up in her magical kitchen.

Charlie and Bella trotted up to meet me while Marlow meowed at me from the top of the stairs, though Spade was nowhere to be seen. Spade has always been the sort that preferred his own company to that of others, so I wasn't overly surprised that he seemed to disappear more often than not in Zak's huge house. If I had to guess, I'd be willing to bet that he was in Zak's office, watching the fish in the 500-gallon salt.w.a.ter aquarium Zak installed after our trip to Maui. Lying on the back of Zak's leather sofa had become his favorite napping spot.

"I've been thinking about the overall impression of the house our guests will experience when they head into the drive. I think the lights are great, but if we really want to pull off the party of the decade, we need a lot more animation." Zak's eyes lit up when he said the last word.

"Animation?"

"Yeah. Things that move and jump out at you. What they offer in town is pretty limited, but I've spent some time on the Internet, and I think I've come up with a visual display that's going to blow everyone away."

Even I found Zak's obsession with this party odd. For years he'd traveled the world, not owning much of anything. In the year since he'd bought this house, he'd acc.u.mulated quite a bit of stuff, but the degree to which he was Halloween crazy seemed to be proportionately out of character.

"You ordered this stuff already?"

Zak nodded. "Overnight mail. It'll be here tomorrow."

"Great," I said with more enthusiasm than I felt.

Don't get me wrong; like I said, I love Halloween. I just didn't want Zak to be let down if everything didn't come together the way he'd imagined. I usually go overboard with grandiose expectations, while Zak is the levelheaded one. Had we somehow switched roles when we moved in together?

"I'm excited to see what you've planned," I said, like the awesome girlfriend I am.

I recently took one of those quizzes in a women's magazine that was supposed to tell you what kind of a girlfriend you were. The questions were ridiculous and seemed to have nothing to do with relations.h.i.+ps; still, I was expecting to find out that I was the "Perfect Girlfriend," or a "Best-Friend Girlfriend." What I wasn't expecting was to be labeled a "Self-Centered Girlfriend." I mean, really, how can you tell what kind of a girlfriend a person is by asking them what kind of music they listen to, what their favorite color is, what type of flower they prefer, or, among other equally ridiculous questions, what they considered to be the perfect date?

I don't put a lot of stock in these kinds of quizzes and more often than not simply laugh off the results, but somehow after learning my result, I found that I wanted to be a more giving and supportive girlfriend.

"I was thinking that we could go to that traveling opera that's going to be coming to the Bryton Lake Community Theater next month," I said as I attempted to score another point in the Best Girlfriend Ever category.

"You hate opera," Zak pointed out.

"I suppose it isn't my favorite thing, but I want to do something you'd enjoy." I smiled sweetly.

"I see." Zak grinned. "I don't suppose you took that quiz in the magazine you left on the coffee table."

"How'd you know?"

"You circled your answers."

Zak came over and wrapped his arms around me. "Just so you know, I think the only reason you weren't happy with your answer is because the stupid quiz didn't even have the right answer as an option."

"Oh, and what would that be?"

Please don't say The Big Ol' Mess Girlfriend with commitment issues and a tendency toward jealousy, I thought to myself.

"The right answer would be," Zak kissed the tip of my nose, "the perfectly original girlfriend who has a compa.s.sionate heart and a strong spirit that I am madly in love with and want to spend the rest of my life with."

"Oh." I hugged him. "You're the best boyfriend. I don't deserve you."

"I think you do, but if you want to do something you think I'd enjoy, I'm pretty sure it's not the opera."

I smiled as Zak grinned at me. I love that he can't seem to keep his hands off me in spite of the fact that we're now living together.

"Later," I promised. "For now, I want to know if you found out anything about the victim in the Henderson house while I was in town."

Zak kissed me firmly on the lips and then took a step back. "Let's eat and I'll fill you in."

It was warm for October, so we took our food out to the deck. There are October days in Ashton Falls when the weather is simply perfect: clear sky, blue lake, no wind, warm temperatures. Today was one of those perfect autumn days. I unwrapped the crab sandwich Ellie had insisted I try and gave half to Zak.