Twenty-three
Who in Shady Hills didn’t attend the annual church bazaar? Jane wondered. It seemed the whole village had turned out for this, a favorite event.
Thumping dance music blared from a tall speaker that had been set up to the right of the church stairs, and with a pang of chagrin Jane realized that the commanding voice of the singer was that of Goddess. “Don’t ever be afraid to fly-y-y-y!” came her vibrant tones.
This only hardened Jane’s resolve. She made her way down the aisle, stroking Winky’s soft fur. By then Winky seemed to have become accustomed to being outside, and sat, quite calm and contented, in Jane’s arms.
“Hello, Jane,” came Rhoda’s voice from behind, and Jane turned. Ginny was with her. “Jane . . .” Rhoda eyed Winky warily. “Why are you carrying that cat?”
“This is my cat,” Jane said.
Rhoda rolled her eyes. “Well, obviously. But what are you doing with him here?”
“Her.”
Ginny laughed. “Forget it, Rhoda. Jane’s in one of her kooky moods.”
Jane threw back her head and laughed. “That’s it. One of my kooky moods.” Suddenly she thrust Winky at the two women, who drew back slightly in surprise. “Pat her,” Jane invited them. Now looking at Jane as if she were slightly mad, Rhoda and Ginny each gave Winky a tentative stroke.
“Kooky mood is right,” Rhoda muttered, grabbing Ginny by the arm and pulling her away. “See you later, Jane.”
“Yes, later!” Jane said, and moved on.
Two aisles over, she spotted Doris with Arthur. Doris was examining a hand-painted glass cake plate, while Arthur stood very still beside her, smiling placidly.
Then Jane saw Daniel and Laura in the next aisle, near a beverage booth. They looked up, saw her, and waved cheerily. Jane moved on, stopping to browse at a table displaying handmade silver jewelry. Just as she realized she thought it was all quite ugly, she also realized she recognized it as the work of Rob, Ginny’s boyfriend. Jane looked up and found herself looking into his pale gray eyes. He was smirking.
“Hi, Jane. What’s with the cat?” he said, his head bobbing in that annoying way he had, his ponytail jiggling.
“What’s with the cat? She’s my cat,” Jane said, realizing she sounded inane but not caring. In past years she’d always bought something from Rob, for Ginny’s sake, but this time she didn’t think she would. Ginny and Rob were on the rocks, and besides, Jane had something important to do. “See ya!”
She walked on and came face to face with Daniel. He carried two tall cardboard drink cups. He saw Winky and opened his mouth to speak, but Jane beat him to it.
“I’m thinking of making her an indoor/outdoor cat. Why don’t you pat her?”
“Jane,” he said, looking at her strangely, “I can’t pat her—I’ve got my hands full of drinks. One of which is for you, by the way.”
“How thoughtful. Which one?”
“This one, of course.” He handed her the cup filled with the dark fizzing beverage. “Your favorite—Diet Coke. I’m having this strawberry papaya swizzle.”
“And welcome to it,” she said, taking her Diet Coke. “How much do I owe you?”
“Don’t be silly,” he said.
“Thanks. Now pat Winky.”
He studied her a moment. “Okay.” And he dutifully stroked Winky’s fuzzy head. She gave a little purr and closed her eyes.
“She always has liked you,” Jane said, and took a little sip of her drink, grateful for the refreshingly cold carbonation on this day that had grown quite warm.
Daniel continued to pet Winky. “I thought you’d sworn you’d never let her go outside. Wild animals and all that.”
She shrugged and gave a little smile. “I decided that didn’t seem quite fair. Why should she be deprived of this?” She indicated the lovely day around them. “And she’s got her claws. I think she’d do surprisingly well defending herself in the wild, wouldn’t you, Wink?” And she squeezed the cat affectionately, giving her a little shake. “You always want to go outside, don’t you, Wink?” She looked at Daniel. “This is a trial run.”
“Ah,” he said, and they walked together to the end of the aisle. Three aisles over, close to the church, Jane was surprised to see Louise and Ernie, perusing what appeared to be a display of embroidered linens. In the next aisle over, Laura was now at a game booth, throwing back her head and laughing as she tossed colored plastic rings at tiers of goldfish bowls.
“Let’s go cheer her on,” Daniel suggested playfully.
“Great idea.” Jane followed him.
But when they reached the end of their aisle, Jane was overcome by a wave of dizziness. “Oh,” she said, wobbling a little.
Daniel looked at her, his face concerned. “Are you all right?”
The dizziness, to her surprise, didn’t stop; it kept coming, the bazaar beginning to rise and fall sickeningly around her. She steadied herself on Daniel’s arm.
“Jane, what is it? Are you sick?”
Then, mercifully, the world righted itself again. “That was so strange,” she said, making an effort to hold on to a now-squirming Winky. “I didn’t get much sleep last night. I’m just plain overtired.”
He nodded, watching her carefully. “And a lot has happened lately. It’s inevitable that you would feel the strain. I know I have been.”
“I’m sure it’s all of the above.”
“Would you like to go inside the church and sit for a few minutes?”
“That won’t be necessary.” But then the spinning began again, worse this time. “Actually, yes, I think that would be a good idea.”
Daniel took her arm and led her toward the old white building. They walked up the four steps and Daniel pulled on one of the doors. When it held fast, he tried the other, but it too appeared to be locked.
“Locked,” came a man’s voice behind them, and they turned to see the Reverend Lockridge himself smiling up at them. “Hello, Jane . . . Daniel. We always keep the church locked during the bazaar,” he explained. “But if you need the facilities, we’ve got several Porta-Johns set up behind the building.”
The spinning grew faster. Even the music, another Goddess dance tune, seemed to spin with the bazaar, the looming white church. Jane suddenly felt a wave of nausea rise in her throat and literally prayed she wouldn’t vomit in front of the Reverend Lockridge.
But he had moved on and was already deep in conversation with an elderly couple.
“Daniel,” she said, still holding his arm, “I think I’ll just sit in my car for a minute, take it easy. That’s all I need.” A thought occurred to her. “I hope I’m not coming down with something. She started down the steps, Daniel assisting her. “Would you do me a favor?” she asked him. “Nick might look for me and not know where I am. Would you find him and let him know I’m just in the car and will be right back?”
“Of course, Jane. I’ll walk you to your car.”
“No, no, I’ll be fine. Just find Nick. Thanks.”
She gulped down the rest of her Diet Coke, tossed the cup in a trash can, and tottered to her car at the back of the parking lot. Carefully she deposited Winky in the backseat. Then she got into the front passenger seat, knowing it reclined farther than the driver’s seat. She closed the door, opened her window a crack, and lay back, closing her eyes. Even with them closed, she couldn’t stop the nauseating spinning.
“What on earth is the matter with me?” she muttered to herself, but just as she did she became aware that the spinning was mercifully subsiding, giving way to a warm, enveloping darkness.