The heavy iron gate slid open and I hesitated briefly at the entryway, my left foot clamped down on the clutch; I could feel the circulation leaving my toes. My brain was telling me to lift my foot, press the gas and go. The driveway twisted through the trees. I drove slowly, taking note of everything, how this graveled road had deep grooves like carriage wheels had traversed it years ago, how the foliage grew so thick near the fence line then thinned out closer to the house, almost like another barrier. A gate within a gate protecting the castle. The only thing missing was a moat and a dragon.
I parked in the same spot as I did during my last visit and dropped the tailgate on the jeep. The back was filled with all sorts of odds and ends and I began to rummage. I’d thrown my cell phone charger carelessly in the back a few days ago. Now given the isolation of this place and Samantha’s warnings, worry niggled in the back of my brain and I wanted to make sure I had it before I went into the house.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” An elderly woman stood behind me in a long striped dress; her hands were planted firmly on her hips. Large veins ran through her pale fingers. A scowl graced her wrinkled face.
“My name is Mackenzie. Mackenzie Carlisle.” I held out my hand to shake hers, but she didn’t move.
“I asked you what you were doing here. I want an answer.” She spread her feet further apart bracing herself for a battle, though it didn’t look like she could put up much of a fight. She was tall and rail thin. Her legs stuck out from under the polyester dress like two white pipe cleaners. Her skin was covered with wrinkly folds and even the unpleasant look on her face didn’t take away from the softness in her watery blue eyes.
“I’m a guest of Mrs. Whitfield’s…”
“She didn’t tell me about having any guests and I never heard of anyone named Mackenzie. Now what are you doing on this property?” She tried to make her frail voice sound menacing.
“It’s all right, Virginia,” Cora said. She must have come out of the front door but I hadn’t heard her approach. “She’s a guest of mine. This is Mackenzie. She’s a friend of Nick’s.”
Virginia’s face changed instantly into a large bright smile. Her teeth, or dentures, were white and even. Her cloudy blue eyes cleared for just a moment. “Nick’s friend? He’s come back? Finally. Where is he?”
Cora placed a hand on her back and turned her towards the woods. “He’s not with her, Ginny. Go home now and I’ll explain it all to you in a little while.”
“Let me stay. I want to hear, too. It’s been so long…” she pleaded.
“No. Now go on home or I’ll have to call Harrison to come and get you. You don’t want to go through that again, do you?”
She turned without a word and trekked around the perimeter of the house and then turned towards the back, out of view.
Cora waited until the frail woman was out of sight. “I’m sorry about that. She’s a dear friend of mine. She grew up in a house through those woods. But as you can see, she’s not herself these days. But never mind that. Let’s get you settled.”
I gathered my things from the jeep and carried them to the front door. Cora waited just inside the foyer. She held the heavy doors for me with only one arm. When she let them go, they slammed shut once again, the sound echoing through the tomb of darkness.