As the hours ticked by, Jennifer began to get worried. What was taking the guys so long? She knew that Pete was nervous about their prolonged absence, too. She’d seen him go to the window to look out at the road at least five times in as many minutes.
“Do you think we should go out to look for them?” Susie walked over to join Pete at the window.
“No, not yet. Give them another couple of minutes. If they’re not back by three o’clock, we’ll go looking for them.”
They all nodded in unison and turned at precisely the same instant to look at the grandfather clock in the lobby. Their synchronized movements reminded Jennifer of a perfectly rehearsed cheer, and she almost giggled. But this was no laughing matter. It was possible there had been another rock slide and the boys were cut off from the lodge. Even worse, they could have been caught by the falling boulders, but Jennifer didn’t want to think about that.
It seemed to take forever, but at last the grandfather clock in the lobby chimed three times. It took only a few moments to get their jackets and boots, and then they were ready.
“Okay. Let’s go.” Pete opened the door and they all stepped out, but Cheryl stopped so abruptly that Jennifer almost ran right into her.
“Do you hear that?” Cheryl sounded excited. “There’s a car coming up the road!”
They all turned to look at the road. It was another perfectly synchronized turn, and this time Jennifer laughed out loud, she was so relieved. It was the Jeep. The guys were back!
Tommy was frowning as he pulled up in front of the lodge and they all piled out. “Sorry. We couldn’t get through. There’s a huge rock slide between here and the store.”
“We tried to climb over, but the rocks were too unstable.” Dale sounded disappointed.
“He’s right. We almost caused another rock slide,” Tim said. “But there’s good news, too. We heard a bulldozer and it sounded like it was only a couple of miles away. All we have to do is wait until the road crew digs through to us.”
Susie didn’t look happy. “But when will that be? We could be stuck here until Christmas!”
“I don’t think it’ll take them quite that long.” Brian laughed. “Come on, Susie. Look on the bright side. If we’re going to get stuck, Saddlepeak Lodge is the perfect place. We’ve got food, water, heat, and electricity. What more could we want?”
“Cable TV.” Tommy looked glum. “We’re missing a whole day of college football.”
“I love to watch football,” Lexie said. “It’s my favorite sport. I just wish I wouldn’t always end up cheering for the wrong team.”
“What do you mean?” Tommy turned to look at her.
“If I like a team, they lose. That’s why I didn’t try out to be a cheerleader. If I cheered for Foothill High, they’d lose every game.”
Tommy looked doubtful, but Jennifer nodded. “It’s true. My dad says Lexie has a real knack for picking losers.”
“Hey, Lexie . . .” Tommy was grinning as he slipped his arm around her shoulders. “What are you doing for the next eight weekends?”
Lexie shrugged. “I don’t know . . . why?”
“I want you to spend them with me. How about it? Do we have a date?”
Lexie shrugged again. “That depends. What did you have in mind?”
“I want you to watch football with me. I’ll tell you which teams I want to lose and you can cheer for them.”
“Okay.” Lexie laughed as Tommy hugged her. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
Jennifer stared at Lexie in surprise. Her best friend had undergone an amazing transformation, right before her eyes. Lexie’s cheeks were pink, her eyes were sparkling, and her smile was warm as she gazed at Tommy. Jennifer was wise enough to know the signs. Lexie was definitely interested in Tommy.
Was she jealous? Jennifer was relieved to find that she didn’t feel the slightest twinge of envy. Tim was the one she wanted, not Tommy. Perhaps she hadn’t really been in love with Tommy at all. She still liked him as a friend, but that was it. And Tommy seemed perfect for Lexie. But there was someone in the group who looked very jealous and it was Cheryl.
“I’ve got an idea.” Cheryl spoke up. “Why don’t we have another rehearsal? Our skit had some rough spots last night, and it’ll give us something to do while we’re waiting for the bulldozer to get through.”
Jennifer almost laughed out loud. Cheryl’s motive was perfectly transparent. She was in Tommy’s skit and Lexie wasn’t. It was a perfect way to get Tommy away from Lexie.
“That’s a very good idea,” Pete agreed. “If the buses with Miss Voelker and the kids are right behind the bulldozers, we could be giving a show tonight.”
“In that case, we’d better do a full technical rehearsal,” Brian said. “I haven’t even tested some of my special effects.”
“Okay.” Pete glanced at his watch. “I’ll give you twenty minutes to get into your costumes and makeup. Let’s go over the whole production, from start to finish.”
“Including the séance?” Susie started to frown.
“Of course.”
“Uh . . . Pete?” Susie’s voice was shaking slightly. “Do you think we could do things out of order, and start with the séance?”
“That’s up to Jennifer and Tim. But why?”
Susie looked embarrassed and it was clear she didn’t want to answer. “Uh . . . well . . . Melanie got that note from Kelly, and now she’s dead. I know it’s just coincidence, but . . . I’d rather do the séance in the daylight, that’s all.”
“That’s okay with us, Pete.” Jennifer decided to rescue Susie from further embarrassment. “We don’t mind starting with the séance. Is that all right with everyone else?”
One by one they nodded, and Jennifer noticed that several of her friends looked relieved. The séance skit was starting to scare everyone, now that Zada and Melanie were dead.
But nothing unexpected happened at the séance. The table didn’t rock or spin around and there were no ghostly voices. When it was over, everyone including Jennifer and Tim drew a deep sigh of relief.
“That was fine.” Pete flipped his notebook shut. “But I guess the spirits don’t communicate very well in the daylight.”
Ronnie laughed. “That’s okay. I don’t think I could have survived another spinning table. Come on, everybody. Let’s get into costume and rehearse the rest of our skits.”
Jennifer and Tim had just finished putting their props away when there were shouts from the third floor. They hurried up the stairs to join the crowd that had gathered in Ronnie’s room.
“The psychic duo strikes again, huh?” Ronnie grinned at them as they came in.
Tim frowned. “Do you mean us?”
“You bet I do! When I opened my suitcase, I found a note.” Ronnie held up a piece of paper. “It was wrapped in this scarf, printed with lilacs.”
“It’s Kelly’s scarf,” Tommy explained.
“Here, Tim.” Ronnie handed him the note. “Read it out loud.”
Tim unfolded the note. “It’s written on Saddlepeak Lodge stationery, just like the other one. And it says, Ronnie—Talk to me at the séance tonight and I’ll tell you everything.”
“Very interesting.” Ronnie was smiling as he glanced around the room. “What do you think, guys? Are Jennifer and Tim playing more tricks?”
Jennifer shook her head. “You’ve got it wrong, Ronnie. Tim and I didn’t write that note. I swear it!”
“Of course you didn’t.” Ronnie was still grinning. “Kelly wrote it . . . right, Jen?”
“I don’t know who wrote it!”
“Excellent!” Pete started to clap and everyone joined in. “Good job, Jennifer. You’re turning into a very convincing actress. This whole setup with the notes is great!”
Jennifer exchanged glances with Tim. Neither one of them knew quite what to say. Nobody seemed willing to believe that they hadn’t written the notes.
“How about it, gang?” Pete turned to the other students. “Are you up for another séance tonight?”
“No!”
Everyone turned to look at Susie. All the color had left her face and she was trembling. “I don’t think we should hold another séance, not after that note Ronnie got. What if something awful happens to him?”
“Susie, my love. I didn’t know you cared.” Ronnie burst into laughter. But when he saw that Susie was close to tears, he pulled her into his arms. “Hey, Suze . . . nothing’s going to happen to me. And we’ve got to have the séance. I can hardly wait to see what these two jokers have got planned for me.”
Tim shook his head. “You’ve got it all wrong, Ronnie. Jen and I don’t have anything planned.”
“I knew you’d say that.” Ronnie chuckled. “You two guys are good! But I’m warning you . . . if that table starts spinning around again, I’m going to figure out exactly how you’ve got it rigged.”
The lilac-printed scarf had brought back memories of her. Kelly had been beautiful, the last time he’d seen her. She’d been dressed in a simple cotton sundress, white with tiny sprigs of purple flowers in a repeating pattern. She’d looked so fresh and innocent that he almost hadn’t believed what she’d told him. Only the tears running down her cheeks had convinced him that she’d been telling the truth about their baby.
How could a night that had been so thrilling turn out to be such a disaster? He could still see her face in the light of the fire and feel the soft, satiny warmth of her skin. It should have been a happy memory for him, but it wasn’t. Not now. Not after what had happened.
He leaned back against the pillow and closed his eyes. He still had ten minutes before he had to go downstairs and he needed to rest his eyes. He hadn’t been sleeping well lately and he was very tired.
And then he saw Kelly’s face again, as her car went out of control. Her mouth was open and she was screaming, begging for someone to rescue her. The car swerved down the hill, riding the lip of the ditch, heading straight for the crossing. And then the train rounded the bend, brakes squealing and sparking as they tried in vain to halt the tons of hurtling metal.
At the last instant, she turned to look out the window. And her eyes locked with his in a steady bond that no earthly force could break. And her beautiful lips formed the words that made up the restless terror of his sleep. Murderer! I’ll get you for this!
He sat up with a jolt, sweating and feverish. It was the same dream, the same horrible message. But it was only a dream, nothing more. He hadn’t been there to see the accident. Kelly had never seen him. He’d been miles away and there had been no way at all for Kelly to guess that he had killed her.
But did Kelly know the truth now, after her death? And was there some means for her to take her revenge? He shook his head in denial as he got up to pace the floor. There was no such thing as a ghost or a spirit. Dead was dead, and Kelly had ceased to exist on any plane. There was no possible way that the dead could hurt the living. But the living could hurt the living, and someone was trying to hurt him.
He frowned as he thought about Zada. He’d killed her because he’d thought she’d known Kelly’s secret. But killing Zada hadn’t stopped the threat. Someone else knew.
Melanie had received the note and he’d been sure that she was the one. But Melanie’s death hadn’t solved the problem, and now there was Ronnie. Someone knew Kelly’s secret. He just wished he could figure out who it was!
Now someone was forcing him to kill again. Another note, another death. It was a horrible equation, but he had little choice. Did Ronnie know Kelly’s secret? Was he the instigator and would the notes stop after his death? There was only one way to tell. He‘d just have to kill Ronnie to find out.