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“Maybe I should just stay put,” Ethel said, and Sandra grudgingly agreed.
She didn’t want to drive on the ice either. “I guess neither option, going or staying, is very safe.” She looked at her son, overwhelmed by the desire to protect him. Where was Bob?
A scream sounded from directly beneath her, and her blood ran cold. She jumped up and headed for the door, along with nearly everyone else in the room, but then she stopped and turned back toward Ethel. “Would you mind watching Peter for a sec—”
“I don’t need to be watched, Mom. I’m not a baby.”
“You’re right, honey. I’m sorry. But would you stay here with Ethel? I’ll be right back.” But then, as the last person left the room, taking the last cell with them, they were plunged into darkness again. “Never mind,” she said, sitting back down. Her skin was itching in protest. She needed to go see what the screaming was about, but she couldn’t leave these two in the darkness.
Ethel sensed her unease. “Sorry, I’d go with you, but I don’t think I should be stumbling about in the darkness at my age.”
“I know. And I wouldn’t want you to. I just really want to know what’s going on.”
They sat in the silent darkness for what felt like forever, until a small flame bobbed into view, throwing a pleasant circle of light around the room. Sandra quickly scanned the room before turning to identify the light-bearer.
It was Gloria. “I found some candles.” She carried a plastic shopping bag full of candles of every size, color, and level of consumption.
“What was that scream?” Sandra asked.
“Sorry if it scared you. Sound sure does carry with the furnace off. It was just Corina. The cat jumped out from behind something and scared her half to death.”
The explanation left Sandra both relieved and disappointed. Not that she’d hoped for another dead body, but an attempted assault with a few witnesses would help solve the puzzle.
“Cat? What cat?” Ethel sounded alarmed.
“It’s Frank’s cat,” Sandra explained, as Gloria used the lighted candle to light the candle in her other hand. “They have a severe mice problem here, so he brings his cat in to scare them off. Her name is Hildegarde.”
Gloria handed the newly lit candle to Ethel, who was laughing so hard the flame shook in her hand. “Hildegarde? Who names a cat Hildegarde?”
“Frank Flamatti, that’s who. He’s got another one at home named Leopold. Sorry, I haven’t found any candle stands yet. I’m still looking, but at least you’ll be able to see.” She pulled a third candle out of the bag and handed it to Sandra before lighting it.
“Thank you.” Sandra was grateful for the stubby stick of wax in her hand.
“Don’t mention it. I’ll be back. I’m just going to go see if anyone downstairs needs one. And I’ll look for more.”
“If you see any blankets, grab those too, would you?” Ethel asked.
“Absolutely.” Gloria turned to go.
Sandra had to fight not to follow her.
“Go ahead,” Ethel said. “I know you’re dying to.”
Sandra flew out of her seat. “I don’t need to go now that we know who screamed and why, but I will go get you a blanket.” Sandra fled before Ethel could change her mind. She moved so fast that her candle almost went out, and she forced herself to slow down. “Bob, where are you and your superpower hearing, anyway?” she muttered under her breath.
There was no response.
She found her way to the props room without seeing anyone. At first, she thought the door was locked, and vowed to learn how to pick a lock, but then she realized the old door was just stuck shut, and she lowered her shoulder to give it some more encouragement. It opened, and the smell of mothballs washed over her. Would Ethel rather have mothball blankets or be cold? She really didn’t know, but she thought she’d leave it up to Ethel. She entered the stinky room and closed the door behind her—not because she desired privacy, but because she didn’t want anyone sneaking up on her.
She’d thought finding a blanket in a prop room would be a simple task, but it wasn’t. She’d never seen such a random collection of artifacts. There were enough holiday decorations to outfit the Disney Christmas Parade. She hadn’t realized there were that many plastic holly berries in the world. She pushed her way through the holiday cheer and abruptly found herself in the Halloween section. This was no better. She hurried through the stacks of cobwebs and witch hats and then found herself weaving through supplies from a nineteenth century one-room school house. She stopped in the middle of the room and looked around. Were there any blankets? A rustling to her right caused her to whirl around, a movement that somehow made the giant chalkboard to her left come crashing to the ground. Luckily, it hit a pile of old hymnals before it hit the floor, so it didn’t shatter, but it still made quite a ruckus. She held her breath, trying to hear if anyone was nearby, unsure why she was so worried about getting caught in the prop room. No, of course, she wouldn’t be snooping around in here under normal circumstances. But these weren’t normal circumstances.
Suddenly, she was scared to death for Peter. She shouldn’t have left him. Sure, Ethel would try to protect him, but what could she do? She hurried back toward the door, and was almost there when she spotted a box among the Christmas chaos. It was marked “Bedding.” Based on the organization of the room, Sandra wasn’t confident the box actually contained bedding, but it was worth a shot. She navigated her way through the piles of old luggage, telephones, and plastic fruit until she reached the box. She opened it, bracing herself for more foul odors, but there were none, and sure enough, the blanket box contained blankets. She ripped the top two out of the box and then hurried for the door, moving as fast as her little flame would let her.
By now, she was closer to the back stairs than the front, so she headed that way, even though that would mean skirting poor Treasure’s body. Where on earth were the police? They should be there by now! She found Bob right where she’d left him, standing beside Treasure, looking down at her face.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
“Waiting for someone to tamper with the evidence.”
Sandra looked around. “And no one has?”
“No, not yet. Everyone is avoiding this area of the building. I think most of them are in the green room.”
“Okay, good. I’ve got to go check on Peter. I left him upstairs.”
“You left him?”
“Only for two seconds. I just came down to get blankets.” But in reality, she didn’t know how long she’d been gone. Just how many seconds had she spent exploring the prop room? She took the stairs two at a time, grateful for her new soccer official legs. Soccer season had ended in November, but since then she’d been reffing for an indoor women’s league, and those women were fast. Sandra was in the best shape of her life. She reached the top of the stairs, and her heart fell toward her feet. Why was the auditorium so dark?
Maybe the light from my candle is overpowering Ethel’s. Maybe hers is still lit, but I just can’t see it. Hoping this wasn’t wishful thinking, she walked deeper into the auditorium to see that Ethel and Peter were gone.