Chapter 11
Flaky stared in horror at the ugly words.
Was Lammy really that desperate?
And if she was, what would she do next?
Suddenly, it struck her: Someone had been here, in her house. While she was out, somebody had come in and scrawled a bloodred threat across her door.
Terror flashed through her. Letting go of the blind, she raced out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
Tearing through the house, gasping for breath, Flaky looked in closets and behind doors and under beds.
The house was empty. Lammy hadn't done anything else.
Yet.
Back in the kitchen, her heart still pounding Flaky stood in front of the patio doors. She couldn't see the words anymore, but she didn't have to.
She'd never forget them.
Something cold and wet touched her hand. Flaky jumped and spun around.
Just the dog, wanting to go out.
She looked at the blind again. They're just words, she told herself. Sick and crazy, but just words.
Flaky raised the blind again. Her fingers fumbled with the lock, but she finally got it to work. She slid the door open just enough for the dog to slip through.
And then she remembered: She'd locked the doors before she left. The front door was locked when she got home and so was this one.
So, how did Lammy get in?
Slowly, Flaky raised her hand and rubbed a finger across one of the letters. Nothing came off. She licked her finger and rubbed again. Nothing.
Reaching through the opening in the door, she rubbed the outside of the glass. The letter smeared, leaving something sticky on her finger.
Red nail polish.
Lammy had just been in the back garden, not in the house. She'd written the message so it looked like it was on the inside. But she'd never been inside.
Knowing that made Flaky feel better. But not safe. Not completely safe.
Because she didn't know what Lammy's next move would be. This was more than just a joke. Flaky wondered how far Lammy was willing to go.
The next morning it took Flaky a good half hour to get the nail polish off the glass. She still felt paranoid, wondering what Lammy might be planning for her. But she was also feeling angry. The harder she cleaned, the angrier she got.
By the time she was done, she was furious. She called Petunia, but Petunia was at the diner. She'd switched shifts with someone else for the day. It was half-eleven. Flaky decided to have something to eat at the diner, talk to Petunia, then go to see Giggles. She got her marked-up copy of Jane Eyre and left the house.
"What's the matter with you? You look kind of weird," Petunia said when Flaky sat down at the counter. "It can't be the food, you haven't eaten yet." She peered more closely at Flaky's face. "Oh. I guess I shouldn't be joking. Was the date with Flippy that bad?"
"No," Flaky said. "It was okay."
"Just okay?"
Flaky didn't want to talk about the date. She had more important things to talk about. She ordered a burger and waited until Petunia brought it. Then she told her about the phone call and the bloody-looking message.
"You're kidding. No, know you're not," Petunia said quickly. "But I mean, this is weird."
"Weird? It's sick, Petunia. I mean, I thought she'd been in my house! And next time, she just might be!"
"Listen, you've got to talk to her," Petunia said. "You probably should have done it right after you got that note."
"I don't want to talk to her," Flaky said, moving the pickle to the edge of her plate. "But I guess you're right. I don't know what to say, though."
"Well, you can start with hi." Petunia tilted her head towards the door.
Turning, Flaky saw Lammy.
She was at the cashier's and it looked like she was ordering take out.
She was alone.
Flaky took a sip of water, a deep breath, and slid off the stool. She felt her anger building again as she crossed the floor. By the time she reached Lammy, she didn't bother saying hi.
"I've gotten all three of your messages, Lammy," she said. "Maybe you'd like to tell me why you're sending them to me and not to Toothy. And maybe you'd like to tell me to my face this time."
Lammy frowned and eyed Flaky as if she were a strange microscopic specimen. "Maybe you'd like to tell me what you're talking about," she said coolly.
Turning her back on Flaky, Lammy walked a few feet to where there were several plastic chairs for take-out customers. She sat down in one and pulled a stick of gum out of her pocket.
Flaky followed and stood in front of her. "Okay, Lammy," she said. "Here's what I'm talking about. Somebody's really mad at me. So mad, they left a note in the book I'm ready to Giggles, telling me if I want to keep reading, I'd better be careful who I talk to. Then they called me on the phone with a warning. And then, they left a message at my house. On the patio doors. In nail polish. Red nail polish, like blood."
Lammy folded the gum into her mouth and started chewing. "Too bad," she said.
"Look, I know you're mad because Toothy's been flirting with me," Flaky told her.
"Yeah? So?"
"So be mad at him, not me."
"What makes you think I'm not mad at him?"
"I'm sure you are," Flaky said. "But I'm telling you I'm not interested in him. And I think you already know that, so I really don't appreciate it when you take it out on me."
"You think I should take it out on him?" Lammy asked.
"Do whatever you want," Flaky said. "Just leave me out of it."
Lammy's order came then, and she got up to pay for it. Before she left, she stopped in front of Flaky. "Not that it's any of your business, but I did take it out on Toothy," she said. She smiled coldly. "I broke up with him."
Great, Flaky thought. Lammy probably blamed her for that, too.
"And by the way, I didn't send you any messages, Flaky," Lammy said. "I don't care how much you read or who you talk to. It sounds like somebody does, though." She smiled again. "So maybe you'd better take their advice, and be careful." Lammy slammed the door as she left.
What had Lammy said? It sounds like somebody cares how much you read and who you talk to. And the note in the book: If you want to keep on reading, be careful who you talk to.
Someone wanted her to keep her mouth shut about any message from Giggles.
"Well, what happened?" Petunia asked.
Flaky looked at her. Could she trust her? Petunia didn't know that Giggles was trying to say something. Flaky hadn't told her. Petunia couldn't be the one.
"Listen," Flaky said. "I need to talk to you, but it's private and it's serious. You can't tell anybody! You have to promise!"
"Okay, okay I promise." Petunia leaned on the counter, looking curious. "What is it?"
Giggles is trying to tell me something," Flaky said. "Something she doesn't want anybody else to know."
"What does this have to do with Lammy?"
"I'm starting to think it doesn't have anything to do with her," Flaky said. She told Petunia everything that happened so far. Then she pulled out her copy of Jane Eyre and read the quotes that Giggles had tapped on.
"No wonder you're spooked," Petunia said when Flaky had finished. "But Flakes, are you sure? I mean…"
"You mean am I sure I'm not imagining it?" Flaky asked hotly. "You saw the note that I got in the book. If I imagined that, then so did you. But it was real. So was the voice on the phone and the letters on the door."
"I know, I know," Petunia. "But listen, it could still be Lammy. Do you really believe she didn't do it just because she said she didn't? You know… maybe Cuddles sent the messages."
"I don't know what to believe."
Flaky suddenly remembered something. "What colour were Russell's eyes?"
"The backpacker?" Petunia thought a second. "Um… brown, maybe?"
Flaky sighed. Maybe she was getting closer to some answers.
"Wait a minute," Petunia said. "You think he might be this stranger?"
"I don't know. I'm just trying to figure it out," Flaky said.
"But you don't even know what Giggles is trying to tell you yet," Flaky said.
"I know," Flaky groaned. "This is all too much for me! I'll just have to keep on reading."
"Be careful," Petunia said.
Driving up the cliff road later, Flaky turned the radio on loud, trying to blast the confused thoughts out of her head. It didn't work.
As she turned onto the property, the music ended, and the weather report came on. The sunshine break was over. It would be back to fog and rain for at least five days.
Flaky couldn't wait five days. She had to get Giggles out onto the terrace where she could talk to her, ask her questions. And she had to do it today.
As she stopped next to Flippy's gardening truck. She shivered slightly, remembering his lips on hers.
Stop it, Flaky told herself. He could be the one. He left you alone at the bowling alley while he went across the street for coke. Or so he said.
But he could have gone to your house and painted a blood red message on your door.
As she walked to the back door, Flaky looked at the terrace. It was empty. The vines were all down, as far as she could tell, and Flippy wasn't around.
Mrs. Joy greeted her at the door, as usual. This time, she walked with her into the library.
Giggles was in her place. Waiting.
Waiting to tell her secret.
"Here she id Giggles," Mrs. Joy said in her obnoxiously sweet voice. She turned to Flaky. "I'll be in my office."
Sure, Flaky thought. In her office listening and watching. "Mrs. Joy?" she said. "I heard the weather report while I was driving up here, and today's the last sunny day we're going to have for a while." She looked at Giggles. "So, this'll be Giggles' last chance to get out in the sun, at least for five or six days. I think she'd like it, don't you?"
Mrs. Joy looked toward the windows. She started to say something, but she was interrupted by a humming sound. It was a low hum, but in the quiet library, it seemed loud.
It was coming from Giggles.
As soon as Mrs. Joy looked at her, Giggles stopped humming. Her bright eyes shifted to the windows, then to Flaky, then back to the windows.
It was obvious. Giggles wanted to go outside. Mrs. Joy frowned. But she nodded. "All right," she said. "I don't suppose there's any harm in it."
"Great," Flaky said. "The windows open, don't they? I'll help you."
Once the windows were open, Mrs. Joy went behind Giggles' wheelchair and pushed it out onto the terrace. She positioned Giggles so she was shaded by a big branch that hung over the edge of the roof.
"It is nice out here," she said, looking at the sky.
Just don't decide to join us, Flaky pleaded silently.
"A little cool, though," Mrs. Joy went on. "It never really gets hot in this part of the country. I suppose I'd better get something for Giggles shoulders." She went back into the house.
Flaky didn't think Giggles needed anything for her shoulders, but she was glad Mrs. Joy was gone. Sitting on the low wall, she faced Giggles. "As soon as your mum brings you a jumper or whatever," she said, "and goes back inside, then we can talk. You are trying to tell me something, aren't you?"
Giggles' eyes closed and quickly opened.
"Good at least I know I'm not imagining it." Flaky glanced at the windows to make sure Mrs. Joy wasn't coming back yet. "I have all kinds of questions, but I'll wait. I know you don't want anyone else listening."
Giggles blinked again.
Flaky started to say something more, but she stopped. Giggles was making the low humming sound again, her eyes looking toward the steps. The black and white cat appeared and was creeping carefully toward the wheelchair. He sniffed the footrest, then leaped onto Giggles' legs and sniffed her face and hair. Then he turned around a couple of times and settled himself on her lap.
Giggles looked back at Flaky.
"I brought my own book today," Flaky said. "I marked all the places in it where you moved your hand. I could go back and ask you questions about them, or I could keep reading. Do you want me to…? Wait a minute. Where is it?"
Flaky looked around. She didn't have the book with her. "Sorry. I left it in the car. It'll just take me a second to get it."
Hopping down from the wall, Flaky left the terrace and walked across the lawn to her car. The book was on the front seat. She picked it up and had just slammed the door when she heard a car roaring down the drive. Cuddles, she thought.
And then she heard another sound, one that drowned out everything else.
It was the shrieking, teeth-rattling sound of a chainsaw.
The cat shot into the air and was halfway across the terrace before its feet hit the ground.
Flaky couldn't see the chainsaw, but she didn't have to. She knew who was using it.
And when she looked, she knew what he was using it on.
It was the tree branch, the one thing that hung over the roof edge and shaded part of the terrace. The branch was almost as thick as a person's body. Flaky could see it shake and quiver as the saw bit into it.
Flippy was up on the roof, out of sight, slicing into the branch. Flaky couldn't hear the creaking sound the branch was making.
She didn't need to.
She could see what was happening, all too clearly.
The thick, heavy branch was about to fall.
And it was about to fall on Giggles.