Chapter 3
"There is another one coming" Jessica said., to no one in particular.
She knew when it was done. She had felt it when Roger had come, and when Derek had come...
She wondered who it could be. Who was it that was being condemned to his lifelong servitude?
Iris accepted a drink from George. "I have been thinking about what you told me. Maybe you are right. I should try to get my life in order."
"I am no expert as to how it is done. I think that Julia would be of more help than I."
"But Julia..."
George wanted to finish the conversation. Not that he was unsympathetic to Iris' situation, but he had a mystery to unravel, and Iris could not help him any. At any other time he would be glad to give his opinion about her, and about Violet. But not now. He had an appointment with Sebastian and he did not want to be late for it. Sebastian had been skittish lately, even though he had tried to help with Phillip. Sebastian would remain in Collinsport only as long as he made money and he might still decide to leave, money or no money...
The light hit the dust on the corner. He noticed it, absentmindedly. It reflected the light, and it looked silvery instead of golden as it usually did...
He excused himself as soon as he cold. He would be glad to talk to her at another time. But now he had to meet Sebastian.
Another day, another dollar. Business could be quite good in Collinsport this time of year. Tourist season brought always new clients. That they came more out of curiosity than need to find out did not matter so much. Money was money.
There was a time when he took offense to it, that he wanted to lecture them that what he offered was real, not some sidewalk entertainment. Roxie had been sympathetic, but had explained to him that hard as it was, they could always use the money.
Well, another flock of tourists come and gone, and his pocket was better off for it.
Now he had to meet Sheriff Brant, for some problem of his. He hoped that Brant remembered to be generous...
Well, he had been in the past. And Carolyn had been more than generous, too for his part in Quentin's rescue. And Brant treated him decent, too.
Too bad that he had to see Barnabas and remember a lot of ugly stuff too...
He did not notice the silvery powder that began to fall around him...
Amy could not find Sheriff Brant at his office. She left a message that she was willing to help out in whatever he might need, and returned to work on her resume. It was rather scanty, she thought. But then the local paper could not be very choosy about the talent they hired.
She wondered what was the problem now? No more trouble for Phillip, she hoped?
Dammit, she wanted to be a reporter, not a card reader. But those emergencies kept happening and she had to respond..
"Amy Jennings." Nastassia said. "This is the other one they called for help. She reads the cards. She can learn the truth about ourselves.
"Well, she will need to be taken care of. You need a new chambermaid, right? The other one proved unsatisfactory."
"I imagine that a few weeks of working the soil would make her appreciate working for me, and she would be grateful when I took her back. But if this Amy Jennings is more satisfactory, then I might keep her."
Why had Carolyn offered the post of secretary to Phillip? Vicky wondered. Was it this way of attracting Vicky into her circle?
Carolyn probably missed Vicky. She probably missed their friendship, flawed as it was. And if Phillip worked for her, she though she had a chance to recreate it..
But she was not ready for a friendship on an equals basis. She probably did not think that a Collins could ever be the equal of the director of an adult education center. So, she had to find a way to exert superiority, by making that directors' husband a hired hand...
Carolyn had yet much to learn about friendship. She craved it. She needed it. But she did not have the hang of it.
On the other hand, Phillip needed a job. Helping out his wife did not seem like a real one... He would think that he was hired out of pity, or obligation, not because he was any good. Working for someone else would do him good. Even if that someone else was Carolyn.
Carolyn did need friends, now that Roger had gone missing and she was distraught. And if she did not know how to be a friend, well, it would be up to her, Vicky, to teach her.
Amy stepped back from her writing. Maybe she should call Brant again. She was curious as to what it was this time.
She did not notice the silvery dust as it began to fall...
Break
"Now Sebastian has disappeared." George told Barnabas " I waited for him for one hour, and he did not show up. I went to his place, to give him a piece of my mind, and it was just like Derek. He had abandoned his wallet and his keys. His car was in the driveway. He had all his stuff, the astrological charts, the chakras diagrams, all of that. The only thing missing was Sebastian."
"You think that the same thing that happened to Derek and the others happened to him?"
"Yes."
"Just as he was about to help us."
"Just as... Barnabas. Amy called me earlier. Said that she wanted to help."
'You think...?"
"You fly there, it is faster. I will meet you at her place."
Amy was gone. Again she had left her purse behind and her keys. All her clothes were here, all her things. Only Amy was gone.
"She said that she would help us, and they removed her." George said.
"They? Who?"
"We do not know. But now we know that we have an enemy who will not let us have any help."
"You think that Burke is not really dead?'
"What I think..." George looked around. "What I think is that we have an enemy to deal with, and no idea how to fight back."
His eyes fell on the dust on the floor. Silvery dust.
He frowned. Where had he seen silvery dust? Yes, there had been some similar dust at Shaw's... But where else?
"We may have doomed Amy and Sebastian when we asked their help" Barnabas mused.
"We had to try."
"Do we tell Chris?"
"We should. But I wonder what he could do."
"He could go on the rampage..." Barnabas said sardonically
"I think that we better hold on telling him for a while. " he picked some of the silvery dust and put it in an envelope. "I will go check if Sebastian's place also has this dust. Then I will try to remember where else I saw it."
"And I am going to get Stokes' notes. He might have something there."
"You could get Julia to help you there..."
"I'd rather not. She has her baby to think about. If they came for her too..."