“But you can live as long as you want,” Mattie had told her, not attempting to hide the desperation in her voice. Lulu hugged her close and whispered, “It’s not natural. It’s destroying me in other ways.” Johann had managed to live for over three hundred years, but Lulu knew the price for stealing life.
“I don’t want to end up like them,” Lulu had told her. “They live, but their eyes are dead.”
Mattie was jogged from the memory when Emerson clopped down the steps, his thick soles echoing in the metallic space of the prep room.
“How soon can I get her ashes?” Mattie asked, thinking about the full moon two nights away.
“I don’t know,” Emerson said, shoving his hands deep in his pockets. “How about early next week?”
“Too late,” Mattie said. “I need them day after tomorrow.”
“Now, Mattie, I know you’re grieving and all, and I know how much you loved Lulu, but I can’t just—”
“Yes, you can, Emerson. You own the place. You can do whatever needs to be done. And this needs to be done.”
Emerson twisted his mouth and stared over at Mattie. “Oh, all right. But that’s it! You’re not dressing her up or putting on any of that makeup or anything else.” Emerson stood unmoving, fists on hips. “Besides, why would you want to do all that if she’s going to be cremated? It makes no sense.”
“What difference does it make to you, Emerson? You don’t have to pay for the dress, or the makeup, and I’m doing all the work. So why don’t you go back up to your office while I take care of things down here.”
Emerson turned red. “You can’t do that, Mattie!”
“Nobody but you and me will ever know.”
“Well, hell, Mattie. You’re ’bout as stubborn as a dang possum.” Emerson glared toward the closed door at the other end of the preparation room. “Let’s at least get her over there into the dressing room.” He scratched his head, shaking it from side to side. “Where the hell are all the dad-blame gurneys!”
Chapter 14
Pink took a right turn at the end of Pink Souder Road and headed up the mountain in the direction of the cabin. He told Michelle how he’d built it for Isabelle, how Isabelle had fallen sick a few months after they moved in, and how he’d sold it a year later.
“That cabin’s probably sold five times since I built it. Loudon told me some folks from Atlanta . . .” Pink started to say then stopped, looking in her direction before taking his eyes back to the road.
“So you heard,” Michelle said. “I’m the crazy woman from Atlanta.”
“I don’t judge,” Pink said.
“Everybody judges, Pink.” When they rounded the turn, Michelle shook her head. “Damn.” A Range Rover sat in the driveway. Cliff stood at the railing of the deck, looking out over the mountains. She knew he’d come; she just hadn’t expected him to get here so soon. She’d been careful to not use credit cards or an ATM. Darcy must have told him after all. She needed more time, time without Cliff hounding her.
“Just keep driving, please,” Michelle said, slinking down in the seat.
“Are you okay? You look kind of—”
“I’m fine. Just go.”
Pink accelerated up the hill and made a left onto a dirt road then drove about a mile or so before he pulled over and stopped. When he rolled the electric windows down, fresh air swept across Michelle’s face. She felt defeated. How could she learn anything with Cliff trying to get her back home? “Maybe you should take me back to my car.”
“Are you sure?” Pink said.
“I haven’t been honest with you,” she said. “And I’m sorry. Please take me back.”
“Hell, it don’t matter. I’ve been known to spin a tale or two myself.” Pink’s eyes met hers for only a moment before he opened the door and stepped out onto the gravel road. “Come with me,” he said. “I want to show you something.”
Michelle caught up to Pink and walked alongside him. Winding up a steep hill, they followed the path along a ridge that gave way to a view of the entire valley, mountains repeating themselves infinitely against a flawless blue sky.
Michelle wondered where she would stay tonight. An uneasiness began to unravel in her, and for a moment she had no idea what she was doing or where she was, and everything in her life seemed wrong, as though the details of her existence belonged to someone else.
She stopped in the middle of the path, her head pounding. In less than twenty-four hours she’d become a stranger in her own life. Just yesterday, she’d helped Darcy stock supplements and soymilk—then had stolen Darcy’s car and her gun. The gun. Had she left it on the kitchen table next to the apples she’d bought at the grocery store? Cliff would go crazy finding the gun. And Darcy, what would she say to Cliff? Would Darcy be in trouble with the police? Was the gun even registered? Michelle felt something tighten inside. She bent over and threw up in the weeds.
Pink came to her side. “You look like hell. Maybe I better get you to the hospital.”
“No, I’ll be all right. Give me a second.” She squatted down and sat back on her heels then wiped her mouth. When she tried to stand, Pink took her arm to steady her. “Let’s keep walking,” she said. “I feel better now.”
“You don’t look better. You’re white as soap.”
“I’m okay. Really.”
Pink led the way through the woods. She stayed close to Pink as they traversed a wide log that crossed the creek. On the other side they climbed a hill of car-size boulders to a waterfall over seventy-five feet high. Michelle couldn’t believe she’d never known about this amazing place so close to the cabin.
Michelle spied something in the treetops about thirty yards away, some kind of structure. “What’s that?” she asked, pointing.
He nodded and motioned for her to follow. When they got closer, she could see boards attached between the trees, like a walkway of some kind, high up among the branches. Pink stopped beneath the rickety framework. Michelle’s eyes followed the boards through the limbs until they disappeared over the ridge.
“What is it?” she asked.
“A path,” Pink said.
He walked several yards and studied the trees, pulling at a ladder of boards nailed to one of the trunks. He put one foot on the bottom rung then pulled himself up by the next until he’d climbed to the top. Soon he was standing on the platform twenty feet above her.
“Come on up,” Pink said. “If it’ll hold me, it’ll surely hold you.”