“Well, sure. I mean clearly my daughter is fine . . .” she said.
“Yes, of course,” Fisk said. “But that’s not what bothered me.”
Michelle waited for him to speak.
“How could Pink know you had a daughter?” Fisk finally said. “Supposedly he had just driven you back to your cabin and left? It’s vexing. How could he know that?”
Michelle was rewinding the story she’d told Fisk, trying to stack the lies together into a believable pile. “I . . . I don’t know . . . I think maybe I might have mentioned it on the drive up.”
“Yeah, I thought about that too. But how could Pink’s mother, Mattie Souder, know you had a daughter? When could you have possibly met Mattie? She’s been gone from Ardenwood for years. Do you know Mattie? Where did you two have this conversation about your daughter?”
“I don’t know why Pink would say that . . . you know . . . about his mother.”
“Well, let’s talk about that ride Pink gave you. You said you happened upon his office in Ardenwood. And he gave you a ride up to the cabin. Is that about right?”
“Yes, but it’s all kind of vague now . . .”
“I’m talking about the ride he gave you from his office . . . the office that no longer exists. You see, Pink hadn’t been in Ardenwood for a long spell. There’s no office anymore, Mrs. Stage. It’s an ice cream shop now and has been for three years.”
Michelle fell silent. Cassie must have sensed her discomfort and held her.
“There was no ride, was there, Mrs. Stage?”
Michelle wiped her eyes. Cassie leaned in close and put her head on Michelle’s shoulder.
“Mrs. Stage?”
Would this ever be completely over? “I don’t know what to say, Sheriff Fisk. I wish I could give you more answers, but . . . I don’t . . .”
“Well, I don’t mean to upset you,” Sheriff Fisk said. “I would love to get a hold of Mattie. Have any thoughts on that . . . how I might get in touch with her?”
“No, I really don’t.”
“I’d like to contact her, tell her about Pink,” Fisk said. “That boy was everything to her.”
Michelle imagined Mattie sitting at her table alone, sipping tea, no one left in her life.
“Did you hear how Pink died?” Fisk asked.
“No . . . no I never got the details.”
“Me and about ten law enforcement officials tracked him down near Miller Ridge. The dogs was howling, and Pink just walked out from behind a tree with a gun . . . we shot him to death. It was horrendous. His shotgun wasn’t even loaded. It was almost like he wanted to die. That wasn’t Pink’s way.”
“I’m so sorry,” Michelle said, picturing Pink, smiling, laughing at the Hilltop.
“Me too,” Sheriff Fisk said. “Pink was a friend of mine. Vexing at times, but a friend nonetheless. So was Isabelle. Shame how both those kids died.”
Michelle reached out and brought Cassie to her lap. She was glad Cassie knew everything that had happened. Cassie was the only person she had no secrets from.
“I’m very sorry, Sheriff. I really am,” Michelle said.
“I suppose you don’t know Lulu Martin either, do you?”
“No, sorry.” Michelle pictured Lulu being wheeled out on the gurney the day Pink and she’d driven to Lulu’s house.
“Hmm. That’s curious, because somehow she knew you. She told me the most outrageous yarn about Mattie and her, and some kind of black magic . . . gateways to alternate universes—which I don’t even know what them’s supposed to be—and Pink not even knowing he killed Isabelle in this reality, and you taking Pink back through some portal in the dark woods down the mountain from your cabin into another reality with a pentagram or something, and hell, it near give me a headache listening to her rattle on about such ridiculous things. Where on God’s green earth would that woman get such a notion, do you figure?”
Michelle couldn’t respond. What did Fisk want? Why was he so willing to share all of this with her, seemingly unconcerned what she might think?
“Yeah,” the sheriff continued. “A downright bewildering story, isn’t it, Mrs. Stage. You’re still there, aren’t you?”
“Yes, of course,” Michelle said, wiping her eyes again.
“Lulu died this morning. A heart attack. Ain’t that a coincidence, dying the day after Pink? She was Pink’s godmother. Of course, I didn’t believe her story at all. How could I, but it would have been nice to learn more, don’t you think? About them gateways and alternative universes? Guess we’ll never know now, will we? Unless Mattie shows up next.”
Michelle gently moved Cassie from her lap and stood, anxious, weighing the consequences of what she was about to share. She walked to the edge of the pool, glancing back at Cassie.
“Sheriff . . .” Michelle said, “maybe we can’t always understand everything about our world. Maybe there are things we just don’t comprehend, and that Lulu . . . well . . . maybe she and Pink’s mother had insights into things that most of us can’t fathom. You know? Like . . . I mean, all those things Lulu told you . . . they may be very foreign to you and me and most people . . . but maybe there’s something to what she said . . .” Michelle paused, unsure if it was wise to share with Fisk what she was about to tell him. “Sheriff, I didn’t know how to tell you before, but . . . that day we met, when you came to look for my husband, and I went down the mountainside . . .”
“Well, Mrs. Stage, I can tell you’re tired, and your family’s been through some trying events these past few weeks. I don’t want to take any more of your time. Give my best to your husband and daughter,” Fisk said. “And you take care of yourself, ma’am.”
Fisk hung up before she could say goodbye. Michelle clicked the phone off and set it on the table. She hugged Cassie to her, trying to hold back tears, still trapped in the strange conversation. Was Fisk looking for some kind of closure? Did he want Michelle to give him an alternative story that was more palatable to his beliefs? Or did he just need to talk, so perplexed by the events of the past few weeks, just as Michelle was? But maybe it was something more, a kind of search for a vague validation of Lulu’s narrative, one that would explain the unexplainable, yet remain just ambiguous enough to allow his mind to deny the possibility.
“Mom, you okay?” Cassie asked, when Michelle came back to the table.
“Sure, I’m fine,” Michelle said, pulling Cassie to her chest. “I love you so much, baby.”