Voodoo Summer (LeGarde Mysteries Book 11) Read online

  Chapter 33

  A few days later, my mother’s voice jolted me out of a dreamy reverie. “Gus? Can you come up here for a minute?”

  I’d been catching and releasing white perch and sunfish off the dock for the past few hours just to keep my mind off Siegfried. So far, we hadn’t been able to see him and it had been almost a full week since we’d held our first voodoo ceremony that hadn’t worked yet.

  Monique hadn’t been found and the search party had been called off.

  The peeper hadn’t been revealed, either. It had been dead quiet over at The Seven Whistles, according to Willy. And people were leaving in droves. Nothing scared customers more than a missing or possibly murdered child.

  I reeled in my line and scurried to my feet. “Coming, Mum.”

  With a start, I noticed Mr. and Mrs. Marggrander standing on the porch with my parents. Elsbeth was there, too. And my grandparents had just arrived. They all looked solemn, and I began to worry.

  No way. Why would they all gather together? Why weren’t the Marggranders with Siegfried at the hospital? They hadn’t left him alone since he’d had his accident. One of them was always with him.

  So why were they here?

  And why all together, staring down at me?

  Something was terribly wrong, and in my deepest, darkest heart, I feared the worst.

  Was Siegfried dead?

  I broke into a sweat, running toward them. When I reached the cabin I skipped two steps at a time to the top. “What’s wrong?” I panted. “Is it Sig?”

  The awful spell was broken by a sunny smile from my mother. It was as if the clouds permanently invading my heart for the past week suddenly blew away in the summer breeze, revealing nothing but a calm gathering of family and friends.

  “Nothing’s wrong, honey,” my mother said, reaching for my arm. She drew me down beside her on the picnic table bench and slid an arm around my back. “We just have some updates and wanted to share them with you children. Willy’s coming over, too.” She glanced up at a rustling in the woods nearby and waved with a bright welcoming smile. “There she is! Over here, Willy.”

  I waved to my friend, who answered with a questioning expression. I shrugged, effectively telling her I had no idea what was up.

  “Okay, now that we’re all here,” my father said, “we have news. Mr. Marggrander, would you like to start?”

  Klaus Marggrander stood with his back to the lake, leaning against the porch railing. I noticed with a start the black circles under his eyes and the deep lines around his mouth. He’d lost weight and his skin had taken on that color you see in people who never go outdoors, all pasty and white.

  He began to speak in his strong German accent. “Thank you, André. It is good to see you all again. We have missed you.” He beckoned Elsbeth closer and hugged her sideways, a very uncharacteristic display of affection from this normally stern and reserved man. “We have especially missed our girl, and both Brigit and I want to thank you for taking such good care of her.”

  Mrs. Marggrander bobbed and practically curtsied toward us. “Ja. Vielen Dank for all you have done.”

  She looked even worse than Sig’s dad. Her blonde hair—which I never knew was dyed from a bottle—had grown a quarter inch of stark black roots. She wore no makeup, and worry lines seemed permanently stamped in her forehead now. The ragged sweater I’d seen her in most days at the hospital looked really shapeless, and the blouse beneath it had mustard stains on the collar.

  This was definitely not the Mrs. Marggrander I knew, who was fastidious about her clothing and her home.

  My grandmother answered for all of us. “Please don’t think another moment about it, Klaus and Brigit. It’s our pleasure to care for dear Elsbeth. We love her and she’s family.”

  I nodded. “We like having her with us. It’s been great.”

  “Gus is absolutely right.” My father gave me an affectionate glance.

  Mr. Marggrander said, “I do have news to share. I wanted you to hear it at the same time so when you visit my son you will be prepared.”

  A frisson of excitement passed between Willy, Elsbeth, and me. When we visit him? My blood began to pump furiously. Would we be seeing Sig soon?

  “So,” he continued. “Siegfried was moved out of the Intensive Care Unit yesterday.”

  A volley of sighs and delighted shouts came from the porch.

  “He is now in a special wing for coma patients in a semi-private room where visiting is allowed.”

  Elsbeth jumped for joy and couldn’t help a shriek that escaped her. “Oh, goody!”

  Her father grinned at her. “Yes. It is very good, my daughter. But I want to prepare you for what you will see when you come to visit, okay?

  Mrs. Marggrander teared up and turned away, shoulders shaking. “Es tut mir leid,” she apologized, walking into the far corner to collect herself.

  He glanced at her sadly. “It has been especially hard on Brigit. But she is holding up just fine. She is a strong woman.” He straightened and got back to the topic. “Now, Siegfried’s wounds are healing beautifully. He still has bandages wrapped around his head, so you might think he looks a little, um, frightening. Like a mummy, huh?” He winked at us. “And so far, he needs help breathing. So there is a plastic breathing tube in his throat.”

  I gulped. It sounded horrible.

  My mother’s arm went across my shoulders.

  “He also must do his necessary nature calls with the help of a tube. So do not be shocked to see the catheter that runs into a bag on his bed. This is all to help him, because he’s not awake yet. He can’t get up to use the facilities yet.”

  “And,” he continued, “he also must receive his food through an IV line. So please, do not be afraid when you see the needle in his arm. It is all for his nutrition and fluids. He needs to keep his body healthy while his mind heals.”

  My grandfather asked, “What about all the vital signs they were so worried about last week?”

  “Those are good. He has fully stabilized. His blood pressure, his heart rate, blood work, and all other data is excellent. Right where it should be. But the best news is this—his brain waves show full activity. His mind is working and it’s very possible that any day now he may open his eyes and come back to us.”

  Brigit had returned to her husband’s side. She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. “I believe it will be soon. My boy will come back to us very soon.”

  “When can we see him?” I jumped up and faced my father. “Can we go up today?”

  He chuckled and ruffled my hair. “Hold on there, sport. We still have the dinner shift to get through.” He thought about it. “I think tomorrow morning would be a good time. After breakfast is served in the dining room.” He turned to Willy. “Honey? Could you be available around nine-thirty to drive up with us?”

  Willy’s eyes crinkled with joy. I noticed the bad eye was practically back to normal.

  “Absolutement!” she said with a wide grin. “Count me in.”

  My grandmother nodded to her. “I’ll run it by your Aunt Carmen to be sure it’s okay with her, of course. We promised to stay in close touch.”

  “Merci, Mrs. LeGarde.”

  My father clapped his hands. “Okay. Well, I know the Marggranders want to head over to the shower building and grab some clean clothes for the hospital. Let’s give them a break so they can regroup and head back to Siegfried’s side.”

  We broke apart and everyone went his or her own way. All I could think about was seeing my best friend in the world again, and helping him come back out of that dark place so we could have fun for the rest of the summer. We’d have to plan our next voodoo ceremony carefully and I set to work thinking about what items to bring to his bedside the next day.

  Chapter 34

  At two in the morning, the peaceful night was shattered by the sound of men’s shouts and pounding feet on the boardwalk leading from the living room down to the trail that met up with Wee Castle.
/>   I bolted upright. Shadow leapt off the bed and began barking hysterically, scratching at my bedroom door.

  The light flicked on outside on the porch and my father called to someone. “What’s going on?”

  I scrambled out of bed and yanked open my door. “Dad?”

  My mother stood behind him, pulling on a bathrobe and blinking in the harsh light. “André? What is it?”

  “Hold on a second, Gloria. I’ll find out.”

  He slid into his loafers that he kept by the door and ran outside in his pajamas.

  More shouting, more sounds of running. My mother tried to stop me, but I escaped and made it out the screen door to the porch, where my grandfather and William raced below on the shore trail followed by my father. Just beyond the porch, I heard someone stumble and swear, and then they moved past the cabin into the woods.

  “Get him!” William shouted.

  Shadow tried to streak past me but I snagged his collar. Something told me he might get hurt this time, so I calmed him and made him sit on my lap.

  “What’s happening, Gus?” Elsbeth woke from the couch and pressed her face against the screen door. My mother slid an arm around her shoulders.

  “I don’t know. It looks like they’re chasing someone.”

  My mother’s face paled. “Oh my goodness. When will it all stop?” She hitched a wavering breath and beckoned me inside. “Inside, young man. I’ll not have you out there until this is over.”

  I slinked back inside and gave her an apologetic smile with my hand still hooked through Shadow’s collar. “Okay, Mum.”

  We sat side by side on the couch, with Elsbeth between us, stifling yawns. Conversations erupted from several cabins nearby, but my mother made us stay inside. I heard a few snatches on the wind, like, “Who was that?” and “Did they catch him?”

  Twenty minutes later, the men returned.

  “André? Jean Paul? What is it?” my mother asked. “Are we safe now?”

  My grandfather shook his head. “He got away.”

  William seemed flushed with excitement, his eyes wild. Sweat stained the back of his shirt. “I almost had him,” he said.

  My father explained. “It happened at the waitresses’ cabin. The peeper is back. Betsy woke up and found him watching her from her open window. He had one leg over the sill. He was on his way inside.”

  Elsbeth and my mother inhaled sharply at the same time.

  “He’s back?” I repeated. The light dawned. If the peeper was here, then he certainly couldn’t be locked up in jail where Bosco was. This might change everything.

  My grandfather leaned against the wall, still catching his breath. “You all know what this means?”

  I nodded enthusiastically, but most everyone gave him blank stares.

  “It means that Carmen’s nephew is not the peeper. He’s in jail, and this guy was definitely a white boy. I saw it with my own eyes.”

  Elsbeth grabbed my hand. “Oh! That is good news.” She turned to my grandfather. “Does that mean they’ll let Bosco come home?”

  My father spoke up. “It certainly should. I’ll give Lawson a call in a few minutes. I hate to wake him up in the middle of the night again, but there may be evidence up by the girls’ cabin. They won’t want to lose that.”

  “Does anyone want hot chocolate or coffee?” my mother offered.

  The men politely declined, and with William they went to the top of the hill to call the authorities.

  She turned to us. “How about you two? A little hot chocolate? And then back to bed.”

  “Thanks, Mum.”

  Elsbeth and I waited while she heated up the milk on the stove, adding cocoa powder and sugar when it started to steam.

  “I can’t wait to see Willy and tell her what happened,” Elsbeth said, her eyes shining. “She might actually get her brother back.”

  I hardly dared to hope that the unforgiving system would be so fair and quick to release him. Something told me they wouldn’t want to lose their prime suspect for Monique’s disappearance, either. Would the existence of a “separate” peeper be enough for them to drop the charges? Or would they think there had always been two bad guys, and that Bosco was still one of them?

  We sipped our cocoa slowly, blowing on it so we wouldn’t burn our tongues. The noises around the camp settled down, and I figured now all the action was taking place up in the long red cabin where the waitresses slept, just up the hill from the dining room and kitchen. Too far away for us to hear anything, I had to imagine the police with their yellow tape and footprint kits.

  A half hour later, we’d returned to our beds. I couldn’t sleep until dawn stretched pink fingers through my window, and then dozed off and on until I heard my father’s footsteps on the porch at seven o’clock.

  ***

  In spite of the turmoil brought on by the police crawling all over the camp, we managed the breakfast shift and my father kept his promise to take us to town to see Siegfried just before ten.

  Willy had arrived, breathless from the news of the “real” peeper being almost caught, and with tears in her eyes, she’d seemed almost ready to crumple when my father said Officer Lawson thought Bosco could be released in the next day or so. It wasn’t a done deal, but he was pretty sure they couldn’t hold him with the new evidence that had come to light.

  In the back of the station wagon, Willy sat between us, her head on Elsbeth’s shoulder. “I'm so glad to know you, mes amis,” she said, hiccupping a little sob.

  Elsbeth patted her hair. “Us, too. Right, Gus?”

  “You bet,” I said. “And don’t worry, my grandmother said she’d head over to talk to your aunt about what happened last night. She should be speaking with her right now, actually.”

  “Merci, Gus. My aunt will be so relieved.”

  My mother turned from the front seat, a sympathetic smile on her face. “As much as I hate knowing that man is still out there, I’m really happy to know it’s not your brother, honey.”

  Willy nodded, wiping at a stray tear. “Thank you, Mrs. LeGarde.”

  My father glanced back in the mirror. “By the way, kids. I’m sorry, but you can only visit Siegfried one at a time with an adult. He’s in a quiet ward and they don’t normally allow children to visit there, being as it’s not the normal wing of the hospital. But we got special permission for you kids to see him. It’ll only be five to ten minutes each, then we’ll have to leave.”

  I glanced down at the two knapsacks we’d brought with us, full of items for our ceremony. Keenly disappointed, I felt the collective sighs of Willy and Elsbeth, too. The magic would have to wait.

  “Okay, Dad,” I said. “But I think Elsbeth needs to go first. He is her brother, after all.”

  My mother agreed. “Exactly, Gus. I plan to bring her in first. Then you two can visit one at a time with your father. Sound like a plan?”

  Willy and I nodded.

  We parked at the hospital and went in a new entrance this time, farther off to the side and around the back. I wondered if they called it the coma entrance, because as soon as we went inside there was a hushed atmosphere that was almost reverent. Voices were low and murmured. Nurses walked on silent white shoes. Even the equipment seemed turned down to the lowest volumes, but that could have been my imagination.

  My mother asked for directions to Siegfried’s room, and soon we stood outside with Mr. and Mrs. Marggrander. After a few minutes, they left to go to the cafeteria for some coffee, and my mother escorted Elsbeth inside.

  I caught a peek of a white-bandaged face when the door opened and shut, but no more.

  Elsbeth’s soft crying came from inside seconds later. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but her desolate sounds were unmistakable. My mother’s voice consoled her, and finally, they reappeared.

  Elsbeth’s reddened eyes avoided mine. “Your turn, Gus.”

  A little scared now, I stood. “Um. Okay.”

  My father put a hand on my shoulder. “Ready?”


  I gulped. “Ready.”

  We pushed through the door and I approached the bed. There he lay. All that I could see of my old friend was a bit of his forehead and eyes, his nose, and mouth. A clear plastic tube protruded from his lips and his head was swathed in white bandages. To my horror, there was a bloody patch on the side that had seeped through. I figured it was probably from where the doctor had operated on his skull.

  I wobbled, caught myself on my father’s arm, and moved closer.

  One of Sig’s hands had an IV stuck in the back and taped, which I’d been prepared for, but it still churned my stomach. His other hand lay limp and pale on the sheets.

  I took his free hand in mine. “Hey, buddy.” My voice gave away my feelings, sounding weak and breaking up on the last word. “I’m here.”

  My father gave me a bit of privacy, turning toward the window to look out over the rear parking area.

  I moved closer. “What were you thinking, Sig? You almost got killed. You scared us to death.”

  Of course he didn’t answer. His breathing machine made regular movements. Up and down. In and out.

  “We’ve missed you so much. It’s not the same without you.”

  One finger twitched slightly in my hand. I felt it settle down and go calm again.

  “We think Bosco might be released. There was another peeping incident, Sig. It might clear his name.”

  I wanted to say so much more to my friend. I wanted him to know he’d meant the world to me. That our friendship had cemented my life with all that was good. That I couldn’t imagine camp without him, or going home to school without his constant, wise presence. That I wanted to return to our beautiful farmland in East Goodland and ride our horses together again across the fields and into the woodland trails. That he’d better get well soon or I’d go crazy without his company.