Tapestry of Whispers Session 21
Tapestry of Whispers Session 21
They Call This Recuperation
He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind
- Proverbs 11:29 a
Margaret spent a couple of weeks lobbying for Daniel and Beth to be released from Saint Francis. Finally she was successful. Beth was still on bed rest, but Daniel could now get up and move around a bit. He didn’t trust his family's reaction if he tried to use Buddy's healing power again, so he didn’t. Margaret, Heather, and Heather's husband Chad were staying with them to help out with the house and the cats.
Daniel's relationship with Chad was much like his relationship with Heather, which was to say very bad. Even Margaret walked on eggshells around them, far more than with Daniel and Beth because they had provided grandchildren while Daniel and Beth had never been able to have any. Not only did Heather blame Daniel’s life choices for this, but she constantly harped on it. The only bright spot about the whole thing was she argued more with Chad than she did with him.
Daniel noticed that Margaret had become increasingly dependent on Heather since he moved to Louisiana. He realized that Heather had become the de facto head of the family, and there seemed to be little he could do about it. Due to her disregard for him, his status had diminished accordingly.
Looking at news on the Internet to pass the time, Daniel found that Reginald and his companions had continued to avoid capture and now were almost Robin Hood-like figures in their neighborhood. He also also saw frequent references to strange events in Southern Monroe on MyHood, but these threads were often shut down by the moderators before he could find out much of substance.
Although she demonstrated obvious dislike toward Daniel’s warding symbols, she didn’t complain about them openly and didn’t dare disturb them. She refused to stay in their “freak house” and said that it stank because of all the cats. Margaret did not object to this, although she did stay with Daniel and Beth herself.
A couple of days after they had been released, Heather and Chad left the house to get some dinner, saying they were tired of Heather’s poor cooking and refusing to let Margaret cook for them. Chad, as usual, complained that the food in Louisiana was terrible because everything had rice in it. Heather promised to buy him some food that did not have any.
Daniel lay on the couch, listening to Heather and Chad argue. He held his tongue and just listened to their griping, even when it was about him, without reaction. When they left, he heard their car doors slam and the engine start up. He had a vague feeling that something was wrong, but he was so dosed up on painkillers that he couldn't tell if it was just his injuries or something else.
He heard their car reach the end of the block, and then suddenly the tires screeched as they peeled out from the stop sign down the street. Margaret got up, moving swiftly to the door despite her cane, and said “What the hell is that?” Painfully Daniel got up and joined her at the door. Several ragged figures in tattered Confederate uniform coats and wide brimmed hats were shambling down the street toward the house.
Daniel told Margaret to close the door and then tried to remain calm. But one of the zombies heard the door close and whistled to the others, pointing them toward Daniel and Margaret. Daniel couldn’t run very well in his current condition, but he thought they could escape out the back, though he knew he had to help Beth, who could barely walk at all.
"I've seen this bunch before," Daniel said to Margaret as he grabbed the Pig Sticker from where he had set it by the door. "They're bad news. We need to get out of here now, because they'll get in if they can. Try to go out the back yard and onto the highway. Maybe they won't follow us there. I'll get Beth."
The zombies reached the picket fence around the front yard, and one of them grabbed the gate. It didn't see the warding symbol on the inside of the gate, which flared to life and burned off its fingers. The zombie threw back its head and howled. Another zombie came around the side of the house and noticed a similar symbol on the side door.
Daniel, Margaret, and Beth hobbled down the back steps and across the back yard, hidden from the zombies by the privacy fence. One of the zombies vaulted the fence, and tried to look into the window, only to come face to face with a gigantic orange cat that hissed and yowled. The zombie shrieked back, and all the cats fled.
The zombie that had tried the gate now angrily grabbed the doorknob, and yelled as it, too, burned his hand. "This has got to be the place," one of them cried. "But he's got everything booby-trapped." Noticing the gate on the other side of the backyard close, he shouted “There they go!”
The zombies were unsuccessful in breaking into Daniel’s house, so they decided to avoid the back yard altogether and headed around the house and down the cross street, figuring that they would avoid any magical traps there.
Daniel heard the zombies coming and told Margaret to get Beth into the "Hijinks" pool hall across the highway. He figured that if he couldn't get rid of the zombies, they might be less inclined to pursue them into a more populated area. Daniel stood with the Pig Sticker in one hand and a warding seal in the other as the zombies approached.
Daniel told the zombies, "Here we are now, entertain us," and threw the seal to the ground. A thick fog issued forth, obscuring everything on the street to both sight and sound. The zombies, not fooled by the fog, headed directly toward him, but as soon as they fully entered the fog, they became disoriented. A passing car nearly clipped one. The drivers, also surprised by the sudden appearance of a thick fog bank, slammed on their brakes and ran into each other. The zombies were disoriented by the fog, and Daniel was able to slip away. However, the regiment now knew where he lived, and Daniel was concerned about what they might do next.
Behind him, Daniel heard the zombies trying to convince the drivers that they were in fact drunken homeless people. They got a few kicks and some strident cursing for their trouble, but Daniel seemed to be momentarily forgotten. Returning his attention to Margaret and Beth, he saw that they had reached the door of the pool hall, but were being hassled by the bouncer.
Catching up to them, he managed to smooth things over by giving the bouncer a tip, and they were allowed into the establishment. Oddly, the bouncer didn’t press the matter very much when he refused to part with the Pig Sticker. When they got inside, he saw why.
Hijinks was a typical pool hall, lit with lamps over the tables as well as various neon signs for Blue Stripe, Woody Creek and Abita beers. The place smelled of cigarettes and stale beer, and most of the surfaces were nicotine-stained but there was currently no one smoking. Tinny country music played on the juke box, while the TV played KNOE coverage of the city council election. It seemed the results were in, and Primo Blackwood had lost to “Jax” Leblanc. Other than one table, the place was empty.
Daniel saw a waitress walking by and asked her if business was slow. The waitress gave an exasperated huff and said that Lainey Wilson was in town again, and everybody was over at the Civic Center. It didn’t sound like she was much of a fan, although her usual customers obviously were.
Daniel saw a group of African American men sitting at one of the tables, but he didn't recognize any of them. One of the men smiled and waved him over, so Daniel approached them, setting down the Pig Sticker. "You're Reginald Darius' friend, aren't you?" the man asked. "I saw you with that thing," he pointed to the Pig Sticker, "when we had our little problem a few nights ago."
“Guilty as charged, I guess.” Daniel sat down at the table as well.
“Did this Thorne guy call you too?” One of the other men asked.
“Thorne?” Daniel was confused. He was pretty sure Victor Thorne was still convalescing somewhere in New Orleans. “No, I came in here because of my own problems.”
“The cops have been hassling us,” the man who first spoke told him. “They think we know where Reginald is. You don’t really think he did those things, do you?”
“Hell, no,” said Daniel. “He seems like a solid guy to me - and after what I have seen I don’t trust that girl any further than I could throw her.”
“That’s what we told them, but they don’t want to listen.”
A third man volunteered “I saw that weirdo Blackwood poking around the marina a couple days ago. He pulled a bunch of stuff out of the ashes before he split.”
“Have you had any problems,” Daniel gestured toward the Pig Sticker, “like that?”
“Not so much,” the first man said. “But that’s why this Thorne is looking to talk to us. He said he could use our skill in dealing with those problems.”
A few minutes later the door opened again. Dave looked up, hand reaching for the Pig Sticker as he thought for sure that the zombies had pursued him, but instead a well dressed older man in a pinstripe suit and bowler hat came in. The waitress rolled her eyes, as if to say her night could not possibly get any weirder.
A tall, thin older man entered the pool hall, wearing a well-tailored suit that clung to his slender frame. He bore a strong resemblance to Victor Thorne, but it was not him. The man walked over to the pool table where Daniel and Beth were playing. He seemed eager to see the other men at the table, but less so to see Daniel and Beth. "I know you," he said with distaste. "My brother Victor said you talked him into getting on that train. Considering his injuries, you look remarkably well."
“Just lucky, I guess,” Daniel shrugged. The old man looked down his nose at him.
“No one is that lucky, sir.” he sniffed diffidently.
Pointing to Buddy in his shirt pocket, Daniel answered “Well, my sister seemed to think it was my magic teddy bear.” He shrugged again. Buddy silently sucked a thumb as everyone regarded him. Margaret, the zombie hunters, and even Beth found Daniel's explanation about Buddy's healing powers quite hilarious. But Thorne looked at Daniel as if he had lost his mind. Thorne asked for privacy as he negotiated with the other men at the table for their services. The men accepted his offer, and Thorne, satisfied, left without paying for anyone's drink.
After Thorne left, the men stayed and enjoyed a drink and a game of pool. Afterwards, they agreed to walk out with Daniel and his family. There was now no sign of the zombies, though Daniel thought that they would probably show up again at the worst possible time. The walk across the street and the back alley was without incident.
However, when they arrived back at the house, they found Heather and Chad waiting out front by their car. “Where the hell have you been?” Heather shrieked immediately, seeing Daniel with his Pig Sticker tool and the teddy bear sticking out of his pocket, “and what the hell have you been doing?”
“There were these guys trying to get in,” said Margaret. “The ones who were messing with your car. We were just at the pool hall over there.”
Daniel thought that Heather was going to have what, back in the Ozarks, they called a “conniption fit.” Her face flushed beet red, and he could almost see steam coming from her ears.
“You took our mother and your invalid wife to a pool hall,” she bellowed. “In Shithole Louisiana? With these people?” She indicated the zombie hunters. “Jesus Christ!” The hunters looked a little offended, but wisely didn’t say anything to antagonize her.
“Hey,” said Beth, starting to become annoyed as well.
“You shut up!” Heather snapped. “She’s NOT your mother, and you have NO say…”
Daniel tried to smooth things over by explaining that they were in danger of a home invasion. Heather was furious that he did not call the police.
Heather remained indifferent to his pleas. “The cops wouldn’t have gotten here fast enough,” said Beth. “And they probably wouldn’t have been able to handle them.”
“We’re leaving now!” Heather continued. “Come on, Chad. Help Mom into the car.”
“What if I don’t want to-” Margaret began, but Heather just gave her a glare.
“You WILL if you ever want to see your great grandchildren again,” she snapped. Margaret visibly cringed and tears rolled down her cheeks.
Overwhelmed by the onslaught of emotion from all quarters about him, Daniel felt his anger rising. “What the hell is your problem?” he practically shouted. Heather whirled on him.
“What’s my problem?” She shrieked. “You’re the problem here, you and your stupid cougar wife. Don’t you see what your life has turned into, you stupid, pathetic man-baby? You were the ones who ran away and left it all up to me to take care of her. If you were living right, you’d be a grandfather now too instead of just hiding in there and doing whatever the hell it is you do. People die around you. You mess with things that ought to be left alone. All your bum friends are dead now, it’s your fault, and I sort of wish you were dead too. And I will not let you drag my mother to Hell. Screw you.”
Angrily, she yanked Margaret toward their car. Beth cried out, but Heather hissed “You don’t deserve her,” which made Beth cry as well. Daniel, knowing that Beth had lost her mother at a young age and had adopted Margaret as her own after they got married, tamped down his seething anger and growled “Stop.”
“No,” she told him coldly, shoving Margaret into the car and closing the door. “YOU stop. This all stops or I will make sure you never see her or any of us ever again.” Chad started the car, and she flipped her hair, gave him the middle finger, and slammed the car door in his face.
Daniel's companions from the pool hall had watched the display and shook their heads in disgust. "Dude, that's cold," one of them said. Daniel thought for a split second of dropping a curse on Heather, but she was already too far away. Instead, he just stood in the street, leaning on the Pig Sticker, and wept.
