House of Fallen Trees

EPILOGUE

14 MONTHS LATER

Karen was in her office writing when the door bell rang a little after noon on a Wednesday in January. She stopped writing, head cocked, and listened to the dog bark downstairs. Waiting to hear the sound of voices, she was mildly irritated when, a moment later, the bell rang again.

Sighing, she rolled her chair back, exited the room, and made her way down to the door, passing though the living room where Sean sat on the couch watching TV. Dusty sprawled beside him, her head in his lap, also not willing to rise, preferring to do her guard dog routine from a relaxed position. He stroked her back absently, engrossed in whatever he was watching.

Karen didn’t bother saying anything to him. They’d been sharing the small house on the outskirts of Fallen Trees for five months now and she knew better than to expect too much from him.

In the kitchen, she peered out the window in the door and saw Rory. He offered a smile and held up a rainbow bouquet of roses for her to see.

“Happy hump day,” he announced when she opened the door.

She laughed, gave him a hug and invited him inside, eyeing the flowers. “I assume those are for Sean?”

“Nope. They’re for you.”

Her eyes widened in surprise, though she couldn’t help but smile as he handed them to her. “Really? What’s the occasion?”

“No occasion. I just saw them in the market and they spoke your name.”

Karen raised an eyebrow. “I hope not literally.”

The moment the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them and not because she saw the pained looked in his eyes. It was a bad joke and after everything they’d been through — particularly Sean and herself — she should know better.

An awkward silence fell upon them, until she broke it by saying, “I should find a vase for these.”

As she began searching the cupboards, he asked, “How is he today?”

“He’s good. Glued to the television, as usual.”

“I’m gonna go say hi.”

“Okay.”

She finally found a vase under the sink and busied herself with the flowers. She did her best to not eavesdrop on what was being said in the other room, but it was difficult. She knew Sean would be happy to see Rory, of course. He always was. The hard part came when it was time for Rory to leave and Sean wanted to go with him. Even now, after everything that had happened, her brother still wanted to go back to that house.

When he had been committed to Western State Hospital in Tacoma, one of the doctors there had told her the house was a drug to Sean and he…well, he was a junkie. Despite knowing it would almost certainly kill him eventually, he still craved it…needed it. He probably always would.

Sean had spent nearly nine months in that place and the whole thing had been exhausting and traumatic for everyone involved. There had been countless court hearings, going back and forth. Sometimes he wanted to be in there, sometimes he didn’t. When he didn’t, it had been pure hell for Rory and herself.

But all that was behind them now, or so it seemed, and thank God for that. There had been times when Karen had felt so guilty about him being in there, she had been sick with it. After all, if her brother had been insane, what did that make her?

She’d wanted to take him back East with her initially, but the way he’d begged her not to had broken her down. When he’d been in the hospital in Tacoma, she’d stayed nearby, renting a small room — a stay she’d thought would be shorter than it had turned out to be, but she hadn’t complained. Having him back was such a miracle she didn’t dare complain about anything.

“I’m ready now!”

The shout from the other room almost startled her into dropping the vase as she was carrying it over to the windowsill. Instead, she put it on the counter and hurried to the living room to see what was happening.

Both Sean and Rory stood in the middle of the room, facing each other. Neither one even glanced in her direction when she entered.

“I’m not so sure about that, Sean,” Rory was saying.

Sean shook his head in disgust. “You don’t trust me? You don’t fucking trust me?”

“What’s going on?” Karen asked.

“He wants to go back to the house,” Rory said. “He thinks he’s ready.”

“I’m right fucking here!” Sean snapped. “Stop talking about me as though I were a child!”

“Calm down, Sean,” Karen said. She noticed Dusty cowering in a corner and told her brother, “Look. You’re upsetting the dog.”

It was the one thing that, without fail, could get him to relax. He immediately went to comfort his pet, leaving Rory and Karen looking worriedly at each other.

After a long moment, Rory whispered, “Maybe he is ready.”

Karen glared at him. Without bothering to lower her voice, she said, “He is never returning to that place.”

“Yes I am,” Sean said, scratching the dog’s neck. “It’s my home. I have to go back sometime.”

“Bullshit!” The loudness of her voice surprised even her. “That place nearly killed you, Sean!”

“I was unstable,” he replied, much calmer now, probably for Dusty’s sake. “It wasn’t the house’s fault.”

But it was the house’s fault and she, of all people, knew it. “I’m sorry, Sean. But I won’t allow it.”

His eyes shot red hot daggers at her. “You can’t control me, Karen. Not forever.”

And of course, he was right.

It was only a couple days after that he told her he was going, whether she liked it or not. She could tell there was no winning this fight. Not anymore. One way or another, he would go and Karen finally decided that since she couldn’t stop him, the only option left was to accompany him.

By then, the road to the house was nearly complete and they were able to drive up, parking in a small lot in the side yard. It was a little over forty-eight hours since Rory’s visit but when he stepped onto the front porch to greet them that Friday afternoon, Karen thought he looked different somehow. Older, maybe.

“Hey!” Sean yelled happily, as he rounded the corner of the house and saw his lover standing there. “The place looks great.”

Karen had to agree, though she eyed the trees warily. By the time she and the guys had been ready to take Sean out of there the morning that followed the insanely bizarre night of what she had come to think of as ‘the storm,’ those ancient pines had all moved back to their original places. They stood proud and tall and no one would have ever believed they’d moved. She couldn’t believe it herself, now.

She stood at the bottom of the stairs and watched the two men embrace.

“Thanks,” Rory said. “We’re almost ready to open her up. The website goes live tomorrow.”

“Very cool,” Sean said, ending the hug.

Saul stepped out of the house, grinning from ear to ear, drying his hands on a dishtowel. The dying sunlight glinted off his teeth and made his black hair shine. “The Lewis family has arrived at last,” he said, sounding happy.

He gave Sean a big bear hug while Karen climbed the steps and then he gave her a squeeze as well. “Welcome!” he said. “Hope you guys are hungry.”

“I am,” she replied and it wasn’t a total lie. Though she felt as if she were about to leap out of her skin with nervousness, her belly was rumbling and even out here she could smell the Italian spices. “Starving.”

“I love a woman with an appetite.” He winked at her and Karen felt herself grinning back at him. She couldn’t deny the fact that he was really quite a handsome fellow and it had been so long since she…

“Home at last!” Sean yelled joyfully, startling her out of her thoughts. He abruptly ran into the house and an image of him as a little boy on Christmas morning came flooding back to her all at once.

Maybe everything will be okay after all, she thought. Who’s to say there’s no such thing as a happy ending?

She, Rory, and Saul all followed him inside.

The first thing that struck her was how bright and beautiful it all was now. It had been so gloomy once upon a time. Now, the drapes were drawn back and everything sparkled. Everything was new.

“It’s gorgeous,” she said, and for reasons unknown to her, began to tear up.

Without words, Saul evidently understood what she was feeling because he held out his hand for her to take. “How about a tour?” he asked.

Karen nodded and together they climbed the staircase as Rory went off towards the kitchen in search of Sean.

On the second floor, she noticed all the vintage portraits had finally been removed from the walls. Probably the only solid evidence of the supernatural goings on that had occurred more than a year ago. She considered saying something about it to Saul, but decided against it. Of course the portraits were gone. What she considered evidence, Rory probably considered the work of mysterious vandals. And really, isn’t that exactly what it had been?

“…so everything’s been restored to how it originally was,” Saul was saying. “At least, how we think it originally was. There’s no way to know for sure, but according to the research we’ve done, it’s pretty damn close.”

“Can I see my old room?” she asked suddenly. She had no idea why she wanted to see that room, but she did. It was almost as though it were calling out to her…pulling her…

“Sure,” Saul said, a little uncertainly. “But we didn’t need to do much in there. Just replaced the mattress, that kind of thing.”

Good, she thought and began striding in the direction of the room.

When she reached it, she heard Rory call Saul from downstairs, but his voice sounded further away than that.

“Saul! I think your garlic bread might be burning!”

“Argh!” Saul groaned. “If it doesn’t come out of the toaster or a cardboard box, Rory is useless. I’ll be right back.”

Karen smiled but didn’t pay him much mind, not even bothering to hesitate in her urgency to get to the room she wanted to see.

But an odd thing happened when she reached the threshold. She stopped and felt the crushing weight of loss…of guilt…

Beginning to cry, she went into the room, wondering…no, hoping…an oil lamp was nearby because it was dark in here and she didn’t want to be alone in the dark and she was certain Emily didn’t either.

Stop it! she chastised herself. You know Emmy is gone. Why do you torture yourself this way?

She crossed the room to touch the chenille bedspread, frowning just a little. Something was different in here, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

Never mind. You’re a sick woman. Go to bed.

And she was sick, but not nearly as sick as Frank, who was probably out in the woods right this very second, doing Lord only knew what.

Talking to the trees. He says he talks to the trees.

Preposterous. He was sick with grief, naturally. Emmy had only been gone a few weeks…

Feeling dizzy and hot, she knew she should go back to bed. Venturing around the house like this would only be the death of her, especially with Frank most probably out of hearing range.

Yes, back to bed was a good idea.

She turned and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Stopping, she peered closer at her reflection, the dark hair piled messily on top of her head, the blue eyes which had once been so bright, now all the color bleached out of them. Looking so old, when she was, in reality, so young.

Attempting to neaten her hair, she caught herself frowning and knew that just wouldn’t do. Frank hated to see her frown, even now after all they’d been through. And so she forced herself to smile. It was thin and weak and very clearly fake but she loved her husband and for him, she would do anything.

Gina Ranalli is the author of Chemical Gardens, Suicide Girls in the Afterlife, Wall of Kiss, Mother Puncher, Praise the Dead and Sky Tongues. She lives in the Seattle area and you can visit her on the web at www.ginaranalli.com. Bring cake.

Also by Gina Ranalli

Novels

Chemical Gardens

Suicide Girls in the Afterlife

Wall of Kiss

Mother Puncher

Swarm of Flying Eyeballs

Sky Tongues

Praise the Dead

Peppermint Twist (forthcoming)

Still Life with Vibrator (forthcoming)

Collections

13 Thorns (with Gus Fink)

Winner of the Wonderland Award