"Then you want to tell me why . . . " Now he went pale as polished glass. "God, Roz, are you pregnant?"
"Get a hold of yourself. A few minutes ago you're calling me a grandmother, now you're going into shock thinking I could be pregnant. I'm not going to present either one of us with a midlife baby, so relax. I had some sort of spell, I suppose. "
"Care to elaborate?"
"One second we were talking, and the next I was standing - I don't know where, but I was standing over an open grave. She was in it. Amelia, and she was not looking her best. "
She couldn't stop the shudder, and let her head rest against him. That good, strong shoulder. "More than dead, decomposing. I could see it, smell it. I suppose that's what took me down. It was, to put it mildly, very unpleasant. I was burying her, I think. Then she opened her eyes, started to climb out. "
"If it's any consolation, if that had happened to me, I'd have fainted, too. "
"I don't know if it was here, I mean this particular spot. It didn't seem like it, but I can't be sure. I've walked by here countless times. I planted that pachysandra, those sweet olives, and I never felt anything strange before. "
"To risk another theory, you were never this close to finding out who she was before. "
"I guess not. We'll have to dig. " She pushed to her feet. "We'll have to dig and see if she's here. "
THEY SET UPlights and dug beyond midnight. The men, and Roz, with Stella and Hayley taking turns between shovels and remaining inside to mind the sleeping children.
They found nothing but the bones of a beloved dog.
"COULD BE METAPHORICAL. "
Roz looked up at Harper as they walked the woods toward home the next day. She knew very well why he was with her, his arm slung casually around her shoulder, because Mitch had told him she'd fainted.
She'd barely had five minutes to herself since it happened. That was going to change, she thought, but she'd give him and the rest of her honorary family a day before she shooed them back.
"What could be metaphorical?"
"That, you know, vision thing you had. Standing over her grave, shoveling dirt on her. " He winced. "I don't mean to wig you out. "
"You're not. Who used to have nightmares after watching that Saturday morning show? What was it,Land of the Lost ?"
"Jeez. The Sleestak. " He shuddered, and only part of the movement was mocking. "I still get nightmares. But anyway, what I'm saying is you never stood over her grave, never buried her. She died a long time ago. But if we do the metaphor thing, we could say how you're trying to open her grave - but by missing something, not finding something, whatever, you're burying her. "
"So, it's all in my mind. "
"Maybe she's planting it there. I don't know, Mama. "
She considered a moment. "Mitch has a theory. We were discussing it before I keeled over. "
She told him, sliding her arm around his waist as she did. Together, they stopped at the edge of the woods, studying the house.
"Doesn't seem so far-fetched, all things considered," Harper said. "It always seemed like she was one of us. "
"Seems to me it only opens up another box of questions, and doesn't really get us any closer to finding out who she was. But I know one thing. I want those diaries more than ever. If Jane doesn't come through, I'm going to take on Clarise. "
"Want me to play ref?"
"I might just. If Amelia is part of the family, she deserves her due. That said, I don't feel the same about Clarise. She's always wanted more than her due, in my opinion. I don't know what it makes me to feel more sympathy for a dead woman, who may or may not be some blood kin, than I do for a live one who unquestionably is blood kin. "
"She smacked me once. "
Instantly Roz stiffened. "She did what?"
"Gave me a good swat one day, when she was visiting, and she caught me climbing on the kitchen counter going after the cookie jar. I was about six, I think. Gave me a swat, pulled me off and told me I was a greedy, disrespectful little brat. "
"Why didn't you tell me? She had no right to touch you. I'd've skinned her for it. "