Read Online The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All by Laird Barron - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Laird Barron
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field and stream, and overgrown woods full of nothing but birds and deer, and the occasional lost camper.
An owl warbled and Bernice shivered. "Anyway. How'd this gnat get in your ear?"
"I read about it a long time ago in a newspaper clipping-I was helping Grandma sort through Grandpa's papers after he died. As we drove up here, I started thinking about the story. This place is so… forbidding. I mean, it's gorgeous, but beneath that, kind of stark. And… Dixie was telling me about it earlier when you were getting the key."
"That figures."
The younger woman pulled her shawl tight. "It's just so… awful."
"You said it, kid." Bernice called her niece "kid" even though Lourdes was seventeen and on her way to college in a couple of weeks. Depending upon the results of forthcoming exams, she'd train to be a magistrate, or at the least, a barrister. They grew up fast in Europe. Even so, the divide was too broad-Bernice was approaching fifty and she felt every mile in her bones. Chaperone to a sardonic, provocative little wiseacre seemed a hollow reward for another tough year at the office.
"There's another thing…I had a really bizarre dream about Aunt Dolly the other day. I was floating in a lake-not here, but somewhere warm- and she spoke to me. She was this white shape under the water. I knew it was her, though, and I heard her voice clearly."
"What did she say?"
"I don't remember. She was nice… except, something about the situation wasn't right, you know? Like she was trying to trick me. I woke in a sweat."
Bernice's flesh goose pimpled. Uncertain how to respond, she resisted the temptation to confide her own nightmares. "That is pretty weird, all right."
"I'm almost afraid to ask about the murder," Lourdes said.
"But not quite, eh?" They must be sharing a wavelength. What wavelength, though?
"I wish Mom had mentioned it."
"It's quite the campfire tale with your cousins. Grandpa Howard used to scare them with it every Halloween-"
"Way insensitive."
"Well, that's the other side of the family. Kissinger he isn't. Nancy never told you?"
"Frank discourages loose talk. He's a sensible fellow. Mom follows his lead." It was no secret Lourdes disliked her father. His name was Francois, but she called him Frank when talking to her friends. She'd pierced her navel and tattooed the US flag on the small of her back to spite him. Ironically, his stepsons John and Frank, thought Francois was the greatest thing since sliced baguettes.
Fair enough, if she hated him. Who knew what Nancy was thinking when she married the schmuck. Except, Bernice did indeed know what her sister had been thinking-Francois was a first rate civil engineer; one of the best in Paris. After Bill died, Nancy only cared about security. Her two boys were in middle school at the time and Bill had been under the weight of a crippling mortgage, the bills for his chemotherapy. Bernice suspected she only got herself pregnant with Lourdes to seal the deal. It shouldn't irk her that Nancy had made the smart choice. When Bernice lost Elmer, she'd gone the other direction-dug in and accepted the role of widow. Eleven years and she hadn't remarried, hadn't even gone on a date. It was wrong to begrudge Nancy, but Lord help her, she did, and maybe that was why she resented poor Lourdes just a tiny bit-and maybe she was envious because she and Elmer put off having their own children and now it was far too late.
Lourdes said, "That's why you brought us up here, right? To tell the tale and give everyone a good scare?"
Bernice laughed to cover her mounting unease. "It hadn't occurred to me. I brought a bag of books and sun block. We've got our evening cribbage tournaments. Hope you don't get too bored with us biddies."
"Dixie promised to go hiking with me tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Bernice detested
An owl warbled and Bernice shivered. "Anyway. How'd this gnat get in your ear?"
"I read about it a long time ago in a newspaper clipping-I was helping Grandma sort through Grandpa's papers after he died. As we drove up here, I started thinking about the story. This place is so… forbidding. I mean, it's gorgeous, but beneath that, kind of stark. And… Dixie was telling me about it earlier when you were getting the key."
"That figures."
The younger woman pulled her shawl tight. "It's just so… awful."
"You said it, kid." Bernice called her niece "kid" even though Lourdes was seventeen and on her way to college in a couple of weeks. Depending upon the results of forthcoming exams, she'd train to be a magistrate, or at the least, a barrister. They grew up fast in Europe. Even so, the divide was too broad-Bernice was approaching fifty and she felt every mile in her bones. Chaperone to a sardonic, provocative little wiseacre seemed a hollow reward for another tough year at the office.
"There's another thing…I had a really bizarre dream about Aunt Dolly the other day. I was floating in a lake-not here, but somewhere warm- and she spoke to me. She was this white shape under the water. I knew it was her, though, and I heard her voice clearly."
"What did she say?"
"I don't remember. She was nice… except, something about the situation wasn't right, you know? Like she was trying to trick me. I woke in a sweat."
Bernice's flesh goose pimpled. Uncertain how to respond, she resisted the temptation to confide her own nightmares. "That is pretty weird, all right."
"I'm almost afraid to ask about the murder," Lourdes said.
"But not quite, eh?" They must be sharing a wavelength. What wavelength, though?
"I wish Mom had mentioned it."
"It's quite the campfire tale with your cousins. Grandpa Howard used to scare them with it every Halloween-"
"Way insensitive."
"Well, that's the other side of the family. Kissinger he isn't. Nancy never told you?"
"Frank discourages loose talk. He's a sensible fellow. Mom follows his lead." It was no secret Lourdes disliked her father. His name was Francois, but she called him Frank when talking to her friends. She'd pierced her navel and tattooed the US flag on the small of her back to spite him. Ironically, his stepsons John and Frank, thought Francois was the greatest thing since sliced baguettes.
Fair enough, if she hated him. Who knew what Nancy was thinking when she married the schmuck. Except, Bernice did indeed know what her sister had been thinking-Francois was a first rate civil engineer; one of the best in Paris. After Bill died, Nancy only cared about security. Her two boys were in middle school at the time and Bill had been under the weight of a crippling mortgage, the bills for his chemotherapy. Bernice suspected she only got herself pregnant with Lourdes to seal the deal. It shouldn't irk her that Nancy had made the smart choice. When Bernice lost Elmer, she'd gone the other direction-dug in and accepted the role of widow. Eleven years and she hadn't remarried, hadn't even gone on a date. It was wrong to begrudge Nancy, but Lord help her, she did, and maybe that was why she resented poor Lourdes just a tiny bit-and maybe she was envious because she and Elmer put off having their own children and now it was far too late.
Lourdes said, "That's why you brought us up here, right? To tell the tale and give everyone a good scare?"
Bernice laughed to cover her mounting unease. "It hadn't occurred to me. I brought a bag of books and sun block. We've got our evening cribbage tournaments. Hope you don't get too bored with us biddies."
"Dixie promised to go hiking with me tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Bernice detested
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