Tommy Nightmare(39)

“Oh, it’s the Morton girl.” Ms. Sutland brightened a little. “How’s your mom and dad?”

“They’re fine, ma’am,” Jenny said. Jenny’s mother had died at birth, but Ms. Sutland was foggy about anything outside her store. “What’s going on?”

Ms. Sutland looked around, puzzled. “What do you mean, Jenny?”

“Why is the store all packed up?”

“Oh, let’s have a nice cup of tea,” Ms. Sutland said. “I’ve only just brewed it. Have you ever been to a ladies’ tea party, Jenny?”

“I don’t think so. But why is the store all packed—”

“You just sit right here.” Ms. Sutland pulled out a chair at one of the remaining antique tables. Last time Jenny had been here, the furniture was crammed together so tight you couldn’t begin to think about actually using any of it. Now the maze of furniture had thinned out considerably.

Jenny sat, and Ms. Sutland brought out tea cups, along with sugar cubes and tongs. She returned with the tea pot, poured some for Jenny and herself, then set the pot on a quilted square of cloth.

“There.” Ms. Sutland sat across from her. She lifted the tea while the men came back with the hand truck and began loading a grandfather clock. “Isn’t this pleasant?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jenny said. “But why—”

“Your mother used to come here,” Ms. Sutland said. “Pretty girl with the blue eyes. I remember.”

“You do?” Jenny asked. “What was she like?”

“Oh, she was just the nicest little thing,” Ms. Sutland said. “Always bought something, too. Even if it was just a refrigerator magnet, salt shaker, something small.”

“Did you talk with her much?” Jenny asked.

“Some. She always had friends around her, though. Always laughing. Didn’t stay and talk like you do.”

Jenny sipped her tea, not sure what to say.

“She always said she wanted a daughter,” Ms. Sutland said. “She did say that a time or two. Looking at the cribs and children’s furniture.” Ms. Sutland nodded toward an empty corner.

“Where is everything going, Ms. Sutland?” Jenny asked.

“Oh, all of this?” Ms. Sutland waved her hand around. “Well, it’s just shameful to say how far behind I am on the rent. The Barretts are so nice about it, such lovely people, the Barretts. Don’t you think?”

“I like one or two of them,” Jenny said.

“Mrs. Barrett even shops here. The young Mrs. Barrett. Haven’t seen the old Mrs. Barrett in ten, twenty years.”

“You mean Seth’s grandmother?”

Ms. Sutland’s forehead wrinkled, and she toyed absently with her tea spoon.

“Are you…moving the store?” Jenny asked. “Where are those men taking your stuff?”

“Listen, Jenny,” Ms. Sutland said. “Have you ever used a computer?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Well, on the computer, there is a thing called eBay,” Ms. Sutland said. “You just take a photo of whatever you’re selling, and then all kinds of people offer to buy it. Can you believe a thing like that?”

“I’ve heard of it,” Jenny said.

“So my nephew insisted on putting up some pictures of things, on the eBay computer,” Ms. Sutland said. “Some of them things I’ve had forever. And do you know that I found buyers for just about everything? Not always at a price I’d like. But then, for a few items, some people offered too much, in my opinion, but I suppose you have to take the highest bid.”

“That’s good, Ms. Sutland! So you’re not closing up the store, right? You’re sticking around?”

“Goodness, no,” Ms. Sutland said. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Some terrible things happened here.” She nodded out toward the green. “Not everyone understands it. But I saw it the day after Easter. I came to open the store, and there were such horrors…” Ms. Sutland shuddered. “I shouldn’t even speak of what I saw that morning. Before sunrise, even.”

“I’m so sorry,” Jenny said.

“I called the police chief, but nobody answered, so then I called the governor’s office.”

“The state governor?”

“You would not believe how difficult it is to get the governor on the telephone,” Ms. Sutland said. “I told them I’m a citizen with an emergency, but they still made me leave a message. Can you believe that?”

“I sure can’t, Ms. Sutland.”

“Now how can I keep coming back here, every day, after seeing a thing like that? I’ve been thinking about pulling up and leaving out, anyway. None of my friends are left in this town, except the ones in the cemetery.”