Death Rides a Pony, page 6
Davis glowered at her with his protruding eyes.
Unruffled, Summer went on, ‘If you do not wish to contribute five tickets, then I must ask you to leave the booth – immediately.’
The glower switched imperiously to Rosemarie, as though demanding her support.
She responded with a meek shrug. ‘Those are the festival rules, Davis. And it is for charity.’
‘Don’t be a miser,’ Summer added reproachfully. ‘There is nothing less attractive than a man who takes pride in how cheap he is.’
Davis pawed the ground with the toe of his shoe like an irascible bull, then, with an angry snort, he spun on his heel and stomped furiously out of the booth, getting tangled in the burgundy velvet along the way. Hope had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing at the ungraceful exit.
‘Dear me.’ Rosemarie rose from her chair. ‘I had better go after him. They always accuse women of being the hysterical sex, but it seems to me that, more often than not, men are the overly sensitive ones.’
Summer nodded solemnly. Although she did an admirable job of concealing it from Rosemarie, Hope could see from the way her sister was sucking on her bottom lip that she was struggling to contain her laughter, too.
Rosemarie picked up her red sandals, but she didn’t put them on. ‘Come along, Percy. We need to be going.’
Percy, who had been sprawled on the comparatively cool grass, gave a yawn and reluctantly climbed to his feet.
‘Yes, I know.’ She straightened his scarf. ‘It’s been an exciting evening, and after we join Davis, it will be nearly time for us to head home.’
There was another yawn from the pug, which caused Rosemarie to yawn in contagion.
‘Goodnight, Hope. Goodnight, Summer.’ Percy’s lead in one hand and her sandals in the other, Rosemarie began hobbling toward the curtains. ‘I’d like to come back tomorrow, but I’m not sure whether he …’ With an elbow, she motioned outside, indicating Davis.
‘We understand,’ Hope replied gently. ‘Visit us whenever you have the chance. There’s no need to wait in line, if there is one. Just come straight in. We’ll be here all weekend.’
Rosemarie and Percy moved slowly out of the booth, the former limping noticeably. The back of her ankle was smeared with blood. It was a bad blister. Just as they were disappearing from view, Megan arrived.
‘Hey there, Rosemarie. That’s a nifty scarf you’ve got, Percy.’
‘Megan, you look beautiful in that dress! It’s gorgeous, and I love the sequins. I’ve always found sequins to be so cheery.’
‘Sequins aren’t cheery,’ Summer objected indignantly. ‘Sequins are—’
Hope hurriedly shushed her. Fortunately, it didn’t seem that Rosemarie had heard, because she kept on talking to Megan.
‘I saw you at Amethyst’s booth earlier. That man sitting next to you looked so dashing in his cape and crown! I was going to come over to say hello, but Davis didn’t want to. He said that … Oh, gosh, I think that’s him there, just turning the corner by the maple syrup stand. It is Davis, isn’t it? I have to rush to catch him, Megan. Goodbye! Goodbye!’
A moment later, Megan popped through the burgundy velvet. She immediately saw the oscillating fan, and as fast as her petal-pink bodice allowed, she hustled toward it.
‘Bless you for having a fan,’ she said, sticking her face directly in front of it. Her blond hair blew crazily. ‘Without it, collapse and death were imminent. By the way, who is Davis?’
‘Rosemarie’s new boyfriend,’ Hope told her.
‘And soon-to-be third husband?’
‘I sincerely hope not. He doesn’t deserve her. He’s—’
‘A slippery fish,’ Summer concluded for her sister. She started to launch into a lengthy account of Davis Scott being Shifty Gary’s disreputable choice in real estate agents, but Hope stopped her.
‘Are there a lot of people waiting outside, Megan?’
She didn’t turn from the fan. ‘No people.’
‘No people?’ Summer echoed in surprise. ‘Really? Because when Rosemarie first came in, there were a whole bunch.’ She looked at Hope, a bit chagrined. ‘I guess we took too long of a break. Oops.’
‘There are no people,’ Megan clarified, ‘because the festival has officially concluded for the evening. All the booths are closed.’
A unified shout of hurrah followed. Summer once more deposited the ticket box on the table. Hope covered the crystal ball with a surplus piece of velvet. Then they joined Megan in front of the fan.
‘Now, if we only had a bottle of wine …’
‘White, not red. Heavily, heavily chilled.’
‘And a change of clothes. I need to get out of this gown.’
‘Here’s an idea. First, we pop by the brownstone so that Megan can borrow something more comfortable to wear. Then we head over to the Green Goat – that new place in the square where Gram and Morris went the other night with the Palmers – for a late dinner and some drinks and—’
The proposed plan was abruptly cut short by Rosemarie. She burst back into the booth, breathing heavily, the hem of her dress flapping wildly around her legs.
‘I can’t find him!’ she cried. ‘I can’t find him anywhere! He’s disappeared!’
SIX
There was a collective moment of panic, and the group whirled around from the fan ready to spring into investigative action.
‘Poor Percy! Where did you lose him?’
‘Did he break free from his lead – or did somebody take his lead?’
‘He’s got his tags on? Does he also have a microchip?’
‘No, no! Not Percy,’ Rosemarie corrected them. ‘Percy is right here.’
She motioned toward the ground next to her bare feet. Percy – looking hale and hearty – was once more sprawled on the grass. The collective panic turned into a collective sigh of relief. It was not shared by Rosemarie.
‘Davis!’ she exclaimed. ‘I’m talking about Davis. He’s disappeared!’
This time the response from the group was more subdued.
‘Disappeared?’ Megan asked her.
‘Disappeared!’ Rosemarie confirmed. ‘Vanished. Missing. Poof!’
There was no immediate reply.
‘You have to help me find him!’ Rosemarie cried. ‘Where can he be? Where could he have gone?’
Her face was turning as red as the sprigs of roses on her dress, and she was beginning to hyperventilate. Hope grew concerned for her health.
‘It’s all right,’ she said as soothingly as she could. ‘Don’t worry. Everything is going to be fine, Rosemarie. Why don’t you rest for a minute? Then we’ll put our heads together and come up with a solution.’
‘That’s an excellent idea.’ Summer followed her sister’s lead and pulled out a chair for Rosemarie. ‘Sit down, take a deep breath, have a drink of water—’
‘I can’t. There isn’t time,’ Rosemarie protested. But she took a seat anyway, and when Megan handed her a full cup, she gulped down every drop.
‘Good. Much better.’ Hope sat down across from her. ‘We’ve all had a chance to get our bearings. Now tell us exactly what happened.’
‘I can’t find Davis! He’s gone! He—’
Hope reached out and put a quieting hand on Rosemarie’s arm. ‘We understand that. But we want to figure out where he went. To do that, you need to start at the beginning. When did you last see him?’
Rosemarie inhaled shakily. ‘I was here. I was talking to Megan just outside the booth when I spotted Davis turning the corner by the maple syrup stand. That was the last time I saw him.’
‘And you went after him?’ Hope asked.
‘Yes. I tried to catch up, but I couldn’t go very fast.’ She pointed at her sore heel. ‘When I turned the same corner that Davis had, he was no longer there. I went up and down the row of booths, but there wasn’t any sign of him. He had vanished into thin air!’
‘But you’re sure that it was Davis you saw at the maple syrup stand?’ Summer said.
‘Oh, definitely! Without question.’ There was a pause, then Rosemarie’s certainty began to waver. ‘At least I think it was him. The person looked like him.’ She turned anxiously to Megan. ‘Don’t you think it was him?’
‘I don’t know. I’ve never met Davis.’
Rosemarie’s brow furrowed. ‘Well, I suppose it’s possible it wasn’t him. It is pretty dark out. There’s some light from the carousel and the booths, but it’s not a lot. Maybe I got confused and mistook him for someone else?’
‘It happens more often than you might imagine,’ Megan told her. ‘I’m frequently mistaking people at the hotel. And that’s especially true at night. For example, when I was coming to this booth only a little while ago, I could have sworn that I saw Sean from Amethyst’s booth heading in one direction when I know for certain that he had gone in the opposite direction just five minutes earlier. The eyes can play all sorts of tricks in the shadows, particularly if we want to see someone.’
‘I do want to see Davis,’ Rosemarie admitted. ‘But that still doesn’t explain why I haven’t been able to find him. I’ve looked everywhere for him.’
Megan offered a sympathetic shrug. ‘You went one way, and he went the other, and never the twain shall meet.’
The furrow in Rosemarie’s brow deepened.
‘You could try calling him,’ Hope suggested.
‘I’ve done that. There’s no answer.’
‘He might have gone home,’ Summer said.
‘But he couldn’t go home. I drove us to the festival, so he’s dependent on me for a ride back.’
‘Maybe he got a ride from somebody else?’
Rosemarie blinked at Summer in surprise. ‘Oh, no. Davis wouldn’t do that. He’d never leave without telling me. It would be so rude.’
Hope and Summer exchanged a glance. It didn’t seem to them that Davis Scott had any qualms about being rude.
There was another pause, and then Rosemarie came to a decision. ‘We should report Davis as missing to the police.’
Megan shook her head. ‘It’s far too early for such a drastic step.’
‘But he’s missing,’ Rosemarie insisted.
‘Except we aren’t really sure of that,’ Summer countered.
Rosemarie turned to Hope for her opinion.
‘I think that Megan and Summer are correct.’ Hope kept her tone mild, not wanting to upset Rosemarie further. ‘We can’t contact the police at this point, because there could still be an easy explanation for Davis’s disappearance. He might have run into a friend and left with that person. He could have tried contacting you, but the battery on his phone was dead. He might have walked to the square to grab a drink or a meal. There are numerous possibilities. And it would be awfully embarrassing both to you and to Davis if you reported him as missing and it turned out that he was simply having a beer at the pub or was tucked up in his pajamas in bed.’
Although she couldn’t argue with Hope’s reasoning, Rosemarie wasn’t reassured. ‘I don’t know. I have a bad feeling.’
Hope sighed. She and Summer exchanged another glance. Summer sighed, too.
‘This is what I propose.’ Hope spoke the words reluctantly. She was tired, and she knew that her sister and Megan were tired also. They wanted to cool off and have their dinner and their bottle of wine, but now, thanks to Davis Scott, that was going to have to be delayed. ‘We’ll do a search …’
Rosemarie looked at her eagerly.
‘A short search,’ Hope amended, unwilling to commit to an all-night pursuit of the man. ‘The four of us will divide up the rows and make a quick perusal of the festival grounds. There’s a good chance that Davis is still in the vicinity and either talking with someone or waiting somewhere for you, Rosemarie.’
‘We were supposed to meet next to the pretzel stand earlier.’
‘I remember you saying that. So you head in the direction of the pretzel stand. Megan can turn left toward Amethyst’s booth. Summer can turn right to go the opposite way. And I’ll take the row behind us.’
‘Thank you!’ Rosemarie cried with a mixture of elation and relief. ‘Thank you so much for helping to look for him!’
‘It’s no trouble at all,’ Megan replied amiably, even though her normally pert nose was scrunched up in horror at the prospect of having to wear the petal-pink ball gown for a while longer. ‘And don’t fret. I’m sure Davis will turn up. He’s most likely—’
‘Rosemarie,’ Summer interjected abruptly, ‘what happened to Percy’s scarf?’
Rosemarie rose from her chair. ‘His scarf?’
‘Yes. The scarf that he was wearing when you were in here before is gone.’
They all turned to look at Percy. He looked back at them and yawned. Summer was right. The black-and-white chevron-patterned scarf that had been tied around Percy’s neck was no longer there.
Rosemarie let out a wail. ‘It’s missing! Everything is missing! First Davis, now Percy’s scarf. I lose everything. Everything!’
‘What did I say about fretting?’ Megan calmly put her arm through Rosemarie’s and conducted her toward the front curtains of the booth. ‘The scarf isn’t lost. It probably just dropped off outside. Percy – as darling as he is – loves to sniff and scratch the same as most other pups. No doubt the scarf got caught on a nail or a rock or something similar. We’ll find it. We’ll also find Davis. All will be well.’ She glanced back at Hope and Summer with a look that added, And then I can finally get out of this darn dress and have my darn wine!
‘Fifteen minutes,’ Hope said. ‘We’ll each make one round and return here in fifteen minutes. If anybody spots Percy’s scarf, scoop it up. If anybody spots Davis, bring him along.’
‘If he objects,’ Summer chimed in, ‘drag him back by his slick hair.’
‘Summer!’ Rosemarie protested.
Not letting Rosemarie pause to debate the matter, Megan guided her resolutely – with Percy padding affably alongside – out of the booth.
‘Fifteen minutes,’ Megan called behind her.
‘Fifteen minutes,’ Summer confirmed, also heading out and turning in the opposite direction.
Unlike the others, Hope exited through the back curtains to her assigned row behind the booth. Stepping through the velvet, she halted in surprise. It was darker outside than she had anticipated, and it took her eyes a moment to adjust to the sudden inkiness. Over one shoulder, there was a pale yellow glow, presumably from the lights of the carousel. Above her, a slender crescent moon and a sprinkling of stars flickered in the clear night sky. The air was humid and not much cooler than it had been in the afternoon, but without the searing sun, the heat wasn’t nearly as paralyzing.
Hope started to move forward and immediately wished that she had a flashlight. There were wires and posts and all sorts of hazards underfoot. Although not a problem during the day or when the booths were fully illuminated, after hours it became a minefield. It occurred to Hope that if she couldn’t walk through the row without difficulty, then neither could Davis, and the likelihood of running into him there was slim at best. She was about to turn around and go back to her booth when the outline of a figure appeared. She jumped, startled.
‘Alone at last,’ the figure said.
Recognizing the voice, Hope relaxed – but only slightly. ‘Hello, Dylan.’
‘That’s a chilly greeting. Aren’t you glad to see me?’
‘I can’t see you. It’s too dark.’
Dylan emerged from the shadows, tall and lean. ‘Is that better?’
‘Yes.’
‘Still chilly.’
There was a brief hesitation as Hope debated how to respond, then she simply said, ‘It’s been a long day.’
‘It has,’ he agreed. ‘I’ve been waiting all day to see you.’
‘You saw me earlier. Or were you too focused on Larkin to remember?’
Dylan’s mouth twitched with a hint of a smile. ‘Jealous?’
‘Of course not. Did you enjoy your dinner with her? How was the perfect little place?’
His smile grew. ‘You sound jealous.’
‘Then your hearing is poor.’
‘My hearing is excellent. I heard all that hullabaloo in your booth about somebody named Davis. Who is he, and why is everyone so worried about him?’
‘I’m not worried in the least,’ Hope replied.
‘Good. You shouldn’t be running after him.’
It was her turn to smile. ‘Now who’s jealous?’
Dylan’s own smile faded as he took a step toward her. ‘Didn’t you miss me when I was in California, Hope?’
Her pulse quickened.
He moved closer still, and his voice softened. ‘I missed you.’
The blood rushed to her cheeks. Thankfully, there wasn’t enough light for him to be able to see it. She had to concentrate to keep her words steady. ‘But you couldn’t be bothered to tell me that you were returning to Asheville today?’
‘Don’t be angry about that. As I said to my dad, it was a last-minute decision.’
Hope looked at him. In the darkness, Dylan’s eyes were a deep midnight blue. It was impossible to read them.
‘Speaking of minutes,’ he continued, ‘isn’t the fifteen that you agreed to already over? The others haven’t returned. Forget them. Forget Davis. Come with me and—’
The sentence was cut short as the pale yellow glow over Hope’s shoulder brightened dramatically. There was the accompanying sound of lively music.
‘Is that the carousel?’ she said in surprise. ‘Why would they start it up at this late hour?’
Dylan shrugged. ‘Maybe Davis and the missing scarf have been found, and everyone decided to take a victory ride.’
Hope chuckled at the idea. ‘Have you seen the dress that Megan is wearing? She couldn’t climb up on a carousel animal for a ride if her life depended on it … Wait a minute, you know about Percy’s scarf?’
‘As I said, I have excellent hearing.’
‘But why didn’t you just come into the booth with the others instead of listening outside?’
‘Because I didn’t want to be with all of them. I want to be with you.’
