Chapter 5

Lisa could feel a gentle hand nudging her shoulder and the distant voice of Jenny, the maid, coming to her sleep-hazed mind and waking her to the morning chill of the late fall season.

"It's eight o'clock Lisa," she half-whispered, "and your Aunt is already downstairs at breakfast. She says she wants to get an early start." The old woman paused and gave a loving look at the young girl now blinking awake, then sat down on the bed beside her, affectionately brushing the long strands of hair away from the girl's sleep-swollen eyes.

"Are you feelin' better, dear," she asked with a look of deep concern on her face.

Lisa nodded without speaking and patted the woman's work worn hands in acknowledgment. Old Jenny seemed like more a member of the family than a servant, she thought. She had helped to care for Lisa since early childhood, and now stood loyally by her in their mutual sorrow.

"I brought you up some fresh orange juice and poached eggs. Here, try some of this crisp toast," she offered, reaching to the tray on the nightstand and extending her hand to Lisa's lips. "I cut the crusts, just like I used to when you were a little girl."

"I can't eat now, Jenny. I'm not hungry--just some hot tea, please."

"I'll bring you up a mug of tea if you promise to try a bite of this food." The look of concern returned. "You haven't had a thing to eat since early yesterday, and you've lost all your color. I'm going downstairs and tell your Aunt that you're too ill to travel," she said with determination.

"No, Jenny, don't." The last thing Lisa wanted was for Jenny and Thea to get into an argument. She knew her Aunt had a quick temper and would probably fire the old woman on the spot, and if she did, there would be nothing that Lisa could do to stop her. "Look, Jenny... I really do want to get away from here for a while. In fact, the sooner, the better... I'll try the eggs out if you promise not to say anything to Thea." Lisa's eyes were now silently pleading with the old woman.

"Ok," she agreed reluctantly, "but try them out now before they get cold. I'll go get you some hot tea and run the bath water."

Lisa gave a sigh of relief as the door shut behind Jenny, and reluctantly picked up a piece of the crisp toast and dunked it in a yolk, absently watching the bright yellow fluid run down the ragged white sides of the egg and onto the china plate. I'll have to get out my heavy winter coat, she thought, looking out through the frost-covered bedroom window. From where she sat, she could see the branches of the old elm tree with its leaves fluttering nervously against the slate gray background of sky. Her eyes wandered to the shelf below the window that held old remembrances of her child hood years... an old rag doll, her first coin collection and the familiar red scrap book filled with mementos of her early school days.

She could remember vividly her last year in grammar school and her favorite teacher Mrs. Garner. At the end of that year, all the children in class had small autograph books which were passed around for everyone to sign as small remembrances of that year. Lisa could hardly wait to see what Mrs. Garner had written in hers. But when she read her inscription, she came close to tears. It was not what she had expected at all. "Learn to paddle your own canoe" were the few words that she wrote and as a twelve-year-old looking for approval Lisa had been bitterly disappointed. At that moment in her room, Lisa made a firm decision to heed her teacher's words and to face the responsibility of the moment, doing as her Aunt wished. She did need a rest, she reasoned. She felt the raw nervous sensations building up again in her body and reached for the bottle of tranquilizers on the night stand labeled "Take one before breakfast and one before bedtime." The family doctor had issued her the pills along with a strong sedative after her outburst at the funeral. She made a mental note to take them along with her in case she had trouble sleeping. Perhaps Brookdale was the answer. She couldn't stay around the house now... at least not for a while... until some of the memories dimmed and she could see them in perspective again. And she wasn't prepared to face school yet, not even Mark.

Her nostalgia broke when she heard Jenny approaching the door, and she hurriedly gulped down the last traces of food remaining on the plate.

During the long ride to Brookdale, Thea seemed subdued and pensive, offering little in the way of conversation, except that the rest at Brookdale was what she needed until she felt strong enough to go back to school again. Lisa puzzled at the woman sitting across from her in the front seat as she spoke almost tonelessly in a detached manner. Thea was certainly subjected to sharp personality changes, she thought, from one of complete outward calm to a highly strong ball of nerves, ready to spring at anyone who confronted her wishes with resistance. She wondered how Thea could be so calm on the surface, after her experience with George Colby the night before. Lisa's face colored with a bright red blush of embarrassment at remembering what she had witnessed and turned her head back to the window

She thought about Mark and how much she missed him now and decided to write him a long letter as soon as she got settled at Brookdale. She did need a rest. Only this morning she had taken another tranquilizer to help her through this journey. Concentrating on the landscape passing the car window like a movie run in slow motion, Lisa drifted off into a light sleep.

A few hours later Thea broke the silence. "Lisa, we're almost there," she announced in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, shifting the car gear into second as they approached a large iron gateway that was the entrance to Brookdale. The gate was locked and on either side and an ivy- covered brick wall surrounded the premises for as far as the eye could see. By the side of the gate hung an old weather beaten "Keep Off" sign and beneath that was a call box that led to the main house where a control of some kind buzzed it open after Thea had gotten out of the car and spoken softly into the receiver.

Seconds later the gate swung slowly open, creaking on its rusty hinges. Thea returned and moved the car forward onto the premises of Brookdale Lodge. Still thinking of the "Keep Off" sign, Lisa suddenly felt like a trespasser, and for a brief foreboding moment, fought a strange impulse to run from the car and back out the gate, until she heard the responding snap of metal against metal as the gate closed by electronic control behind her.

The car slowly made its way around the graveled roadway, passing a grove of trees, then rounded the corner that curved into the circled driveway in front of the main house. Lisa looked up at the imposing edifice, giving an inward shudder that she hoped went unnoticed by her Aunt. What an eerie place! It lay nestled in a grove of tall trees like an overbearing neglected antique. At one time, it must have been stately and stylish, but neglect now gave it the grimness of an old feudal castle. Lisa could see a huge clustered chimney jutting up the side of the house, casting weird shadows against the shingled exterior, and patches of mossy growth on the shaded spots in the crevices of the peaked roof. As they passed, she got a brief glimpse at the grove of trees behind that contained a group of small bungalows, surrounded by a growth of wild bushes and weeds that grew over three feet high. The frontal part of the old mansion was grotesquely decorated with curved lattices and small diamond-shaped windows. A beam of light flickered from the base of the building in the far corner, suggesting a small cellar window, and she wondered what shadowy and gloomy things could be in these rooms below the house.

The car stopped and Thea helped Lisa with her belongings up to the wooden arched doorway. It now opened with a huge sigh, and Dr. Quinn stepped forward to greet them.

"My welcome to Brookdale, Miss Carter," he grinned down at her through his small gray teeth, "we've been looking forward to your arrival."

Dr. Quinn had a distinctive look about him and he carried himself with an air of calm self-assurance. His features were as pointed and sharp as his precise diction of speech, and he might have been handsome if it were not for the long, slightly hooked nose that curved at an irregular angle down his face. His eyes had a frigid stare in them that penetrated her very being, seeming to unclothe her hidden thoughts. Even as he was smiling his greeting to her, the cold look never left his eyes. Again, Lisa had a strong urge to leave this place as quickly as possible, but she gathered her wits, and with the aid of the tranquilizer she had taken earlier, gave him a friendly greeting and began to make small talk with Nell who had offered to show Lisa to her room so she could freshen up before dinner.

As the older woman led her up the stairs to her room and told her some of the history behind the old home, Lisa began to relax again. She could tell that Nell took a liking to her instantly, in fact she seemed to be going out of her way to be friendly to her. She followed Lisa into the room and insisted on helping her unpack her clothes, complimenting her on her beautiful wardrobe. She was particularly impressed with Lisa's sets of matching underwear that her mother had given her on Christmas. Nell's hand fondled the silk and nylon undies lovingly as she carefully stacked them in the bureau drawer. Lisa made a mental note to buy her something frilly as a gift before she left Brookdale, poor woman, she had probably never known such luxury in her life.

Nell didn't have the kind of looks that would attract many men, Lisa thought, appraising her crude, almost masculine features. Although she was probably still in her thirties, she had a stale drab look about her, matronly and unfeminine. Her face was devoid of any trace of cosmetic, not even lipstick, and her eyebrows were thick and unruly, peaking out from the ruffled bangs of her short cropped hair. Her whole body was rounded, not fat or stout, but firm and muscular with her strong calves almost brushing against each other as she awkwardly made her way around the room. When she spoke, her voice was surprisingly deep and slightly hoarse.