Home of the Gray Dog - Segment 11

Chapter 51

After seeing Emma tucked into bed for the night with Isabella from the night shift staying close by the child, Edith headed back to the mansion and dinner with her son. She and Walker tried to have at least one meal a day together to share news of both the mansion and the orphanage. They usually ate the last meal of the day with Samantha and Jack. At times, even Walker’s two young wards, Joshua and Sue Beth, filled out their reserved table. Tonight, only Walker was waiting for her. Jack was still at the hospital with Itzam, while Joshua and his sister preferred to stay outside playing until nightfall with Valentine.

         “Did that new little girl arrive okay? Emma?” Walker asked his mother this while waiting for their meals to arrive. He continued to look toward the dining room door in the hopes of seeing Samantha come in with their guest, Colin.

         Edith noticed Walker was giving her only part of his attention and wondered about it. No one had told her of Colin’s visit or that Samantha had been keeping in touch with him by email and letters since his last visit to the mansion. When Walker suddenly stiffened up, she followed his glance and saw a tall blond man enter the room. She recognized him from his visit the previous year.

         “I didn’t know Mr. Edgeworth was here.” Edith heard an annoyed grunt from her son after her innocent comment. Strange, she thought, since she rarely saw Walker in anything but a pleasant mood.

         “Hello, there,” called out Colin, heading for their table. When he reached them, he asked politely, “Might I join you?”

         “By all means, Mr. Edgeworth, please do.” This came from Edith while Walker silently kept watching for Samantha to follow after Colin through the door.

         After a few minutes with no sign of her, he asked, “Isn’t Sam with you?”

         Colin calmly gave his dinner order to the hovering waiter before replying. “No, I haven’t seen her since lunch. She was going up to her rooms to change her clothes after showing me around the two caverns.” He reached to pour a cup of tea from the pot Edith had ordered earlier. “Please, Mrs. Cartwright, call me Colin.”

         “Only two?” This puzzled Walker. “Which two did you visit?” He knew Samantha would want to show the cavern with the pool since this was her favorite of the three.

         Colin took a sip of the hot tea, taking his time before answering. “There was the entry cavern, of course, which I found delightful. We then went through a long tunnel into the large cavern.” He stopped, and a sad expression came over his face. “Samantha showed me where you recently found young Hannah. She’d already written a long letter to me right after the discovery of the bones and told me the story of the child’s mother murdering her.” Colin touched his napkin delicately to his lips, wiping off nonexistent drops of tea. “How ghastly that must have been for you.”

         “So Sam didn’t show you the third cavern?” Walker didn’t understand why she hadn’t taken him there first.

         “No, we decided to take a short break for lunch, but it seems she then forgot I was waiting for her downstairs afterwards.” Colin shrugged. “I guess she had more important chores to do for you, Walker, than show me around.” Just then the waiter returned with his dinner, and conversation ended except for comments from Colin about the delicious meal.

         A niggling feeling of worry stayed with Walker for the rest of the meal. It’s unlike Sam to not show off the pool cavern, and definitely not like her to abandon a guest like this. These thoughts swirled through his brain. They immediately disappeared when Joshua and Sue Beth raced into the dining room, followed closely by the big gray dog, Valentine.

         Soon enough this worry would come back many times over, but for now he sat back to enjoy the company of his delightful and noisy wards.

Chapter 52

The next morning started off quietly as most days at the mansion did. Once again Colin joined Walker in the dining room, and breakfast went by in almost total silence between the two men.

         When he finished his meal, Colin broke this uncomfortable tension by asking, “Do you think Samantha might show me the rest of the caverns today?” His toothy smile, for some reason, annoyed Walker who simply shrugged his noncommittal answer.

         “Walker, have you seen Samantha this morning?” Jack had come into the dining room without their noticing him and stood by the door practically shouting this question.

         “For crying out loud, Jack, what’s the matter with you?” Walker quickly stood and crossed the room to meet Jack. “She’s probably worn out from showing that English fop around and simply is sleeping in.”

         “Well, I just wanted to know if she wanted to go into town with me this .” Jack lowered his voice so only Walker could hear him. “She said something yesterday about wanting to buy a new evening dress in case Colin wanted to take her out dancing again.” Jack slowly backed away from his friend after saying this, surprised by the expression that came over Walker’s face. What did I say? Jack thought. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was jealous of Colin. Nah, can’t be!

         “That’s okay, Walker, I’ll just go without her.” Saying this, Jack decided on discretion with a speedy exit and quickly left for his trip to town.

         “Mr. Walker?” Joshua’s young voice interrupted Walker’s memory of Samantha’s date with Colin a year ago and brought him back abruptly to the present. “Mr. Walker, the desk clerk said to give this to you since she knew you were having breakfast in here.” In Joshua’s hand, Walker saw a plain white envelope with his name written in bold black ink.

         “Thank you, Joshua, I’ll open it later. Right now, I think I’d better check on Samantha.” Walker took the envelope and stuffed it into his shirt pocket, unread. “Colin is in a total dither about wanting to see the rest of the caverns.” He was stretching the truth somewhat, but Joshua took him literally.

         “Why don’t I do it instead? I’m going back to finish up the gardening at Dr. Delaney’s place later this week, but I’ve got nothing else to do right now.” Not waiting for an answer, Joshua left Walker and went to the table where Colin remained seated.

         Knowing the visitor was in good hands with his ward, Walker left the dining room. He crossed the large entrance room on his way to the elevator and Samantha’s rooms, pushing all thoughts of Colin dancing with Samantha from his imagination. Instead, he pictured his redheaded assistant sitting all alone and barefoot by the cavern pool singing “Greensleeves.” This was how he had come upon her the previous year. It reminded him he promised her months ago to teach her how to swim.

         Upon reaching the third floor, Walker saw a maid coming out of Samantha’s rooms and placing dirty linen on her rolling cart. “Sally,” he asked when he reached her, “is Samantha still asleep?”

         Sally Deakins, the primary maid for the staff’s living areas, shook her head. “She’s not in there, Walker, and I don’t think she slept in her bed last night either. Very strange!”

         “Thanks, Sally, she probably just stayed overnight at Hannah’s Home with my mother.” This comment came easily to Walker even though Samantha never had done this before. Satisfied at Walker’s explanation, Sally continued on to the next set of rooms, leaving a puzzled man standing in the corridor behind her. Where is she? went through his mind, Why didn’t she sleep in her own bed last night? Walker’s wild imagination raced and pictured her staying overnight in Colin’s bungalow.

         He calmed down when he remembered the Englishman said he hadn’t seen her since lunch yesterday.

Chapter 53

Walker spent the next couple hours roaming around the mansion. Not wanting to invade her privacy, he told no one he was looking for Samantha. He need not have bothered for those who knew him well saw the lines of worry etched into his face. By the time the sun was starting to go down, with no sign of Samantha and no clue to her whereabouts, he knew something was wrong.

         Edith, coming over to share dinner with her son, saw him coming across the large entrance room, his cell phone held tightly to his ear. She could hear him giving abrupt orders to the person on the other end in a firm voice she had never heard him use before. “Walker,” she said quietly, but he went past her as if he had not heard her. “Walker, stop!” she ordered in a louder voice, and this made him hesitate and look back at her.

         “Sorry, I was on the line with the police.” He closed the phone and gave her his full attention. “Samantha is missing, and the Westbrook police are coming out to organize a search of the grounds.”

         “What about the various buildings?” Edith realized how worried her son was and his strong feelings for Samantha, even if he never would admit it to himself.

         Walker listed what everyone was doing. “Jack has the staff checking the mansion and sent some over to Hannah’s Home to go from room to room there. The ones from those buildings and those from the hospital who live in the bungalows are all checking out their homes in case Sam dropped by for a visit.” He smiled for the first time in hours. “Even Colin went back to the one he’s staying in and went from top to bottom looking for her. Maybe I’m wrong about him, and he really is as nice as Sam says he is.”

         “And?” Edith prompted.

         “So far, nothing!” The worried look reappeared and stayed there for the rest of the evening. Slowly, guests and staff started reporting back with negative results about locating Samantha.

* * *

         When the three police cars arrived, Walker went out to meet them. Sheriff Bitson climbed out of the lead car. The town’s only detective, Frank Dunlop, quickly followed him. The small town of Westbrook rarely had serious crimes to solve, and the department only consisted of four additional uniformed officers.

         “Thanks for coming out so fast, Sheriff.” Walker shook the elderly lawman’s hand and led the five men and one woman back into the mansion.

         Sheriff Bitson, needing to find out what was done so far, left his officers in the dining room with Jack and went upstairs with Walker. The mansion’s owner had not been up to the fourth floor all day and had the sudden thought, Maybe, just maybe, Sam is waiting for me there. It was wishful thinking on his part, and he felt unreasonable disappointment on finding his apartment empty.

         “Okay, Walker,” was the first thing the Sheriff said, “do you have a map of your estate? I need to organize grids for the search.”

         Walker went into his office and found the topographical map he had obtained years ago when buying this property. Over it, he placed a sheet of plastic so the Sheriff could mark off search grids without damaging the original map. One hand held the map and plastic while there were two black marking pens in his other hand. All these he laid out on the large table in his front room.

         “We’ve added a few buildings since Jason Edgeworth had the mansion constructed,” and he drew in the locations from memory of the hospital, orphanage, barn with stable, and every single cottage and bungalow. There were many smaller outbuildings his elderly guests used for their hobbies, and these he also marked onto the map.

         At the end of half an hour, and with grids marked off by the Sheriff, the map was ready for the search of the grounds to begin.

Chapter 54

All night, anyone looking out the windows of the mansion saw lights twinkling in and out of the trees surrounding the building. Walker had forbidden his elderly guests to join the outdoor search, and Sheriff Bitson backed up his stern orders.

         “I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but we don’t need inexperienced people perhaps falling in the dark and hurting themselves.” He very diplomatically failed to mention the real reason was he feared elderly bones might break in these falls. “I’ve trained my officers in search and rescue, but I do thank you all for volunteering.”

         Walker stepped into the silence following this. “I do need people to again go through the mansion from top to bottom, double-checking even the vacant rooms. Tomorrow, when it’s daylight, some of you might go to the buildings on the property that are empty and look into them for me.”

         Satisfied to have a job to do, the elderly men and women left the Sheriff and Walker and spread out throughout the mansion. Each hoped to find Samantha safe and sound but failed in this endeavor one after another. Outside, the long hours passed just as fruitlessly for the police officers.

* * *

         All the next day and the one following that one, the searches went on. Chef Geoffrey and his kitchen staff made gallons of coffee and set out hot and cold buffets for the famished searchers throughout both days and nights.

         On the morning of the third day that Samantha was missing, Walker practically stumbled into the dining room, his exhausted body shaking from lack of sleep and worry for his friend. “Chef, how’s the food holding up? I know Sam takes care of ordering your supplies, so make out a list of anything you need.”

         Chef Geoffrey watched as Walker closed his eyes and leaned forward in his chair to rest his head on the table. He noticed the usually neatly dressed man now looked rumpled and unshaven. Walker still wore the same shirt he had on the day Samantha disappeared, which was extremely out of character for him.

         When Walker moved his body slightly to get more comfortable in his sleep, a white envelope fell out of his shirt pocket and onto the floor. The Chef reached down to pick it up, ready to put it on the table next to Walker’s head. When he noticed it was addressed to Walker and thinking it might be important, he stopped with his hand in midair.

         Standing by the sleeping man and holding the envelope by its edge, Chef Geoffrey debated whether or not to wake Walker and let him sleep. The entrance of young Joshua took the decision out of his hands

         “Good morning, Sir,” Joshua came over and saw the envelope in the Chef’s hand. “He still hasn’t opened that? It came three days ago.”

         “Joshua, will you stay here with Walker and give this back to him when he wakes up?” Seeing Joshua nod that he would, Chef Geoffrey gave him the envelope, still sealed, and returned to his kitchen.

         Even worn out as he was, Walker could not stay asleep and woke up 15 minutes later, not at all refreshed by his little nap. Blinking awake, he noticed Joshua sitting quietly across the table from him. His eyes went to the envelope the boy was holding and suddenly remembered he’d forgotten all about it.

         “Chef Geoffrey found it when it fell out of your pocket.” Saying this, Joshua handed the envelope to Walker and waited quietly to see what was in it.

         Tearing open the envelope, Walker pulled out a single sheet of ordinary white paper. As he read the printed block letters, he started swearing in anger, both at the person who had written it and his own stupidity at not opening the envelope immediately.

         This scared Joshua, who had never seen his guardian so upset. “Mr. Walker, what’s wrong?” Walker had forgotten Joshua was there and got up quickly from the table, knocking over his chair as he practically ran out of the dining room. Joshua, unsure what to do next, followed him at a discreet distance.

         He could hear Walker bitterly saying to himself, “Damn it, why didn’t I read this right away? Five million! I’d gladly pay double that to get her back alive and well!”

Chapter 55

After turning over the ransom letter that demanded five million for the return of Samantha to Sheriff Bitson, Walker immediately went in search of Jack. He was determined to keep himself busy until someone discovered who had written the letter.

         “Let’s check out the three caverns again,” Jack suggested once Walker had found him and told him about the letter. He saw Walker was mentally kicking himself for waiting three days to open the envelope and knew visiting the caverns always improved Walker’s spirits. After going down the stairs and into the first entry cavern, Jack headed for the three tunnels at the back of it.

         “Walker, I’d like to go inch by inch over the other two areas to see if we can find a clue about Samantha having been here recently, okay?” He saw Walker nod and head into the wide limestone tunnel on the left that led to the largest of the three caverns.

         Entering it and turning on the overhead lights, Jack decided to start at the back while Walker stopped and hesitated to look around the vast area. He stood there for a few minutes, uncertain where to begin his search for clues.

         “Come on, Walker,” yelled Jack from across the wide cavern. “I think I see something back here.”

         Walker raced from where he was standing at the entrance, hope fighting with despair over what Jack might have found. Three days had passed since Samantha’s abduction and the arrival of the note demanding money for her return.

         When he reached the back of the cavern, he found Jack on his knees in front of one of the long tunnels. Three of the six appeared much too narrow to allow entrance by anyone, especially an adult. Another wider one was where they found the body of the murdered 19th century child, Hannah Edgeworth. This was the tunnel into which Jack was shining his flashlight.

         “What’s going on?” Walker knelt beside Jack and tried to see beyond where the light reached and saw a tiny glimmer in the distance. “Turn off your flashlight. What’s that back there?”

         Jack complied by switching off the light before answering. “Could the kidnapper have put Samantha back here? Did anyone check out these tunnels yet?”

         “Not that I know of, but can you squeeze through it?” Walker knew his shoulders were too wide to manage the narrow tunnel. With the discovery the previous year of the three caverns, he had tried to gain entrance to this one. After the removal of Hannah’s bones, he almost became wedged in between the limestone walls.

         Jack grimaced but again turned on his flashlight and crawled into the tunnel’s opening. His body, slighter than that of the other man, easily managed to make it through the long tunnel. “Walker,” he yelled back, “there’s something at the end of this tunnel, maybe another room.” His voice became more distant then stopped entirely. Long minutes passed with only silence coming from the tunnel. Even Walker yelling into the dark tunnel brought no response.

         Finally, Walker saw the beam from Jack’s flashlight returning with the dark outline of the man behind it. Even before Jack crawled out into the cavern to stand beside him, Walker was impatiently questioning him. “What did you find? Is Sam back there?” He suddenly stopped when he saw one of the items Jack was holding in his free hand. “Oh my God,” he moaned, “please don’t tell me she’s…”

         He couldn’t finish his sentence as the horror of the bloody sweater in Jack’s hand sunk in. Walker recognized it as the creamy white cashmere sweater he had given her last Christmas. The day Samantha disappeared, the weather had been rather cool for late August, and he knew she wore his gift quite often on days like that.

         “No, no,” Jack hurried to get this denial out. “She’s not back there. I found Colin’s body, though, and I think the blood on the sweater is his. There was also this near his body,” and he handed a crumpled paper to Walker. “A Coleman lamp was on beside Colin, so I left it there to help the person who’s going to recover the body.”

         He shuddered before adding, “That will NOT be me, Walker. I’ve had my fill of seeing him like that.”

Continued in next segment.

Home of the Gray Dog - Segment 12  (18+) Chapters 56 through 60. #1263502 by J. A. Buxton