Chapter 11
Lunch is a muted affair. Lockhart suggests postponing again after my ‘dip in the lake’, but my ‘dip in the lake’ has left me hungry, and I presume Lockhart is paying so I smile in martyr-like fashion and say: ‘No, my shorts will dry. I’ll be fine.’
Sadie and Ellis turn up a few minutes after we’re seated at a table outside on the decking.
My shorts haven’t dried, and I still smell vaguely of stale lake water.
Neither of them seems to notice. Sadie is unusually quiet.
Lockhart asks about their trip to the fairground and is greeted with vague, monosyllabic replies.
Something is up. Maybe an argument, or something else.
There are only two other tables occupied. Both by older couples in their fifties and sixties. Lockhart waves a hand at both as we sit down. ‘How you doing, Jeff? Nice to see you, Carol – hope the grandkids are okay?’
That’s small towns for you, I guess. Everyone knows everyone. I’m trying hard not to feel claustrophobic about it. People knowing you is one thing. People knowing your business is another.
A pretty, auburn-haired waitress (Alice, her name badge informs me) brings our menus and a jug of iced water with lemon. She uprights our glasses and fills them.
‘Get you any more drinks?’
It’s on the tip of my tongue to say Peroni. But Lockhart gets there first. ‘Iced tea for me.’ He turns to Ellis. ‘And you two girls?’
‘Diet Coke,’ Ellis says.
‘Yeah, Diet Coke, please,’ Sadie answers.
He looks at me expectantly. I clear my throat. ‘Err, the same, thanks.’
I make a mental note to drop into a store on the way back to the house and pick up a six-pack.
‘I’ll be right back to take your food orders,’ Alice says, and walks away.
‘Lovely girl,’ Lockhart remarks. ‘Grade-A student all the way when she was at Serenity High. I believe her sister will be in your English class. A little cheeky, but very bright with it.’
‘Sounds like the sort of student I like. I guess Alice will be going to college in September?’
‘No. She works here full time.’
I frown. ‘Oh. You said she was a Grade-A student—’
‘Her parents run the hotel. Family business. She’s happy working here and supporting them.’
I nod, all the while thinking, what parent would hold their child back from achieving more?
Not saying there’s anything wrong with waitressing.
But most teens want to go to college or university to explore who they are, become independent, widen their horizons.
Education is never wasted. Even if you choose to come back home and work as a waitress in your family hotel, be the best damn qualified and most erudite waitress you can be. I realize Lockhart is still talking:
‘The hotel was one of the very first buildings in Serenity Falls. Been in the same family ever since. She’s a little tired inside these days, but she’s due an upgrade soon.’
‘So, do visitors to the hotel have to wear the bracelets too?’ I ask curiously.
‘Oh no,’ Lockhart says. ‘We don’t allow people from outside the town to stay in Serenity Falls.’
‘You don’t?’
He shifts a little uneasily. ‘Tourists don’t necessarily share the values of the town. It can be disruptive. The Conservators decided it was better for the community if we limited outside visitors.’
‘So, who does stop here?’
‘Well, you’d be surprised. The hotel hosts a lot of weddings, anniversaries, other celebrations. Sometimes, couples just want a weekend away from the kids. It does better business than you might imagine.’
I nod. ‘I see.’
I don’t see. It seems odd. More than odd. A hotel that doesn’t welcome visitors from out of town. That’s got to be a first. I’m about to ask Lockhart more when – with impeccable timing – Alice returns with our drinks.
‘Ah, Alice.’ Lockhart beams. ‘I was just telling our guests about the history of the hotel.’
‘Oh, right.’ She places the glasses on the table. ‘Did you tell them about Room 134? Our haunted room.’
Lockhart chuckles, a little nervously. ‘Actually, no.’
‘What happened in Room 134?’ Sadie immediately asks.
‘A woman killed herself there.’
‘That’s sad,’ I say.
Alice nods, but she doesn’t look very sad.
She looks delighted. I guess in a place like Serenity nothing much happens, so you need a bit of drama.
And then I remember that since we arrived on Monday we’ve found a dead body floating in our pool and I thought I saw a boy drowning in the lake, so I guess it hasn’t exactly been uneventful.
‘Apparently,’ Alice says with some relish, ‘she was due to get married, but her groom jilted her, so she checked into the honeymoon suite and hanged herself. They found her there the next day still in her wedding dress, all bloody and dead.’
‘How was she bloody? I thought she hanged herself?’ Sadie asks.
Like me, Sadie is a stickler for details.
‘Oh yeah. Well, I think she might have cut her wrists too. Just to make sure she died, y’know.’
I can feel Sadie radiating scepticism beside me.
‘But anyway,’ Alice continues, ‘her ghost haunts Room 134.’
‘It’s said that she curses young women because she doesn’t want them to be happy,’ Ellis adds. ‘She wants them to die miserably like her.’
‘Nice,’ Sadie deadpans.
‘Yeah.’ Alice smiles triumphantly.
‘You ever seen her?’ Sadie asks.
Alice shakes her head. ‘No, but a lot of odd stuff happens in that room. Guests complain that stuff gets moved around, perfume bottles smashed, clothes torn. Once, one of the maids claimed Weeping Wendy locked her in the room.’
‘Weeping Wendy?’
‘That’s her name.’
‘Like in The Shining?’ I say.
Alice stares at me blankly. ‘The what?’
‘The Shining. You know – the book by Stephen King. Film by Stanley Kubrick.’
Still nothing.
‘The Overlook Hotel,’ I try to clarify. I raise my hands and make a chopping motion. ‘Heere’s Johnny.’
Alice shakes her head slowly, looking unsure. I realize I sound a little deranged.
‘Probably before your time,’ I mutter. ‘Anyway, the protagonist’s wife is called Wendy.’
‘Oh.’
‘Yeah. Great book – and film.’
‘Great.’ Alice smiles. ‘What can I get you all?’
My coat, I think. We place our orders, and Alice departs.
‘Not a King fan,’ I say.
Lockhart fiddles with his cutlery. ‘Well, to be honest, we do try to limit our students’ access to works of fiction that could be construed as violent or extreme.’
‘I’m sorry?’
‘Young minds are so malleable. Why expose them to terrible things?’
I look at him in disbelief. ‘Because the alternative is censorship?’
‘We prefer to use the term “Constructive Positivity”.’
Constructive positivity. I bite my tongue so hard I think I swallow a chunk. I reach for my drink and wash it down. An awkward silence descends. Sadie breaks it.
‘So, is the Weeping Wendy story true?’ she asks. ‘Did someone really kill themselves here?’
Lockhart winks. ‘Every town has its ghosts, young lady.’
‘What about Davey Junior?’
It’s like someone has pulled a shutter down on his face. ‘Where did you hear that name?’
Ellis buries her nose in her drink.
‘The guy who came to clean our pool told me about him,’ Sadie says.
I stare at her. ‘Would you care to tell me?’
‘He was a little kid who drowned in the family swimming pool.’
Lockhart nods. ‘Yes. Davey’s death was a tragic accident, but it was a long time ago—’
Sadie cuts in: ‘What happened to his mum, Serena?’
Maybe it’s my imagination, but Lockhart seems to flinch.
‘Sadie,’ I say gently. ‘Maybe this isn’t a topic for lunch?’
She gives me a mutinous look.
‘It’s fine.’ Lockhart smiles. ‘Serena was something of a local celebrity. She was the first child to be born in Serenity Falls. She did a lot of publicity for the town. After Davey’s death, there was talk – unkind talk – about Serena and her mother.
Serena was overcome by grief and fled the town. No one has heard from her since.’
‘Do you think she’s dead?’ Sadie asks bluntly.
Ellis snorts Diet Coke out of her nose and starts to cough. For some reason, I want to tell Sadie to leave this. A feeling. Bad air.
Lockhart takes a sip of water, dabs at his lips and regards Sadie with a little less bonhomie. ‘Like I said … every town has its ghosts.’