Dance of Death

  Deborah sounded so knowing. So wise about such matters. Is that what happened? Madeline wondered.

  “You were in such a state,” Deborah reminded her. “Your emotions were heightened. Then something frightening and unexpected occurred. Your imagination got the better of you. You lost control. You’ll have to work on that, my dear. We don’t want you turning out like your poor mother.”

  Madeline’s relief was so great that she felt dizzy. Deborah’s explanation made perfect sense.

  Justin’s kiss had aroused deep feelings in her. He wasn’t trying to hurt me, Madeline thought. It was just my overactive imagination running away with me. That’s all.

  If I can control it, I won’t end up like Mama. All I have to do is stay in control.

  “I’m afraid I have to say this, Madeline,” Deborah continued. “I don’t want to upset you anymore. But you owe Justin Fear an apology. I think you should go over there right now.”

  “Now?” Madeline gasped. “So soon? Oh, Cousin Deborah, I couldn’t.”

  “Nonsense,” Cousin Deborah said briskly, pulling Madeline up from her chair. “It’s just like climbing back on a horse after you take a bad fall. It’s better not to think about it too much. Just do it and get it over with.”

  “But I feel so embarrassed now at the way I acted,” Madeline confessed. “And look at me,” she stared down at her tattered, dirty dress. “I look a sight!”

  “Let’s go right upstairs, put a fresh dress on and fix your lovely hair. You’ll be as good as new,” Deborah assured her.

  She looked at Madeline slyly. “Confess. Wouldn’t you like to kiss and make up with Justin?”

  Madeline felt a quick burst of emotion as she remembered the feeling of belonging in Justin’s arms. “Yes,” she admitted. “I’ll go apologize right now.”

  Deborah smiled approvingly. For the first time, Madeline noticed how sharp her teeth were. She looks like she wants to take a bite out of me, Madeline thought.

  I must stop thinking things like that, Madeline told herself. I must stop seeing danger everywhere. I’ve got to stay in control.

  If I can just stay in control, everything will be all right. I can win my own happiness.

  But first, I have to win back Justin Fear.

  Chapter

  15

  Madeline quickly changed her dress and set out for Justin’s house. Now that she had decided to apologize to him, she didn’t want to waste any time.

  She didn’t want to go back through the woods, where she had been so frightened earlier. But it was the shortest way to Justin’s house.

  The woods stood dark and silent. Hardly a breath of air stirred. The skies had clouded over. Low, heavy clouds.

  I’ve been so ungenerous, Madeline thought, as she hurried through the tangled trees and shrubs. Justin cut me one of the prize roses from his garden. He held me in his arms and kissed me.

  And all I’ve done is mistake his actions. I’ve got to tell him that I’m sorry before he decides he never wants to see me again.

  Quickly. Quickly!

  Snap!

  A twig snapped behind her, breaking the silence of the forest. Heart pounding, Madeline whirled around.

  Nothing there. Only tree branches swaying gently. But Madeline couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something wrong.

  Someone is watching me. I can feel his eyes.

  Watching. Waiting.

  She peered into the shadows. Her heartbeat quickened.

  “Who’s there?” she called, her voice tiny in the silence. “Justin? Is that you?”

  There wasn’t any answer.

  I’ve got to stop this! Madeline scolded herself. It’s just my foolish imagination, running away with me again. Well, I’m not going to let it get the better of me this time.

  Madeline turned back around.

  She screamed.

  The man she had chased down the long, dark corridors of her cousins’ house stood right in front of her.

  His dark eyes glowed with a mad intensity. His face twisted in pain.

  He stretched his arms out, his hands curved into claws. He was ready to grab her if she dared take even a single step forward.

  Madeline couldn’t stand to look at him. She lowered her gaze to the forest floor.

  She gasped aloud and jumped backward.

  The man’s feet! They floated above the ground!

  Madeline felt hysterical laughter rising up her throat. It burst out of her. She began to laugh and laugh.

  He’s a ghost! My mysterious pursuer is a ghost.

  No! It’s just my imagination. Just my imagination. There’s no such thing as a ghost.

  I’ve got to stop laughing! I’m going to turn out like Mama. I’m going insane.

  The man lunged at her.

  Madeline’s laughter spiralled up into a scream. She leaped out of his way. Then she lifted her skirts and raced through the trees. She had to get home.

  Madeline dashed madly through the dark forest. Thick shadows engulfed her and she could barely see the ground ahead of her. Her legs ached as she raced on. Her breath burned in her throat as she gasped for air.

  She glanced back and saw only darkness and the dim outline of trees. I can’t go back to Cousin Deborah’s. She would surely think I’m insane now. I’ve got to try to reach Justin, Madeline decided.

  She changed direction abruptly, angling down the hill toward Justin’s house.

  The man appeared in front of her the second she turned around. He floated in the air above her head, now twice the size he had been.

  His eyes burned in their sockets. His lips curled back as if he were desperately trying to speak. Yet she heard no sound. He waved his arms wildly, grabbing at her with his monstrous hands.

  He wants me to die, Madeline thought. He wants to kill me.

  Why? Why?

  “Why do you want to hurt me?” Madeline cried, struggling to control her terror. “I’ve never done anything to you!”

  The man’s body stretched and stretched. His image filled the entire sky. Madeline’s gaze fixed on his blood-soaked clothing. So much blood. Her stomach churned and her knees buckled at the revolting sight.

  “I won’t let you get me!” Madeline screamed. “I won’t.”

  Crack!

  Madeline felt the earth beneath her feet tremble. She lost her footing and fell to the ground. The ground split open.

  She clawed the earth desperately as she felt it crumple away beneath her. Opening up into a huge hole.

  Madeline’s body dangled over the edge of a wide, deep pit. She quickly glanced over her shoulder, trying to see the bottom. She couldn’t. The hole was black and bottomless.

  Madeline clung to the soft earth at the edge with all her might. But slowly, she began to slide. Slide into the pit.

  Madeline grabbed a thick root. “Help me! Please! Somebody!” she cried. “Somebody, please help me!”

  She held her breath and listened. She prayed someone had heard her cries.

  No answer. No sound of footsteps approaching.

  A shower of earth and twigs and tiny stones hit Madeline in the face. She felt the root begin to give.

  I’m going to fall! I’m going to be buried alive!

  Madeline spotted another root. She wrapped her fingers around it and scrambled up the side of the hole. I’m not going to fall in there! she thought. I’m going to get to Justin.

  She flung herself over the edge of the pit, and crawled to solid ground. Then she struggled to her feet on shaky legs.

  Madeline leaned forward and planted her hands on her knees. She had to catch her breath before she could move on.

  A powerful gust of wind swept through the forest. The tree above her gave a horrifying groan. Then it split in half, as if chopped in two by a huge axe.

  The heavy tree crashed down. Its branches whipped Madeline’s face as it slammed to the forest floor.

  Madeline felt blood dripping from her nose. She began to choke.

  I??
?ve got to get out of here. I’ve got to run, run, run!

  But she couldn’t run. The pit the ghost had created stretched in front of her, too big to go around.

  Too wide to jump across.

  The tree! One half of the tree had fallen across the pit. I can use it as a bridge, Madeline thought. It’s my only chance. My only chance to get to Justin.

  Madeline crawled out onto the enormous tree trunk. It was so big, Madeline couldn’t get her arms around it. She held on to branches on either side.

  I’m climbing a tree, that’s all. Climbing a tree. I did it all the time when I was a child.

  Madeline’s head swam with pain and dizziness. Her arms ached with the effort she was making to hold on. Inch by painful inch, she moved along the tree trunk.

  Don’t look down. Don’t look down. Just concentrate on getting to the other side.

  She lifted her head—and looked straight into the ghost’s burning eyes.

  Madeline screamed and lost her hold on the tree trunk. She slipped down one side. She grabbed hold of one of the branches.

  Madeline’s feet dangled over the deep pit. The weight of her skirts pulled her down, down, down.

  She could hear the bones in her arm crack with the effort she was making not to lose her grip. With her last ounce of strength, she kicked up with her legs and wrapped them around the tree trunk.

  Madeline clung to the underside of the branch, totally exhausted.

  So close! I got so close to reaching my goal. But I’ll never be able to do it now.

  The tree branch she clung to began to break.

  This is the end. I’m going to die.

  The branch snapped off at the trunk. The wind whistled in Madeline’s ears as she swung through the air. She hit the side of the ravine with a force that knocked the breath right out of her body.

  Madeline’s legs began to slip off the tree trunk.

  She was falling.

  Ice cold hands reached out and grabbed her by the wrist.

  The ghost! It has me!

  Chapter

  16

  The ghost pulled Madeline out of the pit and into its arms. She stared up at it.

  Justin!

  It wasn’t the ghost. It was Justin.

  “Justin?” Madeline asked in a dazed voice. “Is it really you?”

  “Hush, Madeline,” Justin instructed, laying a cold finger across her lips. “Everything is all right. You’re safe now.”

  It was Justin’s touch I felt. Not the ghost’s!

  “Oh, Justin!” Madeline cried. She buried her face against his chest. “You saved me, didn’t you?”

  “Of course I did,” Justin replied. “You’re very important to me, Madeline. Even when you disappoint me.”

  Madeline lifted her face up. She knew she had to apologize. “Oh, Justin. I’m so ashamed of the way I acted earlier. I was on my way back to you, to apologize. To ask how I could make things up to you. Then this—accident happened.”

  Justin smiled. “I’m glad to know you were coming back to me,” he answered. “If you really want to make things up to me, you can do something.”

  “What?” Madeline asked, her heart beating like thunder. There was a special warmth in Justin’s eyes.

  “Marry me, Madeline.”

  Madeline’s whole body tingled. He wanted to marry her! Wanted her to be his wife! She felt so happy, she wanted to clap her hands with joy. She stared into his burning blue gaze as he awaited her answer.

  “Justin, there’s something you should know first,” she replied slowly.

  Justin’s expression darkened. “Are you making excuses? Saying you don’t want to be my wife?”

  “Of course not,” Madeline answered quickly. “I want to marry you more than anything in the whole world.”

  When she realized what she said, she blushed furiously. Justin only smiled.

  “You’re so lovely when you do that.” He leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. “Does that mean the answer is yes?”

  “Justin,” she said seriously. “I don’t want there to be any secrets between us. Before I give you my answer, there’s something about my past I have to tell you. You might not want me, once you know.”

  “I will always want you, Madeline,” Justin answered, his arms tightening around her. “Nothing will ever change that. But tell me your story, if it will make you feel better.”

  Madeline looked up into Justin’s beautiful sky-blue eyes.

  “My mother went insane,” she confided. She took a deep breath. “Everyone thinks my parents died in an accident. But the truth is …”

  I can’t, Madeline thought. How can I tell him what really happened?

  “What?” Justin asked. “You can tell me anything.”

  “The truth is my mother killed my father. Then she shot herself,” Madeline confessed.

  “Madeline,” Justin whispered. “How horrible for you.”

  “But don’t you see, Justin?” Madeline said urgently. “What if I’m just like my mother? What if we get married and then I go insane? What if I try to hurt you? Is that the kind of wife you want? Is it, Justin?”

  Justin leaned down and kissed her swiftly. “You aren’t going to go insane, and you aren’t going to hurt me. I’m not going to let you. I’m a doctor, remember? That makes me the perfect husband for you. And the only kind of wife I want is you.”

  Madeline felt her heart swell with happiness. Justin knew her darkest, most terrible secret. And he still wanted to marry her.

  “Are you sure?” she whispered, staring up at him.

  “Very sure,” Justin promised her. A smile played around the corners of his mouth. “May I have my answer now, please? I think I’ve waited long enough.”

  Madeline smiled back at him. For the first time since she arrived in Shadowbrook, she felt completely at peace.

  I was right. This place is a whole new beginning. I’ll build a brand-new life here. A life that will wipe away the horrors of the past. A life where I don’t have to end up crazy, like Mama did.

  “The answer is yes, Justin,” she answered, her heart singing. “I will marry you.”

  The rest of the day passed in a happy blur.

  Deborah and Marcus were overjoyed at the news of Madeline’s engagement. Deborah began planning a party to make the announcement right away. Justin insisted it be held at his house.

  Justin rushed around, making special arrangements for them to be married in just a few days’ time.

  “There’s no reason to wait,” Deborah told Madeline gaily as they climbed the stairs at bedtime.

  “We want you to become Mrs. Justin Fear as soon as possible. Oh, I’m so happy,” Deborah went on, giving Madeline a hug as they stood outside her bedroom. “This is just like a fairy tale. You go to bed now and get plenty of beauty sleep. Sweet dreams, my dear.”

  Madeline felt exhausted by the time she crawled into bed. But so happy.

  Who could have guessed I would be engaged to Justin in just two days? she thought. But I’m sure I’m not going too fast. Sure we belong together.

  Madeline fell asleep with a smile on her face.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Madeline awoke several hours later, her heart pounding.

  What is it? What woke me?

  She sat up in bed and stared into the darkness, her ears straining for the slightest sound.

  Step … drag …

  Step … drag …

  Step …

  It’s the old woman Cousin Deborah calls Auntie! She’s coming down the hall. Down the hall toward my room.

  Quickly, Madeline threw the covers back and scrambled out of bed. She was determined not to let Auntie catch her off guard again.

  Cousin Deborah might think she’s harmless, but I’m not so sure I agree.

  She picked up a heavy brass candlestick and crept toward her bedroom door.

  Step … drag …

  Step … drag …

  Step …

  Madeline listened as Au
ntie came closer and closer. She heard the old woman’s heavy breathing just outside the door.

  With quivering fingers, Madeline reached for the doorknob. She flung the door open. Auntie stood before her in the hall.

  “Marry Justin Fear,” Auntie whispered, “and you will surely die!”

  Chapter

  17

  “What nonsense! How dare you say something so cruel?” Madeline exclaimed.

  Auntie scuttled past Madeline into the bedroom. She closed the door behind them.

  “Shhhh,” Auntie warned, raising a finger dramatically to her lips. “Not so loud. Nobody must hear us. Nobody must know.”

  “Know what?” Madeline asked.

  “That I came to see you. That I told you the truth.”

  “I already know the truth about Justin, Auntie. He loves me and he wants to marry me.”

  “Noooo,” Auntie moaned. She paced around Madeline’s room. Her candle cast weird shadows on the walls.

  “That way lies danger. If you marry Justin, you will die. You must listen to me,” she urged. She sounded close to tears. “You must believe me, child.”

  It’s probably better for me to let her tell her story, Madeline realized. If I don’t, she’ll never calm down. She’ll wake up the whole house. I don’t want to have to explain her presence in my room to Cousin Deborah and Cousin Marcus.

  “All right, Auntie,” she agreed. She placed her candle on the dressing table. “I’ll listen. I promise.”

  Madeline gently led Auntie to a chair by the bed. She felt so frail.

  “Oh, you’re a good girl, aren’t you?” Auntie crooned as she sat down.

  “Too good for the horrible fate that awaits you. Too good for Justin Fear,” she moaned, shaking her head. “I’ve got to try to save you. I couldn’t save the others. Oh, my Tobias! I failed. I failed.”

  She is mad, Madeline thought. Completely mad.

  Auntie shuddered, rocking from side to side. “The Fears have always been evil,” she whispered. “Evil upon evil for time out of mind. But there is one name that causes even other Fears to hide their heads in terror.

  “That name is Justin Fear.”

  “But he’s so kind,” Madeline protested. “The first time I saw him, I thought he was an angel.”