The Dark Divine
Page 27

"You're right, Grace. I should go." Daniel glanced at Dad. "I'm sorry, Pastor, this was a mistake. I'll leave."
Dad dropped his gaze. "No," he said. "You were invited; therefore, you are welcome." Mom gasped. I looked back at my father in shock and a hit of awe.
"If we say we're going to do something, then we do it. Right, Grace?" Dad looked at Daniel. "I'm sorry I forgot that."
Daniel nodded.
"He can't stay," Mom said. "There's no room. He was not expected."
"Don't be silly. You set a place for him yourself." Dad turned to Daniel. "Come in then, before the food gets cold."
"Thank you, Pastor."
Dad took my mother by the shoulders and steered her back to the table. I think she was too shocked to protest. I gestured Daniel inside and closed the door behind him. He followed me to the table, and I pointed to the empty seat across from mine.
Everyone sat there staring at him, probably trying to figure out what the big deal was.
"Is that that Kalbi guy?" Pete whispered to me.
I nodded and he turned and whispered something to his mother.
Daniel tentatively prodded the golden fork next to his plate. He looked up at me and winked. Jude rose from his chair. "This is ridiculous. He can't stay. He doesn't belong here."
"He stays." Dad put a heaping scoop of mashed potatoes on his plate. "Pass this to Daniel," he said, and handed the bowl to Leroy.
"Then I'm leaving," Jude said. "Come on, April, let's get out of here." He held his hand out to her.
"Sit!" Dad said. "Sit, eat, and be grateful. Your mother made this fabulous meal, and now we--all of us--are going to eat it."
April shrank into her chair like a scolded pup. Jude looked for a moment like he was going to do the same. He clenched his fists and then relaxed into his sullen shell. "I'm sorry, Mother," he said in an even tone. "I just remembered that I volunteered to serve dinner at the shelter. I should get going so I won't be late." He sidled his way past the dining room chairs.
"What about our dinner?" Mom called after him.
But Jude kept going. He took a set of keys off the hook and headed for the garage. "Let him go," Dad said.
Mom smiled to her guests. "You know Jude. Always thinking about others first." She grabbed the bowl of cranberry sauce from Aunt Carol. "Eat up," she said to everyone. But as she shoveled cranberries onto her turkey, she shot me a look that made my heart shrivel with guilt. I stared at the lump of green bean casserole on my plate. It didn't look right to me. Too soggy--I'd overcooked it for sure.
Pete brushed my arm. Warmth crept up my face.
I felt someone's foot nudge my leg. I looked up at Daniel, and he raised his eyebrows and smiled like he was completely innocent. My face got even warmer when I noted how much I liked the way his sandy hair flopped above his dark eyes as he raised his golden goblet to me. I scowled and turned back to my food, feeling like a silly little kid.
The meal went on in awkward silence for another ten minutes or so. I literally jumped when there was a loud bang on the front door. The banging got louder, and the doorbell rang several times. Everyone looked at me like I was also responsible for this mysterious interruption.
"Who did you invite now, the Ringling Brothers Circus?" Mom asked as I got up from the table. Aunt Carol chuckled. She always got a kick out of our Divine little family.
"Pastor? Pastor?" a loud voice shouted from behind the door. The second I pulled it open, Don Mooney came barreling into the house. He almost knocked me flat. "Pastor D-vine!" he shouted. Dad shot up from the table. "What is it, Don?"
"Pastor D-vine. come here quick. You have to see."
"What's going on?"
"There's blood. Blood all over the porch."
"What?" Dad flew out the door, and I followed. There was blood--a small pool of it on the porch step and several drops around it.
"I thought maybe one of you was hurt," Don said. "Maybe the monster--"
"We're all fine," Dad said.
I followed Dad as he followed the trail of blood. Our porch wrapped around the side of the house, and so did the trail--little red gems of blood instead of bread crumbs. It led to the outside of the study's open window. There was a spattering of blood there, like someone had shaken a wounded hand. Or paw. Dad crouched to inspect the mess. I looked inside the study. James's Portacrib was on its side next to my father's disheveled desk.
"Mom!" I whirled around, almost smacking into Daniel, who was suddenly behind me. "Mom, where's Baby James?" I couldn't remember him being at dinner.
"He's still asleep," Mom said. She'd appeared on the porch with most of the dinner crew. "I'm surprised he didn't wake up with all that racket..." She looked at the blood at her feet. Her face went white. She bolted into the house.
Dad, Carol, and Charity followed. I didn't have to. Mom's screams were enough to confirm my fears.
Daniel inspected the window frame. "Was the screen missing before?"
"Yes. Jude broke it out a couple of months ago. We locked ourselves out of the house. No one knew how to fix it."
Mom's voice grew shriller from the other side of the window. Dad tried to calm her.
"Perhaps James wandered off," old Leroy said. "Everyone, let's go search the yard." Leroy hobbled off the porch. "James?" he shouted as he went around to the back. Pete and April followed.
Dr. Connors, Mom's friend from the clinic, handed his tiny baby daughter to his wife. "Stay here. I'll go down the lane." He and most of our other guests fanned out into the yard. They all shouted for James.
"Do you think it was the monster, Miss Grace?" Don asked. "If only I had my knife ... I could kill it ... hunt it down like my great-great-granddad."
"There's no such thing as monsters," I said.
Daniel winced. He'd found the nail I'd almost snagged myself on earlier. His finger was stained with blood--but not his. He brought it to his nose and sniffed. He closed his eyes, as if to think, and smelled the blood again.
Don made a blubbering noise. He sounded just like my mom.
"Is there anywhere James loves to go?" Daniel asked me.