The Restoration Page 4

  “Please. I would love to see it all returned to the way it was. I promise there will be room for your things.”

  “Okay, I guess.”

  “Good. Then we’re agreed.”

  She was a little annoyed when he let her struggle with the huge box all by herself, but if she dragged it along the floor, it wasn’t so bad. Niles didn’t look very strong. Maybe it was because of his illness.

  Dallas had partly agreed to his idea because she couldn’t wait to see her mom’s reaction. Her mom loved old things, and she’d find some of this stuff super interesting. It would be a big surprise when she came upstairs and saw what they had done.

  “This was a good idea,” she said as they placed the old books on his desk. The desk was where it had always been, he’d said. They’d just had to remove the cloth that covered it.

  “I’m blessed with many good ideas.”

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re kind of conceited.”

  “How shall I take it?” he asked, not appearing offended in the slightest.

  “How – oh, never mind.” Figures. She’d finally made a new friend, and he had to be a conceited dweeb who talked and dressed funny. It was just her luck.

  Seeing the white knob on the door, she had an idea of her own. This couldn’t be the real Niles – she knew that – but if he’d been part of the tours, maybe he had an answer. She could tell the strangeness of the mismatched knob had bothered her mom, and if she could figure out the mystery on her own, Terri would be so proud. “Hey, why is this like this?” Twisting the knob, she let it snap back, liking the sound it made.

  “Why is what like what?” He ran his fingers over the board games again, appearing to be mesmerized by them. What was with him? She’d told him over and over again; she couldn’t play with them. Maybe her mom was right, and he was funny in the head. But he didn’t seem to be dangerous.

  “Your doorknob. Why is it metal on one side and white on the other?” By now, she was careful to always refer to the room as his. It wasn’t worth arguing about.

  He barely spared it a glance. “I don’t know. It just is.”

  “But white knobs are for servants’ rooms. You know, so the people who owned the house could make sure their servants’ hands were clean.”

  The atmosphere in the room shifted. It was as if clouds had obscured the sun. He scowled at her, his face flushing to a deep brick red, his eyes narrowing into slits. “What are you accusing me of?” He spit the words, speaking so loudly her mother might hear, even from downstairs.

  For the first time, she felt afraid of him. She backed away, bumping into the wall, wishing her mother would come. She didn’t care about getting into trouble, not now. “N-nothing. I’m not accusing you of anything.”

  He took a threatening step towards her. “Are you saying my parents thought I was a servant?” He said ‘servant’ as if it was the vilest word on the planet. If he was acting, he was really good – too good.

  “Of course not. I-I was just asking—”

  “Be careful, Dallas. You do not want to make an enemy out of me.” Pushing past her, he stalked to the door, but paused when he reached the threshold. He smiled at her. It wasn’t a nice smile, though. It gave her the creeps. How had she never noticed how pointed his teeth were before? “You would not like how nasty I can get.”

  Chapter Four

  “Dallas Maria Foxworth, what have you done?”

  Terri couldn’t believe her eyes. Her daughter had never done anything like this before. She’d always shown so much respect for the properties they’d worked on and other people’s things, and now here she was, sprawled on an antique bed, reading a book that was probably a first edition. It was all she could do to keep from snatching it out of Dallas’s hands, but that would only damage it more.

  To add insult to injury, instead of looking the slightest bit chastened, her daughter grinned at her. Grinned. What on earth was she thinking? Had she gone mad? Terri never should have left her unsupervised for so long.

  “What do you think?” Clearly oblivious to her anger, Dallas stretched her arms wide, indicating her handiwork. Her horrible, horrible handiwork. “Isn’t it great? It’s like traveling back in time.” She finally picked up on Terri’s mood. “What’s wrong? Why do you look upset?”

  “Why do I look upset? You told me you were looking for a game.”

  “It’s right there.” She pointed to the stack of board games on a bureau. “It’s the Game of Life,” she said, sliding off the bed and hurrying to show her, “but it looks totally different from the one we have and the name is different too. Isn’t it cool?”

  It was cool, all right. Terri covered her eyes for a moment, praying for strength. “Do you have any idea what that game is probably worth?”

  “That’s what I said. But don’t worry, Mom. I didn’t play it. I just took it out of the box and put it where it used to be.”

  Terri felt her eyes narrowing. “That’s what you said? To whom?”

  It could have been a trick of the light, but she swore her daughter blushed. “I meant, that’s what I thought.”

  “You haven’t seen that boy again, have you? You promised you would call me.”

  Dallas shook her head. “No.”

  It wasn’t like her daughter to lie, but Terri could tell she was hiding something. “I’m not going to get him in trouble, but if he’s still here, he needs help. He’s very sick, Dallas. He could hurt you – or me.”

  A shadow crossed her daughter’s face, but she said, “I promise I’ll tell you if I see him. I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?”

  Her anxious expression defused Terri’s anger. Dallas hadn’t meant to misbehave; she obviously thought she’d done the right thing, or maybe even had been helpful.

  “You know you’re not supposed to touch other people’s things. We’ve been over this. Even though we’re living here while I work on the house, it’s not our home. Anything that was left behind isn’t ours. How would you like it if Miss Vandermere messed with your things?”

  “What if the person who owns them told me I could touch them? Doesn’t that make a difference?”

  Terri pressed a hand against her forehead. “Dallas….”

  “He did! He asked me to do this.”

  “And what did I tell you? If you’ve seen a young man in this house who tells you he’s Niles, he’s mentally ill. The boy who owned these things is dead. He died a long time ago.”

  “Then maybe his ghost wants to see his things again. What’s wrong with that?”

  Ugh, there it was. What Vandermere was so afraid of. “You know I don’t believe in ghosts, and that isn’t funny.”

  “I don’t think he is a ghost. He’s too real. I couldn’t see through him or anything, but I swear this was his idea. He insisted I do it. So it’s not my fault. Really, Mom.”

  Terri considered the year that stretched before them. Where once it had been ripe with possibilities, now she foresaw Dallas doing terrible things with the ready excuse ‘Niles made me do it’. The situation would quickly become intolerable. “Then he’s mentally ill, just like I told you. He isn’t truly Niles, Dallas. The real Niles, the boy who owned these things, is dead.”

  “Do I have to put everything back?” Her lip trembled, and Terri’s heart ached for her. She’d done a lot of work, and had been so proud, so excited to show her. Terri went to put an arm around her daughter, but Dallas pulled away. Dallas always pulled away. You’d think that in time, that would start to hurt less. But it never did.

  “I think that would be for the best. I’m sure you were careful, but these things are valuable antiques. We have to protect them.” Seeing Dallas was about to protest, she hurried on. “Even the sunlight that’s going to come through your window in the morning will damage them. That’s not what you want, is it?”

  Gesturing at the wi
ndow, she noticed the white lace curtain, which reminded her of the first day she’d seen the house, and how a similar curtain had moved in an attic room. Terri no longer thought it had been Gertie, and suppressed a shudder. She didn’t believe in ghosts, but the entire situation was beginning to freak her out. It wasn’t like Dallas to do something like this, and it certainly wasn’t like her to lie. Damn this kid. Why did he have to come along and complicate things for them? The situation was already complicated enough.

  “No,” her daughter said softly. “Can I at least finish the book I’m reading?”

  It was unnerving – the whole thing was unnerving. Her child had recreated a dead boy’s bedroom. Terri had to stifle her impulse to throw all of Niles’s belongings back in the box herself.

  “I guess so. If you’re careful,” she said against her misgivings. “But you have to put all this other stuff away and promise me you won’t touch any of it again.”

  “I promise.”

  “Now, Dallas.”

  “Okay. You don’t have to get mad at me.”

  “I’m not mad, but I am disappointed. It’s not like you to do something like this. If you didn’t see that boy again tonight, I don’t understand why you did this.”

  “He asked me to do it this afternoon. I would have told you, but I wanted it to be a surprise.” Dallas looked away, and this time Terri knew she was lying. She was sure of it. The back of her neck prickled.

  “I think you should sleep in my room tonight.”

  Her daughter’s head shot up as if she’d been slapped. “Why?”

  “Because this doesn’t feel safe. Dallas, Niles – the real Niles – died in this room. If this boy you’ve seen is pretending to be him, and told you to do this, he’s sicker than I thought. I don’t want you staying in this room. Not until we figure out who he is and get him out of this house.” Shit. She was going to have to call the police after all, or Vandermere again. She wasn’t sure which was worse.

  “But you told me I could have this room. You promised.”

  She’d hardly promised; there hadn’t been a need to. But she had told Dallas the room was hers if she wanted it. Her daughter would use this as ammunition against her for years to come, but that didn’t matter. Dallas’s safety came first.

  “That was before I knew about this boy. You have to trust me. It’s not safe.”

  “I don’t want to sleep with you. I’m not a baby.”

  The venom in Dallas’s voice was enough to make her recoil, and her response was harsher than she would have liked. “I really don’t care what you want at this point. You lied to me, and could have damaged the owner’s things. You have been speaking to this boy, and you told me you’d call if you saw him again. You will be staying in my room tonight. It’s for your own good.” She walked to the doorway, determined to leave before her daughter could throw the fit she knew was coming. “One hour. I mean it. I want all this stuff put back where it was within the hour.”

  Terri left the room, hearing a dull thunk a second later. Dallas had thrown something at her, probably the antique book. What was wrong with her? Her daughter had never done anything like this before – if she had, Terri wouldn’t have trusted her in these homes. She’d always been respectful of the houses and everything in them. These stories of Niles were both troubling and scary.

  With that in mind, she slowed her steps, and looked back at the room. The hallway was empty. Following her instincts, she crept back to where she’d left her daughter, careful to stay out of sight. If Dallas found her here, eavesdropping, she’d be horribly embarrassed. But something stronger than potential embarrassment was telling her to wait – to wait and to listen.

  * * *

  “I don’t like her.”

  Dallas jumped, pressing a hand to her racing heart. “Would you stop doing that? It’s not nice to sneak up on people.”

  The boy had an ugly look on his face. “Your mother is mean. Why does she keep saying I’m dead? Clearly that is not the case.” He held out his arm to her, and though she didn’t want to, she touched it. It felt solid enough under the stiff fabric of his jacket, and ghosts weren’t solid. Everyone knew that.

  “Maybe you are dead, though. I once saw this movie where the guy was dead through the whole thing, and had no idea.” Was she like the other character, the kid who saw dead people? That would be too scary. But no, Niles – or whatever his name was – was real. She’d just touched him.

  “That is preposterous.”

  “Well, my mom doesn’t lie. And she says the boy who owned these things died a long time ago.” She tried to look into his eyes, but he wouldn’t let her. He paced around the room, making so much noise she was afraid her mom would hear. “Do you want her to come back in here? Settle down.”

  “Let her come in. This is my house and these are my things.”

  Dallas dragged the dusty box out from under the bed with a heavy heart. Though she wouldn’t have admitted it to her mother, she was tired of living here and of this angry boy. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be friends with him after all. He’d gotten her in trouble, and that’s not what friends did. And besides, he scared her. “I need to put them back.”

  “No!” He grabbed her by the wrist, and she pulled away in shock, almost expecting to see marks where he’d touched her. His fingers had been painfully hot but cold at the same time.

  “Don’t touch me,” she snapped. “Don’t you ever touch me. I did what you wanted, and it got me in trouble. I’m not allowed to stay in this room now, thanks to you.”

  “That is not my fault. It’s your mother’s. I have every right to say what I want done with my things.”

  “Didn’t you hear what she said? These aren’t your things. You’re not Niles. Niles is dead. You’re sick.”

  “No, I am not.” The boy seized the first thing he could lay his hands on, which was The Checkered Game of Life. To her horror, he threw it against the wall, hard. The box opened and pieces flew everywhere.

  Dallas cried out, but it was too late. Her mother stood in the doorway, staring at her with the most terrible expression she had ever seen.

  “What have you done?”

  “Mom, it wasn’t—” The look on her mother’s face stopped her cold. She was turning purple.

  “Dallas Maria Foxworth, you pick up all these pieces right now. Then pack up everything in this room, and meet me in the parlor in one hour. Do you understand me?”

  “But—”

  “Do you understand me?”

  Feeling frantic, Dallas looked everywhere for the boy, but couldn’t find him. He’d been there a second ago – how did he manage to hide before her mom came in? He’d been so darn eager to give her mother a piece of his mind, so where was he? “Niles, tell her what you told me.”

  “Dallas, stop it.”

  “What? You tell me to put them away, and he tells me to leave them where they are. He was the one who threw the game, not me. He’s furious with you. He wants everything to stay like this. I told you. I—” She felt the tears coming and stopped talking. She refused to cry in front of her mother, and in front of Niles, who had to be lurking around somewhere. Whatever. He was a wimp, bragging that he’d stand up to her mom and then vanishing whenever she was around. Sinking to her knees, she started picking up the pieces and putting them back in the game box. At least it hadn’t been damaged when Niles threw it. He was too old to act like such a baby.

  Her mother knelt on the floor beside her. “Dallas, wait. Stop for a moment.”

  Rubbing her eyes, she did as she was told, but refused to look at her mom. At that moment, she hated Terri with a fierceness that frightened her. Living with her grandmother had been so much better than this. Why had she come here? They didn’t get along, and that was never going to change.

  “There is no Niles.”

  “Of course there’s a Niles,” she sai
d, tossing more pieces into the box. “He threw this game across the room. I would never do that.”

  Her mother touched her shoulder, but she flinched out of reach. Why did her mom always have to be so touchy? It was one of the things Dallas liked the least about her.

  “I was here,” Terri said. “I stood right outside your door. I could hear your voice, but you were talking to yourself, Dallas. There was no one else here.”

  “I wasn’t talking to myself. That’s crazy. I was talking to him. He’s really angry with you.”

  “I’m telling you the truth. There was no one here but you. I checked, Dallas. You were the only one in the room.”

  The concerned look on her mother’s face made her more upset. How could she not have heard Niles? He hadn’t exactly been quiet. Part of her had hoped her mother would catch him, and then the stubborn boy wouldn’t have been her problem anymore.

  “You’re lying. He was here.”

  “Has this happened before?”

  “What do you mean?” Dallas didn’t like where this was going. Why would her mom say these things? If she’d been standing by the door, she would have heard Niles for sure. Why was she pretending she hadn’t? But deep down, she knew her mom wouldn’t do that. Her mom hadn’t been the best parent, but she’d never been cruel.

  “Have you ever seen Niles or talked to him before?”

  “Before I came here? Of course not. He lives here. I never met him before we moved into this stupid house.”

  “Have you talked to other children before? Children your dad or your grandma couldn’t see?”

  Enraged, Dallas leapt to her feet. “I am not crazy.”

  “I’m not saying you’re crazy. But sometimes children have imaginary friends. It’s completely normal, especially if you’ve been lonely.”

  “He is not imaginary. Niles, where are you? Stop hiding, and talk to my mother. Tell her what you told me. Come on.”

  She looked around the room, but it remained empty, aside from her and her mom. The coward. The boy in the funny clothes was a big coward, a coward who had gotten her in trouble twice. That was it. She would not be friends with him, and she wasn’t going to do anything else for him, either. He could pout all he liked; she didn’t care.