Solid Walls

Chapter Five

The next morning promised another clear summer day. Chloe sat on the O'Keefes' front porch swing wearing another bright dress and sandals, the air already humid enough to make her glasses slip down her nose. She tried to keep her attention on the flowers surrounding the house, but instead she kept glancing at the doorbell mounted to the wall just a few paces away. The chain dangling from the poor metal creature's mouth seemed to sway in a breeze Chloe couldn't feel on her own hot skin.

She almost jumped when the screen door creaked and Talia emerged from the house, wearing gardening clothes yet to be dirtied with the morning's work. Talia had already greeted them with a tray of iced tea when they first pulled up a few minutes ago, but she'd gone back in as Nell turned the car around in the driveway and headed back to town. Now she dropped a heavy stack of papers on the table in front of Chloe and sat in the rocking chair by the swing.

"Is anyone else from the family around today?" Chloe willed her jumpy nerves to settle as Talia poured two tall glasses of tea. "We hoped to get your husband's perspective at some point, since he's one of the people who's lived in the house the longest. We'd love to talk to the twins about their experience, too, if they'd be comfortable with that."

"Mmm. Yes, well the twins I'm sure will be happy to talk. Or, Sam will, at least—she'll get off work around noon. Ed's somewhere around here, and if you can catch him he'll probably answer some questions, too. Rick...Rick's putting in another long day at work. And anyway, it might be best if I talk to him a little before you all meet him. He's still warming to the idea of welcoming more...specialists into the house. So how about we just leave him till later, hmm?"

"Of course, whatever you think is best."

Talia handed Chloe a glass of tea already sweating beads of moisture. Then she pressed her fingertips to the stack of papers on the table between them.

"Now, these are all the records I've kept," she said. "Here on top is a list I made last night of all the doctors and, well, other types of people who've come to see Willa over the past few months. Their contact information is there, and I left messages for most of them last night to tell them they have my full permission to discuss Willa's case freely with you. I hope that was the right procedure."

"That's wonderful, thank you." Chloe took a sip of tea and pulled the papers closer. "Though I'm sure I won't need to contact all of them..."

She cringed internally at some of the names on the list alongside reputable pediatricians and adolescent psychiatrists. Some were benign enough, like feng shui master and aromatherapist. But some she worried had already made her job harder than it had to be. The Demonologist (PhD) from five months ago and P.P.I. (Private Paranormal Investigator) from two months ago were both particularly worrying. Then there was Father John, Exorcist (Our Lady of Perpetual Miracles).

"Are y'all a religious family, Talia?" Chloe asked as she scanned the list.

"Hmm? Oh, no, not really. Just Mass on Easter, that kind of thing." She shrugged. "But who's to say what could work, you know?"

Chloe nodded. "And did any of these...experts have any luck? Even the—" She stopped herself from saying real ones. "—even the doctors and therapists?"

"Well, most of the medical types made one or two visits, but then they refused to do any more house calls. Wanted Willa to come to town to visit them instead, sit in their X-ray machines or lie on their office couches. But, well, of course, that's the whole problem, isn't it? We tried telehealth, too, but Willa can't seem to convey what she's feeling through a screen—I think it's hard to really understand the house if you're not standing in it. And as for the admittedly more colorful folks—they all started out eager enough, but none of them ended up hanging around for more than a couple of days."

"Why do you think that is?"

Talia just smiled and shrugged, straightening the pitcher of tea on its tray. "Weak constitutions, maybe? Not everyone's cut out to be on the second floor for too long, especially close by Willa's room. Even Rick won't go up there more than once a week, and of course Amos can't and Ed would never bother. But not to worry, I'm sure you and your partner are made of stronger stuff than the others."

For a moment Chloe pictured her and Nell's names and credentials added to this list of other experts whose methods could have worked, their titles and phone numbers laid out in Talia's perfect cursive for the next best hope to glance over while sipping tea on the O'Keefes' porch. But she banished the thought with a shake of her head. Even if the pair of them couldn't cure Willa, they certainly weren't going to do more harm to her by encouraging her delusion. Because that's what it had to be. No matter what Nell said, no matter how things seemed at first glance, glitchy recordings or no...

Chloe's eyes darted involuntarily toward the deer head again.

"Talia, I have to say, that's a very interesting doorbell you have," she said. "We noticed it yesterday."

Talia looked over her shoulder. "Oh, yes. I'm pretty sure it's part of the original house. I used to think it was kind of morbid, but I polished it up and added the glass bead on the end, and now it's just fun and quirky, don't you think?"

Chloe took a hard swallow of tea and nodded. "It's certainly unique. Do you know how it works exactly? When we were inside I didn't see any bells by the door or anything."

"Oh, I'm not really sure." Talia waved a hand dismissively. "Though I will say, whatever the mechanisms are, it's quality construction. You can hear the bells from just about anywhere in the house—even all the way at the back in the kitchen."

"And what about upstairs?"

"Well...I've never really thought about it, but yes, I guess you can hear them there, too. Just as loud as you would if you were standing right by the door. But I'm sure it's just some experimental old technology that never caught on. When you live in a house this old, you get used to some odd features."

Chloe smiled. "Of course. Thank you again for the papers. Is it all right if I just set up right here for the morning while I go through them?"

"Absolutely, take all the time you need. I'll just be doing some weeding out front, so holler if you have any questions or need more tea or anything."

With that Talia pulled her straw hat tighter over her hair, slipped on a pair of work gloves, and headed out to tend to her pristine flower beds. Chloe watched her go, then pulled out her legal pad and settled in to sort through the pile of records. She forced herself not to look up again at that chain on the wall swaying with the nonexistent breeze.