the night when Dixie laughed with Lourdes and said, “That’s a great idea. Bernie, you in?”
“On what?”
“A séance.”
“I’ve studied the occult,” Lourdes said with a self-conscious flush. “I know how to do this.”
“Black magic an elective across the pond, is it?”
“No, me and some friends just play around with it for fun.”
“She looks so normal, too,” Bernice said to Karla and Li-Hua.
Li-Hua shook her head. “Forget about it. No way.”
“I’m game,” Karla said. “I attended a couple of séances in college. It’s harmless. What night could be better?”
“Think of the memories,” Dixie said. “When’s the last time we’ve done anything wild?”
“Yeah, but you go to El Salvador while we effete gentry glut ourselves and sail around on yachts during summer vacation,” Karla said. “Don’t the locals believe in ghosts and such? Surely you see funky goings on?”
“From a distance. I’m not exactly brave.”
“Pshaw. No way I could stomach the dozen inoculations you’ve gotta get to enter those countries. Nope, I’m white bread to the core.”
“Well, I’m with Li-Hua. I’m tired and it’s silly anyway.” Bernice stood and went out to the porch. The wind ripped across the water and roared through the trees. She shielded her eyes from a blast of leaves and pine needles. Her hair came free of its barrette and she wondered how crazy that made her appear. Getting in a nightcap smoke was out of the question. She gave up, all but consumed with irritability. Her mood didn’t improve when she slammed the door and threw the bolt and discovered Dixie, Karla, and Lourdes cross legged in a semicircle on the floor.
Li-Hua had crawled into her bunk and sat in shadow, her arms folded. She patted the covers. “Quick, over here. Don’t bother with them.”
Bernice joined her friend. The two shared a blanket as the fire had diminished to fading coals and the room was colder by the moment. “This is simply…” she struggled for words. On one hand, the whole séance idea was unutterably juvenile—yet juxtaposed with her recent bout of nerves, the ominous locale, and the sudden storm, it gained weight, a sinister gravity. Finally, she said, “This is foolish,” and was immediately struck by the double meaning of the word.
Ultimately, the ritual proved anticlimactic. Lourdes invoked the spirits of Aunt Dolly and others who’d drowned in the lake, inviting them to signal their presence, which of course they may or may not have done as it was difficult to discern much over the clattering shutters and the wind screeching in the eaves. Dixie, head bowed, almost fell over as she nodded off, eliciting chuckles from all present.
Things began to wind down after that. The cabin was quite warm and cozy and the wine did it’s trick to induce drowsiness. Again Bernice had decided not to mention her recent bad dreams that revolved around drowning and the ghost of her aunt bobbing to the surface of the lake like a bloated ice cube, then skating across the water, her face black as the occulted moon. Dixie would’ve laughed and said something about zombie ballerinas, while Karla raised an eyebrow and warned her to lay off the booze. Worst of all, Li-Hua was likely to take it seriously. So, you’ve returned to face your childhood demons. Good for you! No, no, no—far better to keep her mouth shut.
She fell asleep and dreamed of sinking into icy water, of drifting helplessly as a white figure crowned in a Medusa snarl of hair reached for her. In the instant before she snapped awake tearing at her blankets and gasping for air, she saw her sister’s face.
4.
Unhappily—so far as Bernice was concerned—they did indeed embark upon a hike along the cluttered beach directly after breakfast. The Redfield Girls had the shore to themselves, although there were a few small boats on the lake. The sky was flat and gray. It sprinkled occasionally, and a stiff breeze chopped the surface of the water. They picked their way until reaching the farthest point on the north side where a stream rushed over jumbled stones; shaggy bushes and low-hanging alders formed an impenetrable screen between shore and deep forest.
The women rested for a bit in a patch of golden light sifted from a knothole in the clouds. Bernice pulled off her shoe and poured out pebbles and sand, and scowled at the blister already puffing on her ankle.
“Don’t tell me you thought we’d let you lead us to God’s swimming hole and then hibernate all weekend.” Dixie sat beside her on