'Yes,' I said.
'Is my wife here?' Daddy demanded.
She shook her head.
'Are you sure?'
'No one be here. I be protecting myself against being crossed. I take a bath of garlic, sage, thyme, geranium water, dry basil, parsley, and five cents' worth of saltpeter,' she explained proudly. Then she leaned toward me. 'Since Nina's death, some folks think her spirit go haunting them, so they try to get even by putting a curse on my steps. But,' she said, pulling her shoulders back, 'I stop that.'
'Have you seen my wife?' Daddy asked impatiently.
Nina's sister shook her head. 'She be gone away?'
'Yes, and we're very worried about her,' I said.
Nina's sister thought a moment. 'If she run away, best you burn some of her clothes in gasoline with chicken droppings.'
'Oh for God's sake,' Daddy moaned, 'let's get out of here.'
'She went to the cemetery to speak with Nina last night,' I said quickly. 'Why would she go away today?'
'Oh. That be different. She must be carrying some kind of curse and Nina tell her how to fix it.'
'But where would she go?' I said.
'Wherever she think the curse first start,' Nina's sister replied. 'She got to meet the devil man at the door and slam it shut in his face. That's what Nina would tell her.'
'Satisfied?' Daddy said. 'We're no better off than we were. Let's go, honey.'
'Wait,' Nina's sister said. 'Don't you move your toes.' She went into the house and quickly returned to press something in my hands.
'What is this?' I asked. It looked like a marble embedded in silver.
'Eye of a black cat killed at midnight. When you be lost in the dark, it will be your eye and show you the light,' she said.
'A real eye?' I started to open my hand, but she closed my fingers over it again.
'Don't be 'fraid. Go on. Find your mother.'
I swallowed back a throat lump and shoved the eye into my pocket. Then I thanked her, and Daddy and I returned to the car.
'Was this a wasted trip or what?' he said, pulling away.
'But where is she then, Daddy?'
'I don't know, but I'm sure she'll come home soon, and when she finds Pierre there, she'll be too busy to dwell on this stupidity,' he said.
I hoped he was right, but I didn't have much faith.
We went directly to the hospital to take Pierre home. If he had any inkling he was being brought home, he didn't show it. He sat as stiff as always and stared blankly ahead. However, the nurse said he had eaten some more food and was sipping juice through a straw now.
'That's wonderful,' Daddy said. He turned to Pierre. 'Hey, buddy, ready to come home?'
Pierre blinked, but didn't respond. Daddy ran his hand through Pierre's hair the way he had so many times before, and then we got him dressed and transferred to a wheelchair. The nurse let me wheel him out and down to the door while Daddy signed all the papers. Daddy tried to get Pierre to stand, but his legs were like sticks of butter. He had to carry him to the car and slip him into the back seat. I sat beside Pierre and we headed for home.
'It will be good to be back in your own room, Pierre,' I told him, 'and eating Milly's cooking instead of hospital food.'
'And you'll be able to go outside, too,' Daddy added. 'All of your buddies have been calling and asking about you, Pierre.'
He didn't respond to any of this, but his eyes moved from side to side, and I was sure he was wondering about Mommy.
'Mommy can't wait to see you, Pierre,' I said. 'She's out getting things for you.'
Daddy said nothing.
When we arrived at the house, Aubrey came out to help and to introduce Pierre's nurse, Mrs. Hockingheimer, a short, stout woman of about fifty with light brown hair cut so straight it looked as if it had been ironed down to her jawbone and over the back of her neck. But she had pleasant green eyes and a soft, gentle smile that immediately put me at ease. As soon as we were all introduced, the first question on my lips for Aubrey was 'Did Mommy return?'
Aubrey glanced quickly at Daddy and then shook his head.
'Did she call?'
'No, mademoiselle.'
'Let's just get Pierre up to his room,' Daddy said angrily. 'Then we'll worry about your mother.'
