Blood Games

    The kitchen of the Totem Pole Lodge had cupboards, counters, a pantry, large sinks, a walk-in freezer, and empty spaces where Abilene figured refrigerators and stoves had once stood. It also had cobwebs, dust balls, and layers of grime on its counter tops and linoleum floor.

    'Looks like the maid missed this place,’ Finley said.

    ‘She doesn’t do kitchens,’ Abilene said.

    Vivian twisted a faucet handle. It squeaked. No water came from the spout. ‘Great,’ she muttered, then gave her dirty hand a disgusted glance. ‘I suppose there’s no electricity, either.’

    ‘Not likely,’ Cora said.

    Vivian looked down at her bright yellow sundress, apparently searching for a place to wipe her hand. ‘Does anybody have a Kleenex, or something?’

    ‘Use this,’ Abilene said. Stepping up close to Vivian, she raised her knee.

    ‘Thanks.’ Vivian rubbed her hand on a leg of Abilene’s faded, denim cut-offs.

    ‘Should’ve worn grubbies.’

    ‘She doesn’t believe in grubbies,’ Cora pointed out.

    Helen tugged open the door of the walk-in freezer, glanced inside, then shut it quickly.

    ‘Something in there?’ Cora asked.

    ‘Not that I could see. Pretty dark.’

    As Cora opened it to take a look herself, Abilene wandered over to the sinks. Above them were grimy windows. From the position of the kitchen, to the left of the dining area, she knew that the windows must be facing the rear of the lodge. She was surprised to see that all the glass was intact.

    Leaning forward, she peered through one of the panes. She saw the shaded floor of a porch, a wooden railing at its far side, blue sky, tree tops in the distance, and not much else.

    ‘Over here,’ Finley said.

    Abilene turned away from the window. Finley, off to her right, was standing in front of a door. Shifting the camera to her left hand, she knocked back a bolt. She twisted the knob and jerked. The door stayed put, and she stumbled toward it. Bracing her feet and crouching slightly, she gave the knob another sharp tug. With splintery crackles, it broke free of its jamb and swung at her. Its hinges squawked. Its edge only missed her face because the door’s sudden release had sent her staggering backward.

    Regaining her balance, she stepped outside. ‘Hey, neat! ’ she called.

    Abilene went after her. Surprise at finding the porch high above the ground was forgotten the moment she met the fresh air. She’d been vaguely aware of the kitchen’s stuffy heat and musty smells, but hadn’t realized just how bad it’d been until leaving it behind. Here, the air smelled rich with fragrances of the forest. The warm breeze felt cool. She untucked her blouse, lifted its front, and felt the breeze caress her belly while she wiped sweat off her face.

    ‘I don’t think I want to go back in there,’ she said.

    ‘Hey, guys!’ Finley called. ‘Get out here!’

    Abilene unfastened a few lower buttons, then looked around as she raised her shirttails and tied them in a half-knot under her breasts.

    The porch extended along the entire rear of the lodge. At both ends, stairways led down from the long, second story balcony. The stairways met the porch and descended from there to the ground. Directly in front of her, another set of stairs led downward.

    ‘This is something,’ Cora said.

    ‘Oh,’ Vivian said. ‘Great.’

    Abilene heard the door from the kitchen grind shut.

    ‘Fantastic,’ Helen said.

    Abilene didn’t know whether they were talking about the fresh air or the scenery.

    Now that she had recovered from the stifling atmosphere of the kitchen, it was the view that amazed her.

    The rear grounds of the lodge.

    She stepped to the edge of the stairway for a better look. Finley was already there, camera to her face. Abilene halted beside her and muttered, ‘Weird.’

    ‘I’ll say. But neat.’

    The lodge cast a heavy shadow halfway across the swath of level land. The far half was bathed in dusty golden light from the late afternoon sun. The end of the field and both its sides were walled by dense forest.

    It looked like an oasis.

    A picnic area.

    A park that had seen better days.

    Gazing at it, Abilene felt strange mixtures of excitement, nostalgia and apprehension.

    A red brick barbecue stood in the shadow, its chimney almost as high as the porch. A lone picnic table remained near the edifice. There may have been many such tables, once, but only this one remained. It was weathered like driftwood (like the totem poles out front, Abilene thought), and littered with leaves. Weeds climbed its legs.

    Off beyond the barbecue was a strip of concrete that resembled a miniature runway - the runway of an airport abandoned long ago. Dandelions grew in its web of cracks. Abilene could see enough of its faint markings, however, to know that it had once been a shuffleboard court.

    A ruin, now.

    In the days before it was a ruin, in the days before weeds overpowered the trim grass, people had probably played croquet on the part of the field behind the shuffleboard court. Abilene could almost hear the soft clack of colliding wooden balls.

    And the ring of a horseshoe clanging into a steel stake.