Philip Dampier's Blog

Episode 9

Sirens startled her out of her sleep. She barely raised her head and peeked out of the lower part of the window framing. Two, no three police cars were on the street, their lights spinning and flashing. She also saw an ambulance just outside the two brick posts that guarded the entrance to the house’s yard. Men in white and men in blue were running in various directions. She could hear their voices.

“Over here,” one cried.

“Is he dead?”

“I’m not sure. He’s bleeding bad, and he’s not conscious….yes, he’s breathing, but it’s shallow. Get a medic over here.”

Then she heard a different voice. A voice she recognized. A voice she despised, Arvie’s voice.

“She was hiding in the attic when I came home and then she tried to stab me in the living room. I ran next door, and she followed me there. My neighbor, Mrs. McClain hit her with a frying pan and knocked her out, and the two of us ran to the house where you picked me up.”

“Is that the phone installer they’re treating on the porch?”

“Yes, that’s him. I tried to get him to run but he wouldn’t. I don’t know why. I think he didn’t understand that it was a crazy person in the house.”

Wanda’s eyes widened and then narrowed. That rat, she thought. Who’s he calling crazy? I’ll make him think crazy. A new voice entered the conversation.

“Mr. Anderson, I’m Captain Vaughn of the City Police Department. If you’ll step over to my car, I would like to ask you a few questions. While we do that, the Sergeant and one of the patrolmen will search your house. Do we have your permission or do we need a warrant?”

“No, no. Go ahead. I think she’s run off. I think she’s looking for my daughter or for me.”

“Where is your daughter, by-the-way?”

“She’s at Rocking Horse Day Care Center on Oak Street.”

“I see. Let’s go to the car and let these men do their job, shall we?”

Wanda heard the door open, and the two men walk into the house. She pulled herself into the smallest ball she could possibly make. She forced herself to take slow, quiet breaths. The policemen moved from room to room. She could hear them opening and closing doors. She knew when they knelt and looked under the beds in Arvie’s room. She heard the hangers sliding on the pipes in the closet as they searched behind the clothes. It would only be a minute before they were going to be in the room where the attic door was.

She knew they wouldn’t find her. They wouldn’t walk across the dark, dusty attic when they could see the walls so clearly. She felt invisible and at the same time powerful. She had a mission, and those two amateurs wouldn’t get in her way. She was too smart for them and for that idiot of a husband, Arvie, too. Especially for Arvie. He would have been lost without her guidance. Couldn’t make a decision on his own. She started to smile and then remembered how much she hated him.

The door to the attic opened. The beam from a flashlight flicked across the ceiling and then onto the stairs. The old stairs groaned under the weight of the two men. The two officers had their weapons drawn, she was sure. She thought about jumping up and saying boo just to see them wet their pants but instead she enjoyed the picture she visualized.

The two officers stood at the top of the stairs and moved their lights around the room taking in every square foot. The beams stopped on the bedroom furniture. One of them spoke.

“Look at that old bedstead. You ever see anything like it?”

“Yeah, in my great-grandmother’s house.”

“Bet it would look nice all cleaned and polished.”

“Probably. Nothing up here. Let’s get out of here, this dust is killing me.”

One of the officers bent down and sent his beam under the bedstead. He moved it back and forth. Wanda froze. She quit breathing. Thirty seconds went by. The beam moved away, and the policemen moved as well. She could hear them going down the stairway. Then the door shut. She let out her breath and took a new one in.

Next, they checked out the small basement under the kitchen but were quickly back upstairs. She heard the back door open and then close. She didn’t move nor did she look out the window. No need to look. She knew what was out there. She would rest again and wait. There was time, and now she knew where Jill was.

Arvie shook hands with Captain Vaughn and looked at the house. The two officers who were searching the house came to the car and informed the captain that the house was empty, but Arvie was too shook up to go back in there. As long as Wanda was loose and armed, he wouldn’t go back in the house. He had to find a motel, and he had to get Jill to a safe place. He had to make some plans. Maybe he needed to quit his job and move to another state. He had never been so afraid in his life.

Arvie drove to the daycare and picked up Jill. Then he drove to a motel on the main highway heading south and got a room for them. He called the police captain and reported his whereabouts.

“Have you found Wanda?” he asked.

“No, but we have an APB out for her. In her present state of mind, she shouldn’t be hard to find. Wherever she goes, she’s sure to attract attention. We’ll have her in custody before the day is over; I’m sure.”