Chapter Five
Bess was in the kitchen scrambling eggs when Nancy awoke. Nancy shoved her feet into slippers, pulled on her robe, and trudged into the kitchen.
"I couldn't sleep," Bess said when she saw her bleary eyed friend.
"I completely understand." Nancy headed straight for the coffee maker.
"Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes," Bess said.
"Thanks. It smells delicious."
With a freshly brewed coffee in hand, Nancy peered out the window. The sun was shining and the pale blue sky held the promise of fair weather. A good thing, too. A foot of new snow glistened and sparkled on sidewalks and lawns. Nancy saw a group of children and adults building a snowman in the park across the street from the apartment complex.
Bess placed a platter of scrambled eggs on the dining table beside a plate of sliced ham and toasted English muffins.
"You're a fabulous hostess," Nancy said as she took a seat.
Bess buttered an English muffin and glanced over at the doll on the sofa. It was still sleeping, still nestled between the folds of the blanket. Bess jutted her chin toward the doll. "She doesn't seem to think so."
Nancy glanced over her shoulder. "No, she doesn't."
Bess lowered her voice. "I've decided I'm going to get rid of her."
Nancy gasped, "The doll?"
"Yes." Bess bite into her muffin and chewed.
"How? When?" Nancy stared at her friend. Her dearest friend in the world.
Bess reached for her coffee, but stopped. Her mouth fell open and she grabbed Nancy's arm. Her nails dug into Nancy's skin. Nancy saw the alarm on Bess' face and followed the direction of her gaze. Slowly, Nancy turned and looked over her shoulder. A quiet terror worked its way through her body. Every nerve came to life and her skin tingled.
The doll was sitting up. As pretty as you please.
"H .. how?" Nancy mumbled.
Bess released her grip on Nancy's arm. "I … I don't know, but I'm getting rid of her. I can't take any more of this."
The doll seemed to glare at the women … to watch their every move.
The women ate in silence for a while then Nancy said, "Let's have lunch in town. My treat." She forced herself to sound cheerful and gave Bess a warning look. They couldn't discuss things here, not with the doll close by. Nancy wrenched at that very thought, that she thought of the doll as a living, thinking, scheming entity. But there it was, the truth of how she felt.
Bess understood Nancy's warning. "Lunch in town sounds lovely." She forced a smile. "And I know just the place."
# # # #
The women were seated at a table in a delightful little French bistro. A handsome, young waiter deposited a glass of red wine in front of each of them. His cultured demeanor and charm, however, were lost on the distraught women. Gloom and doom hovered about them.
"I'll give you some time to peruse the menu," the waiter said and departed quickly. Women, he thought, who could figure them out? Certainly not him. And such pretty women, too. He'd found that the pretty ones were either already taken or crazy. Based on his brief observations, he would put these two in the latter category. Such a pity, he lamented.
Bess took a healthy gulp of her wine while Nancy perused the menu.
"Everything's good here," Bess said and downed another gulp of wine.
Nancy placed her menu on the table. "I take it the wine is good, too."
Bess eyed her half empty glass. "Oh. Um. Yes. Perhaps, I should take it easy."
"Perhaps you should. Or, at least let me catch up." Nancy grinned and took a generous sip of her wine. "Mmm. Very good. Just what I needed."
"Just what we both needed." Bess resisted the urge to down the rest of her wine and instead opened her menu.
Over soup, Nancy said, "I've been thinking and I might have a solution to the doll problem."
"Do tell." Bess was on her second glass of wine. Did she care? No.
"I don't want to get your hopes up. Not yet. I have to do a little investigating and some online searching. I'll do that tomorrow while you're at work. If all goes well, I should have the doll problem resolved by the time you come home."
Bess was pleasantly surprised. "Really? By the time I come home? That's wonderful news."
Nancy hoped she was looking in the correct direction for the solution. Tomorrow she would know.
A/N: Thank you, everyone, for the reviews! Glad to see the interest in this creepy little tale. The conclusion tomorrow. :)