“Can you stop work for a while? I have lunch ready in the kitchen.”
“Lunch? You don’t need to feed us, Miz Thibodaux.” He sounded surprised.
“Are you refusing to eat my sandwiches?”
Luc could imagine her brows rising.
“N…no ma’am. I’ll be right down.”
“Good. You can wash up at the kitchen sink. Can you tell me where the assessor is?”
“No ma’am, I’m sorry. He works a bit faster than I do. I expect he’s probably on the second floor by now,” Nasal said.
“I’ll see you in the kitchen.” She went to the second floor, searching nearly every room.
Luc hovered in a far corner when she finally found the assessor in the large linen closet. Raspy was bent over thumbing through her sheets and towels.
“I didn’t realize property taxes applied to linens,” Grace’s voice was dry.
The man’s head shot up crashing into the shelf above it. “Ow. Dang it all, Miz Thibodaux, you shouldn’t sneak up on someone like that.”
“Perhaps someone shouldn’t be searching through my bedding and wash cloths,” she ground out.
“I wasn’t searching. I just haven’t seen anything so pretty. Thought my wife might want something like this pillow case.” Hepulled a pristine embroidered sham from a stack of folded shams. “You know where I can get one?”
Luc harrumphed silently. He could almost admire the man’s inventive lie.
Grace took the sham and restored it to its proper place. “Those shams were hand embroidered by my aunt. If your wife knows embroidery, she can make her own.”
“Well now, I don’t reckon as she knows ’broidery stuff, but I’ll ask her. Thank you. Did you want something, Miz Thibodaux?”
“I came to tell you lunch is ready in the kitchen. My land manager will be joining you. I’ll have my meal elsewhere, so you can speak with him privately.”
“That’s mighty nice of you, Miz Thibodaux. I’ll just make some notes about this closet then be right down.”
The incident in the linen closet made Grace so uneasy her pulse raced. Luc didn’t blame her.
After lunch, he watched the assessor closely. The man examined one room, moved to another, then returned, mumbling to himself about being thorough and reporting to someone. On most occasions the things he re-checked had nothing to do with evaluating property for tax purposes. Even when Raspy started on the outbuildings, he tapped on walls and peered into containers. Grace was also aware, because she checked on him often that afternoon. The moment she watched the two trucks drive off down the lane didn’t come soon enough, to suit Luc, but it did come. She’d have to delay her search for the ship again tomorrow in order to stay near the phone and wait for the test call she’d been promised.
I need to find a way to delay her more. Long enough that she’ll forget about finding my ship. How best to do that?
Luc could try to manipulate her thoughts. However, unlike watching another person’s dreams, manipulating thoughts could be painful for both parties. Better to create an illusion. Spectral actions were at odds with usual human behaviors, so the tension between the two would cause him some increased agony, but it would not harm Grace. Luc hurried to find a piece of paper. He needed to set the illusion while she was still outside. He moved the paper to the kitchen table, anchoring it in place with a pencil.
Grace returned after a few moments. As she poured herself a glass of lemonade, Luc finished creating the illusion of a note in her handwriting.
She sat at the table, picked up the paper and groaned.
The note was a list labeled To Do As Soon As Possible.
1.Phone installation
2.Tax assessor
3.Electric wiring
4.Find a good generator in case of outages
5.Arrange for regular deliveries of gasoline for generator
