Free Traces by Betty Bolte

doubt.
    Griz stood, stretched, and resettled beside her. Where Willy should be. The other half of the bed, empty except for the eight-pound cat. Meredith ran a hand over the cool sheet, imagining her husband lying beside her, his weight along with his desire for her pulling her closer. The pressure of his lips on hers. His hands moving over her most sensitive areas. Her name when he came.
    Stop . Crossing her arms, she focused on breathing, seeing the furniture, the pictures, the cat. Anything but the images in her mind. She couldn’t let herself relive his presence. The pain left from his death seared through her.
    With a flick of her wrist, she turned the light switch off and cast the room into darkness. She snuggled into her pillow, tucking the sheet under her arms. A half-moon floated among the pinpoints of stars outside the window, lending a touch of luminescence to the atmosphere. Perfect sleeping weather.
    If her eyes would close. She stared at the ceiling. Knotholes dotted the narrow slats. One, two, three… Knotholes instead of sheep? Why not? Since sleep evaded her, she had to do something to while away the night. Counting knotholes had helped when she was a child as well. Apparently sleeping through the night wasn’t high on her list of priorities. Even when tired. Like tonight. She sighed and started over. If she counted long enough, surely she’d drift off. One, two, three, four…
    The memory of a childhood dream floated into her mind. The Lady in Blue. Inspired by the belles in that old movie, Gone with the Wind , most likely. But the dream had replayed for her frequently as a child. It always started with a beautiful young woman dressed in a royal-blue hoop skirt, dotted with sequins twinkling with every step. Her blonde hair was pulled up with sausage curls dangling about her petite face. Funny how she could never espy the lady’s eyes, though.
    An icy breeze blew through the half-open window, fluttering the lacy sheers. Meredith opened her eyes at the first blast. Griz lifted her head from where she’d laid it on her paws, staring at the window. Meredith stroked the cat, but the feline leaped up, the hair along the ridge of her backbone slowly rising.
    “What’s the matter, girl?” Meredith looked at the cat, then the window. She pushed back the sheet and went to the window to close it. The sheers settled into place. “There’s nothing there. It was just the wind.”
    Griz growled low in her throat, staring at the window.
    Meredith slipped into bed, pulling up both the sheet and the lightweight coverlet. All was quiet except for the slowly fading complaints of her cat. “It’s okay, Griz. Now where was I?”
    One, two, three…
    Another icy breeze chilled her despite the covers draped across her body. The window remained tightly closed. Her brow tensed into a frown as she sat up and scanned the room. A flash of light drew her attention to the mirror on the triple dresser set against the far wall. She gasped as Griz jumped from the bed and raced from the room. The Lady in Blue appeared in the mirror, standing between the window and where Meredith sat on the bed, the lady’s hands reaching toward her. The lady’s silk skirt rustled when she stepped closer to the bed, sequins glinting.
    Fear, sharp and intense, shot through Meredith. She spun around to confront the woman, only to discover she sat alone among her tangled bedclothes, sleep a distant thought.

Chapter 4
    Thunder jarred Meredith awake, fear shooting into her soul at the terrifying sound. She jerked upright, shoving the covers to one side. Lightning flashed, bringing the room into focus in the early dawn light. Glancing at her digital watch, she groaned aloud. Not even the damn roosters would be crowing before five in the morning. Rain laced with hail beat against the panes in its own rhythm. At least the weather radio hadn’t sent out an alarm, so it was simply a thunderstorm. Nothing to fear. Her brain clicked on, automatically