Free Echoes in the Bayou by Ursula Dukes Page A

Ava; you seem to have everything under
control so I think I’ll step out for a bit. I need to get some supplies,"
he said and headed back down the stairs and out the door.
    He was
angry but he tried to fight it, he even managed to get into the car without
slamming the door. It wasn’t until he’d made it to the main road that he
punched the dashboard.  What the hell made
her switch it off like that? He wondered.
It was quite obvious to him that the phone call from her boss Gavin had gotten
her riled up. Clearly the two had
something going on and now it was over. And one of them doesn’t want it to be , he thought to himself. Now all I’ve got to do is
figure out which one.
    As she set about the house in search of any
documentation about the history of the plantation, someone was out in the bayou
making sure no harm would come to her. Earlier, when the two had gone out,
Sinta had managed to place gris-gris all around the property, the gris-gris
would not allow anyone who meant Ava harm inside the house. But since the
spirit of John DuPonte was already in the house, she had to find a way to get
invited inside so that she could talk to the young woman and find out
everything there was to know about her. She hoped and prayed that the young
woman inside the big house would accept the idea of reincarnation.
    For Ava,
the best solution to rid herself of her anger was to throw herself into her work,
once she searched in her bags and found the measuring tape, she went about her
task. She was going to take various measurements for window treatments and new
doors. The first night that she had arrived, she noticed that the kitchen
housed a large pantry. The only thing missing was a door. "I’ll start
there," she said with determination. She knew that Magnus had left angry
and she only hoped that when he returned he would be thinking more clearly and
would see things her way.
    She
didn’t feel as if she owned him an explanation. I'm not here to get romantically involved
anyway, she told herself. Okay then, so
what’s with the hand holding, hugging and kissing? Her conscience demanded an answer. People do
strange things when they are under duress , she argued back.
    By the
time she had reached the pantry, Ava was in a full on argument w ith herself. Not only was she mad at herself for being
vulnerable during their paranormal episodes, but she was also angry because she
liked kissing him, and she liked holding him in her arms. Why for once
can’t you put your stubborn, yet bruised feelings aside? Stop doubting them, go
with them and see where they take you! Her intuition implored. "Besides, didn’t you say earlier that you were
going to do the unpredictable thing? Well wouldn’t following your heart in this
particular situation be quite unpredictable?" She asked, out loud.
"Not every man is going to treat me like Gavin did. And like I said, my
intuition seems to work on everyone but me," she murmured and took out her
measuring tape.
      In all of her frustration, she wasn’t paying attention
to the warped wooden shelves in the pantry that housed an overabundance of
canned jams and vegetables.  As she hooked the end of the measuring tape
onto the old wooden board it gave way taking the contents of the shelf with
it.  "Shit!" She cursed. Ava bent down and began picking up the
larger pieces of glass. When the mess had been swept up, she examined the wall
that was behind the broken shelf, an old rusted latch had been affixed to it
and immediately her curiosity was peaked.
       Without bothering to wait for Magnus to return,
she hastily began removing all of the items from the other shelves. When the
entire pantry had been emptied, she began work on trying to open the old latch.
After several failed attempts using a hammer, she decided to get a bit more
resourceful. Using a rag soaked with olive oil, she lubricated the latch and
using a butter knife slid the latch up. It made a clicking sound before easily
giving way.
    When