31. The Alarming Visits
Someone knocks at the door and she peeps, smiles, shakes her head and opens the door and the gate.
“Hello, Leo, do you really have nothing better to do than while your time away on your Sunday off?”
Leo’s raincoat and hat are drenched. “You are my only little warm sun on this gloomy day, my darling.”
She smiles happily. “Shame, come in farm boy so that I can take this drenched hat and raincoat off before you rust away.”
Leo enters and she takes the wet clothes and hangs it on two of the pegs in the wall at the front door.”
“It’s the first time that I need these hooks at the front door.”
“Thanks, Chloe, I have a proposal. When you are visiting the workshop on Mondays, do it over lunchtime so that I also can see you.”
Chloe smiles and pecks him on the cheek. “Will do! Something to drink? Hot coffee or tea, perhaps?”
Leo shakes his head. “No, thank you, Chloe, I had a hearty breakfast and coffee just before I left the farm with a full belly. My only wish is to spend a little time with you.”
Chloe bumps him suddenly lightly so that he loses his balance and sits down on an antique sofa and she takes the chair next to him.
“Okay then, plant your bum and enlighten me about the things on the farm. Is everything still running? Anything I must know of? Have you finished the farm’s fences?”
“The fences are hundred per cent. We finished yesterday. And I have everything under control and the farm runs like a well-oiled machine. I’m just wondering. Was the Toyota Venture insured and are we going to replace it.”
“It was old with only third party insurance, Leo. To tell you the truth, I have completely forgotten that it was written off in the accident. You must remind me again. We will have to buy a used minibus or something. What do you think? Would it be the best option? I shall ask Ronnie tomorrow to look on Gumtree and Facebook and phone me if he finds something promising.”
“Now, how are you really here, Chloe? You are so aloof nowadays. Don’t you want to be open and honest with me for a change? What is bothering you? Talk to me! By this time you must know I am a good listener. I specially came all the way from the farm for you to offload what is on your heart and to let you feel better. What is bothering you?”
“What bothers me? It is my two brothers and their nonsense. Leo, make peace, then everything will be fine. I don’t want this tension between you.”
“That’s not what I am talking about, Chloe. Something is wrong. You are hiding something from me that bothers you. I always read you like an open book. You know me by now.”
Leo catches her off guard because he reads her body language so well. Dammit! How does he do it?
“Are you clairvoyant, Leo?”
It is as if something in her question affirms something and he looks into her eyes. “Chloe, I know you don’t believe it, but yes, I am. You experienced something here that bothers you a lot because you don’t believe in the supernatural, but you don’t get an alternative explanation and your body language betrays it as clearly as daylight. If I have told you some other time that I was clairvoyant you would have mocked me, but now I can clearly see something has upset you and it is time that we are honest with each other.”
“You believe you are clairvoyant. Explain to me precisely what it is.”
“Sometimes I see the spirits of people who have passed on.”
“Like whom?”
“My parents, and sometimes people I didn’t know at all. And sometimes, someone who was close to me and has just passed away.”
“Have you seen someone recently?”
Leo frowns, hesitates and looks down. “Please, Leo, be honest with me.”
Leo looks up with tears in his eyes. “I have the feeling you had the same visitor.”
Chloe doesn’t know why but her heart races in her chest. She rises and sits down next to him on the sofa.
“Who visited you, Leo? Please tell me everything, and I promise I will share my experiences with you.”
It looks as if the words are hurtful when he speaks and the tears are flowing freely. “Chloe, you know Tony always smoked his pipe in that rocking chair in the dark part of the veranda. My room is just around the corner and I always leave my windows wide open and I heard and smelled him frequently.”
Leo hesitates again and looks away. “What? Leo, tell me!”
He looks back with an expression of pain on his face. His struggling words let her freeze.
“I have heard and smelled him every evening since last week, Chloe.”
She loses her fight against tears and they stream out with her words: “Leo, I heard something in the kitchen. The alarm activated and I found Rum and Maple tobacco smoke in the kitchen and the open fridge with portions of salami rolled around pieces of cheese on the dining room table.”
Chloe sees clear shock and surprise on his face. “Chloe, your mother always moaned about his habit to roll salami around cheese in the middle of the night. Sometimes he left the fridge open and some of the snacks on the table.”
Chloe grabs him and hugs him tightly and sobs over his shoulder. “What is the meaning of this, Leo?”
He answers slowly and carefully. “Sometimes something is hindering those who have departed and they want to fix things before they finally move on to their final destination. They usually appear to leave a final message.”
“What do you think Tony wants to tell us, Leo?”
“I wish I know, Chloe, but as far as we know, he only left signs for us. So I assume he wants something from us. What do you think it could be?”
“I wonder whether it could be related to the accident, Leo? What is your guess?”
“I simply don’t know, Chloe.”
They sit quietly for a while hugging each other and then Leo pulls his head back and again looks into her eyes. “Maybe he wants you back on the farm.”
“But he also left signs for you?”
He nods. “True, but you know, Chloe, we were very close and I am clairvoyant. I lost my whole family while I was still at school and your father became like a stepfather to me. We understood each other completely and farming was in our blood. Why don’t you come back? I have a feeling Tony will then be at peace and we will have the confirmation if his visits stop.”
Adamantly she shakes her head from side to side. “Maybe the bad air between you and Ronnie is worrying him and that is why you also get the smoke signals. I think you and Ronnie must prove that you will live together in peace and I must help you to achieve it before I return. I think he needs all of us living together in harmony. That will give him peace; if that is what is going on.”
Leo smiles. “You are so obstinate, Chloe. I really think you must pack your things and come back and everyone will be happy.”
Chloe frowns. “I am just wondering, Leo, what if there is another reason why Tony made his appearance known and it has something to do with the attempted murder on Zoey and Lyle’s lives?”
For a moment she is silent.
“And what if he is trying to warn us against something?”