The Sisters McFadden

Chapter 17 - The Enchantress

All at once, a tidal wave of energy overtook Rex's senses. His heartbeat started to race. He felt like his body was being pricked with thousands of tiny needles. Short of breath, he experienced slight pain in his chest and back. Panic set in as he feared he was having a heart attack right there. His first inclination was that the stress of Jane Doe had taken its toll. Oddly, the pins and needles morphed into an electric current, like he had been plugged into an amplifier. He griped tightly to the cage of the Mule trying to settle himself down. As he labored to obtain control of his breathing, he spotted a radiant woman standing in the center of the riding ring watching her ten-year-old daughter work out one of the newly arrived horses. It was the first time he set eyes on Aneke McFadden. Vibrant and classically beautiful described the wife of Warren McFadden. In her early forties, with sharp facial features and a dainty figure, she looked delicate, like a twig that could easily be snapped. Rex's brain hummed as he gazed at her. There was no doubt the energy he felt was originating from this woman.

            Warren parked the Mule outside the fence and called out to his girls. On the opposite side of the ring stood Chelsea leaning up against the fence watching her little sister ride in wide circles. Rex recognized his son's flannel shirt that she wore. He had not been able to get a good look at her in Dalton's truck the night before. She was a bombshell. In her $400 sunglasses, it was obvious Chelsea did not want to be there, or even be out of bed for that matter.

            Staying inside the riding circle, Aneke strolled over to greet her husband and Rex from across the fence. She set her elbows on the top rail and brushed her shoulder length hair out of her eyes. Before she even spoke, Rex felt a connection as he inhaled her aura. At that moment in time, he could never have fathomed the impact this worldly woman would have on his life. He'd never be the same.

            "Hello," said Aneke in her heavy Afrikaans accent.

            "This is Detective Rex Walker," said Warren. "He's with the local Sheriff's Office. Detective, this is my wife Aneke."

            "Good morning," replied Rex. Those were the only words he could muster as he used the fence post to balance himself with the dizziness in his head not quite settled. His heart was beating out of his chest. Not since he'd met Kit in college had he been this attracted to another human being. Wearing more expensive sunglasses than her daughter, Rex could not see Aneke's eyes which made it impossible to tell if the connection was mutual even in the slightest.

            "Cold clouds are coming in," said Aneke.

            "As I drove up the hill on my way here, the fog had already covered the lower part of the peninsula."

            "In Cape Town, we call it the table cloth. It blankets Table Mountain. Palos Verdes reminds me a great deal of Cape Town."

            "The fog is now upon us," said Warren as he pointed up to the ridge where the pool deck sat. Mist seemed to be blowing across the property like smoke. The air temperature cooled further. "Detective Walker's son was the boy driving Chelsea home last night. He is also the detective working on the dead girl's case. Still no leads. He was the one who found her in the ocean yesterday on his paddle board."

            "Is that true?" asked Aneke.

            "Yes," said Rex. "It's been over twenty-four hours and we have not been able to identify her. We know she drowned, that's it so far. I will be spending most of my day on her case."

            "Well then, let's not keep you," said Warren. "I will get Chelsea over here to give her story."

            "Warren promised me America would be safer than South Africa," said Aneke with slight disdain. "We nearly just arrived and my daughter has been attacked by a man on a horse. Thankfully, she was with your son."

            "I am very sorry about all this," said Rex. "I can assure you this is out of the ordinary for PV. Before I take your daughter's statement, did any of you hear or see anything strange last night? Or anything at all? The attack was only a mile away and our horseman used the network of trails on this side of the hill."

            "I did, sir," said a child's meek voice.

            While fixated on Aneke, Rex failed to notice Octavia dismount her horse and walk over to her mother's side. He needed to bend down to look at her through the fence. In her tan riding pants and black knee high boots, she appeared painfully shy. Her hair was pulled back into a long braided ponytail under her English equestrian helmet. As soon as he'd knelt down, he felt it. It could only be described as a force field that surrounded her body. It pushed back on Rex like two negative sides of a magnet rejecting each other. It almost knocked him over. He looked at her at eye level and immediately saw her dead left eye. It was black and lifeless. It looked identical to a shark's eye. He'd never seen anything like it on a person. The contrast to her brilliant green right eye was stark.

            "Hello there," said Rex. "My name is Detective Rex. What is yours?"

            "Octavia, sir, but everybody calls me O. Except my parents."

            "It's a pleasure to meet you, O. How old are you?"

            "Ten."

            "What did you hear last night?"

            "My sister Ash and I were sleeping and I heard galloping. It was loud. The horse was crying."

            Octavia's accent was so thick and she spoke so softly that Rex could barely understand a word. "I'm sorry, did you say crying?"

            "Yes, the rider was mean. Riding the horse too hard."

***

By the time Rex finished taking Chelsea's statement, the entire top of the peninsula was shrouded in the densest fog Rex had ever witnessed in almost fifty years living on the hill. Warren had trouble seeing the path in front of them as he drove Rex back to his truck on the road. Rex was perceptively aware that Warren did not leave the company of his girls the entire time. Able to shake off the trance Aneke had put him in, he managed to get down to business and ask Chelsea about the events with the horseman. Her story matched verbatim those of the other three kids, except for one key detail. According to Chelsea, the horseman took an axe to the roof of Dalton's truck directly above Lexie in the backseat. Rex knew this was incorrect as he had inspected Dalton's truck in daylight that morning noting the dent from the axe blow on the roof directly above the front passenger seat. He realized Chelsea had been drinking and passed out prior, but it was a major detail as she seemed to be able to articulate all other pertinent facts.

            On the short drive up to Main Road to meet Kurt at the site of the attack, Rex's mind involuntarily commenced what would be become a life altering as well as lifelong obsession with Aneke McFadden.