Chapter37 The Great Madame Chybovsky – And the True Medium

Sheriff Faulkner pulls into their driveway. With him…the highly anticipated Madame Chybovsky….a short, stocky woman in her mid-sixties; with facial features and coloring distinctively indicating an Eastern European ethnicity. She's dressed in a stereotypical, gypsy-like garb; complete with her very own crystal ball. The sheriff gets out of the car, tips his hat to the Lazinski family, and goes around to open the passenger door for Madame Chybovsky. She exits the vehicle and, using over exaggerated movements, half bows and twists her arm as she extends it outward; speaking with a strong ‘Romanian' accent… "Hello all. Not to fear anymore; Madame Chybovsky has come to deal with the restless spirits that dwell within your abode." Sheriff Faulkner announces, "Lazinski family; may I present, Madame Chybovsky." She takes a deep bow, as if she had just finished a great performance on stage, and proclaims, "The one and only, Madame Chybovsky…in the flesh." Martin and Anna try hard not to laugh out loud at Madame Chybovsky; who reminds them of one of those gypsy characters in an old werewolf or vampire movie played late at night on TV. Beth, on the other hand, is a little more appreciative and whole-heartedly welcomes her. "Madame Chybovsky," Beth gives her a hug, "thank you so much for taking the time to come out here and help us." As Beth releases her hug, Madame Chybovsky notices her eyes; and, starts wiping away Beth's tears with her free hand. "There, there, bushka; no more tears now. Madame Chybovsky is here to take away all your troubles. We will calm these spirits and rid them from your home. I, The Great Madame Chybovsky, promise you that." Martin walks over to the sheriff and whispers in his ear, "Are you sure about this, Lloyd? I mean; she looks like she should be telling fortunes at a carnival or something." "Well now, Martin; sometimes we just need to keep an open mind about things. I'm sure Madame Chybovsky will accomplish just what it is she was brought here to do." Beth walks Madame Chybovsky over to Martin. "Madame Chybovsky, this is my husband, Martin. Martin, say hello to Madame Chybovsky, please." "Excuse me; I'm sorry, Madame Chybovsky; forgive me." Martin extends his hand out to shake hers. "Is fine, Martin; you all have much on your minds. Madame Chybovsky understands and forgives. As I told your lovely wife Beth, no more worries; I will take care of your spirits." Martin rubs the back of his neck with one hand while placing the other in his pants pocket. He looks down and notices what Madame Chybovsky's holding. "So, Madame Chybovsky; I see you've brought your crystal ball with you?" "Martin!" Beth evokes a disapproving look. "I'm sorry, Madame Chybovsky; he…" Madame Chybovsky raises her hand, "No need for apologies, bushka; is alright. Martin, darling, this is not a…how you say…crystal ball. It is a looking glass…or, a window if you will…into the spirit world." Anna runs over. "Hi; I'm Anna." "Ahh, littlest bushka, so good to meet you; I am, Ma - dame Chy - bov - sky. Can you say that?" "The Great Madame Chybovsky! Remember; the one and only…in the flesh." Anna looks and smiles at her. Madame Chybovsky bends down, smiles, and softly pinches Anna's cheek. "Ohh, what a precious and smart, little bushka! Very good!" Just then, Deputy Hopkins pulls up in his patrol car with his niece, Cindy. Beth gets a befuddled expression on her face as she looks at the sheriff. "Lloyd, what's he doing here?" "Relax, Beth. I'm sorry, I forgot to mention before; Deputy Hopkins asked if he could come here with his niece while Madame Chybovsky does her thing." "Why? What for, Lloyd?" Beth's noticeably upset over this. "Now, I know the two of yawl didn't exactly hit it off; but, Mike's not that bad of a guy once you get to know him, Beth. In fact, to be perfectly honest with you, we've kinda been working on this case together." Beth's more confused now than before. "I don't get it, Lloyd; after everything that's happened, you're working with him on this?" "Yup; and, if I may add, he's helped out considerably. Beth, I'll fill you and Martin in later with the details; but for now, let's all just try to get along civil-like." "Fine; if you say so, Lloyd." "I do; and, I do thank you for your understanding, Beth." "Yeah, well, I didn't say you had my understanding. I'll try to be civil though." "Well, then I thank you kindly for that, Mam." Deputy Hopkins and his niece join the group. "Sorry we're late everyone; traffic along I-82 is slow moving for some reason today." "That's okay, Deputy. Besides, technically, to be late you'd have to be expected…and, since you weren't; I guess you're not late now; are you?" Martin gently grabs his wife's upper arm and pulls her closer to him, whispering in her ear, "Way to go being civil." Deputy Hopkins removes his sunglasses, putting them in his shirt pocket as he looks down and laughs. "I suppose I had that coming to me. Mrs. Lazinski, I realize we've had our little differences during our last meetings perhaps; but, I'd like for us to put them behind us for now if possible. At least until we take care of your problem here, maybe?" "Okay, Deputy Hopkins. I'm game…for now." "Good. Well then; I'd like you to meet my niece, Cindy." "Hello, Mrs. Lazinski. Nice to meet you." Cindy reaches out to shake Beth's hand. Beth hesitantly reaches out to shake Cindy's hand. "I guess it's nice to meet you too, Cindy. Um…what is it you do exactly?" "Well, actually," Cindy laughs, "I'm a hair stylist." "Okay…" Beth nods while turning to the sheriff, "I could see how that can help us here today…Lloyd?" "Now hold on, Beth; before you go plum loco on us…Mike tells me that Ms. Cindy here has some psychic abilities herself that might prove to be helpful." "Pardon me, Sheriff," Madame Chybovsky steps in, "did I hear correctly? Darling, are you psychic like Madame Chybovsky?" "No…she's for real." The deputy goes on, "Cindy's worked on several cases with the Boston Police Department, Beth; and, she's helped them out every time." "And I, the Great Madame Chybovsky, have worked with several police departments…including one that your sheriff was with…with excellent results as well. My only concern is what exactly are your powers; my dear?" The deputy cuts in again, "Cindy's great…a true psychic." "Really?" Madame Chybovsky scoffs. "It's true. And, besides being psychic, she can predict the future too; to a tee." "Is that so, Deputy?" "Yeah. Allow me to give you an example of one of her recent predictions that proved to be on the money." "Go right ahead, darling." "Yesterday, she told me that tomorrow would be Tuesday; and sure enough, when I woke up this morning, it was." "Uncle Mike! Stop!" Cindy laughs. "Very amusing." Madame Chybovsky turns to Cindy. "Darling, I'm sure you think you may have some power or something; but, there's only one Madame Chybovsky. And, only one true psychic is here today. So please, stay out of my way while I help these nice people with their situation. Am I making myself clear; Cindy, is it?" "Yeah, it's Cindy;" She tries to compose herself…and, keep from slapping around Madame Chybovsky…before adding, "and, I hear you; lady." "Good. Then let us go…or rather…let me go and deal with these restless spirits. Come now; show Madame Chybovsky inside." Anna, Martin and Sheriff Faulkner lead the way, with Beth following them; accompanied by Madame Chybovsky. Beth feels slightly bad about how Madame Chybovsky demeaned Cindy; but, she's willing to overlook her rudeness if she's capable of solving their problems, and keeping Anna from being harmed. Deputy Hopkins and Cindy remain out front for the moment. "You okay, Kiddo? Don't take it too personally; that fraud's all talk." "Its okay, Uncle Mike; it doesn't bother me what that pompous air bag said." "Then what's wrong?" The deputy can see that something's troubling his niece. "There's something about that house, Uncle Mike…about this place…something evil." The deputy puts his hand above his eyes to shield them from the sun as he looks up at the house. "We know…that's why I asked you to come here and see if you could help us figure this thing out. That Madame Chybovsky's a pure fraud. I don't think that woman has a psychic bone in her body." "Then why bring her out here and make that poor family think she's going to be able to help them?" "Politics, Cindy; nothing but God damn politics." "If you say so, Uncle Mike." Cindy's suddenly drawn to walk around to the backyard. When she reaches the barn, Cindy stops and stares at the old, rundown structure. "What's up, Kiddo?" "This is it." "This is what?" "The barn, Uncle Mike; it's the epicenter." "The epicenter?" "Yes. All the evil affecting this place starts here, and spreads out to the surrounding areas; sort of like the epicenter of an earthquake. This is the point of its origin. This is where it all began." "Hold on; are you sure?" The deputy looks back at the house; then, returns to looking at the barn, "The Howells were killed in the house." "Uncle Mike," Cindy puts her hand on the barn door, "trust me. This is the center of everything that's going on; right here." "All right, Kiddo; if you say so. Let's go in and see what Madame Chybovsky's up to. She's probably giving a séance to channel the spirit of Elvis." They both laugh as they start to head back to the house. Then, Cindy stops suddenly, turns and looks into the woods. "Uncle Mike…was someone recently killed in the area?" The deputy looks into the woods. "There's a strong possibility a murder did occur; and, the body may have been buried somewhere in the vicinity. We've been looking into it. Why? Can you tell if there was murder here? Do you think you can take us to the body?" "Yes and no." "Yes and no? What do you mean?" "Yes, there was a murder here recently…a woman I believe?" The deputy nods. "But, no; I can't take you to the body." "Why not?" "Because it's not here anymore." "What?" "Someone moved it." "Someone moved it?" "Yes." "Why? Where?" "I don't know why. And, I told you; I don't know where it was moved to…just that it was moved." "Well, do you think you can show me where it was initially buried at? Maybe we can start from there and track it down." "No." "How come?" "Something's keeping that from me." "What do you mean, Kiddo?" "Someone doesn't want that body found…at least, not yet."