In Sickness and in Death by Jaye P. Marshall Page A

man said with a stiff bow.
    Brian followed the couple. Mrs. Robinson gave the impression of a reigning queen as she delivered some last-minute instructions to the bartender. The living room was bathed in soft music from a hidden stereo system. Light from a crystal chandelier glistened on the parquet floor. A grouping of leather couches, arranged around a sunken fountain, made an inviting conversation center. Most of the other furniture was antique, Brian decided, and all of it was extremely expensive. The elder Dr. Robinson entered through an interior door just as Alan and Adrienne approached his wife. Brian watched Adrienne take in all of her surroundings even as she appeared to be giving her full attention to the introductions Alan was making to his parents. The doorbell interrupted their small talk.
    “Oh,” Mrs. Robinson said. “Our guests are beginning to arrive. Help yourself to the buffet, my dear.” She waved a hand toward a loaded sideboard and hurried toward the entrance hall.
    “Would you two like a drink?” Doctor Robinson asked.
    Alan leaned down. “Adrienne?”
    “Yes, please. A vodka martini if possible.” She raised a questioning eyebrow to the Doctor.
    “Of course, my dear. We have a pretty wide selection.”
    “I’ll get the drinks,” Alan said. “Dad?”
    “No, thanks, son. Not right now. I’ll have something a little later.”
    “I think I’ll check out the buffet,” Adrienne said.
    Brian thought of his mom and instantly appeared at her side. She was sitting in a darkened house, a cup of tea cooling before her. Staring out of the window, she was the picture of melancholy. This house presented a striking contrast to the one he’d just left. He wished there was something he could do to ease his mother’s mind. If only he could let her know that his well-being was beyond her worrying about him. He hovered next to her and tried to send her comforting thoughts.
    After quite some time, he could see no difference in her mental state. With a sigh, he whisked back to the party.
    Adrienne was dancing with Alan and obviously enjoying herself. Several other young men could hardly keep their attention off her, much to the dismay of their companions. Adrienne was aware of the reaction she was getting and exploited it, with the exaggerated swaying of her hips and coy glances at her other admirers over Alan’s shoulder or when he wasn’t looking.
    Brian felt crestfallen. There didn’t seem to be any way at all that he could get through to her. On this night a dream message would be totally hopeless.

Chapter 13

    Discouraged, Brian returned to the spirit world in search of his father. He found him exiting a grove of trees.
    “What’s this place?” he asked, nodding toward the glen.
    “That’s the Hall of Wisdom.”
    “Hall of Wisdom? What’s that?”
    “It’s a place where we study with more highly developed spirits to discover what the next step of our progression should be. We learn a lot about ourselves here. You’ll probably study here when you get all of this Adrienne business taken care of.”
    Brian sighed. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get it resolved. It seems like no matter what I do, I just can’t seem to get through to her.”
    “Well, we all have free will, remember. The only thing you can do is try to make her see that she’s done something very wrong. What have you tried?”
    “I tried sending her thoughts, but that didn’t seem to get anywhere at all. I’ve tried dreams. I’ve been meditating a lot in an effort to increase my powers of concentration.”
    “What kind of dreams did you send?”
    Brian related the images he had conjured and sent to Adrienne. “The first one seemed to worry her a little, but after that . . .” He shrugged.
    “She may not understand that everyone deserves the same consideration that we want for ourselves. You may have to try a different tactic.”
    “I wish I knew what.”

    Sometime later, Alan Robinson drove the Corvette into