by Raven Snow
Margo rolled her eyes. The mask of innocence fell from her face. At least she respected Rowen’s common sense enough to realize she wasn’t going to sneak the truth by her. “It’s all innocent, I swear.”
“I feel like Jasper would think otherwise.”
Margo frowned. “You’re not going to tell him, are you? I mean, there isn’t anything to tell.”
“Then why should it matter what I tell him?”
“Because it might worry him, and there’s no reason for him to worry!” Margo took a deep breath and lowered her voice. “Look, Sutton hasn’t even shown any interest. It’s not like I think anything might come of this.”
“But you’d be willing to go for it if Sutton did show interest? I don’t see how that’s any better.”
“I’m just saying that telling him right now would be premature. I’m just testing the waters. It’s not like that’s a crime.”
“No, but it’s still a pretty scummy thing to do.”
“Whatever.” Margo was angry. That much was clear in the way she swept past her cousin and back into the Inquirer building. Rowen sighed as she watched her go. Family could be such a pain sometimes.
Chapter Three
“Well, it has to be faeries.” Aunt Nadine had watched the video three times now. Everyone had managed to keep quiet until she spoke up.
“Oh, come on.” Lydia threw her hands in the air. “It’s always faeries to you. Look at that. You hear all those voices? That’s regular people here in Lainswich. They can see whatever it is zooming around up there. Those are no faeries.”
Nadine shook her head. She wouldn’t be so easily swayed. “There’s precedence for faeries allowing normal people to see them.”
“Oh, really?” Lydia shot back. “Anyone you know, or was it just someone you heard about? Faeries aren’t exactly an exact science yet. Anything you found online is hearsay at best.”
Nadine huffed. She was sweet as can be most of the time, but even she had her limits tested on occasion. “They asked me what I thought it was. I was telling them. If you have your own theory, tell them. Don’t take it out on me.”
“Fine,” said Aunt Lydia with a little huff of her own. “I think it’s aliens.”
“Thank you,” said Willow, her tense posture relaxing. “I mean, obviously it has to be, right?”
“Just because you and Aunt Lydia think it’s aliens doesn’t make it so,” Rowen tried reminding her.
“Well, it’s not just the two of us, is it? Most of Lainswich thinks it’s aliens.”
“Only the people from Lainswich who are camping out on hilltops and making a lot of noise about the whole thing.” Rowen couldn’t imagine that it wasn’t just a vocal minority crying alien.
“We know more about this kind of stuff than most,” Willow insisted.
Lydia nodded at her niece in agreement. “If it was faeries, we would be able to tell.”
“Apparently not.” Nadine turned her gaze to her daughter. “I’m sorry, but I just don’t understand where all the talk of aliens is coming from. It looks like faeries to me.” She looked to Rowen next. “What do you think it is?”
Rowen shrugged. “I think it’s a UFO.” She saw Lydia start to smile. Rowen quickly raised a hand to quiet her before she could get out an, ‘I told you so.’ “And I don’t mean an alien. I mean some kind of unidentified flying object. It could be anything. A lot of people are suggesting it could be some kind of military vehicle the army is testing. That seems like a definite possibility to me.”
Lydia looked back at the laptop screen. “Play it again?” Aunt Nadine hit play. They all stood in silence until the video had finished once more. “Hmm.” Lydia nodded knowingly. “I suppose it could be some sort of military what have you.”
Willow groaned. “Not you too.”
“Now, now. We have to be open minded about these things. We have to consider every possibility.”
Nadine gave an offended little, humph. “I didn’t see you giving much consideration to faeries.”
“That’s because it’s not faeries!” Lydia motioned to the screen, Willow nodding emphatically behind her.
“Fine.” Nadine stood. “But don’t ask for my opinion again if you don’t really want it.”
“I wanted your opinion,” Rowen said quickly, stepping around Nadine to keep her from storming off. “That’s why we’re here.”
“I thought you were here for dinner?” Aunt Lydia asked, a frown on her face. “I thought you finally wanted to spend some time with your poor family.”
Aunt Lydia was always making a scene over little things. She loved the drama, craved it. “We also came here to spend time with you,” Rowen assured her, even though that wasn’t really the case. They already visited with them several times a week. They weren’t nearly as neglectful as Lydia made them out to be. “But this is important too. We need to explore all the theories there are about these lights. It’s not just for the Inquirer either. Ben asked us to see what you guys thought.”
Lydia and Nadine both exchanged a look. Something wordless but approving passed between them. They seemed to have formed an unspoken truce when Lydia turned back to Rowen again. “Ben asked for our opinions, did he?” she preened a bit at that. “Well, that was smart of him. Folks are never giving us the credit we’re due around here. We could help out with so much. I’m glad Ben sees that… Though, I mean, it’s no great surprise really. He’s married to my girl, after all. I’m sure she’s explained to him how undervalued we are around here.”
“But neither of you are really sure about what this could be?” Rowen motioned back to the screen again.
“I already said it’s faeries,” said Nadine with a sigh.
“Aliens,” Lydia and Willow said together, prompting Nadine to give her daughter a stern look.
“But neither of you actually know for sure.”
“And how are we supposed to know for sure?” asked Nadine.
“You aren’t. All you’ve seen is a video of a light in the sky.” Rowen glanced at the clock on the wall. It wasn’t quite dark out yet, but it likely would be soon. Out the window, the horizon was growing orange and pink. “You should come see it in person. You would be able to form more solid opinions out there, wouldn’t you?”
Nadine followed Rowen’s gaze to the window. “I suppose so. I wouldn’t mind the hike through the woods, at any rate. We haven’t been out there for a while.”
Lydia was less enthusiastic about going. “I believe Willow and I feel plenty confident about what’s going on here. I can’t imagine why we would need to tag along.” Willow nodded in agreement.
“You’re both just being difficult.” Rowen rolled her eyes and nodded to Lydia. “And you know it. Don’t act like you don’t want to go see it in person regardless of what it is.”
Lydia sighed. “Fine,” she relented. She couldn’t maintain her put-upon expression for long however. “Honestly, I suppose I do want to see it with my own eyes.”
***
So they packed up yet another picnic lunch. This time it was something Aunt Lydia cooked. It was a great deal tastier than what Willow had prepared on their last outing. Not that there was anything wrong with finger sandwiches and cookies. Lydia’s spaghetti was just all around better. Granted, it wasn’t really a picnic food, but Lydia insisted on taking it anyway. It was what she had cooked for dinner, and when she heard Willow had taken them on a picnic the first time they had gone to see the lights, she insisted on a picnic as well.
“The best place to see it is directly under it,” Willow explained when Nadine questioned if they could hike to a high space in the forest behind their house.
“A high up space would work, but there are too many trees around here,” Rowen agreed.
By the time they were leaving, Peony had made it home as well. She was the only one of their cousins to still live at home. Technically, Margo did as well. She had made a home for herself in the trailer in the side yard. Being Margo she, of course, didn�
�t consider this living at home.
“Do you want to tag along, Sweetheart?” Nadine asked her daughter. “We left you some spaghetti behind. I tried to call you, but your phone must have been off.”
“I…” Peony stood there, suddenly stiff, like she had been put on the spot. “I was at the movies.”
Nadine raised an eyebrow. “By yourself?”
“No, with Tina.”
“Ah.” Nadine nodded like that explained everything. “Such a sweet girl. She never comes over for dinner anymore, though!” She looked from Peony to Willow. “You both need to give your friend a talking to, make sure she knows she’s welcome any time.”
Aunt Lydia nodded in agreement. “She should come by the shop. We still have that picture of her hanging over the register. People are asking about it all the time.”
Lydia was, of course, talking about the nude painting of Tina they had hung in the New Age shop they owned. It had already been an awkward choice of decor. It was made a little more awkward knowing now that Peony and Tina were intimate with one another. Rowen cleared her throat and changed the subject. “What about Uncle Norm and Margo?”
“We don’t have time to wait on those two,” said Lydia, frowning down at her basket. No doubt she was worried their dinner was about to get cold.
“Oh, you’re right. We should give them a call,” Nadine said at the same time. She pulled her phone from the hemp fanny pack on her hip. Lydia opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. It wasn’t really in her to ask that Nadine not call more of their family. Lydia liked having all of them together too much.
Norm was more than happy for an excuse to close the shop up early. Margo was busy with work and didn’t try to shirk it. She had been getting better about that.
***
There were more people on the hillside than Rowen remembered from last time. It was difficult to find a spot to lay the blanket out. The whole hill was essentially a patchwork quilt already. “Here.” Rowen found a space in a far corner. Half of the blanket was slanting downhill, but there wasn’t much to be done about that.
“When does it happen?” asked Lydia, her eyes on the sky.
“It just happens when it happens.” Willow shrugged. “It’s happened every night so far, and it happens often enough that people camp out here to see it. Don’t worry. It’ll happen. Just keep looking up.”
“I’m not sure my neck will thank me if I do that,” said Nadine with a sigh. She did so anyway, taking the occasional glance up even while they ate.
The food was cold, much to Lydia’s disappointment. Rowen didn’t complain. It was still good, even if she looked a little odd slurping down noodles and meat sauce while a long, foil-wrapped length of garlic bread protruded from the basket.
As willing as Lydia had been to come out there and see the phenomenon for herself, she was the first to get bored of waiting. “So, Peony…”
Peony was picking apart her garlic bread and eating it piece by piece. She looked up startled when she heard her own name. “What?”
“Any men in your life?” Lydia continued.
Peony’s cheeks went red. It was easy to see even out in the dark. “No,” she said immediately. Rowen noted how Willow purposely occupied herself with something else. She didn’t want to give Peony’s new relationship away. Rowen didn’t either. It wasn’t their place to just announce that sort of thing.
Lydia gave a tsk. “That’s a shame.” She shook her head and turned to look at Nadine. “Isn’t that a shame?”
Nadine turned her gaze from the sky. “Hmm? Oh… No. You’re just fine how you are, Sweetheart. Don’t rush into anything just because people try to pressure you into something.”
“I’m not trying to pressure her into anything!” Lydia’s eyes were wide, like she was offended her sister would even think that. “I’m just saying… A young woman as pretty as her? She should be fighting the boys off with a stick.”
“Maybe those boys know about the Greensmith track record with men,” Peony countered.
“That’s not a real thing anymore,” Lydia insisted with a wave of her hand. “We’ve been married for a while now, and they’ve been just fine.” She was right about that. Reginald and Philip had been all right so far. They were out of town on business at the moment, but the fact remained. They had survived just fine for this long. The same went for Ben and Eric as well.
“You adopted,” Rowen pointed out, looking at Lydia. “You spent most of your life unmarried.”
Lydia sighed. “True enough.” She reached out and pushed a strand of Peony’s purple hair behind her ear. “Don’t let me rush you, Dear.”
“Wasn’t planning on letting you,” Peony assured her.
“There’s one!” Willow said suddenly. A rumble of conversation went up through the crowd. They must have seen it too. Rowen looked up just in time to see the light vanish behind a cloud.
“Where?” asked Lydia.
“I didn’t see it either,” said Nadine, looking down at her plate again.
“Keep looking,” Willow snapped, pointing. “If you don’t keep your eyes on the sky, you’re going to miss it.”
“Our food is going to get cold,” Lydia pointed out.
“It’s already cold. It can’t get much colder.” Willow jammed her finger in the direction of the sky again. “Just keep watching for a few minutes, will you? It usually happens a few times in quick succession.”
Lydia and Nadine both put their plates down with no small degree of reluctance. Peony kept right on eating. She had already seen the phenomenon and sided with her mother. Faeries weren’t a new idea to her. They didn’t generate much excitement.
“There!” Willow sounded relieved when it came out of the clouds again. There was no telling how long she would have been able to keep Lydia and Nadine’s attention otherwise. “See it? It’s right there.”
“I see it,” said Nadine, her voice soft and distant. Her eyes were following the light, truly taking it in. She was giving it a lot of concentration, unlike Lydia who had already made up her mind.
“To think I would see an alien in this lifetime,” Lydia said with a dreamy sort of sigh.
Nadine waited for the light to vanish from the sky before fixing her sister with an exasperated sort of frown. “You don’t know it’s aliens. You can’t possibly know it’s aliens just from this.”
“And why not?” Lydia challenged. “You knew it was faeries when you had only watched the video.”
Nadine squared her shoulders. “Obviously, I rethought the matter. That’s why I agreed to come out here and see all of this in person.”
“I just watched it in person too, you know. I don’t know what makes your opinion any more valid than mine. We can’t know it’s faeries any more than we can know it’s aliens with that logic.”
Nadine nodded. “Obviously. That was all I was trying to say… Though, you have to admit, faeries are a much more reasonable explanation than aliens.”
“Why?”
“Because-”
“You know there are explanations aside from just aliens and faeries. You don’t have to argue over just those two things. There’s a lot to discuss.” Rowen didn’t want her aunts fighting. They didn’t fight often, but when they did, it always seemed to be over something silly. This time it was both something silly and taking place in a space where they were earning a lot of stares. Rowen looked out at the sea of faces on the hilltop. There was a mix of expressions. Some looked interested, turning their ears toward the sound, like they were trying to overhear what it was causing such a fuss between the Greensmiths. Others were frowning the same way someone might frown at a fellow movie goer talking loudly and kicking the back of their seat.
Rowen would have told the others to quiet down, but she was almost immediately distracted by a face she recognized. There, smiling at her from only a few feet away was Julia Martinez. Julia had a smile on her face, and a Channel 2 camera man behind her. He wasn’t carrying a particularly large
camera. The hike through the woods probably wouldn’t allow as much, especially not in the dark. Rowen swore as that camera was lifted up and pointed in her direction. She held a hand up against the light.
“Ah,” began Julia, turning to the camera and raising the microphone to her mouth. “Here we find the Greensmiths observing the newest local phenomenon. I do believe I heard some talk of aliens as I approached— though, as we all know, aliens are one of the more popular explanations for what people are observing here.” Julia chuckled, as if sharing a joke with the audience. “I believe I heard one other explanation from over here, I believe? Did I mishear? Did one of you suggest that these lights might be the work of faeries?”
Rowen looked back at her Aunt Nadine, trying to get her to quiet down before she said anything. This wouldn’t go well. It would just give Lainswich another reason to laugh at them.
Unfortunately, Aunt Nadine was unashamed when it came to the subject of faeries and nature spirits. It was bad luck to deny the existence of beings you knew to be real just to save face. They might overhear you. That was what she had always told Rowen and her cousins. “Yes,” Nadine said with a nod. “I believe this is the work of faeries.”
Lydia cleared her throat, drawing attention to herself before speaking up. “We don’t all share that opinion, just so you know.”
“Lydia Greensmith, correct?” Julia knew who Lydia was. That was just for the benefit of the camera as she leveled her microphone at her. “And what is it you think is responsible for the lights?”
“Aliens, of course.”
Julia chuckled again. “Of course.”
Rowen had had enough. She stood and took Julia by the arm. “Can we step over there and have a word?” she nodded to the forest.