Cornbread & Crossroads

by Bella Falls

  “Charlotte Vivian Goodwin, that is not who we are!” my grandmother scolded. “Now, for once in your blessed life, stop sassin’ me and do as I say.”

  “M’kay,” I agreed, my eyelids fluttering shut.

  Giving in felt like the right thing to do, and the sweet slumber that awaited me sang out like an enticing lullaby.

  Strong fingers dug into my shoulders, and Nana shook me until I opened my eyes. “Charli, you’re going to snap out of this. You’re going to stop her. And then you’re gonna wake me up.”

  I giggled. “Like a prince in a fairy tale?” The idea sounded so familiar. “I can be Princess Charming again.”

  My grandmother sighed. “One of these days, you and I are going to live a peaceful life without any shenanigans. But until then, you’re just gonna have to forgive me.”

  “For what?” I asked.

  She kissed my cheek and leaned back. “For this.”

  Nana raised her hand and swung it at my face, smacking it hard enough to hurt. Stars exploded in front of me until the murky haze lifted away.

  “Ow!” I rubbed the sting of my cheek.

  “She’s awake,” Matt called out. “Birdy, can you hear me?”

  I swatted away his hand that was shaking my shoulder. “Of course I can. You’re shouting, aren’t you?”

  Finding myself lying down in bed, I struggled to sit up. Several people rushed to help, and I grumbled at their attention. Fluffy pillows made their way behind me, and I glanced at all the people staring at me.

  “What’s everybody doing in my room? Why am I in bed fully clothed?” I touched my cheek again, glaring at my brother. “Why did you smack me?”

  Doc Andrews inserted himself between my brother and me, placing a hand on my forehead. “Doesn’t seem to be a fever.” He took out an instrument that looked like a pen. A sharp light blinded my eyes as he waved it back and forth. “Pupil reaction seems normal.”

  “Okay, somebody start talking to me, not about me,” I insisted.

  Big Willie held his hat in his hand and stepped forward. “What’s the last thing you can remember?”

  The act of accessing my memories made my head ache, and I tried to recall who I’d just been talking to. “Nana,” I muttered.

  “Oh, no. She’s forgotten everything,” Ada exclaimed in horror.

  Matt scooted closer to me on the bed. “Nana’s been sick, Birdy.”

  I shook my head. “No, she’s not. I was just talking to her.”

  My brother glanced with worry at Doc. “You can’t have been. She’s on her bed in her room across the hall like she’s been for over a week now.”

  I took in my surroundings, realizing I rested in the room of my childhood, not in my own home. “Why am I here?”

  “So I could watch over both patients,” Doc Andrews explained. He attempted a reassuring grin. “Makes it easier on an old man like me.”

  Nothing they said sounded easy. “But I was just talking to her.”

  “Who, honey?” Mimsy asked.

  “Nana,” I pressed. “She said…something. I can’t quite…I swear, she was right here.”

  The sheriff cleared his throat. “Maybe she needs some time to recover.”

  “She has been out for nearly three days since we found her,” Ada added.

  Frustrated at everyone still talking as if I weren’t here, I slapped my hands on the bed. “Someone please tell me what’s going on!”

  Matt rubbed his thumb on the back of my hand as he held onto it. “Ms. Ada and Ms. Mimsy found you on the front porch, sitting in one of the rocking chairs.”

  I tried to recall being there but couldn’t. “Why is that making y’all worried like you’re seeing a ghost when you stare at me?”

  “Because you weren’t just sitting there, rocking.” My brother swallowed hard to control his emotions. “Birdy, the way you were laying there. They thought you were dead.”

  “Oh.” The one-syllable word was all I could manage.

  “I heard the call when it came in and rushed over here as fast as I could,” my brother explained. “By then, they’d figured out you were in the same state as Nana, but still…”

  I covered his hand with mine. “You thought the worst.”

  The tears Matt fought fell with a sudden sob. “I can’t lose you, too, Charli. You and Nana…I just can’t.”

  Throwing my arms around my brother, I comforted him as best as I could. It would take time to chase away his deepest fears, but for now, I did my best imitation of our grandmother and whispered soothing things to calm him down.

  The longer we clung to each other, the more it reminded me of a very similar recent event. “I don’t think we’re going to lose Nana. At least, not yet.”

  Matt sniffed and dashed away the tears staining his cheeks. “I know, we’ve got to keep up our hope.”

  “No, that’s not it.” I squeezed my eyes tight, holding onto the last thread of my memory. “She was here with me.”

  “No, we’ve been watching over you,” my brother clarified. “Nana’s in her room.”

  I slapped his arm. “Just listen. Maybe it was real and maybe it wasn’t, but I know I just saw Nana. She talked to me and told me something.” Pausing, I tried to remember what she’d said.

  Matt glared at me with worry. “You sure she’s okay, Doc?”

  The healer stepped back into view. “I’d like to check her out more thoroughly to be sure. But I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss what she’s saying.”

  “But she couldn’t have talked to our grandmother,” my brother insisted.

  “Not in the conventional way, no,” Doc continued, “but since Charli’s symptoms were much like your grandmother’s, it might be possible that they connected on some metaphysical level.”

  With great effort, I scrambled to my feet. “Will y’all stop talking and listen to me?” The room spun and the doctor insisted I get back into bed against my protests.

  Once they got me settled and propped up against the pillows, my brother agreed to hear me out. My annoyance with them stoked the fires of an inner anger and burned off more of the confusion surrounding my memories.

  “I know I was with Nana.” My hand went to the cheek where she’d slapped me. “She woke me up.”

  “Can you recall anything she said to you while you were under?” Doc Andrews pushed.

  I nodded. “It’s fuzzy, but I think she said that there was someone I was supposed to stop. No, not just someone. Her. I’m supposed to stop her.”

  “Stop who from doing what?” Matt asked. “This all sounds like you had some crazy dream that wasn’t real.”

  Thinking about that possibility, I dismissed it. “I don’t care if you don’t believe me, that’s not what’s important. There’s something else that’s far more urgent.” I glanced up at Doc. “I think we’re running out of time.”

  “For what?” he asked.

  I picked at a stray thread on the quilt. “To save Nana. She said something to me about how she’s been holding off whatever it is that’s affected her. But she definitely told me she’s starting to lose the battle.” Tears welled in my eyes.

  “Did she tell you how to help?” Matt pressed. “Because if not, then what can we do?”

  With a sniff, I told him everything I could recall. “Nana said I had to stop some woman and then wake her up. But she never told me who she was talking about.”

  Big Willie shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I can make a pretty educated guess.”

  “You don’t think she’s the cause for Vivi’s condition,” Mimsy gasped.

  Ada put an arm around her friend’s shoulder. “She hasn’t hidden her desire for control of this town. It’s almost comical if it weren’t so close to happening.”

  “I’m missing something,” I said, glancing around the room. My stomach rumbled loud, and I covered it in embarrassment.

  “Quite a lot of somethings,” Matt admitted.

  “It sounds like you might be up to eati
ng something.” Doc Andrews lifted my arm, and I noticed the IV for the first time. “I’ll take this out and let’s see if we can get something in you.”

  Another loud gurgle from my tummy confirmed his diagnosis. “That sounds like a plan, Doc. And while I’m eating, y’all are gonna give me the important highlights and catch me up.”

  I stopped chewing my scoop of mac and cheese. “What do you mean Mason’s not here yet?” Still a little bit groggy from my ordeal, I took stock for the first time the lack of my normal group of friends around me.

  Matt sat in a nearby chair, not willing to stop hovering over me. “He stayed to help integrate the shifters that Dash called on into their search.”

  “So, he’s not coming back anytime soon?” My heart sank like an anchor in deep waters.

  “No, he should be here sometime tonight. Willie contacted him through mirror talk and even spoke to the chief in charge. But he wasn’t the first to get in touch,” Matt explained. “Dash stopped watching you sometime in the middle of the night and got Ms. Ada to help him make the call.”

  My eyes widened, and I dropped my fork. “Why did he do that?”

  Matt sat forward, considering his words with care. “Why do you think?”

  “He did it for me,” I breathed out, giving words to the truth I kept ignoring. “Because he still cares about me.”

  My brother snorted. “And he shows it by calling your boyfriend and insisting he return right away.”

  The gravity of the wolf shifter’s actions weighed heavy on me. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with that. I mean, I care for Dash.”

  “But you don’t love him?” Matt asked.

  I shook my head back and forth. “No. Not like that,” I admitted. “Maybe there might have been something between us if he’d stayed. But he didn’t, and we’ve both changed now.”

  Pushing the tray of food away from me, I flopped back on the pile of pillows and threw my arm over my face. The man I wanted here was too far away, and the man who stood watch over me did so knowing I was out of reach. I groaned long and loud.

  “Stop being so dramatic,” Matt teased. “So, you’ll have to find some time to talk to him one on one. It may not be a fun discussion, but you both deserve to have some closure.”

  I flipped him the bird. “Easy for you to say. You’re not the one who has to have ‘the talk,’” I said, making quotation marks with my fingers.

  “Ooh, I’m Charli, and my life is so-o-o hard because I’ve got two men chasing after me,” my brother mocked in a crappy high-pitched tone.

  “I do not have two men.”

  The last thing I needed was a boyfriend plus a whatever. My brother was right, although there was no way those words would ever be uttered out of my mouth. I did need to talk to Dash.

  “You said there were other things I’ve missed,” I said, changing the subject.

  Matt scooted his chair closer. “You want the good, the weird, or the bad updates first?”

  I’d had enough stress since waking back up, and Doc Andrews had insisted I try and take things as easy as possible. “Give me the good.”

  “Well, I’m sure you’ll hear about it soon enough, but it seems our friend Mr. Bennett Rayner, finally plucked up some courage and asked Lily to marry him,” my brother crowed.

  “What?” I shouted. “When?”

  Puzzled, my brother frowned. “I thought you’d be happy for them.”

  “I mean, in general, yes,” I spluttered. “But I know for a fact that Ben wasn’t ready yet. He said as much after the meeting yesterday.”

  “You mean four nights ago,” Matt corrected.

  I’d been able to ignore the pounding behind my eyes, but the throb increased as I processed his words. “Fine. Four nights ago. I hate that I lost time.”

  “At least you woke up,” my brother grumbled.

  Scooching over, I patted the space next to me on the bed. With a roll of his eyes, Matt moved the tray of food to the floor and sat down beside me.

  I took his hand in mine. “You’ll have to trust me that I think Nana’s okay. She’s strong.” Squeezing his hands three times, I pushed, “What else?”

  Taking a deep breath, my brother ticked off his fingers as he listed several odd changes in our town’s population. Most of the details were benign, but a few were downright head-scratchers.

  “And then there’s Sassy,” he said with wonder. “You’ll never believe it until you see it. I think what happened to her has to be filed under more weird than good.”

  His veiled words stoked my curiosity. “What’s up with her? Did she finally quit her job at the cafe and put in an application to open a pie shop?”

  “Not exactly.” Matt scratched the back of his head. “She woke up yesterday and found herself…looking a little different.”

  “What, did someone cut off all her hair or dye it some wild color?” I asked.

  My brother looked me straight in the eyes. “No. She somehow grew…bigger.”

  I gaped at him. “Like, wider bigger?” Holding out my hands to the side, I guesstimated how much weight I thought a fairy could gain.

  He moved my hands from horizontal to vertical. “Like, taller. Not as tall as you, but definitely not the size she was.”

  “Wo-o-o-w,” I drew out, trying to picture Sassy at almost my height.

  “Here’s where it goes from weird to maybe a little bad,” Matt continued. “Her wings stayed the same dimensions.”

  It took me a second to understand why that would be weird. “Wait, so her body’s bigger, but her wings are small. So, that means…”

  “She can’t fly anymore,” Matt finished. “Doc said that even though he’s not supposed to talk about other patients, it’s the darnedest thing he’s ever seen.”

  “I think our list of crazy things is getting too big to ignore.” My stomach rumbled, but not from hunger.

  The lights in the house flickered on and off several times before quitting altogether. “Sweet honeysuckle iced tea, now what?”

  Matt held up his finger, “Give it a second.” The power came back on to full strength. “That started about two days ago. At first, it was only at night, so hardly anybody noticed. It’s definitely becoming more frequent.”

  “What does it mean?” I asked.

  “Nothing good,” my brother said. “You know our town’s power doesn’t come from electrical lines or power plants.”

  “It’s part of the original foundation of the whole place, which means whatever’s going on, it involved the Founders’ Tree.” I whistled low. “Yeah, that ain’t good. Is that the worst news?”

  Matt snorted. “I wish. The night after we found you, Blythe let us know that she couldn’t find Fenwen. I guess she was supposed to help her transition from the Wilkes’ house to yours?”

  “I remember agreeing to that.” Something about hearing the sprite’s name nagged at me.

  “Well, David started a search party when she couldn’t be located. He enlisted the help of as many newcomers as he possibly could as well as any other volunteers.” My brother paused to take a breath.

  “Did you help?”

  He shook his head no. “I couldn’t leave you and Nana.”

  I nudged him with my shoulder. “Go on.”

  “Well, David didn’t like when everyone gave up after a full day’s search. Some of the fae began to accuse the witches of the town of doing something to her, and…”

  I scrunched up my face. “It sounds like it didn’t go over well.”

  “No. There was a bit of a riot on Main Street. Magic was used to try and stop it, and things erupted from there. Several fae are under house arrest since we used up all the space we had at the station.” Matt scratched his days-old stubble. “It’s a mess, and it’s done damage to relations between the newcomers and the older residents.”

  “And given Aunt Nora fodder to use to push her agenda,” I uttered.

  Matt shrugged. “She’s been quiet so far. A little too quiet, if
you ask me.” He pushed himself up from the bed and stood. “I’m going to go check on Nana. You really do need to eat more.”

  I clutched my twisting tummy. “I don’t know if I can. Something’s terribly wrong. And the best person to figure things out is laying in that room across the hall.” I pointed.

  Matt looked in that direction but glanced back at me. “I don’t know. I’m pretty sure her granddaughter has a talent for figuring things out, too.” He winked with a slight grin.

  “And her grandson,” I reminded him. “He’s not too shabby.”

  “Gee, thanks.” My brother wiggled his fingers at me.

  A loud crash of the front door reverberated and shouting echoed from downstairs. Someone stomped as they ran up the stairs and Big Willie stood in the doorway, leaning against it, and taking off his sheriff’s hat to fan his hairy face.

  “Have y’all heard?” he asked, a little breathless. “Your aunt’s gone and called an emergency town meeting. She means to push for an immediate vote for the high seat position.”

  Ada and Mimsy rushed across the hall. “What’s all this commotion about?”

  “Aunt Nora losing what little sanity she has left,” Matt complained. “I can’t believe she would twist what’s going on to her advantage.”

  “I can.” With great effort, I maneuvered myself to a seated position with my feet dangling off the bed. Once I got to my feet, I stumbled a bit, and my brother rushed to catch me.

  “What do you think you’re doing? You’re in no condition to go anywhere,” he insisted, trying to make me return to the bed.

  I squeezed his arm that held me up. “You just said it yourself. We’re the only Goodwins left who can do something. And I’m pretty sure this is what Nana meant.”

  “She said to stop her,” Matt exhaled. “So, what are we going to do?”

  In my dizzying haste, I hadn’t gotten that far. I looked around at the others, hoping someone would chime in.

  “You represent your family and confront her,” Dash’s deep voice stated from outside the bedroom. “If she’s forcing a vote, then one of you will have to stand for the Goodwins and throw your lot in for the high seat. Either that or you take her out.”

  All of us stared at him with mouths open.