by Dawn Eastman
Seth allowed the fawning to continue. I think he secretly liked it. His blond bangs fell into his eyes as he bent to hug the ladies in turn. The truth was, things hadn’t been the same since he left to go back home at the end of the summer. I’d gotten used to having him around. I guess the rest of the family felt the same.
“And Tuffy’s here, too!” Vi crouched down and gave the dog the same hero’s welcome as Seth. I was starting to get jealous.
Dad came to the door. Just slightly taller than me and with a shock of white hair that stood straight off his forehead, he looked perpetually surprised. “What’s going on out here? Oh, hi, Clyde. Wait till you see my new police scanner. I can even pick up the Grand Rapids channels.” Dad was slowly easing out of his dental practice and pursuing other interests, like spying on the police.
“Frank, Seth is here with Tuffy,” Mom said.
“Oh, Seth. You should come see it, too.” Dad stopped and looked at the melee of dogs and people on his porch. “Did I know you were coming to visit?” He looked at Seth.
“No, it’s a surprise.” Seth grinned.
“Thank goodness. I thought I was slipping.” Dad scratched his head, and swung his other arm toward the door. “Well, are you coming in or what? Dinner’s on the table.”
We trooped inside and settled around the table in our usual spots. Mom bustled, making a production of setting an extra place for Seth. Vi sat with Tuffy on her lap, a distant look on her face.
“Tuffy doesn’t like planes, and he also doesn’t like your duffel bag,” Vi said to Seth.
Seth just nodded.
“He wants to know how long he gets to stay before you have to travel again.”
I cocked an eyebrow at Vi. “Tuffy wants to know, or you do?”
“It is a good question,” Vi said.
“Seth just got here, Vi. Let’s not rush him out the door.” Mom came in from the kitchen with lasagna in her hands. Mom always had enough food to feed any swarm of locusts that showed up—even Seth. “I hope you’re all hungry.”
The dining room fell silent after the food was dished up. Mom had made her own sauce and the cheesy meaty combination was one of my favorites. Seth was on his second helping before the inquiry began.
We had decided to give the same explanation to the family as we had been giving everyone else. Seth wanted to catch the end of the festival since he’d been working on it for most of the summer. I still didn’t know why he’d arrived on my doorstep, and something told me I didn’t want to know. But I would need to confront him soon.
The story seemed to satisfy everyone and we moved on to other topics, namely Rafe’s death. Seth had been filled in on the particulars and listened avidly to the conversation.
“I just knew something would happen that night. I felt it. The woods were so dark and there was this . . . foreboding,” Vi said.
I looked at the ceiling. I remembered her asking five hundred questions and chattering through the whole thing. She didn’t seem to be worried at the time.
“I, for one, am glad I wasn’t there. I’ve never been happy about the whole dark-woods-and-cauldrons combination.” Mom began collecting the dishes.
“I heard the 10-52 go out on the scanner. I have to say I was relieved when I heard the victim was male.” Dad glanced at me. His police scanner habit meant he talked in code much of the time and I was the designated translator.
Seth, Mom, and Vi looked at me and waited.
“10-52 is ‘ambulance needed,’” I said. They all nodded understanding and went back to their food, except Vi.
“What does Diana say about the whole thing? What did the police want? Are there any suspects?” Vi’s rapid-fire questions had my head spinning.
“They don’t know anything,” I said. “Someone claimed they tasted peanuts in the food that Diana served and since word has gotten out that Rafe died from an allergic reaction, Mac is looking into it.”
“I knew it,” Vi muttered. “There was something off about that weird bread.” She grabbed another roll from the basket and ripped it in two before slathering on the butter.
“Tuffy didn’t like him.” Seth pulled the dog onto his lap.
Heads swiveled in Seth’s direction.
“How do you know that?” said Dad.
I felt my heart pound. Seth didn’t want anyone to know about his . . . connection to the animals.
“Tuffy doesn’t like anyone,” I said, and glanced sharply at Seth.
He realized his error. “We were at Diana’s once when he stopped by and Tuffy started shaking and went and cowered by Baxter,” Seth said. It wasn’t his best cover story.
Vi looked at Tuffy with narrowed eyes.
I felt I had to argue the point even though I wanted to get off this topic.
“C’mon, you can’t be taking this seriously. He hates everyone and he’s always cowering.” I appealed to my dad, usually the sensible one in the family.
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I think animals can sense things that people can’t.”
I sat back in my chair, defeated.
“Anyway, until they find any real evidence of intentional harm, I think this is just an unfortunate accident,” I said.
Everyone looked at me with varying degrees of pity at my lack of imagination.
11
Seth and I stood in the backyard with the dogs. It was much colder than the last time we’d done this and I was glad I’d thrown on a jacket. Seth shivered next to me in a T-shirt and a light hoodie.
“I talked to your mom today.”
“Yeah, she texted.” He kept his face turned away from me.
“What’s going on in New York? Is something wrong in school?”
He shook his head and buried his hands under his arms. He looked pathetic. I was about to tell him to go inside when Vi appeared in the doorway. She spotted us and picked her way across the yard.
“Seth, you’re freezing. Go inside and make a big deal out of your grandfather’s new contraption,” Vi said. For all of Vi’s communication with other realms, she was still suspicious of anything electronic.
Seth looked at Vi with relief and raced into the house.
“I should get Seth to the ceremony. He doesn’t want to miss it.” I stepped past Vi.
Her arm shot out and she gripped my arm. “Stay a minute.”
“What’s up, Vi? I don’t know anything more than I told you.”
“I’m here to tell you something.” She peered around the yard, and lowered her voice. “I don’t want your mother to hear this.”
I was speechless. Vi never kept secrets from my mother.
“Why can’t my mom know about this?”
“Just trust me. She doesn’t want to know.”
“Okay. . . .”
“There’s someone you need to talk to.” She looked over her shoulder as if there were spies hiding in the trees. I wondered if she suspected the squirrels, or maybe it was the owls.
“I’m not investigating Rafe’s death,” I said, and crossed my arms. “I don’t think there is anything to investigate.”
“Not about Rafe. This is something else. Your grandmother would have wanted you to meet this woman.”
That stopped me. My grandmother Agnes had died when I was fifteen. She’d been a gifted psychic. Some people thought she was the reason Crystal Haven had lasted so long as a spiritualist community and had become famous. She’d known I had visions and dreams and had promised to teach me how to use them instead of being haunted by them. Before she got the chance, she died of cancer. Vi knew that mentioning my grandmother was the best way to get me to listen.
“Why have you never mentioned this mystery woman before?” I had my hands on my hips now, just like my mother. “If she lives here, how come I haven’t met her?”
“You know of her.” She low
ered her voice even more. “Neila Whittle.” Vi made the name sound like the title of a horror movie.
“The old witch? I thought she was dead.”
Neila Whittle was the topic of many playground ghost stories in Crystal Haven. A recluse, she lived on the edge of town, up a private road. Her property was surrounded by a black ironwork fence. It was as if central casting had plopped a classic witch into Crystal Haven for the children to fear. The house itself was small, stone, and completely covered in vines. It sat in the middle of a grove of trees as if it had sprouted there of its own volition. Every kid in Crystal Haven had been dared to climb her fence and creep toward the house on one dark night or another. It was part of growing up here.
“She’s alive and well and still . . . You need to talk to her.” Vi nodded and wouldn’t say any more. Holding her finger to her lips, she shooed me inside.
I found Seth in my father’s office, huddled over a small black box with backlit buttons and a glowing screen. It was definitely a step up from his old scanner. Dad was giving Seth the rundown of 10-codes.
“Hey, we better get going if we want to make the ceremony,” I said.
Seth had been writing the codes on a card, which he folded and stuffed in his jeans pocket.
“Okay. Later, Papa.” Seth held out his hand for a fist bump and after considering for a moment Dad tapped his fist against Seth’s.
We said good-bye to Mom and Vi, who were in the living room poring over Mom’s new tarot cards. The dogs followed and we all jumped in the Jeep.
“That was pretty uneventful for a dinner over there,” Seth said as he leaned back in the seat.
I nodded, thinking that even though the dogs hadn’t eaten anything they shouldn’t, and no one had gotten into a heated argument, something eventful had happened. Vi had gone behind my mother’s back and pointed me in a direction I didn’t even know existed.
* * *
The lot was packed when we arrived. Because the fair had been dismantled that afternoon, the final ceremony was to take place at Message Circle. It was closer to the road than the fair had been and would allow all the festival attendees to get out to the main roads quickly to drive home.
We picked our way along the path, which was lit with battery-powered lanterns every fifteen feet or so. Seth had launched a vocal campaign over the summer to use kerosene lamps. He had an affection for the oil lamps my mom dragged out when the power failed during storms. Diana and I had vetoed the idea for safety and transportation reasons.
“See how fake that looks? Not spooky at all,” Seth groused as we walked along the path.
“It’s not supposed to be spooky. And they’re safer than kerosene. You can’t go driving around with a backseat full of kerosene.”
“Whatever,” Seth grumbled. “It would look way better.”
Thankfully, we caught up to some other people walking toward the circle and he fell silent.
Lit with small torches, eerie shadows jumped among the seats and darkened the trees as we approached Message Circle. Larger torches flanked a boulder draped with black cloth holding Diana’s cauldron.
There was an air of celebration as people dressed in hooded robes greeted others dressed in jeans and leather jackets. A few wore down jackets and hats. I wished I had worn gloves. Morgan Lavelle was hard to miss. She towered over her two companions. One was the woman I had seen Diana speaking with at the festival. Her earrings glinted in the firelight. The other was an older version of the first, with long gray hair. I assumed it must be Ember and Bronwyn.
Diana was already in the center of the circle directing people to find a seat. She wore her black velvet robes and I was jealous of the warmth they must provide. Seth and I shivered in our light jackets. A long-standing superstition, I didn’t pull out my winter coat until the first snow. The longer I held out without wearing the coat, the less snow we would get. I didn’t think it actually worked, since every year we got dumped on. But the habit persisted. Lake-effect snow was worthy of superstition.
Seth entertained himself by watching his breath turn to mist. He at least had Tuffy sitting on his lap for warmth. Baxter would crush me if he sat on my lap. I tried to bury my hands in Baxter’s fur and his drool soaked through my jeans when he rested his head on my leg. It was time to get this ceremony going. Skye Paxton spotted us and sat next to Seth. She introduced her younger sister, Faith, who looked about fifteen. They fawned over Tuffy and I wasn’t sure which one was enjoying it more, Seth or Tuffy.
A hush fell as Diana stood and raised her arms. After a brief welcome, she asked us to join hands. Ugh. I hated holding hands with strangers. I grabbed Seth’s hand and he took Skye’s hand as if his life depended on it. I turned to my right with my hand out and was surprised to see Lucan sitting there. He was very quiet for such a large man. At least he wasn’t a complete stranger.
Diana thanked everyone for participating, and said she would send positive energy through the circle. It reminded me of my Girl Scout days when we would hold hands and pass the squeeze around the circle. Then a lit sage stick made its way through the crowd just like on Halloween—Wiccans were big on clearing energy with smoke. She asked us to sit, and allowed the crowd of about forty to share some favorite experiences from the festival. This, of course, began to devolve into a discussion of Rafe’s death. After a few queries about Rafe, his coven, and his allergies, Diana firmly steered everyone to more pleasant subjects, such as the workshops, food, and camaraderie. I still heard muttered comments about Rafe, but the group respected Diana enough to move on. When the comments had died down, Diana raised her arms in the center of the circle. The group fell silent.
Diana turned in a circle and said:
Lady of Darkness, Lord of Shadows,
Fire, wind, air, and water
We offer love and thanks
For this Sabbat rite.
O ancient ones, we bid thee farewell.
Blessed be, and so mote it be!
She threw a lit match into her cauldron and blue flames shot out. Fire was a big crowd-pleaser.
“Wicked,” Seth whispered next to me.
“So mote it be,” said Lucan.
Scattered murmurs of “blessed be” made their way through the crowd and people began to collect their belongings and gather in small clumps to say good-bye.
The ceremony over, Seth, Skye, and Faith approached Diana. I could tell Seth really wanted to get a look into the cauldron. It was just rubbing alcohol and would eventually burn itself out but Seth looked like he thought it was real magic. I nodded to Lucan, and Baxter and I headed toward Diana. She was guarding the cauldron from curious visitors.
“Have you ever set anything on fire with that thing?” a small, elderly woman asked with a bit too much excitement in her voice.
“No, it’s really quite contained. But you need to be careful if you use it inside.” Diana smiled at the crowd that was gathering. Maybe she’d sell a couple of cauldrons before the night was over.
After a few more questions about the cauldron and some passing-out of business cards, Diana was ready to go. The teens took photos of one another and exchanged phone numbers.
Diana let Seth put out the fire by dropping the lid on top. We left him to guard the cauldron while we trucked the rest of her supplies out to her car. Lucan had been standing off to the side and now stepped forward to help carry our bags. Diana smiled and nodded her thanks. By the time we returned, the cauldron had cooled and we carried it to the lot as well. I gave Diana a long hug and promised to stop by her house the next day. She said she wasn’t going to the store but was letting Bethany open up. This alone told me how hard the last couple of days had been on her.
12
The next day, Monday, Seth slept in. I took the two dogs for a business walk and promised them a longer one when Seth woke up. Baxter groaned and slumped onto the couch when I got my keys out. Tuffy’s e
yebrows went up into his hairline and he did his nervous dance. He followed me, looking forlorn as I shut the door behind me.
I called Tom Andrews on the way to The Daily Grind and he agreed to meet me. Mac was never forthcoming with information on an open case. Tom was more generous. I hoped he was in the loop on the whole Rafe Godwin situation. After what Diana had told me about Dylan’s suspicions, I was getting a sick feeling in my stomach. Sometimes it was hard to distinguish between regular nerves and actual “feelings” and so I ignored my gut and decided to approach the problem in a logical and controlled manner. I would gather information, examine the facts, and not get caught by Mac.
This time of year the only people in the coffee shop were regulars. We had reclaimed our town from the summer tourist crowd and now that the festival had decamped, the place was back to its quiet normal. This was good and bad. I liked not waiting in line, but growing up in a tourist town trains you to view the invaders as a necessary annoyance. Without vacationers, the economy would shut down, but it was nice to feel like we had Crystal Haven to ourselves for a little while.
Josh started making my usual latte when I walked in the door.
“Should I start Diana’s tea?” he asked. His black watch cap barely contained the shaggy mop of dark hair.
I shook my head. “No, but you can make whatever Tom Andrews usually drinks.”
Josh cocked his head, raised his eyebrows, and crossed his arms. He and Alex had been partners for years. They were overly invested in Mac and me getting back together and I felt guilty about keeping it a secret from them. Plus it meant they saw deeper meaning in all my actions.
I put both hands up. “We’re just friends. Everyone knows that.”
Josh shook his head. “Not everyone.”
Fortunately, Tom swung through the door at that moment, nearly wiping out a coffee-mug pyramid, and I was able to extricate myself from the conversation.