A War Between Witches (Lainswich Witches Book 10)

by Raven Snow

  “We also saw it on the news,” Jasper said with a laugh, trying to lighten things up a bit. No one else laughed.

  “Come on,” said Margo with a delayed chuckle. “Everyone is waiting inside.”

  “Did you kids ever come to our home when we lived in Lainswich?” asked Jeana as they walked down the main hallway.

  Rowen thought back. That had been a very long time ago. “I don’t think we did.”

  “They did,” said Tobias. “I remember. They were tiny then. One of them broke that crystal vase you loved.”

  “Sorry about that,” said Rowen, not sure what else she was supposed to say to something she had done as a child.

  “Oh, that was hardly your fault. It was so long ago and you were so small.” Jeana took a critical look at her surroundings. “I just wish you remembered our house a little better. I’d so love to take all of you on a tour of that. It’s an empty lot now, though. Shame.”

  “I don’t think we could ever give up this house,” said Rowen, reaching out and giving a wooden beam a pat as they neared the dining room. “Too much history in it to just move away. Besides, Lainswich is home.”

  “I suppose Lainswich was just too small for the both of us,” Jeana treated the subject like a jovial one. “And Lainswich was— Well, you know how Lainswich can be when you don’t protect yourself.”

  Rowen didn’t respond to that and, thankfully, Margo didn’t either. They both knew how the Stonewalls “protected” themselves. Skewing people’s opinion of you through subliminal magic wasn’t something the Greensmiths had ever been comfortable with. They got to the dining room without continuing the conversation. It was quite crowded, more crowded than they had counted on. This really wasn’t an ideal environment for their purposes.

  “Ah, the Stonewalls.” Aunt Lydia went to them and made a big show of shaking their hands. “It’s so nice of you to show up. We’re really making up for lost time lately, aren’t we? It’s good to see you again, under happier circumstances.”

  “Oh, it’s no trouble,” said Tobias, not acknowledging that these were “happier circumstances.” “We seem to have plenty of free time these days.” His eyes strayed to the son he hadn’t arrived with. “Who’s your friend, Flint? He looks familiar.”

  “He should. He’s Larry. He read the Will. He’s my date.” Flint motioned for Larry to take a step forward and greet his parents. Larry hesitated and for good reason. Neither Tobias nor Jeana seemed thrilled to see him.

  “I’m not sure this is the sort of function one needed to bring a date to, is it?” asked Jeana, using an overly polite tone that suggested they would be talking about this later.

  “I don’t see why not.” Flint put an arm around Larry. “Just about everyone else here has one.”

  Rowen looked around the room. Everyone was just sort of standing around awkwardly. Flint had made this weird for everyone… Well, maybe not everyone. Jasper and Margo looked significantly more at ease. He was certainly succeeding in taking some of the focus off them. Rowen had to give him credit for that. Poor Larry, though.

  “Why don’t we have a picnic?” Clarence blurted, drawing everyone’s gaze. It was like he had suddenly appeared in the room. Rowen had forgotten he was even there. “There aren’t enough chairs in here,” he pointed out when no one said anything. “And it’s such a great day out. It’s a shame to be cooped up inside so much.” He looked to Tiffany for some backup.

  “It is a nice day to be outdoors,” Tiffany agreed.

  “If there’s not room for us in here, that should be fine,” said Tobias, his tone not really implying if he felt strongly one way or another.

  “Do you remember the dining room in our old home, Lydia?” Jeana asked. “Goodness, it was far too big.”

  “We do like things cozy around here,” Lydia said with a smile. Rowen genuinely couldn’t tell if they were insulting one another or not. “I guess we’ll just move this all outside, if everyone is all right with that.” Lydia went ahead and picked up the plate of finger sandwiches. “Rowen, go grab a blanket, please.”

  Rowen left the dining room and headed down the hallway to the closet where the linens were kept. Eric came with her. “What exactly is the plan here?” he asked her, keeping his voice down so they wouldn’t be able to hear him in the next room.

  “Aunt Lydia was going to get in their heads and find some answers. I’m not sure what the plan is now. It kind of looks like it’s fallen apart. There are too many people here.”

  “Meaning your mom, Clarence, and Larry?” Eric grabbed a blanket off of the top shelf for her. He just held it for a few seconds there, as if in a daze. He snapped out of it when Rowen took the blanket from him.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  “Maybe your aunt will figure something out.”

  “Huh?”

  “This was her plan, and she’s… resourceful. Maybe she’ll figure something out.” Eric didn’t sound like he actually believed that. It sounded more like he had no predictions either way and was just trying to reassure her. “In the meantime, maybe you can keep an eye on Amber.”

  Rowen stared at her husband, trying to puzzle through what he was getting at here. “You think I should watch Amber?”

  “Yeah.” Eric took a quick look around to make sure no one was near enough to overhear him. “She’s acting suspicious, isn’t she?”

  “She did seem a little gloomier than usual, but— What? Are you suddenly on my side in all of this?”

  Eric groaned. “Do there have to be sides?”

  “Yeah, kind of. I thought a murder had been committed and that the Stonewalls were involved. You didn’t. Those are sides.”

  “I guess so.” Eric closed the closet door and headed for the back of the house. The food had undoubtedly been moved out to the garden. “Fine. I’m on your side now.”

  “You thought I was crazy up until this morning. What changed?”

  Eric stopped walking and looked back at his wife. “Seeing all the Stonewalls here, I can see why you’re suspicious. I still think you might be biased, but if exploring all the angles makes you feel better— I’m right behind you. You’ve been through a lot lately.”

  So he didn’t really think the Stonewalls did anything heinous, but he was still on her side in all the ways that mattered. Rowen stood up on her toes and gave her husband a kiss on the cheek. It meant a lot to her that he was supportive of her exacting vigilante justice— or trying to anyway.

  ***

  The garden hadn’t really had a chance to come into bloom yet. It wasn’t all that long ago that Rowen and the rest of the family had started working on it for the upcoming season. Still, there were benches there. Tobias and Jeana didn’t seem like the sort who would sit on the ground. Sure enough, they were both on one of the garden benches when all the food had been transferred to a large checkered blanket. Everyone sat themselves down in some semblance of a semi-circle. Food was passed around and plates were filled.

  “So, you two met in a prison.” Aunt Lydia smiled at Jasper and Margo between bites of potato salad. “That’s nice.”

  It certainly didn’t sound nice the way Lydia said it. Jasper nearly choked on a bite of sandwich. “I was volunteering,” he said with a cough, like that needed explaining. “I was filling in for Amber.”

  “Right.” Lydia nodded. She turned her gaze to Amber who was staring fixedly at her own plate. “I hear you do a lot of volunteering. That’s wonderful.”

  Amber waved a hand without looking up. “Oh, it’s the least I can do. I have so much free time.”

  “We like to teach our children that being born into privilege comes with certain responsibilities,” said Tobias.

  “Namely, staying unemployed so we’re handy once our parents decide what we should do with our lives,” Flint said, wearing a smirk. On his right, Larry looked more uncomfortable than Amber.

  “Hush,” Jeana told her son. “We’re very proud of Amber.” She turned her gaze to Jasper. “And, of course, Jas
per is always so busy with our lessons. There’s so much to pass down and so much to learn. I’m sure you have the same problem.”

  “Not really,” said Aunt Lydia. “Magic is just second nature to us Greensmiths. Why put so much pageantry around it? My mother was never really one for rituals.” She looked back at Amber. “You know, she did a lot of volunteering herself. She helped out at the local homeless shelter. This being Lainswich and us being Greensmiths, it was thankless work. Still, she seemed to think it was important. She kept working there right until her health started failing her. I don’t suppose you ever volunteered there?”

  Amber finally looked up. Rowen noted that she didn’t meet Lydia’s gaze when she did. “No, I haven’t.”

  “She volunteers at the Tarricville homeless shelter, though,” Jeana added, like Lydia had kicked off some sort of contest.

  “I volunteer when I can,” said Jasper, but he was largely ignored. Any pretense that this luncheon was about Margo and him had been abandoned.

  “I should volunteer more,” Tiffany said with a sigh.

  Clarence nodded in agreement. “Everyone should. It’s important to help out your fellow man and stuff.”

  “Too true,” said Aunt Lydia. “To think we live in a world where people… murder… other people.”

  Rowen stared at her Aunt and saw Margo doing the same out of the corner of her eye. ‘Seriously?’ Rowen wanted to ask.

  “I know, right?” Margo beat her to a response. “Violence, war, genocide? Hate is just so useless, isn’t it?”

  That got Tiffany going. “That’s what I’m always trying to get across to people! Ugly emotions are just so, ugh, ugly. We should all be able to come together, laugh together, cry together.” Tiffany kept rambling for a minute or two longer. She might have still been a bit high, which suited Rowen just fine. Everyone knew her mother was odd. Rowen, meanwhile, took this opportunity to take another look at Amber.

  Amber wasn’t listening to Tiffany. She was looking back down at her plate. Her complexion looked a little paler than it had a few moments ago. There were bags beneath her eyes. Had those always been there? Rowen supposed they could have been from the night before. She definitely didn’t look like she had gotten much sleep. Her hands were even shaking, either from nerves or fatigue.

  “Would you like dessert?” Aunt Lydia asked, interrupting her sister. It looked like Tobias and Jeana had both finished their lunch while Tiffany rambled. Their plates sat in their lap. “I made an apple pie.”

  “That sounds lovely, thank you,” Jeana said, smiling reflexively.

  “I’ll go get it,” Clarence offered, standing abruptly so that Aunt Lydia didn’t have to.

  “Thank you,” Lydia called after him. “It’s still in the oven. Be careful. The tin might still be hot.”

  Amber watched him go with a queasy look on her face. She set her plate aside. There was a lot on it, but it seemed she had eaten all she could stomach.

  “We used to grow our own apples,” Aunt Lydia said before Tiffany could pick up where she had left off. “There used to be a tree just over there.” She pointed to a corner of the garden.

  Jeana raised her eyebrows as if interested. “Oh?”

  Lydia nodded. “Some neighborhood boys thought it would be funny to wreck our backyard when I was just a girl.” She heaved a sigh. “Of course the police were no help back then. My poor mother had to put up with so much. It’s a shame she had to go out the way she did. I wish her final yeas were easier.”

  Tobias and Jeana both nodded in agreement. “She was a good woman,” said Tobias.

  “She really cared about her family,” added Jeana.

  “Are you all right?” Rowen asked Amber. She couldn’t resist. She was acting incredibly guilty, guiltier than Rowen could have possibly expected.

  Amber did a double take at the question, like she hadn’t realized it was aimed at her. “Oh, I’m fine,” she said, sitting up a little straighter. “I’m just getting over a stomach bug.”

  “I heard you gave your parents quite the scare the night before last,” said Eric, picking up where his wife had left off. “A little more than heard, I guess. I was out there looking for you.”

  Amber’s pale face turned red. “It seems like I scared everyone with that. I really didn’t mean to.”

  “It’s no problem at all,” Eric assured her. “I’m just glad you got home safely.”

  “We all are,” added Lydia. She was really piling it on in an effort to make Amber feel guilty.

  Rowen looked around at the others. No one else looked like they shared Amber’s feelings. They didn’t even seem particularly troubled by her mood. They did all look up when Clarence came back with pie, however.

  “Sorry it took me so long,” said Clarence. “I had to find an oven mitt.”

  “Thank you, dear.” Aunt Lydia glanced up and gave him a smile. “Did you happen to find a serving knife?”

  Clarence looked down at the pie he was holding. “Oops.”

  “This’ll work,” Amber blurted, getting everyone’s attention. She hadn’t voluntarily said anything so quickly the entire time they had been seated. She took the oversized fork from the plate of sandwiches and the pie tin from Clarence before he could react. Her hands were still shaking. The whole thing tumbled away from both of them almost immediately. Amber made a grab for it but that only made things worse. It landed face down on the blanket, splattering apple and crust everywhere. “Oh, my gosh. I’m so sorry.” Amber dropped the fork as well and covered her mouth with her hands.

  Everyone stared at the ruined apple pie. Clarence was the first one to say something. “That was my bad.” It clearly hadn’t been, but he knelt down to clean it up anyway.

  “I’ve got it,” said Aunt Lydia, putting the tin right side up and reaching for a roll of paper towels. “These things happen.”

  “Amber, what in the world?” Jeana scolded.

  “So much for dessert.” Flint raised an eyebrow at his sister.

  “It’s fine,” said Clarence, grabbing a paper towel to help Lydia pile pie back into the tin. “She’s just high strung, aren’t you?”

  If it was even possible, Amber’s face turned redder. She didn’t say anything. She reached for a paper towel to help clean up the mess she had just made, but there were too many people already helping. She just sort of hovered there awkwardly.

  “Sure, you’re high strung.” Clarence offered her a smile. “You need to do less volunteering and more partying, right?” He gave her a wink.

  “What’s that?” asked Tobias when his daughter didn’t say anything.

  Clarence looked from Tobias to Amber. “I’m not wrong, am I? I did see you at the party, right? At the bonfire?”

  “Oh, really?” Tiffany raised her eyebrows. “Were you there?” she asked Amber.

  Amber opened her mouth to say something but couldn’t quite seem to get a response out. “You weren’t,” said Jeana, looking scandalized.

  “Sorry. Didn’t mean to, like, rat you out or anything.” Clarence’s smile vanished. “You’re an adult, though, right? I figured it was fine.”

  “It is fine,” Flint said for her. He frowned at his parents. “It should be anyway. You don’t need to know about everything she does in her free time.”

  “What goes on at this bonfire?” asked Tobias, his frown making deep lines in his forehead.

  “It’s a lot of fun. A lot of positive energy and love,” said Tiffany, leaving the drugs out of her description. “If you’re worried about her, she could come with us next time.”

  Clarence nodded. “The bonfire is still going for another couple of days. You should come with us. We were planning on going back tonight.”

  “I’m— I didn’t— No, thank you.” Amber stumbled over her words. She glanced at her parents who were both staring at her. It looked like this was the sort of thing they were going to discuss at length later, in private. She looked at Flint instead and seemed to take a bit of inspiration from that.
“Well, I wasn’t going to say anything about it, but yeah. That’s where I was. I meant to call and let everyone know where I was, but my cell phone was out of range. I didn’t know everyone would overreact like they did. Can we change the subject now?” Amber’s face was redder than ever. She wasn’t just nervous anymore. Her voice had an angry tremor to it. She snapped when she spoke, like she was sick of this whole conversation.

  “Sorry for that,” Jeana said quietly to Lydia, apologizing for her daughter.

  That did it. Amber stood and stomped back inside the house. Rowen wasn’t entirely sure where she thought she was going. Probably just away. Tobias watched her go, his own face now reddening. “We should probably end this here.” He looked at Lydia as he stood. “The food was delicious. Thank you.”