by Kristy Tate
“She’s going with me back to the ranch!” Matias said.
“No,” John said. “Matias, Ms. Westmoor needs your help, especially since Lizbet’s leaving. And you—“ He shook Declan’s shoulder. “You need to cool down. I’m not leaving you and Lizbet alone in a house overnight.”
Declan tried to tamp down his rage. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means I’m not stupid,” his dad said.
“You don’t trust me?”
“You shouldn’t trust yourself,” his dad retorted.
“She’s sick!” Declan twisted away and stormed back into the gym, humiliated.
LIZBET MUTELY FOLLOWED Gloria to her large golden Mercedes and climbed in the passenger door. “If we called my grandmother, she could come and get me,” Lizbet said after she and Gloria were both buckled in.
Gloria leveled a glance at her before starting the ignition. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”
Lizbet swallowed and shrank back against the seat. “Probably not,” she conceded. Elizabeth would be in bed by now. Of course she’d come if Lizbet asked her to, but Elizabeth wasn’t a great driver even in the daylight when she was wide awake. “I hate putting you out.”
“Nonsense. It’s no problem. My father’s house has lots of rooms. We can probably find you something clean to wear.” Gloria wrinkled her nose and steered the car out of the parking lot and onto Sycamore Street. “Besides, this will give us a chance to chat about Declan.”
Lizbet wished she could disappear. Chatting with Declan’s mom was almost as bad as vomiting at Declan’s feet.
“You know Declan is going away to school in the fall.” This was not a question, but a statement.
“I know.” Lizbet stared out the window at the dark trees flashing by.
“So, you understand this little fling will be short-lived.” Gloria tightened her grip on the steering wheel.
“I would never ask Declan to change his plans for me,” Lizbet said.
“Good.” Gloria smiled, but it looked strained. “He’s going to go to med school, like my dad.”
“I thought your dad was a businessman.”
“He was, but before that he practiced medicine, a surgeon. He had to stop when he developed arthritis.”
“That’s so sad,” Lizbet said.
Gloria looked surprised. “Why, yes, I guess it was. He was always so successful, I never considered that he may not have wanted to give up medicine.” She threw Lizbet a glance. “What are your plans, dear?”
Lizbet bit her lip before repeating what the academic counselor at the college had told her. It probably didn’t answer Gloria’s question, but as far as Lizbet was concerned, it told Gloria more than she had a right to ask.
LIZBET WOKE TO FIND a black snout inches from her face.
“Oh good, you’re awake,” Rufus whined. The husky placed his nose on her arm and stared at her with his big blue eyes.
Lizbet thought about pointing out that her wakefulness was more about him than about her, but decided she needed at least one friend in the house. She scooched up onto her elbows and took in the room. According to Gloria, this had once been her Aunt Midge’s room. It looked and smelled like it had last been decorated in the eighties. Even the sheets, which she’d helped Gloria put on the bed, smelled musty.
“Do you need to go out?” Lizbet asked Rufus.
He cocked his head, studying her. “I’d rather talk. I’m glad we can talk. It’s lonely here. I don’t miss Godwin, because I hate him, but he used to take me on walks where we’d meet up with other dogs, squirrels, and the occasional cat. Not that I like cats any more than I like Godwin. It’s really a toss-up which one I despise more. Cats, of course, are insolent, disrespectful creatures, largely selfish and arrogant...but then, of course, the same adjectives could be used to describe Godwin. But Godwin did walk me and would toss me a bone here and there, whereas a cat rarely provides any act of service to anyone other than itself.”
Lizbet sat up, swung her legs to the side of the bed, and plucked at the white cotton nightgown—one of Aunt Midge’s castoffs. Briefly, she wondered what had become of Aunt Midge, and why wasn’t she inheriting the house? She glanced at the mantel clock on the dresser. 7:00 a.m. “Is Declan home?” she asked.
“That’s who I need to talk to you about.” Rufus jumped onto the bed and sat facing her, his expression earnest. “I’m worried about him.”
Lizbet’s mind wandered back to Declan and Nicole’s kiss. She wasn’t worried about him. She was more concerned about herself. She didn’t want to get hurt and building her life around Declan seemed like the perfect way for that to happen.
“Why?” she asked.
“Godwin wants the Forsythe fortune, and if Gloria and Declan are both out of the way, he’ll inherit.”
The sleepiness Lizbet had been fighting suddenly fled. She thought back to her last encounter with Declan’s stepfather. He’d been shooting a gun at their boat and both she and Declan had nearly drowned. Of course the man was dangerous. “But no one knows where he is.”
“That’s not true. I know where he is...or at least was.”
“Where?”
“At his house.”
“Gloria’s house? How do you know that? Have you been there?”
He nodded his big furry head.
“You saw him there?”
“No, but I smelled him. And smell is more reliable than vision.”
Lizbet knew that was true, especially for dogs. “But what can we do about it? The police are watching for him. Declan told me they have video cameras set up.”
“I want to go. I need you to take me.”
“What, now? It’s at least three miles—six miles round trip.”
Rufus blew out a juicy sigh and laid his head on his front paws. “I need to go back, but they keep me locked up.”
She ruffled the fur between his ears. “It must be hard to be the dog.”
A knock on the door silenced her.
Rufus whined and jumped off the bed.
“Come in,” she said.
Declan came in, patted Rufus’s head, and gave Lizbet an uncertain smile. “Hey, I’m glad you’re here.”
She lifted an eyebrow, waiting.
“About last night...” he began.
“Don’t.” Lizbet stopped him and ran her fingers through her curls, trying to tame them. She didn’t want to know how mussed she must look. “You don’t need my permission to kiss Nicole...”
“I don’t want to kiss Nicole!”
“Last night you did.”
“No, I didn’t.” He crossed the room in three long strides.
When he sat beside her, she inched away. “I know what I saw, Declan.”
“You saw Nicole kissing me.”
“You seemed like a happy and willing participant.” She placed her hand on his leg and gave him a gentle squeeze. “And it’s okay. In a few months you’re going away to school. I’ll stay here. For years. We can’t...we shouldn’t...”
“What are you saying?”
“We can’t put our lives on hold.”
The color drained from his face. He sucked on his lower lip as if to keep it from forming words he’d regret. “If I’d seen you kissing another guy, I wouldn’t be all—all—” he stammered while he searched for the right thing to say.
“I’m just being honest.”
“You’re being cold. So cold.” He looked at her as if he didn’t recognize her.
“But realistic, right? You’re going away. I’m staying here.”
He stood and pushed his hand into his hair. “That’s not happening today. We don’t need to think about it now.”
“But it’s going to happen soon.”
Rufus whined. “Tell him to take me to Godwin’s house.”
Lizbet shot the dog a quick glance. “The dog needs to go out.”
“That’s not what I said!” Rufus gave a quick bark.
Declan put his hands on his hips
. “I’m not kissing anyone else but you.” He waited, and she knew that he wanted her to tell him the same thing. And it wasn’t that she particularly wanted to kiss anyone else, but she knew that once he was gone anything could happen.
“That’s your decision.”
“Wrong answer.” Declan glowered at her.
Rufus barked. “You have to warn him about Godwin!”
She stood. Grabbing Declan’s T-shirt, she pulled him so close she could feel his heat radiating through Aunt Midge’s nightie. “I don’t want to kiss anyone else but you, but—”
Declan kissed her hard. “No buts,” he said after the kiss. He placed his forehead against hers and stared into her eyes. “The thought of you with someone else makes me nuts.”
“You were the one kissing Nicole,” she pointed out.
“No, I was the sack of stupidity being kissed by Nicole.”
Lizbet ran her tongue over her furry teeth. If she had morning breath, Declan didn’t seem to mind because he kissed her again. This time, she held onto his T-shirt because she was afraid if she didn’t, she’d fall.
DECLAN TOOK A QUICK shower while Lizbet slipped back into last night’s clothes and pulled her hair into a ponytail. Downstairs, she found Gloria in the kitchen pulling a carton of orange juice and a yogurt container from the fridge.
They exchanged greetings, and Lizbet put her hand to her lips, hoping that Declan’s kiss hadn’t left telltale signs.
Gloria sighed. “I’m not quite used to staying here. It’s weird, you know? This was my childhood home. As a grown-up, I don’t really feel like I belong.” She opened and closed drawers, looking for utensils. She finally found a spoon and offered one and the yogurt to Lizbet before sitting down at the table. “If I’m going to live here, I need my own things. Right now, I feel as if I’m camping.”
“Do you want Declan and me to help you move in?” Lizbet rested her hands on the back of a kitchen chair.
Rufus wiggled with excitement. “Me, too. Take me!” His words came out in three short barks.
Gloria frowned at him. “You just went outside!” She went to the door and flung it open.
The dog sat on his haunches and stared at her.
“Honestly! This dog!” Gloria settled back into her chair and peeled the lid off her yogurt.
“Is he yours or Godwin’s? Because he seems really attached to you and Declan.”
Gloria wrinkled her brow. “Well...Godwin bought him, but I guess he’s always been more mine than his. Probably because I’m home more.” She ran her hand absently over his head. “I’m glad he stuck around even though Godwin didn’t.”
Godwin belonged in an awkward conversation territory that Lizbet didn’t want to enter. She cast about for something to say. “Declan and I could go to your house and pick up some of your things, if you’d like.”
“Oh! I do need to do that. I can’t just send the pair of you, even though I’d really like to.”
“Send us where?” Declan entered the kitchen. His hair was still wet from the shower and his T-shirt stuck to his barely dry chest.
“The house. If this is going to be my new home, I need to make it so.”
“What will you do with Godwin’s house?”
“I can’t do anything with it. Technically, it’ not mine. He had it before we married.” Gloria used her spoon to scrape out her yogurt container. “But I can get my things!”
“We’d be happy to help you,” Lizbet said.
Rufus and Declan both gave her looks. One told her that he wanted to go, the other not so much.
RUFUS BOLTED FROM THE Mercedes as soon as Gloria opened the back passenger door.
Gloria slipped her keys into her purse and shook her head. “Crazy dog. Rufus!”
The dog charged into the woods like a man on a mission.
“He’ll be back,” Declan said, climbing from his truck. Lizbet followed.
Gloria frowned at the woods surrounding Godwin’s house. The pines and firs stood tall and straight like silent custodians. The house had dark, lifeless windows. It looked closed and unwelcoming. Gloria and Declan climbed the stairs to the front porch. Lizbet followed. She spotted a robin sitting on a low-hanging branch of a dogwood tree. She wanted to ask him if Godwin, or anyone else, had been around in the last few weeks, but she couldn’t very well do that in front of Declan and his mom.
She jerked a thumb at the woods. “Do you want me to try and find Rufus?”
Gloria gave her a thankful look. “That would be great. I should never have brought him. He’ll just be in the way.”
“You could lock him in a bedroom or the laundry room,” Declan suggested.
“He’ll hate that,” Gloria muttered.
“It’s better than his getting lost,” Lizbet said, turning away.
“I’ll go with you,” Declan said.
“Hold up there, cowboy!” Gloria put her hand on his chest, stopping him. “You and I have things to do.”
Lizbet didn’t wait to listen to the rest of the argument. She crossed the wide lawn and followed the trail Rufus had taken into the woods. Under the trees’ canopy, the air felt cool and smelled of spring and new life. Birds swooped from branch to branch and squirrels chattered greetings.
Lizbet glanced over her shoulder to make sure Declan and his mom were out of earshot before she asked, “Has anyone heard or seen Godwin?”
The squirrels all yammered at once.
“They say that Gloria and Declan are in danger,” Rufus said as he stepped out from behind a boulder. “Godwin wants the Forsythe inheritance.”
“But he’s not here,” Lizbet said.
Rufus lifted his snout in the air, sniffing. “He’s somewhere close, I’m sure of it.” He bolted deeper into the woods.
Lizbet sat down on a boulder, waiting. She couldn’t return without Rufus, and yet, she didn’t want to follow him through the thickets and fallen branches. She pulled her knees up to her chest as her mind drifted to the lonely months ahead when Declan would be away at school. She tried not to feel sorry for herself, tried to muster some excitement for her own future, but without Declan it looked bleak.
Sometime later, Rufus returned. Leaves and twigs clung to his fur and his pale eyes burned bright. “There will be an accident!”
“What?”
“On July fourth when Gloria and Declan go boating. There will be an accident,” Rufus panted.
“What sort of accident?”
“He intends for both of them to die!”
“So I have to keep both of them from going on the boat?”
Rufus nodded.
“Who told you this?”
“The birds. They heard him. Godwin was here.”
Birds... Lizbet knew that the birds were the least trustworthy in the animal kingdom. But still. She had to say or do something. With Rufus by her side, she strode back to the house, not exactly sure what she could say or do that would prevent Gloria and Declan from going boating.
“But I thought Godwin’s yacht sank,” Lizbet said.
“It did,” Rufus replied, “but Declan’s grandfather’s boat still floats.”
“But why would Gloria go out on her dad’s boat?”
“Every year, Gloria watches the fireworks over Eleanor Bay. Godwin expects her to do the same this year.”
Lizbet chewed on her lip. She felt pretty confident that she could prevent Declan from boating on Independence Day. Gloria was an entirely different story.
“I know, we’ll go out on John’s boat!”
“Gloria is not going to go for that,” Rufus whined.
Lizbet brushed the leaves out of his fur as they walked. “I’ll think of something,” she said. “But first, I need to talk to these birds.”
Rufus looked up at the branches. “You heard her,” he said to a crow.
The crow stamped his claw, cocked his head, and cawed. Within minutes, the sky darkened and a host of birds filled the air. They settled on branches, knocking twigs and dust into t
he air. The air shivered from the hundreds of beating wings.
Lizbet spotted the largest raven. She knew that ravens, crows, and magpies all belonged to the same noisy, rambunctious family and that generally the largest held the greatest power. “You saw Godwin?”
“Why do you ask?” the raven replied.
“He threatened me and my friends. I’m afraid of what he’ll do should we meet again. Please, if you know anything, tell me so I can keep my friends and family safe.”
“We will tell you what we know. In fact, we will keep you abreast of his movements and plans, but first you must make a pact with us.”
This surprised her. The creatures she knew were generally gossips and loved to spread blather for the simple pleasure of showing off and being know-it-alls. Crows and ravens were not only cunning, they were also a tightknit clan and could be powerful allies. Suspicion tingled down Lizbet’s spine.
“Such as?”
“You must keep your communication with us secret.”
That was easy. It was something she did anyway, although she wasn’t exactly sure why. Something niggled in the back of her mind, a memory or a warning, but she’d kept her ability to talk to the animals to herself. Her mind drifted back to her younger self passing along a warning from a fox to her mom. “Better tell your mom to make sure the henhouse is locked up tightly. The latch you have now is inadequate,” the fox had told her. “When I’m hungry, I can’t help myself.”
Mom hadn’t believed her, and the next morning when three of the chickens were missing, Lizbet had been blamed for not locking the gate. Ever since that day, she’d kept her communications with the animals a closely guarded secret.
“Of course,” she said. “You have my word.”
“Lizbet!” Declan ran into the woods, his eyes wide. “Oh good, you’re okay and you found the dog.” He put his hand on his chest, catching his breath. “I saw the circling birds. It was like a scene from a Hitchcock movie!”
Lizbet rose from her perch on the boulder and gave the raven a conspiratorial wink.
“We will share what we know when you are alone,” the raven cawed.