Hawk in the Rowan

by Sam Burns

  Devon made a face and threw a potato chip at him. “Table manners, Jess.” He turned back to Lachlan. “You know that no one sees your family as outsiders, right?”

  “Of course,” Lachlan agreed. “Besides, you and Ms. O’Meara never put up with that kind of thing. People who come to Rowan Harbor become part of the community. People are welcome.” The resurgence of his blush made it obvious who Lachlan was thinking about being welcomed.

  Devon cocked his head. “Would you go, if Salli did come down here to drag you off?”

  Lachlan coughed and sputtered. “I, um . . . I should really get back to work. You guys let me know if you need anything else.”

  “He totally would,” Jesse said as Lachlan walked away, loud enough that the young man certainly heard him. The chip Devon had thrown at him had fallen onto his tray, and he picked it up.

  “Remember how Helena reacted to Gran marrying her father, though?” Devon snatched the chip back before Jesse could eat it. “She’d accuse Salli of using her powers on Lachlan.”

  Jesse scrunched up his nose. “Salli would never do that. That’s gross.”

  Devon ate his chips in silence for a minute before looking back up at Jesse. “But it’s not what Lachlan wants. He wants his mother to like her. He loves two strong women who can’t stand each other, and he doesn’t want strife. I can’t say I blame him.”

  “I’d pick Salli.”

  “Over your mother?”

  Jesse looked offended. “My mother isn’t—Oh. Right. I suck at the whole understanding-people gig.”

  “Not your job.” It was Devon’s job, though, and he hadn’t understood Helena’s motives at all. Sometimes he felt like he had a blind spot when it came to his own relationships.

  He felt like he’d failed her. Giving her his job and running south would have only made things worse. He wouldn’t have gone through with it, but the fact that he’d considered it as a solution annoyed him. Giving Helena his job would make her an outsider in the eyes of the people in Rowan Harbor. She would be a usurper, and terrible at the job too.

  Not to mention the dreams. Even Gran hadn’t seen the connections between people the way he could. No one could do his job the way he could. The realization hit him like a shackle snapping into place around his ankle. If he ever left Rowan Harbor, he would leave it with less than when he had arrived.

  “Dude. Someone kick your kitten?”

  Devon glared at him. “I don’t have a kitten.”

  Jesse looked at Devon funny for a second, but then shrugged. “Fair enough. You gonna tell me what’s going on in your brain? You’re the one who’s good at understanding people, remember?”

  “I would really, really rather not talk about it, if that’s okay.” Devon stared at his sandwich. He kind of didn’t want it. Then he remembered. Stuck and cold. He could at least be well-fed too. He picked it up and took a bite. As bad as his mood was, he couldn’t deny that Lachlan made the best sandwiches in town.

  “You’re gonna be okay,” Jesse told him. His tone was still worried, like he was saying it to reassure himself as much as Devon, but that was understandable. Jesse, more than anyone else in town, worried about everyone’s safety. That was his job.

  Devon nodded. “I am going to be okay. We should drop by the grocery store. I want to grab a few things if they’re not completely sold out.”

  “Milk and bread, always the first things to go. And beer, but it’s Rowan Harbor, so we’ve got more than enough of that. If you want beer, you’re probably fine.” Jesse stopped and considered that. “But you hardly drink. What do you want?”

  Just before one in the afternoon, Jesse and Salli were watching with bemused expressions while Devon stuffed his back pockets full of granola bars. “Stuck and cold, remember? And not alone, so assuming with someone else who’ll need to eat.”

  “And the lighter?” Jesse asked, pulling the cheap plastic thing out of the reusable grocery bag. “I guess that should be obvious. You’re planning on picking up smoking.”

  Salli reached up and flicked him in the shoulder. “Not all of us can sprout fur on command, smart guy. I’d like to have some way to start a fire if I were going to be stuck and cold. Just be careful what you burn.” She grabbed the lighter from Jesse and tossed it to Devon.

  He put it in his right front pocket next to his phone.

  “You want to load up on anything else?” Jesse asked. He sounded like he wasn’t sure if he was serious or not.

  Devon shrugged. “I’m going to carry a bottle of water, but it’s not like I can carry much around with me all the time.”

  Salli went into the kitchen and came back with two bottles of water, stuffing one into each of his coat’s front pockets.

  “You realize you’re that kid whose mother dressed him in full winter clothes when we got an inch of snow at this point, right?” Jesse looked amused, and Devon did feel a little like a hamster shoving a whole carrot into his cheeks.

  “Stuck and cold,” Salli said again.

  “And furless,” Devon agreed. “So when is the town meeting?”

  “Two,” Salli answered. “It’s early, but I guess they figured if it might start snowing anytime, sooner is better. I think they were letting school out early too.”

  A few more customers had come for yarn and headed home, but the whole of Main Street was looking more and more like a ghost town. The sky got darker with every passing hour. Devon felt like he hadn’t seen the sun in years, but he imagined the change was more traumatic for the townsfolk who had been seeing clear skies only the day before.

  The three of them were just standing there, staring out the window, when a pale Annie Anderson came to the door. She didn’t have her huge tapestry bag of knitting with her, and the elderly lady looked almost like she’d been running, breathless and tousled.

  “You have to come,” she said as soon as she got the door open. “There’s a problem at the school.”

  The first thing Devon saw when they pulled up outside the school in Jesse’s car was his aunt, Alannah, who was the principal of the high school. Her bright red hair was like a beacon in the descending darkness. She was standing with a small group of people who included half a dozen school officials Devon knew, Wade, Fletcher, and Frank Anderson, the man who owned the grocery store. Incidentally, also the father of Jesse’s boyfriend, Sean.

  They were in the elementary parking lot, but Devon wasn’t surprised Alannah was there. Rowan Harbor’s schools were right next to each other, and she took the well-being of all the town’s children seriously.

  She turned to Devon as he approached, as though she’d known he was there, and threw her arms around him. “Oh, little bird. Thank goodness. Can you find them?”

  Devon swallowed hard. “Will someone tell me what happened?”

  “It’s Leah Anderson,” she whispered. “And two of the kids in her class. Kindergartners. They’re babies.” She looked like she was about to cry. Devon hadn’t ever seen his aunt cry before. He pulled her in against his shoulder and held onto her.

  He turned to the small knot of people. “When did it happen?”

  “Less than an hour ago,” Wade answered. “Mrs. Anderson is their teacher, and the three of them didn’t come back from recess.”

  “We need to get started on a search now, before the snow sets in,” Fletcher continued. “Since the playground faces the woods, we think it’s sensible to start there. Seems reasonable that the kids went in, and Mrs. Anderson followed to bring them back.”

  “But why wouldn’t she have brought them back already?” Mr. Anderson asked. His voice and jaw were tight, and Devon ached, remembering being in a similar position not so long ago. Wade had been doing his job, protecting people, and he’d nearly been killed doing it.

  “We won’t know for sure until we find them,” Devon said. “And it won’t help them for us to speculate. We need to get moving on this. Fletcher?”

  Fletcher seemed surprised that Devon had looked to him, and Devon wasn’t
even sure why he did it. He hadn’t intended to slight Wade, or anyone, but Fletcher felt like the right person to organize a search of the forest. Everyone followed Devon’s lead, which was still a little unnerving, and looked to the young deputy. Wade’s gaze stopped on him for a second, seeking, but didn’t linger long. The situation was too dire to waste time worrying about themselves.

  Fletcher looked at Jesse. “Can you consult with the local wolves? If we aren’t successful really fast, they’ll have better luck in the woods when it gets dark.”

  “Yeah. I’ll go now.” Jesse paused for a second, looking at Mr. Anderson as though he wanted to comfort the man, but in the end, he turned back to his car.

  “Okay.” Fletcher looked around and nodded.

  With an efficiency that surprised even Devon, who’d had all possible faith in Fletcher, the man split the group into pairs and assigned everyone a section of forest to search. Fletcher and Aunt Alannah, Mr. Anderson and Deputy Jen, whose last name Devon didn’t know yet, Wade and Deputy Akiyama. Everyone except Devon got a partner.

  They pooled resources, flashlights from the police and a few people’s cars. Aunt Alannah produced a handful of whistles that the teachers wore during recess. While they were busy doing that, Wade came over. “He wasn’t trying to insult you by not assigning you to a team.”

  “He was just afraid that clumsy Devon would get another concussion and make searching the woods harder?”

  Wade tried to smile, but it came out strained. “Maybe? And maybe he’s trying to protect you a little. He thinks you’re the best thing since Pop Tarts.”

  “I’m not sure that’s a compliment.”

  “It is from Fletcher,” Wade assured. “Are we okay?”

  Devon leaned in to give his boyfriend a brief kiss. They didn’t have time to talk about Devon’s commitment issues and Wade’s neediness. “Let’s worry about us when this is over. You’ll come to the apartment, and we’ll be snowed in together.”

  There was still worry in Wade’s eyes, but he nodded. “Snowed in together sounds nice.”

  From somewhere behind Devon, a throat cleared. He turned to find Fletcher standing a respectful distance away. The other searching pairs had left already. “Sorry to interrupt, but we need Wade. And I thought you’d want to go to the town meeting.”

  Devon smiled at Fletcher. “Good call. Keep Devon from breaking his idiot neck in the woods and give him a sensible reason for it.” The words came out in third person, and he wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was his way of distancing himself from his own reputation as a klutz.

  Fletcher shrugged, but there was a tiny, satisfied smile on his face. “Seemed like the thing to do. Wade and Akiyama really need to get going though. I gave them the most ground to cover, and in the most likely area to find them.”

  “Why?” Aunt Alannah came up next to Fletcher, looking personally affronted.

  Fletcher swallowed nervously, but Devon decided to help before he could try to explain. Even if he was cutting Devon out of the search, Fletcher was one of his favorite people. “Wade and Akiyama will be the best people to handle it if something has happened to them. And they’re also the best prepared to be wandering the woods during a blizzard.”

  Aunt Alannah considered that for a second and then nodded to Fletcher with newfound respect. “We better let them get going. It’s getting so dark, soon it’ll be hard to look at all.”

  Fletcher nodded to her, then to Devon and Wade. “We’ll see you in a few hours, hopefully with Mrs. Anderson, Jayden, and Lisa.”

  It was just another moment before Devon was alone in the parking lot. Aunt Alannah had offered her car keys, so Devon could drive to the town meeting, and it only took him a minute to find her car among those in the lot across the street at the high school. Devon thought about walking the mile to town hall, but with his luck he would fall down and get another concussion, right in the middle of a crisis.

  As he opened the car door, he felt something cold and wet hit his cheek. A snowflake. Damn. They were running out of time.

  Town hall was in a state of pandemonium. Devon had only been to a handful of town meetings so far, but this one was by far the most packed he’d seen. The whole auditorium was filled with people, and a few stood near the front of the room, all the seats already taken. Isla and Conner Mason were there, turned toward each other and talking. Her eyes flicked to Devon, and she gave him an acknowledging nod.

  The mayor had been standing at the front of the room too, but swiftly made his way over as soon as he caught sight of Devon. “Any news on the kids?”

  Devon shook his head. “They’re searching now.” He looked around the meeting. “We could have used some of these people out there. I guess they have other things to do, but—”

  “I know,” the mayor murmured. “I’d rather they were all out there helping too. There’s no way I’m going to be able to drag Alannah home until they’re found.”

  That was almost certainly true. Stubborn fortitude was the Murphy way, and Aunt Alannah might have married into the Cormier family, but she’d been born a Murphy.

  It was still five minutes till two, but the mayor sighed. “I’ve kept them waiting long enough. They’re only going to get antsier.” He headed up to the podium at the front of the room.

  Devon stayed in the back, leaning against the wall, happy he wasn’t the one who had to make the speech.

  “I’m sure you’ve all heard about the situation at the elementary school by now, so we'll make this short and sweet,” the mayor announced into the microphone. “Sheriff Green left for Portland for a conference before we realized this was coming, but you all know that means Deputy Hunter is in charge, so there’s no need to worry about that.”

  Devon was pleased when the first person spoke up. It was Wade and Jesse’s mother, so he shouldn’t have been that surprised when she asked, “Do the police need help searching for the kids?”

  Agreement rumbled through the crowd, and Devon had a surge of pride for his town. The mayor, who was one of the most well-prepared men Devon knew, was flustered by the query. Jesse’s mother had been on the town council just two months earlier, and she’d have been the one answering questions like that, not asking them.

  He looked at Devon, who was the only council member present. Where was Madame Cormier? She was so much better at being an authority figure than Devon was. He pushed off the wall, and everyone turned to look at him. Crap. He’d always hated public speaking. He took a deep breath. “They’re out there now. They think they can have the immediate area around the school searched by three, four at the latest. If anyone wants to volunteer, we can certainly organize a secondary search. We’d be able to cover the ground faster and more efficiently that way.”

  “Why aren’t you out there?” Helena MacKenzie asked.

  From the corner of his eye, Devon saw Isla give a heavy sigh at her mother’s combative tone. He imagined that as usual, she would apologize to him later, even though she had no responsibility for the attitude.

  A loud, unladylike snort came from the door near Devon. Madame Cormier had come in while he was trying not to stammer his way through his tiny speech. “He’s not there because he’s here, like you,” she told Helena.

  She looked to the podium, and Devon was struck by the resemblance between her and the mayor. He was her son, sure, but it was more than that. They shared a straight-backed poise that Devon envied.

  Helena looked like she wanted to say something else, but Madame spoke right over her. “The snow has started, and my scrying says it isn’t going to let up until Sunday. Everyone who has family that needs taking care of should go home now.”

  The mayor nodded. “Anyone with mobility issues, children, or sick or elderly family members to care for should go home and prepare. If anyone is cold-sensitive or needs regular medical care, the clinic will be open during the storm, and you can go there preemptively. They have a generator and won’t lose power. If you don’t have dependents, they would certainly apprecia
te your help at the elementary school.” He looked around for a second before asking in a clipped tone, “Questions?”

  No one uttered a word. The mayor was usually the most easygoing, friendly person in any room and was willing to stand around at town meetings answering questions until everyone got bored and left. His bright smile and way with words meant that people stayed for hours after the meeting was done just to chat with him. It was quite apparent that he wasn’t interested in that this time.

  “All right. If the phones go down, we’ll get them running again as fast as possible, but keep in mind that your cell phone isn’t infallible. Have a backup plan.” He gave a sharp nod and waved toward the door. “Everyone, stay safe and warm.”

  And just like that, the room started emptying.

  “And that’s why he’s the mayor,” Devon whispered.

  Madame Cormier, who had moved to stand next to him, snorted again. It was bizarre, coming from her. “He also likes the sound of his own voice.”

  It was all Devon could do not to burst into laughter. That felt wrong, considering the situation—a blizzard coming down on them and three people lost in the woods. Devon was trying not to think about what might have stopped Mrs. Anderson from bringing the kids back already. Laughter felt inappropriate.

  “It will be okay, dear,” Madame Cormier told him, voice quiet, but laced with steel.

  Helena stopped in front of her, arms crossed defensively, for once glaring at someone other than Devon. “I—”

  “You need to stop and consider your behavior, Helena Anne MacKenzie.” For the first time, Devon wondered whether Madame Cormier had ever had a job outside her position on the council, because she sounded so much like an annoyed teacher. Then he remembered that the mayor had married his aunt when she was a teacher, shuddered, and decided not to think about that again.

  Strangely, Devon considered defending Helena. Anyone would crumple under Madame’s angry glare, and Helena was not immune. She looked smaller than usual—stooped, though she was nearly six feet tall, towering over the diminutive elder witch.