The Magick of Dark Root (Daughters of Dark Root)

by April Aasheim

  And I wasn’t prepared to lose either one of them.

  “Go to sleep,” I ordered Leo, who sat on my bed, beating his head against the wall. “It’s late.”

  “Not tired,” he said, folding his arms across his chest.

  I climbed into bed and pulled him onto his back. He fought me but he wasn’t strong enough to resist. Not anymore. Eventually he settled into a deep sleep.

  I fluffed my pillow, ready to try for some sleep myself, when my phone rang. It was a California area code and I hit decline. It rang again. Decline. Again.

  “Geez, Michael, what do you want?” I asked, not bothering to say hello.

  “Maggie, I’ve been thinking of you and the baby. Please? I really need to be there for my son.”

  “Who says it’s going to be a boy?” I asked. “Or that it’s even yours?”

  “You did.”

  “Oh.” I stifled a yawn. “Well, maybe I lied.”

  “Stop punishing me, Maggie. I know what I did was wrong. I’d do anything to take it back, but I can’t.”

  Michael had been under Leah’s spell when he had been unfaithful to me.

  I wrestled with this bit of trivia on my continuum of whether or not I should forgive him. I was leaning towards compassion at the moment as I watched Leo sleep. Then I remembered Jillian’s words: that a spell will only work on a person who has it in their nature already.

  I tightened my grip on the phone, ready to hang up.

  “I’m not asking to be a part of your life,” he continued. “Just our child’s. I want to help.”

  “If you want to help,” I said, drawing up the image of his arms around Leah. “You’ll stop calling me.”

  “You can’t keep him from me, Maggie.”

  “Yes, Michael. I can.” If there was a spell that could keep Larinda out, there was probably one to ward off adulterous ex-boyfriends as well.

  He exhaled into the phone. “A kid needs to know his father.”

  “I never knew mine, and I’m fine.”

  “Are you, Maggie? Are you?”

  That time, he hung up the phone.

  “Maggie, wake up. We’ve got trouble.”

  I opened my eyes to see Ruth Anne and Eve hovering over my bed.

  “Don’t wake Leo,” I said, pulling hair out of my mouth. He was sprawled across the mattress on the floor, snoring peacefully.

  “The fuzz is here,” Ruth Anne said, pulling the blankets from me.

  “The cops?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.

  “One cop. And he’s asking a lot of questions.” Eve opened my drawers and tossed me a pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt.

  “What? Why?”

  “Someone has reported our friend, Leo here, missing. And the bartender identified you and Eve as the last people to be seen with him.”

  I jumped into my clothes, running through scenarios. “We can take Leo downstairs? Show the cop that he’s okay? Then he’ll leave us alone.”

  “And what if he starts talking about birdies or screaming for candy?” Eve asked.

  “You’re right. Fuck.”

  “Cut the potty mouth and get your ass downstairs,” Eve ordered. “You’re going to act innocent and charming and say whatever you need to say to make Mr. Policeman go away.”

  “And what if he doesn't go away?”

  “We might make a potion.”

  “That’s what got us into this mess.”

  “What are we going to do with the monkey, here?” Ruth Anne asked, nodding to Leo. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave him in this room alone. The walls are paper-thin and the cop will be able to hear him thumping around up here if he wakes up.”

  “He won’t wake up,” I said, checking Leo’s breathing. It was steady and deep. He was out for at least a few more hours. “Give me five minutes and I’ll be down.”

  “Be quick,” Eve said, pushing out her chest. “I can only hold him off with these for so long.”

  “Hang in there, Leo,” I said, kissing him on the cheek. “I’ll be back again soon.”

  The officer was young, probably right out of the academy, with golden hair and trusting blue eyes. He reminded me of some of the recruits we had back at Woodhaven, young men not yet jaded by life, who still believed they could do some good in the world.

  In about five years, he’d be hardened by the same old sob stories and endless red tape, but for now he believed in the justice of the system and probably of the world.

  “Miss Maddock,” he said, extending a ring-less left hand to shake. “Sorry to bother you. My name is Officer Braden and I’m investigating the disappearance of a man named Leonard Winston. His mother reported him missing a couple of days ago.”

  “Leonard?” I asked. “Is that his full name?”

  Eve shot me a look.

  “You know him, then?”

  I bit my lip. I had no idea what Eve and Ruth Anne had already said and I didn’t want to contradict their stories. Fortunately, Ruth Anne chimed in.

  “We already told the officer that you only saw him briefly. That you were at the bar for a girl’s night out with Eve and that you met him playing pool.”

  “And then Ruth Anne came and picked us up. That was the last we saw of him,” Eve concluded, wiping her hands together.

  Officer Braden took out his pen and nodded. “The bartender on duty that night said about the same thing, but I thought I’d see if you could provide any additional details on that night.”

  Ruth Anne’s eyes slid to the window when Officer Braden wasn’t watching. Leo’s car was parked outside.

  Oh, fuck. He knows.

  “Well,” I said, as sweetly as I could. “I’m sorry it has to come out this way, Eve, but that’s not entirely true.”

  Eve blinked several times as I turned back to the cop.

  “You see, I knew my sister really liked Leo. She’d been playing him pool all night, flirting like she does. But every time Leo came to the bar to order drinks, he looked at me. And there was chemistry there.” I looked at Eve once again. “I’m sorry, Evie, but I slipped him my number when you weren’t looking.”

  I twirled my hair around my finger and looked away.

  Eve glowered at me. She didn’t like to be cast in the role as second-best. I hoped Officer Braden interpreted it as a sign of her jealousy.

  “So he came and picked you up later that night?” she asked, folding her arms. “That’s so typical of you.”

  The officer shifted uncomfortably. “I didn’t mean to start any family trouble.”

  Ruth Anne bridged her fingers together, cracking her knuckles. “These two fight over men like two birds fighting over a worm.”

  The officer scratched his head with the end of his pen. “So, Leonard’s been staying here then?”

  “He was here that night. Then I took him to the airport in Eugene. He had to go to Seattle for a business meeting. Asked me to take care of his car until he got back.”

  “Seattle, huh? Did he say what hotel he was staying at?”

  “The Marriot?” I took a shot in the dark.

  “And what day did he leave?” The officer scribbled in his notepad.

  “Um, Thanksgiving Day.”

  “Have you heard anything from him since?”

  “Not a word. I’m kinda worried, too. I’ve had men disappear on me before but never one who left me their car.” I bit on my nails and glanced out the window.

  “Ma’am, I don’t mean to get into your personal affairs, but I wouldn't hang out with someone like Leonard Winston if I were you. He has a record.”

  “A record?”

  He paused, wondering how much he should tell us. “Aggravated sexual assault in two counties. Swindling. Embezzlement. He served nine months in Washington for identity theft. He’s been clean for the last two years, as far as I can tell, but with repeat offenders you can never be too careful.”

  “If he’s so awful, why are you looking for him?” Eve asked as Officer Braden put away his notebook.
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br />   “His mother is concerned. Says he sends her a check on the first of the month like clockwork. When she heard he was last seen in Dark Root, she got quite upset. This may sound crazy, but his mother is concerned that witchcraft is involved. Your family’s reputation around here is pretty well-known.”

  “That is crazy,” Eve said.

  “So you aren't witches then?” Officer Braden asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Ruth Anne shrugged. “It’s a show for the tourists. Keeps the town alive. Do we look like witches to you?”

  The officer laughed uneasily. “Ma’am, I’ve never seen a witch before, so I couldn't say. But some folks can get real superstitious. I grew up near Linsburg. A lot of people believe this town was founded on witchcraft. The real kind.”

  “And what do you believe?” I asked.

  He laughed nervously. “I like to think I’m a bit more enlightened than that. But with the older generations, superstitions die hard. I’m telling you this more for your own protection than as an accusation.”

  “Sorry to disappoint, Officer,” I said. “But we’re just ordinary people.”

  “No disappointment here. You all seem like pretty nice folks. I’m just doing my job. The Marriot in Seattle, you say?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  The officer nodded uncertainly. I could tell he wasn’t buying our story. He handed me a card. “I’m going to check out his car on the way out, if that’s alright? If you hear anything more, please give me a call.”

  “Witches honor,” I said, winking.

  Officer Braden scratched the back of his neck. “And if we don’t hear anything from him soon, I will be back.” He nodded goodbye to each of us and left the house.

  We stood in place, watching through the window as he checked Leo’s car inside and out, making a few notes in his pad. Then he drove away.

  Aunt Dora flew in from the kitchen. “I don’t know who this Leonard is, or why ya girls are hidin’ him, but ya have to take him back to his mother’s. Right away!” She fixed us with a steely gaze. “Our family’s got enough trouble right now.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” we all said, staring at our feet.

  “Maggie!” Leo called down to me, a tint of fear in his voice. He had woken up and I wasn’t there.

  “He needs ta go!” Aunt Dora repeated, then stormed off to the kitchen.

  I had hoped to keep Leo with me until the solstice, to see what we could do to “heal” him, but with the cops and Aunt Dora on my back, we decided he needed to go home as soon as possible.

  “When you do get the wand, you can go back and fix him right up,” Ruth Anne explained pragmatically, to lessen my guilt.

  Being our last day together, I promised Leo a trip to town that morning for Minties, his favorite thing. His eyes lit up and he hurriedly dressed himself in slacks and a short-sleeved, polo shirt with an emblem of a soccer ball on it. I added a sweater to cover up the bruising that was developing on his arms.

  It was a quiet ride into town. Leo didn’t speak, as if he knew this was his last day. Even the trees seemed more solemn, hanging their leafless heads along the road, lined up like soldiers coming back from war. I reached over and patted his leg from time to time.

  On one such pat, he startled me by saying, “Sorry, Maggie.”

  We found an open space in front of Dip Stix and I parked, both of us sitting in the seat for a long time before he unbuckled and opened his car door, a feat he had just learned to do.

  We were unofficially saying goodbye.

  We entered Dip Stix and Leo’s mood brightened as he saw the Minties by the cash register.

  “We need to eat first,” I said, steering him towards the far corner booth in the back of the café.

  “Hey, rock star.” Paul called to me from the kitchen when he heard my voice. “You here for pancakes?”

  “Pancakes? Sure. Is Shane around?”

  “He’s upstairs. Want me to get him?”

  “No, don’t. We’re here because, well, Leo is leaving and he wanted one last trip into town.”

  “I’m sorry to see him go,” Paul said, more to me than Leo. If he had ever guessed Leo’s true condition, he hadn’t let on. “A short stack and two forks coming right up.” A few minutes later, Paul emerged with a plate and a bottle of syrup.

  Leo gobbled half the stack down before Paul even made it back to the kitchen

  “Sorry, we didn't eat dinner last night,” I said when Paul saw our near-empty plate.

  “No problem.” Paul hesitated a moment and finally said, “Mags, do you have a moment?”

  “Okay.”

  I whispered to Leo that I would be right back then followed into the kitchen.

  “It’s about Eve,” he said, pouring more batter onto the hot griddle. It sizzled and popped as the edges turned a golden brown.

  “I figured.”

  “She’s still not talking to me.”

  “Paul, you’re texting your ex-girlfriend. What do you expect?”

  Paul's face turned green. “Oh. She knows, then?”

  “Everyone knows. Welcome to small town life.” I leaned against the opposite cabinet, one eye still on Leo as he dumped syrup onto his plate and proceeded to lick it clean. Luckily, there were no other customers in the café at the moment.

  Paul wiped his brow with the back of his forearm, then returned to cooking.

  “You are only talking to your ex, right?”

  “No. Yes. It’s complicated.”

  “Complicated?” I pushed my hair behind my ears. “What does that mean?”

  “It means sometimes people come back into your life and everything changes.”

  “Why are you telling me this? I’m Eve’s sister, remember?”

  “I know that. I was hoping you’d understand, since you went through something similar with Shane and Michael.”

  “Eve overheard you say you were going back to Seattle. Are you in love with this other woman?”

  “I was, a long time ago.” He turned off the stove and fixed me with his steel-blue eyes, eyes so blue they were almost black. I’d been taken in by those eyes once. It was amazing what power eyes had over the soul. “We were together seven years, Maggie. I’ve only been with Eve a couple of months now.”

  “You’ve only been sleeping with Eve a couple of months. You two have been friends for a few years. And, you love Eve now.”

  “Yes.”

  “So, why would you give up your job here, my sister, and your friends to be with some ex-girlfriend?”

  His eyes fell to my belly.

  “Oh, I see,” I said. Paul had a kid. And though he loved my sister, his heart was being pulled elsewhere. “When will you tell Eve?”

  “Soon. As soon as I figure everything out. I promise.”

  “She deserves to know, Paul.”

  “Yes. I just need to get things straight in my head first.”

  Shane came in, his white shirt starched and his khaki slacks ironed. “Hello, Maggie,” he said tersely. We hadn’t spoken since Thanksgiving.

  “Hello, Shane,” I said, just as formally. “Sorry I can’t stay but Leo and I have to go by Sister House today. We’re heading out tomorrow.”

  “Heading out? Where to?”

  “I’m taking Leo home,” I said.

  “I assume you mean to his home?”

  “Yes, in Linsburg.”

  Shane laced his fingers behind his head, leaning back in a stretch. “That’s too bad. I’m going to be hiring soon and I was hoping your friend would apply for the job. I could use someone who knows his way around a syrup bottle.” His eyes twinkled with amusement.

  “You’re unreal.”

  “I’ve got applications in the back room. Let me know.”

  I marched back to Leo, handing him a pocketful of wet wipes. “Let’s go.”

  He stumbled after me, dizzy with sugar and covered in syrup, not even stopping for Minties on the way out.

  Twenty-Four

  GOOD RIDDANCE (TIME OF YOUR LIF
E)

  Merry’s face was covered with a wet towel, in the same salmon color as her skin.

  “She’s hurt,” June Bug said, pointing to the couch where her mother rested.

  “I’m fine, honey.” Merry smiled, dropping the washcloth into a bucket on the floor and revealing a shiner.

  “What happened?” I asked, helping her to sit. Merry pursed her lips and I knew she wasn’t going to explain in front of June Bug.

  “I’ll take care of your mommy,” I assured my niece. “Can you go play with Leo for a while?”

  June Bug regarded me for a moment, then nodded, taking Leo’s hand and skipping off.

  “So?” I asked, when they were out of hearing range. “What happened?”

  Ruth Anne joined us, carrying a tray of tea and store-bought cookies.

  “I was in the room with Mama,” Merry began. “She’d been sleeping all morning and I was trying to wake her up, to get her to eat a little something. Oh, Maggie, she’s getting so thin. I can hardly get broth down her anymore.

  “Anyway, I finally got her to sit up and eat. She was so tired that after every bite, she’d fall asleep and I’d have to wake her up again. Then, after she woke up about the fifth time or so, she starts talking about wanting to go to the garden with Robbie.”

  “Robbie?!”

  “I told her she had to eat, but she kept saying Robbie was waiting for her and that she wanted to be with him.” Merry burrowed her face in her hands and I noticed that she no longer wore her diamond wedding ring.

  Ruth Anne poured us tea. “I’m not trying to sound foreboding, but in most every culture around the world, people who are about to die report end of life experiences just like this one.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “An end of life experience is a vision that’s said to herald the transition between this life and the next. Mainly in the form of visitations from deceased family and friends. It happens just before the person…”

  Ruth Anne ran her finger along her neck.

  “What do you mean you aren't trying to sound foreboding? That’s the most foreboding thing I’ve ever heard. No one wants to hear that Ruth Anne!”