by L. M. Abbott
Cailean turned away to hide a smile.
“Oh my.” Luperca straightened up and retrieved the bag, wiping away a clump of dirt from it. “Your father shouldn’t leave things lying around. I could’ve broken a bone.”
“It wasn’t Dad. He’s really careful.”
“Then, Dearie, you need to follow his example and put a bucket away when you’re finished with it.”
Cailean placed the overnight bag between her feet in the passenger seat and belted up under her aunt’s hawkish inspection.
“Now we’re ready for a delightful few days together.” Luperca started down the hill at a speed not fast enough to register on the speedometer. “I have to be cautious on these old treacherous roads.” Her head twitched like a bird’s as she looked through the windshield. “Wouldn’t want to puncture a tire.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cailean said, a smidgen too loud. “Our roads are paved just like in the big city,” she added with a sneer.
“My, my,” Luperca tutted, driving onto the main road. “Where did you learn that terrible attitude?”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.”
“You’ll have a wonderful time in Brook City.” The car sputtered and shook, then rattled to a stop in front of the church. Luperca turned the ignition. The engine churned but didn’t catch. “This is terrible.” Her lips pressed into a thin line. “A new car shouldn’t break down for no reason.”
Cailean hopped out with her overnight bag. “It’s only a ten-minute walk to the house.”
“The day is ruined,” Luperca said. “And the nearest garage is in Brook City.” She collected her purse from the back seat. “It’s time you had one of these.”
“Why?”
Luperca smiled and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes deepened. “A purse holds many items that women treasure.”
Like maybe the deed to Mom’s land, Cailean thought. “Aunt Luperca,” she said in her sweetest tone. “Mom owned land in Loon Cove. Do you know where the deed is?”
“Deed?” Luperca looked thoughtful. “Yes, of course.” She headed down the road. “I never saw it although Larentia talked often about one when she was a child.”
“Mom said it was real.”
“I’m sure there must be one somewhere.” Luperca took one last glimpse at the stalled car. “I don’t understand why it broke down like that.” Cailean tried to bring her back to the topic of the deed but she droned on about her misfortune all the way to the house.
Sam sat on the porch swing reading the newspaper when Luperca hobbled up over the crushed stone. Drenched in sweat and covered with dust she dragged her purse along the ground. Cailean walked at her side, trying to reassure the Vampire Crow no one would even consider stealing or vandalizing her car. She quickly explained the situation to her father.
Luperca shook her head over and over. “I don’t understand why it broke down.”
Sam guided her inside by the elbow. “I’ll call the gas station. Young Ted has a tow truck.”
Luperca massaged her feet at the kitchen table. “It took ages to get here.” She pointed with her big toe to her soft leather shoes. “Those aren’t made for walking on crushed rock.” She sank back into the chair with a long drawn out moan. “I’m thirsty after the long trek and would love a cup of tea.”
Sam poured the hot liquid into a china cup. “It’s too bad Cailean will have to postpone her visit to Brook City.”
“A day or two at the most,” Luperca said with a slight flick of the wrist.
Cailean scurried off to her room and had barely reached it when Seamus and Josh showed up. “We saw you and the Vampire Crow walk past the church.” Seamus rubbed his hands together, a gleam in his eye. Cailean suspected he hoped to hear a gruesome tale. “What happened?”
“The car broke down,” Cailean whispered. “Aunt Luperca pretended she’d never seen the deed. And worse, acted like she wasn’t interested.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Josh whispered back. “The land belongs in her family.”
“But not to her. It’s always been passed on to the youngest child which was my grandmother, then on to Mom.”
“That’s a switch,” Seamus said. “The oldest usually gets everything. Guess that explains why she doesn’t care.”
Cailean looked out the window to the sound of an engine’s soft purring. Ted’s tow truck pulled in with Luperca’s car hitched to the back. Sam helped hoist her up into the passenger seat. “I don’t trust Aunt Luperca.”
“I don’t blame you,” Josh said, “but for now we have to forget about her and find the Weeping Widows. Any ideas where to begin?”
“Gramps says the riddle is nothing more than a made-up bedtime story. Murphy’s Field borders on my land, so why not start there?”
The private property sign stuck out like a festered sore, scarring the beauty of the grass and trees beyond. Cailean pulled off the rope from the gate and threw it open, slamming it back against the fence. “Steve’s here gloating how the land was never mine.”
Josh stared around. “Where? I don’t see him.”
Seamus stared at her. “How do you know that?”
“I just do.” How could she explain something she couldn’t explain to herself?
A short man with grey hair and black eyebrows surveyed the area where Cailean had first seen the ponies. Numerous small holes testified that a picket fence had once enclosed the space. Steve and his father watched him work. “This is good solid earth for building,” the surveyor said. “It’s a perfect location surrounded by nature yet mere minutes from a thriving community.” He gathered up his equipment and walked with Mr. Murphy to another spot where he got to work once more.
“Get off my land,” Steve spat out when his father was out of hearing distance.
“Make us,” Seamus said.
Steve lunged at him. Seamus darted to the side. Steve lost his balance and landed face down in a large puddle of water. He spat out mud and tried to stand up but slipped deeper into the mud.
Seamus bounced around him like a professional boxer, his fists held high. “Ready for more, Stevie boy?”
Josh paled and his sketch pad tumbled to the ground. “Cailean,” he said in a raspy voice. “It’s...it’s best to forget about the ... the bet. It wouldn’t be fair for Steve in his condition.”
“You’re right,” she said, playing along. “It wouldn’t be fair, so we might as well leave.”
Steve snorted. “There isn’t a bet I can’t win over any of you.”
Josh retrieved his pad. “I...I...” He brightened. “Let’s see then. Ever heard of the Weeping Widows?”
“Of course.”
Josh blinked over and over like he wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly. “How? I mean-”
“Prove it,” Cailean said.
“They’re a bunch of trees.”
Cailean steadied her breathing. “At least that part’s right. No way you know where they are.”
“You’d be wrong about that.”
“Steve,” Mr. Murphy shouted. “Time to go.”
“In a minute, Dad.” Steve looked with suspicion at Cailean. “Tell me why you’re interested in the Weeping Widows.” A red truck chugged up over the incline, veered around the children and parked by Mr. Murphy. A man got out, spoke to the surveyor, nodded, took wooden steaks from the trunk of his vehicle and hammered them into the ground.
“Now, boy,” Mr. Murphy yelled.
Seamus prevented Steve’s retreat with a hand on his shoulder. “We don’t have all day. Tell us where the Weeping Widows are.”
Steve shrugged free and hurried to his father who stared across the field at him, an angry scowl on his face.
Cailean clapped Josh on the back. “That was a neat trick the way you fooled Steve into telling us that the Weeping Widows are trees.”
“I had to think fast to prevent an all-out fist fight.” He frowned and stared into the woods. “The Weeping Widows could be anyone of those. Steve isn
’t gonna tell us which ones.”
Seamus changed into boxer mode once again and took a fake shot at Josh. “I’ll convince him with my fists.”
“No need,” Josh said. “I have a better idea that might convince him to talk. Cailean, I’ll meet you both at your house in thirty minutes with the information.”
“I’ll go with you,” Seamus said.
“No. This has to be done alone.”
Cailean pulled a reluctant Seamus with her. He played a video hockey game on her lap top while they waited. “Who are we kidding,” he said. “Josh won’t make Steve talk.”
Cailean chewed on her nails, walking the length and width of her bedroom. “He has to.” She glanced at the alarm clock. “He’s ten minutes late.”
The door opened and Josh almost floated in, his cheeks dimpled from a broad smile. “Victory,” he said. “You’ll never guess how I got Steve to talk.”
“You promised to draw the jerk a personality,” Seamus said, his eyes glued to the screen.
“Nope. I used my brains, and it was easier than I thought.”
“Cailean and her two partners in crime,” Gramps called up the stairs. “Get down here right now.” His voice rose a notch on the last word.
“Oh, no,” Josh cried. “He found out what I did.”
The three children huddled together on the sofa, hands clapped on their knees.
Gramps towered over them. “Cailean, I’ve just had a telephone call from Aunt Luperca. Her gas tank contained at least a full bucket of water. The mechanic said that amount had to be deliberately put in.” He looked from one child to the other. “It cost a lot of money to have it removed.”
“Gosh,” Josh said. “Will she have to buy a new car?”
Seamus spoke up. “Dad says water doesn’t hurt a gas tank.”
Gramps ran a hand through his hair. “I’m at a loss to explain how the water ended up in the gas tank. Can either of you think of anything?” The horse clock on the mantle ticked louder with each passing second. Gramps’s gaze rested on Cailean. “The car was perfect when Luperca parked it by the house. Minutes later it breaks down. A lucky coincidence for you.” His attention shifted to Seamus. “Your father owns a garage in Brook City. From what you’ve just boasted, he’s taught you plenty about cars.” Gramps leaned against the mantle. “As for you, Joshua Reilly, you’d help these two in any way possible.”
“Honest, Gramps Wadly.” Josh’s hands jerked like a fish caught at the end of a hook. “We didn’t put the water in the gas tank. Dad would never allow me to read another book for the rest of my life.”
“Don’t either of you move a muscle,” Gramps said. He went into the hall and returned with a bucket. “This is kept in the hall closet, yet I found it by the side of the house. You boys are in and out of here all the time.”
Cailean tensed. How could she tell the truth, as far as she suspected, about who... or what was responsible? “I did it, Gramps. Please don’t tell Dad.”
The doorbell halted further conversation. “Sit tight,” Gramps said. “I’ll be right back.”
“Cailean,” Josh said, whiter than toothpaste. “Why are you taking the blame?”
“It’s better than telling the truth.”
“You know who’s responsible?”
“A wolf.”
chapter 10
A crow flew over the church, circled around and alighted on the bell tower. Josh watched it from the picnic table behind the church, his legs extended, rocking his heels from side to side in the damp earth. He opened his sketchpad as the bird cawed, furled and unfurled its perfect wings several times before settling down. “You’ll lose your home soon if I don’t find the deed,” he mumbled, tracing the bird’s outline.
Seamus chucked pebbles at the basketball stand, each one striking the post with a clack. “Maybe sooner than you think,” he said over the blasts of organ music. “That’s enough to drive anyone away.”
Josh shaded in the crow’s wings with a charcoal pencil. “It’s been almost an hour since Gramps let us go. Who knows what punishment Cailean’s been given.” He closed the sketch pad. “It’s up to me and you to find the deed.”
Cailean shot around the corner of the church. “Josh,” she said. “Where are the Weeping Widows?”
“Steve swore the oak trees in the cemetery are the Weeping Widows.”
Seamus kicked around a rock like it was a soccer ball as they headed for the cemetery. “Cailean, what happened after Gramps Wadly made me and Josh leave? He is going to tell your father?”
She scraped at the ground with a branch. “Not if I apologize and pay back the money Aunt Luperca spent to get the car fixed. My allowance is gone for the next six years.”
Seamus scooped up a load of stones. “Maybe now she won’t want you to come stay with her.” He let fly a rock down the road.
Josh opened his sketchpad and put the finishing touches to the crow’s beak. “Cailean,” he said. “I was sure you’d be grounded. You’d never find the deed then.”
Seamus whipped another stone away. “But she didn’t do anything wrong.”
Josh looked up from his art work. “Go tell Gramps Wadly who...or should I say what put the water in the gas tank.”
A crow dived and plucked a worm from among a patch of fallen leaves close to Josh. “That was terrific,” he said, his pencil poised over a blank page. “You don’t witness a feat like that every day.”
Cailean cracked her branch in two over her knee. “I don’t give a hoot about Aunt Luperca, Steve or the crow.”
Seamus nudged Josh. “How did you make Stevie boy tell you about the trees?”
“It occurred to me that Steve might like to hear a secret about you that only I’m privy to.”
Seamus looked winded like he’d been punched in the gut. “You ratted on one of your best friends.” He turned to Cailean with a sheepish grin. “I don’t like snails. That’s a lot different than being afraid.”
A clap of thunder sounded in the distance. “No need to panic,” Josh said. “I found a better solution. Barlo happened to come along at the opportune moment.” He flipped back through his pad. “Feast your eyes on this.” The drawings spanned two full pages. Steve lay imprisoned underneath Barlo, his arms and legs flailing in the air. The dog drooled all over his face. “I wouldn’t let him up until he told me where the Weeping Widows are.”
“He lied,” Seamus said. “We’ve lived here all our lives and never heard of them. How would he know?”
“Because the oak trees are designated as Weeping Widows in his father’s old maps and survey papers.” Josh tapped three speech balloons with his pencil. “Steve hollered so much I could barely make out his threats.”
Cailean read the words from each out loud. “‘You’ll pay for this when my dad finds out. Get this mutt off me. I’ll press charges.’”
Seamus made a grab for the sketch pad. “I want to frame those and hang them in my room. What great pictures to wake up to every morning.”
“Not on your life,” Josh said and blacked out the pages smudging the side of his hand. “Can’t have evidence on display.” The cemetery in sight, he hurried ahead of the others and scouted for visitors. “People will think we’re strange if they see us scrutinizing the oak trees.”
“Oh brother,” Seamus said. “Will you stop with the fancy words.”
They ran to the three old oak trees clustered together in the corner, set apart from the many graves sites. “I’d guess we need to find some sort of face,” Cailean said. “I’ll take the middle tree.”
They lifted branches, got down on their knees to better examine the lower leaves. Cailean’s hair snagged on a branch, and when she freed the tangled strands, saw her father come into the cemetery. “Watch out. Dad’s here.” She crawled to the side of the trees, cutting an elbow on a twig in her haste to hide. The metallic smell of blood clogged her nose.
Josh and Seamus lay prone, arms pinned to their sides, their faces buried in the grass.
> Her father carried a bouquet of carnations to his wife’s grave and placed the flowers on top of the headstone. “I’ll protect our daughter from...” A car roared along the road drowning out her father’s voice. He gently touched the headstone and left the graveyard.
Josh spit grass from his mouth. “That was close. We’d better get this over with before anyone else comes.”
Cailean resumed the search, her father’s words ingrained in her brain. If she asked what he meant he’d know she’d been in the graveyard, hiding from him. Light clouds thickened to dark grey, shading the entire cemetery. Drops of rain fell, sharp as needle points before the heavy downpour caked her knees with mud.
Josh plucked off a leaf and shook an ant from it. “What if we stand a few feet away and view the trees from various angles?”
The rain pelted against them as they went from tree to tree craning their heads in odd positions examining the front, the sides and the back for anything that remotely resembled a face.
Cailean massaged her stiff neck. “We’re wasting our time.” She dragged her water-logged body to her great-grandfather’s grave. “Why didn’t you just write down where the deed was? “A ray of sunshine fought its way through the grey leaden sky when she turned to her friends. The green haze appeared and she spotted a patch of leaves in the centre tree inches from the ground, which had already changed to their autumn colours. She stared at the image of a face. Two yellow leaves formed the eyes, an orange the nose and a larger red one the mouth.
“Hey guys,” Cailean yelled, running towards them. “I can see a face in the middle tree from here.
The sky dumped another torrent of rain. Josh wrung out the tail of his t-shirt as lightning flashed across the sky. “She’s on her toes again.”
Cailean slid to a stop on her knees and lifted the right eye leaf. Nothing. She rose the left one. A knob stuck out, the size of a bottle cap. She pulled until it popped off into her hand. “There’s a hole with something inside.” She withdrew a rusted narrow metal tube and tried to unscrew the cap. “It’s rusted on tight.”