Shadow Child

by Wendy Wang

  "I think you look beautiful," Evangeline declared. "I happen to like the color of your hair. It was the color of mine before it all turned silver."

  "Mama, you're just saying that because you love me. There is nothing beautiful about mousy brown," her daughter argued.

  Charlie sat at the kitchen table wiping down all the journals with a clean rag. She chuckled as she listened to her cousin’s conversation with her aunt. As soon as Daphne had walked in the back door, the silver and black ombre glamour that she had cast on herself disappeared, and her face rounded a little more, making her delicate features look more elfin. More like Jen and Daphne, and even Charlie to an extent.

  "I agree with Evangeline," Lisa said. "I like you better like this."

  "You would," Daphne scoffed. "Where is Uncle Jack tonight?"

  "He's got a date," Evangeline said. "He asked me to watch Ruby till y'all came home. I was about to start supper, but I think I might have to rethink what we are going to eat. I've only got six pork chops."

  "Don't worry about me, Evangeline There's plenty to eat. We just need to adjust a little," Jen said. She walked down a short hallway that led to the laundry room and disappeared into a closet that had been turned into a pantry. She emerged a moment later carrying an arm full of ingredients. She put two bags of noodles on the counter, along with four cans of tuna and two cans of cream of mushroom soup. Then went back to get a box of breadcrumbs.

  "Tuna noodle casserole?" Charlie asked.

  "Yep," Jen said. "Quick, easy, and a crowd pleaser."

  "Yeah, my thighs are gonna be real pleased," Lisa quipped.

  "Oh hush," Jen said. "You can run it off tomorrow."

  "I love tuna noodle casserole," Daphne smiled. "Honestly though, I can't remember the last time I had it."

  "That's because you eat too much take out, sweetie," Evangeline said. "So, anything I can do to help?"

  "Could you check the fridge for sour cream and Parmesan cheese, please? And there should be a bag of frozen peas in the freezer," Jen said, inclining her head in that direction.

  Charlie handed one of the three journals from Edwina’s box to Lisa and the other one to Daphne. "Come on, let's start looking through these while they’re making dinner."

  Charlie sat at the end of the table with Lisa and Daphne flanking her, and they each began to flip through the pages of Edwina’s most private thoughts.

  Ruby walked into the kitchen and placed herself between Charlie and Lisa. Ruby glanced up at the clock. "Aunt Lisa, will you come upstairs and read me a story?"

  Jen ripped open the back of the package holding the noodles and poured them into a pot of hot water. "Ruby Allen, you've already had a story. Why are you out of bed?"

  "I can't sleep, Mama," Ruby said.

  Lisa put her arm around the girl’s waist and hugged her close. "Why can't you sleep, sugar?"

  "I miss my friend," Ruby pouted.

  Lisa kissed her niece on the forehead and gave Charlie a worried look. "I know, honey. I'm sorry."

  Ruby touched her hand to the diary in front of Lisa. "Why do you have Barbara Jean’s mama's words?"

  "What did you say, honey?" Charlie asked. Unsure she had heard the girl correctly.

  "This belonged to Barbara Jean’s mama," Ruby said.

  "You can tell that just by touching it?" Lisa asked.

  Ruby nodded her head. "Can't you?"

  "No baby, I'm afraid that is out of my scope," Lisa said softly.

  "Come on, honey." Jen held out her hand. "Let's get you back to bed okay?"

  "Can I have a glass of water?"

  "You already have a glass of water on your nightstand. You can have a sip of it when we get up there, okay?" Jen reached down and picked Ruby up with a groan. "You’ve gotten to be such a big girl. Before you know it, your mama won’t be able to pick you up anymore."

  "Good night, Ruby," Lisa said, waving at her niece. Charlie gave her a quick wave too and waited until she heard Jen on the stairs.

  "That's interesting," Charlie observed.

  "She'll probably outgrow it," Evangeline said, giving the noodles a stir. She plucked out one with a slotted spoon and bit into it then turned off the burner. "You all had similar talents when you were her age."

  "I don't ever remember being that talented," Lisa said.

  "Well, trust me, sweetie, you were," Evangeline stated. "I wouldn't put too much stock in it at this point. We'll see where she is when she's Evan’s age."

  "Speaking of Evan, is he gonna join us for Samhain?" Lisa asked.

  "No, he's not," Charlie said. "Scott's being a jerk."

  Daphne sniffed. "I thought his near-death experience had resolved that issue."

  "Evidently he's relapsed," Charlie said with a roll of her eyes.

  "That's too bad." Evangeline shrugged. "It's a good age to start studying. Start figuring out his abilities and growing them."

  "Yeah, I have to come up with a plan for that," Charlie said. "Scott definitely does not approve of Evan becoming a pagan."

  "You know, I have a feeling that Scott will come around," Evangeline replied.

  "Maybe. But I'm not gonna hold my breath. And I won’t stop teaching my son and letting him explore that part of his heritage. I'll just keep it to the weeks that I have him."

  Charlie skimmed through the book in front of her, looking for any information that might tell her about Barbara Jean and Edwina. Jen returned after a few minutes and took a bag of lettuce from the fridge to make a salad.

  The smell of the casserole baking swirled through the room, making Charlie’s stomach gurgle. Heavy footsteps plodded across the porch, followed by a knock on the back door. From the happy look on her cousin’s face, she knew it was Ben. Jen opened the back door and grinned.

  “Hi! Looks like you found one,” Jen said by way of a greeting.

  Ben wiped his feet and stepped into the house carrying his bounty.

  “One reel-to-reel player, as promised.” Ben put the machine on the table.

  “Oh my goodness,” Evangeline said. “I haven’t seen one of those in years. I used to have one in high school. Your mama and I used to pretend we were rock singers and play guitar and sing into it.”

  “Really?” Jen asked.

  “Yep. We were going to be the next Heart,” Evangeline mused.

  Charlie smiled at her. “Maybe you can show me how to load the reel.”

  “Sure thing, sweetie,” Evangeline said. “Ben, would you mind putting that on the dining room table? We’re just gonna eat dinner in here tonight.”

  “Sure.” Ben took the machine off the table and disappeared into the dining room.

  “Okay, my loves, study session is over for now. We need to wipe down the table and set it,” Evangeline directed.

  “Yes ma’am,” Charlie and her cousins said in unison.

  When dinner was done and all the dishes were cleaned up, Charlie, Lisa, and Daphne sat down at the dining room table together to finish going through Edwina's diaries. Jen and Ben had taken the reel-to-reel tape player up to the attic so they could start to listen to the first of the two tapes.

  "This is the saddest thing I think I've ever read," Daphne said. "I mean seriously, this man has cheated on her with four different women so far. Why on earth would she stay with somebody like that?"

  Lisa shrugged her shoulder. "Because she was a woman in the South in the 50s?"

  "Lisa's not wrong. We’re in the second decade of the 21st century and there are still people who are stigmatized by divorce," Charlie stated.

  "You aren't," Daphne said.

  "You've obviously never had a conversation with my ex-mother-in-law. She has a few choice words that she likes to call me."

  "Did you know that Edwina got pregnant to catch him?" Lisa said.

  "No," Charlie said. "But I'm kinda not surprised just based on the dreams I've had about her. He was definitely handsome. And she was rich."

  Charlie glanced at her wrist. "I need to go. It's almost n
ine, and Tom is coming over."

  "Me, too," Lisa piped up. "Jason's supposed to meet me at my house. "

  "This has been fun," Daphne smiled. "I like hanging out with y'all."

  "Maybe you should do it more often," Lisa said.

  "So Lisa, do you think you can get that file from Jason?" Charlie asked. "I have to work early tomorrow morning, but I’ll be off by two."

  "I'll see what I can do," Lisa said. "And I'll bring you the doll."

  "That would be great," Charlie said. Charlie got to her feet and gathered the journals. "I'm gonna run up and say goodnight to Jen. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Lisa. Thank you, Daphne, for helping."

  "Anytime," Daphne replied. Charlie left the stack of journals on the table and headed up the stairs to the third-floor attic. She found Ben sitting alone with his head in his hands. He clicked off the tape and straightened up.

  "Everything okay?" She asked.

  "Yeah. This thing is just so dry. I don't have any idea what is on here that is so important."

  "So, what is on there?" Charlie asked.

  "It's mainly some guys talking about contracts and the language to use. I think he was just dictating this for his secretary so she could transcribe it," Ben said.

  "Wow. I’m so sorry. I thought for sure she wanted me to take those, too. Maybe it was just the diaries?"

  "Don't worry about it. It's not like she picked them up and handed them to you then said ‘Here, listen to these.’ You didn't know. I've been duped plenty of times by spirits. I swear to Freya, I sometimes think they enjoy jerking us around," Ben complained.

  "Yeah, except I didn't get that feeling from her." Charlie frowned. "It felt more desperate than that. She really wanted me to help her daughter."

  "Okay," Ben groaned. "I'll keep listening."

  "I appreciate that."

  "Are you getting anything from the diaries?"

  "A little bit. It's a bigger picture I guess," Charlie said. "Listen, I have to work tomorrow until two p.m., but maybe after that, we can get together, and I can do some listening. Give you a break."

  "Thanks. I think I’ll shut down for now," Ben said.

  "Where's Jen?" Charlie asked.

  "She's putting Ruby back to bed. She had a bad dream."

  "Okay. I think I'll go poke my head in then. Have a good one," Charlie said.

  Ben nodded. "You, too."

  Charlie made her way down the steps and stopped just outside the door of Ruby's room.

  "I know it's hard, honey," Jen was saying. "But you're just gonna have to put it out of your mind for now. Do you understand?"

  "You and Charlie are gonna send her away," Ruby wailed. "I don't want you to do that."

  "I know you don't. But Barbara Jean doesn't belong here. She belongs in a place where there's peace, and there's no more sadness or fear. Do you understand?" Jen asked.

  "Heaven?" Ruby breathed.

  "That's what some people call it, although it doesn't quite fit what we believe."

  "What do we believe mama?" Ruby asked.

  "That is a long discussion for another day," Jen told her. "One that you and I will have when you are not supposed to be asleep. Now good night." Jen leaned over and kissed her daughter on the forehead. "Do you want a night light?"

  "No, I'm okay," Ruby snuggled under the quilts and hugged her teddy bear close. Jen clicked off the light and gave the room one quick scan before heading out into the hall. She gave Charlie a smile and closed the door behind her.

  "Are you heading out?" Jen asked.

  "Yeah. I just wanted to thank you for all your help today."

  "You're welcome. Although I didn't do much other than cook dinner. Ben did most of the listening."

  "He's a good catch," Charlie said.

  "Yes, he is," Jen agreed. "Did you find anything useful?"

  "Not yet. But I'm gonna try again tomorrow."

  "Ben told me you were really good today," Jen ventured. "He really admires you. Said you cast the glamour spell on that box."

  "Yeah, it was kind of fun. I understand why Daphne likes that kind of magic,” Charlie said.

  "Yeah." Jen rubbed the back of her neck.

  "I'll see you tomorrow." Charlie gave her cousin’s shoulder a squeeze.

  "See you tomorrow, sweet dreams."

  "You too," Charlie said.

  Chapter 15

  Charlie completed her last call of the day and signed out to end her shift. She gathered her things and waited her turn at the time clock to punch out, stretching the day’s tension out of her neck and shoulders. Her phone buzzed in her front pocket the minute she walked out of the call center. A text from Evan.

  I'm so sorry mom

  Sorry about what sweetie?

  As soon as she sent the text, her phone rang. On the fly to get back to Jack’s house and the diaries and tapes, she would have let it go to voicemail except for the ominous text from Evan.

  "Hello?" she said to the unidentified caller.

  “Charlie?" Her name came out like Char – Leeeee.

  Charlie cringed at the sound of Heather's voice and leaned against a Visitors This Way sign, away from the curious ears of employees entering the lobby to start their workday. "Heather? This is a surprise."

  "I just wanted to give you a call. I think we got off on the wrong foot."

  "Do you?" Charlie said, playing along.

  "Yes," Heather stated. "I just wanted to let you know that you and I are in this together."

  "I'm not following you. We are in what together?"

  "Well, I'm sure Scott told you he's asked me to marry him.” After a pause, Heather gushed, “I said yes, of course.”

  Charlie’s turn to take a breath, then, "Scott may have mentioned something," she said carefully. "He didn’t go into a lot of detail."

  She could almost hear Heather's hair ruffling at that. It made her smile.

  "Well, anyway, what I was calling about was Evan. I think that the three of us should sit down and talk about the best way to parent him," Heather said.

  Charlie gritted her teeth and counted to ten. Evan still had to deal with Heather. And Charlie didn't want the woman to take out her frustrations with the ex-wife on her son.

  "Well, Heather," Charlie began. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

  "I know Scott is concerned about your influence over the boy," Heather said. "And I must admit that I'm a little worried about him. We don't want to end up with a little Satanist, do we?"

  "Considering that none of us believe in Satan, it's very unlikely that will happen," Charlie flatly stated. "I don't mean to be rude, but you are not his parent. You will never be his parent. You will be my ex-husband’s second wife."

  Heather came back with the crack of cold steel in her voice. "Listen, Charlie, I'm really trying to help you out. If you keep pushing this religion of yours on Evan, Scott will take you back to court for custody. And quite honestly, neither one of us wants that."

  And there it was. Heather’s truth.

  "So let me get this straight," Charlie snapped. "You don't want to be a full-time mother. Am I correct?"

  "I didn't say —"

  "Actually, you kind of just did. Let me paint you a picture, Heather. You met Scott, who is gorgeous and charming. Rich. And just kindhearted enough to donate his time to a women's clinic for women who don't have insurance or enough insurance to cover whatever is wrong with them, or can't get good prenatal care. Yeah, sure, he's a little controlling and a little bossy, but he has his super nice house. And he comes from an old Charleston family. So he has good connections, too. Which makes all the bad things easier to deal with. But the one thing you can't compete with is his son. Because on top of it all, Scott's a good dad. You just don't want him to be a good dad to my son. You want him to be a good dad to your son if you ever have one. My guess is that you're not really interested in having kids. Wouldn't want to mess up that pretty little figure of yours and all your travel plans for the future."

  "What is
your point?" Heather said, no longer going for conciliation.

  "My point is that Scott will never, ever have full custody of my son again. Let him know that I have a whole coven of witches at my disposal, and I'm not afraid to use them anymore. And whether Scott likes it or not, Evan's heritage is made up of both our families’ lines. Now, I don't give a rat’s ass that you want to marry him and take advantage of his wealth and connections and name. I'm sure just being connected to Marilyn Carver would be really good for your design business. But I won't allow you, or him, to make Evan feel unwelcome or less than. Do you understand me?"

  Heather didn't say a word, but Charlie could hear her breathing heavily, could sense her budding anger mixed with confusion and a little fear.

  "Do you understand me, Heather? I need a yes or no," Charlie said.

  "You know, Scott said you were crazy. I just didn't expect you to be so crass," Heather sneered.

  "You have no idea how crazy or how crass I can be. And I wouldn't test me if I were you. Are we clear?" Charlie’s voice was low and flat.

  Heather hissed, "Fine. I don't want those books in my house. How about that?"

  "I like you, Heather. You’re spunky. I do not have a problem keeping Evan’s pagan education at my house. And what he chooses to practice when he is with his dad is completely up to him. I would only ask that you respect him. The same way that you would respect anybody else's beliefs. Assuming you know how to do that. If you don't, that's a whole other problem that we need to address."

  "As long as we understand each other," Heather sniffed.

  "We do," Charlie said, flashing a bitter grin, knowing she’d just had the last word in a battle she wished she didn’t have to fight.

  The line went dead. Charlie stared down at her phone and rolled her eyes. Of course, Heather didn't have the manners to say goodbye. She dashed off a text to Evan.

  Are you okay?

  I’m fine! Are U okay?

  Yes, sweetie. I’m still working on your dad about Halloween.

  He’s already told me no. A couple of times.

  Don’t push it. No need to end up grounded for your birthday. I’ll take care of it. Okay?