“All of us were wondering the same thing.”
“Wedding nerves?”
Luke shook his head. “Prenuptial tension only accounts for a certain type of behavior. Don’t get me wrong. You’ve exhibited plenty of snapping the heads off your family and friends lately. But it’s interesting that the minute you were confronted with an actual enemy, you tucked tail and surrendered without a fight. A classic case of displaced anger.”
“Do you think I need to see…a professional? You know, like a therapist or something?”
“Anger management maybe. You need to calm down about a lot of things, Leia, stop taking your frustrations out on the people around you. For example, a therapist might be able to help you with the resentment you feel about Lando. Why do you act like you despise him so much, anyway?”
Leia didn’t have a ready answer, at least not one that made much sense. She sat there for several long minutes, thinking about it. “I’m not sure exactly. I’ve felt this way for so long I don’t remember when it first started.”
“See, that might be something to explore right there. Why did you drive all the way out to the Rez to talk about this today? Why didn’t you just send me a text and we could’ve gone for a drink, someplace other than Captain Jack’s?”
“Because I’m scared. I mean, really, truly scared that I’m beginning to not act like myself. Could I be suffering from some type of bipolar thing? Should I make an appointment to see Dr. Kinsdale?”
Dr. Margaret Kinsdale had been Leia’s doctor for two decades, ever since old Dr. Bartlett took out a gun one night, aimed it at his head, and ended his life. Dr. Kinsdale had shown up two months later, right out of residency from a busy hospital in Los Angeles, to set up practice in Coyote Wells. The woman had treated the entire town at one time or another, and that included the three Bonner triplets from the age of eight into adulthood.
“Margaret has always been great about lending an ear when it comes to working out our problems. But in your case, I’d strongly suggest you start with a complete physical first just to make sure everything’s okay.”
Leia started to cry.
Luke had never seen his sister so distraught like this before. It alarmed him enough that he moved closer and put his arm around her shoulders. “You’re shaking.” And when she began to sob uncontrollably, he wrapped her tighter. “You’re scaring me just a little. I’ve never seen you so…vulnerable.”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you, I don’t feel like myself.”
“Does Zeb know this??”
“I touched on it this weekend. But I’ll be honest, if I unload all this on him, he could walk away.”
“You know that isn’t true. But would it be so terrible to postpone the wedding until you get this sorted out?”
“I love Zeb. I won’t leave him hanging like that. If he hears me so much as utter the word ‘postpone’ he’ll back out completely.”
“But pretending that everything is okay…”
“I’m not postponing the wedding,” she snapped. “That’s final. I’ll try to get in to see my doctor as soon as possible.”
“When you say you touched on the subject over the weekend, how exactly did you word it?”
“I tried to explain that I’d been feeling exhausted, wrung out, on edge. He chalked it up to a combination of things—long hours at work, pre-wedding jitters, Tiffany extorting me for money, and it all coming to a head before Talia’s murder.”
“But you don’t think so?”
“My hair’s falling out.”
He stared at her long tresses. “What?”
“My hair. Look at it. It’s thinning out each time I shampoo it.”
Luke took her hand and stood up. “Come with me. I’m taking a blood sample and sending it off to the lab. That’s the first step. You can still call Margaret and go see her. But tonight, I’m drawing blood and getting to the bottom of this.”
On her way home from work, Gemma stopped at the library before it closed. She headed straight for Elnora.
“I thought you might show up,” Elnora said with a twinkle in her eye.
“If Fenwitha is for real, why didn’t you just come to me about it yourself?”
“I wasn’t sure how you’d take it with Ansel and me meddling into something like your…” Elnora lowered her voice to a whisper. “Your ability. We thought you might be touchy about who knows and who doesn’t. You obviously don’t want just anyone knowing.”
Gemma chuckled. “Yeah. Right. Try keeping a secret for longer than five minutes in this town. Lianne mentioned Ansel got his information from a book. Is it possible to check it out and take it home with me tonight?”
“Already planning to go out there, are you?”
“I thought it might be interesting.”
Elnora reached under the counter and pulled out a thin hardcover book titled Lores and Legends of Northern California. “I’ve been holding it for about two weeks until you got back from your honeymoon. Not that I thought anyone would want to check it out during that time. It’s appalling how many people don’t bother to read these days. Even less who are interested in their local surroundings.”
Gemma picked up the book and scanned the pages. “This was written by a local historian who taught a course at UC-Davis about fairies and witches.”
“Published in 1940. As you can see, her name is Imelda Duncan. It’s the only book she ever wrote.”
“Interesting. It says here she grew up in Coyote Wells.”
“Read the book,” Elnora urged and scanned the bar code into the library’s system. “It’s the only copy we have so don’t go losing it. I’ll fine you double if you do.”
“No, ma’am. Bedtime reading for me tonight. Thanks.”
17
Luckily for Gemma, Lando was so focused on trying to find the boat Joe Don had reported seeing that he didn’t quiz her about her plans for Tuesday morning. He left the house at seven, early even for him.
She got dressed in jeans and a heavy pullover top knowing full well she’d have to come back here to change before going into the office.
The dogs were on their own. She couldn’t expect Willow to drop what she was doing to watch over them and she refused to leave them in the car for hours.
“I’ll try to be back by noon,” Gemma promised Rolo when the pooch gave her those sad eyes of his. She might’ve handled that, but not when his front paws wrapped around her leg. She scooped the little guy up, nestled his face into hers. “Look, you have Rufus to romp around with so stop looking at me as though I’m abandoning you. I’ll take you with me to work this afternoon. Why do you guys always do such a marvelous job of making me feel guilty when I leave you alone for a couple of hours?”
Rolo whined in reply. Rufus was more of a realist by accepting the fact that he’d be in charge. But leaving them at home alone still made her feel like a failure as a dog owner.
When she heard Lianne honk the horn outside, she put Rolo down on the floor and darted into the kitchen to make sure she’d left plenty of water in their bowls.
With that checked off her list, she raced outside to Lianne’s car. Out of breath, she settled into the passenger seat. “What a morning,” she grunted, pulling the seat belt out and latching it around herself.
“Did Lando ask questions?”
“Nope. And I didn’t volunteer anything. How about Luke? Did you tell him?”
“I did not. He seemed preoccupied last night and all through dinner. He left the house earlier than usual this morning without explaining why. If he’s not sharing what’s bothering him then why should I have to poke and prod it out of him?”
“Jeez, what is it about relationships that makes them so hard?”
“Come up with that answer and you could write a book, make a bazillion dollars.”
Long Shadow Stables was nestled in the middle of rolling pastureland and green fields as far as the eye could see. People from all over the county boarded their horses here. They offere
d riding lessons beginning at age three, and during the school year, it was one of the most popular places to bring the kids on field trips.
Lianne had taken over caring for her sister Collette’s horse, a beautiful, strawberry roan named Rudy. Even though she’d followed her sister’s wishes and continued to board him here, she made it a point to come out every week to see him. Most Saturdays she could be found grooming and feeding him herself.
While Rudy got personal attention from his owner, Gemma’s horse Gypsy hadn’t fared as well. During the runup to the wedding, Gemma hadn’t spent much time horseback riding or visiting. She’d spent two weeks in Maui and had been back a week without so much as thinking about her horse. But today, she intended to change that. Rubbing noses with the gentle mare, she stroked the solid black coat of her mount. She offered the horse an apple from the basket Willow Longhorn kept hanging from a nail on the wall of the barn.
“You’re such a good girl,” Gemma cooed to the horse. “I’m sorry I’ve been absent for so long.”
Zeb’s sister looked surprised to see Gemma. “The great thing about horses is they don’t forget people. What’s going on with you two? Riding on a Tuesday without the guys? What gives? What are you two up to?”
Reluctant to share details, Gemma exchanged a disinterested look with Lianne. “We just wanted to get out in the fresh air.” Holding the reins to Gypsy’s bit, she added, “You know, to have a little fun in the middle of the day. Lianne’s been going on and on about how much she loves riding Rudy. I decided I’ve neglected Gypsy.”
Lianne leaned in and whispered, “Shut up. You’re overselling it.”
Maybe that’s why Willow seemed skeptical. “And your destination?”
“Fire Mountain,” Lianne offered. “We’re hoping to stay along the foothills to get a shot of the red wildflowers in bloom.”
“It’s the time of year for it. But you didn’t even bring a camera with a zoom lens,” Willow pointed out.
Gemma held up her smartphone. “We’ll make do with this.”
“Just be careful out there. We’ve seen a couple of strange characters lurking in the area.”
“Zeb knows about this?” Lianne asked.
“Oh, yeah. The murders have everyone on edge. We try to warn our other riders to stay close to the ranch.” Willow eyed the women. “That means the both of you.”
Gemma swung her foot up into the stirrups and settled into the saddle. “Got it. We should be back around lunchtime.”
Willow watched as the two rode out of the stable. “If you’re not, should I send out a search party?”
Lianne looked back and grinned. “I would.”
Once they were out of earshot of Willow, Gemma turned to face her friend. “I don’t think we fooled her.”
“You think? One thing I’ve learned about Willow, she’s anything but a fool.”
Gemma set the pace, keeping Gypsy at a leisurely walk to stretch her legs. “This isn’t such a half-baked idea we’re doing. And it’s not such a Pagan thing, either. Going in search of a spirit, an entity isn’t as crazy as folks might think. Some of the most creative and talented people in the world used deities in literature to get their point across.”
“Are you trying to convince yourself or me?” Lianne cracked.
“A little of both, I guess. Think about it. How many famous painters depicted fairies in their works of art? Chaucer put them in his infamous story, was dead set on the fairy being the strongest character in the book, one that could be believed. And look at Shakespeare. He made fairies come to life as kings and queens.”
“I’m not disputing any of that. I’m here, aren’t I? Why didn’t you tell Lando about this little caper?”
“He has a lot on his mind. He’d have tried to talk me out of it. I would’ve dug in my heels. Before you could light a match, we’d be arguing. Why provoke him? Why do any of that?” As she approached a shallow creek, she heard the water rippling over the rocks. “It really is beautiful out here. I wish I didn’t have to go back to sit in that office the rest of the day.”
“You’re that unhappy?”
“I’m not complaining. But, yeah. I don’t like being mayor. What’s to like? A bunch of people trying to line my pockets if I see things their way.”
Lianne let out a guilty sigh. “Leia and I should’ve stayed out of it.”
Gemma smiled over at her friend. “At least you didn’t hope it would cause problems for Lando. Your intentions were good. Leia’s, on the other hand, was just plain warped. I think of it this way, though. I’m there now to stop the developers from moving in and having free rein to do whatever the hell they want to do with the land.”
“What can I do to make the mayor’s job easier?”
“You’re already doing it. Making sure the chocolate shop is in good shape is all I could ask for at this point.”
The closer they got to the foothills the terrain flattened out. The trail cut through a meadow lush with wild-growing sage and rosemary. Gemma gave Gypsy a gentle nudge, working her into a trot.
“Remember, the cutoff is that old rusted truck,” Lianne reminded her.
“I know. It’s up ahead, probably a half a mile or so.”
The trailside was ripe with autumn blooms. Red trumpets grew wild here, as did Indian paintbrush and yellow buttercups. Thistle nestled with scrub to give the drab grayish green a pink overlay. Birdsong played out in the background coming from somewhere in the cypress and fir. A hawk flew over, soaring to its nest on top of Fire Mountain.
Lianne took out her phone to capture a few shots to maybe hang on her walls back home. “I love it here. Our little town is surrounded by so much scenery, a canyon, a lake, a mountain to climb.”
Gemma’s gaze shifted over to how careful Lianne aimed that phone. “What are you doing? Are you taking those pictures in case Willow asks to see proof of where we’ve been?”
“I was thinking of printing these out, blowing them up, and framing them for my bedroom wall.”
“You’re a very creative soul. I’m glad you’re settling in, making your way with Luke.”
After turning off the trail, past the old truck, they headed further into the foothills. Here, black oak grew forty feet high alongside bull pine. Up ahead, Gemma spotted a place where they could tie up the horses.
After dismounting and looping Gypsy’s reins over a tree branch, she rolled her shoulders, adjusted her backpack. “It’s still pretty muddy. We’ll have to watch our footing on the climb up.”
“You go on ahead. I’ll wait for you right here.”
“You will not. No way. After lecturing me about coming out here by myself, you’re not staying behind alone.”
“Fine. But doesn’t someone need to watch the horses?”
“No. The horses should be fine. We’re out here miles from the ranch.” She glanced around at just how far out they’d roamed. “Alone.”
“Unless someone followed us.”
“Stop that kind of talk. I’m spooked enough as it is. We need to get this little misadventure behind us.”
“You were a lot more excited about seeing the stone circle yesterday,” Lianne grumbled as she shouldered her pack for the hike.
“Anticipation is always better than the actual event. Don’t you know that by now?”
After half an hour or so of trekking up the side of the mountain, they reached a winding dirt path that was overgrown in places. They navigated around tree roots and large rocks, obstacles designed for stubbing a toe or breaking an ankle. It didn’t smooth out again until they came to a dog-leg part of the trail that opened up to a small mountain meadow covered in flowers of all colors, bright yellows, purples, and deep blues. In the middle of the field was a circle of eight irregular stones, alternating in size and height, but some were large enough to sit on.
Gemma wiped her brow. “Perfect spot to take a break.”
Holding Elnora’s map in hand, Lianne scanned the surrounding area. “I think this is it.”
As stone circles went, this one wasn’t that impressive. The series of small boulders looked well-worn and felt smooth to the touch. The quartz had red streaks running through it.
For some reason, the flowers and grasses didn’t encroach inside the circle, or maybe it was because plants simply refused to grow there. The dirt patch was free of any flora at all.
Inside the outer circle was a smaller one used as a ceremonial fire pit. Gemma could tell because of all the ash left behind. The entire circle was less than twelve feet in diameter.
“A little disappointing, huh?” Lianne remarked.
“Hey, for Coyote Wells this is a big deal. And it must’ve been for Imelda Duncan who grew up coming to this place as a child.” Gemma stood inside the circle, turning in a loop, the dirt still muddy from the recent rain.
“You read her book?”
“From cover to cover. But that’s not saying much. It was a short book, less than sixty pages with lots of description but not much detail about where to look for the carnelian stone. Any ideas where it might be?”
“Not a clue.”
“Then it’ll be like looking for an Easter egg, won’t it?” Gemma offered, chewing her lip. “Maybe Imelda Duncan didn’t provide much detail because she didn’t want the carnelian stone found. Maybe it’s not actually in the circle but somewhere nearby.”
“Do we even know how large it is? If not, this could take a while.”
“The only clue mentioned is that it was odd-shaped and about an inch at its widest point.”
“I hate it when clues are that non-specific,” Lianne groaned. “How about we split up? You take the east side of the meadow, I’ll take the west, meet back in the middle. It’s not that big of an area to cover.”
“Maybe we should just poke around in the dirt, you know, inside the circle. Those ashes look interesting because I don’t think anyone’s been camping here for decades. There are no footprints except ours.”
“I suppose it couldn’t hurt to poke the ground. But really I don’t think anyone intended for us to dig up anything here.” Lianne noticed Gemma had stopped listening. She watched her go through her backpack, searching for something. “What are you looking for?”
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