Fiery Gemstones (A Heston Witch Novella) (9 page)

“
You are right of course.
But I still worry.” Ethos had an uncharacteristic frown on her face.

“You’re a mum. It’s in your job description
to worry.”

The three of
them stepped away from the door
, speak
ing softly so as not to wake the sleeping girl.

“
Hey
,
are you alright?
”
Eden asked Edna.
“
You
’ve been awfully quiet tonight.”

“
I’m fine,
I
just have a lot on
my mind.”

“
Haven’t we all. Care to share?
”

For a brief moment, Edna was tempted to share what she had seen, to unburden hersel
f and tell them everything. Having
been reminded that Esther’s ceremony and ball were only a couple of days away
helped her
put the vision she had seen into perspective. She now had a timeframe. Lester was going to shoot her in the head on the day of Esther’s coming of age party. She looked over at her sisters, strongly tempted to share her revelations with them but something held her back.

How ca
n you be so selfish?
Haven’t they got enough on their plates?

Impulsively she reached out and pulled both her sisters into a hug.

“
I love you guys,
”
she said.
“
I love you both so so much.
”

“
And we love you too, you weird huggy monster,
”
Eden quipped.

They shared a brief laugh to cover their deeper emotions. In the background, Esther
cried out
again in her sleep.

“Adam!!”

“
Poor thing,
”
her mother said.
“
Pity that tale is already written and there is no changing the ending.
”

The
Heston sisters made their way back downstairs.

“So have you decided on a theme for her manifestation yet?”
Edna asked as they got to the bottom of the steps.

It seemed a little odd for her to be thinking about planning a party on the day she was going to get shot but she was determined.

Nothing was going to ruin Esther’s party.

The day dawned bright and early with the sun shining pleasantly through the light fog that covered Silverline City. Both girls got ready in their separate rooms and then walked down the steps of Red Rock Haven and out of the door together. It was time for them to get back to school, the new term was starting and for once they would not be together. As Esther was turning fifteen, she was moving on to the Silverline City College while Elvira had one more year in the Silverline Senior School.  Since both fine institutions were side by side, smack in the middle of Silver, they could still go to school together. They just wouldn’t be in the same building. It felt like torture.

Still, with all that was going on in the family at the minute, both girls had more than just different schools on their minds. Neither girl said much as they walked along, bundled up cosily in their matching red winter coats and black boots, barrettes and hand muffs until Esther noticed a sly smile crossing Elvira’s face.

“Hey, what are you smirking about, Coz? Is there something I should know?”

“Huh. Shouldn’t I be asking you that question, Esther?”

“What do you mean?”

“Who’s the guy that’s gotten you so hot and bothered he’s invaded your dreams? Where did you even meet him? Do I know him?”

“What on earth are you blabbing on about?” Esther asked with exasperation in every syllable.

“Adam, oooh Adam”, Elvira cooed, mimicking Esther’s voice breathlessly.

She crowed in delight as her cousin flushed, her cheeks turning a bright crimson easily
seen in
the bright winter sunlight.

“Ooh, you are blushing. He must be something. Go on, tell me everything. Spill. Details. Now!”

“It’s not what you think.”

“And what exactly do I think, Ms Heston?”

“It isn’t anyone you know.”

“So there is a guy? The man of your dreams?”

“Yes. But he isn’t real… I mean he was real but he isn’t any longer.”

Elvira planted her feet in shock.

“Oh my God. You are time travelling and loving it up with some ancient dude.”

“No!”

“Then what? Just tell me already.”

“Look, apparently it has to do with this whole manifestation thingy that is coming up soon.”

“Really?”

“Yep! I’m afraid so. So you have this to look forward to as well.”

Esther was surprised to feel a mild twinge of jealousy and possessiveness running through her at the thought of her cousin spending time with
her
Adam but she shook it off rapidly. He wasn’t her Adam. He wasn’t her anything except a long distant ancestor, same as any other member of the human race.

“So, part of the manifestation process huh. Funny I don’t remember them telling us about hot guys as a part of this before.”

Both girls had been thoroughly schooled on what to expect once they had reached the age of ten. The ‘Talk’ at Red Rock Haven covered a whole lot more than just the birds and the bees.

“So Adam, huh,” Elvira prompted casually, then her eyes widened as realisation dawned.

“Oh. Adam!!”

She struggled for words for a couple of moments while Esther watched her with mild amusement. It was a rare occasion indeed if Elvira Heston was lost for words.

“You have been having hot dreams about that Adam. As in The Adam?”

“Yes that Adam. I mean no.
Not
hot dreams about him. Of course not.”

“Esther…?”

“It’s more like I am getting to see what happened all those years ago in Eden. From a first-hand point of view. Aunt Edna said it is normal this close to a manifestation.”

“You talked to Aunt Edna about this?” Elvira asked, slightly miffed. “And you didn’t tell me?”

“Well what was I going to say huh? Hey Elvira, you’ll never guess… I had the most a-mazing dream last night,” she said in a mock cheerleader-esque voice. “Caught a glimpse of the very first make out session that ever happened on earth too. It was like, Awesome?”

“Well yes
,
basically, but I’d need a lot more details.”

Both girls burst out laughing.

“Come on, we are going to be late for school.”

“Ahh, the joys of education. Yes, let’s try not to keep the real guys waiting.”

“You know you are totally weird, right?”

“Of course I do. But weird in a totally lovable way.” Elvira snickered as they parted ways at the fork in the road that led to their different schools. Just one more year and they’d be together again.

Just one more year.

As she turned into the central hallway, alone for the first time in years, she felt out of place and very conspicuous. Most people along the corridor didn’t make eye contact with her. They just walked by. A few nodded in greeting and a very minute few waved.

It’s not too bad. I can do this.
She thought to herself.

Just when she thought that she would be alright, the whispers and snide remarks started and they carried on all down the hall till she got to her locker. Usually she and Esther could drown out the chatter by talking to each other but this time she was on her own. Was it her imagination or were they louder now?

“Don’t look at her…”

“Will you stop staring at her?
It’s a waste of time.
”

“
Everybody knows the Hestons are all a bunch of snobs.
”

“
They don’t date boys from around here.
”

“
I heard they don’t even like boys
,”
another voice chimed in.
“Or
men either for that matter. I mean really. Are there
any guys in that family at all?”

Elvira ground her teeth. This would be an opportune time to tu
rn all of them into Chihuahuas
for a fortnight.  She took a deep breath.

“
Rise above it girl,
”
she muttered under her breath.
“Rise above it.”

She opened her locker and did her best to focus on her timetable for the day, looking at the sheets of paper she’d picked up at the reception on her way in.

“
Hi
.”
 
She
heard a male voice say from behind her locker door.

“
Hi
,” she replied woodenly.

Not
taking her eyes off the piece
of paper she held in her hand,
she mechanically sorted out the books she needed for the da
y. She flicked her eyes up to see who it was and the next thing she knew,
her books
went flying all over the place, most falling haphazardly back into her locker, the others landing on the floor.

“
Oops.
”
The boy said with a gentle smile.
“
Didn’t mean to startle you.
”

For the second time that morning, Elvira Heston found herself speechless. His name was Matt. He and his family had moved to Silverline City towards the end of the last term and he’d never been seen to pay attention to any of the girls. Actually he never seemed to pay much attention to anyone.  He just minded his own business most of the time. Was respectful to teachers, had good grades and participated in the mandatory afterschool   sports and activities but never took it too far.
It was like in a world filled with poppets marching to a communal drum
beat. H
e did his own thing and didn’t care what anyone thought of him.
Despite this he was very popular. His good looks didn’t hurt either.

Her eyes narrowed as she contemplated the possibility that this was a prank, a joke at her expense. She was an obvious target but she hadn’t thought he was the type to go along with such things. If the numbskulled guys at Silverline Senior School thought they could mess with her just because she was on her own this year, they had another think coming. If it was a lame joke she would make them all grow tails and whiskers before the day was through.

“
Sorry,
”
Matt repeated.
“
Like I said, I didn’t mean to startle you.
”

He handed her the books he had rescued from the floor.  He seemed almost nervous and Elvira had no intention of encouraging him or putting him at ease. She gave him her
best poker
face and just waited patiently as she collected her books and tried to put her locker into some semblance of order. He stood there patiently while she locked her locker and turned back to him.

“
Yes?
”

He cleared his throat and gave a little cough.

“
I need a favour
,”
he said looking her straight in the eye.

“
I’m listening
,”
she replied dispassionately.

“
I
’ve been invited to this formal
, like event, at this place on Saturday and I really need a date.
”

“
Yeah,
” she said slowly, not
seeing where he was going with all this.

“Well I was wondering if
, that is
…
, maybe,
” he rephrased. “You
would like to be my
… errm
, you know, my date?
”

Elvira bit ba
ck a laugh. If this was a prank
, it was the mother of all lame pranks. What was supposed to happen? She’d turn up and he’d have another date? She
’d
turn up and he wouldn’t be there? Or what? It didn’t make any sense.

Does he even know who he is trifling with?

She opened her mouth to blast him for wasting her time while at the same time preparing to give him a mental push to dance like an ape out of
The Jungle Book
or something when her eyes fell on the small cream envelope he was holding in his left hand.

It looked very familiar and rightly so. Her Aunt Ethos had ordered those same cream envelopes specially for Esther’s manifestation and had spent all night collaborating with Aunt Edna to fill them out.  Aunt Edna told her who would be there on the day, who she had seen would be able to attend and her mum and Ethos then filled the cards. How in the world did Matt happen t
o have one?