The Steward (34 page)

She came in and started laughing,

“Oh honey, you fell asleep with your dress on.”

“I guess I did,” I said, wiping the sleep out of my eyes. “I’ll be right down, okay? I just need a quick bath.”

She sat on my bed as I stumbled to my closet, still trying to shake the nightmare, and found a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

* * *

Mom and I had helped Chloe move Candace back into her house three days ago. The doctor had finally released her from the hospital a week after she awoke from the coma. She began meeting with a counselor to help her with recovery. She didn’t like it, but her doctors said she had to do it. I thought it was a good idea, even though she didn’t actually hurt herself. Thanks to Sherman, she remembered nothing of what happened that day. She had been through a traumatic experience, though. As far as she knew she’d tried suicide, and coming to grips with that was taking its toll on her.

Candace had made a lot of progress, but she still suffered from the effects. She was understandably confused and had a lot of trouble keeping her temper in check. Mostly, she felt embarrassed, and even more she resented the doting attention everyone seemed to want to shower her with. Having me around seemed to bring her some peace as we joked often and I got her to laugh every chance I could. Because of that, Chloe was eager for me to spend as much time with her as possible.

Today, Gavin and I dragged Candace to the Garden Bistro, her favorite restaurant in Eureka—it was her first time out in public since the injury. Away from everyone else, and with a bowl of the best tomato bisque in the state, she seemed more at ease. She wore long sleeves to cover up the scars on her wrists—the wounds were two-and-a-half-months-old, and mostly healed, but they left long, jagged, puffy, dark-pink reminders that stood out in sharp contrast to her pale skin. As a sign of solidarity, I wore long sleeves too, even though it was ninety-five degrees outside.

We’d been sitting at the table outside on the tiny patio for fifteen minutes when she tugged at my shirt and rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to sweat your butt off on my account.”

I laughed. “Please, I’m just trying to keep up with the fashion goddess of Northwest Arkansas.”

“Thanks,” she said.

We ate, but she scanned the shaded patio to see if anyone was staring at her. She checked her cuffs, tugging them down, every thirty seconds. Gavin and I engaged her with school gossip, news of my most recent water-skiing trip, and the latest speculation that Ronnie was dating Rhonda’s brother, Greg. Gavin silently manufactured calmness, just as I’d asked him to do. She relaxed with us, and while she was far from being back to her old self—how could she be—I felt relieved that we were together, eating a meal under the warm sun.

After taking Candace home, Gavin drove me back to the Weald. When we got in the car, Gavin handed me the red stone.

“Oh, my gosh, I forgot all about the Fire trial. When is it?”

“Tomorrow. It would have been last week, but because of Candace we decided to postpone it for you. I think she’ll be fine on her own tomorrow,” he said, a warm smile following his words.

“Gavin, can you do me a favor?” It seemed almost unfair to ask him for another one.

He nodded, keeping his eyes on the road. “Do you want to know about the trial?”

“Yes, I do, but that isn’t my favor.”

He had a puzzled look on his face, but he nodded again. “Okay.”

“Can you, or Sherman, visit Candace and make the scars go away ... you know, another miraculous Healing Spring cure for old time’s sake.”

He smiled, and watched me for a moment. “Yes, we can do that.”

“Thanks, because I think healing the scars on her wrists will help her to begin healing other scars.”

He put his hand on mine, and shook his head as we headed out of town.

“What?” I asked, as my goofy grin fought its way to the surface.

He just grinned and looked into the rearview mirror, before shifting his eyes back to the road. “So, interested in the Fire trial at all?”

I nodded.

“I’ll take you to Fayetteville tomorrow. We’ll tell your parents that you’re spending the day in the botanical gardens furthering your new found love affair with horticulture.”

“Okay, great. So tell me, where will we really be going?”

I was actually very happy, at the moment, that there were no volcanoes in Arkansas.

“A volcano,” he said.

I looked at him, shocked.

“I’m kidding ... you let that one slip through,” he said, pointing to his temple.

“Okay, psychic stalker!”

“Naw, you’re just getting soft,” he said playfully

I punched his massive bicep, and rolled my eyes.

He laughed at me, genuinely amused. “We’re actually going to the Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks. Your trial will take place there, by Lake Fayetteville. You are to find the Fire symbol, and place the stone…

“…Place the stone inside and follow the instructions,” I said cutting him off.

“No, this time you have to answer a few questions.”

Questions? That’s new.

“In the back seat you’ll find a duffel bag—take it with you and study the contents tonight. I’d say to memorize the Fire sign, but you’ve already got that committed to memory I see.

“Yes, and I intended you to see that one, by the way.” I laughed.

“Sure…”

Dad was in the Toy Box when we pulled up. He had the cover off of his Mustang, working under the hood with Mitch and Justice by his side. He smiled at us and went back to work.

“I didn’t know my dad could work on cars,” I said.

“I’m not sure what he’s doing—that car is in perfect running order. They all are,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Fae mechanics?” I mused.

“I don’t actually get my hands dirty, but...” he said with a wink.

After Gavin drove off, I joined Dad, hoping that he felt better. He’d hired a security company to come out and put an alarm on the house, the studio and the Toy Box. He’d even talked about wiring the boat dock with motion sensors.

“Hey, what are you guys doing?” I asked.

Mitch’s face lit up. “Dad’s just checkin’ the fluids—we’re going to drive it today.”

Dad nodded his head. “Yeah, time to do something with it.”

By the exasperated tone in his voice, I knew he meant more than drive it.
Could he actually be planning to sell it?
Surely not. We both knew what that would do to Mitch, who’d placed dibs on it as soon as Aunt May gave me the Thunderbird. Dad had promised it to him, too. The thought made me sad and I didn’t understand it, but he wasn’t talking and I didn’t feel like pushing the issue. So I left him with Mitch.

TWENTY
-
TWO

FIRE

After dinner and several games of pool with Mitch, I feigned exhaustion so I could go back to my room and search the internet for the Fire element. I read several different articles and blogs, and as with every other search I’d done, there were some general themes that seemed consistent but nothing specific. Then I studied the objects in the duffel bag. I fell asleep thinking about them and woke up the next morning doing the same. A large bag of grey granules, and a small sundial made of copper with a pedestal base. That was all.

The granules didn’t have much of a smell. I Googled gun powder. It looked the same, and it bothered me to learn that unburned gunpowder didn’t have much of a scent.
Great, this could be explosive.
I thought the substance might also be seeds of some kind, but I didn’t know for sure. I opened my bedroom window to allow some air in.

Ten minutes later a familiar Blue Jay appeared on the sill. I was relieved that Sara was here. It had been two days since her last visit, but her timing surprised me—it was daytime.

“Sara, what happened? Why are you here right now?”

Her voice sounded bizarre coming from the small bird. “Nothing is wrong. The Judge decided to transfer me to Berryville this morning. After meeting with Danny Johns, my attorney, the judge thought a change of venue was in order since May was so well known here. I cannot stay long. The deputies who moved me will awaken any minute from the nap I induced and realize that I’m gone.”

I laughed. “Wait, you compelled them?”

She sounded horrified and whispered like she was in a confessional. “Only to the extent it was
absolutely
necessary.”

“You’ve made your jail break!” I felt a smile take command of my face.

“Yes, and I need to start leaving a rather conspicuous trail away from the Weald, but I wanted to come by and let you know first.”

“Sara, before you go, please, Dad is being so weird, he won’t talk, he won’t smile and I think he’s going to sell his car—that’s going to break Mitch’s heart.”

“Give me a minute.” She popped out and startled me in the process.
I hate it when they do that.

I waited. My senses told me she was in the walk-out basement, just beyond the pool table. A few minutes later the Blue Jay reappeared on the sill, and I jumped … again.

“Right now he’s engrossed in a sporting event of some kind, but I can sense his despair and the feeling of isolation he’s wrestling with. This is harder on him than I thought it would be, though I cannot say I’m surprised. I don’t have the time to study him to see exactly what he’s going through—I will have Gavin focus on him.”

“What did you mean by that, not surprised?” I asked.

“I suppose this is as good a time as any to tell you. Your dad has suffered through a lot, and it changed him. He withdraws from the people around him in situations like this—it has frequently been his way of dealing with trauma. Remember when May told you about her son, Kyle?”

“Yes, he died on the bluffs.”

“What she didn’t tell you was that your dad was there when it happened.”

A breath caught in my throat.

Sara explained that Dad had been selected to be the next Steward—she saw the same gift in him that she’d seen in me, but the accident began to change him, a change that wasn’t complete until his parents died in a car wreck just before he turned fourteen, and just a week before Aunt May was to reveal to him what she’d revealed to me in January.

A lump formed in my throat. He’d been there when Kyle died—he’d seen it happen. I couldn’t imagine what that did to him. I’d nearly lost Candace and it about destroyed me.

“I never knew.”

“No, David doesn’t talk about it. He came here to live with May and James for a while, and they treated David like their own child. Nonetheless, he left Arkansas as soon as he could. It took May’s poor health—and his need to provide for your mom, your brother and you—to bring him back here.

“Maggie, I came to talk to you about your trial.”

“About all of this stuff?” I looked at the provisions on my bed.

“No, you have to figure these out for yourself. I’m here to tell you that I will be gone for a little while. I won’t be at your Fire trial, but Gavin will.”

“Can’t you just pop in for a minute?”

“Maggie, I can’t teleport. I can move much faster in my natural form than humans can, but I still have to cover the distance.”

“I thought you could pop through walls—just blink to places.”

She smiled. “Now you see where some of the myths come from. I merely shift into my natural form to pass through physical objects—like heat does—and take physical form on the other side. I’m going to Europe for a while, but I will be back, you have to trust me.”

Despite feeling more exposed than ever, I said, “I don’t like that you’re leaving, but you know I trust you.”

“This is important, Maggie, if something happens and you need help—if you need something and Gavin cannot help you—I need you to seek out a Fae that goes by the name Billy Macy.”

“Billy Macy?”

“Yes, remember that name, commit it to memory. You’ll find him at
Turpentine Creek.
”

“Where … where is that?”

“Just ask any local—they can tell you. But remember, Billy Macy.”

“Okay”

“Now I have to go, but I will see you soon,” she said gently.

“Sara, I love you.”

The little bird was silent for a moment, just staring at me.

“Thank you Maggie, I love you to.”

I was stunned to hear her speak those words, and I know it showed on my face.

“But I thought…”

“No Maggie, you’ve misunderstood. There can be an emotional bond between human and Fae, and for me, there often is. I choose human form to experience that connection with people. I loved May, and Lola too, just as I love you. What is forbidden is the pairing. The intimate bond between Fae and human is a very powerful thing. The intimate bond is the one that is so dangerous to my kind. Forming an emotional connection is only natural.”

As she flew away, I felt the sense of calm in my room again. That familiar presence was back. It seemed fitting at the moment. I felt more important than I ever have. A being as beautiful and ancient as Sara
loved me
, and that meant that Gavin might, too. Perhaps not in the way I wanted, but something I could hold on to.
Maybe I’m not a bubble after all.

* * *

While I waited for Gavin to arrive, I went to the studio and watched Mom turning clay. It felt like it was going to get hot today—by eight o’clock in the morning the temperature had climbed past eighty degrees, and at ten-thirty, it felt closer to one hundred. I loved the hot weather, it reminded me of Miami, but it made the studio even stuffier than normal. Mom had the windows flung open and the ceiling fan spun in a losing battle to make it cooler in the little stone building.

“Hey honey,” Mom said without looking up, her forehead glistening. “You getting ready to go to Fayetteville with Gavin?”

“Yes ma’am, he should be here in a few minutes.”

“I didn’t realize he liked plants,” she said, concentrating on the tube taking shape in her hands.

“Yeah, he knows them better than I do, I think.” I laughed to myself.

“I don’t think that’s possible.”
If she only knew.
“You know, I think you should study botany or horticulture in college. I had no idea you’d have such a green thumb.”