The Suicide Forest (The River Book 5) (7 page)

“They why can I feel it, and you can’t?” Steven asked.

“I don’t know,” Roy said. “Maybe because you’re marked, and
the glass doesn’t differentiate between evil and marked. We don’t know for
sure. But I know you’re not evil.”

“How do these markings occur, exactly?” Steven asked. “Were
they inherited?”

“As far as I know, none of my ancestors had markings,” Roy
said.

“Mom’s side of the family maybe?” Steven asked.

“It would have to be latent!” Roy said. “Your mother hated
the gift, insisted I never use it around her.”

“Maybe she hated it in the way James Unser hated it,” Steven
said. “Because she was familiar with it.”

“Don’t know,” Roy said. “We never talked about it.”

“Do you think she knew about these markings?” Steven asked.

“I doubt it,” Roy said. “With her, it was always Jesus,
Jesus, Jesus.”

“Maybe that’s why all the churching,” Steven said. “She knew
I was marked.”

“Pure speculation,” Roy said.

“I could try to contact her,” Steven said.

Roy dropped his head and sighed. “Please, don’t,” he said.

“Why not?” Steven asked.

“Because I’m asking you not to,” Roy said. “You want me to
respect the relationship with your son by not talking to him about the gift,
fine. But you respect my relationship with your mother by leaving her at
peace.”

“OK,” Steven said, a little hesitantly. He’d strayed into
uncomfortable territory with Roy and wasn’t sure how to back out of it.

Roy wasn’t done. “Your mother went to her grave believing
that she’d spared you and Bernard from my abilities. I didn’t agree with her on
that, but her happiness was always important to me. So I’d like to keep things
the way they are with her.”

“But surely she must know by now,” Steven said.

“I don’t think so,” Roy said, getting worked up. “Your mother
believed what she wanted to believe. You digging her up to show her your
markings would just crush her. Out of respect for her – and me – you are not to
contact her. Do you understand?”

“Alright,” Steven said.

“I…I forbid it!” Roy said.

“Touché,” Steven said. “You win. I won’t.”

“Thank you,” Roy said, calming down. He began browsing the
objects again. One caught his eye. It was a small wooden box, about the size of
two cigarette boxes side by side. It had intricate carvings on it.

Shit!
Roy thought.
That’s the same box Daniel’s bugs came in.
Roy knew
Steven didn’t share his memory of the bugs, and how they killed Daniel.
I
need to warn him somehow,
Roy thought.

“There’s some dangerous things in here,” Roy said. “Come see
this one.”

Steven walked over to where Roy was standing. Roy pointed to
the box inside the case.

“You best be on high alert with these items,” Roy said. “I
wouldn’t suggest opening or activating any of them before you know what they
do. I’ve seen this one before. The last time I saw it, it contained bugs that
would bore into you and kill you. And they moved fast.”

“Jesus,” Steven said, looking down at the box through the
case. “I would have opened it without a second thought.”

“You’d be comatose within seconds,” Roy thought. “So be
careful with this stuff. Don’t even accidentally activate or open anything.”

“I think I’m done anyway,” Steven said. “I’m going to relax
under the tree for a while.”

“I’m going back to the library,” Roy said. “I think I stand a
better chance of finding something that will work on Evie from my book than
these objects. Let’s leave early tomorrow morning, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind,” Steven said, turning to leave the room, Roy
following him.

Steven wandered out of the object room and into the entryway,
where he strolled slowly to the back archway, still examining himself with the
planchette. He was able to look through the glass at anything else just fine,
but when he landed on his markings, he felt fear begin to rise, and he removed
the glass before it felt as bad as it had been in the object room. He walked
outside and sat under the banyan tree. Even though it was night, the
temperature inside and outside the house was always the same, seventy degrees.
Lights from the house lit the backyard. He took quick glances at his markings,
never letting the glass stay long over his hand.

If this is how they feel when they see me,
Steven thought,
then this is a
huge natural defense. But is it an offense, too? If these markings tell them to
be afraid of me, why? What about me is to be feared? Is it just that I taste
bad to eat? Or can I do something dangerous to them? I need to find out what it
is.

 He examined himself with the planchette repeatedly, until he
grew tired and decided to pack it in for the night.

◊

On the way home the next morning, they stopped for coffee at
a roadside stand in Elma. Piled in the back seat were three books from the
library at Eximere that Roy wanted to study at home to determine their owner.
Steven kept the planchette in his jacket pocket, almost as a talisman. It gave
him comfort to know it was immediately available if he wanted to examine his
hands again.

As Steven passed the cup to Roy and waited for his own, Roy
grumbled. He had been reading his book in the car since they left, and
something was bothering him.

“What’s wrong?” Steven asked.

“Goddamn thing,” Roy said, slapping the page he was reading.
“I think this will work with Evie. It creates a sense of calm around people. It
suggests here that it makes people more likely to trust you. But I can’t figure
out the description.”

“Here, let me try,” Steven said, holding his arms out for the
book. Roy passed the hand-bound book over to Steven, and he positioned it in
his lap. The book was large and unwieldy, and Steven propped it against the
steering wheel to read it. He read the section Roy pointed to.

“Seems plain enough,” Steven said. “Rosemary, glass jar, binding
intent.”

“You can read that?” Roy asked.

“Yes,” Steven said, handing the book back.

“Well,” Roy said, “I’ll be.”

Steven’s cup arrived, and they started back down Highway 8
towards Olympia and Seattle.

“I couldn’t read the part about the ‘binding intent,’” Roy
said.

“Must be something I’ve learned that you haven’t,” Steven
said, knowing this would get under Roy’s skin.

“What would that be?” Roy asked. “We’ve worked together on
everything. Maybe it’s your magical markings,” Roy said.

“You’re jealous,” Steven said. “Admit it.”

“I wouldn’t want those black widow spider marks all over me,”
Roy said.

That’s what they remind me of,
Steven thought.
The red hourglass
on the black widow. A warning to everyone that the spider can kill.

“Do you know what a binding intent is?” Steven asked Roy.

“No, I don’t,” he answered, “which is probably why I couldn’t
read it. The question is, how do
you
know what it is?”

“I don’t know what it is exactly,” Steven said. “See if you
can find something about it in there.”

Roy returned to searching through the book. “If we can figure
this out on the drive back,” Roy said, “we can deal with Evie this morning.
It’ll only be 9 or so when we get back to Seattle.”

 “Keep reading,” Steven said, taking another sip of his
coffee and pressing a little harder on the accelerator. He reached into his
jacket pocket to make sure the planchette was still there.

Steven called June as they were on their way to her house to
warn her to have the token ready, and to find out if Evie was still there. He
pulled his car into the driveway at June’s house, parking behind Evie’s car to
make it difficult for her to back out in case she decided to run away from them
again.

Roy had, in his jacket pocket, a small jar that contained a
single sprig of rosemary. Steven had sealed the jar with the binding intent Roy
found in the book. They hadn’t talked any more about how Steven had been able
to read the instructions that Ray couldn’t. Steven knew this was irritating
Roy.

They walked to the kitchen door and knocked. Steven could see
June and Evie sitting at chairs in the kitchen, both watching a small television.
Evie looked up and scowled. June hurried to the door to let them in.

“Hello!” she said. “Come in! Would you like some coffee?” Her
palms were pressed together tightly.

“Love some,” Steven said, walking inside.

“Back to harass me some more?” Evie said, still sitting at
the kitchen table.

“We just want to talk,” Roy said.

“Why don’t you help yourself to the coffee,” June said,
nodding to the pot on the counter.

“Thanks,” Steven said, turning to pour himself a mug.

“How about a warmer?” Evie said, holding up her mug. Steven
brought the pot over to Evie and refilled her cup, and poured a mug for Roy. Then
Steven and Roy sat at the table with Evie and June.

“What’s my mother holding so strangely?” Evie asked.

“Something we gave her,” Steven said, “to protect her.”

“From something in the house?” Evie asked.

“Yes,” Steven said. “Whatever it is, it doesn’t like me very
much, and it threatened your mother when we tried to help her.”

“So it’s to protect her from
you
,” Evie said.

“In a way, yes,” Steven said. “Do you know what’s going on
here?”

“What, in the house?” Evie asked.

“Yes, the house,” Steven said. “The bangings. The attacks on
your son and mother.”

“No, I don’t,” she said. “Why don’t you tell me?”

“But you know something is wrong, don’t you?” Steven asked.
“You have the gift. You can tell something is off.”

“Listen,” Evie said, “the only reason I’m even talking with
you is her,” nodding to her mother. “She’s scared out of her mind. I think you
two are the reason.”

“We’re not the reason,” Roy said. “Whatever is here, it was
going on before we showed up. We’re helping because June asked us to.”

“Because you brought her a book,” Evie said.

“Yes,” Roy said.

“How much did you charge my mother for whatever she’s
holding?” Evie asked.

“Charge?” Steven said. “That’s not what we’re doing here.
We’ve been all over the Sound running down answers to the problem here, and we
haven’t asked June for a dime. And don’t intend to.”

“Then why are you here?” Evie asked, becoming agitated.

“We’ve already told you,” Roy said. “To help.”

Evie turned to June. “Why now?”

“They brought me the book of your great-grandfather,” June
said, “so I knew they had the gift, like your father. If Mark were here, we
wouldn’t be going through this. He’d put a stop to it. So I asked them to try.”

“What I don’t think my mother has told you,” Evie said,
turning back to Steven, “is that the bangings have been following us for years.
And she holds me responsible.”

“That’s not true,” June said. “I don’t blame you. I just wish
you’d help get rid of it, that’s all. I know you could if you wanted to.”

“She used to pressure my father this way, too,” Evie said to
Steven and Roy. “Anything she didn’t like, she’d grind on him until he gave in
and fixed whatever she wanted fixed.”

“Look,” Roy said, “I’ve had a look at what’s here, what’s
causing the bangings. You’re in a lot of danger.”

“Are we?” Evie asked, sarcastically. “Tell me, what do you
think is the problem? What have you seen?”

“We saw one of the entities hold a knife to your mother’s
throat,” Roy said.

“That was because of you,” Evie said. “You caused that.”

“So you
do
know what is going on,” Steven said.

“No,” Evie said, “I want to hear it from you. From the heroes
come to save the day.”

“There are three entities,” Roy said. “One of them is major.
They’re all fighting for something. We don’t know what, yet. But we do know
you’re the door, you’re the reason they’re here.”

“And what do you propose?” Evie said. “You want to exorcise me?
Is that it? You want to exorcise the house?”

“No,” Steven said, “that’s why we wanted to talk to you, to
find out why they’re here.”

“And
then
exorcise the house,” Evie said.

“Maybe,” Roy said. “Depends on what we find.”

“Why don’t you just exorcise it now?” Evie said. “Go ahead.
I’ll wait in here.”

“We don’t know yet if an exorcism is the right way to go,”
Roy said. He reached inside his jacket pocket and shook the jar. He could feel
the rosemary sprig within it bouncing against the glass.
Hurry up and work!
he thought.

“This is a waste of time,” Evie said. She turned to June.
“Would you please let me handle things my own way? They’re just meddling, they
don’t know what’s going on here, and they likely never will. Tell them to go
away, we don’t need them here.”

“I will not!” June said. “I’m tired of living with it, Evie.
I want something done about it. Steven and Roy are welcome here anytime as far
as I’m concerned.” She turned to Steven. “Please don’t let Evie dissuade you. I
and Robbie need your help, even if she doesn’t.”

“Keep Robbie out of this,” Evie said.

“He’s already involved!” June said. “He’s scared out of his
wits. He sleeps in my room half the time. I wish you’d let me send him over to
Uncle Bill’s place for a couple of nights, so we could both get a decent
night’s sleep!”

“Please, more drama, mother,” Evie said.

“It’s true!” June said. “He’s scared, and you want to pretend
he isn’t. Let me take him over to Bill’s.”

“No,” Evie said, “that’s not going to happen. He’s perfectly
fine here.”

Roy shook the rosemary sprig in the glass jar again,
irritated that it wasn’t working.

“Perhaps we could talk to Robbie?” Steven asked.

“Absolutely not,” Evie said.

“Why not?” June asked.

“Because I don’t want him to,” Evie said. “There’s no reason
for him to meet these two.”

June sat back in her chair and let out a sigh. Steven could
tell she was used to having this argument with Evie, and never won it.

“Well, I guess that’s it then,” Steven said, turning to
leave.

“Bye,” Evie said.

“Wait!” June said. “Don’t go. We do need your help, even if
Evie doesn’t think so.”

“We’ll have to see about that,” Roy said to June. “We’ll be
in touch.” He followed Steven out the kitchen door and back to their car. He
pulled the glass jar out of his coat pocket and looked at it. “Worthless,” he
said.

“We must have done it wrong,” Steven said. “What was it
supposed to do, exactly?”

“Make her trust us,” Roy said. “Maybe you read it wrong? The
instructions?”

“Or maybe,” Steven said, getting into the car, “she knew it
was there and countered it somehow.”

“That seems more likely,” Roy said.

“Winning her over is looking more and more like a bad
strategy,” Steven said. “So what do we do next? Seems like a dead end.”

“I want to come back and talk with June after Evie leaves,”
Roy said. “There’s a few things that came out of that conversation that we need
to follow up on.”

◊

They returned a couple of hours later. Evie’s car was no
longer in the driveway. Steven phoned June and told to have the token ready when
they arrived.

“Sorry about that,” June said, inviting them both to sit.
“She’s strong willed.”

“No need to apologize,” Steven said.

“June,” Roy said, “we’re not going to get the information we
need from Evie, that’s obvious. I was wondering if there was anyone else who
might be able to help us understand what’s happening here. You mentioned an
Uncle?”

“Yes, Bill,” June said, “Mark’s brother. He lives in Madrona.
He and Mark were very close. He used to be close to Evie, too, but when she had
her falling out with Mark, she stopped seeing Bill, too.”

“You wanted to take Robbie over to Bill’s?” Steven asked.

“Yes,” June said, “Robbie loves Bill, they get along great. I
was thinking if he could just get out of this house for a while, maybe he could
have a decent night’s sleep.”

“But it’s not the house, is it?” Roy asked. “Evie said it’s
been going on for a while now.”

“Well,” June said, “before we moved here, there was an
occasional strange thing that would happen now and again, but life is full of
occasional strange things. It’s only been since we moved here that they’re
happening so regularly.”

“Would you mind if we spoke to Bill?” Steven asked. “If he
was close to Mark, he may know something that could help us. And, I’m not sure
where else to turn at the moment.”

“Oh I’m sure Bill will help,” June said. “Let me get my
address book.”

She returned with the book clasped between her fingers.
“Could one of you look it up please? It’s impossible to do with my palms held
together like this.”

Steven took the address book from her fingers and flipped
through it. The cover was a 3D picture of a rose bush, and every page contained
a line drawing of a different flower.

“Last name Williamson?” Steven asked.

“Yes,” June said. “Bill Williamson.”

Steven flipped pages until he found the entry, then took out
his phone and typed in the address and number.

“Is Bill gifted?” Roy asked June.

“I don’t think so,” June said. “But he knew Mark was. They
were very close. Worked together at times.”

“Would you mind calling him, to introduce us?” Steven asked.
“Might be easier than us dropping in on him out of the blue.”

“Of course,” she said, rising to get her phone. Steven dialed
for her. She talked with Bill for a while, then hung up.

“OK,” she said, “he’s expecting you. I hope he can help.”

◊

They drove straight to Bill’s house, which was about fifteen
minutes away. The neighborhood Bill lived in was upscale, with many
hundred-year-old mansions that had been, in most cases, restored. Parking was
tight on 35th street in front of Bill’s house.

“This is the kind of neighborhood,” Roy said, as they walked
to the front of the house, “where they sue first and talk later.”

“We’re not going to try to bullshit this guy, are we?” Steven
asked. “We’re going to be straight with him?”

“Let’s find out exactly how much he knew about his brother
before we decide how open we should be.”

They stepped up to the door and knocked. The door opened to
reveal a tall, muscular man with dark grey hair and large hands.

“You must be the people June called about,” he said. “Come
in.”

After introductions Bill brought them into his living room
and asked them to sit. “Would you care for anything to drink?” he asked.

“Not for me,” Steven said.

“I’m fine, thanks,” Roy said.

“Very well then,” Bill said, sitting down with them, “what
can I do for you?”

“We’ve been assisting June,” Steven said. “She asked us to
help her. The house they’re living is makes a lot of banging noises, and it
scares Robbie.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Bill said.

“June told us you knew her husband, Mark,” Roy said. “She
said you two were close. Is that true?”

“Yes,” Bill said, “it is.”

“So you knew of his gift?” Roy asked.

“I did,” Bill said.

“Are you gifted?” Roy asked.

“Fortunately, no,” Bill said.

“Fortunately?” Steven asked. “You’re glad you don’t have it?”

“The gift wound up being a terrible thing for that family,”
Bill said. “Normally I wouldn’t discuss these types of things with outsiders,
but June asked me to, so I will. I feel the gift was almost a curse to Mark and
Evelyn.”

“How so?” Steven asked. He had his hands in his jacket
pocket, gripping the planchette like a stress toy.

“Well, for Mark, it wasn’t so bad,” Bill said. “He’d help
people with lost objects, an occasional ghost sighting, that kind of thing. I
went with him a couple of times, saw his gift in action. It was the real thing.
He’d talk to me about it and how he used it. But when Evie came along with the
gift, it all went sour. At first he was training her, but she was a pretty
rebellious kid, and eventually he stopped teaching her because she was using
what she learned to behave badly. There were weeks, months when he’d never see
her, they’d completely lose contact with her. And he told me he thought she was
dabbling in things that were the opposite of what he was teaching her.”