A faint prick on conscience hit her. She felt like she was here under false pretenses. All she could do was hope Maggie Ann clarified that this was a visit for a history and possibly a family tree lesson. She hugged the old lady like she was one of her own family. She’d always felt like part of the family anyway. “I know it has.”
“And who is this handsome young man you have with you?” Grandma Virden eyed Ray like she might already know, but out of politeness was forced to ask for introduction.
“This is Ray Burnett. He’s…” How did she explain his presence here?
“I’m her boyfriend.” Ray reached out to shake the frail hand, looking like a giant.
Becky Sue shouldn’t have been surprised since that was their cover, but hearing him say it aloud caught her off guard with her mouth starting to gape.
“It’s about time that girl settles down. It’s taken her too long. You look like just the man to do it too.” There was something about older people who never minced words.
She risked a glance at Maggie Ann, who was snickering silently behind her grandmother and mouthed the words I told you so to her. “Come on inside. No point in standing out here so all the neighbors can gossip.”
The house was just as Becky Sue remembered. It was like stepping into a time capsule that smelled like cedar and apple pie. None of Becky Sue’s grandparents were still alive, at least on her mom’s side. She didn’t know about her dad’s. It’d been too long since the divorce for her to keep up, or care.
“I baked an apple pie when I found out ya’ll were coming by. Why don’t we go light in the kitchen and you can tell me what you’re up to.”
Becky Sue’s stomach rumbled in appreciation since they’d skipped dinner to come over. The kids were nowhere in sight, but she thought she heard noises down the hall in one of the rooms. The kitchen was peaceful and homey. Despite the fact Grandma Virden lived alone, she had an eight chair dining table set in her kitchen. The proffered apple pie sat in the center with other baked goodies in little dishes to the sides.
After everyone was served dessert, Grandma Virden took a place across from Becky Sue, crossed her hands in front of her and waited. Becky Sue shot a look to Maggie Ann then Ray. She didn’t like being thrust into the center of attention, but here she was. They were waiting on her.
“What can you tell me about the history of Thunderhead?” Becky Sue was struggling with where and how to start, hedging on how much she should actually say.
“We’d be here a week, at least, if I told you everything I know. Be more specific.”
Becky Sue glanced at Ray. He nodded the go ahead. “I need to know about some genealogy.”
“If you’re looking for your father’s family, they’re not from around here. They never made it into my books.”
Thrown off guard at the misconception, Becky Sue paused. “No. I gave up on him and them years ago. No, I’m looking for…” How did she say this without sounding crazy? She looked at Ray. He met her eyes the silent conversation between them clear. It was time to let their secret out. “I’m looking for people who might be related to those they thought were Sparkers years ago.”
Chapter 21
“You know that’s myth. Why would you ask Grammy about such a crazy thing?” Maggie Ann piped in slightly put off by the request. Grandma Virden didn’t flinch.
Becky Sue took a deep breath and told the highlights, without going into too much detail, about how she and Ray had discovered they’re Sparkers, how they’d been bushwhacked and stolen from, and now where trying to keep from further instance where others lives might be in danger as the Dark Duo became more desperate.
When she’d finished Maggie Ann sat there mouth agape, eyes round as saucers. Grandma Virden just nodded like she knew everything and nothing about this surprised her.
“It was bound to happen. I always thought there was more to those stories than just legends. My mother was always convinced the powers would be rediscovered and show up one day. She’d be pleased as pie to know she was right. It was that belief and the stories that fascinated me that got me piecing together the genealogy books I’ve fiddled with over the years.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me any of this?” Maggie Ann asked her.
“You didn’t believe. All the stories I told you when you were a wee one, my mother passed down to me. I believe most the ones she told me held fairly true to fact. But you can’t see if you don’t believe. You, Maggie Ann, carry the Spark within yourself as well. I believe I do to. We just never got our powers because we didn’t find a Sparker to love. We loved and married ordinary men.”
“You’re telling me that if I slept with a man who carried the Spark it would ignite and I’d have Sparker abilities?” Maggie Ann’s whirling mind was visible across her face. Grandma Virden nodded. “That means my kids… have magical powers they could potentially unleash?” Her face was a mixer of horror and glee. Grandma Virden nodded again.
Becky Sue watched the exchange, fascinated to know that her best friend carried the same magic as she did, but sad she was unable to unleash it.
“Maybe you should check into the genealogy books your grandma has and bring back arranged marriage. I bet little Levi would love to come into the Sparker power.” Becky Sue elbowed Ray in the side. He’d been silent until now letting the women talk, but Becky Sue took that as it was time to get back to business as the conversation was getting out of hand.
“What about the Quell? Do you have genealogy on them as well?” Becky Sue asked.
“Some, though not as extensively as the Sparkers. The Quell never really had any power before. The only reason I kept up with some of them was to see who’d they’d permanently deactivated.”
“What about Elizabeth Downs? What do you know about her?” Becky Sue didn’t know how she and Ray had kept, or reignited, their powers after being hit by the Dark Duo of Quell so left it a mute point to come back to later if it felt needed.
“She was a slut plain and simple. She heralded herself a spy for the Union, but was nothing but a camp follower. Mother was convinced she targeted our boys during the war and took their powers out of revenge. Her husband joined the army, for the Union, and was killed in the first battle. No one at home treated her unkindly. She was a widow after all, but she was a witch all the same. I came across an old clipping where she was courting an Egyptian prince, or something like that at one time during the war, but after that she disappeared. No one knows if she went with him back to Egypt or if she stayed here and continued her war efforts.” Her words were spoken without malice, but rather as stated fact.
“You’ve lived here in Hurricane Valley for quite some time. Did you hear about the fireman they just recently put on administrative leave?” Becky Sue asked. Her mind was reeling. She needed to get back to the diaries and read more towards the end. It might give her a direction to search and possibly other familial connections to Phoenix and Benu.
“I did. I didn’t know him personally.”
“He and his sister are Quell. They’ve found a way to pull the power from us Sparkers and use it for themselves.”
“Interesting. I didn’t realize they could do that.” Grandma Virden said thoughtfully.
“We didn’t either, until we experienced it first hand and let me tell you, it was not a pleasant experience.” Underneath the table, Becky Sue felt Ray’s hand on her leg. He gave it a gentle squeeze. Her heart bubbled happily knowing he was there for her. She smiled at him. Despite the war surrounding their lives right now, she felt at peace with this part.
They talked a little while longer before Grandma Virden went to pull out her genealogy books. With a promise to return the books when it was over, Ray and Becky Sue left.
**
Ray was still mulling over what he’d learned when they left the old woman’s house. “What do you think about going by Phoenix and Benu’s house one more time?”
Becky Sue shrugged. “You’re the boss. Lead the way Napoleon.”
&nb
sp; He grinned at her. Why had he ever thought he should leave and there’d be any other woman for him?
They pulled up to the house of horrors. It was still dark and looked empty. Not taking their chances, they approached the house on panther feet, quiet and stalking. No one was home.
The house looked untouched from when they’d been there before. This time they switched rooms and searched. When neither turned up anything new they turned to the bookshelves. There was a reason they were so interested in Egypt and horoscopes.
He sat in the floor and started pulling horoscope books off the shelf in Benu’s room, flipping pages and scanning to see if anything was marked. He’d gone through three with no luck and was beginning to think they’d struck out again when a line of yellow highlighter caught his attention. He flipped back to it.
The word Capricorn was highlighted. The sign was for those whose birthdates were December 22-January 19. He was a Capricorn. His birthday was January 12. But what did it mean? He stared at the page waiting for something to jump out at him. He didn’t believe in the zodiacs. Wait didn’t Benu say something about the necklace wouldn’t work on him? Did it have something to do with when he was born? What was Becky Sue? He couldn’t remember her birthday off the top of his head.
He flipped a few more pages. Leo and Libra were also highlighted in the same manner. This book was going with them. He set it aside and flipped through more. Time was wasting and nothing was turning up. He was about to give up on the books and almost didn’t pick up the book on stones. Once he did, he found more highlights. He’d read it later and put the book on his short stack to take with in hopes they’d figure out something between the two of them.
Becky Sue was propped up against a wall in Phoenix’s room thumbing through books on Egypt. He stopped in the doorway and watched her for a minute. Sometimes she took his breath away in the most unexpected ways. Seeing her sitting cross legged in the floor brushing a loose strand of hair from her face turned out to be one of those times. He smiled. She caught him.
“What?”
“Nothing. Just standing here watching you.” She blushed. He’d never known her to be the blushing sort, but she did and he liked it.
“Did you find anything?” She asked trying to draw his attention away from her.
“Not sure how it fits into the picture, but there’s some highlighted stuff in these books. What about you?”
“Not really. There was something highlighted about ‘the Khedivate of Egypt’. It was something with the power between 1867-1882 before the British came in to rule. Elizabeth’s diary mentions something about an Egyptian prince. I’m thinking it might have something to do with his family. At this point I figure the Dark Duo are descendants of hers since we know she was carrying this Tewfik’s kid. Think they have any contacts in Egypt, distant family? As in, if they run would they go there for asylum?”
She had a good point. “Maybe. Grab that book and we’ll read more on it. Are you ready to go?”
“Yes. This place gives me the creeps.”
“Ok, this sounds bad, but remind me again when your birthday is?” He asked as he drove them back to Thunderhead. The zodiac stuff was troubling him.
Becky Sue quirked her eye brows at him. “September twenty-ninth. Why?”
“Do you know what sign that is?” When she looked at him quizzically he elaborated. “Zodiac. Your horoscope thing.”
“Oh! I’m a Libra, I think. Why are you suddenly interested in horoscopes?”
“One of the books in Benu’s room had three signs highlighted in it, Capricorn, Leo, and Libra. Do you know when Elizabeth Downs was born?”
“No, but it might be in one of the genealogy books Grandma Virden sent with us.”
“When they were trying to take my powers, it sounded like the necklace wouldn’t work on me so thought it might have something to do with the zodiacs. I’m a Capricorn and you’re a Libra, both were highlighted, but the necklace worked for you, but not me. What if it has something to do with them and not us?” He was musing aloud, mostly.
The first thing he did when they returned to Becky Sue’s was dig out his file on Phoenix and Benu to look up their birthdays. Phoenix was born March 28th. Ray checked the horoscope book. Aries. That didn’t fit in anywhere. Benu was born August 13th. She was a Leo. Ok so she fit, but he distinctly remembered Phoenix wearing the necklace… after he placed it inside the locket. He rubbed his temples trying to make head and tails of it all.
Becky Sue walked up behind him and began massaging his shoulders. He relaxed almost instantly. She leaned down and kissed his neck.
“Why don’t you take a break? You’re super tense.”
One look at her full inviting lips and he didn’t need more convincing. He grabbed her hand and pulled her down into his lap, kissing her as he did. When he thought she’d cry for mercy he picked her up and carried her off to bed trying to decide what animal it would be fun to shag as.
**
Becky Sue woke up feeling like a million bucks. She thought about going for a morning run. It’d been so long. But hesitated remembering the Dark Duo was out there on the loose still. She could wake Ray and he’d go with her, but he looked so peaceful sleeping there beside her she couldn’t bring herself to wake him. He’d wracked his brain half the night trying to put the pieces together with no luck.
Instead she slipped out of bed and went outside to the back porch to enjoy the dawning of a new day. She stared at the singed circle where she and Ray had made love for the first time and brought their Sparks to life. It seemed like after that the whole world had tilted crazily.
She was still sitting there lost in thought when Ray came out the back door. “There you are. I didn’t know if you were even still here.”
Becky Sue stood and kissed him. “Good morning sleepy head. What time is it?”
“A few minutes till eight.”
“Crap. I gotta get going. I need to go check in on Mom before work.”
Ray blocked her path. “Are you sure you have to go?” His voice was husky. His face still had a day’s worth of stubble on it, his hair stuck up in places. His eyes held a hint of promise of promiscuity. It was tempting. Very tempting, especially when his hand circled her waist and the fire in her veins carried the heat through her body at his touch.
“Yes. Quit tempting me.”
He kissed her.
“Don’t you have work to do?”
He sighed loudly. “Yeah. I suppose so.”
For once she felt like she could take on the day as she pulled up outside her mom’s house.
“Mom, I’m here,” she called out.
Kate came rolling out of the kitchen. “Good morning dear. You’re looking rather refreshed and glowing. It’s the new bride look. Have you checked to see if you’re pregnant yet?” She paused for a second as she realized what she said. “Wait, are you pregnant? Is that why you eloped?”
“Mom, no! Neither. None of the above. I’m not glowing. I’m not pregnant.” She was about to say she wasn’t married too, but though better of it in light of the current situation.
Kate gave her a knowing look, smiled and started to the bathroom for her shower. Becky Sue walked into the kitchen, exasperated, and checked on the leftovers. Nothing needed to be cooked for a couple more days. She moved some laundry around and changed the sheets on her mom’s bed.
Breathing a sigh of relief when nothing else was said about babies or marriage, she left to go to her shop completely forgetting to ask about Cindy. Instead of picking up the pieces to work on her quilt, she opened the genealogy books to begin looking for familiar names, and potential targets of the Dark Duo.
She was fully engrossed in reading and making notes when her store phone rang.
“Hello.”
“Hi Aunt Becky Sue, this is Levi.” His voice sounded shaken and scared. Levi never called. He was only eight year old. Something was wrong.
She bit down her own panic and responded as calmly as she could. “Levi?
What’s going on?”
“Some people just came and took Mom.”
“What?”
“Yeah, some people came up in a red truck and knocked on the door. They grabbed her and took her. I tried to stop them, but the man threw me off the porch. I might have a broken arm.”
“Oh no. I hope not. You’re a brave boy for trying to help your mom. Are you home alone now?”
“Yeah. Dad’s still at work. I couldn’t find his number. The only one I could find was you.” She heard him fight back a sniffle.
“Okay. Keep your brother and sister inside with you and don’t let anyone in unless its family. I’m going to make some calls and send somebody over.”
“Thanks Aunt Becky. I hope Mom gives those idiots hell.” She could hear the tears he was trying to hold back in his voice. Now wasn’t the time to tell him to watch his language.
She’d already grabbed the phone book while she’d spoke with Levi, her mind reeling. There was no way to chase down the Dark Duo from that far out alone. She needed to call in some help from the gossip mongers.
As quickly as she could, she made calls to people she knew around the area Maggie Ann lived, letting them know to be on the lookout for Phoenix’s truck and send word back to her shop. After the first few calls, making sure they understood to pass the word down the line, she called Ray and filled him in.
He arrived at her doorstep in under three minutes, walked directly to her, and wrapped his arms around her. She only allowed herself to cling to him for a minute before she pushed him away.
“We have to find her.”
“I know. We will.” He rubbed her back in a comforting gesture.
“We’re running out of time. What if they’re on the run now?”
“We’ll catch them.”
“But when they left us alive, they knew they were taking a chance. It’s not like they’ll be able to go home after they get all the power they’re after. They have a bigger plan… or an escape plan.”
“You’re right. They wouldn’t leave loose ends unless they thought they could get away with it. Phoenix has already proven he’s capable of murder.”
Legend Of The Sparks Page 22
