I went to the window to watch and saw that the ivy was dragging Meg down the driveway toward the road.
“Don’t hurt her,” I said when I noticed the ivy bouncing Meg more than necessary.
I got a much less enthusiastic ding this time. But the ivy slowed down and carried Meg off down the driveway much more smoothly.
“Okay house, you up for a little more?”
Loud ding.
I smiled and shook my head. “Leave Nor and Wil alone. Remove from the property Sarah, Doug…any guests they brought along, including bodyguards. Actually, belay that. Bring Lars and R.G. to the front porch, but everyone else can go. Don’t hurt anybody, but don’t allow any of them back until I say so.”
I didn’t even have to add the “now” this time.
From overhead, I heard a shriek and a “What the f—” followed by muffled sounds.
The laughter that floated down to me I was pretty sure belonged to Nor. Several people must’ve been up on the roof because, as I watched, a bunch of ivy-wrapped bodies flowed down the side of the house, up the driveway, and out of sight. More followed from various spots in the woods. Huh. That was a lot of ivy mummies. Apparently there were a lot more people here than I knew about.
The last two ivy mummies detoured and stopped on the front porch.
“Anyone else I need to worry about? Nor and Wil are fine. But any water family, or any of Sarah, Meg, or Doug’s peeps, anyone at all I need to worry about?”
Ding ding.
“Great.” I leaned against the cool glass. “Great job, Bayley. Seriously. Well done.”
The curtains on the window swished back and forth.
“Is that your happy dance?”
The swishing increased and a staccato crunchy groaning sound came from the floorboards. It sounded like chortling.
I smiled, then winced as it pulled at my split lip. “I’m gonna go get some ice.”
I limped my way downstairs. I was going to have huge bruises on my legs from where the house had clamped me in place, and my twisted ankle was sore. I could feel my lip swelling, too.
All in all, I really wanted this day to be over.
I’d just made it into the kitchen when Wil and Nor came banging in through the front door.
“Finn? Finn!” called Nor.
“In the kitchen.”
Nor and Wil pulled up short when they caught sight of me.
“Jesus,” said Wil.
“I don’t suppose either of you know any healing spells?”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
It turned out we didn’t have the ingredients for any healing spells, but Nor was surprisingly good at first aid.
I kept a bag of frozen peas on my lip as we tromped out front to where Lars and R.G. were bound on the porch. To their credit, they weren’t wasting a lot of effort struggling. They were waiting, eyes watchful when they saw us come out the front door.
They were covered head-to-toe in ivy, but I could see their eyes. Fuzzy sniffed at them then hopped up on a porch railing to watch.
“Hey, could you please unwrap their heads?” I asked.
The house sighed, but it complied. The ivy made a slithering sound as it unwound, revealing a very irritated R.G. and an impassive Lars.
“Gee, this must make you miss Kevin,” I said to R.G.
He frowned and tossed his hair. I glanced at Lars, and I could’ve sworn he was trying not smile.
“Okay guys. I’ll send you on your way in a minute. But first, where’s our stuff?”
Lars raised an eyebrow and said, “Your stuff?”
“Our phones, my purse—”
“—my laptop,” added Nor.
“Her laptop. Where’s our stuff?”
“What incentive do we have to help you?”
I shrugged. “None. You know I’m not going to hurt you. That’s not my style. But we’re going to find it anyway, so you might as well hand it over and save us some time.”
Lars said, “Let us leave under our own power—we’ll take our SUV and go—and you’ve got a deal.”
I looked at Nor, who nodded. I looked back at the guys and said, “Fine. But no side trips or back in the ivy you go.”
“Deal,” said Lars. “Your stuff is locked in the SUV.”
“Let them go,” I said.
“Weapons,” said Nor.
I held up a finger, “But take away all their weapons.”
Lars grimaced, and R.G. rolled his eyes, but neither said anything.
The ivy unwound. Tendrils poked into the bodyguards’ clothing, searching for and retrieving various weapons.
R.G. yelped. “Hey, at least buy a guy dinner first.”
I snickered and said to the gun-waving ivy, “Uh hey, you can put the weapons over there,” and pointed to the wall next to the door, well out of the bodyguards’ reach.
The amount of clattering and clanking had me turning my head to look at what the ivy was dumping. “Are you kidding me?” I said. I walked over to survey the pile. There were guns, knives, mace, a stun gun, some kind of baton, and even a pair of brass knuckles. The pile was knee high.
I looked at the bodyguards. “How do you even walk carrying this much stuff?”
R.G. grinned. Lars just gave me his usual flat look.
“Alright you two, let’s go.”
The group of us walked over to the SUV. Lars typed in a code on a keypad on the door. Sure enough, there was a pile of our stuff inside. Lars and R.G. climbed into the front while Nor, Wil, and I grabbed our things out of the back.
When we had our stuff, we went back to the porch and watched them drive off.
I put a hand on the railing. “Tell me when they leave the property.”
A short time later, the floor board under my feet grunted.
“Gone?”
Grunt.
“Any problems? Any unnecessary side trips?”
Grunt grunt.
My shoulders sagged, and I let a breath. “Okay good. Thanks.” I looked at Nor and Wil. “Alone at last.”
Wil said, “Finn, I don’t mean to be a wet blanket, but we haven’t solved anything. We still need to do the bonding. Today.”
“I bought us time.”
“But—” Wil’s phone rang, interrupting him. He glanced at the number, then at me and Nor. “It’s Sarah.”
Nor nodded. “Makes sense she’d reach out to you. You’re the one with council ties.”
He looked at me. “What do you want me to do?”
“If you’re up for it, try to calm her down. You can tell her I’ll talk to her about the final bonding soon.”
Wil stayed on the porch talking with Sarah while Nor, Fuzzy, and I went inside.
When we were out of earshot, Nor said, “You sure you don’t want me to keep an eye on him?”
“Yup. He can make any deals he wants. I have what I need for now, which is time.”
Nor studied me as we walked to the kitchen.
I sat down at the table with a moan.
Nor took my bag of peas and put it back in the freezer as she said, “I can see the wheels turning. What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking I have to get out of here. Go somewhere and think.”
Nor sat down next to me. “You can’t. You’re bonded to the house, so you can’t leave the property. And even if you could, you have to know that Sarah’s going to have the exits to this place blockaded. They’re not going to let anyone just leave here. They’re not going to let anyone enter, either, so if you were thinking of calling in reinforcements, that’s not going work.”
I waved a hand at her. “Don’t worry. I’ve got it covered. But I need a favor from you. A big one.”
“Okay…?”
“I need you take the bond from me. Just for a little while.”
Nor blinked at me. “You’re leaving, aren’t you.”
“I’ll be back. I just…” I stood up and started pacing around the kitchen. “I need to go think.”
Nor leaned ba
ck and gazed off into space, contemplating. For a few minutes, the only sounds in the kitchen were me pacing, and Fuzzy grooming. “Okay.”
I stopped. “Okay?”
Nor sat up straighter. “You said you’re coming back. I believe you. So okay.”
I did a little happy dance.
Nor gave me an evil grin. “Besides, if you screw me over and take off, my girlfriend will not be happy. You think I’m a badass? Trust me, you do not want to mess with that girl.”
“Er, good to know,” I said. The thought of someone who could out-Nor Nor was too terrifying to contemplate, so I put it aside.
I sat down next to Nor again and explained to her what to do. She didn’t even flinch. She got up, got a knife, cut her arm, and did it.
I felt a weird sort of emptiness when the bond switched, but nothing too overwhelming.
Nor said, “Bayley, would you please sprout a chair?”
The house complied immediately.
“Well, this seems to be working fine. You’re free to go, Finn. Bayley, let Finn leave.”
The house sighed around us and groaned.
“Please, Bayley?” I asked.
The floorboards near me let out a single, disgruntled sounding grunt.
“Thanks. I’ll be back soon.”
Nor pulled open her laptop, and I walked out of the kitchen.
“Finn?” Nor called after me.
I paused in the doorway. “Yeah?”
“Don’t take too long.”
“I won’t,” I said. I left her typing away on her keyboard.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Fuzzy followed me up the back stairs. On the way, I slung my purse bandolier-style across my torso. We entered my bedroom, then I shut the door behind us and turned around to face it.
Fuzzy sat by my feet, facing the door, too.
I hauled my necklace out from under my shirt and dangled the pendant at eye level.
“Hey. Hey! You in there?” I gave the necklace a shake. “Dammit, wake up. I need a door.”
“There’s no need to yell. And you’re standing in front of a perfectly good door.”
“Hah hah. How long have you been awake? Are you aware of what’s been going on?”
“I’m aware.”
“Good, then I don’t need to waste time explaining. Can you open me a door or not?”
“Yes. Do you know where you want to go?”
“I do.” I unfolded the scissors and placed the pendant on the door as I told the thing where I wanted to go.
As before, the handle sprouted from the door. I tugged on the handle, and the door swung open from the hinge side.
Tears sprang to my eyes as I looked through the doorway.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
I turned around and said to the house, “See you soon,” and then Fuzzy and I walked through the door.
I sucked in a deep breath of salty air as I stepped out onto rocks that were slick with sea spray. The wind grabbed my hair and swirled it around me as I turned and shut the door behind me. After I retrieved my pendant, I took a moment to gaze up at the lighthouse towering over me. Then I donned my necklace and faced the ocean.
It was so much more than I’d imagined. Seeing it on a screen or in a picture just didn’t do it justice.
The ocean sang to me as it shushed in and out along the shoreline and boom-boomed against the rocks. Briny air filled my lungs, and I tasted salt on my lips. I watched as the waves frolicked. They reminded me of cancan dancers, lifting their frothy-edged skirts, flouncing them back down to meet the sand, then dancing back out to sea to do it all over again.
I didn’t even try to stop the tears trailing down my face.
Fuzzy snagged my attention as he climbed down the rocks toward the sandy crescent of beach on our left. He got impatient halfway down, leapt to the ground, and dashed after the seabirds waddling at the edge of the water.
Climbing down after him, I laughed as I watched him scatter the flock, the birds cursing at him as they flapped into the sky.
I reached the sand and surveyed my surroundings. The tiny beach was lined with bulky rocks, craggy from tide and time. Looking back at the lighthouse, this place looked just like the picture I’d had pinned to my wall for years. My mom had promised to bring me here someday, and I felt her near me as I let her favorite childhood place envelop me.
I turned back to watch Fuzzy playing with the waves. He was dashing up to them as they went out to sea, then running away as they came back in. I dumped my purse in the sand, took off my shoes and socks, and ran over to play with him.
After a few minutes, he got bored and went off to pounce and play farther back along the sand. He couldn’t go very far, so I let him be.
I waded out a little ways and stood looking out to sea. The tide tugged at my legs, urging me to go with it, out there, toward the horizon.
I dug my toes in the sand and held my ground.
“Meow,” Fuzzy called.
With a sigh, I headed back into shore. Fuzzy was sitting by my purse, staring at me.
I plopped down next to him and pulled him into my arms.
He snuggled into my chest, his head under my chin, and purred.
I listened to Fuzzy purring, the siren sea singing, and the wind whispering until, finally, for the first time in a long, long time, I felt centered and focused.
“Are you leaving?”
Somehow it didn’t surprise me to find Zo standing next to the rocks near the lighthouse.
“I’m not sure yet.”
She walked over to me. “May I join you?”
I nodded, and she sat down, setting her huge beach bag beside her. She looked at Fuzzy, then dug in the bag and pulled out a bottle. She handed it to me.
I shook my head. Of course the bottle was warm.
While Fuzzy ate, I looked out at the ocean some more. It was late afternoon, and the light would start to fade soon.
“I have a lot of good reasons to stay,” I said. “First, there’s the house. I can’t stand the idea of it being chained to Meg and Sarah—they’re pretty awful. Not to mention the whole balance of power thing and whatever shenanigans those two are going to get up to once they get control of the house. And Nor and Wil can’t do it. Shouldn’t do it. Neither of them actually wants to be housekeeper, and neither would be right for the house anyway. Then there’s the fact that the house seems to like me. Also, Fuzzy here sure needs a good home. So, yeah, lots of reasons to stay.”
Zo harrumphed. “You’re really not very good at this.”
“No kidding.”
Zo rolled her eyes. “What I mean is that, once again, you’re not asking the right questions. Don’t give me that blank look. You haven’t mentioned once what you want. You. Not the house. Not Sarah or Meg or Nor or Wil. Not even Fuzzy. If ever there was a time for you to be selfish, Finn, this is it. So, what do you want?”
Fuzzy finished eating and curled up in my lap. I handed the bottle back to Zo. Then I went back to staring at the sea. “I thought I wanted to travel the world, sail the oceans, study.”
“But?”
I doodled in the sand while I tried to sort through my thoughts. In a quiet voice I said, “I miss having a home. A place that’s mine. Being at the house is making me realize that. And a home is not something I’ll get traipsing around the world.” I sighed. “But I’m worried I’ll feel trapped.”
“You want to be tethered, not shackled.”
“Yes! Exactly. And if I stay here, I’m worried I’ll miss out on all the adventure I’ve been craving, all the excitement. That I won’t get to meet interesting people and see interesting things.”
“Have you had a lack of interesting people or things so far?”
I snorted. “No.”
“Well then, why does that have to change?”
“They keep the house really isolated.”
“They have, yes.”
A light went off in my brain. “But I don’t have to.”
&n
bsp; Zo raised an eyebrow at me. “Oh?”
“Meg and Sarah were going to make changes—that means I could, too.” I thought for a while before I said, “If I were to stay, I’d have to change the rules. A lot. Starting with letting people into the house.”
Zo nodded. “I see.”
I looked out at the ocean. “Still, I’m not sure how this doesn’t wind up feeling like the diner…only with fewer people and more trees. And, you know, with magic.”
In my peripheral vision, I could see Zo tilt her head, but she kept her gaze on the ocean. “What if I told you I can pretty much guarantee you won’t be bored—that your universe will expand, not contract…that you won’t lack for…interesting things?”
I turned to stare at her, my thoughts racing.
She watched me think then nodded. “That’s what I thought,” she said. She smiled at me and gestured to my lap. “And besides, don’t you want to stay and find out what Fuzzy is?”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Fuzzy and I came back to the house just as the day was edging toward twilight.
I closed the door and took in the quiet in my room. I could feel the house waiting.
Sitting on the edge of my bed, I talked with Bayley. I explained my thought process and what I wanted for the future. When I finished, I said, “I’ll work with you, of course, and you will get to make choices, too. But that’s my plan. So, knowing all that, I have to ask you: Bayley, would you like me to be your new housekeeper?”
A loud ding reverberated through me as the curtains started swishing madly. Then two branches sprouted from the floor, reached up, and gently wrapped around me, enfolding me. I hugged Bayley back for a long moment before the branches withdrew.
I went downstairs with Fuzzy and found Nor and Wil in the kitchen. They both stood up as I walked in.
“Okay, let’s do this.”
Nor looked me over and said, “You’re staying.”
“Yup.”
“Okay.”
Wil said, “Really?”
“Yes.”
“What changed your mind? And why are you covered in sand?”
A House for Keeping Page 27
