by Raven Snow
“Are you sure?” asked Lydia. “I’m sure I have something sweet in the kitchen I can whip up as a quick dessert.” Rowen wasn’t sure if she was still playing an angle here or if she was just being a good host. Either way, the Stonewalls still seemed eager to leave. Only Flint was the exception, though his date didn’t much look like he wanted to stick around.
“Thank you, but it’s a long drive home. We should really get going.” Tobias headed inside, his wife close behind him. Jasper exchanged some whispered words with Margo before getting up and following them.
“I guess I’ll show them out,” Lydia muttered to herself, getting to her feet.
Everyone headed back inside at that point, moving through the house and out onto the front porch for their goodbyes. Margo stuck close to Rowen as they walked. “That could have gone better,” she said, quietly.
“Did you learn anything?” Eric asked, walking on Rowen’s other side. He had a little more faith in her than Margo did. Rowen wasn’t sure if it was well placed. She looked at Amber standing away from her family on the front porch. The Stonewalls were saying their goodbyes and she was back near the porch swing, talking with Clarence and Tiffany.
Tobias and Jeana walked down the front steps. “Amber, come on,” called Jeana.
“I’m staying here,” Amber called back, standing her ground. “They’ll give me a ride home tomorrow.” She nodded to Clarence and Tiffany, implying she would be joining them at the bonfire again tonight.
Tobias and Jeana exchanged angry looks. Tobias, especially, looked angry. He took a deep breath like he was getting ready to shout. Flint laid a hand on his shoulder before he could. “She’s an adult. Don’t make a scene about it.”
Tobias didn’t have anything to say in response to Flint but he did have a dirty look prepared for him. It was a look that said he had some choice words for his son as well. “We’ll have to do this again,” he said instead to Lydia. “Perhaps it can be at our home next time.”
“Sounds great.” Lydia’s tone held all the sincerity that Tobias’ had, which wasn’t much. “Drive safe, you guys.”
Tobias continued on to his car. Jeana followed, as did Jasper after raising an eyebrow at his sister. “You guys have fun,” Flint called to Amber, standing on the driver’s side of his own car. She didn’t respond, but he didn’t really look like he minded. His gaze turned to the Greensmiths. “I’m headed home on Monday. We’ll have to get together one more time before then, Rowen. Thanks for the lunch, Lydia. It was great.”
“It was very good, thank you,” Larry added, probably just for politeness’ sake. The poor guy still didn’t look like he knew how to respond to the drama he had walked into.
“You’re welcome,” Lydia called with a sidelong look to Amber. Rowen wondered if she was thinking the same things.
Tobias revved the engine. The Greensmith driveway involved backing out downhill quite a ways if you didn’t want to just turn around in the grass. Tobias was taking it slow. Rowen looked away from the car and back to Amber. Her eyes didn’t stay on Amber for long, though. She was drawn to Clarence instead. He was watching while Tobias backed out. He was staring so intently after them that even Tiffany had taken notice.
Someone nudged Rowen on the arm, making her jump. She looked to her left. It was just Margo leaning in to whisper. “Do you see what I see?” She nodded in Amber’s direction.
Rowen felt like there was a whole bunch to see over there, even if she couldn’t put the puzzle pieces of it together just yet. Precisely what Margo was seeing she wasn’t quite sure of. “What?” she asked.
“Clarence’s hand.”
Clarence’s right hand was resting on Amber’s shoulder. It wasn’t much to look at in a single glance. Margo pointing it out made Rowen start to notice how familial it was. His fingers were splayed, giving her a light squeeze every few seconds, like he was trying to both keep her by his side and calm her down.
“Maybe I’m reading into it too much,” Margo added quickly. Or maybe she just had an eye for affairs.
“They need to stop their car.”
“What?” asked Margo, staring at Rowen like she hadn’t heard her right.
“They need to stop their car,” Rowen repeated, louder this time. She felt everyone look her way, but she didn’t care. Everything had fallen into place. She took off running down the driveway. Her legs carried her down the hill almost faster than they were able. It was either luck or a little bit of magic that she didn’t fall. She did feel herself lose a tennis shoe. That didn’t matter. She waved her arms. The Stonewalls were almost at the base of the hill. They would be turning out onto the road soon and she wouldn’t be able to stop them.
Flint stopped his car. Rowen saw him staring after her as she darted past. “Stop!” she yelled, putting intention into the word. It left her mouth like a spell would. Tobias slammed on his brakes.
“Get out!” Rowen motioned for them to get out of the car. They didn’t. She should have seen that coming. No way they were going to listen to her. She stopped in front of the car, momentarily uncertain of what to do now that they had stopped. Someone streaked past her. It was Margo, apparently spurred into action by Rowen’s own concern.
“She said get out of the car.” Margo threw open the back door and grabbed Jasper by the wrist. He fumbled with his seatbelt as she pulled his arm, hard.
Rowen went around to the driver’s side. Inspired by Margo, she opened the door. “What are you doing?” Tobias demanded as she leaned across him. She felt around for a lever to pop the hood with trembling hands. That got his attention, at least. He got out of the car as she withdrew. Together, they went to raise the hood.
Sure enough, something was amiss. Rowen wasn’t sure she had expected a pipe bomb, but she knew one when she saw it. So did Tobias. “Get out!” he called, looking for his family. Jeana was already getting to the car. Margo was still in the process of relocating a very confused Jasper to what she deemed a safe distance.
“What’s going on?!” Flint yelled from his open window.
“Back up!” Rowen yelled back at him. At least he didn’t have to be told twice. With all the Stonewalls now moving to safety, she ran back toward the front porch. “Someone get Clarence and Amber!” she yelled. It was unnecessary. As the porch came into view, she saw that Amber wasn’t in any shape to go anywhere. She sat on the front steps, her head in her hands. A few feet away, Eric had Clarence pinned in the dirt.
“What did he do?” Eric asked, struggling to keep the bigger man down.
Out of breath, Rowen dropped down to her knees on Clarence’s back, doing what she could to help her husband. “You tackled him before I even told you to.”
“I was ready to tackle him like a week ago. I told you from the beginning I didn’t trust this guy.” Eric scoffed. “And you’re supposed to be the psychic one.”
***
Lainswich did not have a bomb squad. The car exploded while they were waiting on one to arrive from Tarricville. It did so right where it had stopped, on the edge of the Greensmith’s front lawn. The mailbox and the grass there were past saving. You might have said the same for the Stonewall family had they still been in there when the thing went off.
Most everyone had gone back into the house. Eric stood with a shaken Flint and Larry out on the porch, watching the firefighters mill around on the lawn. Larry kept reiterating how unusual a first date this was. “I just thought we were going to get Mexican food or something.”
Rowen was standing with Ben. As the Chief of Police and someone close to the family, he had a lot of questions. Rowen was doing her best to answer them. “I’m not sure how long it’s been going on, but Amber was seeing Clarence. They’ve been together since before my mother met him. Amber was feeling stifled by her family. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s been hitting up parties for a while now. She met Clarence at one of those and they cooked up this plan together. My mom would inherit a decent sum of money, Clarence would steal it out from under her, a
nd he would run off with Amber. Maybe. I’m not sure he didn’t con her, too. Finishing off someone elderly with magic is a pretty slick crime. My mother isn’t the sort to go to the police and Amber definitely wouldn’t mention what she had done to anyone.”
“But most of the money went to the Stonewalls,” said Ben, looking up from his notepad.
Rowen nodded. “No one could have predicted that. I guess Clarence got really frustrated then, so he upped his game. Killing Tobias and Jeana was a bigger payday. I really don’t think Amber was ready for that. He tried to pressure her into it.”
“If we can prove that, she’ll do some time. We can’t get her for your grandmother’s murder, though. You know that, right?”
“I figured.” Rowen didn’t like it, but what could she do? “Do you care if I go talk to her for a second?” Amber was in the back of a police car, waiting for them to drive her to the station. She hadn’t put up a fight when they told her they needed her to come with them.
Ben frowned at her request. He looked around, taking in the situation. Things had calmed down considerably. Two of the three officers who had arrived with him were inside with the rest of the family. “Make it quick,” he told her. He led her down to the car and opened the door for her. Amber didn’t even look up.
Rowen waited for Ben to turn away. Once she had a little privacy, she asked the question that was weighing down on her the most. “Did you make her move on or did she go willingly?”
Amber bit her bottom lip like she didn’t want to answer. “It was during the same meditation session,” she said, finally. “I made her move on. She didn’t make it easy, but I made her.”
Rowen nodded. She had expected as much. “Did she say anything before she went?”
“She told me that I wouldn’t get away with it.” Amber finally looked up. Her eyes were wet with tears. “She specifically told me you’d figure me out.”
Rowen almost smiled. “I didn’t really have to. Your plan fell apart on its own.”
“I didn’t mean for it to go this far. I didn’t know— I didn’t realize Clarence was capable of so much. I got scared. I knew he did something when he volunteered to go get dessert. I thought he had poisoned the pie, but I was wrong.” Amber looked down again. “Thank you for saving my parents.”
Rowen stepped away from the car door. “Thanks,” she told Ben as she headed back inside to be with her family. Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to be around them.
Epilogue
It took Rowen a while to find her grandmother’s grave. With all that had been going on these last couple of weeks, she hadn’t had a chance to visit it. When she did find it, she walked right by. The grave was completely obscured by a wild assortment of flowers. Rowen only realized it was Grammy’s grave when she walked by it a third time to find Tobias Stonewall standing there. “Are these all from you?” she asked, looking down at the veritable garden at their feet.
Tobias looked up, startled to see her. “Only those are,” he said after a moment, pointing to some roses. “I suspect the rest are from people around Lainswich.”
“No way. This town hated her.”
“They feared her,” Tobias corrected. “She was a living urban legend. Towns mourn those when they pass. Which means you might have some thrill-seeking teens disrupting her grave with séances and the like.”
Rowen stared at the grave, feeling a smile slowly creep onto her face. “That’s fine. Grammy would like that.”
For a while, they just stood there together in silence. Rowen didn’t ask about Amber. It was undoubtedly a sore spot for both of them. Rowen wasn’t sure what the Stonewalls would do about their daughter. She probably wouldn’t get the punishment she deserved, but it wasn’t her place to tell Tobias that. Keeping that question to herself emboldened her to ask something more innocuous that had been on her mind. “Why did my grandmother leave you all that money, if you don’t mind me asking. No one I ask ever seems to have an answer for me. I figure you know, though. You must have a reason.”
“I have a great deal of respect for your grandmother, even if our families have always been at odds.” Tobias’ shoulders rose in a brief shrug. “I imagine that’s the way it’s always been. We bicker, but when it comes down to it, you have to help your own. Throughout the years, we’ve helped your grandmother out financially. Most recently, she needed help paying for all that legal assistance. We didn’t help out expecting anything back. We can return the money, if you like.”
“No, that’s all right,” said Rowen, touched even though she knew he was probably offering because of how guilty he felt about Amber. Things lapsed back in to a comfortable silence. Rowen stood there, hands clasped behind her back. It was a nice day. The sun was out. A cool breeze was rolling in. While it was true that Grammy had moved on, Rowen thought she could feel her ever so faintly. Gradually, Rowen felt a lingering tightness release in her chest. Finally, she felt like she could let her go.
