The Crimson Brand

by Brian Knight

  “He isn’t dead,” Penny said, “and his was much worse.”

  Zoe’s doubt was plain on her face.

  “It hurt for a while,” Penny admitted. “It’s okay now.”

  “We should still clean it,” Katie said, regarding the twin punctures. “A new shirt might be a good idea, too. Susan will have a kitten if she finds you covered with blood again.”

  “How about you guys?” Penny asked, passing a quick inspecting glance over the others, not quite able to believe they had gotten through everything with all of their limbs still attached.

  “Fine,” Kate said.

  “I’m okay,” Zoe said.

  “I’m soaked,” Ellen said, shaking water out of her hair.

  They were disheveled, Katie’s cheek scratched and red from her trip through the willow boughs, and they were probably covered with bruises, but they were otherwise fine.

  “Come on, Penny.”

  Katie led Penny back to the Wests’ house, leaving Zoe and Ellen to wait for Susan or Michael’s return.

  “I was getting ready for bed when I heard you,” Katie said, and it took Penny a moment to realize what she was talking about. “You just whispered my name, and I was about to answer you when I heard his voice, so I woke Michael up and told him there was trouble at your house.”

  Penny could feel another complication coming on. Michael had been looking at them strangely since the night under Main Street and the morning he’d found Zoe’s wand. Now Katie had alerted him to a danger she shouldn’t, couldn’t, have known about.

  “What did you say to him?”

  Katie opened the garage door and led Penny inside. A moment later she found the lights and turned them on.

  “Just that Morgan Duke was at your house and you were in trouble.” Katie blushed, she knew Penny had guessed where her story was going. “I don’t think he believed me at first.”

  “But you got him to go,” Penny said, “and I know he believes you now.”

  “So what will we tell him?” Katie betrayed real anxiety.

  “Whatever we have to,” Penny said. She was too tired for fabrications.

  Katie nodded and put a silencing finger to her lips as she opened the door into the house and motioned Penny inside. They passed silently through the kitchen and hallway, Katie taking the lead again to guide Penny through the dark, unfamiliar house, and into the bathroom. Katie shut the door behind them before turning on the lights, pulled a package of bandages and disinfectant from the cabinet over the sink, and reached for Penny’s injured shoulder.

  “It’s okay,” Penny said, backing away a step and almost falling into the bathtub. “I can do it.”

  “Okay,” Katie said and sighed. “I’ll get you a shirt.”

  When she returned a few minutes later, opening the door just a crack to pass a folded shirt through, Penny was still wincing from the sting of the disinfectant, still applying the last bandage. She changed shirts and stepped into the hall, alarmed by the sight that met her.

  Katie stood in her father’s shadow, looking as if she’d just been caught burglarizing the place. The lights were on, and Penny saw Katie’s mother moving through the kitchen in a flowery robe.

  To Penny’s relief though, Markus West didn’t look angry, only tired and concerned.

  “Are you okay, Penny?” His eyes fell to the blood-spotted shirt wadded in her hand. “Katie said there was trouble at your house.”

  Penny gave him a heavily edited version of the confrontation with Morgan Duke, attributing her hurt shoulder and bloody shirt to a fall as they fled the house. By the time she had finished, they were seated in the kitchen and Katie’s mother had pressed a mug of hot cocoa into Mr. West’s hands. She apparently saw the covetous look Penny gave the steaming mug, because she left, then returned a few moments later with one for her and Katie.

  “Lynne, sit down. You’re making me dizzy,” Markus scolded, but it was a light scolding at best. A quickly suppressed grin belied any real reproach.

  “I suppose Susan will be around after she’s finished murdering that Duke man,” she said. “He’s lucky Michael went with her.”

  Markus nodded, almost smiled again, then froze. He set his cup down and put a hand on Penny’s injured shoulder, making her gasp in pain. “Where is Zoe? Is she okay?”

  “She’s okay,” Penny said. “She’s in the park with Ellen.”

  “I was afraid something had happened to her,” Markus said, and backed off a step.

  Penny’s shoulder throbbed from the contact, but she tried not to show it. They all had enough to worry about without the adults going to pieces over a minor flesh wound.

  “Invite them in, dear,” Lynne West said to Penny. She ruffled Markus’s sleep-tousled hair and gave him a gentle shove toward the door. “They can wait in here.”

  * * *

  Of Katie’s friends, Ellen was the only one who seemed entirely comfortable in the Wests’ big living room. Zoe sat scrunched into the furthest corner of the couch she shared with the other girls, eyes pointed down at her clasped hands, as if she was afraid to look at, let alone touch anything. Penny sat next to her, trying her hardest to avoid Markus West’s eyes, unable to forget the contempt he had shown for her only weeks before. His eyes, however, kept returning to her, stealing quick glances.

  Katie’s mother stood in the kitchen again, speaking with Michael over the phone. Her voice was too soft for Penny to make out her end of the conversation, but it was over quickly and Mrs. West returned to find herself the center of attention.

  “Susan knows you’re here,” she said. “They’re on their way now.”

  “Did they catch him?” Markus sat on the edge of his chair, hands clutching the arms. The suspense seemed to be driving him as crazy as it was Penny.

  Lynne nodded. “They did … but….”

  She glanced back at the girls before answering her husband. “They had to call an ambulance. He’d lost a few fingers and a lot of blood and … well, he died while they were loading him in.”

  “He’s dead?” Zoe spoke her first words since her arrival in the West house. She sounded horrified, and Penny hoped she would remember that he was about to shoot them before Zoe’s spell exploded the gun in his hand.

  Lynne nodded.

  “Susan didn’t …,” Markus seemed almost afraid to finish his question.

  “Oh, dear no, he had a heart attack. They’d bandaged his hand up and were loading him into the ambulance when he clutched his chest and just … died.”

  The news hit Penny like a slap, rocking her back against the couch.

  Dead?

  Lights hit the big picture window, and everyone turned as one to see Michael’s cruiser pull into the driveway, Susan’s old Falcon close behind it.

  A minute later the newcomers were inside, and Susan pulled Penny and Zoe from the couch in a frantic, slightly painful, embrace.

  “Susan, the house?”

  “It’s fine,” Susan said, and relief flooded Penny. “The fire was dying out when the fire truck arrived.”

  Amazement was clear in her voice.

  “It burned to the fence-line and just … went out. Ernest lost his entire field, and there were a lot of smaller fires, but the rain put most of them out before the firefighters could get to them.”

  Penny’s relief was somewhat marred by the penetrating look Michael leveled at her.

  Whatever he was thinking, he let it drop … at least for now.

  “I have to go,” Michael said, giving Susan a quick hug before walking away. “The sheriff is furious with me for responding without waiting for him.”

  “The sheriff can kiss my …,” Susan stopped herself before finishing the sentiment and rolled her eyes to the ceiling.

  “If he does fire me you should consider putting an application in, Susan.” Michael smiled and winked at her. “You gave me a run for my money tonight.”

  Then he was gone.

  “Susan,” Markus said, giving Susan a look of fal
se consternation. “I do believe you’re spending too much time with that boy. I think he’s got a crush on you.”

  “Markus!” Lynne and Susan scolded in unison. Lynne slapped playfully at the back of his head, and he grinned.

  * * *

  Penny, Zoe and Ellen spent the rest of the night at the Wests’ house, the four crammed tightly into Katie’s queen-sized bed.

  “You are so spoiled,” Zoe said.

  “Yes I am,” Katie agreed, too tired to argue.

  Penny was finally drifting to sleep when the door opened and light fell in upon them.

  Michael stood in the doorway, returned from a pleasant early morning at the office.

  “Michael, we’re trying to sleep.” Katie groaned and pulled the sheets over her head.

  For a moment Michael said nothing.

  “What?” Katie barked impatiently, and Zoe awoke with a snort next to her.

  “Morgan Duke had some very strange things to say before he died.” They couldn’t see his face, only his silhouette, but his voice was hushed and more serious than Penny had ever heard it. “That little talk I was planning to have with you … I think it’s time.”

  Penny’s chest seemed to fill with lead.

  “Michael, it’s,” Katie twisted in bed to look at her clock. “It’s five in the morning and we haven’t slept all night.”

  “Later then,” he said. “The five of us.”

  He closed the door and left them in an uncomfortable silence.

  For the second time that night Katie asked, “What are we going to tell him?”

  For a long time Penny didn’t answer. Her instinct was to lie, to cover up, to keep the secret, but he’d already seen and heard too much, and Michael was no dummy. He would know they were lying.

  So what did that leave?

  “We’ll tell him the truth,” Penny said at last.

  “Okay,” Katie said, and to Penny’s surprise she sounded relieved.

  “Do you think he’ll tell anybody?” Zoe voiced the fear Penny herself felt, but Katie was quick to answer.

  “No, Michael’s cool. I think he’ll understand why no one else can know.”

  “Nobody would believe him anyway,” Ellen said.

  Penny laughed. She couldn’t help it.

  “He’ll keep our secret,” Penny said. “We can be very persuasive if we need to be.”

  * * *

  When Michael knocked on Katie’s bedroom door the next morning, the girls were ready and waiting for him.

  “Katie?” Michael sounded nervous but resolute.

  “Come in!” Katie shouted back. Muffled laughter followed this invitation.

  Michael opened her door, stepped inside, and looked around. The girls were nowhere in evidence. “Kat?”

  “We’re in here.” Katie’s voice came from the closet door, open only a few inches.

  Michael frowned, hesitated, trying to decide if this was a necessary confrontation or if he should just try to forget the weirdness his little sister seemed to be mixed up in. He didn’t notice Penny, hidden behind the door to the hallway. She pushed it closed as he resumed his grim stride to the closet door.

  He swung the closet door open, lifted his foot to take his first step inside, and froze in place.

  Behind him, Penny latched and locked Katie’s bedroom door.

  Michael stood on the threshold between his little sister’s bedroom, and something that was most definitely not her closet.

  “Well, what are you waiting for?” Katie asked, and had to bite her lips against a burst of nervous laughter. She stood at the creek’s edge, Zoe and Ellen on either side of her. Zoe was looking at her feet. Ellen covered a smile with one hand.

  “What …?” Michael poked his head through the doorway and looked up, as if hoping to see the ceiling of Katie’s walk-in closet. What he saw was a canopy of interlaced willow whips forming an imperfect green roof through which he could see flashes of blue sky. Beneath his still-raised foot was not the carpet of Katie’s bedroom, but dirt, grass, and fallen leaves.

  Katie rushed to him, concern on her face. She snapped her fingers beneath his nose, and he tore his gaze from the creekside country clearing he had not expected to find inside his sister’s closet. He stared down at her, chagrin and disbelief fighting for room on his face.

  “What did you do with your closet?” He looked around again. “How did this get inside your closet?”

  “Come in and have a seat,” Katie motioned to one of the boulders arranged around the fire pit, “and we’ll explain it all.”

  Penny stood close behind him, her hands raised and ready to give him a push through the open door if his nerves failed him.

  Michael put his raised foot down, on the carpet of Katie’s room instead of the ground in the hollow, and took a step back, almost bumping into Penny. Then he took a deep breath, and walked through into the hollow.

  Penny followed him through, meeting Katie’s smile with one of her own, and closed the door behind them.

  Chapter 21

  The End … For Now

  Friday evening in Dogwood was chaotic, even with a block of Main Street still cordoned off and half of the businesses closed. The park was overrun with families returning from vacation to witness firsthand the devastation they’d only seen on the local news or heard about from family and friends. The townspeople watched the demolition and cleanup of the ruined building, one of Dogwood’s oldest, with morbid fascination. The bakery’s mobile cart did a roaring trade in doughnuts, coffee, and—Penny’s favorite—Elephant Ears, serving the workers and watchers alike.

  The people of Dogwood watched the workmen loading construction dumpsters with rubble, speculated on which of the businesses would return and which would close for good, and retold the story of Susan and Michael’s capture of the villain Morgan Duke a hundred times over, casting speculative and admiring glances at where Susan sat with Markus, Lynne, and Michael West.

  Michael was handling the revelation about his sister and the Dogwood Witches better than expected. He had honored Katie’s wish that he keep the knowledge to himself, but insisted they come to him first before engaging in any more dangerous forays against horror-movie monsters. Katie had reluctantly agreed to tell him next time something mad and scaly tried to kill them, but Penny had seen her cross her fingers behind her back.

  Penny didn’t think Michael was going to let it go that easily.

  “You’re only fourteen,” he reminded Katie when her obstinacy continued. “It’s not up to you to save the world. You’re not some comic-book superhero.”

  “Well,” Ellen interjected, perhaps unwisely given the mood of the exchange, “she can fly.”

  “Don’t remind me,” he’d said, rubbing his forehead as if staving off a headache.

  In the two days since Michael’s inclusion in their secret, he made a habit of checking up on them almost constantly. It drove Katie nuts, but Penny thought that Zoe was secretly enjoying the extra attention.

  As if reminding Penny that he hadn’t forgotten about them, Michael cast her a dark, meaningful look from his seat between Susan and his father. His attention was stolen away a moment later by the arrival of Ellen’s parents.

  Mr. Kelly, tall, dark-haired and bespectacled, stopped to clap Michael on the shoulder and shake his hand. To Penny he looked more like a politician than a computer geek, which is how Zoe referred to him.

  “He’s not a geek,” Ellen had said. “He’s a computer systems analyst.”

  Mrs. Kelly, tall and blonde, looked more like a model than a town-hall clerk. She caught sight of the girls and waved to Ellen before clasping her husband by the arm and dragging him away from Michael.

  As if to balance out the ugliness of the ruin across the street, the Dogwood trees in the park were finally, and all too briefly Penny knew, in furious bloom. Bright pink and dazzling white, adding more life to the park than Penny could have imagined. In three weeks the park, the sidewalks, and even the street beyond, would be cov
ered in their petals.

  Penny, Zoe, Katie and Ellen sat apart from the rest of the Friday evening throng, under the big oak near the gazebo, Zoe’s old reading tree, and the very spot where Penny had first seen her. None of them had seen Ronan since the night of his unexpected return, but they figured he was holed up in that cave, healing. At least that was what they hoped.

  The industrious bustle of demolition didn’t interest her, nor she suspected, did it interest Susan. She had lost an important part of her life the night it burned down; it was not a spectator sport for her.

  They were there for Zoe.

  Zoe watched the road winding out of town with an anticipation that was almost painful to witness. Her parents, whom she had not seen in over a year, would arrive soon.

  Penny watched too, with dread and growing anger.

  She hated Zoe’s parents, not because they had left her here with a grandmother who didn’t seem to like her much, but because they were coming back.

  Katie and Ellen whispered among themselves, idly passing the time with talk about nothing important. They seemed to be aware of Penny’s distress and decided that the best way to help her cope was to not help her.

  Penny appreciated that.

  Zoe’s interest perked momentarily when a familiar car, James Price’s black Charger, rolled to a stop at the yellow tape cordoning off the demolition zone. For a moment it sat, idling, then the passenger door opened and Ernest Price climbed out, looking dirty and disheveled. His clothes looked slept in, his Stetson bent out of shape and crooked on his head. He stumbled as he slammed the car door shut and walked a crooked path toward the activity.

  “He’s drunk,” Katie said.

  “As a skunk,” Ellen agreed.

  A man with a bright yellow vest and hardhat rushed to intercept Mr. Price before he could cross the barrier, and the ensuing argument was inaudible but animated.

  Zoe leapt up suddenly, bracing herself against the trunk of the tree, and seemed unable to breath.

  Penny saw the truck a second later, pulling to the far curb in front of the church. It was big and white and somehow strange without the long trailer that should have been following it. Penny thought it looked like a giant head without a body. She heard the distant chuff of air brakes, then the headlights went dark and the low and mellow rumble of its engine died.