Wicked Weaves

by Lavene, Joyce

  Chase was still gone an hour later when I left the dungeon. I couldn’t wait any longer and left him a note on the bed. I’d thought about Mary. She had to know what was going on. I’d take first watch after that. Grigg and Chase and whoever else we could recruit could step up later.

  I was hoping for an immediate reaction from Abraham. Historically, as things came back around to certain stress points, there were quick reactions. In this case, I realized I was hoping he’d go after Mary. But my plan allowed for that. I’d be there to intervene.

  I stopped off at the shed beside the Three Chocolatiers. As I thought, Tony was still sitting around feeling sorry for himself. He hadn’t been out all day. Even worse, he was in his underwear. Not something I’d planned to see again in my lifetime.

  “I have something for you to do,” I told him. I figured two was better than one in this case. No one else seemed to be available. Tony was going to help me keep Mary safe.

  “Does it pay?”

  “Yeah. I’ll buy you supper and not tell Chase you’re still here. Did you talk to anyone about getting your job back?”

  “No. What’s the point? I’m not sure if anyone even noticed I was gone.”

  I sighed. I hated him when he got in these moods. “Well, I noticed. And I know you’re back. Get up. Take a shower. Get dressed. I’ll talk to Livy about rehiring you.”

  His face, a strange caricature of my own, seemed to lighten up a little. “Really? You’d do that? What exactly do I have to do? I’m not robbing any banks unless I get half of everything.”

  “Ha-ha. That was a great laugh.” I kicked his foot off of the bottom of the recliner. “Get dressed. Let’s go. This offer has a short shelf life.”

  To my surprise, he actually did what I said. Twenty minutes later, we were headed down to Wicked Weaves. I was nervous the whole way down that I’d find Mary dead when I got there. The guilt was going to be an incredible burden. I could’ve gone down without Tony and had him meet me, if I’d trusted him to be there.

  But she was standing by the front of the shop, cleaning the window. “There you are!” She saw my reflection in the glass. “I was wondering where you’d gone off to.”

  “I walked Ham back to the smithy, then went to get my brother. We were about to have some dinner. Would you like to come with us?”

  Mary used her laser eyes to scan Tony’s face. “He’s a good-looking boy. Doesn’t look much like you except around the eyes. Lazy though, huh?”

  Tony wasn’t crazy about that remark. “Who said I was lazy?”

  She laughed. “Why don’t you two have dinner with me and my boy? I never eat none of that stuff they sell here. They don’t know what real food is.”

  I decided to take her up on her offer. That way I could keep an eye on Jah at the same time. Tony wanted to go to the pub. He didn’t understand the nature of the help I needed from him. That was okay. It only took a pointed look to let him know we were staying for supper if he wanted me to talk to Livy for him.

  Jah was inside, in the little kitchen, cooking something that smelled like dirty tennis shoes. He shook Tony’s hand, and the two of them fell into a friendly rapport talking about college basketball.

  Mary handed me a knife and some sweet potatoes. “Slice these up round ways, and we’ll fry them. It’s not the healthy way to eat them, but they taste better.”

  After I started slicing, which Mary watched with a close eye, she began frying up some meat she called fatback. I’d heard the term before but had never actually seen it, much less eaten it. I wasn’t even sure which part of the pig or cow it came from.

  Jah started singing a song I’d heard Mary humming before. The words were Gullah, which meant I understood some of them, but others were a mystery. I didn’t care. I sang with them, almost slicing my finger with the sweet potato knife. Tony looked at me like I was crazy, but I was having a good time.

  The little kitchen was hot and steamy when we got done cooking. Like all of our ancestors who’d settled in this area, we took our plates outside where it was cool. There was music and laughter coming from the Peasant’s Pub. I could see the look in Tony’s eyes; he wanted to be there. I frowned at him and the look went away. It was great having that small amount of temporary power.

  I ate almost everything on my plate. The collards tasted like they smelled, no matter how much vinegar I poured on them. The sweet potatoes were good. I hid the fatback in the grass behind the tree. I washed it down with sweet tea as the shadows began to settle around us.

  I was getting a little nervous as it got dark. I was only supposed to be first watch. Where were Chase and Grigg? I wished for a cell phone, but nothing appeared. Tony and I were going to have to stay there until someone else showed up.

  “I thought I smelled supper,” Ham said, joining us.

  “There’s plenty left if you want some,” Mary told him. “You’ll have to get it though. I’m too comfortable to get up right now, and my belly is too full.” She lit up her pipe as Jah and Tony lay back in the thick grass, talking about sports.

  “I got something I need to talk about,” Ham told her. “Come in with me for a minute. Help me slice up this watermelon.”

  He helped Mary get to her feet. There was a large age difference noticeable between them at that moment. He smiled down at her and opened the door into the kitchen. I watched them walk inside, the door swinging closed behind them.

  I wished I’d brought some weaving with me. I remembered that I’d left the new basket I’d just started in the front of the shop. I didn’t want Mary and Ham to think I was spying on them, so I walked around to get it from the front door.

  The voices coming from the kitchen were low but insistent. I was drawn to the doorway without realizing it.

  “Your girl told me about your plan,” Ham said. “Where are you going now?”

  “I’m not going anywhere. I don’t know what Jessie told you.” Mary smiled. “She’s a good girl but kind of crazy.”

  She reached for the watermelon on the cabinet, and Ham put his hand over hers. “Just because you have your boy now don’t mean you don’t need me.”

  “I didn’t say it did. What’s wrong with you tonight? You’re acting kind of crazy yourself.”

  Ham paced what there was of a kitchen floor between the table and the back door. “I stayed with you. We stay together, no matter what, remember?”

  “I told you, I’m not going anywhere. Jah is still at school. He’ll visit when he can.”

  “I wish I could believe you.”

  Mary put her arms around her little brother. “You know I won’t leave you. We’ve been through a lot together. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

  I left at that point, sneaking back out the front door and around the back with Jah and Tony. I couldn’t find my weaving, but it was too dark to see outside anyway.

  There was fear and something else that scared me in Ham’s eyes. He seemed obsessed about staying with his sister. I liked to be with Tony, but I’d never looked at him that way.

  “There you are!” Chase’s voice brought me to my feet. I ran and threw myself against him. “I guess we should be apart more often. What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know. Probably nothing. Have you been spreading the word around the Village?”

  “I wasn’t sure we’d agreed on that plan. Wasn’t there some question of Mary’s safety?”

  “What are you talking about?” Jah demanded. “Is my mother in danger?”

  “Take it easy, guy.” Grigg got between him and Chase. “Nobody is in any danger right now.”

  “It was a plan to trap your adopted father,” I explained. “Detective Almond couldn’t find him. We knew he was still here, because we found some of his stuff.”

  “Abraham would never hurt my father,” Jah defended. “You need to look for another suspect.”

  “All of the pieces fit,” Grigg argued. “Sometimes there’s no understanding what makes a man go bad.”

  I glance
d at the back door. Were Mary and Ham still arguing? I wished she’d come out so we could discuss this with her, too. After all, it was her life on the line if the plan worked.

  Chase, Grigg, and Jah were arguing about the plan and about Abraham. Tony got up to confront me. “This is why you wanted me here? You thought I could take a bullet or something for your basket weaving friend?”

  I barely heard him. That closed door bothered me. The look in Ham’s eyes when I was spying on them in the kitchen bothered me, too. It didn’t seem possible he could be involved in what happened to Joshua. Except that he wanted Mary to stay there with him. Joshua might’ve changed all that.

  “Are you going to answer me or stare at that door all night?” Tony asked.

  Ignoring him, I ran to the door and shoved it open. I called for Mary. There was no answer. There was no sign of either one of them.

  “Is the watermelon in here?” Grigg asked. “I’d like a nice piece of that.”

  The watermelon was still on the counter, uncut. “I think someone took Mary.”

  He looked around. “She went mighty peaceably. No sign of a struggle.”

  “What’s taking so long?” Chase joined us. “I have my pocketknife if we need it to cut the watermelon.”

  “Something’s wrong,” I told him. “Mary’s gone. She was arguing with Ham. I can’t explain it, but I think he might be the killer.”

  “So now my uncle killed my father?” Jah sounded as imperious as I’d expected. “Why don’t you stop picking on my family?”

  “Wasn’t Ham attacked by the killer?” Tony raised an interesting point.

  Grigg nodded. “I took that report myself. He was attacked by a hooded figure.”

  “We can’t stand here and do nothing. If I’m right, Ham’s taken her somewhere.” I started walking toward the front door.

  “What if you’re wrong?” Chase called out after me.

  “There’s always vegetable justice.” I shrugged. “We have to find Mary. I think he may have taken her to the smithy.”

  I ran out into the night, hoping I was wrong. What’s a little embarrassment compared to finding out your brother is a killer? I could hear all the men coming up behind me: Grigg falling down the front stairs, Tony swearing as he ran into the Lady Fountain, Chase right beside me, and Jah sprinting like he ran five miles every day.

  It seemed like a long way to the smithy. We met Roger coming back from Kellie’s Kites. I didn’t have the breath to tell him what was going on. I’m not sure when I’d run that far before, but it couldn’t have been since high school.

  Chase explained in a few words what we were doing. Roger joined us with an expression of anger on his broad face. Jah suddenly began to outdistance me, heading for the smithy, where lights still glowed from the open door.

  Twenty-three

  Ham was standing at the forge, hitting a red-hot horseshoe with his hammer. He looked like he’d been there all night instead of only a few minutes. There was no sign of Mary.

  “What’s all the fuss?” He looked up at us.

  Grigg and Roger were barely able to breathe, leaning against the doorway. Chase, Tony, and Jah were in better shape. I was somewhere in the middle. I could stand on my own, but talking was like wheezing.

  “Where’s Mary?” I demanded in a squeaky voice.

  “I don’t know.” He smiled at Jah. “I left her in the kitchen when I remembered I’d left this waiting here for me. You know, the shoes need to be hot, but they can’t be too hot.”

  “You see?” Jah stared at me. “This was stupid. I’m going back.”

  “Where is she then?” Roger was finally able to move. “We didn’t see her on the way here. She didn’t just disappear.”

  “You know Mary.” Ham nodded to me. “There’s times when she just has to get off on her own. I don’t hold her back.”

  “I’m sorry, Uncle,” Jah apologized. “These people won’t bother you anymore.”

  He gestured for all of us to leave, but Grigg was the only one who stepped outside. Roger wasn’t taking no for an answer. Chase seemed uncertain, but he didn’t move. Tony shrugged and followed Grigg outside.

  The heat in the smithy was sweltering. My face turned as red as the coals in the forge. Ham kept banging at the horseshoe, apologizing, but explaining it had to be done.

  “Stop doing that!” I didn’t know exactly what I was listening for, but I knew I couldn’t hear it with all that racket. He didn’t stop, and I yelled it at him, “Stop hitting that horseshoe!”

  “She’s lost it,” Tony said from the doorway. “Let’s all head back to the pub.”

  “No!” I grabbed Chase’s arm. “We can’t leave without her. Make him stop.”

  I could tell Chase was divided. He didn’t know what to think. But to his credit, he came down on my side of the fence. “Ham, would you mind stopping for just a minute? Then we can all go home.”

  “I’d like to help you out, son, but this horseshoe is almost ruined. If I don’t finish it now, it won’t be usable. You know how Livy feels about waste.”

  Chase put his hand on Ham’s shoulder. “Just for a minute. If it goes bad, I’ll take the responsibility for it.”

  I didn’t know if Ham was going to agree. There was a moment when he looked at Chase with the hammer in his hand and made me cringe. It would only take one hit from that instrument to cause terrible damage. How was I going to live with that guilt, especially if I was wrong?

  But Ham put the hammer down on the forge and stepped back. He smiled at Chase, then took off running out the back of the smithy.

  “What the hell?” Tony couldn’t believe it.

  “Where are we going now?” Grigg demanded before he took off after him.

  Chase ran with him, but Jah stayed with me. “I don’t believe this. He’d never hurt my mother.”

  “Listen.” I stood still and tried to hear that scratching sound I’d heard earlier. With everyone silent, I heard it again. It sounded like it was coming from behind the storage panels. I ran to the first one and tried to open it. I looked up, and Tony was coming toward me with a crowbar.

  “This is crazy,” Jah complained. “This isn’t happening. Nothing is behind there.”

  He was right about the first panel. There was only some old gloves and blacksmith aprons stored there. The second panel came off easily, and there was nothing behind it.

  “You see?” Jah scoffed. “You ran my uncle away for nothing.”

  “Then why did he run?” Tony took the crowbar to the third panel.

  The area behind the panels was a tight fit for the man who tumbled out as we removed the piece of wood. Abraham sprawled on the floor, covered in sawdust. He was alive but barely conscious. His fingernails were bloody from trying to escape from the storage area.

  “Call 911,” I yelled at Jah. He stood there, not moving. He looked unable to grasp what he saw. I hit him hard in the arm. “Call 911! Get some paramedics here right now!”

  But instead of doing what I told him to do, he started tearing at the storage panels like a madman, finally understanding that his mother was probably behind one of them. The only hope I had at that moment was that Abraham was still alive. Ham didn’t have time to do much to his sister.

  Tony used the crowbar again and again to empty out the storage areas behind the panels, but there was no sign of Mary. Jah started screaming and fell on the floor.

  She had to be here. I looked at the big pile of straw someone had almost tried to hide Ham in. He’d used that as a ruse before. Maybe he’d tried the same thing with her. He didn’t have much time to hide her. He knew we’d come when we missed her.

  I fell on the straw and started brushing it away. It only took a moment to see her face. She was roughly bound and gagged. Jah ran up to help me untie her and get her off the floor while Tony went to find a phone.

  By the time we’d helped Mary out of the straw, Chase, Grigg, and Roger were back with Ham between them.

  Ham was crying, sobbing h
ysterically. He was barely walking, held up by the three men. “I never meant to hurt you, Mary. I didn’t want you to go back with Joshua and ruin both our lives. I didn’t think about the police accusing you of killing Joshua. You know I’d never hurt you.”

  I sat down in the sawdust next to Jah, who was cradling his unconscious mother in his lap. The plan had worked after all ... it had just worked on the wrong person.

  Mary and Abraham were fine, and Renaissance Faire Village recovered from the bad press it received. Ham confessed to the murder of his brother-in-law. Joshua had visited him before he’d gone to see Mary. Joshua had told him he wanted to bring his wife home and had accused Ham of keeping her away so long. Ham had only wanted things to go on as they had for the past ten years when he made the decision to kill the other man. He insisted he wouldn’t have killed Mary, only kept her away until Jah had left.