Spellbound Falls

by Janet Chapman

  The image went back to a close-up of a large white bird, its mouth gaping open in death as a thin fishing line disappeared down its throat. “Oceanographers,” the commentator continued, “are trying to understand what’s happening. We have Frank Dieter, an expert on ocean currents, here with us now. Dr. Dieter, can you tell us how something like this can be happening at the same time all over the globe?”

  “That’s just it,” he said, shaking his head as he stared at the images on the monitor in front of him. “It can’t be happening. Ocean currents are for the most part circular. This junk—some of which shouldn’t even float—would travel parallel to the shoreline instead of toward it. Unless there was a hurricane or typhoon that brought debris in with the storm surge, this shouldn’t be happening, especially not on so many beaches, all within the last twenty-four hours. It’s simply impossible.”

  “Apparently not,” the newsman said against the backdrop of a group of people trying to free a live dolphin. The poor animal was stuck in a tattered old net, its flesh cut and bleeding in places as others poured seawater over its body.

  “Excuse me,” Olivia whispered, standing up and rushing to the kitchen. And then she just barely made it outside before she threw up behind one of the bushes beside the porch. She stumbled over to the outside spigot and splashed water on her face and rinsed her mouth, then used her sleeve to shakily dry off.

  She usually had an iron-clad stomach, except she’d swear that the dead bird with the gaping pink beak had been an albatross. And all those poor fish and dolphins and turtles caught in nets that had broken free to continue fishing unattended.

  “Are you okay?” Carolina asked as she approached with Henry, their expressions somber.

  “I’m fine,” Olivia said, giving her face another wipe. She winced. “I guess I don’t have the stomach to watch any more of that.”

  “This is actually a good thing,” Carolina said. “I believe people are being made aware of what’s been going on far out at sea for a very long time now, and this may finally force new fishing techniques to be put in place.” She snorted. “There’s nothing like the stench of dead fish littering posh resort beaches to raise public outcry for something to be done. It’s my understanding they can make fishing gear that simply dissolves after a certain time instead of continuing to ghost fish.”

  “The oceans will become safe now, Miss Olivia,” Henry said, his deep green eyes looking far too old for his innocent face. “It often requires something unpleasant to make people take the appropriate action.” He gave a slight bow. “If you’re truly okay, I believe I should return to my room so I don’t have to extend my stay.”

  “I’m fine now, Henry,” Olivia said with a forced smile as she waved him away. “Carolina, could I talk to you a minute?”

  “Go on, Henry,” Carolina said. “Set up the chessboard so I can trounce you again.” She turned to Olivia and clasped her arm. “Please try to see what’s happening as a good thing, because it is. To paraphrase Henry, sometimes it requires a good slap in the face to fight complacency.”

  “Where did Mac go?”

  “I believe he took the albatrosses back home.”

  “But how?” Olivia waved toward the cabin. “His truck’s still here.”

  Carolina lowered her lids, hooding her eyes. “I was asleep when he left, so I assume Trace Huntsman must have come up from Midnight Bay and gotten him.”

  “Is Mac going to see his father?”

  Carolina turned away with a snort. “Not if he can help it. I believe I’ll have dinner with Henry in his room tonight.” She turned and continued walking backward. “Don’t worry; there’s still plenty of food left over from what everyone, including Sam, sneaked to him yesterday. We’ll eat like royalty for a week,” she said, pivoting to jog up the lane.

  Olivia shoved her hands in her pockets, only to feel Mac’s cell phone. She pulled it out and stared down at it, trying to decide what she was feeling. Because if what she suspected was happening on those beaches was causing her gut to react the way it was, she should be scared to death.

  But oddly, she wasn’t. Instead she felt sort of prickly all over; like something… extraordinary was about to happen.

  Rather like Mac’s ESP.

  But unlike Mac’s ability to sense specific things like a storm coming or the ice being thin, she had no idea why she couldn’t stop shivering.

  What has he done? she’d heard Carolina whisper. Did Carolina also believe Mac had something to do with what was happening on the beaches? Because really, it wasn’t scientifically much less humanly possible to manipulate ocean currents like that.

  Olivia flipped open the phone and studied the buttons. She’d thought Mac had left her his cell phone so he could call her, but he’d been gone a day and a half now and it hadn’t rung once. Hell, she’d even slept with it under her pillow.

  Olivia glanced toward the lodge, then walked around the side of the garage to be out of sight. She pushed the button labeled Contacts and only three names appeared; Trace Huntsman, Carolina, and Father. Except there weren’t any numbers for the last two names, so she couldn’t even tell what state—or country—his father was in.

  She stared toward Mac’s truck, which she knew had Maine plates, and then slid her gaze to his cabin. What could make two grown siblings and a child fear one man so much? Titus Oceanus was their father and grandfather, for crying out loud. And really, he couldn’t be that big an ogre, considering how nice Carolina and Mac had turned out.

  Well, nice but really strange.

  How in hell had Carolina gotten here in the middle of a snowstorm? And how had Mac left when Olivia hadn’t heard a vehicle drive in or out night before last?

  And where in hell were they from, anyway?

  It had been one mystery after another since Mac had arrived: seat belts and doors and zippers with minds of their own, albatrosses acting as if they’d come here looking for Mac, and the Oceanuses’ unusual fascination with magic and mythology.

  And what was up with that dream she’d had, anyway? Because she’d swear she really had felt the earth breathing. And why would she have imagined a whale named Leviathan? Who named anything in their dreams? But scariest of all, why did she have this overwhelming feeling that her life was about to change forever?

  You will always be completely safe with me, Mac had told her just before he’d vanished into thin air.

  And she did feel safe with him. Even though he’d tilted her world completely off-center, Olivia was pretty sure he’d sent it tumbling in the right direction. And just maybe some of his confidence and solidness had rubbed off on her, because honestly, the last time she’d felt this certain everything was going to be okay had been when her father had shown up and swept her into his arms after her mom had died.

  Rather like Mac had the day Mark Briar had attacked her.

  But would Mac vanish into thin air in September just as her father had twenty-eight years ago? Olivia looked down at the cell phone in her hand again.

  Was she ready to trust another man with her heart?

  Because really, what was the worst that could happen? Well, other than getting her heart broken again. But hadn’t she become an expert on repairing a broken heart, seeing how hers was still thumping along? Heck, it was even healthy enough to start racing whenever Mac looked at her with those imposingly deep green eyes of his, and nearly pound out of her chest whenever he touched her.

  So… did she want to keep acting the mouse forever, or was she finally ready to let the tigress off its leash once and for all?

  Olivia peeked around the corner of the garage, took a fortifying breath as she stared down at the phone, and pushed the button that said Father.

  Because she just loved sticking her nose in other people’s business.

  It didn’t even make it through a second ring. “By the gods, Maximilian, what in the name of Zeus are you doing?” a deep, eerily familiar voice boomed against her ear, making Olivia wince. “I swear by all that’s hol
y I will send you to Hades with my own bare hands! You know to consult me before you orchestrate anything on such an epic scale. So forget explaining how you got your hands on that kind of power and just tell me where you got the gonads to do something so outrageous!”

  “Um… I’m guessing from you,” Olivia whispered.

  Stark, absolute silence was all she heard for several pounding heartbeats.

  “Who is this?”

  “Olivia Baldwin, Mr. Oceanus. Mac and your grandson are staying at my camp for parents and their children up here in the mountains of Maine.”

  Silence again, and then, “May I ask what you’re doing with Maximilian’s phone?”

  “He asked me to hold on to it while he left to go do… something important.”

  She heard a muffled snort, as if he’d covered the mike with a hand, and then all she heard was silence again.

  Olivia took another deep breath. “And since I found your number programmed into his phone, I decided this would be my opportunity to invite you and your wife to come to Inglenook, so the two of you can see what we do here.”

  “Does Maximilian know you’re inviting us?”

  Olivia snorted, and she didn’t even try to cover it up. “Not exactly. But Henry’s quite eager to meet his grandmother, and personally, I’m quite eager to meet you.”

  She heard a choking sputter, and Olivia took a relieved breath. Because really, Mac’s father didn’t seem all that scary. “We encourage grandparents to come for the last few days of our two-week sessions, but I think you and Mrs. Oceanus might enjoy attending a full session with Mac and Henry and Carolina. The cabin we’ve given them is certainly big enough to accommodate all of you. Unless Mac has other brothers and sisters he hasn’t told me about?”

  “No,” he said gruffly, “there’s just the four of… I mean the five of us. Er, you expect us all to share the same cabin?”

  “Of course. Isn’t that the very essence of family? And we have all sorts of fun activities you can do together; horseback riding, canoeing, an amazing obstacle course, arts and crafts, and campfires with sing-alongs. It’s a wonderful way for children and parents—and grandparents—to truly bond. Oh, and hiking. Did I mention we have some beautiful hiking trails? I especially enjoy taking families into the wilderness. So, can I put you and Mrs. Oceanus down for a session in—no, wait; I think maybe you should come to Inglenook a few days before camp starts up again, so we can have some private time together before the chaos starts.”

  He hesitated. “I would need to speak with Rana first.”

  “From what I understand, I believe your wife is looking forward to finally meeting Henry. I’m sure she’ll start packing the moment you mention my invitation. Rana is a beautiful name. Would it happen to be Greek by any chance?”

  “It’s Sanskrit, actually; it means queen.”

  “How lovely. Hey, do you happen to know what ma-REE-tah means, or even what language it is?”

  There was another long, disquieting pause. “Why do you wish to know?”

  “Well, your son keeps calling me ma-REE-tah, only he refuses to tell me what it means. And I would at least like to know if it’s a compliment or not, because honestly, he doesn’t always say it like an endearment. So, have you heard it before? Or if I knew what language it is or even how to spell it, I could look it up on the Internet. And that way I could find something equally nice to call him.”

  “Hello?” she said when he didn’t say anything. “Did we get cut off? Mr. Oceanus, are you still there?”

  “My wife and I will be arriving at Inglenook tomorrow.”

  “Will you be arriving by car?” she asked, only to realize she was talking to dead air. “Or by broom?” she muttered, snapping the phone shut.

  Olivia took another deep breath and threw back her shoulders, and headed back around the garage. She supposed that had gone well, considering the conversation had started out with Mac’s father threatening to send him to hell with his own bare hands for orchestrating something so outrageous on such an… epic scale.

  She stopped next to Doris’s truck when she saw Ezra and Sam coming down the porch steps, both men looking troubled. “Sam,” she said as they approached, “Caleb told me you spent quite a few years traveling the world. So I imagine you’ve heard a lot of languages?”

  Because she really needed to know what ma-REE-tah meant before Mac got back, so she’d know whether to kiss him or punch him in his sensitive gut.

  “Caleb sure does talk a lot,” Sam said, his eyes suddenly guarded. “Why? You have a question about languages?”

  “I was wondering if you knew what ma-REE-tah means, or what language it is.”

  His eyes narrowed as he appeared to repeat the word in his mind. “Actually, it sounds to me like it could be Latin. Which means you can look at English words that sound like it, as most of our language has Latin as its basis. Do you know its spelling?”

  She shook her head. “No, I’ve only heard it spoken.”

  “Probably m-a-r-i-t-a, or a-e. Like in marital.” He shrugged. “It likely has something to do with marriage. Where’d you hear it? In what context was it used?”

  Olivia felt the hairs on the back of her neck stir in alarm. “It was just something I heard on TV. This guy kept calling a woman ma-REE-tah.” She also shrugged, though it felt more like a shiver to her. “I hate it when they do stuff like that on television and don’t bother to translate it for us.”

  “If you’ve got Internet, then Google it,” Sam suggested, his eyes narrowed on her.

  “Thanks, I’ll do that.” She gave him a forced smile. “And you be careful of Ezra here,” she said, gesturing toward her friend. “Because he’ll likely try to make you pay for whatever gas is still in the tank.”

  Ezra muttered something she couldn’t quite make out before speaking up. “You going to show Sam that phone you got from Mac?” he asked. “Because I’d like to know if we really do have cell phone service up here now, so I can get my own.”

  “We don’t,” Sam said, still studying Olivia. “Mine stopped getting a signal around Turtleback Station when we came through with the horses. And I’ve checked out a couple of places up here on high ground, and still nothing.” He held out his hand. “Let me see the phone. Ezra said he thought it was too small to be satellite, but I’ve seen some that were pretty compact.”

  Good Lord, what had this guy done in the military? “That’s okay,” she said, stuffing her hands in her pockets. “I’ll just ask Mac when he gets back.”

  “Olivia,” Sam said when she started toward the lodge. “If Oceanus is bothering you, I can have a little talk with him,” he said quietly, his steely eyes unreadable again.

  “No, I’m good.” She started walking backward. “But I do thank you for offering, considering that Mac said if I needed anything while he was gone to go see you.”

  She certainly didn’t have any problem reading Sam’s surprise. “He told you to come see me?”

  She shrugged. “I guess you two working on the obstacle course together the other day gave him the impression you’re a go-to guy. Ezra, you’ll stay for supper when you get back from Turtleback, won’t you? Sophie and I will give you a ride home after.”

  “That would depend on what you’re cooking.”

  “We’ve been barbecuing all week while Eileen’s gone. How does a big juicy steak with potatoes slow-roasted in hot embers sound?”

  “Wrap up a potato for me, then,” Ezra said, rubbing his belly. “And Sam and I will stop and get one of Vanetta’s strawberry-rhubarb pies for dessert.”

  Olivia turned and headed back into the lodge, wondering if the receding wave she’d been standing in since she’d met Mac wasn’t about to finally suck her out to sea—even as she tried to decide if she should break the news to Carolina that her mom and dad were arriving tomorrow.

  No… maybe she’d just let it be a surprise.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Dawn cracked so loud that the windows rattled and the
walls shook with the sonic boom. Sophie screamed from her bed, and Olivia raced down the hall—shedding Mac’s jacket just before she ran into the bedroom.

  “You’re okay, sweetie,” she said, sitting on the bed to hug her daughter. “That was probably just a fighter jet doing low-flight training.” She smoothed down Sophie’s hair, giving her a lopsided smile. “And I bet Missy Maher is already on the phone with the Pentagon, reading them the riot act again. It’s still early; do you think you can catch another half hour of sleep, or would you like me to make us some oatmeal and toast?”