Spellcasters (11 page)

“Are there supposed to be people camped out on our front lawn?”

I leaned over to look through the window, then slammed the cookbook closed and strode to the front door.

I
threw open the door and marched onto the porch. A camcorder lens swung to greet me.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

The man with the camcorder stepped back to frame me in his view-finder. No, not a man. A boy, maybe seventeen, eighteen. Beside him stood another young man of the same age, swilling Gatorade. Both were dressed in unrelieved black, everything oversized, from the baggy T-shirts to the backward ball caps to the combat boots to the pants that threatened to slide to their shoes at any moment.

On the opposite side of the lawn, as far as they could get from the young cinematic auteurs, stood two middle-aged women in schoolmarm dresses, ugly prints made into unflattering frocks that covered everything from mid-calf to mid-neck. Despite the warm June day, both wore cardigans that had been through the wash a few too many times. When I turned to look at the women, two middle-aged men appeared from a nearby minivan, both wearing dark gray suits, as ill-fitting and worn as the women’s dresses. They approached the women and flanked them, as if to provide backup.

“I asked: what’s going on?” I said. “Get that camera—What are you doing?”

“There she is,” one of the women whispered loudly to her companions. “The poor girl.”

“Look,” I said. “It’s no big deal. I appreciate your support, but—”

I stopped, realizing they weren’t looking at me. I turned to see Savannah in the doorway.

“It’s okay, sweetie,” one man called. “We won’t hurt you. We’re here to help.”

“Help?” she said, between cookie bites. “Help with what?”

“Saving your immortal soul.”

“Huh?”

“You needn’t be afraid,” the second woman said. “It’s not too late. God knows you’re innocent, that you’ve been led into sin against your will.”

Savannah rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. Get a life.”

I shoved Savannah back into the house, slammed the door, and held it shut.

“Look,” I said. “Not to deny you folks your right to free speech, but you can’t—”

“We heard about the Black Mass,” the boy without the camera said. “Can we see it?”

“There’s nothing to see. It’s gone. It was a very sick prank, that’s all.”

“Did you really kill a couple of cats? Skinned them and cut them all up?”

“
Someone
killed three cats,” I said. “And I hope they find the person responsible.”

“What about the baby?” his camera-wielding friend asked.

“B—baby?”

“Yeah, I heard they found some parts they couldn’t identify and they think it’s this baby missing from Boston—”

“No!” I said, my voice sharp against the silence of the street. “They found cats. Nothing else. If you want more information, I’d suggest you contact the East Falls or state police, because I have nothing further to add. Better yet, how about I call them myself? Charge you with trespassing? That’s what this is, you know.”

“We must do as conscience dictates,” the second man said in a deep orator’s voice. “We represent the Church of Christ’s Blessed Salvation and we have committed ourselves to fighting evil in every form.”

“Really?” I said. “Then you must have the wrong address. There’s no evil here. Try down the street. I’m sure you can find something worth denouncing.”

“We’ve found it,” one of the women said. “The Black Mass. A perversion of the most sacred rite of Christianity. We know what this means. Others will know. They will come. They will join us.”

“Oh? Gee, and I’m fresh out of coffee and doughnuts. I hate to be a bad hostess. If they don’t mind tea, I’ll put on the kettle. I make a really wicked brew.”

The boy dropped the camcorder. For a second, I thought it was the tea comment. Then, as he stumbled forward, I glanced up to see Savannah peering through the front curtains. She grinned at me, then lifted her hand and the boy jerked backward, falling to the grass.

“That’s not funny,” I said, glaring at the teen as he struggled to get up. “I won’t stand here and be mocked with pratfalls. If you have something to say to me, contact my lawyer.”

I stormed into the house and slammed the door.

Savannah lay collapsed on the sofa, giggling. “That was great, Paige.”

I strode across the room and yanked the curtains shut. “What the hell did you think you were doing?”

“Oh, they wouldn’t know it was me. Geez. Lighten up.” She peeked under the curtain. “He’s checking his shoelaces. Like maybe he tripped or something. Duh. Humans are so stupid.”

“Stop saying that. And get away from that window. Let’s just ignore them and make dinner, okay?”

“Can we eat out?”

“No!”

We ended up eating out.

Savannah didn’t railroad me into it. As I was defrosting chicken for dinner, I kept thinking of the people on my lawn, and the more I thought about them, the angrier I got. The angrier I got, the more determined I was to not let them upset me … or, at least, not to let them know they’d upset me. If I wanted to go out to dinner, damned if they’d stop me. Actually, I didn’t really want to go out to dinner, but after I made up my mind, I decided to proceed, if only to prove my point.

No one stopped us from driving away. The teenagers filmed our exit, as if hoping my car would transform into a broomstick and take flight. The Salvationists had retreated to their minivan before we made it to the corner, probably grateful for the excuse to sit down.

Savannah decided she wanted takeout from Golden Dragon. The local Chinese restaurant was run by Mabel Higgins, who’d never set foot outside Massachusetts in her life, and, judging by her cooking, had never cracked open an Asian cookbook. To Mabel, bean sprouts were exotic. Her idea of Chinese cooking was American chop suey—A.K.A. macaroni and ground beef.

Unfortunately, other than the bakery, the Golden Dragon was the only restaurant in East Falls. The bakery closed at five, so I had to buy my dinner from the Golden Dragon as well. I decided on plain white rice. Even Mabel couldn’t screw that up.

I parked on the street. Most parking in East Falls is curbside, particularly in the village core, where all the buildings predate the automotive
age. I’ve never mastered parallel parking—I’d rather walk an extra block than attempt it—so I pulled over in the empty stretch in front of the grocer, which had also closed at five.

“Geez, can’t you park a little closer?” Savannah said. “We’re, like, a mile away.”

“More like a hundred feet. Come on. Get out.”

She launched into a moaning fit, as if I was asking her to trudge twenty miles through waist-high snow.

“Wait here then,” I said. “What do you want?”

She gave me her order. Then I warned her that I was locking her in and did so, with both the car remote and spells.

As I headed back to the car, I noticed an SUV parked behind my Accord and quickened my pace. Yes, I was being paranoid. Yet, considering there were no other cars within a half-dozen spaces of mine, it did seem odd, even alarming. As I jogged toward my car, I saw the face of the SUV driver. Not Leah. Not Sandford. Grantham Cary, Jr.

“Great,” I muttered.

I slowed to a quick march and yanked my keys from my purse. Under my breath, I undid the locking spells, then hit the remote unlock, so I could hop in my car without stopping long enough for him to approach me. As I drew near, I heard the soft rumble of his engine idling. I kept my gaze fixed on my car, listening for the sound of his door opening. Instead I heard the clunk of his transmission shifting into gear.

“Good,” I said. “Just keep going.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him reverse to pull out. Then he drove forward. Straight forward, hitting my car with a crash. Savannah flew against the dashboard.

“You son of a bitch!” I shouted, dropping the take-out bag and running for the car.

Cary veered out and tore off.

I raced to the passenger door and yanked it open. Inside, Savannah cupped a bloody nose.

“I’m okay,” she said. “I just hit my nose.”

I grabbed a handful of tissues from the box behind her seat and passed them to her, then examined the bridge of her nose. It didn’t feel broken.

“I’m okay, Paige. Really.” She glanced down at her blood-streaked T-shirt. “Shit! My new shirt! Did you get a license number? That guy’s paying for my shirt.”

“He’s paying for more than your shirt. And I don’t need a license number. I know who it was.”

While Savannah went to retrieve the take-out bag from the sidewalk, I pulled out my cell phone, called the operator, and asked for the police.

“I’m not doubting it was Cary,” Willard said. “I’m asking if you can prove it.”

Of the three East Falls deputies, Travis Willard was the one I’d hoped they’d send. The town’s youngest deputy—a couple of years my senior—he was the nicest of the bunch. His wife, Janey, and I had served at several charity functions together, and she was one of the few townspeople who’d made me feel welcome. Now, though, I was questioning the wisdom of phoning the police at all.

Although Willard was considerate enough to sit in my car, instead of making us stand on the sidewalk, everyone who passed did a double take. Only twelve hours ago the police had found a Satanic altar at my house, news of which I was sure had flown through the town before noon. Now, seeing me pulled over talking to a deputy, tongues would wag with fresh speculation. If that wasn’t bad enough, I was quickly realizing that accusing a respected town member of intentional hit-and-run was no easy sell.

“Someone must have seen it,” Savannah said. “There were people around.”

“None of whom stuck around to do their civic duty,” I said. “But there’s bound to be evidence. He didn’t do a lot of damage, but the paint’s scratched. Can’t you check his truck?”

“I could,” Willard said. “And if I find silver paint on his bumper I can ask Sheriff Fowler to requisition a lab test and he’ll laugh in my face. I’m not trying to give you a hard time, Paige. I’m suggesting maybe this isn’t the way you want to pursue this. I heard you had a run-in with Cary at the bakery yesterday.”

“You did?” Savannah said. “What happened?”

Willard turned to the backseat and asked Savannah to step outside the car for a moment. When she was gone, he looked back at me.

“I know he hit on you. The guy’s a—” Willard cut himself short and shook his head. “He hits on every cute girl in town. Even made a pass at Janey once—after we were married. I could have—” Another headshake. “But I didn’t. I didn’t do anything. Some things are more trouble than they’re worth.”

“I understand that, but—”

“Don’t worry about the car. I’ll write it up for your insurance company as a hit-and-run. And maybe I’ll pay Cary a visit, drop a hint that he should pay the deductible.”

“I don’t care about the damage. It’s a car. I’m upset because Savannah was inside. She could have gone through the windshield.”

“Do you think Cary knew she was there?”

I hesitated, then shook my head.

“That’s what I figure, too,” Willard said. “He wouldn’t have seen her over the headrest. He was driving by, saw your car, and pulled in behind, thinking it was empty. When he saw you walking up, he slammed into the rear end. An asshole, like I said. But not a big enough asshole to intentionally hurt a kid.”

“So you won’t do anything.”

“If you insist, then I have to make the report, but I’m warning you—”

“Fine. I get the idea.”

“I’m sorry, Paige.”

I fastened my seat belt and waved Savannah into the car.

Next stop: 52 Spruce Lane. Home of Mr. and Mrs. Grantham Cary, Jr.

The Carys lived in one of East Falls’s finest homes. It was one of five stops on the annual East Falls garden walk. Not that the gardens were spectacular. Quite mundane, in fact, tending to overpruned shrubbery and roses with fancy names and no scent. Yet each year the house made the tour and each year the people of East Falls paid their fee to troop through the house and gardens. Why? Because each year Lacey hired a top-notch decorator to redo one room in the house, which then set that season’s standard for interior design in East Falls.

“Do you think this is a good idea?” Savannah said as I stalked up the front walkway.

“No one else is going to do it for us.”

“Hey, I’m all for putting the boots to the guy, but there are other ways, you know. Better ways. I could cast a spell that’ll—”

“No spells. I don’t want revenge. I want justice.”

“A good case of body lice would be justice.”

“I want him to know what he did.”

“So we’ll send him a card. Cooties courtesy of Paige and Savannah.”

I tramped up the steps and whammed the cherub knocker against the wooden door. From inside came the scuffling of shoes. A curtain fluttered. Voices murmured. Then Lacey opened the door.

“I’d like to speak to Grantham, please,” I said, with as much courtesy as I could muster.

“He isn’t here.”

“Oh? That’s odd. I see his car in the lane. Looks like he scraped up the front bumper.”

Lacey’s surgically tightened face didn’t so much as ripple. “I wouldn’t know about that.”

“Look, could I please talk to him? This doesn’t concern you, Lacey. I know he’s in there. This is his problem. Let him handle it.”

“I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“He hit my car. On purpose. Savannah was inside.”

Not a flicker of reaction. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave now.”

“Did you hear me? Grantham hit my car. He—”

“You’re mistaken. If you’re trying to get us to pay for damages—”

“I don’t care about the car!” I said, pulling Savannah over and waving at her bloodied nose and shirt. “This is the damage I care about! She’s thirteen years old.”

“Children get bloody noses all the time. If you’re hoping to sue—”

“I don’t want to sue! I want him to come out here and see what he’s done. That’s it. Just bring him out here so I can speak to him.”