Page 68 of Big Witch Energy

Josh merely shrugged. “A triangle is great, but a pentagon is a lot harder to break.”

“I concede your point. No more leaving you out,” Riley said. “Sorry, guys.”

“So, Emily clearly isn’t the source of the curse because she doesn’t have a grudge against the Wilton family. I could feel her grief and loss out on that cliff, and she didn’t have room in her heart for the kind of hate involved in what was done to your family…killing your relatives… So, I can’t believe I’m saying this but…could it be Rose?” Alice suggested.

“Oh, my god, really?” Mina asked, her eyes going wide. “I mean, she’s awful, but how could she do that to her own family?”

It was a brief balm to Ben’s mind, that as bad as Mina’s relationship was with her mother, Mina’s young mind couldn’t comprehend the idea of a mother hurting her own family in that way. It was a small comfort, but it was something.

“Rose liked to control people, you said,” Riley noted. “Maybe she saw her family leaving the island as the ultimate loss of that control. She couldn’t stand it. I mean, look at how she responded when Emily wanted to leave, and she didn’t even like Emily. So maybe she found a way to punish your family members who tried to leave that control.”

“Oh, man, Caroline, I’m sorry. I should have said something earlier,” Mina said, looking stricken.

“I’m not sure I would have believed you, before I saw the things we’ve seen,” Caroline said, putting her arm around Mina.

“OK, but how does it work?” Josh asked. “How do we get them to move on?”

“Well, that I don’t know, dammit,” Riley sighed. “We know what happened, but what good does that do?”

“When Emily was possessing Caroline, she said she wanted to be buried properly,” Ben said. “She’s attached to her shoe buckles, so her spirit’s been trapped all alone at Vixen’s Fall all these years. And Rose has been keeping her silent. So maybe she wants justice of some kind too, since she’s never been able to tell her story.”

“So, we bury human remains without telling anybody?” Alice mused, “Caroline, what does the Michigan legal code have to say about that one?”

“I mean, she was murdered, but it’s not like we can bring Rose to justice,” Caroline said, frowning. “Other than maybe finding Rose’s attachment object and sticking it in a box with, like, really smelly cheese and dirty sweat socks. Can ghosts smell? I’m a little ashamed I’ve never asked Plover.”

“I could write a journal article in a historical publication that trashes the hell out of her,” Edison offered.

“Aw, that’s sweet,” Caroline told him, patting his hand. “But I think that would probably upset my remaining family members. But also, fuck Rose, so do what you will.”

“If we did contact the authorities, we would have to answer all sorts of questions about how we ‘found’ her, without sounding completely suspicious. Digging near the edge of Vixen’s Fall isn’t exactly a fun weekend activity,” Riley added. “I think this is a ‘discretion is the better part of valor’ situation. We dig up Emily’s remains under cover of night and bury her somewhere inconspicuous near the church with as much dignity as we can provide. That’s all she wanted.”

A moment of silence passed as the group sort of sank back into their seats.

“That was a lot for one night,” Caroline mused as she leaned into Ben’s side.

Ben nodded, glancing around at the assembled group. He knew these people cared for his kids, cared for Caroline. He’d made the right decision, bringing his children to Starfall. They were thriving. Hell, they were blooming. They had magic and purpose here. They had people who would nurture them and protect them, but at the same time, they were so young. They were supposed to be worried about SAT scores and fender benders, not magical battles with murderous ghosts.

But what could he do?

He had offers for other jobs. They came into his email account regularly as medical head-hunting firms attempted to find physicians for open spots in hospitals across the country. But could he really uproot them from the most stable environment they’d known in years? Should he do that, before they were “locked in” to the island, like Caroline? And what about Caroline? They had something real and true that he wanted to hold on to. Even if he wanted to leave Starfall, how could he risk losing her again?

He scrubbed a hand across his face. It was late, and this was too much to deal with all at once.

“Anybody want to binge-watch ghost-hunting shows?” Mina asked.

“No!” the others chorused.

Mina scoffed. “Well, you wake me up at two in the morning and give me coffee, what do you expect?”

Chapter 14

Caroline

Fresh from Emily’s unofficial, predawn funeral, Caroline walked—slowly—along the shoreline near her family’s home, pondering the new, disturbing knowledge they’d gleaned from their night on Vixen’s Fall.

Could a member of her own family be the cause of all their heartache? Could one woman’s need for control echo so far that she would hurt any member of her family who unknowingly defied her?

From what she had seen of that ghost—the malevolent, smirking presence in The Wilted Rose—yeah, Caroline could believe that. She’d seen it for herself, the callousness, the speed with which Rose had pushed Emily off Vixen’s Fall—not one moment’s hesitation. But how was she able to do it? That was the question. What was Rose’s attachment item? If it was the portrait, they were screwed, because they still hadn’t located it, and she wasn’t sure how to feel about it. The coven didn’t believe the portrait was her attachment object. And yet, it was important enough for someone to take it. Why would someone do that? There had been so many strangers through the barroom during construction. Maybe one of them thought it was valuable? A couple of vintage beer taps had come up missing, too, so it was possible. But it was also possible that her brothers had just put the taps in the wrong place. Then again, it was also possible that her brothers had thrown the portrait into a dumpster, because it was easier than carrying it to the storage area.

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