Page 12 of Kink in the Road
“Very,” Warrick agreed, falling into step beside her. “Women are revered here—they are the creators, the guides, the home. Our society is a matriarchal one, our women are the keepers of the hearth.”
She tipped her head to one side, a little frown marring her brow. “I’m not sure I understand.”
“The hearth was how we survived the winters,” I explained, picking my way down the sidewalk. “Winters here are beautiful and brutal, filled with ice and snow and darkness. The heath is light and heat and survival. It is a symbol of hope that after the darkest day, the sun will return.”
“So the women stayed home to tend the hearth and men did what?”
We all chuckled.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Women on our island were warriors, hunters, gamekeepers. They owned boats and
We left behind the rock and walked down the long street toward the church. A stone and wood building, it was one of the oldest buildings in the town.
Once upon a time, the ivy-covered building had been the township’s bunk house, providing shelter for the first inhabitants. Over the centuries it had been many things—a hall, an emergency shelter, a storage barn. It was only in the early 1800s that the church had purchased the land and it had become a place of religion.
Father Donovan lived in the cottage at the rear of the church. He’d presided over every birth, death and marriage for the last nearly forty years. Well into his sixties now, the spritely man regularly, and cheerfully ministered to his way-ward flock.
Aiden shoved open the ornate, heavy wooden doors, stepping into the quiet church.
Making our way down the long aisle, we began to search the organ pit, looking for an envelope.
The organ was one of the oldest and largest in all of Astipia. The town regularly had historians and musicians travelling through to view and play the gorgeous instrument.
No one was quite sure what had prompted the first Reverend Father to build something so unnecessary on Kink, but here it sat and here it would remain.
“I’ll take this side,” Aiden said, dropping to his knees. “Spread out. We need to find the clue.”
Finn bent beside me, his shoulder brushing my own as we sorted through music books and under dusty sheets of paper.
“Can you work tonight?”
I glanced over at Finn. “Of course. If you need me.”
His gaze met mine, his lips tilted up in a slight grin. “We always need you, Riley.”
I swallowed against the lump in my throat. “You can’t keep saying things like that. Not if you don’t want me to get the wrong idea.”
He brushed his knuckles against my cheek. “I think you’re just starting to get the right one.”
“Found it!” Aiden triumphantly held an envelope aloft.
This clue led us on a merry chase around the town, from the lighthouse to the library and down to the docks. With each solved puzzle, Aiden’s competitiveness grew, and I found myself laughing more than I had in months at his enthusiastic aggression.
“’I have cities, but no houses. I have mountains, but no trees. I have water, but no fish. What am I?’” Colleen read out our final clue.
We all looked at each other, stumped.
“A phone?” Aiden asked, scratching his head.
“Which one?” Warrick asked.
Aiden shrugged. “Good point.”
“What about a playground?” I asked, trying to solve it.
“what’s the cities?”
I shrugged. “No clue.”
