Page 30 of Starlight Witch

At that moment, Grams and Bree returned with the rest of the food. Fancypants was sitting on Bree’s shoulder. Catharine gave me a long look.

“We can talk later, if you’d like,” I said.

“I think… Yes, I’d like that. Meanwhile, I’ll go call your aunt and see when she’s coming over. When do your other guests arrive?” She stood, suddenly shifting back to her normal demeanor.

“I think around seven—they’ll be here for dinner.” I watched as she quietly left the kitchen.

“How did that go?” Grams asked, after Catharine was out of earshot.

“I’ll tell you later, but let’s just say, I didn’t expect to actually have a real conversation with my mother. Anyway, let’s get unpacked and then I’m going to start searching for the letter. It occurs to me he might have left it in my bedroom, since he was so concerned about me. Anyway, this weekend might be more productive than I thought.”

As I helped finish putting the food away, I thought about my mother. She had wanted to be a graphic artist, and her dream had been squashed. Then I came along, and she was forced into being a mother when she wasn’t ready. I hung my head, feeling empathy for her for the first time in a long time. That she was even talking to me about these things meant that something was changing for her.

Aunt Ciara arrived around six-thirty, laden with various takeout bags. Bree and I helped her carry them in. She had bought pizza, fried chicken, tacos, Chinese food, and—rather inexplicably—a bunch of corndogs.

As we were sorting out the food, I received a text from Bran.

we’re almost there. we’ll see you in about ten minutes.

we’re waiting with dinner. aunt ciara went a little crazy at the fast food joints. I added a smiley face and went to find the paper plates. Catharine always had a stack for when she didn’t feel like washing dishes.

Ciara glanced at me. “I want to thank you again for your help at the funeral.”

“How are you doing?” I asked.

“Better. Owen’s visited a couple of times. He seems happier. Calmer.”

I nodded, unsure of what to say.

She looked behind her. “Did you get your father’s journal?” She kept her voice low. “I thought it best to keep it out of your mother’s hands.” My aunt was the polar opposite of my mother, at least with common sense and courtesy.

“Yeah, I’ll tell you more later. Where did you find it?”

“Up in the attic. Your mother decided she wanted to clear out some space, which meant she shanghaied me into doing the work.” Ciara laughed. “I know she’s a pain, but she was a good sister, overall, when I was growing up.”

“Can you tell me something? Did she really want to marry my father?” I glanced around to make sure nobody else was close enough to hear as I found the plastic cutlery. At least my mother washed it and used the forks and knives more than once.

Ciara worried her lip. “To be honest? I don’t know. Oh, she found Malcolm attractive, but I truly think she didn’t want to marry anybody. She wanted to see the world. Now, it’s our parents who are seeing the world and not her. She resents them for that. They pushed her to marry, that I do know. I was lucky in that I wanted to marry your uncle. But your mother…she always had a wandering spirit, and our parents could never accept she didn’t want to get married.”

At the sound of voices approaching, Ciara held her finger up to her lips and we went back to setting the table, but I thought about my mother and found I was viewing her in an entirely different way.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

My mother went to bed early, right after Aunt Ciara went home. That was my cue. The rest of us were sitting in the living room, near the fireplace, relaxing. Outside, the wind was howling. A sudden shift brought in a storm that was originally supposed to head through upper Washington, up near the Canadian border. The tree boughs were scraping against the house, and the flames in the fireplace were snapping loudly as wind whistled down the chimney.

I waited for about fifteen minutes after Catharine retired to her bedroom, then softly said, “I’m going to start searching now. Bran, Bree—want to join me?”

May had brought a magical grimoire to show Grams and they were poring over it, sitting together at a corner table. They looked up, waiting.

“You two keep watch and if my mother comes in, distract her, if you would.” I still hadn’t told Bran about Kyle’s response to me, and decided to wait on that. Right now, I wanted to devote time to hunting down that letter, since nobody else was around.

“Will do, but be careful,” Grams said.

“You know we will.” I led Bree and Bran to my room. “I want to start here, since he specifically mentioned how worried he was for me and how much I meant to him.”

“Where’s the secret room that he mentioned?” Bran asked.

“I don’t know, but given how much I know this house, it has to be in the basement, I think. Or the attic. There’s simply no other place for it to be, given the layout. We’ll go check for that after we search my room.”

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