Page 13 of Hallow Hill at Halloween: Part Two

“She’d taken a road trip to see Sherwood Forest. Some special tree or something. You knew this, right?” Keir shook hishead. “Well. You were away hunting, and I guess she wanted to remind herself that she’s independent.”

“Are you blaming this on me? Because I went hunting?” When Evie returned his stare without a verbal reply, he took that as an affirmative answer. “Why would she want to remind herself she’s independent? I don’t get it. She’s not independent. She’s married to me!”

“Why would you want to go hunting without her?” Keir blinked a few times in response as if he was struggling with processing that. “Never mind. That was rhetorical. The answer is between you and your therapist.”

“I don’t have a therapist.”

“How did I know you were going to say that?”

“Because the suggestion that I need psychological counseling is ludicrous and you know it.”

“Hmmm.”

“You were saying? About Sherwood Forest?”

“She left the dogs with Lochlan and took off with Romeo. Apparently, they got there too late to make it to the tree and back to the car park before dark.”

“By ‘they’, you mean Rita and Romeo.”

“Yes. Was that unclear?”

“So, she knew it was getting dark, but that didn’t stop her.”

“Have you met my mother? Of course, that didn’t stop her. Her reasoning would’ve been that she’d gone to some trouble and come all that way.. Yada. Yada.”

“What is yada yada?”

Evie ignored him. “Oh. I almost forgot the best part. She left her phone in the car.”

Keir closed his eyes for a couple of seconds. He’d forgotten how vulnerable Rita was in the world of humans. As a creature who wasn’t vulnerable to anything, it was too easy forhim to forget. He vowed that when this was over, and he said “when” because he didn’t allow himself to think in terms other than it being over, hewouldbe more careful. More watchful. More attentive.

Evie waited patiently seeing that Keir was taking a moment to integrate the information.

After a minute or so, he said, “Go on.”

“I arrived on the scene in the dark of night, in the middle of a legendary forest, to find Mom and her precious car looking like the result of an especially bad night at demolition derby.” Keir opened his mouth. “Let me guess. You don’t know what demolition derby is.”

“I do. It’s sports related.”

She screwed up her mouth. “If you play really loosey goosey with your definition of sports.”

“There’s betting. So, I know about it.”

“You gamble? Do you need money?”

“It’s not so much about money. It’s about…”

“Winning?”

“Can we stay on topic? Bottom line, Romeo was wrecked.”

“Completely.”

“Why?”

“She’d been frightened so badly she called out for him to come and, bless his wheels, he came crashing through the woods in a car’s nightmare scenario of off roading without a thought to being totaled.”

Keir made a note to thank Romeo for his loyalty and willingness to sacrifice.

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