Page 70 of Rise of the Melody
The urge to sing that man to his knees and force answers from his mouth sent a shock of heat through me, making me shiver. Maybe Zar and I could both get our answers.
“You okay?” Teague asked.
I swallowed and let loose a breath. “Yeah. I just don’t know what to do with this information. How do I find the person who did this to her?”
“Let’s be honest,” Shani said. “Our generation is kind of sheltered—we haven’t seen much dark magic or anything like that. We’re going to need to talk to someone older who lived back when it was the magical wild west around here.”
I lit up from within. “Mrs. Barclay!”
“Mairi’s grandmother?” Nora asked. “Mai says she’s kind of coocoo.”
I shrugged. “I don’t think so. She remembers things. She’s told me stories.” I stood. “Can you all tell me where she lives?”
“I’ll come with you,” Clare said.
“Me too,” Shani and Nora said at the same time. Teague and Chrys both nodded.
“Okay.” I smiled, feeling a sliver of hope light up inside me. “But first I need to stop and get some cookies.”
Chapter20
Babysitter
Mairi’s eyes bulged at the sight of our group on her doorstep. Her house was older and smaller than Teague’s, but in a great location in walking distance to town and the marina. It was a two-story with lovely eclectic wood shingles that gave it a beach house look, but the wild, overgrown shrubs and vines gave it a magical vibe.
“Um…what’s going on?”
“Hey.” Teague took the ropes. “We’re actually here to see your grandmother.”
Her whole pretty face twisted in confusion as she blurted, “Why?”
“It’s a long story. You can listen while we explain to her. If that’s okay…?”
She stared at him as if deciding if she should let us in. Then she rolled her eyes and moved aside, yelling, “Gran! You have visitors!”
“Come out!” a voice answered. “I’m not getting up.”
“She’s outside,” she told us. We followed her through a heavily furnished living room to a back door and outer deck. I took a moment to gaze at the wistful vines growing like crazy on the trellis surrounding the deck, giving the area privacy despite other houses close by.
I nearly chuckled when I was hit with a whiff of sweet smoke and saw Ms. Barclay smoking a pipe on a cushioned glider. She seemed zero percent surprised to see all of us.
I set the cookies in front of her, and she nodded knowingly.
“Well.” She blew out a long plume. “Out with it. What’s happened?”
“Thank you for talking to us,” I told her, then got straight to the point. Mairi crossed her arms as she listened. “My aunt Lorna is in a coma, and I think it’s magically induced. I think someone used dark magic to make her forget the night of the disappearances.”
Ms. Barclay lowered the arm holding the pipe and murmured, “Hmm.” We all stood quietly watching her as she seemed to think. “Do you happen to know what triggered the episode that put her in a coma?”
“Yes.” I shifted my stance. “We were talking about that night…the disappearances. She was trying to remember, um….”
“What she saw?” Ms. Barclay asked.
“Well, no,” I explained. “She wasn’t there, remember? So, she couldn’t see anything.”
She let out a chuckle. “Was she not?”
“No,” I said softly, wondering what she knew. “She was babysitting me.”
