“Doesn’t feel fine.”
“I know, love. I know.”
“Maybe . . . maybe . . . you should try. Maybe I wasn’t meant to—”
Over the next few weeks, she’d repeat that. Maybe it should be you, she’d tell Enid, who hushed her fast every time. There’d be plenty of chances. Olive had no business giving up so soon. Besides, her implant was out; it would be wasteful to put in a new one so soon.
Enid leaned in close and squeezed her eyes shut to keep tears from falling. “It’s too early for that. You’ll try again. It’ll be fine.”
She could only keep saying that. Nothing else she could do. Was like sitting in a cellar, waiting for a storm to pass while wind beat at the doors.
Enid had felt so much anger at the unfairness of it. Olive had wanted the baby so badly. And now here was Neeve, who’d given up the Coast Road for a child. And that was fine, that was fair. But then she’d changed her mind. Like you could just change your mind about something like a baby. By Coast Road rules, Ella was bannerless. And now she was dead, which was the greater tragedy.
At least Olive had gotten a second chance. Just six months later, she was pregnant again, though they spoke in whispers about it and walked softly until the first trimester was done, then the second, and finally when she couldn’t hide her belly anymore, they announced it officially—Serenity’s baby was on the way.
They’d have their baby, very much wanted. And part of Enid knew she would be desperately afraid for that child’s safety her whole life. She’d seen firsthand how brutally, terribly wrong things could turn out. The four of them at Serenity might not be enough to stop it. But they would try, with every drop of their blood and every spark of their souls.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////
Enid had collapsed in mud only a few dozen yards from the bridge near Bonavista household. As two sets of hands worked to haul her upright, she came back to awareness, battling her queasy stomach. A dog was barking. Bear, dancing toward her, then bounding in place, as if he couldn’t figure out whether she was friendly or dangerous.
“I’m fine, just a little tired.” Her voice came out a whisper. She couldn’t make herself heard, which was frustrating.
“No, you’re not.” That was Jess, she thought, surprised. What was he doing here?
She blinked, squinted to focus. Both Erik and Jess were here. The two were helping her walk toward the buildings at Bonavista. Well, at least she’d made it back. Barely. Jess, on her left, tried to pull her arm over his shoulder, and she gasped. Her whole arm ached, but his grasp made it scream with pain. She’d really need to get a look at that bruise.
“It’s okay,” she managed to say. “Just got hit a little.” She tried to walk with more vigor, so they wouldn’t hold her so tightly.
“Get something to drink, then talk,” Erik said. Apparently, she’d been trying to speak. She wanted to shake her head, but it hurt too much.
Next thing she knew, she was on the front porch of the main house at Bonavista, with a whole swarm of folk fussing around her. Jess folded her hands around a mug of water. The kid, Tom, lurked nearby. Enid looked around for Mart, for anyone from Last House. Didn’t see them.
Another face she expected to see was missing.
“Slow,” Jess ordered. “Not all at once.”
Enid sipped. The wetness filled her mouth and woke her up. Steadied her.
She’d survive.
Faces surrounded her, but not the one she was looking for. “Where’s Teeg?”
“Drink some more, Enid. Then we can talk.”
“No, where is he?” She set the mug aside, tried to stand. Erik and Jess urged her back down.
“Well . . . he left,” Erik said.
A fury growing in her, Enid tried to swear, and the heat pressed down on her again.
Just then, Juni came around the corner, a bundle of reeds slung over her shoulder like the ones she’d carried the day Enid and Teeg first arrived. In her hand, her machete, her grip on the handle sure. Enid focused on that blade until she couldn’t see anything else.
Enid had so much to do. She had to talk to Teeg. And Neeve, where was Neeve? She’d meant to stop at Last House first, so she could talk to the woman.
But then Enid fainted again.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////
Jess put her to bed, and Enid agreed to stay there only because lying down felt so blissful. She could think better when horizontal, propped on pillows. At least for the moment. Her injured shoulder felt better when she kept it still, and she wondered if it was more damaged than she first thought. But she decided to keep quiet about it until she could get back to Everlast, to have a medic look at it. After a couple of hours lying down and sipping water, she felt her dehydrated mind slowly becoming alert. After taking in soup as well as water, she was able to read her notebook. She wanted to be very sure she remembered everything that had happened to her in the hills. That the connections she’d made hadn’t vanished.
But Enid had a more pressing issue. “When did Teeg leave?”
“Just this morning,” Juni explained, taking away the cool cloth that had been pressed to Enid’s forehead.
Enid watched the woman closely, wondering how much she knew and when she had found out. She was being so helpful.
“Someone has to go after him,” Enid said.
Juni exchanged a glance with Jess, who was standing in the doorway. The man’s brow furrowed. Clearly uncomfortable.
Enid scowled. “What’s the matter?”
“Them,” Jess said. “Someone has to go after them.”
This gave Enid a sinking feeling. If she had just come back a day earlier, if she had just given up . . .
“Them?” Enid prompted.
“He took Kellan with him,” Juni said, and she had the gall to sound pleased. “Said the case was finished and he had to close it out. When you didn’t come back, he said he had to let someone know what happened to you.”
Nothing had happened to her. She glared, and they looked away. “I’m not missing and the case isn’t closed.” She studied the room, found Tom slouched up in the doorway next to his father, watching. She pointed at him. “He should only be a few hours down the road, yeah? Can you go after him, Tom? Take a hat and a bottle of water with you.”
“Tom, maybe instead you should get word to Everlast and bring a medic back?” Juni ventured.
“I don’t need a medic.” But when Enid tried to sit up, blackness crept around the edges of her vision again, and she felt suddenly nauseated. With Juni’s hand on her shoulder, she eased back down on the cot. Enid didn’t want this woman looming over her. “Tom, go now. Bring Teeg and Kellan back, that’s it.”
He nodded and rushed out.
Jess stared at Enid. “You know what happened. You figured it out.”
Suddenly frowning, Juni said, “Kellan did it. I thought the investigator decided that.”
“I won’t talk about it till Teeg is back.” Enid sank back against the pillow, pretending to be more calm than she was.
And now she had to wait for Teeg to return. Enid supposed she could do this all on her own, but she wanted witnesses. She wanted backup. If she rested now, maybe she’d be on her feet by the time Tom brought them back. She’d need to be strong.
She was annoyed with herself for ever thinking she could just walk away from this, from Ella’s body. Give up, like Teeg wanted her to. She’d have never been able to live with that. Not ever. She’d hold Serenity’s new baby and think about the girl who died. That someone else’s child had died, badly.
This case wasn’t impossible; it had just taken work. She was almost to the end of this one. Tomorrow. She could go home tomorrow.
By suppertime she was able to sit upright without wanting to throw up, but the washed-out feeling, like her lungs had been turned inside-out and shoved back down her throat, continued. She ignored it as best she could. Carefully managed her intake of water and Juni’s salty clam soup,
and waited for Teeg to return. Assuming he agreed to come back.
She almost would rather that he stayed away.
Someone was always sitting with her, Jess or Juni. Erik and Anna stopped by. Folk from other households drifted in, gawked at her, asked questions in hushed tones. Enid said as little as possible, enjoying stringing everyone along more than she should have.
No one from Last House came, though. What had the folk there said, when Teeg ordered Kellan away? The investigator would have threatened the household with dissolution, to get Kellan to cooperate. The whole scene must have been ugly.
Had word gotten to Last House yet that Enid had returned? What would they think?
Erik had asked a lot of questions during the Semperfi folk’s visit. “How far did you get? Did you see the outsiders? Where they live?”
“I did,” she said coolly.
“And they didn’t kill you?” Peety, the kid from Semperfi, asked.
“Apparently not,” she answered. Peety gasped, all amazement.
The stories the kids at the camp believed about the Coast Road hadn’t been so outrageous.
Later, she moved from the bedroom to the front stairs. Enid making herself visible. But she still didn’t say a whole lot. The sun sank, casting that strange late-day light across the marsh, a golden sheen that made the water flash. Gulls and shorebirds were specks, soaring in and out of the gleam. It was hypnotic. She tried to memorize the image, so she’d have something good to say about this place when she got home to Sam.
Jess shaded his eyes, studied the road out of the Estuary. He pointed. “There.”
Enid couldn’t see them at first, in the haze and slanting sunlight. When one of the three approaching figures set off in a run, the motion clarified their forms. Tom ran to the house. Didn’t seem at all exhausted. That was why she’d sent him.
The next two figures followed, one more briskly, and this one paused every few strides to look back at his charge. Maybe shout at him to hurry up. But Kellan kept the same plodding gait.
The impatient one, Teeg of course, still in uniform, held his staff balanced over his shoulder. He looked up, saw the gathering on the steps, and stopped.
Enid said to Jess, Erik, and the several others gathered around, drinking and making small talk, “Would you mind giving Teeg and me a few minutes? I promise, you’ll learn all you need to soon enough.”
They did so, reluctantly. And she made sure they didn’t just to retreat to the house to eavesdrop.
Tom trotted up, sweaty and glowing. Enid thanked him, and he beamed. Then she sent him away too, so when Teeg and Kellan arrived, they stood before Enid alone.
Kellan was drenched with sweat, his brown face flushed, his eyes red and puffy. The man looked wilted, his arms hanging limp at his sides.
Still guarding him, Teeg looked tough, his expression set. But when he finally looked at Enid, he seemed confused.
She said, “Kellan, go inside where it’s cool, and rest. Tell Jess I said to give you water.”
“But . . .” His sigh was a half-sob.
“It’s all right. I know you didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t kill Ella.”
Kellan tried a smile. Nodded solemnly and wiped a sleeve across his nose. She’d expected weeping, but he was already cried out. He climbed the steps and went inside.
“What are you doing?” Teeg demanded. Enid was aware of the staff across his shoulders, perfectly balanced to grab by the end and swing straight at her. Didn’t expect him to really try something like that, but she hadn’t expected a lot of things with this case.
“Hola, Teeg,” she said. Thought about standing, which would be more polite. But she didn’t want to risk falling over if another dizzy spell hit her. She wasn’t completely well. “So, what do you think?”
He exclaimed, “You’re all right!”
“Told you I would be.” She stared hard at him. “So you went to make your report to regional. Brought Kellan along to prove you solved the case, with or without me. Yeah?”
“He confessed, you were right there, you heard him—”
“That wasn’t a confession. He panicked because you threatened him. How many times did I tell you?” Teeg clamped his mouth shut. She continued. “What were you going to tell them about what happened here? About me?”
He shifted his weight, set his staff on the ground. Picked at it. “Exactly what happened. That you couldn’t let an impossible case go, and you wandered off into the wilderness. Took your life in your hands, nothing anyone could do about it.”
“So if something went wrong, it was my own fault. You weren’t curious? Had no interest in figuring out what happened? In maybe following me, when you saw that I’d gone?”
“I tried to argue with you. You wouldn’t listen.”
And clearly he felt that was the extent of his responsibility. There were plenty who’d agree with him.
“It’s good I didn’t.”
His eyes widened. “You found something. You actually found something. What—what was it?” He leaned in, eager. Like she was telling some campfire story.
“I’ll tell you when I tell everyone else.”
“Enid, I’m your partner.”
Her lips curled, and she ducked to hide that wry smile. “Right.”
“Enid.”
“This’ll be over soon. Then we can get out of here.” She couldn’t tell what he was thinking. The kid who couldn’t shut up was just staring at her. “Well, let’s get this finished.” She stood, then paused a moment, feeling flushed again, waiting for the moment to pass. She was still wobbly, and didn’t like it.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Little bit of heat stroke,” she said. “Too much walking in the sun. I’m fine.”
“Enid. Maybe you should rest. I can handle this. Or we can handle it later. If you just tell me what happened—”
“I’m fine. I want the head of each household to meet us . . . let’s say by the ruin at Semperfi. Nice and desolate. I also want Kellan and Neeve, Mart and Telman. Everyone from Last House. Got it? Can you get everyone there in an hour?”
He was off balance, unsteady. His expression showed that he remained unconvinced. “Yeah, I think so. Or close enough to it. Yeah.” He nodded with enough decisiveness that she believed him. Yes, he could do this task. “If Kellan didn’t do it, what do you want him for?”
“So everyone knows he didn’t do it. Including him. Especially after you dragged him off like that. We have to clean up your mistake.”
“But then who did it? Tell me.”
“Go, get everyone. Then we’ll talk.”
Chapter Twenty • the estuary
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Last Threads
This was both her most and least favorite part of a case. Enid loved the finish, the conclusion, the revelation. Pull all the threads together and weave the story. It was vanity, making these people wait for her to speak, knowing her words would change them. Holding them in suspense. That was a bit of power, and she confessed to enjoying it.
She didn’t like to see herself as destroying lives here. That had already happened, and she had to try to make repairs, somehow. That part she didn’t like—feeling that no matter what she did, cracks would remain. Sometimes, nothing could be done to fix the breaks.
The ruined house wasn’t looking any better. In fact, it might have been her imagination, but the structure seemed to be listing toward the ravine at a discernibly more acute angle. In the quiet, she thought she could hear wood groaning, almost at the point of cracking.
No, she wouldn’t go inside that building again for anything.
Teeg was already there, supervising. Making a statement, leaning on his staff, and watching the people gather. Fulfilling his role as enforcer, as if nothing was wrong. As if he hadn’t walked off with the wrong suspect just this morning. Most of the audience had already appeared, half a dozen folk waiting in the clearing before what had once been the front yard of t
he crumbling building.
Enid came with Jess, who carried a candle in a lantern; she hoped they wouldn’t be here long enough to need it. The sun was setting, but still casting plenty of light. The ocean was a slate stripe in the distance. Clouds gathered. A hint of the next storm, maybe.
She looked over the faces, made sure they were all here. Erik, as head of Semperfi, Bear sitting quietly at his feet. Anna, a couple of others from Semperfi. Tom wasn’t here, which was just as well, Enid thought. The head of Pine Grove, the heads of the other households that had climbed up the hill.
All of Last House was here, just as she had asked. Mart, Telman, Neeve, Kellan. These latter folk stood apart, faces up but eyes downcast. Mart was in front of the group, protective. Enid wondered: Did he have any idea? Did he know what Neeve had done? She couldn’t guess. But she liked to see the head of a house standing up for his people.
Enid studied the faces again. One was missing.
“Where’s Juni?” she asked. “Jess, wasn’t she with you?”
“I don’t know. Guess it’s been . . . an hour or so since I saw her? Since he”—he nodded at Teeg—“got back.”
“I assumed she’d know she was needed, once Jess was here,” Teeg said by way of explanation.
This was sloppy. Where had the woman gone off to? Enid was cranky at herself for not being well, for not paying enough attention.
“Can’t we do this without her?” Teeg asked.
“No, we can’t.” Enid turned from the gathering, looking out, up and down the path. Maybe Juni was late, just catching up. Surely she wouldn’t miss out on this kind of gossip.
Or maybe she would, if she knew what Enid was going to say.
“Why?” Teeg asked, then knew. “Oh. Wait. You’re serious?” The realization settled in, and his expression turned stark. This might be his first case, but he knew the routine. “Really?”
“Really what?” Jess asked, full of anxiety.
“Has anyone seen her? Maybe on the road in or out of town, or heading up the river path? Anyone?” The tension in Enid’s voice was plain, no doubt setting everyone on edge. Couldn’t be helped. Time started ticking down in her mind. This was going to end badly, wasn’t it?