Into the Woods: Tales from the Hollows and Beyond(132)
Author: Kim Harrison

"A chicken has enough blood to make him visible for a week," her mother said, and Lilly ignored her, watching the girls jumping for the insects. "Too bad the river is so low. I’d be tempted to have David bring his bobcat over and cut a trench around the house. Take down the car bridge. It would put us on an island so he can’t reach them. Not with no tree roots to make a bridge for him."

Lilly’s jaw clenched, and she forced herself to take a sip of her tea, the ice long melted and the glass dripping from the bottom. Her mother was delusional. And yet . . . the color of Penn’s eyes wouldn’t leave her, amber and gold like honey dripping from the comb. There was no way she could have imagined it, but the idea that he was real was even more unlikely.

"He could still cross the water if he took possession of a wolf, but what are the chances of any wolves still being in the forest?" her mother said, shocking Lilly from her thoughts.

"I’m sure they’re gone," Lilly said lightly, humoring her. "I’ve not seen a wolf in ages."

The creaking of the swing stopped, and her mother’s brow furrowed. "You’ve never seen a wolf, ever. I don’t care if you believe me or not, Lilly, but I will not be humored."

Lilly warmed, jaw clenched to keep herself from saying something she’d regret later.

"You were there," the woman said, her voice holding anger. "And still you don’t believe? You saw him in your mind, and still you turn a blind eye?"

Lilly glanced at the girls, their dark shadows halfway to the barn. "I saw you kill a chicken under a tree, Mom. I want you to come with me and talk to Doctor Sarson. We can get this sorted out. Get you back on your meds."

Her mother’s eyes narrowed, and she started the swing into motion. "Perhaps it’s my fault. I made you safe, but in doing so, I put the girls at risk. Meg will be his target. She’s young, but she’s the one who will listen, believe. Your daughter will believe everything he tells her, and it will destroy her, you, me, the town. People will die."

Anger flared. "Stop it!" Lilly hissed, resentment tightening her gut. "Stop it now. Not another word, or I take you into emergency tonight!"

Huffing, her mother turned away. "I knew you were timid, Lilly, but I didn’t raise you to be a fool."

Lilly stood, knowing her mother would call her bluff. "Meg! Emily! Time to come in!"

From the cooling field, Meg groaned dramatically. "Just one more firefly?" she shouted, and seeing it would tick her mother off, Lilly nodded. "One more, then upstairs to take your baths."

Delighted, Meg high-fived her sister, and the two ran to a beckoning green light.

"The woods are still mine," the old woman grumbled. "I’m going to log it out and burn it."

Sighing, Lilly put her arms over her chest as she watched Meg and Em huddle together over their latest catch.

"You can lock me in the old ladies home after that," her mom finished. "I won’t care then."

"Mom . . ."

But her mother stood, her expression stubborn and her motions jerky as she strode to the screen door. "I’ll see to the girls’ baths."

"No stories," Lilly demanded, frowning when her mother let the screen door slam. From inside, lights turned on one by one as she made her way upstairs. Her shoulders slumping, Lilly sat down where her mother had been, feeling the weight of the last few days heavy on her. From the porch steps, Pepper raised her head, not knowing who to follow.

The girls had gone quiet, knowing that they were up until she noticed them. At a loss for what to do, Lilly took her cell phone from a pocket, weighing it in her hand as if it might hold the answer. Eying the whispering girls, she punched in a familiar number. Anger crept up her spine as it rang, and she took a quick breath as the line clicked open.

But it was only his voice mail, and she fidgeted as Kevin’s deep, expressive voice rolled into her. Where once it was soothing, now it just pissed her off. The entire town knew what had happened. The embarrassment had been mortifying, even if she wasn’t the one who’d been a dick.

"Hi, you’ve reached Kevin. If you’re trying to reach me in an official capacity, call 911. Jennifer will route you to me. If you’re looking for a date, leave a message, I’ll get back to you. If you’re looking for alimony, call me at-"

The message was interrupted by a beep, the old joke falling flat. Kevin had never been married. Her smile at her girls was gone. She was still angry with him. Not so mad at Deana, despite what she had screamed loud enough that half the town heard her. But she needed to talk to someone, and everyone else was too old or too young. Besides, she wanted to know what had happened to her mother when she had been fourteen, and her mother wasn’t talking.

"Hi, Kevin. It’s me, Lilly," she said, hearing the anger in her voice despite her attempt to hide it. "I need your official opinion on something that’s been going on for a few days. You’re still a bastard, but I don’t know anyone else who can look at this impartially. Give me a call when you can."

Her mouth stopped moving, but her thoughts continued, circling around and around. How could you be such a jerk? Did you think I wouldn’t find out? Did you think it wouldn’t matter?

She ended the call, her silence intact and her face burning. She was thirty-nine and feeling stupid, angry. How did she get here, a single mom with two kids, living on an artist’s income in her mother’s house?

Gripping the phone tightly, she looked out over the slowly undulating fields, dark and orderly in the rising moon. She could feel the woods behind her, a threatening presence. Heat lightning flashed in the distance over the fields. "I suppose it could be worse," she said, seeing her girls jumping at fireflies, their smooth limbs and excitement making them beautiful, wild, ephemeral, almost. She had one good thing in her life, and she wasn’t going to mess it up.

From the window overhead, her mother called for Meg and Em, and like flowers to the sun, they turned, happy with the world and at peace with the universe as they raced to a cool bath and a soft bed. When did I lose that joy? she thought as they flowed past her, Lilly’s hand barely managing to touch their hair in passing. Pepper stood, tags jingling as she followed them in.

The lingering heat of the day rising from the earth seemed to vanish as the memory of amber eyes flashed before her, trailing like dust in the wake of her children. The heartache of her mother crying, and the fear that that boy-that clever, devious, uncaring boy-could hurt her little girls swallowed everything, taking her last thread of solace.

"What is wrong with me?" Lilly whispered, still standing at the railing as the sounds of her daughters arguing filtered down from an open window.