The Invited(42)

Riley reached out, took Olive’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “I know you’re not, Ollie. You’re growing up fast. I can’t believe you’re going into your second year of high school in the fall. I remember the day your parents brought you back from the hospital, how tiny you were, how perfect. Where does time go?”

    “You’re kind of doing it again, Aunt Riley,” Olive said.

“Doing what?”

“Changing the subject like you always do when Mom comes up. I’m sick of not talking about her, about what happened—aren’t you sick of it, too?”

Riley looked at her for a few seconds, thinking and frowning.

“Look, I’ll tell you what I told your dad,” Riley said at last. “The truth is I don’t know what your mom was up to. She was real secretive all of sudden. I could tell something was up. Something was different.”

“Me, too!” Olive said. “She was like that with me, too.”

It felt good to be talking about it at last, to get everything out in the open.

Riley nodded. “There was definitely some kind of change in her.”

“Do you remember the last time you saw her?” Olive asked.

“Yeah. She was at Rosy’s Tavern. I stopped in with some friends after work and she was there.”

“Was she alone?” Olive asked.

Riley hesitated, bit her lip. Olive gave her a pleading come on, we’ve gone this far look.

“No,” Riley said. “She was with a guy.”

“What guy?” Olive asked.

Riley looked away. “No one I know.”

“Well, what’d he look like?”

She looked back at Olive, shrugging her shoulders. “I don’t remember exactly. Dark hair and eyes, maybe. A leather jacket.”

“Do you think maybe Sylvia knows who he was?”

Sylvia tended bar at Rosy’s and was one of Mama’s best friends, going way back before Olive was born.

“I don’t know, Ollie, and honestly, even if she did, what good does it do?”

“?’Cause maybe he’s the guy she ran off with? And maybe if we know more about him, we can figure out where they might have gone?”

“Oh, honey,” Riley said as she gave Olive The Look. The pitying poor little girl look Olive knew so well. Olive clenched her jaw. She didn’t want anyone’s pity, especially her aunt Riley’s. She didn’t want to be that girl.

“Here’s the thing, honey,” Riley continued. “If your mama wanted us to find her, she would get in touch.”

    “But if we—”

“I know it hurts, believe me. But we’ve got to be patient. She’ll come back when she’s ready, Ollie.” She raised her eyes, looked up behind Olive, and smiled.

“Hi, there. You must be Riley,” said Helen.

Helen joined Olive at her side.

“Aunt Riley, this is Helen. Our new neighbor I’ve been telling you about,” Olive said, forcing a smile even though she felt broken and frustrated by the conversation they’d been having. How could Riley think it wouldn’t do any good to follow clues, to try to figure out where Mama had gone? “She’ll come back when she’s ready” wasn’t good enough for Olive, and she couldn’t believe that it seemed to be good enough for Riley.

“Ah, yes, you live out by Breckenridge Bog!”

“That’s me—the one living on the cursed land, stirring up ghosts!” Helen said with a chuckle.

“Wonderful to meet you,” Riley said enthusiastically, holding out a hand for Helen to shake.

“Wait!” Olive said to Helen. “What did you say?”

“Nothing,” Helen said. “Sorry. Just some silly stuff I heard in town.”

“So you’ve heard it? What they’ve been saying? How you brought Hattie back?”

Helen looked at her, narrowed her eyes. “I’ve heard a bit. And it sounds like you have, too. Why didn’t you say anything?”

Olive shrugged. “It’s just dumb stuff people are saying. ’Cause you live out by the bog, I guess,” Olive said. “And then there’s all the witch books you checked out of the library.”

Helen shook her head in disbelief. “You’re kidding, right? People know what library books I checked out?”

Olive nodded. “Brendan at Ferguson’s, he’s even going around telling people that he thinks you might be a witch yourself.”

Riley laughed. “In a little town like Hartsboro, you have to be careful what you check out of the library. Check out one book on the occult and you’re in league with the devil himself.”

“Don’t librarians take an oath or something?” Helen said. “Isn’t there a code of honor?”

“Not in Hartsboro, apparently,” Riley said.

“It’s more than the library books, though,” Olive went on. “They’re saying you, like, woke Hattie up or something. Made bad things start happening.”

    “What?” Helen asked. “What bad things? Like the bus accident?”

Olive nodded.

“Let me guess, Hattie and I caused the lightning and fires, too?”