Amazon Ink

Chapter Ten

I went to bed antsy and woke up feeling pretty much the same.

Sunday was my usual day off, when I took one. Today, Janet was scheduled to be in and in charge-making it a perfect time to head south to the safe camp. Unfortunately, in the early hours of the morning she’d left a message on voice mail saying she was sick. I alternated Sunday management between her and Cheryl. But Cheryl had her kids every other weekend, and this weekend was special. She’d taken them to the Dells, a city just north of Madison filled with water parks.

I wasn’t ready to ditch my plans, though. After pressing the 3 on my phone to delete Janet’s message, I scribbled out a short note and taped it to Mother’s door. She wouldn’t like being tied to the shop instead of being free to play Amazon warrior, but she’d do it. I just had to be out of the building before she got back upstairs from her morning workout.

One good thing…Harmony was still at her friend’s and probably would be most of the day. I had purposely not given her a “must be home by” time. I figured I wouldn’t see her until dark.

My business and home life were covered for today, but I was going to have to find some regularly scheduled activity to occupy my daughter soon. With the killer free and targeting Amazons-even if she didn’t know she was an Amazon herself-I couldn’t do the normal suburban thing and tell her to hang at the mall. I needed to know someone was watching her, would let me know if anyone approached her. And I couldn’t continually send her to someone else’s house. It broke the unspoken code of playdate etiquette that still applied, even though her playdate days were long behind us both.

I needed my girl watched, safe and away from warring Amazons. Something I’d have to work on when I got back from today’s jaunt.

I walked out the front door at nine fifteen. The black mark the fire had left on my lawn was impossible to miss-as was the over-six-foot-tall male standing beside it.

With a sigh, I walked down the incline, curious as to what brought Peter here so early, but more occupied with rehearsing my feeble cover lie for the burnt disaster that was my front yard.

He was rooting around in the ashes with the toe of his boot when I arrived. I’d made sure to remove all signs of the totem animals last night before deserting the site for my bed.

“Bonfire? Are those allowed in Madison?” he asked.

I brushed hair from my face. “I don’t know, and luckily no one showed up from the city to tell me.” Luck had nothing to do with it. Bubbe had cast a spell, similar to the ones used to keep safe camps secret, over the space. It had been a quick and dirty piece of magic, but I guessed it had done the job. At least no police or neighbors had called to complain. Obviously, it hadn’t been strong enough to keep Peter from noticing the mess, though.

“The new tenants got a little carried away.” I picked up a piece of charred wood and tossed it in the air. Soot rubbed off on my palm. With a frown, I dropped the wood and rubbed my hand on my jeans.

“Weenie roast gone wrong?”

“Something like that.” When he said it, it sounded even more lame than when I’d heard similar words come out of my own mouth.

“Listen, I’ve got some errands to run today. You want to keep an eye on things?” I asked.

His eyes widened. “Me?”

I flushed. I shouldn’t have asked him. I had left the note on Mother’s door, even unwilling she was a better choice than Peter. He’d only worked for me a few days. “Never mind.”

“No, I’d love to.” He wrapped his fingers around my biceps, but softly, then just as quickly he pulled his hand back. His fingers trailed over my skin. A shiver passed over my body.

“Anything I should be watching out for?” he added.

Lost in the sensation of his fingers drifting over my skin, I almost missed the question. “N-no…n-n-othing…special.” The words came out in a stutter.

“What exactly were they doing last night?” He opened his fingers, lying flat on his palm was an iron spearhead.

I reached out to grab it. His fingers closed, cutting off my view of the weapon’s head.

I laughed, tried to cover my stupid move. The spearhead told him nothing. “That’s theirs. Some kind of initiation rite, I take it. I didn’t ask too many questions-just told them not to do it again.”

“Then I don’t need to stand guard with an extinguisher?”

I hoped to hell not. I shook my head, laughed again. “No, Zery and I came to an understanding.”

“Zery?” He angled his head, like a dog trying to pin down the source of some sound.

“The woman in charge; that’s her name.” I held out my hand, silently asking for the spearhead.

He tossed it in the air, let it settle back on his palm, then tucked it into the pocket of his pants. “No worries. I’ll take it to her. You’re in a hurry, right?”

I forced my lips into a smile. “Thanks.” I hadn’t gone over my cover story with Zery, but I couldn’t imagine her opening up to Peter. She’d probably do no more than grunt, no matter what he said to her.

I stood there a second longer than felt comfortable. Peter watched me, waiting.

“Uh-oh, and my daughter, Harmony. She’s at a friend’s. I should be back before she gets home.”

“Good to know.” His face wore a what else? expression.

“Guess I’ll be going.”

He nodded.

I glanced at my watch. He had hours before his shift started. I couldn’t order him to work. I glanced at my watch again. “You’re here early.”

He shrugged and slipped his lips into one of those smiles that made my hormones smile with him and told my brain to agree to whatever he said, whatever he wanted to do. “Still getting settled. I have some paperwork to go through, some new designs to add to the flash. And, honestly, I’ve got nowhere else to be.”

“Oh, sure.” I searched for a reason to order him to the shop, away from the burnt circle of earth. The little gears that ran my brain were clacking so loudly I was surprised he didn’t ask about the noise. “I left a note on Mother’s door that she would be in charge. Maybe, since you’re here, you could go up and let her know she’s off the hook.” If Mother had made her way up from her workout and found my note, she’d probably done no more than wad it into a ball. If she hadn’t stopped working out, she wouldn’t welcome an intrusion from Peter. But really, was that my problem?

“Walk me up?” I nodded toward the hill and tried a smile of my own. The flirtatious move felt about as natural as breathing under water.

His hand drifted to the pocket where he’d stashed the spearhead, but he just shoved the fingers of both hands into his front pockets and started moving with me up the hill.

“Speaking of Harmony…”

I jumped, my mind far from my daughter at that point.

“If you’re looking for something for her to do after school, I might know something.”

“Why would you think-?”

“I noticed since your new tenants moved in that she’s not been around much-had a lot of ‘friend time.’ Then with-” He jerked his head back toward the charred spot we’d left behind. “If I’m wrong…”

“No.” Why deny it? “I rented the space to them and I’m locked in now, but after last night…I’m thinking it might be better if she wasn’t too influenced by them.”

Peter bent at the waist to help propel himself up the hill.

The roar of a lawn mower and the scent of cut grass drifted from one of my neighbor’s yards. A moment of normal in an insane world.

“My client, Makis, the man in the wheelchair?” Peter held out a hand to help me up the incline. I stared at it, not getting for a second what he was doing. Then realizing what he was offering, I shook my head and plowed ahead, moved ahead of him.

You can take the Amazon out of the tribe…

Peter’s long gait closed the small space I’d put between us. “He’s starting an after-school art program. He used to teach high school. I told you I’d known him awhile.”

A response didn’t seem necessary. I concentrated on trying to regain the lead his longer legs had stolen from me.

“He has a shop not far from the school. He’s starting a class next week. I think they’ve got permission to paint a mural for some business off Regent. They’ll even get paid, but he’s going to work with the kids a bit first.”

“So, the classes…?”

“Are cheap, might even be able to work out a trade. Makis wants me to do some touch-up work on one of his older tattoos.”

Free class, some extra lip-gloss money for Harmony, and an opportunity to keep her away from spear-tossing Amazons who just might decide to enlighten her on her own heritage? Yeah. I am interested.

Peter told me he’d leave Makis’s contact information on my desk. I bent to tie my shoe while he walked in the front door. I considered going back down the hill to make sure no signs of the sketches were left behind-if we’d missed a spearhead, who knew what else might have slipped our attention? It had been late and dark, and we had been far from relaxed.

As I was weighing the risk of Peter seeing me back at the scene of the crime and raising new questions in his mind, Bubbe stepped out of the basement, escorting yet another workout-attired suburban mom-this one dressed in matching baby blue hoodie and capris. What these women spent on clothing supposedly meant for sweat boggled my brain.

Bubbe tapped a finger on the railing. “Don’t judge.”

I yanked my attention from the blond ponytail bouncing toward the parking lot and frowned at my grandmother. “I wasn’t.”

“Ha.” She pursed her lips, a light forming in her eyes I didn’t care for.

I tried to cut her off. “Could you do another sweep of the front lawn? Peter was down there. He found a spearhead.”

She lifted one shoulder in a so what? gesture. “You brought him here.”

My eyes narrowed. “Don’t judge.”

She dropped her gaze to the hand still resting on the banister, but before she did, I would have sworn I saw a sparkle in her still-young eyes. “My snake is missing. Have you seen him?” She lifted her eyes and her brows-the challenge and her real question clear.

“You have a snake?” I let my lips pull down in a moue.

She shook her head. “Secrets. So many secrets. Why keep them from me?”

Or try, she meant.

I let my hand slip down the strap of my messenger bag to the keys clipped there. Pretending to struggle with the carabiner, I continued walking.

The old fraud. Like she didn’t have plenty of secrets. My grandmother was a bundle of secrets. She probably knew the whereabouts of Jimmy Hoffa, Amelia Earhart, and Atlantis. Hell, she might have been responsible for the disappearance of all three.

Muttering under my breath, I climbed in my truck and headed south.

I pulled into the dirt driveway that led to the safe camp and flipped off the truck’s motor. I’d been here only a few days before, but this was different-it was day and I was expected. What lovely greeting party would Alcippe have planned for me?

I’d thought Bubbe or Mother might have offered some advice for me-but neither had. Neither had even mentioned my trip, although I knew both were aware of it. My family…pretty much of the sink or swim on your own mindset.

I gripped the steering wheel for a few moments. The tendons of my hand shone white from the stress. I could do this. I could walk back into that house, even into the room where I’d lost my son. Maybe I’d gain something from this visit. If I could beard this lion, I could do anything.

The engine turned over so smoothly, I didn’t even realize my hand had turned the key.

Determination a hard rock in my heart, I continued down the drive.

The Amazons were out, exercising the horses, working in the garden, and, of course, fighting. The big guns were back at my house, but what looked like a pair of younger Amazons faced off with staffs, performing moves that would easily qualify them for a role in a Jackie Chan movie.

When I pulled in, horses were reined to a stop, pruners stilled, and staffs slowed. All eyes watched me. Resisting the urge to place my hands on my head, I stepped from the truck.

Before both of my feet met gravel, Alcippe was out the front door, her hands held deceptively at her sides, palms facing me. With the theme song from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly scrolling through my head, I stepped onto the path that led to the front door.

Alcippe shared my grandmother’s love of a flowing wardrobe, although hers didn’t scream of any one culture-more just hippie-shop chic. Her gray hair was pulled back, making her jaw look more square, her eyes more piercing.

“Why are you here?” She looked like she wanted to spit.

“Not to see you.”

She muttered something under her breath, and I was instantly on alert. A high priestess muttering was much like a gunslinger’s finger flickering near his six-shooter-or worse, it could be the bullet. But nothing happened, nothing I could see or sense anyway.

“Zery wants to trust you. I don’t,” she said, then turned in a whirl of purple and red, heading back inside.

Ah, an insult. Telling the tribe she was so unafraid of me, she’d turn her back.

I picked up a rock and tossed it in my palm. I considered throwing it, just to get out some aggression, and for the satisfying feel of pelting it against her back. Instead, I forgot myself even more, allowed myself to use magic. Even though I’d been hiding my growing skills from my family, I couldn’t resist pulling them out when faced with Alcippe. I murmured a tiny incantation, just something to get her attention-not show my true strength, not yet…unless I needed to.

I closed my other hand and blew into my balled fist.

As I’d guessed, Alcippe’s turned back was a ruse. She hadn’t lowered all her defenses. She immediately sensed the magic and froze.

A tornado whirled within my grip-innocent now, but if I released it, said the few words it would take to let it grow…could it reach the old woman, suck her up, and swirl her away before she had a chance to fight back?

Alcippe didn’t give me an opportunity to find out. She whirled, her hands rising from her sides. Grass shot up at my feet, wrapping around my legs. A nearby tree lurched, the roots shifting beneath my feet, knocking me onto my knees.

Then three of the young warriors were beside me. Three staffs jammed against my throat. Alcippe appeared, her face upside-down from my present state of viewing.

“Be grateful Zery gave you safe passage…this time.” Then she did spit, inches from my face.

The tornado spun in my fist, growing with my anger. My fingers loosened. I wanted to let it go as badly as I’d ever wanted anything, but I wasn’t strong enough to control the magic, not yet. I could create it, but then it would feed on my emotions, uncontrolled by my head. I might get Alcippe, but I’d also get every Amazon in the camp. I’d be unable to do anything except watch as the entire place was flattened, then the remains swept up and away.

Gritting my jaw until I thought the bone would pop, I forced down my anger, smashed my palm into the dirt and ground the life out of my spell.

“You heard her. Zery gave me safe passage. Who do you follow, the queen or her?” I muttered.

Alcippe had started moving away; at my words she stopped, but she didn’t say anything. She knew I’d called her hand.

The warrior most visible, the one whose staff was jabbed against my throat, licked her lips, but she didn’t glance at the others. I kept my focus on her, steady and sure.

With no warning, she stepped back. The others quickly followed.

Rubbing my throat with one hand, I pushed myself out of the gravel with the other. Bits of it clung to my jeans. I brushed off the backs of my legs, pretended not to feel Alcippe’s glare on the top of my head.

How I wanted to rise up and attack, but this wasn’t about me, and Zery had risked a lot by giving me passage. If I attacked Alcippe now, the priestess would win. She’d be proven right, her standing elevated-even if I killed her, she’d survive in martyrdom. I couldn’t have that. I wanted to take from her what she’d taken from me-what we each valued most. For me, it had been one of my children; for her, it would be her standing in the tribe.

I wanted her to mess up, and I wanted to be the person to expose her. I wanted to take her down.

I stood, and captured Alcippe’s gaze. “Another time?”

“Soon,” she responded.

I smiled, then turned my back on her as she’d done to me earlier. The warriors parted, and I took a breath. Adrenaline pumped through me, but I needed calm to gain trust. Calm and strong, that was the persona that would enable me to get more. I squared my shoulders and grabbed the attention of the warrior I’d pegged as the leader.

“Anyone here know either of the girls who were killed?”

Her gaze flowed down my body, assessing me. I angled my head, showing I expected an answer but was confident enough to wait for it.

Finally…“All of us. At least somewhat.”

“But some more than others?”

“Some.”

Ah, the joys of conversing with a warrior. Knowing I wasn’t going to get many clues from her, I surveyed the rest of the tribe, looking to see who seemed most interested and most nervous. One of the women working in the garden showed a sudden interest in removing a stubborn weed. She bent down and hid her face.

I stepped away from the warriors, on a straight path to the hearth-keeper now up to her neck in pumpkin leaves.

I bent down beside her and rolled over a pumpkin, checking for rot. She glanced up. “Are you a hearth-keeper?” she murmured. She was young and pretty, with a round face and caring eyes.

The pumpkin was solid, orange, and ready for picking. I gave it a thump for effect, then twisted it off the vine. “I’m not anything. I take care of what needs taking care of.”

A line formed between her brows. She was having a hard time fitting my words into the tidily divided world of the Amazons.

“You know why I’m here.”

She glanced up. One of the older hearth-keepers picked up a hoe and chopped at the ground. I moved to the side, blocking her view. “Zery sent me.” It was a stretch, but close enough. “I heard some of the girls were sneaking off to Madison. You know anything about that?”

Her gaze danced around the clearing, but when it landed back on me, I could see she’d made a decision. “A few of us. We’ve been doing it for a while.”

Jackpot. I jerked another pumpkin from the vine and shoved it into her hands. “Don’t we need to put these somewhere cool? So they don’t rot?”

“Good idea.” She rubbed dirt from her pumpkin with a rag she had tucked in her jeans, then stood. We walked past the glarer, neither of us sparing her a glance. I changed my walk, putting as much warrior swagger into it as I could muster. I could have tossed a little magic her way, but that would have just got Alcippe back on my ass. Besides, Bubbe always said the greatest strength was great restraint. Not something I usually practiced, but now seemed like a smart time to start.

We passed Alcippe on our way around the house. Her fingers twitched as I walked by. I smiled at the girl walking beside me and attempted chitchat, saying something nonsensical about which pumpkins made the best pies-as if I knew. The young Amazon played along, and we both passed the high priestess without darting a glance in her direction, but the hair on the back of my neck curled upward, and my eyes scanned the terrain ahead, watching for another attack. Earth was Alcippe’s element of choice-not that she couldn’t call on one of the other three-but since it seemed to be her steady fallback, like air was mine, I assumed it was her area of strength.

We made it to the root cellar intact, but as the girl started to descend the steps, I stopped her. Being under a pile of earth and stone with Alcippe so close did not seem like a good plan. “Is there somewhere else we could go?”

She adjusted the pumpkin, wedging it against her hip for a better grip, then glanced at the back of the farmhouse. “We could make pies. You were just talking about it.”

I was? “How private…?”

“Plenty. Everyone’s outside. It’ll be fun and get me out of cooking later.” She laughed. “Not that I mind.”

Yeah, who would mind standing over a hot stove, slaving away for a bunch of ungrateful warriors? I suppressed a grimace. Instead, I stepped back and held out one arm. “Lead on.”

A bounce in her step, she headed toward the back door. I smacked my palm against the pumpkin pressed against my stomach. I was going to bake a pie. Mother would love this.