Larkspur (16 page)

“
We can have whatever we
want,” Jacob said. “We’re safe here. We just can’t have contact
with Jill or anyone at the Castle.”

“
We can’t talk to them,
but we can talk to anyone else, right?” Sam asked.

“
Probably,” Jacob said.
“We’d have to try it. Why?”

“
We need a pinch thinker,”
Sam said.

“
A what?”

“
Someone who’s good at
thinking through puzzles,” Sam said. “A Celtic one at
that.”

“
O’Malley,” Jacob
said.

“
That’s right,” Sam said.
“We need O’Malley.”

“
Know his number?” Jacob
asked.

“
It’s in my phone,
but . . .” Sam held up the useless device and shook
his head.

“
I guess we’re on our
own,” Jacob said.

~~~~~~~~

Friday night — 8:05 p.m.

“
You have to be kidding
me!” Jill jumped to her feet. “After all of that, he doesn’t know
how to break the curse!”

“
It wasn’t created by
him,” Bruno said.

“
Celt magic created the
curse,” Otis said.

Jill glared at the gargoyle. The gargoyle
held her eyes in a dare.

“
Do not fuck with me,”
Jill said. “I’m pregnant and mean.”

Heather and Tanesha laughed. Sandy went to
Jill’s side to try to calm her down.

“
What can we do to find
out what the curse is?” Valerie asked.

The gargoyle smiled at Valerie’s question
and spoke.

“
He says the father must
figure it out,” Bruno said.

“
Can he have help?”
Valerie asked.

“
Of course,” Bruno
replied.

“
Any help at all?” Sandy
asked.

“
Of course,” Bruno
said.

“
Then I’m calling Seth,”
Sandy said. Everyone watched Sandy take her cell phone from her
purse. Noticing their staring, Sandy said, “What?”

“
I think we’re wondering,
honey, why Seth?” Yvonne asked.

“
He can figure anything
out,” Sandy said. “He knows people everywhere. He’s traveled all
over the world. Hell, he’s probably played a concert in this
kingdom of Marle.”

Sandy dialed the phone.

“
He has Celt name,” Bruno
said.

“
If he’s a Celt, then I’m
a Celt,” Sandy said. “But the gargoyle
said . . .”

Bruno nodded.

“
He’s not Celt?” Sandy
asked.

“
He is Jew,” Bruno said.
“Gargoyle say so.”

Unable to deal with this information, Sandy
called Seth.

“
Now what?” Jill
asked.

“
I want to go,” Valerie
said. “My brother and father are stuck somewhere. I want to
go.”

Still holding Jackie, Valerie stood up.

“
Val,
I . . .” Jill started.

“
Don’t try to talk me out
of it,” Valerie said. “
I
lost Jack,
my
son,
me
, I lost him because of this
crap.”

“
I thought that was
because of that guy,” Jill said. “Johansen.”

“
He did kill Jack,
but . . .” Valerie seethed with frustration “This
affects Jackie and . . . me. I should be
there.”

Valerie nodded.

“
Will
you . . .” Valerie’s eyebrows pinched with worry as
she gestured to Jackie.

“
Of course.” Anjelika
stood up.

“
We’ll all help.” Heather
took Jackie before Anjelika could. “You do what you have to
do.”

Valerie nodded. Realizing what she was
asking, Valerie gave an involuntary shudder.

“
Jill, will you ask that
thing to . . .” Valerie said.

Before Jill could say the words, Valerie
disappeared. They gasped. Jackie let out an angry scream. Sandy
looked up from her phone call with Seth. She nodded and hung
up.

“
Well?” Jill
asked.

“
He’s going to call them,”
Sandy said.

“
I guess we wait,” Yvonne
said.

“
Or get on with our
lives,” Tanesha said. “Jake is gone. If Jill has the babies
tonight, everything is all right. If he figures out the curse, and
Jill has the babies tonight, everything is all right. We can’t let
these weird creatures or some ancient bullshit control our
lives.”

“
Tanesha’s right,” Jill
nodded. She glanced at Anjelika and Otis. She was about to say
something when Charlie jumped up.

“
Where’s the cake?”
Charlie asked.

“
Yes, let’s have cake,”
Sandy said. “Sissy, you know where it is, don’t you?”

Sissy hopped up and went to get the cake.
Charlie followed her.

“
You sure you’re all
right?” Sandy asked Jill.

“
Sure,” Jill said.
“Why?”

“
Because all of this is
about you having the babies,” Sandy said. “Are you in
labor?”

Jill shook her head.

“
Did your water break?”
Sandy asked.

Jill shook her head.

“
You’ll let me know?”
Sandy asked.

Jill nodded. Sandy hugged her.

“
I just hope they fix this
curse thing,” Jill said.

Unsure of what to say, Sandy nodded.

~~~~~~~~

Friday night — 8:25 p.m. MST

Ring!

Jacob looked at Sam before getting up to
answer the ancient wall phone.

“
Marlowe,” Jacob
said.

“
Jake?” Seth asked. “It’s
O’Malley. Sandy called. She told me you’re in trouble and need some
help.”

“
It’s weird and
complicated,” Jacob said.

“
I specialize in weird and
complicated,” Seth said. “I have to have my blood filtered, so I’m
going to be lying here for the next three hours. I’m all ears, as
it were.”

“
Blood filtered?” Jacob
asked.

“
From the St. Jude thing,”
Seth said. “I was going once a week. Now it’s three times a week. I
thought I’d be fit to work again, but I couldn’t pass the physical.
There’s still too much crap in my blood.”

“
Crazy,” Jacob
said.

“
What’s crazy is that
earthquake,” Seth said. “Are you there?”

“
Sort of,” Jacob
said.

“
But you’re safe now?”
Seth asked.

“
Me and Dad,” Jacob said.
“We’re sucked out of time.”

“
Ok, that’s weird,” Seth
said. “Just a second. They have to hook me up.”

Jacob held on the line while Seth was hooked
up to a machine. He heard a woman’s laugh and the rumble of a
man’s. After a few moments, there was a soft whirring sound.

“
Ok,” Seth said. “I’m
set.”

“
Sounds like you’re making
friends,” Jacob said.

“
Ava’s right here with
me,” Seth said.

“
Hi Jake,” Ava said in the
background.

Ava and Seth talked for a moment, and then
he heard the sound of Ava kiss him.

“
She’s gone,” Seth said.
“She thinks the doctor’s a little too nice, if you know what I
mean.”

Jacob laughed.

“
What’s the mystery?” Seth
asked.

“
Wait, can you help me?”
Jacob asked. “Isn’t O’Malley an Irish name?”

“
The name is,” Seth said.
“But the gargoyles say I’m a Jew.”

“
Oh?”

“
It’s news to me,” Seth
said. “But whatever. My mother had one great love in her life; she
named me after him. I thought he didn’t come home from the war, but
maybe he did. Anyway, explains why my father was such a prick to
me.”

Not sure what to say, Jacob chuckled when
Seth did.

“
I’m all yours, Marlowe,”
Seth said. “Tell me your story.”

“
I’m going to get my Dad,”
Jacob said. “It’s kind of his story.”

Jacob waved to Sam, and he stood up.

“
But the curse is on me,”
Jacob added. “And my boys and Jill.”

“
A curse?” Seth asked.
“This gets weirder and weirder.”

“
Here’s my dad,” Jacob
said.

He gave the phone to Sam. His father laughed
at something Seth said, and then launched into the story of the
kingdom of Marle. When he’d finished the story, Sam nodded as Seth
asked him something.

“
He wants to know if we
can get on speaker phone,” Sam asked Jacob.

Jacob shrugged. Sam pointed to an ancient
speaker hanging on the wall. Jacob went to the box. It looked like
an old-fashioned intercom. He pressed the button on top and
instantly heard the whirr of the machine that was filtering Seth’s
blood.

“
Seth?” Jacob
asked.

“
I can hear you,” Seth
said. “Can you hear me?”

“
I can,” Jacob
said.

“
Ok,” Seth said. “The
first thing that occurs to me is that we need to figure out where
the kingdom of Marle was located.”

“
It was only a story,
Seth,” Sam said.

“
These old stories are
usually grounded in some truth,” Seth said. “Especially when we
have a situation that’s still going on in the present.”

“
Okay,” Jacob shrugged and
Sam shook his head. “Any ideas?”

“
I do, actually,” Sam
said. “I’m going to call Sandy and find out if she knows anything
else. Do you mind holding on?”

“
No,” Jacob
said.

He heard Seth speak to Sandy in the
background. It was a few minutes before Seth was back on the
line.

“
Ok,” Seth said. “Sandy
told me the rest of the story.”

“
How . . .?” Jacob started.

“
I guess the gargoyle’s
told the story,” Seth said. “Did you know they speak Latin?
Amazing.”

“
What did you learn?”
Jacob asked.

Seth told Jacob about the queen saving the
baby. He grew into a man who, in turn, killed his child and hanged
himself. He explained how the queen made an agreement with the
gargoyles to protect the children.

“
Why not include the
mothers?” Jacob asked.

“
Didn’t occur to her, I
guess,” Seth said. “I guess you thought the babies killed the
mothers?”

“
Right,” Jacob said. “Mom
thought male babies used their psychokinesis to push their way
out.”

“
The mothers are killed,”
Seth said. “To honor their oath, the gargoyles scratch the babies
out.”

“
That’s going to happen to
Jill?” Jacob’s voice rose with panic. “I thought we were past all
that. We . . .”

“
The girlfriends are
there,” Seth said. “Have you met them? They scare me. I mean, let’s
face it. They got the
gargoyles
to share the story of their secret curse. Even
your mother, who was the most powerful woman I’ve ever met,
couldn’t pull that off.”

Jacob chuckled.

“
Nothing’s going to happen
to Jill,” Seth said.

“
I hope so,” Jacob said.
“I feel so . . . helpless trapped down
here.”

“
I bet,” Seth said.
“Anyway, I think I’ve got it.”

“
What?” Jacob
asked.

“
Where the kingdom of
Marle is located,” Seth said.

Chapter Two Hundred and
Fifty-eight

“
Where is the kingdom of
Marle?” Jacob asked.

“
On the Isle of Man,” Seth
said.

“
What?” Jacob
asked.

“
Where?” Sam
asked.

“
The Isle of Man,” Seth
said.

“
Yes, we heard you,” Jacob
said. “I guess we’re not sure if that’s in another dimension, or on
some planet or astral plane, or . . .”

Seth laughed. Jacob scowled.

“
I sometimes forget that
I’m talking to Delphie’s nephew,” Seth said. “The Isle of Man is an
island in the Irish Sea that is equidistant from modern England,
Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.”

“
Ok.” Jacob shrugged. Sam
shook his head.

“
I was going to ask what
you know about the Isle of Man, but, from the sound of it, I guess
that would be . . .”

“
Absolutely nothing,” Sam
laughed.

“
I’ll keep to the
important facts,” Seth said. “First, you should know that the Isle
of Man was not always an island. It became an island in 8000 BC
when melting glaciers caused the water level to rise. The Isle of
Man was originally inhabited around 6500 BC.”

“
How do you know all of
this?” Jacob asked.

“
I’m reading Wikipedia on
my phone,” Seth laughed.

Jacob and Sam laughed.

“
Ava made me get one of
these things,” Seth said. “There’s evidence that the island had
early inhabitants before it was an island. During the Neolithic
Era, large communities lived and farmed on the island.”

“
Cave men?” Sam
asked.

“
Our ancestors,” Seth
said. “They were like us but not as sophisticated.”