Lemon Pies and Little White Lies (17 page)

Hearing Jenny refer to Hugh as her “ex” was like a knife twist in the heart, but Ella Mae didn’t feel like arguing about her relationship status now. “I’ll give you the short version on the way to Fiona’s. After that, I’ll need quiet to mull a few things over.”

“Like what?” Jenny asked, shooing Miss Lulu away from the door.

“Like how to catch the person who deliberately set fire to my aunt’s barn with two people trapped inside.”

Jenny’s eyes went wide. “When you find out who did it, will you turn them in to the police?”

Ella Mae’s mouth tightened in fury. “If there’s enough evidence to put them away for good. If not, I know someone with an abundance of sharp metal objects.”

Ella Mae’s mother understood at once. “You’d let Reba handle the punishment.” She glanced up at the sky, her eyes locking on the sickle moon. “Whatever it takes, I will have justice for my sister. And if not justice, then I’ll gladly settle for vengeance.”

Chapter 9

Ella Mae parked in front of Fiona Drever’s cottage and told Jenny it would be wise for them to wait by the truck for a moment. As expected, a living room curtain twitched, and seconds later, the door flew open. Fiona’s daughter appeared in the threshold, a shotgun slung over her shoulder.

“It’s late,” she said with unconcealed distrust.

Ella Mae raised her hands to show that she was unarmed. “I need to see your mother. Jenny’s just here to keep me company.”

“Let them in, Carol!” Fiona called from somewhere deeper in the house.

Lowering the gun, Carol gestured for them to enter. She led them into the sunroom where Fiona sat in an armchair with a book splayed on her lap. There was a fire burning in the hearth, and the sight of it temporarily paralyzed Ella Mae.

“I thought you’d knock on my door long before now.” Fiona motioned at the sofa opposite her. Her sharp gaze
followed Ella Mae and Jenny as they perched on the edge of the cushions. “You’re angry. Why?”

“It’s not for you to ask questions,” Ella Mae said. “Not tonight.”

Carol, who’d taken up a position behind her mother’s chair, stiffened.

“Fair enough.” Fiona sounded unfazed by Ella Mae’s abruptness. “I suspect you’d like to know what became of Nimue’s mother because something’s happened to cause Joyce’s murder to return to the forefront of your mind. Am I right?”

Ella Mae nodded. “I want the whole story this time, and if I suspect you’re omitting details, I’ll return with my aunt Verena.”

“I know of her gift. She can tell if a person is lying. A very useful ability, especially when one is married to a politician.” She let loose a dry cackle and then glanced at the fire. Instantly, the humor disappeared from her face, and she seemed to age a decade. “Nimue’s mother was a lovely woman named Cora. She was soft-spoken, graceful, and charitable. She could hold her breath for nearly an hour and swim in the coldest waters. She loved to swim with the seals when they came close to shore.”

Carol shook her head in distaste. “A hundred little heads bopping in the shallows. They’d stare at us with those big, dark eyes. It was easy to believe they were all selkies.”

Jenny cocked her head. “Selkies?”

“Shape-shifters. Seals that could shed their skin and take a human form,” Fiona explained. “In many legends, they’d change into beautiful women.”

“But not necessarily the smartest or strongest women,” Carol added. “According to local lore, a selkie could be captured and enslaved. All one would have to do is grab their sealskin after they’ve changed into a human. They’ll
do anything to get their skin back, because they can’t resume their true form without it.”

At any other time, Ella Mae would have loved to listen to stories from the Orkneys, but she refused to be distracted by selkie legends, no matter how fascinating. “Back to Cora,” she prodded. “How did she die?”

“Aye, let’s get right to it.” Fiona released an audible sigh, and the air was instantly tinged with the weight of loss and regret. Her daughter put a hand on her shoulder and Fiona reached up and gave it a pat. “It has to be said, luv,” she whispered, and then looked at Ella Mae. “Cora drowned.”

Jenny cast a dubious glance at Fiona. “Didn’t you just tell us that she could swim like a seal? How could she drown?”

“That was the official ruling. Cora was found on the beach. Her back and head were covered with cuts and bruises, but the authorities said those occurred when her body struck the rocks close to shore.” Fiona waved dismissively. “I knew the truth. Cora was murdered. By her own daughter.”

Ella Mae saw the sorrow in Fiona’s eyes. For a second, she regretted forcing the older woman to relive her heartbreak, but there was no avoiding it. “Why did Nimue kill her mother?”

“Nimue was a late bloomer. She didn’t experience her Awakening until her sixteenth birthday. By then, she was already a shy and sullen child. I use that term because she looked and acted like a child. Not at all like a young woman.” Fiona’s gaze grew glassy, as if she was calling forth an image of the sixteen-year-old she once knew. “She was always thin. Never got those womanly curves all the popular girls had. Because of her awkward demeanor and looks, she was picked on by those girls and ignored by the boys. A teenage girl’s worst nightmare. To those who mattered most, she didn’t exist. And if they did notice her, it was only to ridicule her childlike body or the clover-shaped birthmark on her neck.”

Jenny frowned. “You’re saying that Nimue was bullied?”

“She wasn’t treated kindly, that’s for sure. And when she came into her powers, she got back at those girls.” Fiona said. “You see, she could bend water to her will, so when those girls used the restroom, Nimue would make the sink water shoot into their faces, or they’d get completely soaked using the loo.”

“Ew.” Jenny crinkled her nose in disgust.

“Of course, word spread that Nimue was using her gifts far too openly,” Carol said. “Because she disguised her antics as plumbing accidents, she was given a firm warning, but she refused to stop. She was hooked on power. She was fearless and reckless. Her pranks escalated until, one day, she flooded the school to avoid the term’s-end exams. She was quite popular after that.”

Ella Mae whistled. “But she’d crossed the line.”

“Aye,” Fiona agreed solemnly. “She was punished too—permanently banned from entering our grove. She was sent to school in England and told not to use her gifts at all. If she did, the director of the school would see to it that she faced the local tribunal of Elders.”

Jenny put her hand over her mouth. “This must have been really hard on Cora.”

Fiona nodded. “It was hard on both of us. We tried to steer Nimue in the right direction after her Awakening, but she was a very headstrong girl. In England, she somehow managed to renew her gifts, all the while pretending to be resigned to a life without magic. I should have known she wouldn’t surrender her powers so easily.”

“Nimue was in a different country,” Carol reminded her mother. “She rarely wrote or visited. How were you to know what she was doing?”

“Cora was killed a week before Nimue was due to graduate from university,” Fiona continued as if Carol hadn’t
spoken. “I knew Cora didn’t drown, and as soon as I heard what had happened, I rushed to the house, where I discovered that Nimue had taken anything of value and bolted. There were footprints on the rug in her room. Depressions made by bare feet. And when I bent down to touch them, my fingers came away damp and smelling of salt water.”

Fiona got to her feet, grabbed the fireplace poker, and jabbed at a thick log with its sharp point. For a brief moment, Ella Mae feared that the older woman would sever the gas line, but then she noticed the basket of kindling next to the fireplace. Fiona must have removed the gas logs following Joyce Mercer’s death and was burning real wood instead.

Ella Mae closed her eyes and allowed the fresh memories of the sounds and images of the fire at Aunt Dee’s to fill her mind. She wanted to hold on to her anger, to fan its flame until every other emotion was suppressed.

“Did you go after Nimue?” she asked Fiona.

Fiona kept her eyes on the fire. “Of course I did. Despite what Nimue had done, Cora would have wanted me to look after her daughter. I don’t know what would have happened if I’d succeeded in finding her. Part of me wanted vengeance, but I also remembered Nimue when she was just a wee lass. I remembered the days I’d rock her to sleep or tell her stories on a cold winter’s night.”

Fiona sounded so like Reba that Ella Mae felt a lump in her throat. Had she been wrong to come here at this hour and force Fiona to speak of her greatest sorrow?

You had no choice
,
she told herself.

Jenny, who was clearly riveted by Fiona’s narrative, whispered, “Did you find her?”

“No.” The word was infused with a lifetime’s worth of shame and regret. “Though I learned a few things in my search. For example, Avalon isn’t an invisible island off England’s
western coast. It can exist in the center of any lake.” She turned and gestured out the window. Ella Mae followed the older woman’s glance, peering through the dark woods until she was able to catch a glimpse of Lake Havenwood. It spread out below them like a black stain, and Ella Mae gave an involuntary shudder. She’d always loved the lake, but now she knew that bodies of water could be as secretive as people. There was far more lurking beneath the surface of that lake than anyone could ever fathom.

“So there
is
a real Avalon,” Jenny said in awe. “Ella Mae told me about some of the research she’s done on the place in hopes of figuring out where these storms are coming from, but I didn’t quite believe it was real. What’s it like?”

“That’s the rub,” Fiona said with a wry smile. “You can’t get there unless you’re a woman possessing powerful magic. And it’s not a fixed location.”

Carol came around from behind her mother’s chair and coaxed Fiona into sitting down again. She pressed a glass of water into her hand and motioned for her to drink.

“What my mom is trying to say is that the island moves.”

“What?” Ella Mae and Jenny exclaimed in unison.

Carol gave a little shrug as if to say that she could barely believe it either. “Avalon is wherever the Lady of the Lake is. It flourishes when she flourishes. The two are intertwined. A strong Lady can create Avalon in any lake. Mom believes Nimue has become that Lady.”

“I chased after her for years, but eventually, I gave up. I couldn’t help someone who didn’t want to be found. I’d failed as a guardian. I failed Cora, and I lost her daughter.” She looked pained. “Because of these failings, I swore to renounce my gifts and start over in a place far from my home. I chose Havenwood, and I’ve been here ever since.”

Ella Mae was still trying to wrap her head around the notion
that Avalon wasn’t a fixed place when Jenny got up and moved to the window. “What about Excalibur? Does it exist, or is it really a jeweled letter opener or some giant’s toothpick?”

Fiona laughed. “Ah, Jenny. Thank the stars for you. Things were getting way too serious. And Ella Mae is sitting there trying to picture Avalon as if it were Jules Verne’s floating island.” She shook her head. “It’s not. The Lady and her priestesses inhabit an island, cloak it in mist, and work their magic in secret.”

“Lake Havenwood has an island,” Ella Mae said. “I can see it from my house.”

Nodding solemnly, Fiona focused on Jenny again. “Excalibur is a relatively modern name for a very old sword. Long ago, the people of Britain used to cast treasure into the water in exchange for bountiful crops, victory in battle, good health, and whatever else their hearts desired. Excalibur was thrown into the water centuries before Arthur was born. The Celts called it
Caladbolg.
”

“That explains why Loralyn believes the sword can restore her father’s gifts,” Ella Mae said. “She has an old text containing information on
Caladbolg
.”

“Did you see the text?” Carol wanted to know.

Ella Mae frowned. “Briefly. Loralyn won’t show it to me again though. She wanted to barter in exchange for her support and I couldn’t agree to her terms, so she’s undoubtedly trying to find a way to contact Nimue. Loralyn wants that sword, and she’ll do anything to get it.” Ella Mae saw the flames devouring Dee’s barn and clenched her fists. “Anything.”

“Foolish girl.” Fiona frowned. “I hope Opal Gaynor can talk sense into that daughter of hers.”

“It may be too late for that.” Ella Mae flashed on an image of Aunt Dee’s raw, red skin. Suddenly, she was back in the ambulance, watching the paramedic squeeze the oxygen bag
over and over again. “Earlier tonight, Loralyn might have committed a terrible act of betrayal.”

Jenny gave Ella Mae’s hand a squeeze, silently offering to do the talking for her. She gave the Drevers a brief account of the fire while Ella Mae studied both women closely. Carol’s reaction was a combination of surprise and horror, but Fiona’s face tightened with rage.

“We have to capture this vile person,” she muttered darkly.

“My mother is at the Gaynor house as we speak,” Ella Mae said when Jenny was done. “She’ll find out if Loralyn set the fire.”