Red Rain

left.”

“But he’s taking a hell of a risk, Mark. Anyone could break into his house when he’s away in the city. It’s all glass. And some of that art is valuable. The death masks-”

“Those are so interesting. Scary, really. The white carved ones. I wouldn’t want them on the wall staring at me all day.”

“They’re not carved, actually. They’re molded. Molded on the dead person’s face after he dies.”

“Oh, I forgot.” Mark took the water bottle and twirled it between his hands. “You’re the expert on death rituals now.”

She slapped his wrist gently. “Don’t make fun of me, sweetheart. You know, some tribes believed you could communicate with the dead person through the mask. The dead spirit was on the other side, but the mask was on this side, so you could talk through it. Sometimes, the mask was to protect the dead person from evil spirits. You know, disguise him so the evil spirits wouldn’t recognize him. It’s kind of how Halloween masks started.”

“Lea, why are you doing all this research into death rituals? Tell me.”

“It’s what I’m interested in now. Can’t you accept that?”

He rubbed his hand over his face. “Know any good jokes?” He dodged away so she couldn’t slap him.

Lea yawned again and stretched her arms at her sides. “It’s late. We should get to bed. I have a lot of writing to do tomorrow. I-”

Elena entered, carrying a balled-up bedsheet and pillow. Ruth-Ann followed, arms loaded down with jeans and tops and other clothes.

Lea blinked as if she was seeing a mirage. The girls didn’t offer a greeting. They moved past Lea and Mark on their way to the kitchen door.

“Where are you going?” Lea finally managed to say.

“Out back,” Elena replied without turning around.

“Why?”

“Don’t you say hello? Are we invisible or something?” Mark said.

“Hello,” Elena offered. She shifted the bedclothes in her arms.

“Come back,” Lea said. She shut her eyes. “Explain this to me.” She opened them and squinted at her daughter. “You’re taking all that stuff out back because-?”

“Moving in with our brothers.”

“No, you’re not,” Mark said sharply. “You’re definitely not.”

“Both of you?” Lea squinted at them, confused.

“Are you crazy?” Mark’s voice slid up a few octaves. Then he saw the blue arrows. “Huh? Oh my God! No! You too? I don’t believe it. What is this about?”

Elena moved a hand up to the arrow on her cheek. “It’s just a symbol. You know, Dad.” Dad said as a word of disgust.

Mark shook his head. “No. I don’t know.” Through gritted teeth. “Tell me. Why did you let them put those arrows on your faces?”

Lea took another long drink from the water bottle.

“We want to move up,” Ruth-Ann said. She tucked her chin over the ball of clothing she carried. “That’s all. No big deal.”

“No big deal?” Mark cried. “It is a big deal. Believe me. It’s a big deal.” He shook his finger at Elena. “You will not be moving back there with the boys. You will be staying in your room. Of all the stupid, crazy ideas. I thought you were the sensible one.”

“I am!” Elena insisted with all the nastiness she could get into her voice.

“No arguing. No more talk. Take that stuff back upstairs to your room.”

“Let’s pretend this never happened,” Lea said quietly.

Those words seemed to send a shock wave through the air. The girls froze, wide-eyed. Mark felt it, too.

Pretend it never happened?

But what was actually happening?

Don’t we have to hear an explanation? We can’t just pretend it didn’t happen.

“Come back here. I mean it!” Mark cried.

But the girls were out the door. Mark could hear loud music and laughter from the guesthouse. The door slammed behind them, the window glass rattling.

The sound made Lea gasp. “Mark-what is going on?”

“It’s. . the twins.”

“There you go again. The twins. The twins. How can you blame the twins if these two girls-”

“I could storm out there and yell and scream and send everyone home,” he said. “But I’m kind of drunk, Lea. And I think maybe if we get calm first-”

“Get calm?”

“If we go screaming after Elena and Ruth-Ann and threaten to physically pull them back to the house, it’s war. And we’re the ones starting it. We need to be the adults here. I need to talk to the twins. But I need to go into the house and be the calm, reasonable one.”

“Do you hear all the voices out there? It sounds like a mob. How can there be room for them all in that tiny guesthouse!” she said.

The kitchen phone rang. The sound made them both jump. Lea glanced at the clock above the sink. Nearly midnight. Who would be calling this late?

Mark made a move toward the phone but let her reach it first.

She recognized the voice of one of the class parents. Alecia Morgan. She sounded agitated. “Lea, is Justin over there? Is he with you?”

She hesitated. “I. . don’t think so. Was he-”

“He said he was going over to Ira’s. He was supposed to call so we could pick him up. I’ve been calling him since nine-thirty, but I only get his voice mail.”

“The boys are out back,” Lea said, staring hard at Mark. He was mouthing something but she couldn’t understand him. “In our guesthouse. They like having their own little hideaway.”

The woman’s voice turned cold. “I just want to know if he’s there and why I haven’t heard from him.”

“I’ll check. I-” A long beep. “Uh-oh. I’m getting another call. I’ll get Justin and tell him to call you.”

“Lea, wasn’t anyone supervising them?”

Lea cut off the call without answering her.

“Mark, go see if Justin Morgan is out back with the boys.”

He nodded and started to the door. But stopped to listen to the next conversation.

“Your daughter?” Lea made a shrugging motion to Mark. “Debra? No. I don’t think so, Mrs. Robbins. Elena is having a sleepover with Ruth-Ann. But I don’t think-”

“Would you check, please?” The woman’s voice quavered. “I’m going out of my mind. She was supposed to be home three hours ago.”

“Well, of course I’ll check. Do you want to hold on? I’ll-”

The doorbell chimed.

“I can’t believe Roz can sleep through this,” Mark muttered.

Lea waved him to the front door. She told Mrs. Morgan she’d call her back. When she stepped into the front hallway, Mark was talking with a smiling, middle-aged man in a gray running suit, a high forehead, square-shaped eyeglasses catching the entryway light.

“Oh, hi, Mrs. Sutter. I’m Steve Pearlmutter. Rex’s father. Sorry I’m late picking him up. There was an accident on Noyac Road and the cars were backed up for over an hour. No way to turn around. Unbelievable.”

Mark and Lea exchanged glances. Rex Pearlmutter?

Lea spoke up first. “Sorry you were stuck for so long. Let’s go out back and find Rex.” She turned and led the way to the kitchen. “It’s been a crazy night. Our kids invited a lot of their friends over. I hope they haven’t been too wild. Mark and I had to go out and-”

Pearlmutter’s eyes grew large behind the square glasses. “You mean the kids aren’t in the house?”

“They’re right out back,” Mark offered. “They love hanging out in the guesthouse.”