“I think some weirdo with a little red wagon is the last thing you need to be worried about in these hills.” His pleasant voice was now edged with something that sounded very much like a warning. Or was it a threat?
“What do you mean?”
“The woods around here are full of wild animals…” He let his words trail off, a deliberate lingering as he traced a finger down one of his scars.
“What kind of wild animals?”
“Mountain lions, coyotes…” Another hesitation. “Been a lot of black bear sightings this year, too.”
I glanced at his facial scars. I couldn’t help myself. “Black bears don’t normally attack humans, do they?”
“Animals are unpredictable. You ask the experts, they’ll tell you wolves have been gone from this part of the country for decades, but they’re still out there. I’ve seen them.”
I thought about that eerie howl I’d heard last evening. “Speaking of animals,” I said, “I’m staying in Floyd Covey’s house. A stray came out of the woods last night. He’d been horribly abused. Luna called him a bait dog.”
“She did, did she?” He stroked another scar. “Best you forget what she said. Best you forget about that stray, too.”
“I can’t forget about dog fighting,” I said indignantly. “I assumed if it’s going on in your jurisdiction, you’d want to know about it.”
He shrugged. “I’ll ask around, see if I get wind of any kennels. About all I can do. People tend to be closemouthed about that sort of thing around here, even if they’re not directly involved. They don’t want any trouble. And they don’t cotton to a lot of questions, especially from strangers.”
The warning note in his voice was unmistakable now. “I’ll remember that,” I said coolly.
“In the meantime…” His gaze swept over me. “You want me to come out there and take care of that problem for you?”
“What problem?”
“The stray.”
“Take care…you mean put him down?” I asked in horror.
A muscle twitched at the corner of one eye. “Think of it as a kindness.”
I wanted to tell him that Angus didn’t need his brand of kindness, and how would he like it if someone had tried to do the same to him?
But I kept my mouth shut because I didn’t trust Wayne Van Zandt. Not in the slightest. It was instinct, like an animal’s hackles rising when danger was near.
“Thank you, but that won’t be necessary,” I said. “I’m sure that dog is long gone by now.”
On my way home, I stopped by a small market I’d spotted earlier to stock up on fresh produce for me and dog food for Angus. There wasn’t much of a selection for either of us, but we’d just have to make do until I found time to take the ferry across the lake to shop.
When I came out of the store, I saw Sidra and another girl standing near my car. They were dressed in identical school uniforms, but the resemblance ended with the plaid skirts and navy blazers. The other girl towered over Sidra. Her hair was dark and sleek and she eyed me with sullen curiosity through a long curtain of bangs. I nodded and said hello as I went to put my bags in the back. When I came around the car, she was leaning against the fender, smoking. I noticed then the smudged liner around her eyes and the pale lip color on her sulky mouth. It looked very dramatic against her tanned skin. Despite the prim uniform, she looked cool, edgy and bored, the kind of girl that would have terrified me in high school had I not been so preoccupied with ghosts.
“Can you give us a ride?” she drawled, releasing a cloud of blue smoke that curled up into her thick lashes.
“Sure. If you don’t mind putting that out.”
She discarded the cigarette with a deliberate flick.
I glanced at Sidra, who seemed to shy away from her dominant companion. She didn’t look intimidated or cowed, but her demeanor was definitely anxious, as if she wanted to extricate herself from an awkward situation but didn’t know how.
“Where do you want to go?” I asked.
“You can drop us at Sid’s place.”
“I already told you…my house is out of her way,” Sidra said.
“I really don’t mind.” It wasn’t like I had a clock to punch or someone to go home to. Besides, the company of two teenagers might be just the thing to dilute the bad taste left by my visit to the police station. “Hop in.”
I started the ignition. “I’ll need directions.”
“Head north, take a right at the first intersection and then keep going until I tell you to stop,” the dark-haired girl instructed. “I’m Ivy, by the way.”
“Amelia.”
“I know who you are.” She turned to give me a frank assessment between narrowed lids. “Sid says you work in graveyards or something.”
“I’m a cemetery restorer.”
“Sounds…interesting.”
I smiled politely. “It is to me.”
“You don’t get spooked?”
“Sometimes. But mostly I find cemeteries peaceful. Some of the really old churchyards were built on hallowed ground.” I shot a look in the mirror to gauge Sidra’s reaction, but her eyes were still riveted on the window.
“Thorngate isn’t,” Ivy said. “Built on hallowed ground, I mean.”
“How do you know?”
“Because it’s built on Asher ground and everything that family touches is cursed.”
The warning note in Sidra’s voice startled me, but Ivy just shrugged.
I gave her an uneasy glance. “What do you mean by cursed?”
She waved a hand toward the window. “Look around you. See all the boarded-up buildings? All those caved-in roofs? And that stink in the air? That’s the smell of the damned,” she said with calculated nonchalance as she unzipped one of her boots to examine what appeared to be a fresh tattoo on her ankle.
When she saw that I’d noticed—which I had a feeling was her intent—her smile turned smug. “You don’t know what that is, do you?”
“I can’t really see it from here.”
“It’s one of the symbols carved into the cliff at the falls. No one knows where they came from or what they mean, but I think this one makes a pretty cool tat, don’t you?”
She didn’t give me a chance to respond.
“I had to sneak over to Greenville to get it. Mother would have a cow if she knew. Which is so hypocritical since she has one herself. But she thinks I’m too young and I think she’s too old.” She admired the ink for a moment longer before rezipping her boot.
I glanced in the mirror, startled to find Sidra staring back at me this time. What was she thinking? I wondered. And why had she tried to silence Ivy about the Ashers?
Ivy fell back against the seat. “Personally, I find the whole idea of hallowed ground laughable.”
