Charlotte was a delight, and it was impossible not to cheer up around her. Nevaeha promised to visit again soon, and she asked if she could bring a friend next time.
The young girl was doing well in school, but she wasn't making friends. Guess it was hard to be friendly when you've had to hide away your whole life.
That's what this town is supposed to be all about. A place where everyone is welcomed and safe. The curse wasn't ideal, but what the town stood for was more important than any stupid curse.
If she had her way, she'd find all the people like Charlotte and her mother who need a safe place and bring them here and all the people who hoped for freedom would be free to go.
Only then would things be put to right.
Daniel Logan lived on the other side of town, but the long walk would give her time to dwell on the path her life had taken. She felt she was being pulled in a million different directions and none of the directions were the way she wanted to go.
She missed Trinity. So much. She missed the peace and quiet of having alone time. Silas needed to be back home. His mother missed him. She missed having him to take care of. Nevaeha did not know why, but the woman truly enjoyed cooking and cleaning up after him all day. Alison also needed a man in her life. A good one.
Charlotte needed a friend.
Nevaeha missed her mom, too. She only now realized how much it had helped to talk to her mother. Even if her mother couldn't talk back.
It would be nice when her grandmother had two legs again. Her guidance was needed.
Waiting for Carrigan was worrying her as well. A part of her wanted him here, and a part of her wasn't prepared to see him yet. It would be a betrayal to Vallen to want Carrigan with her, but it was a betrayal to Carrigan not to want him here. A betrayal to him to be worried about the feelings of his killer.
That was assuming Vallen had feelings. She wasn't so sure he did.
How was it so easy for him to kill someone? How did he not know how precious life was?
She watched a teen be murdered in front of her, and it broke her heart. It broke a piece off inside of her. Just like when she'd watch Pike be killed. She'd never heal from those two events.
Could Vallen be as much a monster as the monster who was preying on those young girls?
She couldn't bear it if he was. He couldn't be, but hadn't she seen proof that he was?
What made someone not value life?
The first thing she noticed about Daniel Logan's place was that it needed mowing. The fence around his place was falling down and the only thing keeping his front door closed was a string wrapped around a nail.
His lawn mower started and went to work right away.
There wasn't much she could do about the fence without new boards, but she was enough of a carpenter that she could figure out the front door.
A wrinkled hand untied the door and opened it for her. "I knew you'd be over right quick, Nevaeha Roe. How are you on this fine day?"
"Why didn't you tell me you need a helping hand, Daniel Logan? I saw you just last week in town and you never mentioned your place getting behind on chores."
"I'm not worried about it, Nevaeha Roe. I have bigger fish to fry. Come on in. Martha is here for a visit, and she'll be glad to see you."
"You two aren't in here scheming up a plan against Jerry, are you? I know both of you dislike him and his dog, but__."
He laughed, but Nevaeha was worried that was exactly what they were up to. Their hate for Jerry and that dog was the only thing they had in common.
"It's good of you to stop by for a spell, Nevaeha Roe. How is life... Nevaeha Roe, what in the world has happened to you and who is the big, hunk of a ghost with you?"
She held up her arm. "Run in with a killer and just ignore him. How is death treating you, Martha?"
"Fine. Fine." She smiled. "It quite agrees with me. Where did you find a killer?"
"In my dreams."
"I don't know if I want to ignore him. Have you seen those arms? Daniel, can you see him?"
"Another ghost? Here? Afraid not. I've only been able to see a few in my lifetime. I'm lucky to get to enjoy your lovely company, Martha."
"He's all tanned skin, muscles, and I think I might be drooling."
Nevaeha wasn't the only one grossed out. When Martha licked her lips and stared at Pike like he was a bone and her a dog, he grimaced and disappeared.
"Oh, Martha, you are heaven sent. I've been trying to get rid of him for days."
"Why, child? He can haunt me any day."
Nevaeha smiled happily. "Now, what are you two up to?"
Daniel Logan smiled and patted her shoulder. "Nothing bad, I promise. Martha has been helping me learn my new computer. Nevaeha Roe, you need one of these. I can shop on it. Gamble, if I'm a mind to, and you can talk to people face to face. It's a thing of wonder. It has more power than I ever did."
Martha laughed. "It took him forever to get good at it, but now he's not too bad. He even has Facebook friends."
"More importantly, I'm able to talk to my nephew. I can't tell you how excited I am to finally have family."
Nevaeha sat down when he pointed to a nearby chair.
"Now you sit while I make you a cup of cider. It's just the weather for it and I have just the thing that will help your arm."
"Thank you, Daniel Logan." She smiled at his kindness.
"Up till now, I thought my recipes and spells were going to die with me. You can't know how relieved I am to know otherwise." In his kitchen now, he had to raise his voice. "Relieved and tickled pink. It's been such a joy teaching him the old ways. Even if I never get to meet him in person."
"Daniel, she probably needs to know how you came to have a nephew when you never had a brother or sister."
"It's a long story so I'll give you the shorten version. My father didn't know about any curse on the town, but he'd found out from a mate finder that he had a life mate living here. So, he came to find her. I should have found me a mate finder myself, then I would have kids of my own." He raised his voice louder as he went into his cellar. "Anyway, he rushed to find her and find her he did. Only he didn't know that he'd be trapped here."
"Forefather blood, you know." Martha said it like it was a secret.
"How had he not lived here his whole life?" She asked.
"My grandfather was a bit of a gigolo. He had many lovers, excuse my French, Nevaeha Roe. You're much too young to hear about such. Anyway, he was, and to be honest there's no telling how many cousins I have out there. He always met his lovers outside of town, but not outside the city limits."
Martha was grinning. "So technically, he never left town, and they never entered town."
Nevaeha smiled. "And one day your father found his way back?"
He offered her a tray with cider and cookies. "Ms. Moore made these cookies, so you know there're tasty. Now drink it all up. It's nice and warm. And yes, he found his way back, and he didn't even know it. Now he was stuck here, and that is just what my grandfather didn't want. I'm not sure why. I'd never live anywhere else. Anyway, my father, to be honest, was a gigolo as well. He was searching for a life mate when he already had a wife and a child at home."
"Oh no."
"Oh no, indeed. Since he couldn't return to them and since he didn't want his son to be trapped here as well, they never heard from him again."
"That's horrible."
"Keep drinking, dear. Horrible indeed, except for me, of course."
"How did you find out you have a brother?" She sipped her drink, which was the best she'd ever had, and nibbled on a cookie.
"Father was ashamed. Not that he had two wives, but that he'd abandoned one of them. He was raised that a man always had more than one wife. That better your chances of offspring. Without my mother ever knowing, he created a coven. He needed enough power gathered so he could wipe the memory of him from the wife and the son he abandoned. I'm not sure why, but he also wiped the memory of who they really were from their minds as well. They had no recollection of being a witch and a warlock. They had no idea of the power they possessed. Eventually, she remarried a human, and they were unable to have any more children."
"How were you able to find all this out?"
"Luck. Nothing more than luck. The coven__."
Martha added. "Your mom, Nevaeha Roe, was a part of it."
"Yes. She couldn't have been very old. Probably right before she had you. Anyway, there were four of them. One of them, Curly Jo, you remember him, don't you, dear?"
She giggled. "All he had was that one patch of hair on his head and it all curled into one lock."
Daniel Logan's smiled warmed. He had the kindest grey eyes she'd ever seen.
"Yes, indeed. When he died three years ago, he left all his things to Dora May."
"Betty's grandmother? Why did he leave it to her?"
"He had a crush on her."
"I bet his wife didn't like that too much."
Martha laughed. "She didn't. I was with her when she dug up his body. She would have set it on fire, but the town heard what she was about and stopped it."
"Anyway, Dora May just stored all of it. When she died, Betty was throwing it all away and Petey Dickerson was passing by and asked if he could have it. She didn't know what a gold mine she was throwing away. On top of all his diaries, there were hundreds of dollars' worth of old records and comics."
Martha slapped her leg. "Betty would die if she knew she'd given Old Petey that much money."
"She'd torment him, so I'm not saying a thing. Not when he found my father's name in those journal's and brought them to me. That's how I found out I had a brother."
"Daniel Logan, that's wonderful news." She emptied her cup and ate her last bite of cookie. "I love happy endings."
He agreed with her. "I do too, but that's not the happy ending. He'd already passed away. Car accident. There was only one surviving family member. The youngest son."
"Oh, Daniel Logan, that's horrible. I'm so sorry about your brother."
"Me too but I'll see him soon enough. My nephew is the most important find. Here he is an orphan, no family left and no one to tell him why he's different from everyone else. The men in my family don't come into their power until they're eighteen and they aren't at full strength until they are twenty-one. I don't know if his father even had powers, or if he ever knew he was different, but his son, my nephew, is strong. That's the happy ending, Nevaeha Roe. I found him. I've been getting to know him and teach him. It's been wonderful and I'm so happy it happened before I found out I was dying."
Her face saddened. "You're sick, Daniel Logan?"
"Very." He got up and pushed the footstool closer to her.
"I'll figure something out. There must be something we can do."
"There isn't, dear. Don't stress over it. Everyone has their time, and this is mine."
He picked up her feet and laid them gently on the footrest, then he slipped her shoes off her feet.
"We won't know until we try."
"Nevaeha Roe, that isn't why I asked you here to visit me. I asked you here because I want you to make sure my last wishes get granted. You're on the council and I need you to make sure that when I pass away my nephew can have my spot in town."
When she yawned, he raised her so he could slip a pillow behind her head.
"Martha, I'm thinking maybe it wasn't such a good idea to give her my special recipe. There's a good bit of alcohol in it and I've never seen someone get so drowsy so fast. It takes at least three drinks before I get this toasted."
"She'll be fine. She must need some rest. The child looks completely done in."
She did feel tired. Her legs and arms felt heavy. The mean voice was gone.
She smiled her thanks as the sweet man covered her with a blanket.