Myth and Magic by Mae Clair

Author:Mae Clair [Clair, Mae]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

The day turned out to be a pleasure. Unexpected balmy weather brought hordes of people to Aren’s farm. Although the hayride didn’t begin operation until nightfall, there were plenty of other activities. Veronica helped at the ticket booth until Balin, dressed in an elaborate Frankenstein costume, relieved her. Afterward, she spent the afternoon shepherding Derry, Noah, and Matt, allowing Melanie to oversee the festivities.

Aren was missing, helping Galen offset the fallout from last night’s catastrophe. Kelly Rice had wasted no time in reporting the latest incident to plague Stone Willow. By noon, a new On the Spot column trumpeted all the ugly details. The insinuations were not as blatant as before, but the column hinted BI had orchestrated the episode in an effort to gain publicity for its failing retreat. Veronica spent ten minutes fuming over the article, then put it out of her mind.

Derry, Noah, and Matt kept her busy. When the twins vanished into the corn maze after lunch, she finally had a chance to sit down and draw a breath. Finding a comfortable spot on the grass with Derry, she watched the three witches who guarded the maze cackle over their cauldron.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go with your cousins?” she asked.

“Nah, that’s okay. I already did the maze a bunch of times.” Derry sorted through the bag of marbles he routinely carried, spilling a few onto the grass. “If we’re still here next week, will you go trick-or-treating with me and Dad?”

The question came out of the blue, catching Veronica by surprise. Before she could answer, he flopped onto his back, folding his arms behind his head. “Dad doesn’t like Halloween.”

“I know.” She poked a fat blue marble with her finger. “Did he tell you why?”

Derry rolled his head on his arm to look at her. He wasn’t wearing Trask’s hat today, his hair a rumpled mass of black curls. “Because Trask died on Halloween. Dad said it was an accident. Something bad happened in the basement where they were playing.”

“Playing.” She said the word softly so Derry wouldn’t hear. Caith hadn’t told his son the truth, which was as she’d expected. “But he still takes you trick-or-treating?”

Derry nodded. “I know he doesn’t like it. It’s why he won’t dress up like some of my friends’ dads.” He tilted his head to look at her. “I bet he’d dress up if you asked. He likes you, Ron.”

Veronica’s attention returned to the marble. “Did he tell you that?” She glanced up, needing to know.

“No, but I can tell.” He grinned, much like Caith did. An extravagant, quicksilver smile that lit up his eyes. “Dad doesn’t give girls flowers.”

Veronica nodded knowingly. “But he does date a lot of girls?”

“No.” Still grinning, Derry sat up. “His friend Jake—Jake’s a cop—is always trying to fix Dad up on a date. Sometimes he goes to make Jake happy and I’ve gotta stay with a boring babysitter.” He plucked at the grass on either side of his legs, pulling it from the ground as he talked.

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