Read The May Queen Murders for Free Online Page B

matter
    much that Marsh was all but family for years, being close to my fa-
    ther and al . On good days, Marsh and Heather were cordial at best.
    On most days, they didn’t speak to each other.
    “ If that man realizes I slipped out, say I’m checking the horses.”
    “Heather, with the animals gettin’ killed, I’m worried.”
    “All the more reason for someone to check the horses, don’t you
    think?”
    “No!” I winced at the loudness of my voice, and Heather went
    to the doorway to make sure our parents were still occupied while
    39
    I trailed behind her, whispering, “Let Marsh do it, or my daddy, if
    you’re so worried.” She glared over her shoulder, and I realized she
    wasn’t concerned about the horses at al . “You’ll get in trouble for go-
    ing out. It’s night, and isn’t safe.”
    Her lips perked in a coy smile. “Sometimes you gotta face danger
    to find what you’re looking for.”
    That was where we differed. Heather wasn’t afraid. I was terrified.
    I closed my eyes with a sigh. Her lips brushed my cheek in a swift
    kiss, and then she disappeared out the back door without a sound.
    I should’ve tried harder to keep her.
    The rain hitting the windows paused, but the sound of water
    draining off the tin roof and trickling over the gutters remained. It
    was too dark to make out Heather’s shape once she climbed the horse
    fence separating her garden from the neighbors’. I found a broom
    in a closet and swept all traces of crumbs and dust into a neat pile
    before brushing it out the door.
    In a way, it wasn’t fair that Heather could run off and be Heather.
    She might end up being scolded for gallivanting through stormy
    fields when someone was murdering animals, but her punishment
    never lasted. It was impossible to stay angry with her. She’d kiss and
    swear she meant no harm — and she didn’t. She wasn’t cruel. What
    Heather wanted, Heather did. She wasn’t uncaring. I suspected she
    simply didn’t notice what impact she had on me, on others. How
    freeing to be so unaffected.
    A flare outside the kitchen glowed like the negative of a photo-
    graph. The deafening boom made me jump while the pendant light
    above the sink blinked out. From the dining room, my parents and
    40
    Heather’s shuffled in search of candles. I fumbled along the cabinets
    until I came to one holding extra candles and matches. Between the
    mill and solar panels, the Glen had electricity, but the houses’ wir-
    ing was rudimentary. Blackouts weren’t uncommon, even in good
    weather. Most of us still used kerosene lamps for that reason.
    I scratched a match. The rotten egg smell of sulfur was fleeting as
    I lit a candle. Mama appeared in the doorway. “You buena, Ivy?”
    “Sí.”
    Thump.
    The noise came from the window. I glanced at Mama. “What was
    that?”
    “The wind, probably,” she answered.
    Thump.
    Thump. Thump.
    That wasn’t wind. My pulse quickened. I cupped the candle and
    stood on my tiptoes, holding the flame to the window.
    thump.
    I jumped back from the jolted windowsil . In the living room,
    Marsh called to check on Mama and me. By now she was beside me,
    candle in hand, as we tried to see what was outside.
    thump! thump! thump!
    My heart rode into my throat. It didn’t sound like hail. The bangs
    against the glass were too sporadic, frenzied.
    “Luz?” Papa yelled. “What the hel ’s that?”
    Against a faraway gleam of lighting, a black mass reeled from the
    window as if taking a breath before soaring straight for the glass again.
    thump! thump!
    41
    I couldn’t move. The dark thing outside whisked from side to side.
    It pulled back and —
    crash!
    With a yelp, I ducked the flying glass. Mama rushed over to the
    wet, black thing flopping on the floor and, crying out in Spanish,
    backed away. The glow of the candles revealed a blackbird. It wasn’t
    dead, but from the way it flailed and twitched, it would be soon. My
    scream stunned into silence, all I could do was watch