“I’ll take him.” Skye stepped forward.
“Are you sure?” Lucan asked her.
“Dude, she said she’d take me. Back off,” Owen said over Skye’s shoulder.
Lucan narrowed his eyes, but didn’t respond.
Diana stepped forward, took Lucan’s hand, and steered him away from Owen. “Let’s go inside.”
He turned toward the Reading Room with Diana and didn’t spare another glance at Owen.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I said to Skye.
She nodded. “He’s harmless. I’ll get him home and come back in a little while.” She lowered her voice. “We broke up a few months ago. He’s not taking it well.”
I noticed that Seth’s phone had been intermittently buzzing during this whole altercation and he was currently typing furiously with his thumbs.
“What is Faith up to?”
“Hmm? Oh, nothing. She knew her mom would be here.” He slipped the phone into his pocket.
I lifted an eyebrow at him. He shrugged and turned to head into the reception.
“Charla, where’s Mac?” He had a gift for showing up just when things were getting interesting.
“He took Neila Whittle home.”
“What?”
“Neila Whittle. She lives on Rowan Street, at the top of the hill,” Charla said. “I’m sure you’ve noticed her house. I think I ran you off of the place a few years ago with the rest of the kids.”
Charla had a corrupt sense of time. It had been at least fifteen years since I’d been up there with anyone else, and at least ten since I’d been called a kid.
“I know who she is,” I said, scowling. “Why is Mac taking her home?”
“I was walking back to the police station when I saw that crew headed this way with signs.” She tilted her head in the direction that Bea’s group had gone. “I could tell trouble was brewing so I went and got Mac to help out. We found Neila cowering in the doorway of the bead shop, watching the gang go by.”
“Does Mac know her?” It seemed everyone knew Neila except for me.
Charla shook her head. “Not really, he just decided to get her home quickly. She was pretty upset. We didn’t know Owen and his buddies were here as well. Mac figured I could deal with a few angry churchgoers on my own.”
“What do you mean?”
“The people with the signs. Didn’t you get a look at them?”
I shook my head. “Not really. I assumed it was the usual ‘Wicca is evil’ type of thing that crops up here and there.”
Charla nodded. “Yeah, that’s about it. Devil worship and sin, that’s what they claim. It’s that group from Covenant of Grace Church in Grand Rapids. But it wasn’t the Wiccans looking like an angry mob.” She tsked, and shook her head.
“Was Neila okay?”
Charla studied me for a moment. “I’m not sure. She seemed confused and she was crying. I haven’t seen her in town in years. Maybe she’s starting to have some dementia. . . .”
“I don’t think so.”
Charla shrugged. “You can ask Mac about it next time you see him.”
“Thanks, Charla.”
She nodded. “I’ll just stick around out here for a while to discourage any further shenanigans.”
I followed the remaining mourners toward the Reading Room.
*
As soon as Charla turned her back, I veered off to the left around the side of the building. I peeked in the windows to see if I could spot Seth or my dad in the crowd. Seth, because he had a cell phone, and Dad, because I needed his car.
The place was crowded and it was clear that the food was at the far end of the room based on the huge number of people gathered there. Finally, I saw the two of them leaning against the wall with full plates. I called Seth and watched while I waited for him to answer. One ring. He didn’t even pause in his shoveling movements. Second ring. The food must be fantastic because he was ignoring his phone. After the fourth ring, it went to voice mail and I glared at Seth through the window even though he couldn’t see me.
I dialed again. This time I saw him pat his pocket. He handed his almost-empty plate to my dad and pulled out his phone.
“Herro?” His mouth was full and he crunched chips in my ear.
“Seth, it’s me, Clyde.”
He turned and scanned the room, clearly trying to find me in the crowd.
“Where are you?”
“I’m outside. I need to borrow Papa’s car without anyone knowing. Can you ask him for me and bring me the keys?”
I saw Seth put the phone against his shoulder and talk to my dad. Dad reached into his pocket and scanned the room at the same time. Seth came back on the line.
“I’ve got them but he wants to know how long you’ll be. He doesn’t want to get stuck here all night.”
“I won’t be more than a half hour.” Maybe less, if I couldn’t find Mac.
“’Kay. Should I come outside now?”
“Yeah, I’m around the side of the building. Don’t let Charla see you.”