“Let me show you what we found.” He led Mac down the incline to where my Jeep lay on its side.
The two of them gestured and bent to look closer. Mac rubbed his jaw, glanced at me, and quickly looked away. Milo shook his head and pointed up the road. I turned my back on them. No longer afraid, my face felt hot with anger. Someone had cut my brake line. They could have killed me. What if Seth had been with me? My promise to Mac faded as I resolved to find the person who had done this.
*
Mac insisted on stopping at the Urgent Care Clinic. By the time I got home, everyone knew about the accident. A few of the passing drivers had felt the need to call my mother. And, of course, Dad had heard the call go out on the police radio. Mom hurried out of the house to meet us as Mac and I pulled up the driveway.
“Oh, Clyde! Are you okay? What happened? I heard you rolled your car.” She was already opening the door, and Mac was forced to slam on the brake. “You always drive too fast along that road. I’ve told you before. . . .”
Mac held up his hand.
“It wasn’t her fault, Mrs. Fortune. There was something wrong with her brakes, and she couldn’t slow down to take the turn.”
“I’ve been telling her to get a new car for a long time, Mac. That thing is an antique, is what it is. Now I hope you’ll listen and get rid of it, Clyde.” I refrained from mentioning Dad’s Buick.
“Mom, can I go in the house, please?”
Her eyes welled up as she took a good look at me. My arm was mummified in white gauze and I was covered in dirt. I probably hadn’t pulled all the leaves and twigs out of my hair. The blood on my shirt didn’t help matters. I must have looked even worse than I felt.
“I’ll make you some coffee and something to eat.” She flapped her hands in the direction of the house and followed behind me. “Mac, do you want to join us?” She turned back after starting up the front steps.
Mac looked at me for a moment, and I sensed his hesitation.
“Mac has a lot of work to do, Mom.”
He nodded once and looked away.
“Mrs. Fortune, Clyde is supposed to rest today. She’s had stitches in her arm and the doctor couldn’t rule out a concussion.” He had the nerve to wink at me.
I glared at him and turned to go into the house. He knew that telling my mother I had orders from a doctor was the best way to keep me out of his hair for a while.
“You go right to the couch and lie down,” Mom said, fussing. “I’ll bring you something to eat.”
*
Dad squeezed my good shoulder and said he was late for the office. He rushed off after making me promise to stay home. Seth, Vi, and Mom peppered me with questions about the accident, and I tried to answer in between bites of sandwich. Vi said Seth had mentioned he’d felt weird this morning, and then the calls came in about my car. Vi and Mom were convinced Seth had had his first vision. I thought he’d had too many candy bars.
I was not allowed to do anything after the lie Mac told my mother about the concussion. The doctor had said my arm would hurt where the stitches were and that I should take it easy, but that was it. He didn’t say I was an invalid. Mom chose to believe Mac’s version. She scurried in and out of the room, providing more food and drink.
“I think we should go back out to Message Circle and see if anyone saw anything,” said Vi.
“No one was there, Vi.” I watched her pace through the living room.
“If there’s a reading going on, someone might know something, plus there are plenty of animals in those woods. I might get a description of whoever was messing with your car.”
I choked on my coffee. “Are you going to start interrogating squirrels?”
Vi leveled her gaze at me. “Squirrels are notoriously unreliable. They can never make up their minds.”
Seth’s eyes widened as he watched this exchange.
“No, I’m going to see if there are any deer or rabbits around.” She nodded to herself, having solved that dilemma.
“You know, this might not have happened at all if everyone had kept their mouths shut,” I said, and narrowed my eyes at Vi.
“What are you saying?” Vi asked.
“Mac told me there’s a rumor going around that I’m helping the police. That I’m working as a psychic.”
My mother bustled back into the room and stopped short when she saw Vi and me in a standoff.
Vi’s finger came out, and she pointed at me. “She’s accusing me of . . . spreading rumors!” She looked to my mother for backup. Vi prided herself on her ability to keep secrets, even though she shared almost everything she learned with my mother. She considered that “information gathering” and “processing.”
Mom looked confused, and Seth filled her in while Vi and I continued our staring contest.
“Oh no. Is that why you had the accident?” Mom’s eyes were big, and she clutched the tray she was holding as if it were a life raft.