And there they were.
Carved wood, for the most part, they had been enhanced with various materials. From one, glass eyes gazed out with a malevolence that was truly frightening. Another had horns fashioned from discarded deer antlers. Another sported what seemed to be genuine goat horns. Some were painted, but it was the plain wood masks that seemed the most eerie to Rowenna. They were like dark figures that the imagination could see in the natural knots of a tree.
“Fantastic, aren’t they?”
She spun around. Adam was behind them, and he seemed pleased with himself as well as with the masks.
Eve grimaced.
“Hey, this is a business, and we just made a very nice profit on the one I just sold,” Adam said, defending himself. When Eve didn’t say anything in response, he turned to Daniel. “What do you think?” he asked.
“I think they’re remarkable.”
“Rowenna?” Adam asked.
“They’re…well, they are art,” she said, her tone tepid.
“Hey, Rowenna,” Eve said, “come to the back room with me. I just got in some gorgeous silk blouses I want to show you.”
Rowenna glanced at Adam, who rolled his eyes. She offered a weak smile, and followed Eve.
Rowenna oohed and aahed appropriately over the blouses and decided to buy a couple, but that clearly wasn’t why Eve had pulled her aside.
“Ro, I’m really scared,” she said.
“You just need to be careful,” Rowenna told her.
Eve shook her head. “Not that. It’s Adam!”
“Adam?”
“He’s gone on this horrible kick. Some guy was in here about a month ago, going on and on about how he couldn’t figure out why any man would want to be a wiccan when women are in charge of everything and turn the men into lapdogs. It was stupid—the guy didn’t know anything about wiccan beliefs and practices. But it was after that when Adam started demanding that we broaden our horizons. Which is fine with me—really. But then he started studying up on Satanism. As if we’re not always trying to fight against misconceptions that wicca and Satanism are the same thing…. I just hate what he’s doing. It’s like he has to prove he’s a man suddenly. And he’s always slipping out of the shop now—that’s why I decided to go to lunch without him today. Rowenna, can he be having a midlife crisis when he isn’t even thirty yet?”
Rowenna fought the temptation to laugh, her friend was so serious.
“I’m sure he’ll get over it, Eve. Honestly,” she offered.
“He worries me,” Eve said.
“Why? Is there something else?” Rowenna asked.
For a moment she thought that Eve was going to tell her that there was something more, but her friend just looked unhappy and shook her head.
“Come on, you two have been together for years. This will work itself out,” Rowenna said.
“I guess. I mean, I’m not ready to call a lawyer or anything, but…” Her words trailed off, and she suddenly hugged Rowenna. “Thank you. Thank you for being back, for never being judgmental, for being my friend.”
“Of course I’m your friend.”
“Hey, Ro!” Daniel called. “You ready to head back to the museum?”
“I’m coming,” she said, then grinned at Eve. “You ready to face the world again?”
Eve nodded, then swept out ahead of Rowenna. “How’s lunch?” she asked Adam, who was behind the counter, his meal spread out before him.
“Wonderful, thank you,” he said.
Rowenna’s phone rang, and as she slipped it from her handbag, she noted the number. It was Joe Brentwood’s private line.
“Hey, Joe,” she said.
“Hey. What are you up to?” he asked her.
“I’m at the Llewellyns’ store,” she told him. “I was about to head over to the History Museum. Dan and I have been doing some interesting reading.”
“Great. I’ll see you there in a bit.”
“Okay,” she said, and was about to hang up when he spoke again.
“We’ve gotten a positive ID on the woman in the cornfield,” he told her.
“Oh?”
“Dinah Green, from Boston.” He was silent again for a second. “I’ve told Jeremy. We’ll have pictures to show around soon. We need to try to find people who saw her in the area.”
“Of course.”
“I’ll see you in a bit.”
She closed her phone to see that Adam, Eve and Daniel were all staring at her. “They’ve identified the woman from the cornfield,” she said.
They all waited.
“Please tell me she wasn’t anyone we know,” Eve said.
Rowenna shook her head. “I don’t think so. Her name was Dinah Green. She was from Boston.”
She could hear Eve exhale loudly in relief.
“I’ve never heard the name,” she said.