“Could I have a Bloody Sundae please?”
That was another Vira original, consisting of whatever her flavor of the day was (today: Lies of Our Elders) with plenty of strawberry syrup and whipped cream on top. She made two and joined me at one of the parlor’s little tables.
I could tell even before Vira opened her mouth what she was about to ask me, so I beat her to it. “I haven’t seen her since the party. Also good to keep in mind: we don’t even know if she likes girls.”
Vira took a thoughtful bite of her gray-and-white-swirled ice cream. “Well, let me just say that Colin Osmond wasalsositting on a bench overlooking the very romantic ocean and moonlight thing that was going on, and she chose to sit with you and not him. And everybody says Colin is the cutest boy on the island. I guess. Right?”
Vira didn’t pay much attention to gossip like that, especially when it came to romantic stuff (she was, as she’d once put it, “as aroace as they come”), so it was kind of charming that Colin was still on her radar, at least as far as his island sex symbol status was concerned.
I thought about this for a moment. Given the choice between Colin and me, Prue had picked me. “And he was really sitting alone on a bench?”
“Alone, yes.”
“And she picked my bench instead?”
“She made a beeline right toward you. We can’t be sure yet whether or not she wants to kiss your face, but your chances are looking up.”
“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” I said.
“My sage, sage wisdom. And also my ice cream,” Vira said.
“And also your ice cream, yes.”
I took a circuitous route back to the inn, because it was a beautiful day and the sooner I got back, the sooner my mother would find something for me to do. Mary and I didn’t have shifts so much as we had two months of being at our mother’s beck and call. But it was worth it, as she often reminded us, because in return we got food and shelter and the occasional magic potion.
I ran into a small herd of birdheads just south of the town square, milling about in the parking lot of the town hall(Annabella had once nested on top of a streetlamp there).
“Anything yet?”
Tank Smith, busy setting up a complicated-looking tripod and camera, looked over and scowled. “Nothing at all. Not so much as a feather.”
“Oh, she’s here all right,” Henrietta Lee chimed in, adjusting her thick glasses on her face. She had a set of binoculars hanging around her neck that were bigger than my head. “I can feel her. Can’t you feel her, Liesel?”
Liesel held a series of instruments I couldn’t even begin to guess the use of. They were small, metallic, and had a trio of glass balls attached to them, each filled with a different color liquid. She harrumphed at being addressed, but didn’t offer anything in the way of an opinion. By Liesl’s feet, her birdcat, Horace, regarded me with a look of distrust. I gave him a little wave.
“Well, let me know if you find anything,” I said.
“You will be the first to know, Georgina,” Tank said. He raised his enormous camera and snapped a photo of me before I could protest. Then, looking at the little screen, which no doubt showed my unready camera face, he added, “Ah. Strange to imagine where all the years have gone. I remember when you were just a babe.”
The birdheads—especially the older ones like Tank and Henrietta—were prone to random bouts of reminiscing; I took that as my cue to leave. I waved to Tank and the rest of them and went on my way.
Without really meaning to, I ended up at the graveyard. The one graveyard on By-the-Sea was small and old and quiet—a few of my favorite things. I got off my bike, left it leaning against a tree, and walked deeper into the crooked rows of graves.
In the graveyard, it always seemed to be late autumn.
The perfect season for graveyards.
The dead trees had spilled their dry leaves all over the grass, and they’d billowed against the tombstones in big piles.
I found her sitting on a bench outside one of the mausoleums. Prue. Of course. She held a red cardboard box of fries from Joel’s Diner.
In the few days since I’d seen her, I’d kind of forgotten how pretty she was, and now it hit me all over again. She wore a dark-green sundress, and her hair was tied with a silk scarf. She had red sunglasses on, even though it wasn’t that bright out.
I walked up the steps to the mausoleum, clearing my throat to announce my presence, because I didn’t know atonabout flirting, but I knew terrifying someone in the middle of a graveyard probably wasn’t the best approach.
She looked up and maybe smiled a little, maybe happy to see me? Or else just really happy with the fries, which was possible, because Joel made some really good fries.
“Hi,” I said.
