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An hour later Earl’s truck could be heard approaching, and Catherine got to her feet with relief. Lillibeth reluctantly moved her chair away, and Catherine went to the door.
“You sure you feel steady enough?” Isadora asked. Normally, she was the rock-solid lieutenant Catherine could rely on, but even she’d been rattled by Catherine’s injury and trip to the hospital.
“Why did Ravinia get to go?” Lillibeth asked, a question she’d asked before.
“She came on her own,” Catherine answered her, again.
Cassandra said, “I don’t want you to go outside.”
“Cassandra!” Catherine was at her wit’s end.
“Maggie. And there’s something out there. You know it, too, but you’re ignoring it.”
“I’m not ignoring it.” Catherine was brusque. “I have things I need to do, and I appreciate your concern, all of you, but I need some space. Some time to make plans for us.”
“He’s coming,” Cassandra said, and Lillibeth squeaked with fear and stared at her sister.
“Right now Earl’s here,” Catherine said. “I’m going to meet with him outside. Just . . . let me,” she said in a rush of frustration.
Isadora opened the door to Ravinia and Ophelia, who entered in a blast of cold air. Immediately, Ophelia said, “Where are you going?”
“Just to talk to Earl. I’ll be right back,” Catherine told her.
She brushed past them, choosing her steps carefully, still faintly dizzy. She felt someone take her arm and guide her and realized Ravinia was beside her, leading her up the flagstone path to the gate.
“I’m not going to have you fall again,” Ravinia said.
“You just want to know what I’m going to talk to Earl about,” Catherine accused.
“That too. But you’re not steady enough to walk by yourself.”
Catherine pressed her lips together, conceding the point. Time was racing by, and she didn’t have the luxury of arguing with her, a losing game with Ravinia in the best of circumstances.
Earl was waiting patiently outside the gates, though they were unlocked and Catherine passed through to meet him. He had a key of his own, which he used only when he came to do yard work or repairs. With Ravinia beside her, Catherine felt oddly unsure of what to say. Earl frowned upon seeing the girl, but there was nothing to do.
“I need someone to go to Echo and find out who’s there,” Catherine said. She glanced toward the island, which was a dark mound.
Earl’s frown deepened, but he nodded slowly. “I will see if I can.”
“But then there’s that other matter,” Catherine said. The one she’d told him about when he drove her from the hospital: switching the bodies in the graves.
“When can that be done?” Earl asked her. Like Lillibeth, he’d asked that question before, several times, and Catherine had never had an answer.
“What other matter?” Ravinia asked.
Catherine felt a faint stirring inside herself, the harbinger of precognition. She waited, and thought, He’s coming. . . .
It might be dangerous to go to Echo Island, and not just because of the weather and the approach, she thought with an inward shudder.
“What other matter?” Ravinia repeated.
“The graves,” Catherine said suddenly. “If you can’t get to Echo, let’s take care of the graves first.”
“All right,” Earl said.
“Tonight,” Catherine replied, pressing.
“Tomorrow,” Earl said after a moment of thought, and then he locked the gate and headed out.
