My Three Cousins

Chapter Seven

When I returned home that night mom and Helen seemed to have figured out how to behave cordially to each other, but Joan was in a worse mood.  After her outburst in the car, I didn't want her anger targeted at me, so I decided to lay low on my search for information.  Luckily, the next morning was the end of her vacation days, so she had to head off to work.  The tension in the house eased once she left and everyone found their own things to focus on.  I was still determined to gain more insight from Ruth, so I tagged after her that morning.  She clearly wasn't pleased with the company but knew better than to say anything.  She spent the morning cleaning the kitchen which my mother and I helped with.  My mother's presence limited any questions I wanted to ask so we mostly cleaned in silence.  After Ruth couldn't find another spot of dirt to focus on in the house, she asked me what my plans were for the day.

"I was hoping to just tag along on whatever you end up doing?" I said eagerly.  "I have really enjoyed reconnecting with you Ruthie."  I added the last part quickly before she could tell me not to hang around.

She seemed nervous at this and I could tell she was trying to think of a way to get rid of me.  "Ok well I am just going to... garden."  She hesitated before the word garden and in light of yesterday's book hunt I knew I was stumbling on something important.  My heart was pounding in my chest, and it was difficult to keep my face neutral.

"Fun!" I said hoping my excitement would just come off as enthusiasm to do something other than clean.

After that I spent the day following Ruth around as she planted new plants all over the yard.  I wanted to pry about the events that occurred earlier in the week, or even earlier in the summer, but I knew it would be better to focus on asking about the task at hand.  "How do you know where to plant these?"

"I don't know I just pick where I want them," Ruth said but as we walked, she had a determination that seemed anything but casual.  She didn't even bother to look as though she was deciding on the spots, and everything felt too preplanned for me to trust her words.

"Well how do you know what you want to plant?"

"This is dill," she said gesturing to the plants in our hand, "it's good for pickling and a bunch of other recipes.  I just felt like we should have some."

I made a mental note of dill so I could look it up next time I went to the bookstore.  "Do you mostly plant stuff we eat?"

"Yeah," she said stopping at a spot marked for the plants, "I like plants to be useful.  Helen would turn this place into a rose garden if she had a say, but I want my plants to be doing a job."

"I mean other than food what kind of job can plants do?" I could tell I was starting to get somewhere.

"Lots of things.  Some help the soil, some cleanse the air, some have health benefits, and some keep things out."  At first, she looked pleased as she spoke as if she enjoyed teaching me about the things she cared about, but when she mentioned the last words a look of panic crossed her face.

"Keep what kinds of things out?" 

"Bugs mostly," she said with her eyes nervously fixated on the task instead of looking at me. "Rosemary by the door to keep out spiders."

I could feel her defenses coming back up and I didn't want to waste any more time, so I decided to take a risk, "what about the plant you gave to Vivian.  What did that do?"

"Bloodroot," she said confidently, she had been waiting for this question, "it induces vomiting."

A chill ran down my spine at the name and I had a hard time imagining anything named bloodroot could be used with an intent to help someone.  I added the name alongside dill, knowing I would need to look it up next time I went to the bookstore.  

While I had only been thinking about our conversation, she had planted the dill, "well I'm going to head inside and shower and rest before Joan gets in."

It wasn't long after Ruth went inside that Joan returned and the three sisters headed off to her room to talk.  Mom had laid down with a headache and Fitz was on Vivin duty, so I was left free to go eavesdrop.  As always Joan whispered quietly enough that even when I had my ear pressed to the door I couldn't hear her part of the conversation, but Ruth and Helen were a bit louder.  When I first got to the door, Joan must have asked about my mom because Helen was talking about having, "left her alone all day" and claiming she "seemed calmer."

Joan said something inaudible.

"I think she's over it, I gave her space too."  Helen responded.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Ruth whispered, "she was with me all day asking questions."

I realized both that the "she" must be me and that I hadn't been as subtle with the questions as I had hoped.

"What kinds of questions?" Helen asked.

"About what I was planting and what I gave Vivian when she fell in the lake." 

This upset Joan enough that she momentarily lost control of her voice and became just loud enough that I could hear her "I thought you dealt with that."  Her voice sounded menacing, and I was glad it wasn't directed at me.

"I tried," Helen whined, "she wouldn't ever let me get close enough to use my power."

I froze and my body felt cold.  There was a sinking feeling in my stomach that left an unpleasant taste of bile in my mouth and my toes tingled in a way that told me I may pass out from shock.  I quietly pressed more of my body against the door to hold myself steady.  I had been creating theories of witchcraft and magic in my head for weeks now and to a degree I had even managed to convince myself, but it felt different hearing one of my cousins acknowledge her power.  I took deep breathes and reminded myself to refocus so I wouldn't miss more of the conversation.  

"That's something you should have told us Helen," Ruth said, "we didn't realize we had to do cleanup for two days."

"I'm telling you now," Helen said and she had intended to say more but was cut off. 

"Stop talking," Joan said, "I see Fitz and Vivi, but I don't see Addy."  They were clearly looking out the window where my brother and sister were playing in the yard.  "Let's continue this tonight, with mom."

If my head hadn't already been spinning from the mention of powers, this would have knocked me over.  I knew I had to get away from the door, but the mention of their mother confused me.  I wanted more details, I wanted to know what they could possibly mean by that, but I also wanted to get away before Joan caught me spying.