The Kelpie's Curse (book #1 in the Kelpie's Entrapment trilogy)

Day 4, pt. 2

***

Evelyn was frantic. She looked all around the house, even out back in the shed, but she could not find Renestrae anywhere. What was worse is you'd think that when the police saw you as the only suspect in a double homicide that you'd quit sneaking out every morning. Of course Renestrae couldn't be reasonable. The girl was way too stubborn and unreasonable, and willful for all that! Jeez, she had half a mind to-

Her thought was cut short as the door opened and Renestrae came waltzing through as if nothing was the matter. It set her teeth on edge.

"Just where the hell have you been?" Evelyn shouted.

"Huh?" Renestrae asked, her eyes taking on a deer-caught-in-the-headlights type quality to them.

"Don't play dumb with me, Renestrae Edwina Frank!" Evelyn shouted, making Renestrae wince at the use of her middle name. "Where have you been?"

"I went for a walk."

"At five o'clock in the morning?"

"I've always done that, Ev. This isn't anything new."

Evelyn gritted her teeth, firstly because Renestrae had a point. That wasn't new behavior for her and because the normally fiery girl was all calm when she wasn't. This didn't make any sense. Usually, she was the one talking calm logic and it was Renestrae that was flying off the handle.

"There's a murderer out there! Do you really think you should be going for walks at the crack ass of dawn?"

Renestrae shrugged nonchalantly. "I came back in one piece, didn't I?"

That was it! That was the straw that broke the camel's back and Evelyn was going to pound her best friend into the ground. How could that girl be so nonchalant about this? People were dying and in a very gruesome manner, she might add.

"Don't do it, Evelyn," Kaloria said from the living room couch, without looking up from the book she was reading.

"What the hell do you mean 'don't do it'?" Evelyn all but growled. "She's putting herself in danger!"

"Yes, but you know Ren. Once she's made her mind up about something, telling her different is like talking to a brick wall. Frustrating and pointless."

Evelyn wanted to hit something because Kaloria had a point. Renestrae had always been like that. It was one of the things she both loved and hated about the girl. She drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. She had to be careful about what she said next, because as well as being stubborn Renestrae was always more prideful than any man she knew. She could not take criticism, constructive or otherwise.

"At least take your bow next time. I may not like that you brought it, but at least we know that you're a good shot, you know, just in case."

Renestrae smiled. "So what are you two doing up so early? I couldn't have been gone more than an hour or two."

"Couldn't sleep," Kali answered from her book on the couch.

"Who could, with a murderer on the loose?" Evelyn elaborated.

Renestrae shook her head at them. "I wouldn't know. I've never been able to sleep."

Evelyn almost winced at that. How could she be so careless? Of course, lack of sleep was nothing new to Renestrae. Her nightmares had never allowed her to get the same amount that she and Kali took for granted. The only good thing, she supposed, was that when not dreaming Renestrae slept like the dead.

"How are the nightmares now?" Evelyn asked cautiously. She'd probably never forget their first sleepover after the incident. The nightmare had been so bad that Renestrae had flailed and screamed like nothing Evelyn had ever seen before or since. It had thoroughly scared the Dickens out of her. She hadn't heard Renestrae scream in many years so maybe it was getting better ... or maybe her friend had simply grown accustomed to it.