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

Day 2 pt. 4

***

It was late when Kaloria finally called Ainslie. Understandably Renestrae had been moody and had gone to bed at a reasonable hour, though she had a feeling it was more to get away from Evelyn than anything else. Honestly, she didn't know what Evelyn was doing. Sure, the constant picking and pestering was just Evelyn's way of getting them to not worry about things that were currently out of their control but it was obvious that Renestrae was just not in the mood.

Now Kaloria had learned long ago how to read Renestrae's moods because, as surprising as it was, despite her short stature Renestrae had quite the temper on her and it had never been pretty when she had lost her careful control over it. Renestrae had never gotten violent with anyone, of course, but it was still quite the sight to see. She supposed it was the mixture of German and Irish blood that made the brunette so hot-headed.

Quickly, she dialed the numbers Ainslie had given her last night as they were leaving and waited.

"Hello," he growled into the phone.

Kaloria almost winced but scolded herself. He was going to be angry and upset and a whole flurry of other emotions after his twin's murder.

"I heard about what happened. I'm so sorry Ainslie."

She heard what sounded like a hiccup then, "Not yer fault, ye" hiccup "didn't kill 'im." hiccup.

He was probably drunk, she decided, but still that was understandable. After all, didn't death take its toll on everyone differently? She was just about to respond when he continued.

"Heard they suspect yer friend."

"They shouldn't. She didn't do anything. According to Ren, when she found him she thought he was drowning."

He hiccupped again. "Doesn't mean she couldnae have done it."

Instantly Kaloria narrowed her eyes, tightening her hand around the phone's receiver and could feel her blood boil beneath her skin. If Renestrae felt anything like this then she could understand the girl's occasional outbursts.

"Don't say that," she hissed. "If you knew Ren you wouldn't even think that she could do such a thing."

"I-"

"Quiet! Ren almost drowned once. She says that it was the most painful experience of her life, and that actually means something coming from her, so believe me when I tell you that Renestrae is incapable of such a thing."

There was a pause, then a heavy sigh on the other end of the line. "I'm sorry, love. I'm just a little shaken. Of course yer friend didnae do it. Why would she? She didn't even know him. I-"

Beep.

"I'm so sorry, Ainslie, but there's another call coming through. I'll talk to you tomorrow," she said hurriedly before switching over to the waiting call.

"Hello."

"Hello, this is Constable Gordon O'Cain. May I ask who this is?"

Kaloria almost breathed a sigh of relief. If it was bad news she was sure that officer Dean would have already been at her door demanding that they turn Ren over to them. The man gave her the creeps like no other.

"This is Kaloria Vedder. What can I do for you, officer?"

"Miss Vedder, I would like tae talk tae Miss Frank if she's available. Important information just came up in th' investigation."

"Of course, officer. Just one moment."

Kaloria nearly sprinted to Renestrae's room to wake her up.

"Ren!" she shouted as she threw the door to her room open.

"What?" Renestrae asked tiredly.

"That officer from this afternoon is on the phone. It sounds important."

Kaloria watched as Renestrae's brown eyes grew wide and she took off for the kitchen phone faster than anyone had ever seen the girl move. Kaloria followed closely behind her, of course.

"Hello." Renestrae's voice was hesitant and wavered slightly. "Yes, this is Renestrae... Well, of course, it is. May I ask what the report says..."

There was a very long pause in which Kaloria watched all of the blood drain from Renestrae's face. Her eyes started to water, and Kaloria would have placed money on it that Ren was feeling a profound sense of terror.

"Yes, quite tragic. Have a good night, Mr. O'Cain." As soon as she had hung up, Renestrae put her back to the wall and slid down it muttering "Oh my god," over and over again. She wouldn't be surprised if she had forgotten she was in the room.

"Ren, what is it?" Kaloria asked tentatively. In all the years that she'd known her, aside from waking up in the morning, she had never seen Renestrae afraid. Most of the time she thought the girl must have been too brave to feel that particular emotion.

Renestrae's head snapped up suddenly and Kaloria could tell from her expression that Ren had, in fact, forgotten that she was there. She had a feeling she knew what the officer had said. To her knowledge, there was only one thing that could completely terrify Ren to that extent.

"Kali, he drowned. The ... the cause of death. He drowned before his heart was ripped out."

Kaloria spent the next hour consoling Renestrae until she was able to go to sleep. While she had an idea of what could have caused her to go into such a state, Kaloria had never given much thought to Renestrae's fear. Her friend loved the water and went swimming every year, but even as she thought about it Kaloria realized that there were signs. For instance, when they had both been fifteen her mother had taken them to a public swimming pool and her brother had playfully tried dunking Renestrae's head under the water, only for Ren to come back up and "gift" him with a black eye.

Maybe a trip to the local library would take Renestrae's mind off things. After all, there was nothing that made Ren quite as happy as books. Well, maybe her bow but they ran it a close second.