The Spider Catcher (Redemption by A.L. Tyler Book 1) (8 page)

There was nothing there that she could break.

“You need to go now, Ember.” Gina said finally, taking a few steps forward without making any move to touch her daughter. “Come back when you can be mature about this.”

With a sneer she couldn’t suppress, Ember turned and left. She didn’t bother to get a coat; she slammed the door behind her as she stomped from the house and into the wild. It was cold outside, but the heat running in her veins was still too much.

She didn’t go home for lunch that day, and had no intention of going back for dinner. She got lost twice, but eventually found a high point that allowed her to spot the dock that hung off of Main; with her bearings back, she made her way through the thicket, intending to go to The Garden. She didn’t have her wallet, but Zinny would know she had money.

Apparently,
everyone
knew she had money.

Huffing as the cold air raked her lungs, Ember rolled her eyes at her own stupidity. She had to be the only girl in history to be raised by paid strangers who hadn’t figured out that she was rich.

“Hey, little girl. Want some candy?”

Ember’s heart leapt in shock as she spun around. Isaac was twenty feet behind her and off to the left; he rolled up the magazine he had been reading, and awkwardly rose from the log he had been sitting on. His eyes remained on the needle-strewn ground as he took short, deliberate steps toward her, smiling nervously.

“Isaac.” Ember said as he stopped in front of her. His magazine, an old copy of
American Mechanic
, was torn and nearly wrinkled and weathered to death, and the sleeves of his brown sweater weren’t in a much better state. Ember frowned as her eyes moved from Isaac’s uncombed hair to his watery eyes, and finally to his pale and dirty feet. His toes stuck out like bleached white bones from the cuffs of his ripped jeans.

He wasn’t wearing any shoes.

“Are you okay?” She asked, her eyes snapping back to his face. “Isaac, what hap—“

“You shouldn’t be out here.” He mumbled, taking a step back as she moved toward him. He waggled his ratty magazine at her. “You’re supposed to be back at the house. You were out late with Acton. He told me. He tells me everything, tells me—tells me…”

Isaac froze, as if he had heard something in the forest. As Ember stared at him, she saw his face relax, and then his shoulders; it was like watching and ice cream coat melt.

“Isaac!” She lurched forward to catch him as he started to faint, but just before he lost his balance, his leg shot out as if it had a mind of its own. Isaac recovered, and straightened up to face her in one of the most unnatural gestures she had ever seen.

Ember kept her hands on his shoulders, gripping the wide weave on his sweater. “Are you okay?”

Isaac nodded, his eyes staring directly into hers, until he laughed and shook her off.

“I apologize, Em,” he said, tucking the magazine into his back pocket. “I come out here sometimes to be alone with my thoughts. Just me, the island, and a little inspiration.”

“And you don’t wear shoes?” Ember raised her eyebrows. “I mean, Jesus, it’s like fifty degrees out here.”

“Jesus, yeah.” Isaac said with another nervous smile. “And I have low blood pressure—it gets me sometimes when I stand up too quick, as you saw, and the cold doesn’t help.”

“The cold does that?”

“It does.” He said, putting an arm around her shoulders as they started walking again. “You’re going to lose yourself at the Garden tonight?”

“Lose myself?” Ember laughed. “Fancy talk for a car guy.”

“Ember, Ember, Ember, Ember…” He shook his head. “Do you see any cars around here? I like taking things apart, and seeing how they work. The mechanisms beneath the surface are amazing, and biologic mechanisms are the most interesting.”

Ember smiled and nodded. “So you like to sit in nature, and contemplate what makes the universe tick.”

“Or something like that.” Isaac smiled back.

“How very poetic of you.”

“You read poetry?” Isaac asked.

“Only what they assign in school.” Ember confessed. “I think it’s kind of boring. I mean, okay…Emily Dickinson, and Edgar Allan Poe, stuff like that is okay. But most of it I just don’t care for.”

“Emily Dickinson…” Isaac said, taking a step forward and spinning to face her. He pressed his hands together, shutting his eyes in thought. “You like dark things. Emily and Edgar were both fond of graveyards, weren’t they?”

Ember frowned, pushing past him. “They made death seem beautiful.”

His smile never slipping, Isaac followed after her. “If you say so.”

Chapter 6

He walked with her back to town, and just as dark was setting in, they found their way to The Garden. Ember looked at the sign, and sighed; the thought of drinking didn’t bother her anymore. She was beginning to look forward to it.

As they slid through the door, Ember saw Isaac nod to someone across the room. He was already halfway to the bar when Ember spotted Kaylee’s blonde head amidst a group of other girls at a table in the corner. She swung her arms, not sure if she was supposed to follow him or not, until her eyes wandered to the other side of the room.

Acton was sitting at a table alone, staring down at a book on the table, with one hand raised in the air. Just as she saw him, and without looking up, he motioned to her with his raised hand. Ember smiled in relief as she went over.

“You look lonely,” Acton said to his book.

“You haven’t even looked at me,” Ember said, taking the chair across from him.

Acton slowly closed his book, frowning. “I can see loneliness across a room, darling, especially when it’s radiating from Miss Ember Gillespie in visible waves. How have you been?”

Ember had clenched her fists and blushed when he said her name, enunciating each syllable like he was using it as a curse. “I think that pretty well covers it, actually.”

A smile spread across his face as he took her in. “Then you’ve come to the right place. Welcome home.”

Ember smiled, leaning forward in her chair. “So you’re not trying to impress the new girl anymore? What happened to your coat?”

Three glasses slammed down on to the table, and Asher slid into the chair next to her.

“It was destroyed,” Asher grinned, “In an unfortunate gardening accident.”

“A gardening accident?”

Acton scowled. “It was ripped while I was climbing a tree.”

Ember turned back to him. “You climb trees?”

“He does when I’ve stolen, and then hidden, something of value to him in said tree.” Asher said, pulling a glass toward himself with a small, self-satisfied grin.

Ember laughed as Acton glowered. “What did you take?”

“Something he holds very dear.” Asher said with a self-satisfied grin.      

“In any case, it doesn’t matter.” Acton cleared his throat. “You’re not wearing the coat I gave you, and that’s a far deeper insult. Did you get the books I left for you?”

The table went quiet; for a moment, Ember wasn’t sure who the question was directed at.

“Books?” She finally asked in a quiet voice.

“Books.” Acton repeated. “You came out yesterday for books, but we unfortunately left the bookstore without you having picked out any. After leaving The Garden last night, a sentimental mood caught me, and I left you a few of my favorites on your doorstep.”

Ember paused; she didn’t remember seeing any books when she had left, but then, she had been upset at the time.

“Perhaps you should look for them when you go back?” Acton offered. “Of course, that won’t be until tomorrow, with any luck.”

She couldn’t help herself and smiled. “I will. Thanks.”

He smiled again, but Ember could tell that he was disappointed. She tried her best to remember, but she still couldn’t see the books on the stoop in her mind’s eye.  She had a fantastic memory, and she had walked right out the front door. If there had been books there, she would have seen them.

“Isaac seems to be having some luck tonight,” Asher said, looking across the room.

“He deserves it.” Acton replied back to him, taking a drink.

“What books were they?” Ember suddenly asked. Acton’s gaze slowly turned back to her as he set his glass back on the table.

“Two old collections of Shakespeare’s comedies and tragedies,” he said, shifting in his chair as if she had caught him off guard. “Also, a few of my old paperbacks. Asimov and Heinlein, mostly—just what I had stored in the back room. I felt badly that you almost got locked out, and didn’t even go back with what you came out for.”

Finally reaching for the last glass on the table, Ember thought over her response. Old paperbacks were important to their owners. “Thank you. Thank you very much, Acton. I’ll have to read them, and then maybe we can talk about them.”

“Or not.” Acton shrugged. “Books are personal. They’re not all worth talking about.”

“Science fiction is.” Ember insisted.

“You’re both boring.” Asher said, excusing himself from the table.

“You’re familiar with the authors,” Acton went on, paying him no attention. “Do you like the genre?”

“It’s okay.” Ember said, trying not to sound too excited.

Another slow smile graced Acton’s face. “I agree.”

His expression changed as he caught sight of someone behind her. As Acton sat up a little straighter, Ember twisted around in her seat.

“Ember, this is Joseph.” Acton said in a quieted voice, as though he were telling her a secret. “He’s new to the island, like you. He’s also exceptionally lonely, as you are.”

Ember looked the stranger over; he was big, and the coat he wore, and his oily, shaggy, overgrown hair added a layer of padding that made him seem more like a bear than a human. His shoes had lost their laces, and he’d fitted them to stay on with straps of duct tape across their tops.  That crude but effective solution coupled with the lacerations on his calloused hands made her believe he was either a fisher or a lumberjack.

However, it was his lips she had trouble looking away from. They were too red, and too small for his round face.  They were like puckered children’s lips after eating a cherry ice pop. Lips like those had no business on a full grown man.

“Hi, Joseph.” She said with a quick smile, turning uncertainly back to Acton. He had a smug look on his face, and Ember wasn’t sure why he was introducing her to the stranger.

“Joseph needs some company, so he’ll be around some.” Acton explained.

Ember slowly turned back to look at Joseph.  He still hadn’t responded to her greeting, and he was staring at Acton with a sort of disgruntled hatred that made Ember uneasy. She sank a little lower in her seat as she turned back to stare at the table.

“Excuse us, Joseph.” Acton said with a wave. “Asher’s around here somewhere. He’ll keep you entertained.”

Ember’s eyes darted up to look at Acton’s face as she heard Joseph shuffle away, and for the first time, she was conscious of the fact that she wasn’t sure if Acton was a trustworthy person.

“Who is he?” She asked, shaking her head as she leaned forward over the table. “He’s old.”

Acton leaned his chair back so that he could bring his ankle up to rest on his knee. He looked down his nose with half-closed eyes to assess Joseph’s back. “He’s sleeping with my mother.”

Ember’s eyes went wide as she turned to look back in the direction that Acton was staring. Asher appeared to be gone, so Joseph had taken up with Isaac and his flock of teenage girls.

“That’s creepy.” Ember said before she could stop herself. “He’s…big. I mean, he would crush her. I mean, old.” Ember turned back to Acton, blushing and trying not to laugh. “I mean——why is he hanging out with us?”

Acton raised his eyebrows and nodded at her. “He’s hanging out with us because he seems to believe he has a chance joining this family. Which he doesn’t. We’re picky about who we let in, and he’s not welcome.”

Ember turned back and watched Joseph; he already has an arm around the brunette sitting next to Kaylee, and he was stealing inappropriate glances.

She cringed. “That’s…um, isn’t that your mom’s call? Who she wants to date, or…um, marry?”

“My mother isn’t the marrying type.” Acton said. “She’s never been married, and I have enough brothers. You’re going to help me get rid of him.”

“How?” Ember asked. She was almost sure she didn’t want to help, even if Joseph was a creepy old man with wandering eyes and hands. However, her curiosity to hear Acton’s plan had won out.

“We’re going to scare him off.”

“Well, yeah, but how?”

Acton paused, looking at the table, and then got up to position a chair next to hers before sitting down again. As they both stared at the wall, Acton leaned in close to her shoulder. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Ember took a deep breath, and then shook her head as she let it out. “Acton, you’re not doing anything to calm my nerves.”

“All of those girls over there, all of them, they’re Kaylee’s friends, and my mother hates Kaylee.” Acton said. Ember finally turned her head, and their eyes locked. “She’s been trying to get Isaac to run away with her for two years. So when she sees Joseph with those girls, she only sees prostitutes who are after her man. But you, Ember, she likes you. If she sees Joseph try that—any of that—with you, then she’ll see what he is. He’ll be out of my life in a heartbeat.”

Ember pulled at the sleeves of her shirt, trying to make it look like she was doing something to avoid answering. The thought of Joseph’s arm around her shoulders made her skin crawl. “Why does he hate you? I saw the way he was looking at you.”

“I told both him and my mother exactly what I thought when I walked in on them in the living room this morning, and I had to see the furry rug of his hunched spine over the back of the couch.” Acton’s eyes darkened.

“Wow.” Ember said, suddenly at a loss. “Just…wow.”

Acton didn’t respond. As they sat in silence, Ember’s imagination concerning Joseph’s back ran wild. She couldn’t even imagine the horror of walking in on one’s mother in such a situation. She couldn’t imagine why someone would engage in those activities in a living room, when the privacy of bedroom was so close.

“Em,” Acton started again, “I know you didn’t……well, I know your relationship with your mother is different than what I have with mine. But I think you can understand why I don’t want that man in my house or around my mother.”

“No…” Ember said, shaking her head.  Even as uncomfortable as it still was, she appreciated the delicate way he had stated the situation with Gina. “I get it. I’ll help. But he doesn’t touch me, and I will never be alone with him. And if Zinny finds out, and she’s angry, it was your idea. You threatened my life to make me do it, or something.”

“Done.” Acton breathed a smile as he leaned in to give her a quick but firm hug. “Ember, I can’t tell you how much this means to me. Thank you.”

When Ember woke up the next morning, she followed what had become her typical routine. She cursed the cold and kept her blankets wrapped around her shoulders until the water in the shower ran hot enough for her to step in. She dressed herself and did her hair, and then started down the stairs for breakfast. It wasn’t until the last step, when she tried to collect her thoughts to respond to the inevitable question about why she had been out so late, that she had the sudden and sinking realization that she couldn’t remember the last sixteen hours of her life.

As her foot hovered over the stair, she had another stark realization; she wasn’t hung over. Adrenaline flooded her veins as goose bumps rose on her flesh, and she sat down on the stairs.

She remembered yesterday morning, and the fight with her mother. She had left the house, and hiked for a while, and then run into Isaac, and they had gone to the bar. She had spoken with Acton about books, and a creepy old guy, and then…

Nothing.

She pressed her hands to her head, wondering if it was possible to get drunk enough to black out, and then not have a hangover. She was almost sure it wasn’t possible.

An expression of horror spread over her face as she realized that she didn’t even remember coming home. She hadn’t taken her key with her when she left—that much she was sure of—which meant that someone had let her in. It had probably been Gina, and Ember didn’t even remember it.

She jumped back to her feet and raced back up the stairs. She couldn’t face Gina without at least having some idea what had happened the night before. If she waited, the memories would come back—they had to.

But as she turned the corner at the top of the stairs to go back to her room, she ran into Thalia, coming out of her room to use the bathroom.

“Oh!” Ember exclaimed as they collided. “I am so sorry—excuse me!”

Thalia only raised a hand to wave her off with a mild smile. “No problem.”

But before either of them could shut their door, Ember stopped.

“Hey…” She said quietly. “Shouldn’t you be down at breakfast?”

Thalia looked confused for a moment, and then walked over to stand next to her sister. Her eyes were filled with fear as she leaned in to whisper. “Lunch was three hours ago. And you’re welcome—I still can’t believe you climbed the trellis and got through my window while you were drunk. Just don’t do it again. Mom would really freak out if she knew, so remember your key next time.”

Ember felt dread in the pit of her stomach as Thalia examined her with wide, innocent eyes before she turned and left her. It wasn’t possible; there was no way she could have done those things if she had been drinking. She had trouble
walking
if she had been drinking. And if she had come in late enough to sleep three hours past lunch without realizing it, it must have been an eventful night.