Part 4 (1/2)
”Well, we're off,” John said, rising. Sally stood along with her husband. ”We're not doing the witch thing at all today-were off to the Mariner's Museum.”
”And we're off to see the House of the Seven Gables today,” Joshua told them.
Finn wiggled his brows. ”We're off to see the Wiccan-Megan's family,” he told him with a wink. ”But don't worry-thanks to you, young man, we'll know to avoid the hokey stuff, right Megan?”
Brad and Mary were rising as well, and the kids stood along with their parents. ”Well, have a good day,” Mary said.
”Thanks, we will,” Megan said. ”You, too.””We'll get to the House of the Seven Gables eventually, too,” Finn told the kids. ”There's a tremendous literary history here in Salem, too.”
”Yeah... I guess we'll have to read,” Joshua said a little remorsefully.
”When you read, you learn great stories,” Finn said.
”Yeah, I guess.”
Mary flashed him a smile, and filed out behind her husband and kids. With John and Sally gone as well, Finn and Megan were alone. She looked a little distressed.
He offered her his deepest smile. ”All right, so they all think we're both weird. I'm a wife beater, and you're a witch by a.s.sociation.
Hey, it's kind of fun.”
She still appeared distraught, deep blue eyes dark, slender face, with it's perfectly chiseled beauty, drawn. ”Finn, I'm so sorry-”
”Quit being sorry. I was the world's biggest a.s.shole last night, and I'm going to make it up to you today. I'm going to be perfectly charming to Morwenna and her bizarre husband. I'm not going to crack a joke or sniff at the Wiccans in any way, shape, or form.
I'm even going to have my palm read.”
”Finn, you don't have to-”
He was surprised at the sudden tension that ripped into him-another feeling of absolute desperation. ”I don't have to do anything. I want to make a great, fun day for both of us. And I want to get to know your family better, and... I love you, Megan. And I'm never going to let anything come between us again. Anything. Nightmares, my own stupid temper, anything. And as long as you love me, too, I don't give a d.a.m.n what anyone thinks. Right?”
She smiled, slowly, leaned close, and kissed him. A perfect kiss, chaste, just right for the breakfast table. But Megan had the ability just to lightly press her lips against his, and make it the most sensual brush in the world. He felt a strange trembling, so stood awkwardly. ”We should get going, too. Whoops, sorry. My eggs weren't so hot. Were you still eating? Didn't mean to rush you.”
”No, no, I'm done. Let's get going.”
It was as if they were both suddenly desperate to get out of the centuries-old house, and into the suns.h.i.+ne.
They left the breakfast room, which led straight into the main entry, the old foyer with its circular stairway to the floors above.
Outside, in the crisp October sunlight, she stopped suddenly. ”I love you, too, you know. So much that it scares me!” she said softly.
”Don't ever be afraid of loving me. You are my world,” he told her, his words far more pa.s.sionate than he had intended. He felt strangely awkward, as if he had said too much, even to his wife. ”Hey, come on, my palm is just itching to be read. And I'm dressed appropriately, all in black. Hurry, while I'm in the mood to really suck up to your relatives!”
”Okay, I'm hurrying, but we're going to make a stop on the way.”
”We're going to stop? Hey, I may run out of suck-up steam.”
”No, you won't, because when you have a chance to talk more with Morwenna and Joseph than you did at our wedding, you're going to like both of them.”
Finn didn't reply for a moment as he walked by her side. He didn't think she was right. He wasn't sure what color Morwenna's hair was supposed to be, but not the raven black she had it colored. And she continually wore black. Complete black. Joseph was the same. His hair was as long as his wife's; he wore it queued back. He wore black trousers and a black s.h.i.+rt, and a huge silver pentagram, at all times.He wondered what the two would wear to the beach. If they ever went to a beach.
”Where did you want to stop?” he asked.
”The Salem Witch Museum. The boy, Joshua, was right. It takes about twenty minutes, and is the probably the best, most concise way, of getting an overview of what happened during the frenzy in 1692. You'll enjoy it, really.”
”Lead on,” he told her.
”There are more places we have to go, of course. The Peabody Ess.e.x Museum is incredible. There's so much in there that's just about American lifestyles through the centuries. Lots of the historical buildings actually belong to the museum now. Sometime, we'll have to get to the House of the Seven Gables. It's a wonderful area, really, and a lot of what is historical is all within walking distance. Morwenna's shop is down a block or so and around the corner from the Salem Witch Museum, and it's just a block or so from the Peabody Ess.e.x Museum. And there are all kinds of little wonderful shops in between. And we can eat lunch at a little place on the water. Actually, I have to admit, I loved it all a lot more when I was growing up. Everything was a little spookier and more historical. Now, there's a fair amount of what's commercial going on.”
”Then, of course, there has to be a bit of those who were just born here, have the good old New England reserve and stamina, and just grew up without finding the world spins on the history and witches-real and imagined-in Salem.”
She glanced at him sharply.
”Hey! I'm just saying I'll bet there are a lot of normal people here just living their lives.”
”Well, of course. It's just a town, a charming town.”
”A beautiful town,” he agreed.
And it was. October. A lot of the leaves had already fallen. No snow yet. The temperature was chill but not at all painfully cold.
The colors of fall were everywhere, some of the leaves still oh the trees, glorious in shades of orange and gold and amber. The town-whether they all believed in witchcraft or not-went all out with pumpkins, jack-o'-lanterns, scarecrows, and decorations.
By day, they were light and airy-fun. But it seemed that every house they walked by had something going on-Wal-Mart ghosts hanging from their trees, a pumpkin patch by an old elm, skeletons flying from the porch eaves, bats... and at a few houses, the old green witches on broomsticks slammed against a tree, as if they'd run into it. Cute. Harmless.
”Morwenna hates those,” Megan commented as they walked by one of the latter.
”Ah, come on, they're cute. Don't Wiccans have a sense of humor?”
”Well, sometimes. But I guess they feel that the old crone concept-warty noses, green flesh, broomsticks, all that-contributes to the idea of evil. And if you follow the concepts of Wicca-”
”Whether you follow the concepts or not, witchcraft is a.s.sociated with Satanism, and Satanism has had a bunch of what you might want to call really, truly evil people over the centuries.”
Megan shrugged. ”There-that's the statue of Conant in front of us. The founder of Salem. And the museum is just ahead, on our right.”
They had reached the center of the historic district. He'd noted the statue the night before, and remembered asking her something about the old Gothic building next to it and her saying that it was one of the area's best tableaus.
He thought that they were heading right in, but Megan suddenly placed a hand on his arm. ”Look, Finn! Someone has a Great Dane at the park!”
Megan was a sucker for dogs-the bigger the better. But he suddenly felt as if a breath of fresh air rushed by them. Looking across the street at the common, he saw that a number of people were out, walking dogs. A few other kids were throwing a ball around; two young women were jogging together.
”Well, let's go see the Great Dane,” he said lightly.
She flashed him a smile. They joined a throng of tourists crossing the street to the large, s.p.a.cious common. People around them were laughing. A woman strolled a toddler in a cherry-pink carriage. The world seemed pleasant. And normal It was a town, just a town, like any other. Taking revenge upon the evil of the past by making big bucks on tourism.
”Hey, is he friendly?” he called out as they reached the park, to the young man or older teen who was walking the animal.
”She's a total sweetheart!” the youth called back, grinning. Finn, with Megan at his side, approached. Despite the Dane's mammoth size, they both hunkered down. The huge dog immediately licked them both. She was so friendly that she knocked Megan over in her enthusiasm. The kid started to apologize, and Megan laughed, waving a hand in the air, accepting Finn's hand to come back to her knees to better get to know the dog.
”Lizzie doesn't know her own strength,” the kid said. He extended a hand to Finn. ”Hi. I'm Darren Menteith. And this, of course, is Lizzie.”