Chapter 38

When I got through the door my mum ambushed me almost immediately, but she was beaten to the punch by Terri. My sister seized me in a tight hug, causing me to wince when she pressed her firm body against my bruised stomach.

“Are you okay?” she asked anxiously. “I heard about what happened.”

Mum’s mouth was open, but initially no sound came out as Terri’s concern stole the wind from her sails.

“THERESA MAY! What happened?” Mum demanded. “And why didn’t you tell me before?”

“Because you never gave me a chance,” Terri replied. “You were too busy ranting about how much rope you were giving Kevin to hang himself.”

Dad intervened, bringing a calmer head into play. “Let’s go into the lounge then you can tell us all about it,” he said.

When we were all comfortably seated, I handed over the Suspension Notice to my parents. They read it grimly.

“Fighting,” said my mum. “This is a new low even for you.”

“Aren’t you even interested in my side of the story?” I asked.

“Let’s hear what Kevin has to say before we rush to judgment,” said Dad.

That silenced my mum for the moment.

“Jaymon Solassie, who’s a sort of minder for Cayenne Proctor, Joanna Kafkasian and their circle, caught me by surprise with a sucker punch,” I said. “He was demanding to know where Joanna was because she’s still missing. I was on the ground and about to get some serious damage from a kicking when Dimitri interposed himself between us and faced him down.”

Nobody moved to say anything so I continued. “Mrs Gibbons, my Home Room Teacher, saw what happened and took us to Principal Hockstadler. He said he had to give us all Suspension Notices pending a hearing. It’s a third strike and possibly expulsion for Jaymon, but afterwards the Principal implied that Dimitri and I were in the clear and the hearing was a formality. Dimitri was really worried about what his mom would say so I went home with him to confirm his story.”

Dad nodded. I hoped that meant he approved. “You look in pretty good shape for someone who had his lights punched out,” he observed.

I lifted up my shirt. Terri gasped at the livid red bruise.

“You need to go to the hospital,” said Mum.

“It’s okay,” I said. “It looks worse than it feels.”

Mum didn’t look convinced but she didn’t press the issue. “At least you’ve got tomorrow off, and since you’re grounded you’ll be able to rest,” she said.

“About that,” I said. “I need to show you something.” I took out the newspaper line drawing of the witch and the still from the hotel security camera. “The drawing is of the Witch of the Mountain from an edition of the town newspaper just after the Civil War. The photo is from the hotel security camera seconds after Joanna and I parted yesterday morning. I don’t know how I missed her but she was following Joanna.”

“I told you to drop this nonsense,” Mum insisted.

“Beth,” said Dad, “look at the two and judge for yourself.”

Mum looked at the two prints.

“Nobody’s looking for Joanna on the mountain, so that’s where I’m going tomorrow,” I said, putting as much resolve into my tone as I could muster.

“Oh no you’re not,” Mum insisted. “You’re grounded.”

“The only way you can stop me is to put me in shackles. Otherwise I don’t care, it’s worth it to try to save Joanna.”

Mum looked to Dad for support, but he was scrutinising the images.

“Well?” asked Mum, expecting his support.

“I have to admit they’re very good likenesses,” said Dad. “I don’t seriously think they’re of the same person, not after all this time. But I think we have to trust Kevin to make his own mistakes and learn from them. Besides, what can go wrong? Kevin has an invigorating stroll on the mountainside and provides a nice meal for a bear or a bobcat.”

“You’re not helping,” snapped Mum. Then she turned back to me. “If you defy me and go out tomorrow, there will be consequences.” Then she got up and stalked towards the kitchen.

“Kevin, I hope you know what you’re doing,” said Dad. “You’re going out on a very long limb for this girl. And to what end? Her family’s the equivalent of royalty in these parts. And even if you do manage to conquer the social divide, what’s your endgame? With your being gay, it’s not like there’s any chance of the two of you marrying and having two point four kids together.”

I gritted my teeth on being reminded that that virtually everyone still thought I was gay. “It felt as though Joanna and I had a connection,” I explained. “We actually had interesting conversations together. We agreed to be friends and I’m going out on a limb for her just as I would for any of my friends or family.”

“If you do go scouring the mountain tomorrow,” he said, “and I’m not giving you permission, just accepting that we can’t stop you, please be careful. I was joking about bears and bobcats - they haven’t been seen around here for decades - but it’s easy to slip and fall, and if you’re on your own when you sprain your ankle or break your leg, you’re in serious trouble.”