Chapter 25
Dylan checked his phone before they entered the house. No new messages.
He called out as he opened the door. “Mamaw? Found anything yet?”
He heard his mother upstairs. “Goddamnit!”
Dylan took off, sprinting up the stairs. He burst into the study, his eyes scanning the room for threats. “What was that?”
Merrin glared at him, and Tinah chuckled softly. “That was your mother overreacting.” She glared at Merrin, who was heading for the door. “Like she always does.”
His mamaw smiled at him. He smiled back and walked over to them. “What about?”
Merrin stormed out of the room. Dylan turned to follow her, but his mamaw stopped him. “Let her go. She needs to cool off. Seems she’s been pissed off at the wrong person all these years.” She turned the book they had been hovering around and pointed. “According to this, Homer didn’t know anything until the gate opened, and your daddy had been arguing with him about wanting to go across to see what it was like.” She sighed. “He was always a little foolhardy. Rushing into things.” Her eyes narrowed at him. “Kinda like you did today.”
Tinah chuckled. “I’m going to go check on Merrin.”
Dylan looked at the page, choosing to ignore the jab. He had been foolhardy, but they had gotten some information. He still wasn’t sure if it was useful information, but time would tell. As he read, the events of that day became clear, or as clear as they could be, but it didn’t help prove or refute Johnny’s story.
He sighed and looked at the doorway. Gabriel was leaning against the doorjamb. “Homer was in town and felt the gate open. He hurried back, but by the time he got there, they were dead, and no one was around.”
Gabriel nodded. “Did it say where he was at in town?”
Dylan nodded. “He was at Stuart’s getting groceries.” His brow furrowed. “But why did he say he sent them in the other journal?”
Gabe chewed on his bottom lip. “Okay, so that’s about a five-minute drive, but we should probably assume he was in the store, and it took him a few minutes to realize exactly what was going on.”
Dylan looked at his mamaw, who nodded her agreement. “Probably fifteen minutes at most. And as far as the story goes, maybe he thought you wouldn’t dig, would seal the gate, and your mother could keep blaming him.” She sighed. “That sounds like something Homer would do, at least. Keep your father the fallen hero in her eyes and keep himself the villain.”
Dylan sighed and looked at Gabriel. “Go ask mom and Tinah to come back up. We need to talk about Johnny.”
When Gabriel had left, he whispered, “Do you think that is enough time for one person to come through and wander out of sight?”
She shrugged. “Guess it depends on where exactly the gate is. I’m not sure, and nothing really says. Was that in the smaller journal he left for you?”
Dylan shook his head. He could hear voices coming up the stairs. “How big is the property? Do you know?”
She sighed and whispered, “I have 500 acres. According to the old papers I showed you, I think the Coates land is at least that. I could never make heads or tails of exactly how big the property was.”
He nodded just as Gabriel returned with Merrin and Tinah. Dylan looked at them. He let out a sigh. “Gabe, if I forget anything, just jump in.” He relayed everything Johnny had told them about how he got here and the history of the war.
Gabriel smiled and gave a soft chuckle. “You got most of it. The only thing you missed was the fact that he kept eyeballing me like I was his ticket out of here.”
Dylan blushed. “I was kinda leaving that out on purpose.” He looked at his grandmother. “So, what do you think?”
She looked at him, her mouth twitched as if she were trying the words out before she spoke. “I don’t know. From what you said, he didn’t say a lot that’s really useful, and he didn’t say anything that could fully exonerate him at this point.”
Tinah spoke behind Dylan. “Well, that depends on where the gate is. Let’s say based on what we read earlier, if the gate is in the basement, that’s not believable. But if it’s way out in the woods, which is what it sounds like, then it might be plausible.”
Dylan nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. The only other thing I don’t get is Homer’s wards driving him off the property. According to him, his wards were to protect against enemies of the realm. They didn’t feel anything like the ones here. I could feel them the moment I set foot on the property, but I just thought that was my nerves at first.” He sighed. “Granted, he could’ve been bullshitting about the wards at Peggy’s. Too bad Homer didn’t say what the wards he did were so I could understand.”
Merrin spoke, her voice barely a whisper. “When Homer told me what happened, he wanted us to come live with him. He said that it was safe. That no outsider can come in and hurt us. Maybe he meant he warded against anyone or anything from other worlds.”
Dylan nodded. “It’s possible. I’ll see what I can figure out about them, but I’m afraid to mess with them too much at this point. Especially with what we’re going to need to do tomorrow.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “We’re going to look for the gate tomorrow, aren’t we?”
Dylan flashed a weak smile. “Yeah. We have to. It’s the key to knowing whether Johnny’s story is bullshit.”
Merrin looked as if she would argue, but didn’t. Her head dropped, and she nodded. “We better get some rest then.” She turned and headed downstairs, Tinah on her heels. His mamaw stood and patted his shoulder and followed them down the stairs.
Gabriel stepped closer. “Are you sure about this?”
Dylan nodded and whispered. “Yeah. I’m going to try to open the gate when we find it.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
Dylan shrugged. “If we’re right about the wards, nothing can come through. If not, we’re just hiding in the dark.”
Gabriel let out a sigh, and Dylan wrapped his arms around him and rested his head on Gabriel’s shoulder. “I want to forget about all of this for tonight.”
Gabriel smiled softly and cupped his cheek and raised his face to meet his gaze. “I think I can help with that, if you’ll let me.”
Dylan smiled and leaned in to kiss him.