Chapter 8
8
Dinner parties in Firelight Ridge were always potlucks. That meant they had a different vibe, in Lachlan’s experience. More casual, less focused on the host or hostess, more relaxed and chaotic.
Ani and Gil had made moosemeat chili, which bubbled in a Crock-Pot on the stove. Ani had also made naan from scratch. The puffy flatbread was so good that Gil had literally dropped to his knees and bowed down to her.
Molly and Sam brought a smoked salmon dip with plenty of crackers, while Lila made one of her extravagant salads, which contained everything from toasted pecans to sliced apples, along with a profusion of winter greens.
“Can you believe they survived under so much snow? I had to snowshoe into the garden to pick them, and it took me a while to find them. Once I brushed the snow off, they were fine!” Lila clasped her hands together with excitement.
“The snow insulates winter greens from the cold and wind, and keeps the soil warm enough so they can still grow. The fluffy structure of the snow traps air pockets, which don’t conduct cold very well,” he said, then immediately regretted it. He didn’t always have to be Mr. Science Guy, did he?
“Yes, isn’t it cool? My lettuces turned to mush, but the kale and the cabbage are mostly in good shape.”
“You’re really enjoying your first winter here, aren’t you?”
“So much!” She practically danced with joy.
Bear, hovering just behind her, smiled as he shook his head. “I keep thinking the next storm will be the one that puts her over the edge, but I keep being wrong.”
“I told you guys, this is my place. Not even the earthquake changed my mind.” Lila’s silver-white hair glistened as she tossed the salad with a dressing she’d brought in a jar. “Lachlan, did you bring your newest creation?”
Ever since he’d started filling in at The Fang, he’d been experimenting with new cocktails. These days, customers would come in and ask for whatever Lachlan’s brain wave of the day might be. Bear had actually started running naming contests for them.
“I did. I have a full bottle of Gale Force Galaxy Brain right here.” He uncorked the bottle and let her take a whiff.
“Ugh, who named that one?”
“That was Oil Can’s doing. He got all the other Community members to vote for it.”
“Sounds rigged.” Lila grabbed a shot glass and held it out for Lachlan to fill. This drink was mostly spiced rum, but he’d added a few other secret ingredients, including blackberry liqueur and mint. “I choose to call it Come Sail Away,” she announced after a sip.
“That’s much better.” He poured himself a glass and clicked it against hers. “I like the pirate theme.”
As people bustled in and out of the kitchen, filling plates and bowls, Lila drew him to the side. He’d gotten to know her pretty well from working at The Fang, so he knew that she had unusually strong intuition. He respected that, because his own brain didn’t fit normal patterns either. He’d long ago decided that “normal” didn’t have much meaning when it came to how people thought.
“I wanted to tell you about a dream I had the other night,” Lila said in a low voice. “Do you mind?”
“No, of course not.”
“It wasn’t literally a dream,” she clarified. “Sometimes I get…very strong and vivid images. I don’t always know what they mean, but they’re not nothing. They’re something.”
“Okay.” He waited for her to say more. She cocked her head at him in surprise.
“You don’t have a million questions about that?”
“About your dream? I haven’t even heard it yet.”
“About…never mind. Here’s what I saw. I saw you and Maura. You were on the edge of a cliff, and there was a ferocious wind blowing past you. Maura was right on the edge, looking down, and you were holding onto her coat so she didn’t fall. I was there too, but I was invisible and I had no voice, but I was screaming at you to not let go. But you couldn’t hear me, or you didn’t want to listen, I’m not sure. Then Maura looked back my way, and I could see she was in despair and didn’t know what to do. Then she pushed you away from her.”
His heart was hammering. “What happened? Did she fall?”
“I don’t know, because it ended right there.”
He rubbed at his sternum. “Any idea what it means?”
“No. Sometimes I see things that have happened in the past.”
“I’ve never been to the edge of a cliff, at least not with Maura.”
“Well, sometimes I see things that haven’t happened yet. Warnings.” She lowered her voice even further. “Back in high school, I knew there was going to be a shooting at a track meet, and I made all my friends stay home. I couldn’t warn anyone else because they wouldn’t have believed me. But it was real.”
He stared down at her, goosebumps rising on his skin. “So I should avoid cliffs with Maura?”
“Maybe, but it could also be symbolic. This is why I don’t normally tell people about the things I see. It’s not easy to translate into reality.”
He nodded, though his insides were churning. No matter what they meant, the images she talked about were striking. The edge of a cliff. Maura’s despair. Lila being invisible and tongue-tied. Maura pushing him away.
“There was another odd thing,” Lila said. “Maura’s hair wasn’t black. It was a more of a rich deep brown color, an earthy color.”
He didn’t know what to make of that detail. But then something else occurred to him. “Let me ask you something. Have you had any of these dreams?—”
“Blips.”
“Blips.” He accepted her correction with a smile. “Have you had any blips about our local wildlife?”
She drew in a sharp breath and drilled him with her violet-eyed gaze. “What do you mean exactly?”
“Sorry, I didn’t—” He broke off, confused by the strength of her reaction.
“No, it’s okay.” She collected herself. “I haven’t, not exactly. It’s more like, a warning.”
“What kind of warning?”
“That there’s some kind of threat. But I don’t know what it is. I can’t even put it into words or images.”
Behind him, people were coming in and out of the kitchen, chattering and filling their bowls. The aroma of chili filled the room. Outside the window, over Lila’s shoulder, the spill of light from the kitchen picked up the glitter of drifting snowflakes.
“But you made the connection as soon as I mentioned wildlife. What came to mind?”
She closed her eyes, as if trying to summon the memory. “It’s just…energy. That’s the only way I can put it. I pick up on various kinds of energy. Lately, every time I ski through the woods, I sense that something is off. It’s more quiet than it should be.”
“The winter is always more quiet than the summer.”
“I know. I thought that was the reason. But it’s more than that. It’s…uneasiness. As if something has changed and the wild creatures are trying to work with it.”
Lachlan wondered what could possibly change that the animals would notice, but not the humans. Not him. He always paid close attention to micro-changes in the environment.
And he knew that human ways of knowing were not the only ways. Plants and animals were able to sense things in a way the human brain couldn’t. Various species had chemical, light, odor and geographical sensors that were far more developed than those of humans. Why else would dogs be trained to sniff out prey, or pigs to unearth truffles? How else could migrating birds navigate across thousands of miles?
Bear appeared next to Lila and put a protective arm over her shoulders. “Everything okay over here?”
“Yes,” Lila assured him as she snuggled close to him. “Better now, of course.”
Bear was so much taller than Lila that he had to hunch his shoulders in order to rest his chin on the top of her head. Even so, they were perfect for each other. The happiness that hummed between them was so powerful it was almost visible.
“Are you both ready to Come Sail Away?” Bear held up the bottle Lachlan had brought. “We’re going to drink and play charades and hope it doesn’t snow so much that everyone’s stuck here for the night.”
“It’s fine if you are,” Lachlan told him. “We have sleeping bags and Therm-A-Rests for all.”
A grin split Bear’s coppery face. “A Firelight Ridge slumber party. Wouldn’t be the first time.”