Four and Twenty Blackbirds (Eden Moore 1)

"Because so far as I've heard, they've not yet caught Malachi. And I think you mean to hand me over to him if you can. " I didn't really know if they'd caught him or not, but I figured she'd contradict me if I was mistaken.

"Well, that's not right. I'm not about to hand you over to him. "

So he was still out there and Lulu had been right. Chattanooga considers Macon nearby enough to be a source of local news, so it wasn't surprising that she'd heard. "Well, I don't know that. Hell," I added, "for all I know he just followed you and he's planning to come for me once you're gone. "

"That's not the case," she insisted.

"I'm afraid I don't believe you, Tatie. I'd love to be friends, what with us being family and all, but I don't believe you're as interested in that prospect as I am. If you want me at your place tonight, it's not because you've suddenly found your manners. You tell me why you really want me there, and I might think about it a little harder. "

She shifted, tapping her feet and twirling her fingers in the sweater. She was getting cold. I was too, for that matter. If she didn't make her point before long, I was going to have to choose between inviting her inside and shutting the door in her face.

"You can't stay here tonight, girl. You and I know it's not safe. "

"You're stalling. Besides, you and I know how little you care about my safety. "

Her shoulders slacked and she quit bothering the buttons on the sweater. "If you must know . . . " she began, but then stopped.

"Oh, but I must," I prompted.

"Lord. It is Malachi, but not what you think. I swear, that boy's lost his religion now. "

I laughed outright—practically in her face, which must have made her mad enough to boil. "Only just now? Christ, lady—what do you think he's been up to all this time? He's been as mad as a hatter most of his life, and you're only just now deciding it's so?"

"Never to me!" she shouted, raising one gnarled fist. "Neverto me! He's never put a hand against me, and I don't know what made him now, but the boy's lost his senses this time, and it just frightens me all to death. I can't stay in that house now, not all alone. "

"What about Harry?"

"He's not so old as me, but he's an old man still and my nephew's a young one with murdering on his mind. I tell you, child, I'm just so frightened it sends my heart trouble. "

Curiosity got the better of me. Even though I knew I might not get the truth, I couldn't keep myself from asking, "What did he do? Did he attack you?"

"He tried to choke me! He held his hands against my throat and would've killed me if Harry hadn't hit him with the poker from the fireplace. "

"It seems to me like you and Harry are doing just fine without me. You ought to give Harry more credit. In a pinch, it sounds like he's got your back. "

"But what if Malachi comes back?"

"Harry can whack him with the poker again," I suggested. "Last time it worked so well that you're not dead yet. "

I think she wanted to say "please," but the word refused to pass her lips. Instead she launched on with her begging, disguised as commanding. "Girl, come on down to the house with me, won't you? I want someone else in the house, and there isn't anyone else who can come. You can pick whichever room you want, and Harry can make us supper. "

"Now, Tatie, that doesn't make a bit of sense and you know it. The one thing in life Malachi wants is to see me dead, but you want to invite me in to keep him away? You're a daft old woman, and I'm not going to hear this anymore. " I made like I was going to shut the door, pretty sure by now that she wasn't going to let me.

"Eden," she choked out my name in two soft syllables. "Come with me, won't you?"

"Lady, I'm no one's bodyguard. "

Down at my feet something glistened. I kicked at it with the toe of my shoe. It rolled off the sidewalk and down over the curb, away to the gutter. Three or four more of the gleaming, rolling things were scattered about near my door. Some kind of beads. Harmless enough, but they hadn't been there when I'd come back from eating. They could have belonged to anyone, of course. No reason for me to be alarmed. They were only beads. Black and red, scattered across the walkway.

"Eden, what do I have to do to get you to come with me?"

What was it about those beads? An old jingle ran circles in my head, or perhaps it was a whispering hint from one of the ghosts—I couldn't be sure. Red and black, friend of Jack. Red and yellow, kill a fellow. True of snakes, at least, but I couldn't see it as a sign. To go with Tatie would only be to invite trouble, and I knew it.

"Eden?"

"Yes?" I stared back at her, pretending I'd not been distracted.

"Well? What do I have to do to get you to come?"