Beth
watched her father get up from the other picnic table and make his way over to
where a couple of lounge chairs had been set up. He settled down on one, pulling his cap
further down over his face and appeared to doze off.
“Beth? Are you coming?” Lisa called out to her. She stood a few feet away waiting with Amanda
next to her. In a momentary lull of
beach and park noise Beth could hear the buzzing of a single fly circling above
the tabletop. It swooped searching for
something only it could realize before coming to rest on the top edge of her
book. She watched in silence as the fly
proceeded to clean its multi-faceted eyes.
Her thumb caressed the edge of the book.
She could feel the anticipation building in the pit of her stomach. They were really going to do it.
From her
earliest memory she had spent a lot of her time over at her aunt Lisa’s house
playing with her older cousin Amanda.
Her aunt would lead them in all kinds of games in the back yard and
neighboring woods. Games of hide and
seek or treasure hunt where the girls would get clues that would lead them to
the next clue until they found the treasure, usually a snack or a longed for
toy. But the best game was the one
called loop. Lisa would lead the way to
a clearing deep in the woods where three intersecting circles of stone were
laid out on the ground. Here she would
teach them to chant a lyrical poem of strange words while they stepped in and
out and around the circles in an intricate pattern of mincing steps. There was a rhythm and timing to the steps
and the words, an elaborate dance, more elaborate than the ballet dances she
learned in her dance class. She and
Amanda worked hard to memorize and execute the patterns correctly and with each
passing year they improved until they could perform the game without misstep or
misspoken word. Each time they played
the game Lisa gave them whatever they asked for regardless of the expense.
One year
ago Lisa brought the book Beth currently had possession of to the circles of
stone and began reading from it to the girls, explaining as she did what they
were learning, explaining their family history and how this ritual would
restore an unimaginable power to her control making all of their family rich
beyond belief, leaving it unspoken that she would gain an upper hand in dealing
with her sister and brother, making them sorry for leaving her out of their
little circle of companionship, for dismissing their family heritage.
“Beth?”
“Yep.” Beth clamored out from the picnic table
bench. She picked up the book and hugged
it to her chest. She turned toward her
aunt and her cousin without giving a second glance at her father and moved
toward them. Lisa smiled her approval at
her young niece, a smile not reflected in her cold, calculating eyes.
To Be
Continued…
