Twelve
"What do you mean, Uncle Shad's in the hospital?"
"Would you rather I tell you he's dead?" asked Clea. "Actually, I wish I could tell you he's dead. That would make my life a whole hell of a lot easier."
"Aunt Clea!"
"Maybe you'd better sit down, Your Majesty." Leo offered her a chair. "I have a feeling you're going to be here for a while."
"Explain everything," Willa ordered, plopping down in front of her aunt. "I don't care how long it takes; don't leave a single detail out."
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave a lot of details out," Clea replied, accepting a glass of Diet Coke from Leo. "We don't have all the answers yet."
She took a sip. "Marién went to see him at six this morning. Claimed they were going out for breakfast before he went to open the newsstand."
"Shad eats breakfast at the newsstand so he can open at six," Willa argued. "He says he wants to reach the earliest commuters."
"That's not all that's strange," Timo said as he joined them. "If you don't think he's sleeping with her, then you have a surprise coming."
"Meaning she should've been there," Willa amended.
"Do you ever go home?" asked Clea.
"Timo's taking me shopping today. I want a new outfit for the annual assembly. Keep talking."
"Regardless of whether Marién slept there or really did arrive at six, she found the trailer burnt to a crisp," she continued. "He was alive when she found him, but it looked like he had second and third degree burns and he was barely breathing. That's the last I heard."
"Let's take a step back from this for a moment," Leo said in an effort to calm any possible outbursts from Willa. "From whom did you hear about Shadrack's hospitalization, Your Majesty?"
"Uncle Meshach," Clea replied. "He called at nine-thirty and filled me in. I drove straight over here."
"When was the last time Meshach saw Shadrack?"
She thought for a moment. "At the meeting yesterday. I'm pretty sure Uncle Meshach would've mentioned it if he and Uncle Shadrack went out for coffee afterward."
"There's no possibility that Meshach followed Shadrack home after he reiterated that he had no intention of relenting on Timo and Willa's betrothal?"
"Yesterday was Tuesday," Clea pointed out. "He would've gone straight back to work after the meeting…there would have been no time for him to drive down to Islamorada if he had to be back in Miami by a certain time."
"How can you be so sure that Uncle Meshach didn't take the day off?" Willa asked. "Without looking at his schedule, I mean."
"If he even keeps one," Timo added. "Uncle Shad doesn't. He knows when to open up and when to close down and defies anyone who tries to tell him otherwise."
"I don't know." Clea sat back. "I don't know." She took a sip of her soda. "But why would you think it was Uncle Meshach? I mean, this is the King of First Cantrell we're talking about, here. If anybody is going to follow anybody home, it's going to be Uncle Shadrack following Uncle Meshach; not the other way around."
Just then, her cell phone rang. "How can you even get reception out here?"
"It's Key Largo," Leo and Willa answered in unison.
Clea answered and listened for a few moments before her expression suddenly turned grim.
"No, I haven't seen him since yesterday," she told whoever was on the other end. "He called at nine-thirty this morning to say that Rey Shadrack was in the hospital and that was the last I heard."
Silence. Then:
"I would…as a favor to him. What happens while Rey Shadrack is in the hospital? Will you crown Marién as provisional Queen?
"I see. Well, okay. Thank you."
She hung up to find Willa and Timo staring at her.
"That was the master of ceremonies for the assembly. He's been trying to get in touch with Uncle Meshach for the last several hours, but there's no answer at home, work or on his cell."
"That's strange," said Timo.
"What are you doing as a favor for whom?" asked Willa.
Clea bit her lip. "That's one of the reasons the master is trying to get in touch with Uncle Meshach. There's a rumor going around that he intend to announce his abdication at the assembly."
"Which would leave First Cantrell without a successor," Leo finished.
"That would be the favor," Clea explained. "If Uncle Meshach steps down without naming a different successor, they would like me to step in as I was originally intended to."
"What's going on with Marién?" Willa inquired.
"They can't find her. She's not answering her contact numbers, either."
"What happens if they can't find her before the assembly?"
"There's no precedent." Clea hesitated. "It's possible that the master will take a role call vote of Second Cantrell on a merger with First Cantrell."
"Which makes you Queen of Clan Nalachen and Clan Cantrell."
A/N: I decided that the Ends of the Earth should be on Key Largo, since it has easy access to Miami, and Walter seems to be in Miami all the time. I decided on Islamorada for Shadrack earlier because that was the first Key that came into my mind; but I realized it's perfect—Islamorada is tourist-y enough that Shad would make decent money running a newsstand, but far enough away from Key Largo to explain why he's not in every episode (despite the constant mentions).