Sunday, October 22nd, 1960
Mississippi
The Storm residence was situated just outside the New Augusta city line, right off Old Highway 24, with the forest and Leaf River serving as part of the backyard and the railroad tracks running nearly across the front; beyond the tracks was US Highway 98 and then the De Soto National Forest. Hattiesburg was less than twenty miles away to the west, Jackson was to the north, and Biloxi was to the south.
The Victorian house was a grand one to look upon, no questions asked – painted a delicate shade of cream, and three-storied with a balcony on either side on the second floor; there were numerous windows, and a porch that wrapped all the way around; there was a chimney, and a deep green lawn, decorated with a few trees (from one of which was hanging a tire swing) and numerous flowers, with a dark wrought-iron gate surrounding, and a wide front walkway leading to the front steps, and ...
It was a house speaking of wealth and grandeur.
Caitríona felt sick just looking at it.
A heavy thunderstorm was brewing, headed their way fast, lightening crashing in the near distance, when Bastian knocked on the front door, dressed proper in slacks and a button-down shirt, Caitríona beside him, dressed up nice and keeping her hands folded tightly together: a show of restraint.
An elderly woman with cautious grey eyes and a deeply lined face answered the door. "Yes, may I help you?"
"Ambrosia Lynn Storm?" Bastian asked, only to be polite.
The woman shook her head, suddenly looking afraid, eyes darting this way and that. "No, the lady of the house isn't home right now." she said in a high, quivering voice. "But I don't believe her answer has changed. She won't be sellin', an' she doesn't like t' be bothered by greedy corporations – I – I'm sorry?"
"I said, we're here about Ivaleigh. Mrs. Storm's daughter. Is Fitz here?"
"MOVE! Go clean something in the kitchen!" was barked stridently, and the elderly woman – Tallulah – scrambled back and away as fast as her tired feet allowed, and into view stepped Ambrosia Lynn, dressed to impress (as always), green eyes ruthlessly cold, a severe frown to go with the sharp bitterness of her face.
Caitríona dug her nails into her hands as discreetly as possible, reminding herself that the mission was to get Fitz away and track down Lailea. Nothing more.
"My son, Fitz, is dead. He has been for years. So is my husband. Both of them were murdered by those filthy jungle monkeys. What of Ivaleigh?"
Caitríona and Bastian stared at her for a moment, hearts dropping a mile, before they looked at each other, as the storm moved closer.
"What of Ivaleigh?!" Ambrosia Lynn commanded more loudly.
"Where is she?" asked a younger voice from out of sight, far softer, edged with sorrow and panic, drenched in a Deep South twang.
Ambrosia Lynn whirled, looking to the right, thundering, "GO TO YOUR ROOM!"
Caitríona gave a little gasp. Oh, no ...
"Well, shit." Bastian hissed under his breath, his eyes hardening.
"Not til I know what's happened t' Ivaleigh, Mama." the softer voice begged. "Please?"
"Lailea, your sister sends you her love from Los Angeles." a tight-lipped Bastian called, flinging Ambrosia Lynn a smirking, coldly unintimidated look when she glared at him.
Two heartbeats later, Lailea couldn't stop herself – she quite literally shoved Ambrosia Lynn backwards, nearly knocking her over, stumbling to a bare-footed stop in front of Bastian and Caitríona, dressed in grey sleeping shorts and a t-shirt, bent but unbroken, with the onyx ring on one finger, her hair hanging down in loose curls, her green eyes searing, frantic for more information.
Bastian flinched, froze, staring stupidly at her, everything constricting into a chokehold before shattering.
Caitríona didn't notice, and Lailea blinked back, staring at him, taking him in, before disregarding every (thrilled) thought forming and plowing ahead with, "Is she doin' well? Holdin' a job? We made it t' Biloxi, an' it all went t' hell, we know she took the jeep – "
Reality came crashing down on Bastian's ears. Well, shit. No. Yes. No.
"We know. Ivaleigh told us everything. My name is Caitríona Quinn. My son here, Bastian, is Ivaleigh's attorney."
Ambrosia Lynn grabbed a vicious hold of Lailea's hair, yanking her backwards; before her feet slipped out from beneath her, Lailea managed to reach back and claw with her nails – Ambrosia Lynn hissed – before yanking at her mother's offending hand, sinking her teeth in deep, drawing blood. A second, whistling hiss of pain, and Ambrosia Lynn raised her good hand in a threat, and –
... no way in the pits of hell for ... She's just a kid. Bastian shook himself, forcing the reality to maintain a hold, his heart skipping a hollow beat – Help her –
"That's enough." Caitríona declared with flat fury, grabbing a gentle hold of Lailea's shoulder and twirling her easily to stand behind Bastian, out of harm's way, while she went nose to nose with Ambrosia Lynn, no fear. "Keep your hands off her, and I won't have to raise mine against you. I know who you are, and I know what you've done. You – "
Ambrosia Lynn had the sense to take a step back, wondering if the lady before her was some kind of a madwoman. Still, she said coldly, "What goes on in my house doesn't concern you, Lailea, COME HERE."
"Stay behind me." Bastian said, glancing at her. I'll take care you. No. Can't.
"Ivaleigh told you everythin'. Why? How'd you end up her lawyer?"
Caitríona wrapped one hand around Ambrosia Lynn's throat, her nails digging in, rendering the woman immobile and speechless, while Bastian faced Lailea, who ignored her mother's new predicament and stared unblinkingly up at him.
Ignoring the green of her eyes, Bastian answered, "The short version of the story is that I'm the older brother of a friend of hers at the high school she goes to. She wants rather badly to see you."
"Is she stayin' with a family? Did she get put in a foster home?"
Bastian and Caitríona glanced at each other. "Ivaleigh takes care of herself, by herself." Caitríona replied gently, tightening her hold when Ambrosia Lynn began struggling. "She'll be graduating in June."
Lailea blinked. "This June?" she demanded, and Caitríona nodded, before saying with awful coldness, nearly spitting the words in Ambrosia Lynn's face, "I'll throw you down those porch stairs if you don't stay still. Do you want to feel that happen?"
From behind Ambrosia Lynn came a pealing shriek of laughter – a child's laughter, and a moment later a thin toddler girl with toffee skin, a messy tangle of curly dark brown hair, and deep green eyes skittered into sight, dressed only in a ratty, sleeveless shirt and a diaper, her smile gap-toothed and innocent. Three seconds later, the butler, Albert (as elderly as Tallulah) came stumbling into sight after her, already rambling an apology of, "I'm so sorry, miss, I only turned my back for a mo – "
He faltered, falling silent and still, upon noticing the position his boss was in, and the two strangers and Lailea standing at the door, the rain at last pelting down around them, the wind picking up. A heartbeat later, Tallulah and the other (middle-aged) maid, Saffron, came tumbling in, stopping short at the scene before them, mouth hanging open.
"We're friends of Ivaleigh." Caitríona explained pleasantly, before returning her surprised (She's a black child, what on earth ...?) attention to the baby, who stood watching them all contemplatively (green eyes sharp like her mother's), a worn-down stuffed sheep in one hand, a half-empty bottle of milk in the other. Caitríona peered more closely, seeing the resemblance ... What on earth ...? She looked slowly back at Lailea in shock (Lailea stared back sadly), to make sure she wasn't mistaking ...
Mistaking ... What? If the ... if she ... Christ and Mary, what the hell happened here?
"She don't have a name. She's three an' she don't have a name. Mama won't let me name her."
There was a full thirty seconds silence, everyone ignoring the thunder, lightening, and rain, and Saffron gently picked the wiggly little girl up, rocking her back and forth.
"I think you'd better start from the beginning, girl." Caitríona said kindly, at last releasing Ambrosia Lynn, who stumbled back to sit down on the main stairwell, massaging her throat with one hand (the other still bleeding), dragging breaths in and out, looking unnerved and utterly livid. Caitríona, Bastian, and Lailea ignored her. "We know everything up until the moment you and Ivaleigh were separated in Biloxi. What came after?"
Lailea took a deep breath, her hair already half-soaked, tears burning as she moved and ushered Bastian and Caitríona the rest of the way inside, closing the door. "A livin' nightmare." she exhaled raspily. "Let's go in the kitchen an' talk. Albert, Tallulah, Saffron, you can have the rest of the day an' all of tomorrow off."
"I give the orders in this house." Ambrosia Lynn managed to snap in a grating tone. "Go prepare dinner. Take the child with you."
"Shut up, Mama. I listen t' you bitch an' moan on how it was all Ivy's fault, what happened. An' maybe tryin' t' run wasn't worth it, but you ain't the one who saw how frightened she was." Lailea looked back at Caitríona and Bastian. "I didn't see it, whatever it was she saw in Daddy's face that night, but I heard her scream, an' I heard Mama's words, an' I saw Ivaleigh sick in the backyard. An' what she said made sense, 'bout Daddy maybe killin' Mama just t' get at us. He was pure evil."
She looked back at Albert, Tallulah, and Saffron, all standing still, with the baby girl watching and holding still herself, either by fear (and Lailea didn't think so, she wasn't making a sound) or by some understanding that she needed to do so. "Dinner won't be necessary. Go an' enjoy yourselves somewhere. I'll look after my ... the girl."
"Why didn't Ivaleigh join you in coming here, if she wants so badly to see Lailea?" Ambrosia Lynn demanded, a malicious glint in her eyes, as Saffron gently handed Lailea the baby, who snuggled close, her head resting on Lailea's shoulder.
Caitríona paid her a cold, disinterested glance, then looked at Lailea. "High school. She's made valedictorian. Also, even Bastian and I didn't think we would find you here, Lailea. Here is simply where we felt the need to begin. Our plan is ... was ... to take Fitz, upon Ivaleigh's request."
"Oh." Lailea smiled sadly, pleased, and impressed and heartbroken.
Caitríona hesitated, before asking, "So it's true, what your mother says. Your brother?"
Lailea began crying, silently. "Yes. All Daddy's mess caught up t' them both. It killed Fitz."
"If your backstabbing whelp of a sister had just stayed here, none of this would have happened!" Ambrosia Lynn heaved loudly, shooting onto her feet.
Lailea gave her a compassionless stare. "I wouldn't bet on it." She looked intently back at Bastian, a new fire lighting her expression, her eyes. "You're an advocate?"
Bastian blinked, refusing to drown in that fire. "Yes."
Lailea smirked a little, as though she could read exactly what he was thinking. "Then get me an' my sister an' diamond girl as far the fuck away from this mess as ya can. Bring Saffron, Tally, an' Albert with."
Caitríona snorted and grinned widely, pleased. "Such language for a young lady." she teased carefully, winking. "Let's take a drive; you, the baby, Bastian, and I. There's a lot that needs discussing."
Plenty, indeed, as they rode aimlessly around (after making sure that the maids and butler were safely away from Ambrosia Lynn's claws), with Bastian at the wheel, and Lailea holding the now-sleeping toddler girl; this included a few things that Ambrosia Lynn didn't know of, since she hardly left the house anymore, and spent even more time ignoring Lailea's school days.
"She don't know that I been workin' as a cleaner an' busser for Melina Jo Radcliffe. Her family owns some high-end hotels an' restaurants over in Hattiesburg an' up in Jackson an' in Biloxi. Miss Melina is what she likes t' be called, an' she pays me under the table, I got a little saved up. Mama an' Melina Jo hate each other somethin' awful. It's funny t' watch. I like t' think she's helpin' me cos she's human, other times I think she's sorry for me, other times I think it's her way of diggin' at Mama. Workin' is where I go, when really Mama thinks I'm at school. Saffron knows all about it, she drops me off in the mornin' an' I walk home, the teachers help, there ain't no one in a fifty-mile radius who don't know, cos of the news reporters, the teachers give a folder each of the day work an' whatever else, an' then I take a bus t' Hattiesburg. Some days I'm at the restaurant, some I'm at the hotel. Melina Jo keeps the money I earn in an account, plan was t' take whatever's there when I'm eighteen an' vanish ... "
Lailea drew breath, before continuing. "An' before ya ask, I don't do classes cos I got sick of the looks an' whispers, an' when I knew that I was carryin' is when I left. An' I don't know what t' do 'bout her ... it's ... "
"It's a choice, Lailea." Caitríona told her, looking her square in the eyes, gaze unwavering. "Just as I had a choice with Bastian."
Then, reaching, she gripped Lailea's hand, the one bearing the onyx ring, lifting it a little. "And also, the names McLemore, and Solvi Storm. Do you remember the stories?"
Lailea blinked, eyes widening a little, her confused, surprised expression comical. "Um ... "
Caitríona nodded, smiling. "Yes. All of it is true. A friend of mine, Heloise, gifted Ivaleigh the book of Solvi's writings. Probably best not to say anything to your mother about that. Ivaleigh still has the three keys, and her half of the ring."
"What's the importance?"
"Apparently, the rings together make a map of sorts. But we'll worry about that come next summer."
Lailea nodded, and was silent for a while, contemplating, before asking, "When do we leave for Los Angeles?"