I knew it. “She had a fainting spell a little while ago,” I said. “She passed out in the store and was out for several minutes. We thought it would be a good idea to have her checked out.”
“Hmm, yes, I would think so.” He went about checking her blood pressure and pulse, listening to her heart and lungs, and all those other little doctor tests. “Your blood pressure’s a bit low,” he said, “but otherwise you seem to be okay. Do you have any idea what might have brought on the spell? Did you have some kind of emotional shock?”
She looked at me, frowned, then looked back at the doctor. “I thought I saw something that gave me a bit of a start. Frank would say I let my imagination run away with me.”
“Well, fainting after a shock happens more often in movies than in real life, but it does happen. I’d suggest taking it easy for a while. Put your feet up and make all those boys wait on you. Let me know right away if it happens again.”
“I told you it wasn’t anything serious,” Mom said.
“Hey, better safe than sorry,” I replied. “Thank you, Doctor.”
“You were right to bring her in. It’s best not to take sudden unconsciousness lightly.”
Although the doctor had told Mom to make the boys wait on her, I knew exactly who’d be stuck with that thankless job. I could do paperwork at home or at the store, so we stopped by the store on the way home to let everyone know what the doctor had said and to pick up some things for me to work on. At home, I got Mom settled into her bed with some hot tea and a few magazines, but she stopped me before I could leave her room.
“You don’t really think I’m going crazy, do you, Katie?”
I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile. “Not any crazier than usual.”
“I swear, I did see all those things. It was almost like when we were in New York and it was so weird and wonderful. I just never expected to see anything like it here.”
“Maybe that trip made you better at seeing unusual things, so you notice them more now.”
She shook her head. “But then why didn’t I see these things until now?” With a nervous laugh, she added, “I wouldn’t be surprised if I am letting my imagination run wild. I mean, look at Mama. She’s not always entirely there, and I’m not sure she ever has been, what with all her talk about the old country and the wee folk, and all that. If I am crazy, I certainly come by it honestly. As they say, the nut doesn’t fall too far from the tree.”
It occurred to me right then that my grandmother might be magically immune. Owen had said that the trait was genetic. It would certainly explain a lot about some of the wild tales she told. She really might have seen wee folk and fairies. “I guess I’m doomed, then,” I told my mother.
“No, you’re my levelheaded one,” she said. “Who says the craziness is limited to women? It’ll be one of your brothers in your generation. You’re far too sane to take after your mother and grandmother.”
If only you knew, I thought as I left her room.
Sherri showed up in mid-afternoon, probably to avoid other work while also taking advantage of a kissing-up opportunity. I left her with Mom so I could head back into town. If Mom’s mysterious cloaked man had been going after money from the morning commuters at the courthouse, he’d surely be there for the afternoon rush, and I wanted to see it with my own eyes. Before I left the house, I went up to my bedroom and unlocked my jewelry box. I ignored the tinny song it played and the ballerina that twirled when I opened the lid while I retrieved the item I needed.
Owen had given me the locket for Christmas, but it wasn’t the sentimental value I needed at the moment. Rather than being a significant piece of relationship jewelry, it was a magical tool. It amplified the sensation of magic in use so that I had more to go on than an ambiguous tingling sensation. I clasped it around my neck and tucked it under my T-shirt before taking Mom’s car downtown.
I found a parking space at one corner of the courthouse that allowed me to watch two sides simultaneously. The only people I saw were ordinary county workers in suits or business-casual clothes. No statues moved, no one wore robes, and no one behaved at all oddly—other than me, of course. Sitting alone in a vehicle in front of the courthouse for no apparent reason wasn’t exactly a normal way to spend the afternoon.
I was beginning to wish I’d stopped by the Dairy Queen for a malt on my way over when I saw something that made me do a double take. If I wasn’t mistaken, one of the Art Deco relief sculptures of a buffalo on the newest wing of the courthouse had moved its head. I blinked, trying to bring it into focus, but it went back to being just another sculpture. Staring at anything for too long after being out in the heat could make anyone think they were seeing things, I decided. My necklace hadn’t so much as trembled, so it probably wasn’t magic. Of course it wasn’t magic, I reminded myself. This was Cobb, not New York. We didn’t have magic here.