The End of Magic (The Witches of Echo Park #3)(21)

Dev went back inside and called Ginny's name.

"In the baby's room, Mama!" her younger daughter replied from down the hallway.

The rest of the house was decorated in a seafaring motif: wooden fish sculptures and seashells on every available surface, nautical-themed minutiae and woven fishing nets hanging on the walls . . . only the back bedroom was unique. It was the smallest of the four bedrooms, and, as soon as they'd arrived, Ginny had immediately claimed it for her own. It had none of the nautical trappings of the other rooms, but instead was kitted out like a baby's nursery. There was a carved wooden cradle, a rainbow-hued parade of dancing bears stenciled on the walls, and soft, baby-blue pile carpeting. At some point, someone had shoved a tiny twin bed in the corner under the window, and this was where Dev found Ginny, the little girl sprawled out on the bed, staring at the red pebble cupped in her hand.

"See the light, Mama?" Ginny said, holding the pebble up to the window, so that, like a prism, rectangles of red light reflected around the room. "It's so pretty."

Dev sat down on the edge of the bed, pulling her long skirt up around her knees.

"It is really pretty," she said, reaching out and stroking Ginny's long brown hair. Both of the girls took after their father, who was Filipino, inheriting none of the ginger coloring that plagued Dev's side of the family. "And if it belongs to your sister, then I think you need to give it back to her."

Ginny continued to stare at the pebble, not looking up at her mother.

"But I like it. It sings."

"I'm sure she'll let you look at it sometimes . . ."

"No, she won't," Ginny said, matter-of-factly.

Dev sighed, wishing that both girls were a little older, so they'd be easier to reason with.

"Let's go eat lunch and we can have a family powwow about it, okay?"

Eyes still on the stone, Ginny frowned.

"Mama, I don't wanna."

"Well, I'm your mama and I say you gotta eat those Tater Tots before they get cold!"

She grabbed Ginny around the waist, hoisting her up into the air and swinging her around until she pealed with laughter.

"Tater Tot monster!" Dev cried as she set Ginny down on her feet and gave her a big bear hug.

"You're so silly, Mama," Ginny said, hugging Dev back. 

"I know I am," Dev said, and took her younger daughter's hand, guiding them back down the hall toward the porch, where Freddy and Marji were waiting.

Freddy was eating his sandwich, but Marji was glaring down at her lunch, her finger rolling a Tater Tot back and forth on the paper plate. She looked up when Dev and Ginny came outside, but she didn't say anything, only scowled at her baby sister.

"Let me see the stone, Ginny," Dev said.

"But I wanna hold it-"

"Ginny," Freddy said, voice firm as he set down his sandwich.

Ginny sat in one of the teak chairs and looked from her father to her mother. Then with a pout, she unwillingly relinquished the stone to Dev.

"Thank you," Freddy said, picking up his sandwich and taking another bite. "Good stuff, babe."

He gave Dev a wink.

"It's mine," Marji said, jaw clenched in anger. "Not that anyone cares."

"Marjoram," Dev said, hefting the stone's weight in her palm. "Now as pretty as this pebble is, I don't think it belongs to either of you. I think it lives here at the beach and we can play with it while we're here, but it's not going home with us."

"Mama, no!" Marji said, smushing the Tater Tot under her thumb. "Not fair!"

"It's gonna stay here on the patio and when we leave, I'm gonna let you girls give it back to the sea."

Ginny frowned.

"But it's not from the sea. It's from the man."

Dev looked at Freddy, who shrugged.

"They said an old man came up and gave it to Marji, but I didn't see a soul down there."

"There was an old man," Ginny shouted. "There was an old man. With a funny cane!"

"Ginny!" Marji said. "You're not supposed to tell."

"Tell what?" Dev asked, not liking what she was hearing. She exchanged a nervous look with Freddy.

"It's a secret," Marji said, lowering her voice until Dev could barely understand her.

"He had a lion, Mama," Ginny said, not shouting this time. "On his cane and he said it was a secret and the pebble was a secret, too. But then he gave it to Marji and I yelled at him, so I don't care."

Leave it to sibling jealousy to foil a would-be pedophile's plan.

"Marjoram, you know you're not supposed to talk to strangers."

"He talked to me," Marji said, getting churlish.

"Same difference," Freddy said.

"You were asleep, Daddy," Ginny said. "He came over to talk to us when you were snoring."