Page 61 of Gifted & Talented

“Lou doesn’t know whoIam, either!” Eilidh snapped. She herself only sort of remembered Lou, though what she remembered more clearly was Lou’s absence. Eilidh and Meredith had never really been close, but there was a time when Meredith was slightly more present in Eilidh’s life, and it was when Lou was gone and Meredith was bereft, lacking in sisterly feeling.

Meredith had never had another female friend, or another friend, really. But Eilidh was busy with the Academy by then, beginning to grow her reputation, being watched for sponsorships in a way that made her eyes become starlit and bright. She could instantly date every picture of herself from that time—she looked young and beautiful, and vibrant. And alive. And some ofMeredith’s calls had gone unreturned, and so Meredith, never one to suffer indignities, eventually stopped calling. By the time Eilidh had room in her life to share it more equitably with her sister, Meredith no longer picked up the phone.

“Oh, just let her come,” said Arthur exhaustedly, as if no one on earth had ever been so tired, as if he had suffered so many days and days and days of this, as if his blood was scattered across the dusty floors, as if he’d traveled here over the span of countless millennia and found it wanting, as if all of mankind weighed upon his immortal soul, as if he could now not dream of drawing breath for anything shy of expiration. “We’ve got to be back for the lawyers.”

“We’re not supposed to hear from them until later this afternoon,” said Eilidh. “It’s an hour away at maximum. How long do you expect this to take?”

“Let me ask you something,” said Meredith, with an air of preparation to launch something intolerable at Eilidh. “When you spent the last five years secretly amassing the power to destroy the earth, did you think it could be resolved in a day? Besides, it’s a fucking weekday, traffic will be hell on the bridge. Get in.”

She held open the back seat, where Gillian was already sitting on the driver’s side. Arthur had climbed into the passenger seat, apparently having lost some unspoken game with Meredith as to who in this situation was the alpha. Which of course meant Eilidh was… well, very low in priority. Frustrated, she got in.

Eilidh watched Meredith in profile as her sister slid into the car, her jaw set in its usual position of stubborn authority. Her sister, the genius. Her sister, who was smart enough to ruin anyone’s life.

Briefly, Eilidh thought of Dzhuliya and the way their conversation the previous day had ended. “I’ll do everything I can to take care of things for you and your family this week,” Dzhuliya had promised in parting, before adding with a grimace, “though I have to admit, Meredith scares me.”

Eilidh felt another grip of loyalty to Dzhuliya, something protective and part obligation. Was this an amicable feeling? she wondered. Then she dismissed it once again.

Eilidh glanced at her sister-in-law Gillian, who was looking out the window. She wondered what Gillian thought of all this; if Gillian was ever bothered by Arthur and Meredith the same way Eilidh was. If Gillian would be on her team when the time came. Feeling Eilidh’s eyes on her, Gillian turnedand gave her a small smile. “I’m sure it’s fine,” said Gillian, which didn’t seem within Gillian’s capacity for knowing. Still, it was effective, probably because it was kind.

Eilidh breathed out. Only a few more hours now and they could put it to bed, and their father to rest. Or Eilidh could, anyway, when Meredith inevitably spat on his name. Eilidh realized she should record that somehow, legally, in case she needed it. To make it clear that Meredith and Thayer had been estranged at best for years, and that Meredith had always been deceitful in her filial piety. She always expected something from him and Eilidh never had, so if Thayer rewarded her for that, was it really so unreasonable?

Somewhere on the Richmond bridge, Eilidh drifted off as the thing inside her chest began to sooth, unfurling in submission to the space of her momentary calm like a dog’s tongue from a yawn.

When she woke again, it was because Meredith and Arthur were arguing. The car was in the parking lot of a strip mall that must have recently been turned into a more modernized shopping center. There was an attempt at a glossy contemporary aesthetic, and a fountain, though aside from the Wrenfare storefront and the Demeter grocery store—THIS APP WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY! :), chirped the advertisement in the window—there was nothing noteworthy, no reason to stop.

“This is what it says,” said Meredith brusquely, shoving her phone at Arthur. “Did you put it into the GPS correctly?”

“Of course I did—”

“Well, obviously there’s been a mistake—”

“That doesn’t make itmine—”

“Fine, give me back my phone—”

“I’m doing it, give me a second!”

“Brother Intolerable, I saidgive it to me—”

Suddenly Arthur slumped against the seat, unmoving, and Meredith inhaled sharply.

“Arthur? Arthur.” Her voice shook a little. “Arthur, you can’t be serious.”

“Again?” asked Eilidh, her heart faltering in her chest. She leaned forward, reaching to check Arthur’s pulse, when he suddenly sighed and slapped her away. “Oh my god,Arthur—”

“What?” he said with a shrug. “Got Death to stop yelling.”

“I willkill you,” shrieked Meredith, just as the back door slammed shut.

Meredith twisted around, as did Arthur, in the same moment Eilidh realized that Gillian had somehow commandeered the phone in contention and already gotten out. “What’s going on?” asked Eilidh, who was still a bit disoriented from her unintended nap on the drive over.

“She’s probably just going to the bathroom,” said Arthur.

“The address we have for Lou,” huffed Meredith, who was apparently now speaking to Eilidh to avoid acknowledging Arthur, “is this Wrenfare store.”

The irony hit Eilidh (who, if you’ve been dozing off, is one of Wrenfare’s titular Wrens) with a low, disbelieving thud.

“Oh, wow,” said Eilidh. “That’s, like, a very weird joke.”

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