Page 17 of Daughters of Sea and Storm

“What time is it happening?” my mom asked.

“Lydian will be here at four o’clock. It shouldn’t take long,” Rhi said.

“Lydian?! Oh, dear God,that’swho mom used to make her will?” my mom asked, dropping her head into her hands.

“Lydian’s always handled all of mother’s legal affairs,” Rhi said, a note of defensiveness in her voice.

“And our grandmother’s. And probably our great-grandmother’s too, for all we know. The woman’s about a thousand years old!”

“She’s very lucid,” Rhi hurried to say. “And we’ve never had any trouble. Well… nothing we couldn’t sort out,” she amended.

“Is she even still practicing? Are you allowed to just… be a lawyer in perpetuity, or can they take your accreditation away for the safety of the public, like a driver’s license?” Mom asked.

“Oh, Kerri, stop fussing. She may be old, but she’s perfectly capable. She still sees clients nearly every day, working out of that little office downtown,” Rhi said.

My mom looked as though she wanted to protest, but pressed her lips together and snatched a cookie off the plate instead. It was clear she would have to pick her battles while she was here, and based on Persi’s behavior, this one was the least of her problems. We all sipped our tea in silence for a minute, and then…

“Where is she now, Rhi?” my mom asked. Her voice was quiet and brittle.

Rhi put her cup down. “She’s been moved to the summer house. The others will attend her there until we’re ready for the final send off.”

It took me a moment to realize they were talking about Asteria. Well, not Asteria, but her body, at least. I swallowed my bite of cookie with difficulty owing to the sudden appearance of a lump in my throat.

“What’s the summer house?” I asked to break the silence.

“Oh it’s just a… a little sort of greenhouse out in the garden,” Rhi answered.

I frowned. “I didn’t see a—”

“She means the walled garden behind the house,” my mother explained.

“Oh,” I said, remembering the moment I’d noticed the wall. “But… hang on, did you say Asteria is back there? Like, right now?”

“That’s right,” Rhi said, nodding her head.

“Isn’t that… I mean… isn’t she supposed to be at a… a funeral home or something?” I asked.

“That’s not how our family does things,” Rhi said, rather cryptically, I thought, and offered no further explanation. Along with my cookie, I swallowed back about a hundred other questions, most prominent among them, who in the world she meant by “the others.”

“There must be other arrangements to make,” my mother said.

“Yes. I’ll need to persuade Persi to come down,” Rhi said, looking terrified at the very prospect. I couldn’t say I blamed her, not after my brief encounter with my Aunt Persephone.

My mom glanced at me and said, “Wren, we won’t need you until the reading of the will. Do you maybe want to explore the garden for a little while? Or take a nap? I don’t think either of us got much sleep last night.”

I was tired, it was true, but I was also full to the brim with curiosity and I knew I’d never be able to shut my brain off sufficiently to actually fall asleep. I considered the garden for a moment but knowing that Asteria’s body was out there somewhere made my stomach twist into anxious knots.

As though she could read every thought on my face like the words on a page, Rhi nodded and said, “Why don’t you go for a walk downtown?”

My mom straightened up, looking wary. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Of course! There are some cute little shops you can poke around in. It will keep you busy, and we can get on with our… more morbid pursuits,” Rhi said with a shudder.

Mom chewed on her lip. “How will she—”

“She can take my bicycle. It’s barely a mile back up the road to town. Can you ride a bicycle?” Rhi asked me politely.

I blinked. “Uh, yeah. I ride my bike to school every day.”

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