“And clam dip. They’ll still be good. We put a lot of ice in the coolers. I figured, we never had a party for Christmas, so we might celebrate a little while we’re here. Won’t that be nice?”
“Mom, why did you bring two coolers’ worth of food?” I asked as my dad struggled to lift the first out of the trunk. “I have everything.”
“Well, your father needed his beer…”
“I have beer, Dad. Wait, it’s stuck…” As I moved in to help my dad, I caught a glimpse of Austin out of the corner of my eye, coming closer. I also noticed a few strangers walking down the street toward Ivy House, their faces tilted up to marvel at the size of the structure. Which meant they’d be commenting on its creepiness next, and then waiting until we were gone and daring each other to sneak onto the property.
Niamh caught sight of them at the same time I did, braced herself, and stood slowly, rock in hand.
“Really? This has to happen right now?” I murmured.
“Blast this thing. Martha, I told you, you put too much stuff in the trunk,” my dad said.
“It’s not the stuff, it’s your muscles, Pete. They’ve atrophied. You should be exercising in retirement. Lifting a beer to your mouth is not exercising.”
“Depends on how many times you do it,” my dad responded.
“Here. Let me help.” Austin lightly jogged around the car, winking at me as he did so. “Let me help you, sir.”
Dad started, his eyes widening a little when he caught sight of Austin.
“Well, my goodness.” A smile slowly spread across my mom’s face. “Jacinta, who is this?”
“Oh, this is Austin. He’s a friend of mine.”
Niamh cocked back her hand and then let fly, a rock sailing through the air in a lazy arc before slamming against the arm of the teenage boy whose mouth had dropped open while looking at Ivy House. He jumped and grabbed the spot, the skin clearly smarting. When he looked around, he caught sight of Niamh straightening, having just picked up another rock.
“What the hell?” the kid hollered.
“We don’t want Peeping Toms around here,” Niamh yelled at them.
“It’s lookie-loos, not Peeping Toms,” I mumbled as the second projectile struck home, clunking the boy’s friend on the noggin.
“Ow!” The kid rubbed the offending spot.
“Is that old woman throwing rocks at those boys?” my mother said, aghast.
“Yeah, um…” I racked my brain for a way to put a positive spin on this. Niamh would surely be hanging out at Ivy House, and I didn’t want them to hate her. “We get some vandalism down this way, so Niamh tries to head them off. Ivy House is the oldest house in the town—it draws a lot of unwanted attention.”
“Ivy House? Is that—”
One of the boys rattled out a string of foul language as Niamh threw another rock.
“Did you hear that? Disgraceful, that language. Serves them right. Clearly they are up to no good.” My dad looked around his feet, but the only rocks in the vicinity were some decorative pea gravel. “I better help.”
“Dad, no. Leave it.” I patted his shoulder. “One crazy person on the block is enough. You don’t need to help her.”
“As if he could—he has terrible aim.” My mom clucked her tongue as the boys took off running. “I should make him clean around the toilet,” she said. “It’s more than a little sprinkle with those tinkles.”
Austin’s grin broadened.
“I could hit those kids from here,” my dad grumbled. “I’ve got good aim! My softball team won second place.”
“That was twenty years ago, Pete,” my mom said.
Austin reached into the trunk and pulled out one of the coolers, his biceps popping but showing no strain. “Should I take this to the house?”
“Oh, yeah, thanks.” My dad worked the other cooler out, heaving it from the car.
I reached for it. “I got it, Dad— Niamh, would you stop throwing rocks!” I yelled. She was still trying to hit the fleeing boys.
“Grab a bag.” My dad jerked his head at the duffel that had fallen from the corner of the trunk when the coolers were taken away. I grabbed it and hurried after them.
“It’s very gloomy, Jacinta,” my mother said, pulling a suitcase out of the back seat while looking up at Ivy House. “It looks like some sort of…black cloud is hanging over it, doesn’t it? It reminds me of Halloween.”
“Your mother is going blind, Jacinta,” my dad said over his shoulder. “She keeps losing her glasses.”