"Well, unless they're hiding people in the bas.e.m.e.nt, I only know about two other couples, Brad and Mary-mid to late thirties, they're the ones with the children, Joshua and Ellie. The other couple are in their late twenties, maybe early thirties. John and Sally.

She's very pretty, and they've both been pleasant. I think all of them heard Megan screaming that night, but they seem to believe she really did have a nightmare." He hesitated, then shrugged. "Because Megan's family lived in this area for generations, rumor spreads fast. Before we split up, we had a fight. In truth, Megan hit me with a loaf of bread. By the time the story traveled around, I was a wife beater, and the bread was a bottle of wine, or some such thing like that. I'm not sure who talked, but you know, maybe Aunt Martha, maybe Morwenna or Joseph... anyway, by the time we actually checked into Huntington House, I think we both had a reputation, in old Mr. Fallon's eyes, anyway."

"Rumors will spread," Jade said, moving spinach around on her plate.

"And actually, there are so many people here now," Lucian said with a shrug, "you've probably talked to dozens that you don't even remember. But let's go back. When we met with you in New Orleans, you'd been married, you'd split up-and you'd made that trip to Maine, via Boston, to find your wife?"

"Right." Finn said, staring at him. "Is that supposed to mean something?"

"I don't know," Lucian said. "Maybe." He hesitated a minute. "You had no connection to this area, though, before you came here then-or through here-at that time?"

"No," Finn said, shaking his head. "I'd never been in Salem. I know that. Not even as a child, or an infant. Wait-I might have been in Salem. I drove to Maine from Louisiana, coming through the Boston area, and I stopped somewhere soon after for lunch. But as to a connection? If you can call ordering a hamburger a connection, I might have one."

"But you and Megan had been married a while, right?"

He nodded. "Yes. So... ?"

"And everyone knew that you were married, right?"

"Everyone? Well, everyone who knew us knew that we were married. We didn't hide it, or anything. So? I'm not sure that anyone else would care about our marital situation. Is that important in any way?"

"Again, I don't really know," Lucian said. "More coffee anyone? Dessert? Because, if not, I'd really like to get to that bookshop."

Morwenna was in the bas.e.m.e.nt, standing by the altar.

Candles burned.

Head bowed, she stood in deep reflection.

She stared at the flames, burning around her, narrowing her eyes, letting the light filter, and then diffuse.

She lowered her head.

There was a change...

She felt it. And, of course, it meant that they would have to make changes as well.

Tonight...

Chapter 16.

Irritated with Morwenna and far more uneasy than she wanted to allow, Megan idly wandered through the streets, smiling at the Previous Top Nextkids at the play stations, enjoying their costumes.

She wished that Aunt Martha had made it back to the house that morning, but after whiling around for a few hours with nothing to do, Megan had called for a cab and come into town.

And now...

She wondered where Finn was. In town somewhere. Maybe meeting up with the reviewer and her husband. She wished that she were with them. They'd been a nice couple, and the woman, Jade, had certainly done good things for her and Finn.

The day was cool, but not cold. She bought a large mocha from one of the coffee bars and wandered toward the common. She was sitting on a park bench when she saw Darren, throwing a Frisbee for Lizzie. As the dog caught the Frisbee, Darren laughed, and moved toward someone, calling out. Megan frowned, shielding her eyes from the sun, curious to see if she knew the person with Darren. She thought she heard a woman's voice, rising, saying his name. More curious, and glad to give thought to something other than her own strange dilemma, she looked around the area surrounding Darren's position, intrigued that he might have a girlfriend. But the woman with the voice she had heard was nowhere to be seen, not through the different cl.u.s.ters of people in the common. Megan couldn't see anything at all except for the family group that was greeting one another warmly almost directly in front of her bench.

But a moment later, Darren was out in the gra.s.s, throwing the Frisbee again. He saw Megan, and waved. A few seconds later, he and Lizzie came running toward her.

"Hey!"

"Hey, Darren, how are you?" Lizzie, knowing she was wanted and loved, got a little carried away and crawled up halfway on the bench, halfway on Megan. Laughing, Megan hugged the dog.

"Lizzie! Down, girl!" Darren said with dismay.

"She's fine, don't worry, I love her," Megan said. She scratched Lizzie's ears and looked at Darren. "Where's your friend?"

"My friend?"

"I thought I saw you with a young woman," Megan said.

Darren stared at her, and slowly shook his head. "No. You must have been mistaken."

"Oh, sorry. I guess so."

He laughed. "I wish. No girlfriend at the moment."

"Well, you're young, you know. Your entire life is ahead of you."

"Right. Like you're old."

She laughed. "I have a few years on you!"

"Not that many." He grinned, joining her on the bench. "But then, alas, you're married anyway, right? You're still married, huh? Or really married, I should say."

"Yes, I'm really married, and still married. Why?" Megan said.

"Oh, I just saw your husband earlier."

"He does go places without me," Megan said dryly."He was with a couple."

"Ah, yes." She still wondered why he hadn't wanted her to be with them from the start. "They're... friends. From back home."

"I see," he said, staring at her. He didn't see. "How come you're not with them?" He asked pointedly.

She was irritated by the question and tempted to tell him it was none of his business. But she knew that her own mood might have been better, and there was no need to offend Darren. "I... needed to run into Morwenna's this morning," she said. She forced a casual smile. "I'll catch up with them later."

He nodded, staring past her. "Hey, look, there's Mr. Smith."

She turned to see that Mike Smith, a brown bag in hand, was heading onto the common. Since it was a pleasant day, he had probably opted for a lunch hour outdoors.

"You two know each other?"

"Of course. Students do frequent museums, you know," he said, grinning. "And it can be a fairly small place, you know." He turned and called out, "Hey, Mr. Smith!"

Mike had been preoccupied with his thoughts, apparently, but his head jerked up when Darren hailed him. He smiled, coming in their direction.

"Hey, I went in to see the new exhibit the other day," Darren said. "It's great."

"Thanks. I worked hard on it." He smiled down at Megan. "Hey, Megan. I don't know, but this seems strange, seeing you alone in the park."

"Oh, well... I was just... sitting. It's really a beautiful day."

"Yeah, I guess I thought the same."

"It's a beautiful day, for the end of October," Darren said. "But I think I've worn Lizzie out. Or she's worn me out. I'm going to get going. Hey-see you tonight, Megan."

"Thanks-it's been really nice for you to come every night. Especially since students tend to be on a budget."

"Hey, I got a free CD," he said grinning, then saluting, he walked off.

"Nice kid," Mike said.

"Yes, he seems to be."

"Smart as a whip, too."

"That's good to hear."

Mike nodded, watching after Darren. "He's going into architecture. Hope he stays around here after he graduates. You should see some of the horrors they come up with for new buildings in the area." He stared at his brown bag, then at her, smiling slowly. "Have you still got some time? Or are you supposed to be meeting your husband somewhere?"

"I have some time. Why?"

"Well, I've lost my appet.i.te for canned tuna and wilting lettuce. Thought maybe I could talk you into having some lunch with me." She hesitated. If Finn found her, he might be furious.

But Finn was off with the couple from New Orleans. And she hadn't been invited. And she was out here, sitting alone, because she'd actually gotten into an argument with Morwenna-defending Finn.

"Sure. Lunch sounds great."

"We're on, then!" Mike said, pleased. With a flourish, he tossed his brown bag into a garbage bin. He caught her hand, bringing her to her feet.

"I know a great little place," he told her.

Eddie seemed exceptionally pleased to meet Jade and Lucian; he had a number of Jade's books, Finn quickly discovered; and in a matter of minutes, Eddie managed to discover that Lucian was fluent in many archaic languages as well. In fact, Eddie seemed incredibly impressed.

They all wound up in the back of the store with Eddie pouring through old tomes, finding just the ones he wanted himself, and scratching his head and thinking each time Jade or Lucian asked a question.

"Here's one that I keep under gla.s.s at all times... I barely touch the pages. It's handwritten, Old Norse, written by a Viking explorer who went down through Finland, Poland, into Russia, and into the Near East," Eddie said, coming in with a volume that was obviously an incredible collector's piece, the binding thick leather with etched writing on the cover. "I've had a few of the pages translated, but not many. The book is far too delicate. I don't think it will do us any good, unless someone can read Old Norse, but with your interest in the books, I thought you'd at least like to see it."

"My G.o.d, it must be worth a fortune," Finn said. "Eddie, perhaps you shouldn't even take it out from underneath the gla.s.s."

"I read Old Norse," Lucian said. "Eddie, I will be extremely careful."

"You read Old Norse?" Finn said skeptically.

"Yes." Lucian stared at him with a shrug. "I've spent a number of years studying languages."

"He's moved around a lot, "Jade explained.

"Ah."

Lucian poured over the text, looking through pages, his fingers light against the nearly transparent paper.

"The explorer's name was Erikson, I know that much," Eddie said, taking a chair near Lucian where he sat at the back desk.

"That's one of the first really excellent pieces I ever acquired. An old man here was going out of business while I was in college. I helped him sort out his stuff for sale and disposal, and he allowed me one piece for the help. This is the one I chose."

Lucian glanced up at him. "You could probably retire and move to an island on this one book alone," Lucian told him.

"I could, yes. Except that I love these books, and I love my store, and I don't need to retire," Eddie told them with a grimace.

Lucian nodded and gave his attention back to the text. "Erikson talks about coming to a village where the people kept an altar and on the full moon each month, offered up one of the village maidens. They were instructed by what Erikson calls a black priest, and they were promised peace and prosperity within the village, as long as they obeyed the commands. When Erikson and his men arrived and ransacked the village, they were warned by the black priest that they would all die, since his leader was determined on stealing the young woman intended for the next sacrifice. Erikson and one other man left the village to explore another valley. When they returned, their leader, and the forty-odd men who had been in their number, were dead, throats slit, tied upside down to poles, drained of blood and life. One of the ancient village women convinced them that they must escape, saying that Bac-Dal had come." Lucian looked up at Jade. "Had you come across this story in any of your reading on the demon?" he asked.

"Demons aren't real," Finn reminded them quietly.

Lucian looked at Eddie. "You really do need to put this back now. What I'd like to see is anything at all that you might have about this man Cabal Thorne, and what supposedly happened here in the very early seventeen hundreds."

"Will do," Eddie told him, excitedly on the hunt. He picked up his Old Norse tome as if he were handling a premature infant, tenderly, and with reverence. "You're sure you're done with this?" he asked Lucian.

Lucian nodded. "Thank you," he said gravely. "It was a privilege to read."

"Wow. And you can read it," Eddie said, shaking his head. "I know some languages, but Old Norse... wow. All right, let me see, everything I can find on Cabal Thorne."

"Maybe you should start by showing them the book you showed me the other day. The one Sara read from."

"The one written by Cabal himself. Yes, you should see that. It's an incredible piece," Eddie said, and went to get the book.

Finn looked at Jade. "You wrote a book-with a section on demons. Apparently, there are plenty of people who do believe that they are real."

"Yes, "Jade said, glancing at her husband.

Finn leaned forward "All right, I believe that people cause the evil in the world. Because of their beliefs. Here, in Salem, no one was practicing witchcraft. Jealousy and envy and whatever other factors caused whatever hap pened. The girls went into convulsions and fits-brought on by tales and stories, and who knows? Bacteria in the wheat. The point is, there was no witchcraft, but that didn't mean that people weren't tortured, or that they didn't die. Obviously, Cabal Thorne was a nut case who believed in demons, and committed murder, believing he could bring a demon to life. Surely, a rational man would have known that stories about demons were like stories about Roman G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses, or mermaids, and the like."