The Secrets of Pimsim Cove - 5. Chapter 5

“Whooo-hooo, I win!” Reaching the front porch felt like crossing the finish line. Of course it only lasted a second.

Before I could do a victory dance, Sean was on the porch beside me.

“What...is...wrong...with...you?” He gasped for air between each word. He looked pale and clammy and I was suddenly afraid that with his terrible wheezing, that this guy was on the verge of an asthma attack.

The roar of a truck speeding up the gravel lane interrupted my concern for him, once I noticed the vehicle was the same beat up pick-up from last night and the angry man inside was my Uncle Rook!

Yanking the steering wheel, Rook drove a path across the McLoughlin’s neatly trimmed lawn and nearly hit the front porch posts with his rusty old bumper.

Sean’s breathing was almost back to normal when Rook jumped out of his truck, stomped over to the porch, and took the steps two at a time until he joined us at the top.

I stood frozen in place as I watched him. Rook looked as if he had just crawled out from under some greasy piece of machinery. His white t-shirt and jeans were covered with black motor oil. His emerald eyes glared at Sean as the two of them seemed to carry on a silent conversation.

Rook shrugged his shoulders and glanced around at the open countryside. “What part of ‘keep her away from here,’ did you not understand?” He demanded.

“I’m sorry Rook, but she ran--”

“She ran?” He growled at Sean. “Then why didn’t you catch her?”

Sean’s face flushed with embarrassment. “I did…I tried…but she was faster.”

Their argument was really very entertaining, but as they discussed how to get me back home to Atlanta, I turned around and knocked on the front door. Both of their heads snapped up.

“She knocked!” They said at the same time.

The gray stone-home was so adorable. The front porch was not very wide, but it had a nice little over hang that would block out the rain or snow when a visitor came a calling. When the door swung open, I took a nervous step backwards and gasped.

My eyes tried to adjust from the harsh morning light to the dim interior of the McLoughlin’s home.

“I have waited too many years for your shadow to darken my doorway.” Rosy’s sweet Irish voice trembled as she smiled at me, but I just stood there like a complete idiot. What do I do? Do I introduce myself? Do I shake her hand? Do I hug her? Luckily, I didn’t have to make that decision because Rosy grabbed me and pulled me into a warm embrace as I let out my breath that I didn’t even realize I was holding.

Yesterday, in Mr. Dobbins’s store, she looked small and frail when I peeked at her from behind the shelves but now standing here face to face, I could see how wrong that assumption was. Her silver hair was pulled into a tightly braided bun, but that was the only thing about her that looked grandmotherly.

Rosy’s cheeks were perfectly sun kissed and I couldn’t believe that she was actually taller than me, too. Hey, I thought little old ladies were supposed to be short and hunched over, but not Rosy! She was a good four or five inches taller than me, which made her long and lean and last were her eyes...those amazing sparkly emeralds.

If it’s the only genetic trait that I inherit from this woman, then I’m so glad that I got her beautiful green eyes. As she ushered me inside, Rook and Sean tried to tip-toe down the front steps, but Rosy’s sharp green eyes caught them. “Not so fast you two!”

***

Their home was warm and inviting. Family photos of Dad’s childhood hung on the walls. I was dying to look at them, but first, I guess I had some explaining to do.

“Ma, I have everything under control.” Rook blurted out before I even opened my mouth.

Rosy’s smile suddenly disappeared as her eyes darted between Rook and Sean and then back to me.

“Talbot wants the ‘Ring of Sons’.” Rook stepped away from his mother’s angry stare.

“And what would the King’s Ring have to do with Anna being here in Pimsim’s Cove?” She asked.

I whirled around and kicked Rook in his shin. When he bent over to grab his injured leg, it brought him down to my eye level. “My dad was kidnapped for some stupid Ring?”

“The King kidnapped Windsong?” Rosy cried.

“Talbot is not my King!” Rook growled and Sean mimicked him with a mutter of his own. “He’s not my King, either!”

I held up my hands for them to stop arguing when I could no longer keep up with their super-duper-crazy conversation. King who? When I researched Ireland for my school report last year, I distinctly remember that Ireland’s President was a woman...oh goodness what was her name? Who cares!

“Who’s Windsong?” I didn’t realize that I had spoken that last question out loud until all three of them snapped at once.

“Your father!”

My father? Had they lost their minds? My father’s name is Wilson-Sampson or W.S. for short and not Windsong...or W.S. which was probably short for that too. Okay, I really didn’t know what was going on here if I didn’t even know my father’s real name.

“Why would Talbot think that W.S. has his Ring?” Rosy continued.

Now it was Rook’s turn to suddenly look sheepish. “Because...I took it.”

Rosy exploded and smacked at her full grown son, who was more than twice her size. “Rook! You put your brother in harm’s way to flaunt your dislike for the King?”

That’s when my head started to swim.

Rook’s jaw clenched as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to steady his anger, but when they reopened all I saw was his pain. “You don’t understand, Ma. It was a childish prank! We took the Ring when we were kids…we were no more than Anna’s age and now it’s come back to haunt us.”

“Where’s Michael?” Rosy’s eyes narrowed in on Sean, who suddenly took a step away from her too. I tried to look at him, but instead, I saw a dozen sparkly flashes in front of my eyes.

“He’s out searching the south shore, right now.” Sean answered her.

“Michael’s been helping me look since Talbot sent word that he kidnapped W.S.” Rook ran his hands through his strawberry hair making it stick out everywhere. “You see, we can’t just give the Ring back to Talbot, because W.S. didn’t tell anyone where he hid it!”

“Oh dear...that’s bad.” Rosy said.

Darkness encroached from every corner and grew until the living room suddenly was sitting at the far end of a long narrow tunnel. I blinked and demanded my eyes to focus. “What’s bad?” My voice sounded strange.

“The guy who took your father wants his Ring back, but we don’t know where it is.” Sean’s whisper echoed inside of my head and that’s when I did something I’ve never done before...I fainted.