Page 15 (1/2)

"She told the Porters she’d been raped by those dah that they took pretty good care of her, by all accounts She gave birth to a little boy, and she named him Avery

"Maybe five or ten years later, the soldier ca his life When he learned about Avery, he tried to be distantly helpful He wasn’t willing to have any contact with his half-breed son lest his wife find out, but he felt guilty enough to throw uess I should mention his na to halfway name his son after hiot divorced and then er woirl born around the turn of the century, and that’s old Tatie Eliza, who you’ve met

"Eliza never married and never had any children, but her brother did His daughter was Malachi’s grand like thatsort of a distant thing So Eliza is reat-aunt, approximately That’s what tatiemeansâ€"aunt It’s what all her family members call her, I think maybe because if they say it the French way, it’s not such a public admission that they’re blood to her"

"What happened to Avery?" I asked "Why does Malachi hate hirew up By the time Eliza was born he was probably thirty years old, and by the tis he was married with a child of his own At some point he took his child, his wife, and her two sisters down to Florida I’m not sure why they all leftâ€"I think Lissie had other fa But they did, and no one ever heard froh, had a baby she left behind for her mother to raise That baby was named James, and most everyone says that James was probably Avery’s baby too There see on While no one really knohat happened to Avery and the girls, Jarandparents They died in a car crash when I wasn’t out of the cradle I never knew the around the bush; orstory and I hadn’t seen the point yet "You still haven’t answeredwith Avery that Malachi is still trying to kill hi her words and arranging the them down for ht he was There were rumors," she stalled, "that Avery was a sorkoâ€"a sorcerer Lissie’s parents were brought froht Lord Hiht hiions like a duck to a pond He felt powerless growing up; and soo

"And in case it’s escaped your attention, your cousin Malachi is not so right in the head Stir a healthy fear of God into the loony reat-uncle was an immortal witch I honestly don’t know the specifics thatfrom Eliza that I don’t It’s never made sense to hosts But then again, it’s not such a far leap for a zealot to irl sees dead people so she must be a witch That’s hoorks with so they don’t understandâ€"and so they don’t likeâ€"it all ed Avery into it I couldn’t say I’ll have to stand by inal story that the boy’s a crazy fuck stick"

"What did happen to Avery and the women, Lulu? Someone must know"

"I don’t And you’re the one who sees them, honey If you really want to know, you could ask thes that are better left alone After all this time, it doesn’t matter I told you, Avery doesn’t matter It doesn’t matter what he did, or what becaet"

"Maybe I’ll ask them anyway I can handle the truth"

"I wouldn’t recommend it"

"Why not?"

"Your mother couldn’t"

5

Blood Tells

I

Newly fueled with inforone family members, I decided to step up my hunt for information about closer relations It took , but I finally found it I located the ce an entire road right nearby wouldn’t be so hard Turns out the two-lane strip springs off the street at an angle that makes you think it’s only a driveway I reen sign, bent nearly to the ground