N

ovember in Alabama was never predictable. One day might be a balmy 70 degrees and another could run as low as 35. Flowers which bloomed in late summer might very well hold their blooms until mid-November if the frost held off until the last possible moment. However, this November was proving to be a very cold and very wet one. It might have been borrowed from January. An early frost had killed the flowers surrounding Blanchard House, but nothing could disrupt the picturesque beauty which was Blanchard House itself. The large twenty-three room country mansion sat peacefully amid the sprawling acres. It was one of the largest homes in Daihmler County, Alabama, but its wooden façade calmed any pretentiousness. The house was decorated in the truest of harvest traditions. Corn stalks were tied to the porch railings and picket fence. Pumpkins in clustered arrangements lined the porch steps. Indian corn and hanging gourds stretched over the doorway.

It was Thanksgiving Day, and the entire house was bustling with cheer and excitement. It wasn’t only the day which brought a smile to 85-year-old Olympia Blanchard; it was also that today her granddaughter Salem and Salem’s half-sister Arielle were driving in from Atlanta to spend the weekend. The old woman sat impatiently in the living room waiting for their arrival as her two daughters, Artemis and Demitra, busied themselves in the kitchen preparing the feast. Olympia had spent a lifetime in that kitchen, but those days now seemed so long ago. Artemis took over the job of cook in the family many years ago, but now that she had opened her own restaurant in town, most of the day-to-day meals were prepared by Olympia’s granddaughter Yasmine. Today being Thanksgiving and Yasmine being rather new to cooking, the family unanimously agreed to let Artemis and Demitra tackle the holiday meal this year.

The two sisters busied themselves happily in the large family kitchen. They worked well together, moving in a unison only years of experience together could teach. The sisters looked very much alike. Both were slender, with pale porcelain-like skin and raven hair cascading behind them—Artemis’ down to her waist, Demitra’s stopping at the shoulder. The small counter television was tuned to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, although if truth be told neither of them had watched a minute of it. But it was tradition to have it on.

Olympia learned long ago to stay out of their way in the kitchen and had settled herself in her winged-back chair beside the living room fireplace as she anxiously waited for Salem and Arielle to arrive. Olympia was dressed in a matronly-styled pale blue dress which balanced nicely against her brilliantly white hair which had been rolled, set, and teased out the day before by her hairdresser. For a moment she thought she’d heard footsteps on the front porch, but it was only Yasmine stomping angrily down the foyer stairs.

“There’s no use in trying!” her youngest granddaughter exclaimed joining her in the living room as she puffed the bangs of her long brown hair out of her face.

“What’s that, dear?”

“Your grandson,” Yasmine snarled. “Seth won’t even look at me while that damn football game is on.”

“It’s the big game, I expect,” Olympia sighed.

“Aren’t they all, the big game? Cotton Bowl. Sugar Bowl. Orange Bowl. ‘Alabama this, Crimson Tide that!” Yasmine scoffed. “This is our first Thanksgiving as husband and wife, and all he wants to do is watch sports.”

Yasmine was Olympia’s step-granddaughter, yet she was also the new bride of Olympia’s grandson. She had grown up in Blanchard House after the crash which orphaned her at six years old. Yasmine had always been in love with Seth, but it had taken him his childhood, teenage years, and early 20s to realize he had always been in love with her as well. They were married a month ago on Halloween.

“I could run around buck naked in the upstairs den, and he wouldn’t even notice me.”

“Now, child,” Olympia smiled. “Your bedroom is right above my own, and you have the squeakiest bed springs I’ve ever heard. I hardly think you’re being ignored.”

The front door burst open with the force of a train as Madame Zelda bounded inside shivering. Zelda, Olympia’s lifelong friend, was always a sight to behold. She too had been to the beauty parlor this week, replacing her maroon-colored hair with a newer, burnt orange dye job. Her make-up always looked clown-school inspired, and her penchant for gaudy hair color only accentuated it. Today she was wearing her flowy, flowery, fuchsia and yellow muumuu dress. Zelda made her living telling fortunes to the townspeople of Daihmler. She told it like it was—often providing information her clients might not necessarily want to hear—but she was never wrong, and that made her as indispensable to the wives and businessmen of the town as their hairdresser or general practitioner.

“It is cold as hell out there!” Zelda cried rushing in.

“I believe Hell probably isn’t that cold,” Yasmine pointed out.

“Hell is probably diff’ernt for everybody,” replied Zelda. “For me, being cold all the time is more a hell than any blame fire’d be. Had a cousin once who could walk through fire. He wouldn’t been bothered a bit by Christian Hell.”

“I remember that cousin,” Olympia recalled. “Didn’t he work with a circus for a while?”

“’Till he bought a pig farm in Mississippi. I think he died in a tornado back in 1982. Now that’s a new take on the expression ‘when pigs fly’. I’m sure he went to Hell, though. He was a mean feller.”

Zelda’s ability to cast snide remarks about nearly everyone she’d ever met was always a source of amusement for the Blanchard family. Zelda knew everyone in town and had a story about them all, which she never shied away from telling.

“I don’t know if I believe in Heaven or Hell,” Yasmine noted. “I’d like to believe my parents and Granddaddy are in Heaven and I will see them one day. But I just don’t know if I actually believe in something like that or if I just want to believe all that’s out there.”

“Oh, there’s a Hell,” Zelda said. “Lympy and I went there once. Long time ago. Back in ‘68 wasn’t it, Lympy? Remember that demon we stopped on that trip to Los Angeles?” Zelda was staring at Olympia now—not exactly at her, but at something below her chin line as she made a disapproving face. Olympia paid it no attention.

“That wasn’t a demon, Zelda. He was just an average everyday psychopath.”

Zelda walked over to her friend as she continued to speak, “’Naw Lympy, I remember quite clearly us going into Hell to stop him.” Zelda reached her fingers toward her old friend’s neck and lifted the thin gold necklace up with a finger. She shook her head at Olympia.

Olympia continued to pay little heed to Zelda’s silent commentary on her jewelry and continued with the conversation at hand, reminding Zelda, “That was a nightclub in the Boyle Heights area, and you were on a lot of acid.”

“What!?” Yasmine cried. “Zelda did drugs? Oh my God! Grandmother!”

“Girl, we wasn’t born old, you know!” Zelda declared as she unfastened the gold necklace from around Olympia and pulled it free. “It was the 60s.”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing!” Yasmine exclaimed.

“Well, let’s not spend too much time worrying about it today,” Olympia smiled, dismissively. “Zelda, what are you doing?”

“Getting’ this tacky ass thing off’a you. You already got pearls on. Why you insist on wearin’ this junk every year I’ll never know. Just cause your dumb old second husband, Martin, gave it to you on Thanksgiving 40 something years ago.”

Olympia watched her best friend sling the necklace into an end table drawer and slam it shut. Zelda never did like Martin Caswell. And—if truth be told—Olympia hadn’t been exactly crazy about him herself. She had only married him because he was a nice man with a decent income who was willing to take on the role of stepfather to three adolescent witches. Then he had the audacity to die two years later.

“No negativity today, Zelda. This is Thanksgiving.” Olympia pressed her hand to her chest. Her heart was beating a little fast, probably from the excitement of the day. “Today we will have no bickering. It is a happy, calm family day.”

“Speakin’ of family,” Zelda remarked. “Where’s that husband of your’n, Yaz?”

“Upstairs watching the game.”

Zelda turned around and started up the stairs. “That’s where I’ll be then. Call me when dinner’s ready. Seth and me got a bet goin’.”

In the kitchen, Demitra was stirring a bowl of macaroni and cheese while Artemis had the rather large turkey out of the oven, basting it with one of her special sauces. The aromas from the many pots, pans, and bread baskets filled the kitchen.

“I cannot believe you are making instant macaroni,” Artemis said.

“The kids won’t notice the difference. Seth will eat anything, and Fable only likes Kraft mac and cheese anyway. Beryl will skip the macaroni and gobble up your mashed potatoes with the clumps in them, and Salem is going to just cover whatever she eats with gravy—even her cornbread.”

“It’s funny how you still think of them as they were when they were children,” Artemis laughed. “I doubt Salem still covers everything with gravy—not with her tiny little figure.”

“I guess I do still think of things the way they used to be,” Demitra smiled, still stirring the cheese mix in. “Like right now, I halfway expect to see them all playing in the yard.”

Stolen novel; please report.

“I know what you mean,” Artemis agreed. “At Seth and Yasmine’s wedding I realized all our babies are grown up now. I hadn’t really put that together before.”

Demitra checked her watch. “I wish the rest of our guests would get here. And I have no idea what’s keeping Salem and Arielle.”

“You know Salem, she’s always late. And Howard said he would be here by noon. Of course, the one you’re really concerned with is Jerry.”

Demitra blushed and elbowed her older sister. “Jerry will be here shortly.”

Artemis raised an eyebrow to Demitra and said, “Moving kind of fast, aren’t you? You met him less than a month ago and already he’s coming to Thanksgiving dinner.”

“Thanksgiving just happens to fall a few weeks after we started dating. We see each other often, so I see no particular reason why he shouldn’t be invited to Thanksgiving dinner,” Demitra defended. “Besides, he’s special.” Very special, she said to herself as she placed the macaroni on the dining table in the connecting room.

Artemis and Demitra heard commotion in the living room and went to see who or what it was. Salem and Arielle had just entered amid a laughing frenzy. It took Salem a moment to recover herself to tell the story.

“You guys will never believe what just happened.”

“Salem!” Olympia cried rushing from her chair to embrace her granddaughter. “I was worried. You’re over an hour late.”

“Just wait till you hear, Hecate.”

“Arielle,” said Olympia, ignoring Salem’s urgency to tell her funny tale. “You look as lovely as ever. I’m so glad you’re joining us for Thanksgiving.”

“Thank you, Ms. Blanchard.”

“Come now, child,” Olympia replied. “I’ve told you to call me Olympia.”

“Sorry, I keep forgetting.”

“Will somebody listen to me?!” Salem exclaimed. “I’m trying to tell a story here.”

“Then tell it,” Yasmine said.

“We had a flat tire on our way here,” Salem excitedly began. “When we stopped to change it, we saw that the spare tire was flat too because Arielle drives like a fool and didn’t tell me she’d blown out a tire last week and the spare was already on the car. So anyway, a man stopped to help us change it.”

“That was nice of him,” Yasmine remarked to her sisters-in-law.

“Well, Arielle here tells him we don’t require any assistance. Then she levitates the car so that the three tires are carrying the load and the flat tire is just hovering in place keeping the car level. We drove off leaving that poor confused man standing in the dust.”

Everyone stared blankly at Salem.

“Okay, maybe you just had to be there.”

“Oh, I’m sure it was hilarious, dear,” Olympia carefully chose her words. “But Arielle, sweetheart, I’d caution you from demonstrating your powers so publicly.”

Arielle felt a little ashamed. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m used to Charleston. Witches there don’t really hide that much.”

Olympia gave her a loving smile to ease any admonishment she may have felt. “I understand. But you’ll find Alabama and Charleston are very different environments.”

A sudden thud resounded as the front door slammed shut and the heavy stomp of a broad, six-foot man with graying black hair appeared in the entry hall.

“Is this where the all-you-can-eat turkey buffet is?” shouted Howard. Howard Caldwell was Olympia’s financial advisor, lawyer, and man for everything. He had been a friend to the Blanchard family since birth—his father having been a childhood friend of Olympia and Zelda.

Howard made the round of hugs before tossing his coat over the staircase rail and following Artemis back into the kitchen. The second the kitchen door swung shut behind them, he grabbed a Coke out of the refrigerator and popped the top. “So, Arielle is still buddies with Salem, huh?”

“Of course,” Artemis replied. “Why?”

“I just figured that was too weird a situation to last once they got to know each other. I mean, meeting your half-sister after all these years…it’s strange they’ve bonded so much.”

“They are practically inseparable,” Artemis noted. “I told you about Arielle’s homelife. Her mother is a terrible person. She treated Arielle horrendously all her life. Since she and Salem met, I think they’ve both been the missing link each other needed.”

“Yeah,” Howard said. “It’s gotta be rough for Salem this Thanksgiving. Losing her husband and baby earlier this year.”

“Arielle’s addition to her life has really helped Salem move on and step out of her grief. And don’t forget what I told you about that final battle with Patric. Arielle really came through for us. Had she not aligned her powers with Seth and Salem, I’m afraid Patric might have won.”

“I still don’t know about that werewolf story…” Howard said with a smirk. “Wish I’d been able to see something like that.”

“Believe me, Howard,” Artemis stated. “You don’t. We all almost died last month. Thankfully those three siblings’ powers united was enough to take Patric out.”

There was a knock on the kitchen door. Artemis tried to peer through the window to see who it could be but had to wipe her hand over the foggy glass from all the heat of the cooking. She did not recognize the man standing on the back porch.

“Yes?” she said opening the door.

“Artemis!” he exclaimed. “It’s me—uh, Jerry. Jerry Miller.”

“So, you are Jerry!” Artemis said letting him inside. “Demitra has been so excited to have you meet the family.” She paused momentarily—all at once it seemed peculiar to her that this man would come around to the back door. “Why didn’t you ring the bell on the front porch?”

“Oh. I—I just wanted to take a look at your garden,” he answered clumsily. “Demitra has told me all about how you guys grow everything yourselves.”

Howard introduced himself and led Jerry into the living room where Demitra was waiting to introduce him to the family. Demitra’s daughters, Beryl and Fable, shook Jerry's hand politely albeit reluctantly—neither too keen on seeing their mother with another man. Before too much awkwardness had time to set in, Artemis announced dinner was ready and everyone who had not previously met made introductions while filling the seats at the table.

As Fable took her usual seat, she noticed Zelda’s new hair color for the first time. Her mouth hung open at first, mesmerized by the orangey glow atop the old woman’s head. Finally realizing she was staring, she commented, “Zelda, I see you changed your hair color.”

Proudly Zelda gave her round old lady bob a pat and beamed. “Yeah, gotta keep up with the times. You know what they say—your hair is tha’ first thing people notice about you…unless you have bad teeth.”

Attentions turned away from her pumpkin-colored hair and focused upon the spread before them. The long dining table was brimming over with the delicacies of the holiday. Two large, savory turkeys sat steaming on each end of the table. Cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce, an assortment of peas and beans, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, fried okra, and steamed veggies sent their combined aromas up and through the room making the very air itself good enough to eat.

Seth began carving the turkey nearest him while Beryl started slicing the one nearest her. “You always slice it up better than me,” Seth pointed out to his cousin. “Then again, you get paid to slice things up neatly.”

“Beryl is a doctor,” Artemis politely explained to Jerry. Jerry nodded. Artemis then felt a little foolish. Jerry was dating Beryl’s mother—obviously he already knew she was a doctor.

“I always wanted to be a doctor,” Jerry told Beryl. “But turns out I can’t stand the sight of blood.”

“I’m the opposite,” Beryl said, using the opportunity to make conversation with the new man in her mother’s life. She hoped perhaps by pretending she was okay with the situation, she might become okay with the situation. “I can take the big stuff, but if someone falls and scrapes their knee, I get lightheaded.”

Artemis laughed. “I remember when you were a kid and fell off that tire swing we used to have in the oak tree. You split your chin open. Demitra fainted, and Larry and I had to take you in for stitches.”

“I forgot about that,” Beryl smiled. “I cried all the way, but Daddy said if I were going to be a doctor like I said I wanted to be, I’d better stop crying and be a little professional. Of course, that was before I knew how to…” She was about to say heal myself until she remembered there was a stranger dining with the family.

“Uncle Larry used to tell me whenever I got hurt that the girls would make fun of me if I cried,” Seth said. “He said us boys have to stick together around here so we don’t give those mean girls anything to hold over us.”

Jerry looked a little pensive. Artemis noticed.

“I’m sorry,” Artemis said, glancing at him. The epitome of a gracious hostess, Artemis never wanted anyone to be ill at ease in their home. “I hope we aren’t making you uncomfortable mentioning Demitra’s late husband. Let us change the subject.”

“Not at all,” Jerry replied. “He is a very lucky man to be remembered so fondly after all these years.”

“You know, Beryl,” Yasmine called from the other end of the table, spreading cranberry sauce over her dressing. “That swing didn’t really break.”

“What are you talking about?” Beryl replied. “The rope snapped in two.”

“Actually, it didn’t,” Fable admitted. “Seth was being mean to me and Yaz, and we thought we’d get even with him. We cut the rope. We thought he would be the one swinging. He was always in that swing.”

“I should give you all a spanking,” Demitra quipped.

“My wife,” Seth grinned as he elbowed Yasmine sharply in the ribs. “Trying to kill me at 10 years old.”

Yasmine blushed and tucked her head into her shoulders. She leaned in to kiss him, and he met her lips midway. Then he gave her hair a sharp yank of revenge before returning to his turkey.

“So, Jerry,” Howard asked, biting off a piece of overly buttered cornbread with a curious expression. “What do you do for a living?”

“I’m an accountant.”

“Really?” Fable remarked. “My father was an accountant.”

Demitra’s eyes darted toward Jerry, who replied, “Yes, I know. I actually knew your father.”

“Really? You did?!” Beryl exclaimed. The revelation was a surprise.

“Yes,” Demitra told her eldest. “Jerry was a friend of your father’s and mine.”

Artemis gave a quizzical look at her sister which Demitra ignored.

“Did our father ever tell you about us?” Fable asked.

Jerry smiled kindly toward Fable and replied, “You two girls were the apple of Larry Mariner’s eye. He talked a lot about his little monkeys.” He looked at Salem, Yasmine, and Seth next and added, “He also spoke of his nieces and nephew quite often. He was very proud of all you kids. I think he’d be pretty proud of how you all turned out, too.”

“Demitra,” Artemis said suddenly. “Will you help me get the pies out of the oven?”

The sisters went into the kitchen alone. Demitra removed the two apple pies from the top oven while Artemis took the two pecan pies from the lower. They set the pies to cool on the counter before Artemis gently tugged her sister’s arm.

“Just what are you doing?”

“Helping you in the kitchen,” Demitra remarked, a little taken aback.

“You know what I mean,” Artemis said with an eye roll. “Why is that man here?”

“Do you mean Jerry...my boyfriend?”

Artemis puffed a strand of hair out of her eyes in frustration. “That’s the point, Dee. You are not only dating a man just like your late husband—he was even a friend of his!”

“So what?” Demitra asked. “I like Jerry. He’s very nice. Larry liked him, too.”

Artemis wrung her hands together in exasperation. She took her younger sister by the shoulders and looked her directly in the eye so that Demitra could see her concern was genuine. “We have been down this road before, Dee. You must get over Larry. He was a terrific guy—the best—but he is dead! You cannot recreate that part of your life with a similar man. It’s not fair to you, and it’s not fair to that man out there.”

“I like Jerry for Jerry,” Demitra said, pulling free of her sister’s hold. “He is kind. He is handsome. Witty. Successful. I see no reason to stop seeing him just because he reminds you of my dead husband.”

“No,” Artemis corrected. “I think he reminds you of your dead husband. How much of this affection for Jerry is really just leftover love for Larry? Hell, their names are even similar. Jerry Miller. Larry Mariner. You lost your mind once because of grief for Larry. Please don’t do that again.”

Tossing the oven mitts to the counter, Demitra whirled around exasperatedly. “What do you know about love?!” she shouted. “You’ve never been in love—except with Howard, but even then, you didn’t fight to keep him. You just let it go. Larry and I enjoy each other. I’m not going to stop seeing him.”

Artemis’ eyes teared up. “Honey, you just said Larry. You said Larry and I. Dee, his name is Jerry. Honey, this is not healthy. Don’t you remember last time, how hard it was? You couldn’t do anything for the longest time but stay in your room and cry. You half destroyed yourself grieving once. Jerry can’t take Larry’s place.”

Demitra faced her sister angrily. In no uncertain terms she replied, “Stay out of it!”