Silencing Eve

watching—confidence, grace, vitality. Smiling at the people in the crowd as she brushed by them. She couldn’t decide whether Margaret was beautiful or just attractive because that inner glow was so strong it dominated everything about her.
    “You’re Catherine Ling,” she said as she reached her. She reached out to shake her hand. “I’m Margaret. You’ll want to talk to me.”
    “I will? How do you know?”
    “I saw you going up to the cottage to talk to Kendra, and I asked Jane who you were.” A smile lit her face. “I’m glad you came, Catherine. Jane said you’re very tough, very clever, and that you owe Eve a debt for helping to save your son. A debt like that is great motivation.” She looked around her. “Want to go for a walk with me in the woods? There are too many people around.”
    Catherine fell into step with her. “How did you know that I’d come looking for you after I talked to Kendra?” she asked again. “What do you know that she doesn’t?”
    “Nothing. But she doesn’t like to talk about me.” She chuckled. “It’s part loyalty because she likes me. And it’s part discomfort because I’m kinda hard to explain.”
    “That’s what she told me.” They were deep in the woods now, and Catherine stopped and turned to face her. “I don’t give a damn about discomfort, but I don’t like lies. She said something about your not being a phony. What was that supposed to mean?”
    “Did she say that? That was nice. It’s particularly hard for her to defend me when I offend her sense of logic. That’s a primary sin for Kendra.” She reached down and took off one of her high heels. “I have to get these off for a minute. I’m not used to anything but my flip-flops or tennis shoes.” She flexed her bare feet. “That’s better. I knew I had to look somber and dressed up, but I can’t stand these heels. I bought them at Payless at the mall, but they don’t—” She broke off. “You’re looking impatient. Sorry. You’re worried about Eve like the rest of us, and you’re in the dark. How can I help?”
    “By shining some light,” she said curtly. “You’re right, I’m worried about Eve, and I’m not going to let that bastard kill her if there’s a chance of saving her. I have to know everything, dammit. Kendra said that you were the trigger that made her realize that perhaps Eve hadn’t been killed. How did you know that was possible?”
    “Oh, it was more than possible,” Margaret said. “It was fact. I told Jane and Kendra that the night of the explosion, but they’re both cautious. They wanted to believe me, but they couldn’t bring themselves to raise their hopes until they had proof.” She beamed. “So I sent Kendra to use all that logic and deductive reasoning that she does so well to gather their proof. Didn’t she do a fine job?”
    “Excellent. Now tell me how you knew that Eve’s being alive was a fact.”
    She sighed. “Okay, here it comes.” She made a face. “There’s a wolf pack in those mountains, and wolves are usually easy for me to deal with. Not like a dog, but close enough.”
    “What?”
    “The pack is always on the hunt for food. Naturally, since they’re in the wild, they would have to be. When the wolves noticed Doane and Eve in the mountains, they were considering them for their next meal.”
    “Where is this going?” Catherine was frowning. “I don’t want a nature lesson, Margaret.”
    “But you want an answer from me. That’s what I’m giving you. For some reason, the wolves became intrigued by Doane.” Margaret tilted her head. “Peculiar. But you can never tell what a wolf will do. Anyway, they started tracking, shadowing him … and Eve. I asked if it was because of the food factor. But that wasn’t the reason, it was something else. Doane had to go away. It was important for him to go away.”
    “Go away?”
    “Die. Doane had to die. It was important to the wolves that he die.”
    Catherine couldn’t take any more of this. “Stop spinning fairy tales. I want answers, Margaret.”
    “You’re getting them.” She added simply, “The wolves didn’t like Doane, but there was something else. They felt he had to die. It was something to do with the natural order. I couldn’t get it clear. It had some connection with death and silence and a little red-haired kid.”
    “Margaret.”
    “You want to know how I know.”
    “I want to know why you’re bullshitting me.”
    “I know because the night