Yasmine stepped off the front porch of Blanchard House and started walking across the lawn towards the back of the house. She passed by her grandmother’s rose garden. The sweet air wafted over her as she made her way along the footworn path past the chicken houses and through the apple orchard. Moving through the trees she came to the row of fencing with the grapevines twinning around the pickets and stretching up overhead onto the arched arbor. Just beyond that came the slight downhill path to the stream. The clear water was running slowly, probably from lack of rain, but she sat down on the bank and slipped off her shoes to dip her toes into the crisp, cool water. Things out here seemed so peaceful, despite the events currently happening within the family. A brown dove winged by for a moment as if contemplating whether Yasmine was safe to perch beside. Deciding not to risk it, the dove flew away.

  “That ugly mug of yours will scare anything off,” Seth remarked coming across the meadow. “Maybe we should stand you in the garden instead of the scarecrow.”

  She feigned a laugh mostly out of politeness, understanding Seth’s need to make jokes so that he never had to face anything too serious for too long. Yasmine knew he was scared. Seth had always been close to his older sister Salem. Despite having Yasmine, Fable, and Beryl to grow up with, Seth and Salem often felt like they only had each other. Both basically orphaned early due to the selfish choices of their parents. The uncertainty right now regarding Salem’s whereabouts and safety was scaring Seth more than he wanted to let on.

  “Grandmother will find her, you know.”

  “Yeah,” he replied breathing in the warm air. “Let’s talk about something else.”

  “Okay…” Yasmine said searching her mind for something—anything—to talk about.

  “Can’t think of a thing, can you?” he smirked.

  “Yes, I can,” she began. “Ever wonder why products become suddenly new and improved? Are they finally admitting to us that their old formula was always inferior? Doesn’t exactly instill shopper confidence that the company was perfectly happy to give us a product they didn’t originally believe in.”

  “You are so lame.”

  “At least I don’t date cranky preacher’s daughters,” Yasmine scoffed.

  “That might actually be kind of fun to observe,” Seth said devilishly. “I’d watch that show.”

  She rammed her shoulder into his as punishment for his lewd brain. She scooted a little closer to him. Her hands wrapped around her knees as she wiggled her toes in the water. He was leaning back, braced by his thick arms stretched behind him with his feet propped up on a rock by the water.

  “I’m worried, you know?” he admitted. Yasmine noticed his leg was shaking a little--fidgeting--as if the stress inside him was trying to release itself whichever way it could.

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  “I know.”

  “Salem’s all I have left,” Seth confided. “I mean, I know I have family. Grandmother, the aunts, Beryl and Fable…even irritating little you. But Salem’s different. My sister, you know?”

  Yasmine sighed and slid herself under his arm. “I do. I love this family with all my heart, but I still miss my own sometimes.”

  “We are your own,” Seth corrected.

  “Oh, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. But in the way you mean with Salem. I feel part of the Blanchard family, but I miss my parents a lot. And I miss my brother Ollie. And especially Grandad.”

  “We all miss Granddad,” Seth smiled. “He was the best. The only grandfather I ever knew. But I know what you mean about your parents. I miss mine sometimes too—at least the idea of them. Whatever the case may be.”

  “But you do remember your mother a little, don’t you?” Yasmine asked.

  “Not really,” Seth admitted. “I know she looked something like Aunt Demitra and Aunt Artemis—or at least what someone would look like if they both looked more like each other. Make sense?”

  Yasmine nodded. “I’ve seen pictures of Nacaria. She does look like a cross between them, just with blonde hair. The aunts share similarities, but when you see pictures of them with your mother, you know right away they were all sisters.”

  “Yep,” Seth’s tone turned bitter, “But she had to be selfish. Thoughtless. And now we will never see her again.”

  “Don’t say that Seth,” Yasmine replied. “You don’t really know that. She might come back one day.”

  “She’s dead Yazzy. Good as well as, at least.”

  “I don’t believe that’s true.”

  “I don’t feel like talking about her, either,” Seth grumbled.

  Yasmine leaned forward to toss a daisy from the water’s edge into the stream. It floated downstream a few feet until a rock caught it in place. She leaned her head back onto her cousin’s shoulder again. He’d been to the gym again. She could smell it. She thought about saying something but figured it probably was not an appropriate time to tell him he was ripe. She really didn’t mind it though. She liked the way he smelled when he’d been sweaty.

  “The other day I went to the movies with Jake. I was uncomfortable in my seat, so I bent my leg up under me and sat on it. After a while I shifted some and my leg popped through the back of the seat. So, there I am straddling the movie theater chair, one leg in front and one wedged in back. I was stuck. When the movie went off and everyone got up to leave, there was no hiding the fact that I was caught in the chair. Jake looked at me like I was crazy. It took him quite a while to get my leg out. I was so embarrassed.”

  Seth started laughing. “You know those things only happen to you. No one else ever gets in the predicaments you do.”

  “I know.”

  “Jake got to be your hero, I guess.”

  “I guess.”

  Seth looked at Yasmine and tilted his head slightly to the side. “So, do you, like…love him or something?”

  “Jake?!” she exclaimed. “No. I don’t love him. I think he’s nice… I like him.”

  “Are you two…”

  “Are we two what?” she repeated.

  “You know.”

  “No, I don’t know. What are you asking me Seth?”

  “Are you two collecting antique pottery! Yazzy you know very well what I am asking you. Are you two having sex?”

  “That’s not any of your business!” she cried.

  “Okay,” Seth huffed. “Nevermind then. It’s not my business.”

  His demeanor changed. He pulled away and sat singularly by the water, staring out at the stream. Yasmine scooted closer to him. She looked up at him and tried to force a smile on his face.

  “It may be a little your business, I guess. If it’s something you need to know.”

  “I’d like to know.”

  “We are not having sex. I’ve only been dating him a month.”

  “People have sex within a month, Yaz.”

  “Well, I haven’t.”

  “Okay,” Seth seemed friendlier again. He nudged her back with his shoulder. “Okay.”

  “What about you and Vanessa?” she asked.

  “That’s none of your business,” he answered.