“I never had a grandfather before,” the boy said.
“I never had a grandson before,” Ivar answered.
“Can I go swimming?”
“Yes,” Ivar said. “Your grandmother will be back from the market soon. We’ll have us some lunch and you can go swimming. The water’s cold but you might enjoy it. Our kind does.”
Roderick smiled. It was a tiny hesitant smile. “I would like that.”
Ivar got up and offered the boy his hand. “Would you like to see my smithy?”
Roderick nodded. The two of them walked off the porch together, hand in hand.
The three of us sat on the porch, watched the river, and drank the iced tea.
“What about Aurellia?” I asked.
“She’s still married to the DA’s brother-in-law,” Curran said. “A woman told me it would be a bad idea to do anything about that.”
“I wouldn’t worry about Aurellia,” Doolittle said, watching Ivar and Roderick by the smithy. “I have a feeling she’ll get what’s coming to her.”
EPILOGUE
Atlanta Avery hospital reported an extremely troubling case: a local woman, Aurellia Sunny, has aged forty years overnight. The medmage professionals theorize that accelerated aging occurred due to a gold ring that arrived in the mail and was left on Mrs. Sunny’s front porch. The ring has since dissolved into her skin and is impossible to remove. The aging process is continuing and the family has been advised to make the proper arrangements. PAD Detective Tsoi, the lead investigator on the case, had the following advice for residents: “Don’t accept gifts from anonymous parties. If you don’t know who the package is from, don’t open it.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution