There is no good way this ends. I know that. Ruth doesn’t like me as it is because I’m the one who is helping Houston develop his magical ability. I’m sitting in my car across the street from her house, trying to work up the nerve to go knock on the door. This is going to be an extremely awkward conversation.
I take a deep breath and force myself out of the car. I knock on the door and wait for Ruth to answer. “Hi! Ruth. Um, Mrs. Hessman. I’m—”
“I know who you are,” she says as she squints at me. “I have nothing to say to you.”
“It’s about Houston,” I say before she can slam the door in my face.
“What’s happened to my nephew?”
“Nothing, yet. But, can we talk inside?”
“I don’t want you Devil people in my house.”
“Okay, can we talk in the back yard?”
Ruth closes the door. A few momen
