Chapter 82─Jean learns more than she wanted to know

Jean was full of anticipation after her trip out to the mountains.

“That feels so good. A whole lot of them affected at the same time, just so that I can get to one of them,” she giggled as she looked at herself in the mirror.

“I wonder what Aunt Mable will say if she found out that I used my own initiative with her stuff?” Jean asked herself with a frown between her fine brows. It had not bothered her earlier. She had only been full of excitement as soon as she thought of the idea.

“It will only be a worry if my plan doesn’t work out or if Theresa develops a conscience and tells on me ahead of time. Those people better get sick quickly. I don’t mind going all the way to that girl’s house to kidnap her when she’s unconscious,” Jean announced to her image in the mirror.

“Oh, you’re back,” Mable suddenly commented from the slightly open doorway.

“Oh, I thought you were out,” Jean responded in genuine surprise. She was sure that Mable was not at home, that’s why she did not bother to close her bedroom door properly.

“No, I’m here now,” Mable responded.

“Oh, I took a ride out to see Theresa,” Jean responded.

“Great. And did you give her new instructions on how to follow humans around?” Mable asked as she walked into the bedroom.

“What?” Jean asked with her eyes wide-stretched from shock.

“Oh, I was also in that area, but it was to get advice on how to help you,” Mable remarked with her chin held high, but not looking Jean in the eye yet.

“You were in Theresa’s town and heard about me?” Jean asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Oh, don’t pretend that you’re not causing trouble, dear. Let’s rather talk about why you’ve decided to stalk someone who seems to be your rival,” Mable suggested, cupping her chin with her hand as she stared at Jean.

“Who told you that I’m stalking her?” Jean asked with her eyes wide in disbelief.

“So, you are stalking her through your friend Theresa. Why do you trust her so much? What if she decides to go for the man herself?” Mable asked, studying Jean’s face carefully.

“She’s been my friend for ages,” Jean responded with a pout.

“Then you’re still naïve. You’re trusting her with everything that’s important to you. You should confide in other friends also. Then you will find out if one of them is fooling you. They will begin to tell on each other,” Mable advised in a serious, low tone of voice.

“It’s not so easy to trust just any friend,” Jean mumbled.

“So, you trust only Theresa?” Mable asked with a concerned frown on her brow.

“At the moment, yes,” Jean replied with her arms folded across her chest.

Mable just shook her head at this.

“So, you found out about me and Theresa’s activities when you went to your council meetings?” she asked, frowning at Mable curiously.

“You won’t believe how I found out that you’re stalking that girl,” Mable responded instead as she walked past Jean to go and stand by the bedroom windows. She then looked out at the garden pensively.

“How did you find out?” Jean asked with an anxious look in her eyes.

“Apparently, her family found out that Theresa was stalking them. So, luckily for you, they think that Theresa wants something from them. I figured out for myself that she was actually stalking them only because she wanted to know more about your rival,” Mable remarked with a proud tilt of her chin again.

“But how do you come to that conclusion?” Jean asked, shaking her head and narrowing her eyes in confusion.

“Because recently, Theresa has been stalking their house. So she’s appearing to be obsessed with them, but actually she’s interested in the granddaughter, not the grandmother.

It would be ridiculous to be stalking the grandmother, so, it’s easy to realize that Theresa’s targeting the granddaughter,” Mable responded with a grunt and an offhand wave of her hand.

“Well, it doesn’t matter what they think because they don’t know that I’m after the granddaughter. At least, they can’t connect me to Theresa,” Jean responded with a nonchalant shrug.

“You shouldn’t be so confident of yourself. Where do you think I met these two lady friends?” Mable asked with her brows raised as she studied Jean’s face.

“Are they two relatives or two friends?” Jean asked, frowning in confusion.

“It’s the girl’s grandmother and a close friend of hers,” Mable responded, still waiting for an answer.

“So, where did you meet them?” Jean asked, frowning curiously now.

“At the council of course, where else?” Mable responded, looking at Jean’s face steadily.

“So, they’re also fortune-tellers?” Jean asked with her mouth open in shock and disbelief.

“I told you where I went, so that means that the people that I’m talking about were at the same place that I was. They’re not as sweet and innocent at you would have expected, hey?” Mable asked with an amused smile as she looked at Jean’s stunned face.

“So, Mishka is connected with people who can see what I’m doing?” Jean asked as if she was talking to herself. She looked around the bedroom as if she had suddenly realized that she had lost something.

“So, it’s never good to underestimate your adversary,” Mable responded.

“Oh, and by the way, I told them about you before I found out who they were,” she added with a sharp drawing in of her breath.

“What did you tell them about me?” Jean asked with her eyes stretched wide in alarm.

“They can’t harm you. They just know that I need to help you trap a man who’s very elusive,” Mable responded in a smooth tone of voice.

“How could you tell them about me? Aren’t they humans?” Jean asked with a confused frown on her brow.

“I went there for help and they were on the same level as I am, so I had to confide in them because they would confide in me.

Everything that is said there is confidential, even though it’s not only members of the pack who attend the meetings,” Mable responded.

“So, now they can easily see that I want to harm their relative?” Jean asked with her hands on her hips.

“What are you talking about? Who said anything about harming her? Are you up to something that you didn’t tell me about?” Mable asked as she gave Jean a sharp look.