By Blood We Live

Kelsey gasped and clung to Martin's leg, pressing her face against his thigh and peeking out. Martin wrapped his hand around the top of her head and pointed out to the water, where a new snake sinuated across the rippled surface toward the shore. It lifted its nose, turning it like a submarine periscope.

Bill crept up behind them and stomped his foot on the concrete, chuckling as they jumped. The snakes immediately disappeared among the rocks and driftbrush. The snake in the water dived beneath the surface.

Kelsey lifted her head. "Grampa!"

Martin straightened, letting her go. "They're harmless," he said. "Lake Erie water snakes. Endangered."

Bill wrapped his arms around his granddaughter. "Just 'cause they're endangered don't mean they're not dangerous. Tigers are endangered too, but they're still dangerous."

Martin smiled and stepped off the slab. "You come back any time you want to see my snakes now, Kelsey."

They said goodbye to one another. Martin watched until they were off the property, then went inside and watched out the window to be sure they didn't come back.

The setting sun sheened off the windshield, causing Martin to slow the car as he passed the black-clad teenagers strolling down the road, trading cigarettes. A pink-haired boy sneered at Martin and Lucy, shaping his hand into a claw and gouging at them. The other kids laughed.

"Are you sure you feel well enough to do this?" Martin asked Lucy.

She ran her fingertips over her face to smooth the skin. "It's been long enough. We have to get back to normal some time. And I do feel better."

"Good." Martin pulled into the lot of the Limestone Island Winery, tires crunching on the gravel. He jumped out and opened the door for her.

They walked up the steps. The winery sat on the waterfront, within walking distance of the docks. The terrace faced the lake so that's where the tourists gathered. A Jimmy Buffet song started over the speakers, an impromptu singalong shaking the walls as Lucy and Martin went into the pub.

Martin traded nods with a few locals watching the TVs and waved to the fortyish woman behind the bar. She wore a tight T-shirt, logoed with a bottle of Two Worms Tequila, a picture of a lemon, and the slogan "Suck this."

She waved back as Lucy and Martin took their usual booth in the corner. Then she yelled something into the kitchen, threw the towel over her shoulder, and came to join them.

"God, Lucy," she said, sliding in across the booth. "You're

radiant. You look wonderful. You sure you've been sick?"

An enthusiastic chorus of "wasting away again" came through the wall from the terrace outside.

"Hi, Kate," Martin said above the singing.

"I don't look nearly as wonderful as you," Lucy answered, smiling. "Is that a new perm?"

She struck a pose, vamping the hairdo for them. "What do you think, Marty?"

"Looks terrific."

Kate's daughter, Maya, a high school senior, stepped to the kitchen door, looked around, and then carried over a bottle of red wine and three glasses. "Thanks, honey," Kate said. "Now don't serve anyone else. Make Mike do it."

"He hates coming out of the kitchen, Mom."

Kate wagged her finger. "I'm not kidding." As Maya stepped away, Kate snapped the towel at her butt. She twisted around, frowning. Martin winked at her.

"Now don't go making eyes at my daughter, Mr. Marty Van Wyk," Kate said, threatening him with the towel.

"Here, give me the bottle," he said. "I'll open it."

"What happened to Christie and Boyko?" Lucy asked, looking around. All summer long, Christie had waited tables while Boyko worked the kitchen.

Kate curled her lip dramatically. "The Vulgarians?"

"Bulgarians," Martin corrected.

"You ever notice the way they pawed each other all the time?" Kate asked.

Lucy leaned her head on Martin's shoulder. "They're in love with each other. It's very sweet."

"It was out of control."

The cork popped out of the bottle. Martin poured the dark red liquid into their three glasses. He slid the first one over to Kate. "Why are you talking about them in the past tense?"

"Didn't you hear? Hristina"-Kate pronounced it with the accent-"and Boyko disappeared two weeks ago. Not a word-we were worried! But then someone saw them over at Sandusky Pointe, running the roller coasters at the park. They said the pay was better over there, and they had some other job at night. They're trying to make as much as they can before their green cards expire and they have to go home."

Lucy sipped her wine.

"Everybody disappeared at once," Kate said. "First it was those two, then you, then Pitr. We all suspected-" She dropped her voice and lifted her eyebrows. "-foul play."

Martin swallowed his wine the wrong way and coughed. Pitr was Czech, from some small town with a castle south of Brno; he came over through the same agency that hired the other foreign workers. "Pitr?" he rasped. "He go over to the mainland too?"

"Probably." Kate leaned forward, elbows on the table, eyes glittering. "Say, did he ever come out to your place to fill that hole of yours?"