The run in with family friends was a bit of a surprise, though some of it also revealed some "good" news in revealing some of the other elements of Edward Cupple's scheme. True a lot of it seemed to focus more on the logistics behind the plan that the Chapmans had already guessed at, and to a degree it also slowed down the pace which they were supposed to be making with regard to visiting the other churches and find out some way to counter Cupple's magic, but Jeff caught on to something Heloise Grenzes had said.
"You say that he just accepted your refusal to sell the farm?" Jeff asked while one eye noted Heloise's oldest daughter approaching Zoe with the other eye focused on Heloise.
It was possible that Edward Cupple could have accepted the refusal, as it was probable that Cupple would be trying to avoid getting into any trouble that would draw the law after him. That was a part of why he likely left after their neighbor, Paul, had intervened in the confrontation after Jeff's transformation was completed. Jeff could accept that much, but in cases where the evidence for criminal conviction would be low, Jeff had a hard time thinking that Cupple wouldn't back down. After all, he'd admitted to the Chapmans that the confrontation that had killed their father was essentially Cupple using his magic to start the fire and thus was murder, but legally all the Chapmans would have would be their word against his. And from the way Heloise had described his attempt to buy her farm, the situation seemed to be similar. Not something that would be obviously criminal.
"In a sense, yes," Heloise answered, looking between Jeff and Whitney.
"Was there anyone else around?" Jeff asked, "someone that might have represented the law or... additional witnesses?"
"Beyond my girls? No one," Heloise asked back.
"What would this be about, Jeff?" Whitney asked to her son, getting some sense of suspicion from him. It wasn't aimed at the Grenzes, or at least she hoped it wasn't.
"Something that would seem puzzling, given what we know about Cupple and what he's done," Jeff answered, "I mean... he may not want to attract attention from the police, BUT he's also been good at making sure he's in a "safe" position when he's risked anything that's going to carry that risk. I mean... when he came at us after my transformation, he was forceful, and I could feel something... almost fuzzy... as if he thought if trying to make me open to what he wanted."
"It sort of felt the same way in the living room before that," Grace commented, "but that was where our hive mind seemed to trump the attempt. I felt Lucy's confidence and drive and latched onto it as it fought the attempt."
Jeff nodded, "which shows that when he feels "safe," he's not above pulling all the stops. And he only backed down later when Paul came out and threatened to call the police. Thus, if he came to the Grenzes' farm and tried to buy it and the only ones here were Heloise and her daughters... why would he accept Heloise saying "no?" If no one else was around... based on what he's already done when he's felt safe... he could have very easily started things with the Grenzes and then moved on from there."
That earned a few blinks from Whitney and Lucy, and even Heloise seemed curious by all that. The human woman raised her hand to her chin to scratch it for a moment with her fingers.
"Well... I really can't hazard why, really," Heloise said slowly, "I mean... he did seem to REALLY want to go through with the offer and repeated himself a few times."
"Repeated himself?" Whitney wondered.
"Yeah, oddly sounded sort of like he was trying to pull a Jedi mind trick on me," Heloise admitted, "even sounding a bit insistent at the end."
"Insistent?" Whitney and Lucy wondered, almost in perfect unison.
"Yeah," Heloise nodded, "sort of like he was expecting something else to happen but didn't get it."
"Which would mean he'd HAD to have applied some of his magic to the attempt to buy the farm," Jeff said slowly, "or at least tried to... and failed."
"So... my family's farm is magic proof?" Heloise wondered.
"It would certainly seem like something on it would be resistant to magic," Grace commented, "or at least the sort of... "enslaving" magic he tried to use on us. It felt like a strong suggestion on my mind when it happened in the living room and almost felt like it tickled or was fuzzy in a way... but it couldn't get through the hive mind. And he sounded insistent the more we resisted his urgings..."
"I didn't feel anything when he was trying to buy the farm," Heloise pointed out, "I just noted that he was insistent and tried to repeat his demands in a weird way... I can't say why..."
"Which could mean what protects your farm is artificial," Jeff guessed, "like in some stories there is a talisman or amulet or something that he didn't know about that either cancelled out his magic or dulled it to where it lost its effectiveness. Or that the land itself had some sacred value or quality that he didn't know of... something that proved lucky for you that Cupple couldn't use his magic to get what he wanted and then HAD to accept your rejection."
"Would you know what it is?" Heloise wondered.
"Not off hand," Grace said slowly, "before all this started and we began turning into Slug People... about all we would have thought magic was... was either something from fairy tales or an illusion. Finding out it was all real... was a shock and surprise, particularly when it became clear that the attempt was not with our knowledge of it."
"Thus, what we're up to now in looking for a way to counter Cupple's magic," Lucy added, "what does it... how it works... and so on. Though we've largely started with the churches since we think they might know more on how to counter all this magic and thus give us the chance to then maybe provide some evidence that would help get the police to turn on Cupple as well."
"Which has been a bit difficult for the moment," Whitney added, "the Catholic Church might have some answers, but we'd need to wait for other information to come along as well... We're essentially waiting on that for the moment and are on our way to the next church to get some answers to all that..."
"And if we get answers, we might bring whoever has them to the farm and see if he or she can confirm what on your farm was blocking Cupple's magic," Jeff offered.
"That'll be good... hopefully you all do get some answers," Heloise replied and then looked over to the side and noticed that Maize and Zoe were a few feet away talking with each other.