The Curse Of Dark Root: Part One Part 17

I frowned and showed her my leaves. "Nada."

She pa.s.sed a hand over my cup. "Creating magic of any kind, begins and ends within the mind."

A swirl of pine needles rose up near my feet and then fell. Jillian nodded satisfactorily.

Begins and ends within the mind.

I cleared myself of all thoughts and gave my cup one final, hail-Mary swirl. If I didn't have a sign, who knew how Jillian or Aunt Dora would interpret it? I inspected the bottom of my cup once again, surprised to see that the leaves had indeed taken form. The shape of a cross emerged, with a slim looped handle.

An ankh.

I showed it to Jillian. "I've seen this before," I whispered under my breath. "In the globe of memories. Mother promised one to Armand if he agreed to stay in Dark Root."

She pa.s.sed the cup to Dora and spoke softly into her ear. Aunt Dora steeled her eyes on me. "Sasha gave that man the ankh! There were only two in the world!" She pounded her fists onto the table, rattling the cups in their saucers.

"What are you talking about?" Eve asked, glancing up from her own teacup vision.

Jillian placed a delicate hand on Aunt Dora's shoulder. "Sasha had no idea of the talisman's power back then. None of us did."

"I knew he was up ta something. That's why I invoked the globes. Ya never trust a warlock!" The look in her eyes warned us against asking further questions. Even Eve was temporarily quieted.

"I need to stretch," I said, excusing myself. Using the chair for leverage, I hoisted myself up.

An ankh. In my tea leaves. This couldn't be mere coincidence. I wandered out of the garden and to the side of the house, towards the woods. As I approached a small thatch of trees, I was struck by a bolt of dej vu.

This was the spot where Mother had led Armand to Juliana's headstone.

A soft rumble caught my attention. It came from the tall weeds before me. An orange tail shot up like a periscope, then disappeared.

"Maggie Cat?" I called out, but the animal bounded away. I tried to chase after but was hindered by my weight.

Merry and Ruth Anne caught up to me. "Are you okay?"

"I thought I saw our cat," I said, my eyes darting around. "Here, kitty, kitty."

Merry crouched down, pus.h.i.+ng through the gra.s.s. "I think we spooked him off. I wonder what he was doing out here?"

I pointed to the stone with our grandmother's name carved into it, hidden in the overgrowth.

And to my right, on the fringe of the woods, there stood a woman, gauzy and undefined. It was the woman I had seen in the nursery window and in the rocking chair a few nights before. She was holding and stroking our cat.

Without having to be told, I knew that it was no banshee.

The ghost woman was Juliana Benbridge, my grandmother.

FIFTEEN.

Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood "You found Juliana's headstone? So what?" Eve paced the living room of Sister House, pulling at the ends of her sleek hair.

"I don't understand why you're so upset, either," Ruth Anne added, nibbling on one of the leftover tarts. Aunt Dora and Jillian had packed up the tea party and headed back to Harvest Home, but Ruth Anne had convinced them to leave the pastries behind.

"I just am."

Merry sat down on the couch beside me. "You say you saw the headstone first in a dream?"

"Yes." I hadn't told them about the snow globes, and I wasn't about to, not unless Aunt Dora and Jillian gave me clearance.

Merry's lips formed a taut smile. "Honey, we're witches. We see and feel things all of the time, things that would freak any normal person out."

Ruth Anne nearly choked on her cookie. "You got that right."

"That's not the weirdest part," I admitted.

"Oh?" Merry's eyes narrowed and Ruth Anne stopped chewing. Eve continued her pacing, glancing out the window while rubbing her arms.

"I've seen the ghost of an old woman. In the nursery, in my bedroom, and then today by the headstone. At first I thought it was Mother, but now I think it's Juliana."

Eve turned from the window, affixing me with an accusing stare. "Maggie, you're always attracting stuff. We need to get you cleansed or something. It's giving me the heebie-jeebies."

"Jillian says it's one of my gifts."

"Maybe it's time to re-gift it." Eve looked to Ruth Anne. "Any idea how to transfer abilities? Michael could use a good haunting."

Merry clicked her tongue. "Eve, don't say things like that, even if you're kidding. That's how curses start."

"Exactly!" Eve turned back towards the window.

Merry scooted closer and wrapped an arm about my shoulders. "If you really think this is Juliana..."

I nodded.

"...then isn't it comforting to know that our grandmother is out there, watching over us?"

"But she had worm hair and burning eyes, Merry. That's not comforting at all. I'm beginning to feel like she's trying to tell me something, but I don't know what it is."

Merry closed her eyes and placed her hands on her thighs, palms up. We all remained quiet as she attempted to pick up the spirit's vibrations.

"Sorry," she said after several minutes. "I'm not detecting anything."

"I don't have my gizmos with me," Ruth Anne said. "But let's look at this logically. What do we know about Juliana?"

"She's our grandmother," Merry said. "And she founded Dark Root around 1900 after being cast out of Portland for being a witch."

"She was accused of witchcraft because her husband mysteriously fell to his death," Eve added. "Not someone I'd want watching me."

"Accused," Ruth Anne interjected. "Doesn't mean 'proven.'"

I thought for a moment, trying to remember the lore. "She brought her sister Corelia here, Larinda's mother. The two women built Sister House and lived there with their children until Corelia moved out and built Harvest Home. Corelia disappeared when she was around forty and was never heard from again." I shrugged. That was literally all we knew of our mother's mother. Not much to go on.

"Too bad we don't have a library here," Ruth Anne said. "Then at least we'd find some records."

"We can raid Uncle Joe's old house," I said. "Shane has it boarded up now, but once upon a time it housed hundreds of books. There might still be some there."

"There's a library in Linsburg," Merry reminded us. "I bet they have something on Juliana."

Linsburg had been Dark Root's rival since the early days, when it was discovered the town was founded by witches. Though most of its citizens now looked upon it as a fun legend, there were still those who harbored old prejudices.

Eve put her hands on her hips. "Something else bothers me. Isn't it strange that Dark Root's matriarch isn't buried in the town cemetery?"

"Oh, there's a marker there, too," Ruth Anne said, her eyes gleaming. "I've seen Juliana's headstone. It's huge."

"Then why the private stone out back?" I asked.

"Maybe the big stone is for tourists?" Merry proposed. "I'm sure a lot of people make a pilgrimage to the cemetery during the Haunted Dark Root Festival."

"I can't think of any other reason," I said, "but that still doesn't explain her lurking near the stone."

"Maybe the stone was moved," Merry said. "Spirits hate it when you do that. Nonetheless, her spirit is restless and we'll figure out why. But it may have to wait a while." Her eyes fell to my belly.

"If you can stand the creepiness, I'd let it go for now," Ruth Anne said, taking the last of the tarts with her into the kitchen. With m.u.f.fled words she called out, "Things like this happen in our family. We don't get normal. We're the Daughters of Dark Root."

"Not all of us," I said.

Ruth Anne bounded from the kitchen with a crumb-covered mouth and narrowed eyes. "What do you mean not all of us?"

"I mean things like this don't happen to you. Just Merry and Eve and me."

Ruth Anne's energy bristled, which surprised me. It was normally as calm and undisturbed as a tub of cool water. "What are you trying to say, Mags? That I don't belong in this family? Want to drown me to prove I'm a witch?"

"What? You're offended? You spent your whole life trying to break out of this family because we were too weird."

"I cut off my hair, that's all." Ruth Anne tugged on one of her brown cork screws. "If I grew it back out, which I'm not planning to, I'm sure I'd have all sorts of hauntings and sightings and everything else that makes this family so d.a.m.ned special."

I wasn't the only one caught off guard by Ruth Anne's words. Merry and Eve stared wide-eyed and open mouthed.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to suggest that you weren't..."

"Weren't what? Like the three of you?"

"Um, yes." I looked sheepishly at my hands, wondering how I'd salvage this. I wasn't used to arguing with Ruth Anne. We were usually allies, especially on our disdain of having to live our entire lives as "witches." I rubbed the side of my temple, trying to re-articulate what I meant. "I'm just envious that you don't have to deal with this sort of thing."

Ruth Anne lifted her pointy chin, giving me a long stare from behind her square gla.s.ses. "Who says I don't?"

She turned away from us and plodded up the staircase, slamming her bedroom door behind her.

"Touchy," Eve eventually said, breaking the silence. "We expect a certain level of volatility from you, Maggie, but I have no idea what got Ruth Anne's commando panties in a bunch."

"She's coming down to apologize right now," Merry said.

I looked up the staircase. "Ruth Anne doesn't apologize. She broods and then she snacks."

Seconds later, Ruth Anne's door opened and she marched down the stairs, crumbs at the corners of her mouth. She threw herself onto the sofa and kicked her feet onto the coffee table. "I'm sorry. Sometimes I hate being the black sheep of the family. It's just that when I'm here in Dark Root I feel so boring. At least out in the world, I was the weird one. I kind of liked it."

"If it's any consolation, you're still weird to me," I grinned.

"And me," Merry added.

Eve raised her hand. "Make that three of us."

"Ah, shucks." Ruth Anne smiled as she crossed one leg over the other. "You make a girl feel special."

I crinkled my brow. How could brilliant Ruth Anne feel anything less than special, even for a moment? We all looked up to her. I was about to tell her so when Merry raised a finger and shushed us all.

"Do you feel that?" she asked. "There's a sudden chill to the air."

The coldness caught me too, an icy tendril that snaked its way up and around my body.

Ruth Anne stood, putting her hands out before her. She walked the length of the living room and back again. "It's a cold spot, centered on us." She grinned widely. "We have activity."

"That can't be." Eve inched her way towards us. "We closed the circle. Nothing can get in."

"But this is Juliana's home," I reminded her. "She didn't have to get in. She was already here."

"I don't think this spirit is our grandmother," Merry said. "There's a masculine energy to it."

I drew my wand from my tote and held it before me. The gem blinked, coming to life. "It's my fault. Jillian thinks I may have brought things back with me from the Netherworld."

Eve's eyes watched the flickering wand. "Leave it to Maggie to pick up crazy men, even in the afterlife."

"It's nothing the four of us can't handle," Merry said, rolling up her s.h.i.+rt sleeves. "I'll get the sage."

SIXTEEN.

Suns.h.i.+ne of Your Love Dark Root Oregon Summer Solstice, 1969 "Come sit by me."

Armand stretched his long legs and patted the soft gra.s.s beside him. There was a breeze in the air and the smell of pine was so thick he was almost nostalgic for Christmas. He took a sip of his beer and leaned his head back, letting the warm sun kiss the hollow of his neck. They made it through another long cold winter and he wanted to enjoy every moment of summer while it lasted.