“I need my girl. I need her to be okay and to live her life. You have new friends and a new boyfriend. Don’t let the tragedy that’s befallen you steal that away.”
They’d become part of it, for sure. I couldn’t tell him how much. Now, it was my distinct responsibility to keep Foster safe, and there was no way I would allow another person I loved to be dragged into this mess.
He rocked me slightly as I cried on his shoulder. The bacon burned. Mom came running in when the smoke alarm went off. Dad refused to let me go.
“What’s going on?” Mom’s voice sounded clearer than it had in a week. She stood beside us. I felt her hands on my back.
“Oh, my sweet Sophia,” she said. I left the comfort of Dad’s arms for Mom’s. Dad stood and wrapped both of us in a hug.
“I’m sorry, love,” said Mom. “I’ve been absent from you for too long.”
I had no words.
Finally, we broke apart. Dad cleaned up the mess and cooked new bacon. Mom made coffee and slid me a cup. We ate breakfast in silence but without the tension and sadness that had been present in the last few months. For the first time in weeks, our family was trying to abide by Gram’s wishes.
“I’m going to go see Leigh Kate and Chi,” I said while helping Dad do the dishes. “I need to make some apologies.”
“You know, Sophie, you can call anytime you need us. We’ll be right there,” Mom said.
“I will.”
I kissed them both on the cheek and ran to my room for shoes. When I opened my bedroom door, I bit down on a scream. It came out a muffled whimper instead. Foster was sitting on the windowsill. One leg was drawn up with a hand rested on his knee. He looked amazing in black jeans and a black long-sleeve tee, but his eyes seemed haunted.
“Hey, didn’t think I’d see you today.” I shut the door.
“Hannah said you were coming out to the house. Thought I’d come get you,” he said. “You’ve been crying.”
He approached and started to reach for me then stopped and stuffed his hands into his pockets. I turned away, moving to my closet. It tore me apart to see him like this. He was so unsure of himself. My arrogant, confident Foster had been shattered.
I snatched a sweatshirt for show and sat on the bed to put my shoes on.
“I have to go get Leigh Kate and Chi,” I said.
“They’re already at the house.” He sat beside me.
“What?” I grabbed my phone. No texts. They must be pretty upset with me still.
“Leigh Kate came charging in this morning before Hannah’d even had her coffee. I thought Hannah was gonna blow her top. Chi played peacemaker, though.” He laughed, but it sounded hollow to my ears. “I didn’t stick around and listen to it all rehashed.”
“No. I can’t imagine I would have either.”
“Popsicle, I feel upside down today. Everything I knew yesterday is no longer true.”
“I hope you aren’t angry with me. If I had let it go as you’d asked, you wouldn’t have to deal with it.”
“Of course not.” A weak smile crossed his beautiful face. “It’s better to know. But I’m not sure if what I feel is real or not. Hannah said once she’d given me the memories, she didn’t tinker with them anymore. So everything that’s happened recently, including every feeling about you, should be real.” He paused.
I understood what he was saying. Questioning everything. He’d be stupid not to. It still hurt like hell to hear. But I’d known this might happen. Breaching Hannah’s tomb had been an action I couldn’t undo.
“Ready?” he asked, standing up so fast that I jumped.
“Yeah, let me tell Dad. I’ll meet you outside.”
He ducked back out the window. I crumpled in on myself, wallowing a few moments before leaving my bedroom.
“Hey, Foster is here. He’s going to drive me to Leigh Kate’s,” I said. Mom and Dad were still at the kitchen table, talking.
“Okay, sugar,” said Dad. “Remember . . .”
“Call if I need you.” I waved.
On the ride to Foster’s, neither of us spoke. The gray and nasty day matched our mood. Yesterday’s sunshine had been too good to last. Titan hadn’t shown up either, and I wondered if he knew what I’d done to Hannah’s grave and was mad at me as well.
When we drove past the pond, I could have sworn in court that there was a figure standing at the edge. Greenteeth or Gram, who knew. Both were there somewhere. Foster didn’t slow down for me to get a good look, and I refrained from asking him.
Chapter 51
Foster pulled up in front of the house, cursing under his breath. Leigh Kate’s car wasn’t the only one there. Parked in front, the sleek, shiny red Lincoln Navigator was impossible to miss. That could only be the Penningtons’.
Better just to get it over with. As I climbed out of the Mercedes, the clouds started to drizzle. Hunching my shoulders, I ran to the door, Foster on my heels.
Inside, we entered a cozy scene in the family room. Leigh Kate and Chi were perched on the couch with Hannah in the middle. She had some sort of book on her lap, and the three of them had their heads together, deep in concentration.
Lucy and Luke sat next to each other on the loveseat. Lucy wore no makeup for the first time since I’d known her, and I wasn’t sure her hair had been brushed before she’d tied it into a bun on top of her head.
Garner sat on the floor near Chi’s legs. He was the first to notice me.
“Hey, Sophie,” he said. As if the entire group were puppets on the same string, Chi, Hannah, and Leigh Kate snapped their heads up.
“Hi.” Wow. Awkward. I was certainly the odd man out. They each had reasons to be mad at me.
Chi didn’t waste a moment. She jumped up to hug me. At least they weren’t all mad at me. I hugged Chi back hard.
“You okay?” she asked.
I nodded. “Peachy.”
“Garner, go get an extra chair,” she ordered as if it were her house.
“In the kitchen,” said Hannah, returning her attention to the book. That comment was all the greeting I was going to get from her.
“I’ve got it.” Foster brushed past me and waved for Garner to stay seated. He came back with two kitchen chairs, placing them side by side in front of the cold fireplace.
He sat and patted the seat next to him for me, the one I was sure he strategically placed next to Leigh Kate’s end of the sofa. “What are you doing here?” he asked Luke.
“My boat is bigger than yours,” Luke answered in a snarky tone.
“I’m not convinced that traipsing down to the sea cave is a good idea,” said Hannah, still not leaving her focus on the book. She turned the page.
Everyone but Hannah gawked at me.
“We know none of our siblings are among the ghost children.” I sat on my hands to keep them from shaking. “If they aren’t dead, they have to be somewhere. I can’t believe it’s at the bottom of the pond.”
“The cave is a pretty good lead.” Foster backed me up. “It’s hard to get to and very few would even think to look there. I doubt the cops have.”
“They’re bumbling idiots,” Luke agreed.
“Oh, and this assembled group of teenagers is so much smarter.” No one could mistake Hannah’s sarcasm, but she finally glanced at each of us and smiled.
“We’ve certainly figured out more than the cops have so far.” Leigh Kate appeared anxious, excited.
“I don’t know what’s in that cave,” said Hannah. “It’s always been empty when I’ve been there.”
“Could you have missed something?” Lucy asked. Even when she didn’t seem to be trying, her tone came across as insulting.
“Do you have any other idea where Jenny would hide the kids?” I asked, careful to use Jenny’s given name now that I knew we were referring to Hannah’s sister and not some psychotic ancestor.
“I’ve searched every inch of this property and have always come up empty. If Jenny does hide them for a time, I haven’t been able to
find out where.” Hannah’s brow wrinkled, and it registered with me as a show of disgust.
“Is anyone going to ask why Foster is the only one she took who wasn’t a child?” asked Garner.
The group all turned to Hannah for the answer. I relaxed a bit now that the focus of attention was off me.
Hannah waited for Foster to nod his assent before she told the story.
“Foster was our town’s schoolteacher,” she said.
“I’m only eighteen,” he argued.
“Back then, eighteen was a grown man,” said Hannah. “Jenny was so infatuated with you. I’m not sure exactly what she did, but she didn’t kill you. We never found your body. You are not a ghost; if you get a cut, you bleed. You’re more like me, cursed to live through this cycle for as long as Jenny wants. From what I could figure, you were extremely agitated with her after she kidnapped you, so she snatched one of your students to make you happy.”
I shivered and wished I’d brought the sweatshirt that I’d left lying on my bed. Maybe Jenny had panicked. Could the first drowning have been an accident?
“When that child died, either you became angrier, or she was distraught and tried to get you another. It might have gone on to affect more families if she hadn’t been declared a witch and subsequently drowned.” Hannah rubbed her hands together. Painting her own sister in such a light seemed difficult for her. Then again, we were all here because of the horrible things that her sister had done. “Jenny knew you loved children, Foster. I think she wanted to make you happy, but it all went terribly wrong.”
“Wrong?” Lucy echoed.
“Jenny had been a captive of the Abenaki tribe, not a particularly friendly one with the settlers, unlike the main branch of the Algonquin.” Hannah patted Chi on the knee.
“Either the stress of her captivity or the failure to fit back into our community must have caused something to snap. The trigger for her actions was anybody’s guess.” Hannah paused to brush at her cheek. A tear, maybe. “But I think it was what the town did to her that finally destroyed her humanity. Now she seeks revenge and, of course, Foster.”
I wanted to reach across and grab his hand, feel his warmth. But I kept my hands tightly tucked under my thighs.
“Do you help her?” Garner asked the question I had asked her last night.
“I don’t lure children for her if that’s what you mean.” Hannah chuckled bitterly, but at least she didn’t break anything this time. “I try to help Foster and keep people away from her pond.”
With those words, she glared at me. I’d been going out there, disturbing the balance she’d worked so hard to maintain.
“I try to find ways to stop her. I had spent time, in the early years, studying the ways of the Abenaki. They didn’t want to talk to me at first, but after a couple of generations, they began to open to me. Unfortunately, by that time, much of the knowledge had been lost.”
I bet Hannah hadn’t been this transparent with anyone in at least a hundred years.
“The tribe had evidence that Jenny’s soul wasn’t at rest, and I wanted to help. Timothy had already been gone for a long time at that point, and my parents had returned to Boston. They even changed the name of the town. I didn’t have anything left. I started studying witchcraft in all forms, not just what the tribe could tell me.”
“What evidence?” I asked.
Hannah stared at me. “Not going to leave any stone unturned, are you?” She sighed, and I cringed, regretting the question. I had taken enough liberties with this woman’s personal history. Even though Leigh Kate had been with me at the cemetery, I assumed Hannah blamed me for the idea and actual breach of her empty tomb. She had said a couple of times that I didn’t leave well enough alone. Hannah didn’t know I’d chickened out and wanted to run. At this point, I wasn’t going to tell her. I was okay taking the brunt of her frustration if only to keep her from blaming my friend.
“Jenny’s ghost would come visit me at night. She’d sit on my bed and cry. Finally, I decided to try to help her. Free her. I tried talking to her about not taking any more children or letting Foster find peace. I sat at that pond for hours. Jenny never responded,” said Hannah. We all sat quietly after that. For Hannah, her desire was centered on her family, helping Jenny and Foster . . . protecting them from the world and protecting the world from them.
But the rest of us were here for family too. Brothers and sisters had been lost, causing us to destroy what Hannah had worked so hard to protect. I’d listened to enough of this whole conversation, preferring to wait outside on the front step. The cold drizzle matched my mood. Truthfully, the gray skies and rain were the only company I wanted right now.
Chapter 52
I decided I needed more distance from everyone and walked around the house. The sea wind grabbed my ponytail and shredded it, blowing hair around me as I found the cliff overlooking the sea and sat on the cold, hard ground.
The salty air soothed every fiber of my being, and I barely noticed the cold. Closing my eyes, I reveled in the sense of freedom rising and bubbling within me. It didn’t last because my thoughts soon turned to Hannah and the strength she must have deep in her soul. Would I have done the same for Sam? Would I have tied myself to him for hundreds of years even after his ghost had gone insane and evil?
I doubted it. Maybe Gram knew more about Hannah than she’d revealed. If Gram had discovered any of this story, I understood why she wanted to leave Blaylock Bay with or without Jennings. She could get a lifetime of memories before she had to keep her promise to Jenny. And the whole mess made much more sense about why she wanted me to mourn my brother and go on with my life.
“Not contemplating throwing yourself off the cliff, are you?” Leigh Kate startled me out of my thoughts when she sat down beside me and curled both legs under her.
“Nope. The dragon life is not for me,” I said with a tiny hint of humor.
“I think it could be a good look for you.” she laughed.
I smiled at her. “I didn’t mean to bolt, but I just couldn’t stay there any longer. Everyone is mad at me, and not to sound like a petulant child, I don’t like it.”
“Why do you think I’m mad at you?” She tucked her hair behind her ears. It didn’t stay. The relentless wind danced both our tresses into tangled nests.
“Last night . . .” I started, but Leigh Kate held up a hand in protest.
“Last night, I was terrified and distraught. You were the smart one who begged me to leave.” She laughed. “I couldn’t let it go. Talk about obsessed.”
“I know, but if I had never dragged you into this Greenteeth mess, you wouldn’t have been there. I’d had months to deal with losing Sam. I can’t imagine how you’re coping with your loss after only a few days.”
“Don’t take that all on yourself, Sophie. I wanted to be involved. I still do.” She took my hand and squeezed it. “Besides, only one hell of a friend would get stroked by a live skeleton to help you do something incredibly stupid.”
I laughed.
“Chi and Garner aren’t mad at you either. They were only irritated that we didn’t ask them to go. . . until I told them about our bony companion. That changed their minds. Besides, you should be ticked at Chi for tracking your phone.”
“You didn’t call me this morning to tell me you were coming over here,” I whined. I hated sounding so childish.
“To be honest, I figured you’d still be here.”
“I sent you a text.”
“Yeah, well, like I said, I’ve seen the way Foster looks at you. He could have changed your mind.”
“He’s not happy with me. I left without getting to talk to him,” I said.
“We did turn his world upside down,” she agreed. “I was surprised he was civil to me at all this morning.”
“I think we broke him.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. He still can’t keep his eyes off you. Whether you realize it or not, everyone else knows. He’s not all that good at hiding it.�
� She lifted her shoulders with a heavy sigh. “Sorry I blurted out that you were falling for him.”
I shrugged. It hadn’t necessarily changed much. “He told me this morning he didn’t know which of his feelings were real and which ones were given to him by Hannah’s memories.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” she said. “Boys say the dumbest things.”
We both laughed, and she wrapped her arm around me.
“You’re freezing,” she said.
“It feels good. I can breathe in the wind.”
“Come on, let’s go back to the house. Hannah doesn’t like our sea cave plan, but she does have an old map, and evidently, Luke is quite the sailor.” Leigh Kate stood and pulled me up with her.
“I sure never thought I’d be working with them.”
Leigh Kate linked her arm with mine as though she still believed I might throw myself off the cliff.
“Loss makes strange friends,” she said in her brightest voice. A little too bright.
Chapter 53
By the time we returned to the house, the rest of the group had made their way up to the library, which was remarkably in order. Hannah’s witchy skills were apparently great when it came to house cleaning. As soon as Leigh Kate and I walked in, Foster glanced at me, his shoulders and the tension in his face relaxing.
“See,” Leigh Kate whispered to me.
Hannah had a map of the coastline spread out on the table. She and Luke were quietly discussing routes and whirlpools.
“Here.” Hannah thrust her hand at me. “I found this while I was tidying up in here. I think it’s for you.”
Little Sophie’s yellow ribbon hung from her fingers. I took it and wrapped it around my wrist. I swore I’d taken that home with me the day I found it. I didn’t even want to think about how it got back here. It was either ghostly Sophie or Hannah.
The Curse of Jenny Greene Page 25