Jolene’s brows tucked together. “Why not? It says right there Great River Road.”
“You girls said West Great River. That road there is east of the river. But this road …” Henry pointed at a thin line on the west side of the river. “This is West Great River. I remember it now. It’s an old dirt road. The whole area there dates back to the 1600s. There were houses there at one time. In fact, you can still see the cellar holes. There’s no record of what happened to those houses and the land has gone wild. It’s never been developed. Some say it’s haunted.” Henry chuckled, then turned serious. “Maybe you ladies had better not venture out there. Could be trouble.”
“We’re not afraid of trouble.” Jolene thought the area sounded perfect, especially if it was haunted. Celeste might see a ghost who'd tell them where to find the scrying ball. It was possible the area had never been developed because there was some paranormal energy protecting the crystal ball. She had a feeling they were finally on the right track.
* * *
Henry wasn’t kidding when he said the area had never been undeveloped. They drove into the woods as far as they could and then got out of the SUV. If there had been houses there at one time, Jolene could see no sign of them. The area was overgrown with shrubs and trees. Only a slightly visible path meandered among the pines, oaks and shrubs. The distant trickle of the river told them they were on the right trail.
The further they walked, the more out of sorts Jolene felt.
“Are you sure this is the right place?” Morgan asked.
Fiona checked the map she held in her hand. After leaving the Ephemera Museum, they’d compared satellite photos to the photograph they'd taken of the 1692 paper map and discovered a path that should lead to the general area of Sam Gooding's house. “According to our research, it is. Why do you ask?”
“I feel a little funny. I think my intuition is kicking in and if I’m reading it correctly this is not the direction we should be heading.” Morgan glanced over her shoulder. “Also, I think someone is following us.”
The girls turned around, but no one was there.
“Do you think it’s the detective?” Celeste asked. “I sure hope we don’t find a body out here. I don’t think he’ll be as nice to us if we come up with a third one.”
“I don’t think it’s him,” Morgan said. “Besides, we’re not in Salem so, if we do find a body, it won’t be Peterson that comes to investigate.”
“That didn’t stop him before. He followed us to the Rebecca Nurse house,” Fiona pointed out.
“True, but I don’t think he’s following us,” Morgan said. “He actually seemed almost helpful and friendly at Opal’s.”
“Yeah, he did, didn’t he? Maybe he really is just concerned about our welfare,” Celeste said.
“And anyway, why would he follow us?” Fiona asked. “Unless you think Peterson’s looking for the scrying ball, too.”
The hairs on Jolene’s neck prickled. Maybe they should take Morgan’s feelings seriously. “Well, someone is looking for the scrying ball, and they broke into our room and stole the crystals to help their effort. By now they’ve figured out the alexandrite wasn’t there, so it makes sense whoever it is would be following us to take the keystone from us.”
Fiona shook her head. “I doubt that was Peterson. How could he kill Opal and then be back at the police station in time to respond to the call? Or our call about Nancy, for that matter?”
“We don’t know exactly when Opal or Nancy died,” Morgan pointed out.
“Good point,” Fiona said. “I would have pegged Opal for the one following us and the one who broke in, but now that she’s dead I’m not so sure. Still, it could be anyone. Peterson might just be trying to keep us out of trouble."
“That’s usually Mateo’s job,” Jolene said and then wondered why saying his name caused her heart to beat faster. “But it looks like he’s disappeared, as usual.”
Swoosh.
Jolene whipped around. There was nothing behind them but trees. “Did you hear that?”
“Yes. A funny sound. Behind us, right?” Morgan answered.
“I heard it, too.” Fiona’s hand strayed to her pocket where she kept her stones. “Is the forest getting darker?”
“It’s denser here and I think the sun has gone behind clouds, but yes, it does seem darker.” Jolene focused on following the barely visible path which now seemed much harder to follow. She turned to Celeste. “Any sign of ghosts? We sure could use one to tell us what’s going on or direct us to the right place.”
“Sorry, I don’t see even a quiver of ectoplasmic goo.” Celeste yawned.
Jolene realized she was very tired, too. She looked around at her sisters, whose previous energetic enthusiasm seemed to be draining.
Swoosh!
Jolene whipped her head in the direction of the odd sound. A pile of leaves swirled up from the ground and the air shimmered.
“Over there!” Fiona yelled.
Jolene whirled around to see her sister pointing at something in the opposite direction. “What is it?” Jolene asked.
“I’m not sure,” Fiona said. “It was murky. But I thought I saw something in a black cape.”
“Like the witch Jolene saw at Opal’s? Maybe she’s the one who's been following us,” Celeste said.
“And if it is her, I think she’s a paranormal. I’m getting a strange energy vibe. There’s someone out here and I think they might have a geode.” A chill ran up Jolene’s spine. Certain geodes could be bad news for her and her sisters. They drained all their energy and knocked them unconscious. Normally, though, the enemy would have to be standing right in front of them, holding the geode toward them. But no one was in front of them.
Morgan spun around. “I feel it, too. It feels like the energy is being drained right out of me. But I don’t see anybody. And this feels different, somehow.”
“It does. Maybe that’s what Henry meant when he said the place was haunted,” Celeste said.
“Should we keep going?” Fiona asked.
“We should if we want to find the house, or where it was.” Morgan scanned the forest. “I don’t see anything, though.”
The wind picked up, rustling through the trees noisily. Jolene noticed that the birds, squirrels and chipmunks that had been happily skittering around the forest when they’d started out, were nowhere to be seen now. Her nerves were frazzled. She felt both jumpy and tired at the same time. The ringing in her ears grew louder with each step she took. The air shimmered, almost as if she were looking through a waterfall.
“I don’t feel so good.” Celeste passed her hand over her brow.
“Neither do I,” Fiona said.
“Me, either. What’s causing it?” Morgan asked.
“I don’t know. Let’s stop and rest.” But Jolene couldn’t stop. It was as if she was being pulled by some magnetic force deeper into the woods, her feet pressing one in front of the other, seemingly of their own volition.
“Oh, no, it’s a vortex!” Morgan yelled as the sisters tried to resist the pull.
“What?” Fiona slid in the damp leaves as she tried to stop from moving forward.
“An energy hole, like a whirlpool but in the air. It’s pulling us toward that rock.” Morgan indicated a gigantic rock fifty feet away. “This area has had some sort of energy infusion. The closer we get, the stronger the pull is—we can’t get away!”
Jolene tried to resist, but the more she tried to turn back, the more she was pulled towards the rock. It was like being in quicksand.
“Hehehehehehe.” A deafening cackle split the air, coming from all sides, surrounding them.
And then Jolene saw her, the black-caped witch standing in between two white birch trees. But there wasn’t just one of her. There were two. No … four … no, six. She was multiplying in front of Jolene’s eyes. And then she thrust out her hand, her impossibly long fingernails clawing their way toward Jolene.
“Grab my hand. It’s the only way to get o
ut.”
Jolene looked at her sisters, panic spreading in her chest. “Do you see her? Did you hear that?”
“Yes.” Morgan had to yell over the sound of static that was whipping through the air as a cold wind rose up pushing the sisters further toward the rock.
Jolene tried to inch away, but it was like walking against the tide. Her feet were moving away from the rock but she was still going toward it.
“Is it her doing this?” Celeste pressed her hands over her ears.
“It must be. No one else is here.”
“I’m here to help you. Take my hand. It’s the only way you’ll get out.” The witch’s voice was very far away but had a soothing, compelling tone.
Jolene had a desperate urge to take the woman’s hand.
“Should we trust her?” Fiona uncurled her fist to reveal five red glowing pebbles. “I can try these rocks.”
“And then what? We’ll be stuck in here.” Morgan screwed up her face, then grabbed onto a pine tree as a strong gust pushed the girls further toward the rock. “We’re losing ground. I have a feeling … an intuition that she may really be the only way out.”
Jolene’s hair whipped around her face, the wind dried out her eyes, the sound of static—and her own heartbeat—pounded in her ears. She’d always trusted Morgan’s intuition before and it had never steered them wrong.
Jolene took a deep breath and reached out toward the witch.
18
A dry, rough hand latched onto Jolene with a vise-like grip. She felt the stinging bite of razor sharp claws on her palm as she was yanked away from the rock with a force that was otherworldly.
Her lungs tightened, squeezing all the air out. She couldn’t catch her breath, her chest compressing smaller and smaller like a witch being pressed to death with heavy stones. The rush of her blood in her ears drowned everything out except for the screams of her sisters.
The air suddenly cleared, as if by magic.
Jolene sucked in a breath as she staggered to the ground between two trees. The hand, still holding hers, now felt warm and soft. Inviting. Welcoming. She rolled onto her knees, choking and sputtering. Beside her, Morgan, Fiona and Celeste were doing the same.
In front of them stood the witch, hands on hips, narrowed eyes assessing them. Jolene noticed that she wasn’t wearing a cloak at all. The black material was a long, loose tunic, the knee-length feathered edges flapping in the breeze.
“What the heck did you do to us?” Morgan sputtered.
“Me? I saved you from …” The witch turned and waved at the big rock. “That.”
Jolene pushed herself up to her feet. She glanced from the witch to the rock that, impossible though it seemed, was now a good two hundred feet away. “What is that … and who are you?”
“That is an energy vortex. It’s a good thing I was here because you were only seconds from being swallowed up into that thing.” The witch looked at the rock and shivered.
Morgan got to her feet beside Jolene. “And just why were you here? Have you been following us?”
“Yeah. It’s about time you people noticed. Who do you think was protecting you all this time?”
Fiona picked pine needles out of her hair. “Protecting us? From what?”
“Bad energy. Paranormals. You guys can’t be stupid enough to think that no one else is after the scrying ball.”
Celeste’s brows shot up. “You know about that. Who are you anyway?”
The witch shot her hand out. Jolene shook it, surprised to see it wasn’t green and gnarled with long sharp fingernails. It was just a normal hand. “I’m Sarah Easty. I already know who you are.”
“Sarah Easty?” Celeste brushed the leaves off the back of her black yoga pants. “But I thought you—“
“That’s my ancestor. She was hanged on Gallows Hill for witchcraft. She’s stuck over at the Nurse house, can’t leave the tree, so I have to help her out. You talked to her ghost.”
“Help her out?”
“She’s sworn to protect the crystal ball as am I. She can’t move on until it’s in the right hands … your hands,” Sarah said. “I’ve been trying to make sure nothing happens to you guys before you find it.”
“How do we know you’re not trying to take the crystal ball for yourself?” Fiona asked.
“Seriously? If I was after it, do you think I would be running myself ragged to protect you?”
“How have you been protecting us?” Morgan asked. “I haven’t seen you do any protecting. I think you’ve just been following us.”
“Well, apparently you aren’t very observant. You were followed by paranormals to Amity Jones’ house the day you discovered Nancy’s body. They were waiting outside with geodes. I had to put a newt charm on them. And then, the other day at the crystal ball shop I had just turned two burley bearded guys with energy guns into owls before you girls came bursting onto the scene.”
“Dr. Bly’s people,” Celeste said. “They always seem to have beards for some reason. Wait, you turned them into owls?”
Sarah nodded. “I know, the poor owl community. I feel bad, but they’ll assimilate quite nicely and, hopefully, learn some manners.”
Fiona nodded. “They probably killed Opal.”
Sarah nodded. “Possibly. But that isn’t really important now. Helping you find the scrying ball is, but what in the world were you girls doing out here? Everyone in the paranormal community knows this place is cursed.”
“Yeah, well, we didn’t. We thought this was the location of Sam Gooding’s house.” Morgan looked around the area, then back at Sarah. “How do we know you’re not just trying to throw us off track?”
Sarah shrugged. “I’m from Witches’ Guild Number 785. We’ve been tasked with helping you … I thought you guys knew that.”
“Witches have guilds?” Celeste asked in amazement.
“Yep. We’re organized, just like any other group. My leader, Cassiopeia Ortiz, entrusted me with this assignment.”
“If you know Cassiopeia, then you must know Mateo,” Morgan said.
“I do, indeed.”
Jolene took a closer look at Sarah. Her brown eyes were flecked with gold and set wide on her heart-shaped face. Her flawless, alabaster skin was framed by dark hair, long and cut in layers. She found herself wondering how well Sarah knew Mateo, an unwanted flush of jealousy heating her cheeks.
“Why didn’t Cassiopeia—or Mateo—come here themselves?” A hint of suspicion crept into Jolene’s voice.
“Cassi is up in Freeport. She’s regional and there’s a problem … well, you don’t need to know our inner troubles.” Sarah glanced behind her. “And Mateo is … here.”
Jolene looked around “He is? I don’t see him.”
“He’s back at the car. He didn’t want to get too close to the vortex. It gives him the creeps.” Sarah gave Jolene a knowing look. “You know how guys are. They can’t handle this kind of thing. Anyway speaking of that, it gives me the creeps too. Shall we go?”
Morgan studied Sarah for a minute, then gave a nod of approval. Apparently, her intuition told her Sarah was a friend. “Yeah. Let’s go”
As they started down the trail, a black cat ran across the path in front of them.
“Hey, watch out!” Celeste yelled.
“Oh, don’t worry about Raven. That whole thing about a black cat crossing your path being bad luck is just an old wives’ tale,” Sarah said.
“Meow.” Raven peered at them from behind an oak tree.
“Is that your cat?” Fiona asked Sarah.
“Not really. It’s more like I’m her human.”
“Yeah, we know how that is.” Jolene half expected to see Belladonna run across the path, too. In fact Raven looked just like the black cat she’d seen this morning and she was almost positive Belladonna had been with her.
As they trudged back along the path, Jolene’s spirits sank. “Looks like our lead on Gooding’s house was another dead end. Now what do we do?”
“I�
��m sorry I can’t be much help on that. I’m just here to protect,” Sarah said
They came to the end of the path and Jolene noticed a maroon Toyota Corolla parked behind their SUV.
“You drive a Toyota?” Morgan asked Sarah.
“Yes. What did you think, that I rode in on a broomstick? That’s an old wives’ tale, too.” Sarah rolled her eyes. “You girls have a lot to learn about witches.”
Jolene was about to enlighten Sarah as to how they didn’t actually believe in witches when she noticed someone leaning against the other side of the SUV. It was Mateo, wearing a black tee shirt that showed off just enough muscle, his long legs kicked out in front of him as he leaned on the hood. A smile bloomed when he noticed Jolene. Their eyes clicked.
Jolene’s momentary stomach flutter was pierced by a stab of jealousy as Mateo’s eyes skimmed past her and zeroed in on Sarah. She pushed away unkind thoughts. Sarah had saved them from the vortex and now Jolene owed her, so it wouldn’t be right to feel animosity toward the woman.
“Nice job, Sarah. Thanks,” Mateo said.
“No problem.” Sarah opened the driver’s side door of the Toyota. “You got it from here?”
Mateo nodded. “Yep.”
As Sarah got into her car, Mateo turned his attention to the Blackmoore sisters. “You okay?” He came to stand beside Jolene and slipped his arm around her shoulders. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”
Jolene slipped out from under his arm reluctantly. It felt good to be that close to him, but... He couldn’t just almost kiss her and then run off with no phone call the next day, and expect to just pick up where he'd left off. “You have?” she said frostily. “You could’ve called.”
“I did. And I texted you like five times. You never answered.”
“What?” Jolene dug in her pocket for her phone.
Morgan, Celeste and Fiona clustered around the map, and tried not to look like they were eavesdropping.
Jolene frowned down at the phone. Dead battery.
Mateo took her hand, his eyes filled with concern. “Really, are you okay?”
Spell Found (Blackmoore Sisters Cozy Mysteries Book 7) Page 10