“Then why don’t you tell me anything?” Jaxon asks. “I found out with the rest of the school these things happened to you. Even the Descendants knew more than me.” I open my mouth, but he stops me. “Don’t try to tell me they didn’t. I saw their faces. Then, you believe Lizzie’s lies about me. They aren’t even nice to you. Meanwhile, I do everything I can for you, and you shut me out.”
I bite my lip. I completely misunderstood why Jaxon was angry with me. I can’t help but agree with him. “I never meant to shut you out,” I whisper.
“Then stop,” says Jaxon.
Elijah paces. “The longer you delay, the more danger you are in.”
Which means Jaxon is in danger being near me. “It’s not safe for you to be here,” I say.
Jaxon looks at the historic houses and quaint benches. “We are on a quiet street in an expensive neighborhood. And it’s still light out. I don’t really think it gets much safer.”
I blush, embarrassed by how paranoid I sound. “I know that. I’m not suggesting the trees are gonna eat us. I’m saying that it’s not safe for you to be with me.”
“And again, I ask why.” I’ve never seen Jaxon act like this. He’s dead serious.
How do I tell him anything that will make sense to him? “I want to tell you; I just don’t know how.”
“Do you have feelings for me, Sam?” He takes a step toward me and my heart picks up speed. “I have to know. Because if you do, I will stand here fighting you all day until you let me in. But if you don’t…”
I glance at Elijah, who grumbles unhappily and walks off a few feet to give me space. My instinct is to bolt. I’m impossibly nervous, and I’m not going to have this conversation in front of Elijah. But I can’t ignore Jaxon’s question. There’s no way out.
“Sam? What are you looking at?”
My eyes meet Jaxon’s with fear.
“Wait…it’s here?” Jaxon asks.
“He,” I correct him.
“Great. He is here?” Jaxon scans the street again and Elijah walks toward us.
“Yes, I am here. Trying to keep her safe. Not attempting to discuss my feelings for her while she is quite obviously distressed,” Elijah snaps at Jaxon.
“It’s not his fault; he doesn’t understand,” I say to Elijah before I catch myself.
“What did he say to me?” Jaxon asks.
“Go home, Jaxon, before you cause her harm,” Elijah says.
“Sam?” Jaxon takes a step forward, not shying away from this uncomfortable situation.
I want to cry. It’s not like I can lie; Elijah’s standing next to me. “He said for you to go home before you cause me harm.” I cringe at every word. And by the way Jaxon’s face falls, I know I shouldn’t have said them.
“Is that how you feel?” Jaxon asks quietly.
It’s more complicated than that. But if I say that, he’ll stay. It takes all my will to say, “Yes.”
Jaxon nods, and his eyes glisten. “I guess that’s my answer.” He waits for me to say something else, anything else. After a few moments of silence, he walks away.
“Jaxon! I’m sorry.” Pushing Jaxon and Vivian away within the same hour is killing me. Maybe I am the problem. Maybe Lizzie’s right. All I do is hurt people.
He stops and starts to turn toward me, but changes his mind. He shakes his head and continues down the street. With every step he takes, the ache in my heart grows bigger.
I look at Elijah. “I know,” he says, and wraps his arms around me. I bury my face in his chest and cling to his shirt. He smells like old books. “I just could not put you at further risk. It is safer for everyone, including him, if he goes home.”
I nod against his body. “What did you want to tell me?”
Elijah holds me for a second longer before releasing me. “While you were with Mrs. Meriwether, I searched again for diary entries.”
“You found something, didn’t you?”
He nods. “One in the late seventeen hundreds that referenced a woman living with crows in the woods. The writer claimed that no one would walk past her house for fear of being cursed.”
“Wouldn’t she have been over a hundred by the late seventeen hundreds?”
“That is precisely what worried me. So I looked in the eighteen hundreds. I found two more mentions of her. Then one in the early nineteen hundreds.”
How could people write about the same person over hundreds of years? “Maybe they were just repeating stories they heard from other people and never actually saw her.”
Elijah pushes his dark wavy hair back. “What gives me pause is that the descriptions were extremely similar.”
“What are you saying, exactly? That you think she’s lived for hundreds of years? That’s impossible.” My words don’t hold the conviction I’d like. I just did a spell with my next-door neighbor, and my best friend’s a spirit—who I’ve kissed. The word “impossible” holds a much looser definition than it did in NYC.
“Is it impossible?” Elijah asks. I can only imagine how freaked out he must be.
I fidget. “If she’s casting spells, she has to be alive in some way, right?”
“I think we can assume definitively that she is the unknown enemy Cotton was referencing in your Burroughs vision.”
The blood drains from my face. “Cotton said I was paying attention to the wrong things. But why wouldn’t Cotton just tell me your fiancée was my secret enemy instead of all these coded messages?”
“Names have power. He was trying to protect you or himself, I imagine.”
If Cotton’s frightened of her, what does that mean for me? I glance around the street, feeling like a sitting target. “Do you think she’s out to get me because of Cotton?”
“Potentially.”
“But my dad’s name was written alongside mine.” If she gave people that rash, I bet she’s responsible for other things. The pastries that got everyone sick? John’s death? “So now there are two things that can hurt my dad…the curse and your fiancée.”
“I think they are one and the same. I am just not sure where the connection lies.” A car door slams shut, and I jump.
I step closer to Elijah, lowering my voice to a whisper. “How do we find her?”
“We go to a café or some public place where you are at less risk, while I try to make sense of it all.”
“No way. I’m not hiding out drinking a latte while you go looking for her.”
“If I can speak with her, I may be able to persuade her to stop.” He looks every bit as determined as me.
“No. Cotton and your fiancée were at the top of the food chain.” I picture my “How to Hang a Witch” chart. “Cotton couldn’t have started the witch hysteria without her, or she without him. Oh man, and my coming to Salem inadvertently started the chain of deaths. I would bet money that she’s involved in these deaths and accidents, too. Probably not inadvertently. And if we were the ones to start it, she and I are the only ones who can stop it.” The moment I say it, I know I’m right. Susannah said I was the key to solving this. Alice thinks I’m the problem. They might both be right. The thought makes me dizzy.
“I dislike that idea greatly.” Elijah’s upset only confirms my suspicions.
“I’m not wild about it, either.” That’s an understatement. “But Cotton could’ve stopped the accusations all those years ago if he’d tried, which would’ve saved the lives of innocent people. If everything’s as parallel as we think, I’m the one who needs to try.” As I speak, my theory makes more sense to me.
He frowns. “Do not forget you are the witch in this version of the pattern.”
“Your fiancée lost everything. If she wanted to blame anyone for the Trials, Cotton would be a likely choice. What would be a better revenge than to brand a Mather as a witch and make that Mather look responsible for all the deaths?”
“How could Cotton have stopped my fiancée?”
“Expose her as a fraud. Uncover her lies,” I say. In which case, that spell I did
was a step in the right direction. I look at the spell book on the bench a few feet from where we stand. “But in order to do that, I need to know where she is.”
Elijah follows my eye line. “A spell is not a good idea, Samantha.”
“What choice do we have? If I need to stop her, I can’t stand here waiting for her to take me by surprise.”
“It is not safe,” Elijah says definitively. “We do not know enough yet.”
More than anything, I want to agree. But if I don’t track her down, I will continue to be behind the horse, like Cotton said. “Elijah, we need to come up with a plan. And then I need to try one of those spells.”
“What plan? We do not know what we are planning for.” His voice deviates from its evenness. “I do not want you to get hurt.”
My heart thuds. “If I die, then I guess we’ll be spending lots of time together.”
He grabs my arms and holds on to me as though he will shake the idea out of me. “Do not ever say that, Samantha. You have your whole wonderful life ahead of you. You cannot imagine all the experiences you will have. I would never wish this upon you so young.”
“But how can I have those things if I don’t stop your fiancée?” I match his passionate tone, and my voice rises. “And how many other people won’t get to live their lives if I don’t break this curse?”
“You will break it. You just need to be reasonable.” He pulls me forward a couple of inches.
Our faces are close together. “John’s already dead. Susannah’s next. Not to mention all those others. I can’t know that I had the answer and didn’t take action. I would never be able to live with myself. I’m not going to be like Cotton, sit back and watch it unfold.” I’m getting more determined by the minute. I have no desire to meet Elijah’s fiancée. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to miss my chance because I’m too cautious.
“You do not know what she is capable of.” He pulls me closer again, like he’s trying to shield me with his body.
Suddenly his role in this curse makes sense. “You know the enemy this time, Elijah.”
He looks at me questioningly.
I steady my voice. “You couldn’t protect Abigail because you didn’t know who the enemy was. Now you’re trying to protect me. Difference is, we know who we’re fighting.”
His eyes go wide, and he releases me. He sits down on the bench. “I killed myself last time I failed.”
I sit down next to him, my voice gentle. “I can’t do this without you.”
He turns toward me. For a few seconds we’re quiet. His gray eyes are big and sad. “I cannot live the rest of eternity knowing I failed you, too.”
My breath catches in my throat. “You could never fail me….”
He sighs. “Okay, Samantha. I will bend to your will.”
I exhale. But my victory’s short-lived. Police sirens blare in the distance. Elijah blinks out. I stand, examining my surroundings, and realize Ms. Edelson is peering through a curtain from a second-story window. When we make eye contact, she shuts the drapes. How could I be so stupid as to stay in one place for so long? It must look like I’m arguing with myself.
Elijah blinks back in. “Run!”
I take off down the cobblestones.
“Turn right,” he says, and I duck into an alley. The police sirens get louder. “The park.”
I sprint onto the sidewalk, almost knocking down a pedestrian. I quickly check the traffic and run across the street into a patch of trees. I stop by the trunk of a big maple. The police car passes us and heads in the direction we came from.
“You need to get off the street,” Elijah says. “That officer had a notepad full of comments about you.”
“Wait, why?”
“I did not stay to find out. We need to get you to Mrs. Meriwether’s.”
“What!” I stare at him in horror. “No.”
“Can you think of a better location to do a spell?”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
* * *
What the…?
“I will unlock the door,” Elijah says as I crouch behind a bush in Mrs. Meriwether’s front yard. I grip the spell book to my chest and scan my house. Vivian’s car is in the driveway and the lights are on. Elijah opens Mrs. Meriwether’s front door.
I bolt across the lawn in the fading light, my heart pushing against my rib cage. I take the two entrance steps in one jump, clumsily barreling through the doorway. I close it behind me with a bang.
“Hello?” says Jaxon from the living room. I want to run at the thought of facing his hurt look. Within a few seconds he’s standing in front of me.
“Hey,” I say, looking at my feet.
“Did you just break into my house?”
“I didn’t want anyone to see me. But I didn’t mean to break in.” It’s the truth.
“Why do you care if someone sees you come into my house?”
Elijah frowns. “Time is passing quickly.”
I’m silent for a few seconds, unsure how to answer either of them. “Well, I…” I run through the various explanations, but they all suck.
There is only one thing I can say. “I should never have believed Lizzie’s lie. I know I made you uncomfortable with all the spell stuff and the auditorium. And then again in the street today. I’m really sorry. I so want to tell you something that will explain it all…and convince you that I never meant to hurt you, that I care. I just haven’t sorted it out myself yet.”
“You care?” I’ve never seen Jaxon vulnerable before. It makes me feel so much worse.
“Samantha,” Elijah warns. I give Elijah a please-give-me-a-minute look. I know he’s afraid that I’ll get lost in this conversation, but I don’t want to hurt Jaxon any more than I already have.
I nod. “Yes.”
Jaxon’s face relaxes slightly. “As long as I know that, I can deal with the rest of it. Even the ghost.” He says the last part unhappily.
Elijah scowls. Guilt overwhelms me as I look from one to the other. How did I get myself into this mess?
“Samantha?” Mrs. Meriwether enters the front hall. “I was worried.”
I tense. “I’m sorry I ran off.”
“When I saw that feather, I…Well, to be perfectly upfront, the idea that your grandmother was correct about the crow woman has been haunting me all day.”
I take a deep breath. “I need to track her down…the crow woman.” Mrs. Meriwether nods as though she expected this. “And I could really use your help.”
Jaxon’s upset expression returns. “So you came here to apologize, huh?”
I’ve really botched this up. At this point, all I can do is hope he doesn’t hate me.
“Jaxon, I’m gonna tell you the truth. No lies, no omissions. But I can’t explain everything. There just isn’t time. You’re gonna have to believe me for now. Can you do that?”
His eyebrows push together, and he looks at his mother before answering. Maybe she talked to him? “Only if you promise not to shut me out like that again. I felt ridiculous.”
I release my breath. “I promise.” He’s way more forgiving than I might be. “So…the reason I’ve been acting so crazy lately is ’cause I’m positive John’s death was part of a larger pattern. Susannah is next. And I’m betting my dad and I are close behind.”
Mrs. Meriwether and Jaxon exchange looks again. What did they talk about today?
“If you really think this, you need to go to the police,” Jaxon says.
The mention of the police tenses me even more. Could Lizzie somehow be behind them coming after me? Susannah did say her family was well connected.
“This is one of those things you just need to trust me on,” I say, and I can tell that Jaxon wants to argue.
“Dear, let’s go to the kitchen and discuss what you need,” Mrs. Meriwether says.
“Clever woman,” says Elijah.
I nod, grateful for Mrs. Meriwether’s support, and follow her down the hallway toward the kitchen. To my surprise, Jaxon comes as well
.
“I swear I’m not on something,” I say under my breath to Jaxon as we walk.
The beginning of a smile tugs at his lips. “Debatable.”
“Are you sure you want to know all of this? It’ll sound wacky.”
“I saw you float in midair. If I can handle that, I don’t think a spell is gonna make me faint.” His voice is moving back toward its usual playfulness.
“Fine, but this is difficult enough for me to accept. If you laugh, I will knock you out.”
Jaxon smiles. “I’m counting on it.”
We walk into the kitchen, and Mrs. Meriwether clears some counter space. “Tell us your plan, Samantha.”
Elijah paces, deep in thought.
I sit down at the island, and Jaxon sits next to me. “The only way I think I can stop the deaths is to find this crow woman and expose what she’s doing. I’m pretty sure she’s setting me up to take the fall for all the weird things that happened recently, and if I’m not careful, the deaths will get pinned on me, too.” Lizzie’s no help, either.
I put down the spell book and can tell Jaxon’s impressed by it. It is kinda beautiful. I flip through the pages, looking for a location spell. When I land on one, Elijah reads over my shoulder. He grabs a basket from the counter and blinks out.
“So what’s the reason this crow woman’s out to get you?” At least Jaxon isn’t making fun of me, even if his tone is doubtful.
“There’s a lot of bad blood between her and the Mathers. I think she’s enjoying branding me as a witch, and will try to hang me for it. Metaphorically, or whatever.”
“Sam, you’re in my kitchen with a spell book doing spells with my mother. Is there a different definition of a witch I don’t know about?”
I open my mouth and close it again.
Mrs. Meriwether looks at the location spell. Her face is serious. “Your grandmother was searching for information about the curse before she died. She talked to me about it constantly. I even helped her do research.”
I knew Mrs. Meriwether helped her. I figured it was one of the reasons she wasn’t pressing me for details.
“One of the things she was most interested in was the location of the hangings, which Jaxon tells me you’ve already sorted out,” Mrs. Meriwether continues.
How to Hang a Witch Page 24