Charmed

by Catherine Hart

  The maid laughed and gestured toward her own rotund build. “Honey, we have some suits back there that would go around both of us twice. Must have been made at the tent-and-awning company! You wait here, and I’ll get you fixed up in a jiffy.”

  As Nikki had predicted, Thorn revelled in the whirlpool, letting the jets beat at his tense muscles. The hour was late, nearly midnight, and they had the place to themselves. They swam for a while and, when Nikki began yawning, finally returned to their room, leaving the borrowed suits and a nice tip behind.

  After their hectic flight and the late night, morning came too early to suit Nikki. But with all the racket in the hall—guests moving about, laughing and talking; the cleaning staff clattering cleaning equipment and running vacuum cleaners—there was no going back to sleep, even if Silver Thorn had been of a mind to let her. He was up and eager to be about his business.

  “Have you figured out why we’re here?” she grumbled, grimacing at her reflection in the mirror. Then, “God! I look like road-kill! Promise you’ll protect me from vultures.”

  Thorn laughed. “I pledge it. As to my mission, I have this wish to seek out a shaman, though I do not yet know who or why. Perhaps he will be able to enlighten us when we find him.”

  A few hours and several miles and inquiries later, their shaman turned out to be a sha-woman, or more correctly, perhaps, a, Shawnee medicine woman. She lived in a small cottage on the shore of Lake Thunderbird, between the towns of Tecumseh and Norman. She was also a full-fledged professor at a nearby institute, specializing in the study of paranormal psychology.

  Gaze Starpath had her door open before they were halfway up the walk to her porch. “Welcome, my brother and sister. I have been expecting you.”

  Nikki didn’t know precisely what she’d expected to find inside the cottage—maybe a crystal ball or two, tarot cards spread out on a table, strings of beads and a couple of black cats. She discovered none of this. The little house was neatly furnished, with nary a cat or anything particularly unusual in sight. At first glance, the oddest thing was the vast number of bookcases filled to overflowing with reading material about extra sensory perception, mental telepathy, and other subjects relating to parapsychology. There were also several books on Native American history, assorted medical tomes, and—surprisingly—a whole section crammed with romance novels!

  “Sit, please,” Miss Starpath invited, leading them further into her small living room. “I will serve tea.” Indeed, the tea was already steeping in a pot on the coffee table. Next to it on the tray were three cups. Nikki’s eyes widened.

  As the other woman poured the tea, Nikki studied her openly. And enviously. She judged Gaze Starpath to be in her early to mid-thirties, and, she was beautiful. Her jet-black hair swung in a sleek pageboy, playing hide and seek with her high cheekbones and tawny complexion. Huge hazel eyes dominated her face. And she was as slim as any fashion model could hope to be.

  Gaze looked up and caught Nikki’s avid perusal. “Do not worry, Neeake,” she said in her soft, sweet voice. “I have not summoned your husband here to claim him for myself. At least not the way you may think.”

  Nikki’s brows inched upward in shock. Had she been that obvious, or had this woman actually read her mind? And how did she know her name? The name only Silver Thorn applied to her.

  “Then I was summoned,” Thorn concluded, “by you.”

  Gaze nodded. “I have been waiting to do so for years, Silver Thorn.”

  “How? Why?” Nikki asked.

  Gaze’s smile was serene. “Perhaps you have heard of the studies which have determined that there is a strong empathy between twins or other products of multiple births, be they identical or fraternal. We have found that there is also a telepathic link between them. That, among other factors, is how I contacted Silver Thorn.”

  For the first time, she focused her clear, luminous hazel eyes directly at Thorn. “Don’t you know who I am? Don’t you recognize me at all? Let me help jog your memory. I asked you to remove my body from the battleground, to bury it in a secret place.”

  Nikki’s jaw dropped. Silver Thorn stared at the woman seated opposite him. “Tecumseh?” he questioned. “How can this be?”

  Gaze chuckled. “How does one explain many of the strange and wondrous things in the world? You, of all people, should not be so surprised, especially after the spectacular feats both of us have performed. Moreover, didn’t I tell you that I would return in a day when my people needed my guidance?”

  “But . . . you are now a woman,” Thorn stated superfluously.

  Gaze offered a careless shrug. “I do believe you would be less shocked had I returned as a bat. Be it frog or fox, pine or peanut, male or female—reincarnation is no respecter of gender, race, religion, or politics. If I come again in the future, I may be African or Asian, Moslem or Hindu. Who is to say? For now, I am a Shawnee medicine woman who simply wished to meet her brother once more. Through past-life regression, I recalled our relationship. I also recalled that you were going to try to go forward from 1813 into 1996 to join your bride. And just within the last day or so, I have sensed that you were in trouble. I want to help, if I can. Tell me what is wrong.”

  “Nikki believes she has seen Tenskwatawa near our home. If this is so, then he somehow managed to follow me forward into this era.”

  “I don’t merely think I saw him, Thorn,” Nikki corrected. “I’d bet my last dollar on it.”

  Gaze nodded. “Ah, so that is the dark cloud I felt whenever I thought of you. He is forever an ill wind, instigating disaster. We should have slain him when we had the chance.”

  “I would be satisfied just to send him permanently back to his own time, where he belongs,” Thorn declared.

  Nikki agreed. “Yes, that would be best. We certainly don’t want his body discovered or to have the law breathing down our necks. That would be terrifically difficult to explain.”

  “Especially since policemen tend to deal in cold hard facts, not paranormal theory,” Gaze added wryly. “If they can’t touch it, see it, or smell it, to most of them it doesn’t exist.”

  “A few months ago, I would have understood that attitude perfectly,” Nikki declared. “Now . . .” She paused, her glance wavering between the other two. “Well, now it might take a few minutes to assimilate, but nothing would truly surprise me.”

  “If Tenskwatawa is currently in Ohio, then that’s where we must go,” Gaze said. “I’ll come with you and we will search him out and deal with him once and for all. I feel it’s imperative that we do so before he can cause too much mischief—which is, after all, his favorite game.” She rose and headed toward a connecting room. “Let me pack a bag and call my secretary.”

  “You might want to call the airlines first,” Nikki suggested. “With the holiday, they might be booked up. Thorn and I were extremely lucky to get tickets at the last minute.”

  Again, Gaze graced them with a serene, mystical smile. “Luck had nothing to do with it,” she told them frankly. “I will have no problem securing a ticket.”

  “Then you still retain your powers, as before?” Thorn queried curiously.

  “Most of them,” Gaze acknowledged. “But I rarely get the chance to exercise them as I did in the old days. A pity, really, because you know the adage—use it or lose it. I would truly hate to forfeit those abilities entirely.” She cocked her head at him. “What about you, Silver Thorn? Did your powers come forward with you?”

  Her direct question shook him. “I do not know,” he replied truthfully. “I have not attempted to apply them since I arrived.”

  “I suggest you try them out,” Gaze proposed seriously. “Before we encounter our dear, demented brother.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  They arrived home about an hour and a half before dark only to find Sheree huddled in her car in Nikki’s driveway waiting for them. As soon as she spotted them, Sheree leapt from the car, her blue eyes appearing as huge as dinner plates in her pale, drawn face. Sh
e ran up and clutched Nikki’s arm with trembling hands. “Thank God you’re home!” she exclaimed shakily. “I’ve been frantic sitting here waiting for you, hoping you’d come soon, wondering if you were okay!”

  “What’s wrong, Sheree? What’s happened to upset you so?” In her heart, Nikki knew the answer before Sheree gave it.

  “I saw the Prophet!” Sheree blurted out breathlessly. “Even without his nose ring and dressed in jeans and a denim jacket, I recognized him from all those horrible pictures of him. At first I thought I was hallucinating, but I couldn’t have been because he was with Brian Sanders, of all people—and even in my wildest dreams, I’d never allow Brian into them. It scared the liver out of me to see those two talking to each other. They’re up to something, Nikki. Something rotten!”

  Nikki muttered an obscenity.

  “My sentiments exactly,” Gaze commented gravely. Thorn agreed. “Those two together can only mean trouble.” He ushered the women toward the house. “Come. We must plan what to do next.”

  Even through the front door, they could hear Macate caterwauling. Thorn frowned. “Let me go in first and check to make sure Tenskwatawa is not inside waiting,” he cautioned. “We would not want to walk into a trap. Tec . . . Gaze, you stay with Neeake and her friend.”

  Gaze nodded. “I will guard them.”

  Thorn disappeared into the house, and Sheree leaned toward Nikki and whispered, “Who is she?”

  “Her name is Gaze Starpath, and she’s a Shawnee medicine woman and a professor of parapsychology in Oklahoma,” Nikki explained quietly. “Would you believe that she is also Tecumseh reincarnated?”

  Sheree gave a numb shake of her head. “At this point, I’d believe anything.”

  Nikki automatically introduced the two women, her attention focused on the door.

  Within minutes, Thorn returned and motioned them inside. “No one is here now, but I cannot say they were not before.”

  “Is anything missing or out of place?” Gaze asked.

  “I’ll look around; but even if there were, I’m not sure I’d notice right off,” Nikki responded.

  “I’ll help you,” Sheree volunteered. “How long has it been since you dusted?”

  Nikki frowned at her. “What a thing to ask your best friend!”

  “Hey! It doesn’t bother me. I just asked because if it’s been awhile, we might be able to find a clean spot to indicate that something’s been moved or jarred from its original setting.”

  Nikki’s grin came spontaneously. “Is that the kind of thing you and Dave discuss on your dates? Pitiful, Sheree. Really pitiful!”

  Nothing appeared to have been touched, but Macate was still prancing and growling for all he was worth. And the hair on Her Nibs’ back and tail was ruffled, a mark of her own agitation.

  “I propose that we go in search of Tenskwatawa and this reporter,” Gaze said. “It would be better than sitting here like ducks in a barrel, waiting for them to come to us. At times like this, the best defense is an immediate offense.”

  Thorn turned to Sheree. “Where did you see them together, Sheree?”

  “At the American Mall.” Nikki gave a nervous giggle. “They were just outside Baskin-Robbins, eating ice cream cones, of all things!”

  “We will start there, then. And the parking lot at the place where Neeake and I shopped the other evening.”

  “If we don’t find them there, we might try Brian’s house or his office,” Nikki suggested. “Lord help us if he’s filing some wild news story even as we speak! Can you imagine the uproar if the truth came out in print?”

  “Who in his right mind would ever believe it anyway?” Sheree countered. “He’ll look like the prince of fools!”

  Nikki shrugged. “Maybe, but maybe not. Especially if he has Tenskwatawa here to back him up. I’m not on top of this sort of thing; but I know there are tests to scientifically prove the age of artifacts, and Tenski himself would certainly fall into that category. As would his clothing and anything he brought forward with him. If nothing else, it would certainly provoke some interesting questions which would be better left alone.”

  Sheree shot Thorn an irritated glower. “Boy, you really stirred up the muck when you decided to pry into the future.”

  “I will settle it as well,” he vowed grimly.

  He faced Nikki. “Tell me where Sanders lives and works, and Gaze and I will begin the search.”

  “What about us?” Nikki inquired, indicating herself and Sheree.

  “I would feel more assured of your safety if the two of you would go out to the farm and stay there until you hear from us,” Thorn said. “There, you will have your family, your father and brothers, to protect you. If you were to accompany me, you might place yourself in more danger or distract me from my duties, if even unintentionally.”

  “He is right,” Gaze concurred. “Do not fear, Neeake. Thorn and I make a formidable team, but we must be able to fully concentrate on the task at hand.”

  Sheree was more than willing to comply, and she urged Nikki to do so. “I don’t know about you, but my nerves have had just about all the excitement they can stand for a while. And you have the baby to consider.”

  It was agreed, then, that Gaze and Thorn would take Nikki’s car, with Gaze at the wheel, and Sheree and Nikki would use Sheree’s. “What about Macate?” Nikki inquired as they headed for the cars. “Shouldn’t he accompany you? Maybe you could put him to use as a search dog—or cat. He surely won’t do you much good locked up in the house like this.”

  “If I need him, he will come to me,” Thorn assured her. “You forget, he is of the spirit world. Walls and locks cannot confine him.”

  Nikki rolled her eyes. “For a spirit, he sure was humping Her Nibs like any mortal male! I didn’t think they allowed such base urges in the afterworld. I guess there’s always room for hope, huh? Chocolate and sex in heaven; what a nifty thought!”

  The four of them climbed into their separate vehicles. Since Nikki had parked behind Sheree, Thorn and Gaze backed out first. They waited to make sure Sheree’s car started, and she pulled out after them, leaving with a toot of the horn and a final wave.

  At that moment, Aneekwah dropped from the tree at the end of the drive onto the hood of Sheree’s car. “Speaking of weird animals,” Sheree commented. “What the devil has gotten into your nutty squirrel? Shoo him off my car before he scratches the paint, Nik.”

  Nikki was reaching for the door handle when she felt the sharp jab at her side just below the short hem of her jacket. “Stay as you are,” growled a gruff voice from the back seat.

  Nikki recognized that voice and froze. Beside her, Sheree let out a strangled squeal. Her eyes were wild with fear as she gazed at a spot behind Nikki’s seat.

  “You, with the yellow hair,” Tenskwatawa rumbled. “Drive where I tell you or I will cut your friend’s child from her belly here and now.”

  “O . . . o . . . okay!” Sheree stammered. “Ju . . . just tell me where we’re going.”

  “Not far,” came the brusque reply. “Turn around. We go in the other direction.”

  “You won’t get away with this, Tenskwatawa, whatever you have planned,” Nikki said, drawing a careful breath. “Silver Thorn knows you followed him. He’ll find you.”

  He gave an evil laugh. “I intend for him to do so. You are the bait that will draw him into my snare.”

  Nikki’s heart fell. “Give it up, Tenski. You should know by now that you can’t win against him.”

  He poked the knife more firmly against her lower ribs, emphasizing the immediate threat. “But with you as my hostage, I have the upper hand, do I not?”

  Nikki said nothing in reply, and he took her silence as mute agreement.

  Indeed, they did not have far to go, which was fortunate considering how badly Sheree was shaking. Within the span of three minutes, they were pulling up a long lane so near to Nikki’s house that they could have handily walked the distance. It was a spot familiar to everyone i
n the neighborhood, an old abandoned sanitarium that had once been used to treat tuberculosis patients. It was long empty now, in a sad state of disrepair, its original purpose made obsolete by drugs that had all but banished the dread disease. Many of the windows were broken out, others boarded up. Weeds grew profusely on the spacious, once-immaculate lawn. The pond where swans used to swim was reduced to an expanse of slimy, stagnant water.

  No one ever came here now, not even a rare prospective buyer. No one, it seemed, but Tenskwatawa. And now Nikki and Sheree. No one would think to look for them here—or hear them if they cried out for help.

  On the off chance that someone might drive past and become curious, Tenskwatawa directed Sheree to pull her car into the enclosed garage area formerly used to house ambulances. Nikki’s spirits sank further. For someone so new to the twentieth century, her evil brother-in-law was coping incredibly well in the modern world. Apparently, he had a knack for sniffing out those things which would be to his best benefit.

  Their captor led them, at knifepoint, into the dark interior of the building and up three flights of stairs to an inner hallway devoid of windows. There he lit two small candles with a lighter he pulled from his jacket pocket. His blade never straying from Nikki’s side, he retrieved a length of rope he had stashed away and quickly tied the two women to a long counter which was bolted to the floor, a former nurses’ station. Then he gagged them.

  “I wouldn’t want you to cry out and lead Silver Thorn to you too soon,” he gloated. “But neither do I wish that you not be able to breathe, which is why I am careful not to cover your noses.”

  He stood over them, his one dark eye gleaming with malice, his demonic grin revealing his rotting teeth. “I will also leave you with light.” He gestured toward the votive candles on the countertop. “You will note that I have placed them on the ledge. Unfortunately, the wood is very dry and likely to catch fire very quickly if the candles burn down enough for the flame to reach it.” He let loose a fiendish cackle. “Those are very small candles, are they not? They should burn most rapidly.”