Was that the same as calling me old, I wondered? Deciding to let that pass, I looked over at Rand, who had been silent during all of this. He looked shell-shocked. That wasn’t very reassuring, considering he was basically a part of this world already.
“Okay, so I need to find my mother’s sister. I can do that. Hopefully, she’s still alive. Maybe you guys could look for her over on your side, in case she’s not? Can you do that?” If she were over there, it would save me quite a bit of work tracking her down. If she were alive, I might be able to find her as easily as an internet search. I hadn’t tried that when I wanted to reach her ten years ago.
“That’s not exactly how it works over there. If she’s not family, or a close friend, there’s no way for us to locate her that I know of.”
Well, it was worth a shot. “I have something else I need to ask you about while you’re here, too.” I pulled Elmer’s box out, along with the book that went with it. “Something odd happened when I put my mother’s jewelry in here.”
I handed the book to Grandmam. She flipped through the first few pages containing pictures and descriptions of the Items from her family. When she got to the Ring of Power—the first Item from my own family, we were assuming—she stopped to read it again, looking up at the ring I was wearing to compare. Turning to the next page, her brow furrowed, the furrows deepening, as she continued to the pages beyond. Looking up at me, her expression confused, she said, “I don’t understand.”
“Join the club. I put a few of the pieces in the box a couple days after I got them back. When I opened the book, that’s all there was–the pictures of what I put in there but the descriptions and everything else is missing. I tried putting one piece in at a time, emptying everything else out, putting all of it in there, and it was the same each time. The only Item that has any information is this,” I said, holding up my left hand, the one with the Power Ring.
“Have you worn any of the others?”
“No. I was afraid to, not knowing what might happen.”
She looked at me skeptically. “None of it?”
Great. She obviously thought I was an idiot. “No! My life has been crazy enough lately, thank you very much!” I insisted. “I’m not inviting more trouble in. I thought it best to wait and talk to you about it.”
“Hmmph. After last night, it’s a wonder,” she muttered. “May I see some of your Items?” She held out her hand, making it less of a question.
Handing her the whole box, I figured she could just go through everything herself. She picked through the box, pushing the pieces she was familiar with to one side and the new additions to the other. She picked up one of the new pieces, examining it. It was a pendant with a gem or stone I hadn’t had a chance to research yet.
“There’s something here. It’s weak, but I can feel it. Rosemary, see what you get from it,” she ordered brusquely, passing it over to her granddaughter.
“Yes, I see what you mean. And you’re right, it is very weak. That’s odd. It takes a lot to drain an Item’s power. Would that be enough to keep it from being catalogued, though?”
Rand and I looked at each other during their exchange. He was standing at what might have been parade rest, I guessed. He looked a little less intimidated now, at least. He tapped his wrist and raised his brows. How much longer? I shrugged, shaking my head slightly. With these two, who knew?
“You two done conversing there?” Grandmam barked, making me jump. Not waiting for an answer, she plowed on, “Have you cleansed any of this, yet?”
“Um, no. I wasn't sure if it would do any good. Do you want me to?”
“I don’t think it will help, but it’s worth a try. Cleanse them tonight and then try putting ‘em back in the box. If anything changes, call us back. I’d like to see what the book says about it. Otherwise, I want you to concentrate on finding your aunt and any other relatives you might have. Show her the Items and see what she says.” She moved a few things around in the box until she found what she was looking for. “Here. Wear this when you talk to her,” she held out a pendant with a pretty, turquoise blue stone bound in silver, “it’s a truth stone, of sorts. It should help you figure out if she’s withholding any information, if it works right for you.”
Taking the pendant from her, I tucked it in my pocket. I would have to go through my chains later to see if anything would fit it.
“Will it work if I do find her and talk to her on the phone and ask her about the jewelry? Maybe just a general question to find out if she was familiar with any of my mom’s things?”
“What?” The look she gave me definitely told me she questioned my intelligence level. “No, of course it won’t. You’ll talk to her in person; the pendant won’t work without proximity, girl. How is she supposed to see any of it over the phone?” She motioned to the jewelry box.
Contemplating explaining video chat just to be obnoxious now, I decided it wouldn’t be worth it. Tracking Stella down—having never met the woman, I didn’t know her well enough to call her Aunt Stella this late in life—shouldn’t be that difficult. And maybe she was in a nice retirement home that wasn’t too much of a road trip away. Though, my Jeep hadn’t been driven much lately, so a road trip might not be a bad idea.
“When you find her and talk to her, you call us. Privately, of course.” Her scowl let me know I was never going to live last night down. “Is there anything else?”
“No ma’am, I mean, Grandmam,” I corrected myself. “I can send you back if you’re ready.”
Rosemary stepped over to me as Grandmam stood up from the couch. Surprising me with a hug, she whispered, “Birdie wanted me to remind you not to forget the things she wanted you to have.” She pulled away, speaking more loudly. “Happy birthday, Roxanne. Hopefully you’ll have an enjoyable evening with that strapping young man over there. You can make sure he’s here whenever you have to call on me, by the way. He’s a nice distraction.” She winked at him. I turned to him just in time to see his face flush again. Laughing to myself, I guess I knew how to keep him in line, if I ever needed to.
“Thank you, both. And, again, I’m sorry about last night. No more drunken Item use.” I held my hand up solemnly.
“Just be careful which pieces you mix when you’re wearing them. That ring,” she nodded to my left hand again, “might be part of what makes your abilities so unpredictable.”
“I will. Have fun at your—was it shuffleboard?—tournament.” Not giving her a chance to respond, I sent them both back with a thought. It got easier every time. Pulling my hair off my neck to try to cool off, I wondered why it was suddenly so warm in here.
Chapter 6
Rand blew out a breath, sounding relieved they were gone.
“Well, that was fun, don’t you think? I think you’ve got a new fan.” I grinned at him. I didn’t think I’d seen him grimace so much in one day since I’d met him. “I’m going to let Toby in and then head up to the attic. You coming with or do you need time to recover?”
“I’ll meet you downstairs. I can check out the attic with you when you’re ready.” With that he disappeared.
***
Ten minutes later, I was up in the attic, broom in hand, heading for the little room in the back. Rand was already waiting for me by the door. Whatever it was Birdie thought I should have was in one of the two totes next to their Memories trunk.
Pulling the first tote down, I wondered how I was going to know what I was looking for. She said to look for a box Elmer had made, I think. The first tote was filled with family pictures, all wrapped carefully. I pushed it aside and opened the second tote. This one looked like crafting supplies. I pulled out a few unfinished quilting pieces, skeins of yarn, and what looked like sewing projects. I dug down through it all until I got to the bottom, pulling out the only box in there.
“Is that it?” I jumped at Rand’s voice, right behind me. I’d thought he was still exploring the other area.
“Warn a person, will you? If I have a heart attack, I�
�m pretty sure Sam like’s Toby enough to keep him, but you never know.” I mock glared at him over my shoulder.
Ignoring my comment, he motioned to the box. “What’s in it?”
“Impatient much? I just dug it out.” I unfastened the little latch and opened it. Knitting needles? They were gorgeous, sure, but why would she want me to have these?
“Do you even knit?” Rand asked dubiously enough that I wondered if I should be offended.
“I can, I just haven’t in a few decades. It’s probably like riding a bike.” I had learned to knit when I was around twelve, if making four scarves and a Barbie blanket counted.
Carefully taking the needles out of the case, I felt the weight and balance of the wood. Though they were well made, their surfaces were worn so smooth they looked polished. Even with the wear, the faded patterns engraved over their length were beautiful. I put them back in the case and started to push the tote back. Pausing, I pulled two skeins of yarn out and then put the lid back on.
“Did you decide to go for a ride?”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, perplexed.
“You said it was like riding a bike?” Laughing, he pointed at the yarn.
“Oh. Yes, well, I figured I might as well give it a try again. It can’t hurt.” I shrugged, heading back toward the stairs. “And, who knows, maybe it will help take my mind off of all of the weirdness in my life, right now.”
He was silent as we headed back downstairs to the second floor, him following me for a change instead of just disappearing.
“Sam’s gone for the evening and I’ve got leftover pizza for dinner. I’m just going to put these away and grab my laptop out of my room, so I can try to locate Stella while I eat. Are you going to stick around or do you have ghost things to do?”
“If you don’t mind the company, sure. I can always do my ‘ghost things’ later. Don’t forget about that jewelry stuff you have to do tonight. Clean it or cleanse it? What does that involve?”
Explaining what I had researched before, I quickly dropped the box off in my room, grabbed my laptop, and headed down to the kitchen.
“Purified water that’s sat outside in the moonlight? You’re kidding, right?”
“Says the ghost who hung out at the bar and pointed out shifters and other ghosts to me?”
“That’s different! Those actually exist. You’re talking about something my own grandmother would have called a bunch of hooey.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “A few months ago, if someone would have told me what my life would be like today, I would have said they were full of hooey. But, this seemed to work with the Power Ring, so there’s no reason it shouldn’t for the rest of the stuff. And if it doesn’t, it’s not like I’m out anything but time and some water.”
He nodded absently as I fed Toby. Jake had disappeared for the evening, as was his habit, it seemed. Heating up a couple slices of pizza in the microwave, I let Toby outside and then opened my laptop to let it boot up—it was older and took awhile. Kind of like me, I thought, shaking my head. Funny thing is, I felt better than I had in a long time, physically. I didn’t know if it was the weight loss, the magick exposure, or what. It certainly wasn’t reduced stress, because that was still present in spades.
By the time I let Toby back in and sat down at the snack bar with my pizza, my laptop was ready.
“Where to start . . . ,” I mused. “We’ll go with a general search and then start narrowing it down.”
My searches brought up several variations of her name, the most common being Deveraux. Obituaries came up, along with Facebook profiles, ads for paid search results, and a lot of junk. I could already tell this was not going to be fun.
Trying tax and property records next, I had something pop up but the dates were from nearly a hundred years ago. I tried digging a little deeper, even paying the ninety-five cents one site asked for, only to get the same answers. Everything referencing Estella Devraux in New Orleans took me back to a property near Laplace, Louisiana. No exact address, just a general area. I couldn’t even find a phone number.
“That’s odd, isn’t it?” Rand’s voice right next to my ear nearly made me fall off the bar stool. I had completely forgotten he was in the room with me. “Was she your mother’s older sister or could this one be an older relative? Because everything you’re finding would put her at about six feet under for the last several decades.”
Clearing my throat, I gave myself a moment to let my heart rate slow down again. “It’s probably a mistake, there’s no way any of this can be right. I’m sure somebody entered the dates wrong or something.”
“We could always go down and check it out. I’ve never been to NOLA.”
“Can you travel? How would that even work?” That came out more skeptical than I planned, but I was frustrated enough that the filter between my brain and mouth had failed.
“So long as Toby goes, I should be able to, in theory.”
“What would Jake do if we were gone for very long?” The thought of Jake thinking we had abandoned him worried me. What if he crossed over, just because he was sad and alone, not knowing if we were coming back?
“We bring him with us. I’m sure Elmer took him on road trips. We tell him ‘let’s go for a ride’, load him and Toby up, and we leave.” He made it sound so simple. Pack up the dog and the two ghosts and just hit the road. Could it really be that easy?
“Maybe you’re right.” I closed my laptop and cleaned up from my meager dinner. “Let’s do it. Let’s head down to New Orleans and find her. Or, worst case scenario, find out it’s a dead end.” Realizing what I’d just said, I felt my face warm. “I, uh, didn’t mean it like that. Sorry Rand.”
His hearty laugh made me feel a little less embarrassed. “It is what it is, Roxie. Don’t sweat it.”
Noting how late it had gotten, I was guessing Sam wasn’t going to be home tonight. “I think I’m going to put the water out on the deck and then turn in. Last night was a long night and today was an even longer day. You good?”
“Yeah. When you put the water out, would you wait out there for me for just a minute?” He seemed nervous.
“Sure, Toby will need to go out anyway. Give me a sec.” He popped out before I had even finished talking. Would I ever get used to that?
Last time I had charged and cleansed my ring, I had just used a glass from the cupboard. Since there were more pieces here, did that mean I would need a bigger container or should I set out a tray of glasses? Deciding a tray would be the better way to go, I started filling water glasses. Toby followed me outside when I was done, dashing down the deck stairs to take care of business while I carefully set the tray down on the larger patio table.
Looking around the yard, I noticed lights on in my old house. The family who had bought it had been moving their things for the last few days. Oddly enough, the thought of somebody else living there didn’t bother me at all.
Rand came around the corner of the house, walking instead of just popping in beside me. Just as he reached the first step, I saw he had one hand behind his back and he was grinning.
“Close your eyes and hold out your hand.”
Hesitantly, I did as he asked, gasping as I felt him set something small and cold in the center of my palm. “Can I open my eyes now?”
“Go ahead.”
In my hand sat a perfect rosebud, completely frozen. It was beautiful. “How did you do this without burning it from your touch?” Cold burn could destroy the delicate buds on a rosebush just as much as the sun on a hot, dry day would. “And how are you able to carry anything?”
“I did it in small stages. I was thinking about how my touch affected the living, so I started experimenting. I, uh, may have destroyed a few of Sam’s roses in the process. That one should remain that way now, not fading or anything, I think. The carrying part just takes a lot of concentration, is all.”
“It’s beautiful. Thank you.” I turned the tiny flower around, looking at it. The co
ld was starting to fade but it didn’t look wilted. There wasn’t a blemish on it, either. Was this what he’d been doing when he was gone for the better part of the last week?
“Happy birthday, Roxie.” He looked so pleased with himself, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I would totally hug you but I don’t want to end up like this.” I held up the flower. “Thank you, I love it.”
“I’ll let you head to bed, then. Like you said–long day. Good night and sweet dreams.” And just like that he was gone.
“Well, Toby, it’s just you and me, boy. How about we celebrate like old people and go to bed early?” He tilted his head at me comically, one ear flopping to the side, and let out a grumbly groan as he headed to the door.
As far as birthdays went, this one had turned out not that bad. Age was just a number and, who knew, maybe forty-one would be a truly fresh start. Pfft. Even I knew better than that.
Chapter 7
The next morning found me sitting at the snack bar having my first cup of coffee as I watched the new people walk around the pool area at my old house talking, probably deciding what to put where. That made me miss Elmer again. He always sat where I was now. We’d had some pretty delightful chats, right here. Well, maybe delightful was a stretch—heck, a few were downright scary—but, hey, this was where we had talked, regardless. Oddly, I didn’t miss the house and I really didn’t miss that pool. I guess any cool factor lost out to all the work involved in keeping it clean. After I’d let Steven talk me into quitting working full-time, that had become my chore—since ‘I had nothing but time on my hands’ as he began reminding me almost immediately. Next he’d wanted me to start cutting the grass ‘to save money, since I wasn’t making any’. I’d drawn the line there. It was his idea for me to stay home. I’d never mown grass in all my life, and I wasn’t about to start at nearly forty. That memory just irritated me.
Sam must have come home really late last night or early this morning, since she was still in bed. Toby made sure I was up with the sun these days and it was taking some getting used to. The tray of water I left out last night was sitting next to my laptop, each glass now holding a piece of jewelry. Hopefully, I would know later if it worked and they were ‘recharged’.
Seeing Witchy Things Page 6