by Isobel Bird
Annie began to cry again. She didn’t want her parents to leave her alone again.
“You’re not alone,” said her mother, as if she understood exactly what her daughter was feeling. “We’re always around you, even if you can’t see or hear us. You can always talk to us.”
“Annie, do you remember the word you chose at your dedication ceremony?” her father asked.
“You were there?” Annie asked, astonished.
“We were there,” her father said. “The word. Do you remember it?”
Annie thought. So many emotions were going through her mind at the moment that it was hard to remember anything. “Healing,” she said, suddenly thinking of it.
“That’s right,” said her father. “It’s time for you to heal, Annie. It’s time to let go of the hurt you feel.”
Annie nodded. She knew her father was right. His words were similar to those spoken to her by the Oak King during the Midsummer ritual in which she’d faced some of her feelings about her parents’ deaths. They also reminded her of how she’d had to deal with the death of Ben Rowe over the summer. She did need to heal that wound inside of her. And now, having seen her parents, she thought maybe she could.
“I love you,” she said. “I love you more than anything in the world.”
Her father and mother held out their arms, and this time she did step into them. She closed her eyes, waiting to feel the chill of their ghostly touch. But to her surprise, she felt warmth surround her. She was getting what she’d dreamed about for so long, the chance to feel her parents’ arms around her once more. For that moment she felt completely safe and completely loved.
“We have to go now, Annie,” said her mother.
“No,” Annie said, not wanting the moment to ever end. “Please stay.”
“We love you, Annie,” her father said.
The warmth around her faded. When she opened her eyes, her parents were gone. Seeing the empty space where they had been, Annie began to cry once more. Her chest heaved as she sobbed, the sadness inside of her choking her. She felt so empty, so alone. She wanted her mother and father back.
Then she felt arms around her again. She looked up and saw Kate and Cooper holding her. They hugged her tightly, their hands rubbing her back.
“It’s okay,” Cooper said. “It’s okay.”
“We’re here,” Kate whispered. “And we love you, too.”
Annie continued to cry. But now the sadness in her was changing to joy. Her parents were gone, but she still had her friends. She also had Meg and Aunt Sarah. They all loved her. And there’s always the woman in the moon, she thought. The Goddess. She’s been with you since you were a baby, and she’ll always be there when you need her.
She stood there with Kate and Cooper, just holding them and letting the warmth of their touch reassure her. They had been through a lot together, and she knew there was a lot more in store for them. Like dealing with the whole Tyler thing, she thought. But that would wait. There was time. For now it was enough that she had seen her parents and that she had let the healing really start.
“I love you guys, too,” she told her friends.
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Making the Saint
Kate looked at the paper Sophia had given her. Then she looked at Cooper and Annie. “I’m not sure I can go to this place,” she said. “It sounds a little weird.”
“What’s so weird about it?” asked Annie.
Kate shrugged. “I don’t know,” Kate said. “All this stuff about the saints and these spirits, I guess.”
“It’s no weirder than what we do here, probably,” Cooper told her.
“I know,” admitted Kate. “But I’m used to this.”
Cooper took the paper from Kate and looked at it. “Botanica Yemaya,” she read. “I know where this is. It’s over by one of the used CD places T.J. and I go to a lot. Tell you what. We’ll go with you.” She looked at Annie. “Okay?”
“Sure,” Annie said. “It will be like a field trip. Besides, I think it sounds really cool. I’d love to see this botanica.”
“And this woman,” Cooper added. “Listen to her name—Evelyn LeJardin. I wonder what she’s like.”
“All right,” Kate said. “We’ll all go. When?”
“How about tomorrow after school?” Cooper suggested.
“That’s fine with me,” said Annie.
“Kate?” Cooper asked.
“Yeah,” replied Kate. “That works for me.”
“Hey there,” someone said.
The girls looked up and saw Tyler standing next to them.
“I thought I’d stop by and say hello,” he said.
Kate jumped up and gave her boyfriend a hug. “Hi,” she said. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”
“Not quite forever,” said Tyler. “But almost. Hi, Cooper. Hi, Annie.”
“Hey,” said Cooper.
Annie just waved. Cooper looked at her friend. Annie had turned a funny shade of pink. “Are you okay?” Cooper asked her. “You look flushed.”
“It’s just really hot in here,” Annie said. “I think I’ll walk around a little.”
She stood up and walked quickly toward the front of the store. Cooper got up. “I think I’ll get some air, too,” she said. “You two try to behave yourselves.”
She left Kate and Tyler to catch up and went after Annie. She found her looking at a display of crystals.
“What’s up?” Cooper asked.
“Nothing,” Annie said.
Cooper folded her arms across her chest. “Come on,” she said. “Something is going on. What is it?”
“What makes you think something is going on?” asked Annie defensively.
“Oh, I don’t know,” replied Cooper. “Maybe because when you saw Tyler you turned the color of cotton candy.”
“I was just hot,” insisted Annie.
“Liar,” said Cooper teasingly. “Now spill it. You know something, don’t you?”
“Know something?” Annie repeated, sounding genuinely surprised. “Know something about what?”
“Tyler,” said Cooper. “What is it? Is he going to break up with Kate? Is that it?”
“What?” said Annie. “Why would you think something like that?”
“You’ve been spending a lot of time with Tyler,” Cooper explained. “I just thought he might have said something to you. I mean, don’t you think it’s odd that he happened to show up here tonight?”
“He probably just wanted to see Kate,” Annie answered.
“Maybe,” Cooper said. “But I still think you know something.”
“I don’t,” Annie said, shaking her head. “I don’t know anything.”
Cooper looked at her for a minute. “If I didn’t know you better I’d swear you and Tyler were having an affair,” she said.
“Right,” Annie said. “That’s exactly what we’re doing. Tyler’s come to tell Kate that it’s over and that he’s running off with me. I didn’t want to be there when it all went down, so I came out here to hide.”
“Look at you being all sarcastic,” said Cooper. “Fine. If you don’t want to tell me, that’s okay. I’ll find out eventually. I have my ways.”
“There’s nothing to find out,” Annie said. “Really.”
Annie picked up a crystal and examined it intently. Cooper wanted to interrogate her some more, but she resisted the urge. She was sure that Annie knew something about Tyler and Kate. But whatever it was, Annie wasn’t ready to talk about it. That was okay, though. Cooper could wait. Eventually she would find out.
About the Author
Isobel Bird has been involved in the world of paganism and witchcraft for many years. She lives and dances beneath the moon somewhere in New England.
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Credits
Cover art © 2001 by Cliff Nielsen
Cover © 2001 by HarperCollin
s Publishers, Inc.
Other Books
Follow the Circle:
Book 1: So Mote It Be
Book 2: Merry Meet
Book 3: Second Sight
Book 4: What the Cards Said
Book 5: In the Dreaming
Book 6: Ring of Light
Book 7: Blue Moon
Book 8: The Five Paths
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.
THROUGH THE VEIL. Copyright © 2001 by Isobel Bird. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
HALLOWEEN MAGIC. Copyright © 2001 by Isobel Bird.
EPub Edition. © SEPTEMBER 2001 ISBN: 9780061756573
Version 09212012
Print edition first published in 2001 HarperCollins Publishers
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