by Isobel Bird
“I didn’t know,” Annie said. “I’m sorry if I came where I shouldn’t have.”
“No matter,” Hecate answered. “You are welcome here as my guest. But tell me, what is it you wish to know?”
“To know?” Annie repeated. “I don’t understand.”
“You are looking for something,” Hecate said, her eyes staring into Annie’s. “What is it?”
Annie thought for a minute. “I guess I’d like to know why my aunt is making us move,” she said.
Hecate’s face changed from young to old. “I do not know about that,” she said. “It is of no interest to me.”
She turned and began to walk away again, back into the forest. Annie called after her.
“Wait,” she said, confused. “Is that all you have to say?”
Hecate turned around, the mother’s face looking out for a moment before becoming that of a girl. “I have a warning,” she said. “The cards contain more power than you know. Do not use them for foolish reasons.”
She turned away again, and this time she didn’t come back when Annie called her. When Hecate had slipped once more into the forest, Annie looked up at the moon. It seemed more distant and colder than before. The wind felt chill against her skin, and she shivered as the crying of the dog came again. This time it sounded sad.
Annie opened her eyes and looked at the Tarot card sitting in front of her. It felt so real, she thought to herself as she looked at the picture of the moon and rubbed her arms to warm herself. Even her feet felt cold, as if she really had been standing on the faraway beach.
But why had Hecate appeared to her? And who was she exactly? Annie knew she must be some kind of goddess, but she had never heard of her before. She stood up and went to one of her bookcases, pulling a thick book from the volumes stacked in piles on the shelves. It was a book about the different gods and goddesses, and she looked up Hecate in the index and turned to the page containing information about her.
“Hecate is a Greek goddess of the moon, the Underworld, and of magic,” she read. “She is a triple goddess, appearing sometimes as a maiden, sometimes as a mother, and sometimes as a crone. In this way she personifies the moon, which begins as a new sliver, grows to fullness, and wanes until it becomes dark. She also is the goddess of the crossroads, the place where travelers find themselves faced with a choice of three roads on which to continue their journeys. In ancient times her followers would make offerings of food to her on the nights of the full moon in order to gain her help in making difficult decisions.”
“So that’s who you are,” Annie said out loud. “And that’s why you asked me what it is I was looking for.”
She put the book back and returned to her altar. She knew that sometimes the Goddess appeared in one of her many forms to people in meditations or dreams. Cooper had seen the goddess Pele in a dream, and had been given an important message by her. Kate had once been reminded of the goddess Gaia while looking at a stained-glass window in a church.
And now the goddess Hecate had appeared in Annie’s meditation. But why? And why had she made that comment about the Tarot cards? She’d said that it was a warning. But a warning about what? Annie didn’t feel as if she’d misused the Tarot cards at all. She’d done some readings for people, that was all. But Hecate had acted as if something was wrong. As if Annie had done something wrong.
She decided that she would ask Archer about it at the next class. Surely it could wait until then. Right now she needed to get some sleep. Blowing out the candle, she got into bed. As she looked out the window, trying to settle her thoughts, she realized that the moon was full. How had she not noticed that before? She’d been trying to keep track of the moon’s cycles, but somehow she’d forgotten about it recently.
No wonder Hecate showed up tonight, Annie thought. This is her big night.
Lying in bed, she watched the moon for a while, thinking about what was happening in her life. School was almost over. She should be thinking about all the fun she was going to have with Kate and Cooper over the summer. But instead all she could think about was how angry she was that her aunt was planning on uprooting them.
She didn’t know what to think. It was as if all of her worst fears were filling her head, trying to get her to pay attention to them. She thought about the dog howling at the moon, and about the strange crablike creature crawling out of the lake. That’s what her fears felt like, strange things that barked and snapped at her, trying to get her to notice them.
The moon looked in her window, its round pale face expressionless. It reminded her of Hecate—cold and distant. Normally she found the moon comforting. But tonight it made her feel small and alone. And she’d always thought of the Goddess as being warm and loving. Hecate didn’t seem like that at all. Was it because she didn’t like Annie? Maybe it’s because of what happened with Elizabeth Sanger, she thought suddenly, thinking of the murdered girl whose death had resulted in Annie being kidnapped and held captive. Her aunt had been very upset about that, and understandably so. Maybe she was blaming what happened on Annie’s involvement with her friends and with Wicca. But her aunt had always seemed to be okay with that. Had she just been pretending? Was she really bothered by it, and planning on taking Annie away so that she couldn’t participate in the class, or in rituals with the Coven of the Green Wood anymore?
She didn’t know, but she wasn’t anxious to see that particular goddess again any time soon. She pulled the covers up, closed her eyes, and tried not to think about Hecate’s ever-changing face as she fell asleep.
She woke up stiff and tired. She’d had bad dreams all night, although now she couldn’t remember any of them. She looked at the clock on her bedside table and saw that she was also going to be late for school. Groaning, she got out of bed and got ready as quickly as she could.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” her aunt said when she finally stumbled downstairs. “Want some breakfast?”
“No time,” Annie said as she rushed around, trying to find everything she needed. “I’ve got to go.”
“Don’t forget, I’m leaving tomorrow for San Francisco,” her aunt said. “Ask Kate and Cooper if they’d like to come over. I’d feel better if you had some friends here.”
“Sure,” Annie said distractedly as she fished her sneakers out from underneath the table. “I’ll ask them. Bye.”
She had to practically run to school in order to make it in time, and when she reached her locker she was panting. Still, she couldn’t help but notice that a couple of people gave her strange looks as she walked down the hall.
“There you are.” Loren Nichols came over to Annie as if she’d been looking all over for her.
“I’m late,” Annie said, opening her locker and throwing her stuff inside. “Can this wait?”
“It’s about Cheryl Batty,” Loren said. “One of my friends you did the reading for yesterday. Remember, you told her she should be careful or she might have an accident?”
“Oh, yeah,” Annie said, thinking of the girl who had seemed so determined not to believe anything Annie was telling her.
“Well, she did,” Loren said.
“Did what?” Annie asked as she found what she needed and closed her locker.
“Had an accident,” Loren said. “Yesterday afternoon. After school she went mountain biking with some friends. She was going down a trail and hit a rock. She flew off her bike.”
“Is she okay?” asked Annie.
“She broke her wrist,” Loren said. “Just like you said she would.”
“I didn’t say she would break her wrist,” Annie said. “I just said she should be careful.”
“It’s the same thing,” Loren said. “The point is, you were right.”
Annie realized that Loren was looking at her the same way she might look at something she’d never seen before, with a mix of wonder and a little bit of fear.
“It was just a card reading,” she said, suddenly feeling uneasy.
“You told the future,” Loren said. �
�You saw something that was going to happen. That’s amazing.”
Annie felt herself turning red. “It really isn’t all that amazing,” she said, but Loren wasn’t listening.
“I just know I’m going to hear from the modeling agency any day now,” she said. “I can’t tell you how much you’ve helped me.”
Annie started to protest, but she knew it wouldn’t do any good. Because something she’d predicted had come true, Loren thought she had some kind of special powers. It wouldn’t do any good to tell her that anyone could do the same thing—that it was the cards.
But could anyone really do what you did? she wondered. Maybe it was a gift. After all, Cooper and Kate weren’t having the same kind of success using the Tarot cards. Maybe there was something special about her after all. Maybe reading the cards was one of her gifts, the same way Cooper had been able to communicate with the ghost of Elizabeth Sanger. Maybe this was one of the things that made Annie different from everyone else.
“I’m sorry Cheryl got hurt, though,” she said.
“She should have listened to you,” Loren said. “You warned her.”
“Well,” Annie said. “I guess I did, didn’t I?”
“Some of us are getting together for pizza tomorrow night,” Loren said. “We’d love to talk to you some more. How would you like to come with us?”
Annie looked at her, wondering if this was some kind of a joke. Loren Nichols was asking her to go out with her and her friends? She had to be kidding. No one like Loren had ever asked Annie to hang out with her. She’d always thought that she didn’t care about not being asked, but now that Loren had extended the invitation, she found that she was strangely thrilled.
“Sure,” she said. “I’d like that.” Then she remembered something. “Oh, I can’t,” she said. “My aunt is going out of town and I have to stay with my little sister.” Not only is Aunt Sarah planning on ruining my life, Annie thought, now she’s ruining my one chance at seeing what it’s like to be popular for a change.
Loren frowned. “Bummer,” she said. “The girls wanted to talk to you some more. Well, maybe some other time.”
“Wait a minute,” Annie said, suddenly seized with an idea. “Why don’t you guys come over to my house? We can have pizza there.”
Loren smiled. “Good plan,” she said. “I’ll ask everyone and let you know later today, okay?”
Annie smiled. “That would be great,” she said. “And now I’ve got to get to chem. See you.”
She waved good-bye to Loren and began walking to class. She felt a lot better now than she had earlier that morning. One of her predictions had come true. Actually, two of them had come true if she counted the one about Sherrie’s trip to Paris. That made her feel good. And now Loren was treating her like one of her friends, which made her feel even better.
But why did she care about that so much? She had two great friends already, friends who liked her because of who she was, not because of what she could do. Why was it so important to her that Loren and the other girls were impressed by her Tarot card reading abilities? She’d never cared what they thought about her before.
Or had she? She’d always told herself that being popular wasn’t important, that it was shallow and stupid. She’d always felt a little bit better than the kids who hung around in cliques, like somehow she was above it all. But now that those same people were asking her to join them, even if it was just for pizza, she found she kind of liked the idea. It felt good to be noticed, and not just because she was the brain of the class who got an A on every chemistry exam. Finally the people who dictated who was cool and who wasn’t were recognizing that her intelligence—her gift—was just as important as what they had. In a way, she thought, she was changing how they saw people like herself.
She didn’t mention anything about Loren or the pizza party to Kate and Cooper. She still wasn’t sure how she was going to explain it to them. She could already see the expression on Cooper’s face when she found out, and she wanted to avoid that for as long as possible. Even if she only felt popular for one day, she wanted to enjoy it.
At lunch, however, it was impossible to hide the number of girls who waved to her or said hello on their way by the table where she sat with her friends. Annie tried to be discreet about waving back, but when she caught Cooper looking at her with the expression she’d been dreading, she knew she’d been found out.
“I can explain everything,” she said defensively when Kate went to get another drink and she and Cooper were alone.
“Start talking,” Cooper said. “I’m listening, and I can’t wait to hear this one.”
“Something I told one of Loren’s friends came true,” Annie said. “That’s all.”
“So now you’re the poster girl for fortune-tellers everywhere?” Cooper said.
“Hey,” said Annie. “Don’t blame me for this. You’re the one who came up with Miss Fortune in the first place.”
“Fair enough,” Cooper admitted. “But fraternizing with the spritz-heads? I don’t know about that.”
“They’re not that bad,” Annie said carefully. “I really think they just don’t know any better. Loren is pretty nice, actually. Once you get to know her.”
“Once you get to know her?” said Cooper. “What’s to know? She likes long walks on the beach, holding hands, and Ricky Martin. She hates people who smoke and rainy days. End of story.”
“Just because you’re completely antisocial—” Annie retorted, but stopped when Kate returned to the table and sat down.
“What?” Kate said, noticing the looks Annie and Cooper were giving each other.
“Nothing,” Cooper said. “We were just debating the relative merits of Capris versus plain old highwaters.”
“That depends on the shoes,” Kate commented, making Cooper groan.
“Hey, Annie.”
Loren Nichols was standing beside their table. She nodded at Cooper and Kate.
“Everyone is on for tomorrow night,” Loren said. “We’ll pick up the pizzas on the way over.”
“Great,” Annie said, trying to sound enthusiastic for Loren but noticing the bewildered look on Kate’s face. “Is seven o’clock good?”
“Perfect,” Loren said. “I’ll tell the girls.”
“She’ll tell the girls what?” Kate said when Loren had gone away again. “And what girls?”
Annie looked at her half-eaten sandwich. “Actually,” she said, trying to sound upbeat. “It’s a funny story.”
CHAPTER 6
“Who are all these people?” Meg asked, looking into the kitchen at the parade of girls going in and out.
“Those are your sister’s new friends,” Cooper said. “Be very careful around them, or pretty soon you’ll be wanting to date boys and wear too much makeup.”
“Ick,” Meg said, making a face. “Annie, are you going to date boys now?”
“No—I mean, of course,” Annie said distractedly. “Stop giving her ideas,” she added to Cooper.
“I can’t help it if you’re exposing her to an environment I don’t think is healthy for her,” Cooper responded, pretending to be serious. “If it were up to me the child would be at a Mighty Mighty Bosstones show right now.”
“This is almost as bad,” Kate commented. “Who are all these people?”
“I’m not really sure,” Annie admitted. “Loren said she was just bringing a couple of friends.”
“Well, this looks like the entire senior class,” Kate remarked.
Just then Loren came walking through carrying several pizzas.
“Annie,” she said. “Hi. These are my friends Kim and Deb. I told them all about you.”
“Hey,” Kim and Deb said in unison.
“Oh, good Goddess,” Cooper whispered to Annie. “Twin spritz-heads. I hear they’re very rare. Just like giant pandas, only with more eyeliner.”
Annie ignored her, smiling at the newcomers. “You can put the pizzas in the kitchen,” she said. “There are already a coup
le of them in there.”
“I’m getting out of here,” Cooper said when Loren and her friends were gone. “I can’t take this much ditziness in one place.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Annie said. “You promised you’d stay and help. Both of you. Now, get in that kitchen.”
“I still can’t believe this is happening,” Kate said. “I know you explained it to me, but it still feels like the Twilight Zone.”
“It’s just for one night,” Annie said. “I know you’ve experienced it all before, but some of us haven’t. Just try to have a good time.”
“But you, of all people,” Kate said plaintively. “I thought you were the last great hope. The lone holdout against the tyranny of high school popularity.”
“What about me?” Cooper said defensively.
“Annie had a choice about not being popular,” Kate replied. “It doesn’t count if you never had a chance in the first place.”
“Can I be popular?” Meg asked hopefully.
“Not if you’re lucky, sweetie,” Kate said. “How about we go upstairs and you can read me a story? What are you reading now?”
“The Phantom Tollbooth,” Meg said.
“One of my favorites,” Cooper said. “I think I should be the one to hear it.”
“I called it first,” Kate said. “And I’ve never heard it. You can stay here and help Annie with her lovely party.”
“You’re both staying,” Annie said. “I told Meg she could hang out with us for a while anyway.”
Cooper and Kate looked sulky. “I think she’s way too permissive,” Cooper remarked to Kate.
The doorbell rang, and Annie went to answer it. When she opened the door she was surprised to see Sherrie standing there with Tara and Jessica, the other two Graces.
“Hi,” Sherrie said. “We heard you were having a party.”
“Oh,” Annie said, looking over her shoulder to see if Kate and Cooper had noticed who she was talking to yet. “Loren didn’t tell me she had invited you.”
“She must have forgotten,” Sherrie said, stepping forward so that Annie had to move aside, and slipping into the house with Jessica and Tara right behind her.