Witch Ball - BK 3

by Linda Joy Singleton

  "Trust a woman who took her own life, leaving her children alone? I would have given my life for my child, yet even that was denied me. I will not place my trust in someone such as you," she sneered. "Begone!"

  Turbulent seas rose up around my glassedin house, then swept me back to reality. My eyes opened and I gasped, feeling as if I was drowning in black waters. But I was back in the shed-and the witch ball was back in the chest.

  "Opal!" I called out. "What just happened?"

  I honestly do not know.

  "Hortense must be crazy. You tried to help her and she wouldn't even listen. Those things she said about you were horrible."

  Horrible ... but not untrue.

  "You can't mean ... you couldn't!" I stopped, unable to finish.

  Opal had been my closest friend, my companion since I was a little girl. She never spoke of her past, and when I asked she said that watching over me was all that mattered. I didn't care what happened in her past. I just loved having her with me always, my best friend forever.

  What I did while on earth has nothing to do with you, she said softly. The unfortunate details of my earth life are long buried.

  "So how did Hortense find out?"

  That is something I do not know, but I shall look into this situation. I clearly underestimated her, and realize now she is a great danger. I never thought it possible to feel anything but peace here, but for the first time I feel fear for you. Dearest Sabine, be safe until I return.

  Then she was gone and I was alone-with the witch ball.

  How could a bunch of glass look so pretty yet be so dangerous? It was hard to believe it was connected to evil-but I had no doubt of this and made sure the ball was locked securely in the chest before leaving the shed.

  When I stepped outside, the clouds had passed and sunny rays shone down like a golden mist. I heard a squawk and saw Dagger circling overhead as Dominic strode over.

  "What's going on?" Dominic furrowed his brow as he gestured to the building. "Were you in there?"

  I nodded, guessing that Dagger squealed on me.

  "You're shaking. You okay?"

  "Define okay," I said with an attempt at a joke. But he didn't laugh, and gave me a deep look.

  "We better talk," he said.

  "I don't know ... it's all really confusing."

  "No rush. I've got to check the fence line for breaks. Walk with me."

  "Well ... all right." I wasn't sure why I went with him. Somehow it felt disloyal to Josh. All Dominic and I had in common was our desire to help Nona. So what if he had muscular shoulders, wavy hair that smelled fresh like woods, and amazingly gentle blue eyes? He wasn't a bad kisser either ...

  We walked along the edges of the pasture, and the silence stretched longer than the fence line. Without planning to, I found myself telling Dominic about my ghostly encounter in the shed. He never interrupted and I could tell he believed me. It felt good to share the weird part of my life with someone who understood. If only I could be as honest with josh ...

  Conversation shifted to Nona and the missing remedy book. Dominic had a new lead on one of the names we'd gotten from Eleanor Baskets. He'd located a man from Arizona who might be a direct descendent of one of the sisters who had owned the charms.

  "I might extend my trip to Nevada and check this guy out. I've left a message and should hear back in a few days," he added, bending over to tighten a loose strand of barbed wire on the fence.

  A few days. A casual phrase that made my pulse quicken. Would I still be around in a few days?

  I hid my uneasiness and complimented Dominic on finding more information. "It'll be great when we have all four charms," I added, breaking off a long piece of grass and twirling it around my finger. "Thanks for working on this."

  "That's what I was hired to do."

  "But you do it because you care about Nona."

  "Sure, I do." He leaned close and gave me an intense look that hinted he cared about more than just my grandmother. My heart fluttered, and I told myself I was just imagining things. I mean, Dominic couldn't be flirting with me, that would just be too weird.

  "Uh . . . thanks for all you've done to help Nona."

  "I'll stay here long enough to make sure she's well."

  "And then what?" I asked.

  "I'll move on." There was something final in his tone that bothered me. It had never occurred to me that he would want to leave. He'd become such a part of our farm. Just seeing him around, working or hanging with the animals seemed natural; like he belonged here.

  "A farm this size takes a lot of work," I told him. "Nona needs you around and won't want you to move away."

  "I've never stayed anywhere long."

  "Why not?"

  "That's just how things are." He leaned against a fence post, his gaze drifting up to follow the falcon flying into the woods.

  "So where will you go?"

  "Wherever work takes me. I've been taking classes to be a farrier."

  "A what?"

  "Farrier-someone who shoes horses."

  "I hope it works out for you." I twisted the piece of grass into a knot.

  "You, too." He looked deeply into my face. "You don't have to worry about that witch ball. I've got the animals watching and nothing bad will happen."

  He sounded confident, but I had my doubtsabout a lot of things.

  Wednesday dawned with bright skies and calm breezes. Not bad for what might be the second last day of my life, I thought morbidly.

  I decided to have a positive attitude and make today the best ever.

  I wore my best pair of embroidered jeans, a pink shirt Amy had given me for Christmas, and a dangly chain necklace I'd found at a flea market. I brushed my blond hair and fastened one side with a half-moon-shaped clip. Then I hurried downstairs to surprise Nona with a delicious breakfast of blueberry waffles, scrambled eggs, and orange juice.

  Nona was surprised and grateful. Afterwards, she offered to do the dishes and told me to go ahead to school. So I left for school earlier than usual. I didn't really expect josh to be at my locker yet. But I didn't expect to find someone else there waiting for me-Evan. He smiled in this smug, sly way, like a predator spying his victim.

  "Hey, Sabine," he said casually as if we were friends.

  I refused to reply. Lifting my head defiantly, I tried to walk around him to reach my locker. But he moved directly in front of me, one of those blocking moves his football fans admired.

  "Did you like my card with the newspaper article?" he asked with a malicious glint in his eyes.

  "Like isn't the word."

  "You should thank me."

  "Yeah, right," I said, glaring. "Thanks for being an asshole."

  "Such harsh language! Josh would be shocked."

  "You deserve worse. And leave josh out of this."

  "I've had plenty of chances to tell josh about your witchy past."

  "So why didn't you?"

  He shrugged. "Didn't feel like it."

  "And when will you feel like it?"

  "Can't say. Why don't you tell me-you're the psychic."

  "Move!" I dodged around him, but in a flash he was in front of me again.

  "I can make a lot of trouble for you."

  "Like you haven't already?"

  "I haven't even started. You'd be smart to play nice."

  Glaring, I retorted with the opposite of "nice." I mouthed off some fitting words I remembered reading on the bathroom wall.

  "Is that the worst you can do?" he sneered.

  "Give me time," I said with dark threat.

  "Time is up." He gave a nasty laugh. "You need to be taught a lesson, so I've just decided that tonight I'm going to tell Josh. Everything." He leaned so close I could taste his hot breath. "And then I'll announce it to the whole school."

  He laughed and turned away. As he strode off, I had vivid flash of him in a previous life. He was wearing a metal helmet, armed with sharp weapons, and riding on a ship in foggy waters, on a quest to pillage
villages and torture innocent people. Hundreds of years hadn't improved his personality. And not-so-lucky-me was his latest victim. Only now his sharpest weapon was his mouth.

  I hated how he played me. All that time he hung out with josh, knowing I'd imagine the worst. He hoped I'd squirm and bleed like a worm stabbed on a hook. He was clever, I'll give him credit for that. By saying nothing to josh, he'd prolonged my anxiety. He probably let his boat drift away on purpose. I'll bet Evan had the ignition keys on him the whole time. He'd been toying with me, but now he meant business, and he would tell josh tonight.

  Unless I beat him to it.

  During lunch, josh wanted to sit with Evan and some other friends. I'd rather sit with Penny-Love and the cheerleaders. We compromised and sat at a table between the two groups, far enough to shut Evan out of our conversation, but too close to discuss anything private. I caught Evan smirking at me, and shot him a defiant glare.

  So I invited josh to come to my house after school and stay for dinner. I'd always tried to keep my school and home separate, so this was the first time I'd ever invited him and he eagerly accepted.

  Take that, Evan! I thought in triumph.

  I called Nona to let her know about dinner. She was a thousand percent behind me and even offered to spend the evening with her poker pal Grady so josh and I could be alone.

  When I walked into my last-period class, Manny rushed over excitedly. "Guess what?" he asked, his dark eyes shining. "I saw him. "

  "Him?" I blinked.

  K.C.!

  "No way! Are you serious?"

  Manny's black dreads swayed as he nodded. "He must have slipped into my class when I wasn't looking. When the bell rang, I stood to grab my stuff and there he was! Sitting in the back behind this hulking dude from the wrestling team."

  "How could you be sure he was K.C.?"

  "Because he looked so ... so ordinary-average height, average face, average hair. I can't even describe him. I still don't remember him from the festival, but he seemed to recognize me. When he caught me looking, he took off. I went after him, only he was too fast. I remembered his schedule and checked his next class before I came here, but no K.C."

  "Why is he so scared?" I wondered. "His aunt acted afraid, too."

  "Don't know, but I'm going to find out," Manny said with determination.

  I trusted Manny and knew he'd succeed. I just hoped it happened before tomorrow.

  Manny went over to his desk and I sat down at my usual computer. This week's Sheridan ShoutOut had just come out and already I was swamped with articles to edit for next week's issue. There was my other secret work, too-the predictions I gave Manny for his column. Of course, the last thing I felt like doing now was coming up with predictions.

  After editing a few articles, I opened up a notebook and started planning my menu for tonightand my talk with josh. It would be best to present things in a scientific manner. I'd go online and print out lots of psychic facts-not the skeptical stuff, but the factual research. There are many paranormal research foundations, and countries like Russia have long respected psychics. When you considered all the unexplained things in this world, it made more sense to accept the existence of the other side. I could even show josh statistics that proved aliens were real ... but I didn't want to push my luck.

  When the last bell rang, I gathered my papers and shoved them into my backpack. Then I joined the throng of kids heading for the door. Josh and I had agreed to meet by my locker, and I wanted to get there first.

  "Sabine," Manny called, coming up beside me. "Did you finish proofing that article on music downloads?"

  "Not yet." I slipped my backpack over my shoulders as we moved into the hall and kids swarmed around us. "I'll do it tomorrow."

  "Good enough. Talk to you-" He gasped and pointed. "IT'S HIM!"

  I followed his gaze and saw a medium-height kid with brown hair, wearing jeans and a tan Tshirt. A totally average-looking guy.

  "K.C.!" I shouted.

  He turned and met my gaze with a stark look of terror. Then he spun around and ran away.

  Manny took off running, and I was running, too. We pushed through a group of girls in band uniforms, then turned a corner. I kept thinking of Manny's predictions and how K.C. was my last chance at proving one of them wrong. It was a wild hope with no basis of logic. But logic didn't have much to do with ghosts anyway. If K.C.'s prediction didn't come true, it would mean the witch ball wasn't that powerful.

  We seemed to be heading for the school parking lot, and Manny burst forward with amazing speed. I couldn't keep up, but I was able to keep him in sight.

  "He's getting into that gray Chevy!" Manny yelled to me.

  "He'll get away!"

  "Not if we hurry. Go to my car!"

  Everything happened so fast. Car doors flung open, we scrambled inside, grabbing for seat belts and buckling in tight. The engine roared to life, wheels squealed, and we zoomed out of the parking lot.

  Manny floored it in pursuit. My elbow banged against the door as the gray car made a sharp right. We sped forward, zipping through a yellow light to keep up. The other car changed lanes and disappeared behind a truck.

  "Get out of the way!" Manny swore at the truck.

  As if the driver could hear him, the truck turned into a grocery store parking lot. But there was no sign of the gray car.

  "Where did he-" Manny started to say.

  "There!" I pointed at a gray blur making a left turn. "He's trying to lose you."

  "Almost did, too. Great navigating, Beany."

  "Thanks! But don't call me ... Hey, I think he's headed to the freeway."

  "I hope not," Manny said with a worried frown. "My car shakes at 65, so it would be hard to keep up. Besides I can't afford to get another speeding ticket."

  "Another ticket?" I teased.

  "Don't ask." He groaned.

  "Look!" I suddenly cried out, swiveling to gesture out the window. "He passed the onramp and he's making a U-turn!"

  "I'm on it. Hold tight!" Manny spun the wheel, and only our seatbelts kept us from slamming into each other.

  "What's with him anyway?" I complained as I rubbed my sore arm. "Why is he so desperate to get away?"

  But Manny was too busy dodging traffic to answer. The gray car snaked in and out of lanes and Manny kept close behind. He clenched his teeth, sweat beading on his forehead and a determined gleam in his dark eyes. He made a sharp turn into a residential neighborhood.

  "I know this area," I said. "Danielle lives around here. I think this street dead ends at a park."

  "Good. That guy is driving like a maniac!"

  "He's afraid," I said with a sudden insight. I couldn't see K.C., but for a moment I felt him and had a jumble of mental images: a graveyard, jail bars, a rolled sleeping bag, and the letter "W."

  "We've got him!" Manny exclaimed, pumping his free arm in the air. "He's gonna have to stop for that school bus up ahead and there are no side streets. Unless he can fly, he's trapped with no way out."

  I let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding, glad this crazy chase was coming to an end. A block away I saw flashing red lights on a bulky, yellow bus. I used to ride a bus like that when I lived in San Jose-back when Mom worked a day job. But when the twins started modeling, Mom quit to manage their careers. My sisters never had to ride a crowded bus; Mom was their chauffeur.

  "What's that idiot doing?"

  I glanced over at Manny who was staring ahead in jaw-dropping disbelief. I followed his gaze and felt my own jaw drop. The gray car wasn't slowing down! It barreled forward, ignoring the bus's flashing lights and zooming directly for the bus driver as she escorted three little kids across the street.

  The bus driver started running, grabbing and pushing the kids to the sidewalk. At the same time K.C. must have realized the danger because there was a screech of brakes. The car skidded and swerved, burning tread as it spun around in a dizzy circle.

  Everything happened so fast.

  The kids
and bus driver were safely on the sidewalk while the gray car faced the opposite direction. I glimpsed pale fear on K.C.'s face as he shifted the car back into gear, hit the gas, then rocketed past us.

  Manny groaned and smacked the steering wheel. "Damn! We almost had him!"

  "At least no one was hurt," I pointed out, watching the bus crank back up, fold its doors, then rumble off in a smoky stench of diesel.

  "I blew it." Manny checked his mirrors and followed the speed limit.

  "It wasn't your fault. Maybe we can still catch him."

  "How?"

  "Three guesses where he's headed?"

  "I'll need more than three." Manny looked at me, slowly realization dawned. "Oh-the apartment."

  I nodded. "It's worth a try."

  So we headed back to the apartment building, scanning the parking lot as we drove in. There were two gray cars, but neither of them looked quite right. "I think his gray car had a broken tail light," I said, wishing I'd been paying closer attention.

  "The license plate started with WYW," Manny said.

  Even though we couldn't find K.C.'s car, we decided to check his apartment. This time we both went to the door, and my heart dropped when the aunt answered our knock. She wasn't happy to see me either and snapped, "He's still not here!"

  "I wish she wouldn't slam the door so hard," I said as we turned away. "My ears are ringing. Now what?"

  For the first time in my short history with Manny, he didn't have an answer. I didn't have one either. So we walked back, our footsteps heavy. We had almost reached the stairs when I heard running feet.

  "Wait!" a young voice called.

  Turning, I saw a little girl with long, brown hair and bright yellow sneakers. "How come you're looking for my brother?" she asked, breathing heavy.

  Excitement rose in Manny's face. He went over and knelt down by the little girl. "Brother? Do you mean K.C.?"

  She nodded solemnly.

  "Zoey," I guessed, offering a friendly smile. "I'm Sabine and he's Manny."

  She nodded again, giving me a shy smile. "I heard you tell Aunt Felicia you go to school with K.C."

  "He's in my class," Manny said. "But he's hard to find sometimes. Can you tell us where he is?"