Chase sniffed the air as they entered the cozy house.
“Jasmine,” said Emma. “It will help to calm her. Just hold her and let the herb work its magic.”
The burning incense scented the cottage as Chase sank on an overstuffed couch near the fireplace, Reagan still curled up in his lap. Both Wiley and Griff settled companionably at his feet. Reagan’s sobbing had turned to quiet weeping in the car, and now she was frighteningly still, her eyes open in a vacant stare.
“Mom?” said Chase, his voice filled with worry.
“Just give her time. She is in shock, terrified and confused.”
“Mom, she didn’t grow up here. She doesn’t understand things the way we do. I don’t know if she is going to be okay.”
“Trust me. She is going to be fine.”
The old-fashioned phone on the kitchen wall rang. Emma crossed the room to answer. Chase pulled Reagan closer to him, rocking her gently against him. He heard the murmur of his mom’s voice.
“Yes, she’s here. Chase has her. I’m burning some Jasmine and brewing peppermint tea. We will keep her here as long as she needs to stay… Yes, I can do that. Either Chase or I will purify the house with some sage, and I will bring rosemary. Do you think that’s wise, Willow? I know you have a business to run but going out of town right now might not be a good idea. Yes, we will watch out for Reagan. Okay. Let me know if you need anything, and Willow, please be careful.”
“She’s leaving? Just like that. This happens, and she is going to take off? Don’t you think she has a little responsibility here? Typical Willow, just pretending nothing is wrong,” Chase voiced with disgust. Reagan whimpered in his arms.
“Shhhh. Now is not the time. Lower your voice,” Emma warned. She crouched down in front of the couch holding a cup of fragrant peppermint tea.
“Reagan? Reagan, honey, I want you to sit up and try to drink this. I promise it will make you feel better.” Emma placed a hand gently on Reagan’s arm, offering the tea with the other hand. Reagan moved deeper into Chase’s chest. “Reagan, I understand you are scared and confused, but I really want you to drink this.” Emma looked at Chase. “You try. See if you can get her to have a sip.”
She set the cup and saucer down on the old chest in front of the couch. Then she carefully backed away. Griff stood up and placed a paw on Reagan’s hip. He nudged her with his long pencil-shaped nose. Chase placed his hand under Reagan’s chin and carefully lifted her face until he could look into her unseeing eyes.
“Reagan, honey, please.” He reached down and softly kissed her forehead. “For me, sweetheart? Please come back to me.” Wiley whined from the floor. Emma smiled, knowing the magic that the dogs and her son could work. Reagan would respond to the love and caring that was surrounding her. Griff started to wag his tail. He licked Reagan’s arm. Wiley stood up, whimpered and licked her, too. Both dogs sensed a changed was coming. Following their lead, Chase tried again.
“Reagan, the tea is ready. How ‘bout you drink a couple of sips? Come on, sit up a little.” Chase shifted her into a sitting position, still keeping her snuggled up against his side. He looked carefully in her face. Her eyes were beginning to lose the lost stare. She closed them and sighed. He felt her trembling against him. As if on cue, his mom brought another blanket and tucked it around Reagan.
“Thank you,” Reagan whispered. “Thank you.” A large tear rolled silently down her cheek. Chase reached up with his thumb and gently swiped it away. He lifted the cup to her lips, and she took a tentative sip. The warm peppermint tea flooded her with instant comfort. She took another restorative drink. Emma and Chase looked at each other. Reagan was going to be fine. Now comes the hard part, Chase thought, somehow we have to explain this to her. Across the room, Emma nodded, agreeing with Chase’s unvoiced concern.
* * *
“I don’t understand any of it. Nothing makes sense to me,” Reagan said, quietly. “Ever since I came here I feel like I’ve been losing my mind.”
“You’re not losing your mind,” Chase said, firmly.
“Okay, I hear what you’re saying, but I think you are just trying to be nice and protective. You just want me to feel better,” protested Reagan.
“Chase wants you to feel better, but that’s not why he’s saying it. He’s saying it because there is nothing wrong with your mind, other than that it is trying to protect you from yourself. Your mind doesn’t want you to deal with things that are hard for you to understand, so it wants to shut down. You aren’t like that. You like to deal with things head on, so that’s what we are going to do. Are you ready to do that?” asked Emma.
“I think so, but could I please have another cup of tea?”
By the time Emma came back with the second cup of tea, Reagan was settled back on the couch. Chase clasped her left hand loosely.
“I brought some ginger cookies, too. They will help settle your stomach.” Reagan looked up startled.
“How did you know my stomach was upset?”
“Well, it doesn’t take a mind reader to realize a person’s stomach would be upset after having a scare and crying for a good hour. That’s enough to send anyone’s system into spasms, but it is time to be honest with each other. The thing is, Reagan, you have to be willing to accept what we say. Are you ready to try to do that?” Emma’s eyes searched Reagan’s. Reagan nodded hesitantly.
“Okay,” said Emma, “First of all, I have a gift. Actually, Chase has it, too, but his isn’t developed yet. We have the ability to perceive things. It doesn’t work all the time, but often we recognize when something is going to happen, a premonition of things to come. More often, we are just really in tune with other people’s thoughts and feelings. It’s an uncomfortable gift, because we find out things we don’t always want to know.”
“You know how you said everyone wondered why I didn’t date?” asked Chase. Reagan nodded. “Well, it’s because I knew what people were thinking. The girls who liked me? I knew what was in their hearts, and I wasn’t exactly happy with the kind of people they were. Olivia, she’s nice, but her heart is set on someone else. Darcy, well that’s a whole other story.” Reagan smiled at that, then looked up at Chase.
“But you went out with me.”
“Yep, you are a kind and strong person. I like that. You don’t have mean thoughts.”
“But I do. I think everyone in this town is nuts… or at least I did. I was a horrible, judgmental person.”
“Not at all. You didn’t understand why people thought the way they did, but you weren’t mean about it. You stood up for yourself. You weren’t a victim, but you were never intentionally cruel to anyone.” Reagan blushed when she thought of how she acted that day to Cora Rose when she accused Cora of moving her brush and other things.
In unison, Chase and Emma said, “Well, no one’s perfect.” That broke the tension and even Reagan laughed a little.
“So, you know everything that has happened to me? Why didn’t you say something before?”
“It’s not like watching TV. We don’t see everything in your life. Usually, it’s like picking up on an emotion, or a feeling. Chase felt you were scared the other night, so he called you. It ended up you were having a bad dream, but he doesn’t know what the dream was about. He just knows you were terrified. He knew to go to the cliff today because you were really frightened, and he knew you were hurt. Now that you are more comfortable, I would like to clean you up a bit. The seagulls did a number on you, didn’t they?”
Reagan looked down at her arms where the birds had ripped her flesh with their beaks. Her heart twisted with fear. She didn’t think she could ever walk near the ocean again. Emma got a warm cloth soaked in an herbal tincture and cleaned Reagan’s face and arms. She parted Reagan’s long hair and dabbed where the birds had attacked her scalp. Once she was done cleaning, she spread some sweet-smelling ointment on the wounds and bandaged her arms loosely with some soft cotton gauze.
While his mother worked on Reagan, Chase built a smal
l fire in the cottage fireplace. Despite the fact that it was summer, Chase thought a fire would help make Reagan relax and feel comfortable. She smiled at him appreciatively.
Reagan took a deep breath and snuggled back against Chase. The fire crackled merrily, and the dogs slept curled around each other on the hearth. Emma sat in her rocking chair, her knitting in her hands, a cup of tea by her side. Reagan and Chase nibbled on ginger cookies while Reagan told her story. She talked of the brush and how it was moved every night. She mentioned the slippers and the rocking chair moving. All of these things she felt she could explain. She mentioned that Willow thought she might be sleep walking. Emma and Chase listened thoughtfully, nodding occasionally and even smiling sometimes in encouragement.
“But those things were just annoying. The dreams were scary, but they were just dreams, but the wolves…” Emma looked up sharply from her knitting.
“The wolves?”
“I saw the wolves under the table. They came after me, snarling and snapping. They tried to get me.”
“When did this happen?” asked Emma.
“Yesterday.”
“Was this after you let the cat out?” asked Emma.
“Yeah, but what is the big deal about the damn cat?” shouted Reagan, her voice rising, taking on a hysterical tone.
“Shh, honey, it’s okay,” soothed Chase. Reagan shrugged his arm off of her impatiently. She was getting angry. Chase smiled.
“Why are you smiling? What the hell is wrong with everybody? AND WHAT ABOUT THE F’ING CAT?”
“I’m smiling because you’ve got your fight back, and that’s good,” said Chase as he reached for her again. She allowed herself to be drawn back to the sofa.
“I am going to explain to you about the damn cat,” said Emma, “but you have to allow yourself to believe. Can you do that?” Reagan nodded, slightly, still not sure if she wanted to hear what Emma was about to say.
Emma got up and moved over to the bookcase. She reached up, standing on her tiptoes to reach the top shelf, and she brought down a small ancient looking volume. Reagan was startled when she recognized it. It was Adelaide’s diary.
“No, honey, not Adelaide’s but Ariana’s. You know who that is, right?” Reagan nodded. “You know they were sisters?”
“Yes, but that’s really all I know. I started reading Adelaide’s journal, but she just kept gushing about this guy with the initial, S.” Reagan didn’t miss the glance between Chase and Emma.
“The man Adelaide was in love with was a sailor named Seth McCabe.” Emma paused, watching Reagan carefully. She saw the moment of understanding in Reagan’s eyes.
“Seth? As in my Seth? The Seth that gave me the starfish? And you knew this, but you let me go on about him? You didn’t tell me he was… I don’t know… not real? What the hell?”
Reagan missed the pain in Chase’s eyes when Reagan called him her Seth. Emma looked at her son and smiled, reassuring him not to fret. He relaxed and stroked Reagan’s hair soothing her, careful not to touch where the gulls had attacked.
“Yes, the same. Chase didn’t tell you because you weren’t ready to hear. You weren’t ready to believe. Here. Listen to this.” Emma carefully opened the old journal and turned the pages, skimming the contents.
“Here it is…” She began reading, “Adelaide came running up to the porch today. Her hair had slipped its pins and her cheeks were glowing. The sparkle in her eyes nauseates me. I hate her giddy silliness. She is such a child, but she wants to be grown up. She has no idea what it is to be a woman. I tried to ignore her, but she was all excited about some gift. Then she showed me a delicate metal starfish on a knotted cord. It is intriguing, yet for some reason it repulses me. I hate it. She gushed on about how Seth had made it for her. He said it would protect her and remind her of him when he is out to sea. What she doesn’t realize is he will only be thinking of me on his next voyage. That silly little twit of a sister has no idea what a man wants or needs. I do, and I will make sure he knows I am the one he misses.”
Reagan’s eyes flashed with disgust. “Ariana was a horrible person. She knew Adelaide loved Seth. Why would she write such horrible things?”
“It gets a lot worse. She didn’t just write horrible things, but she did horrible things. She visited a woman who lived on the edge of the bog.
“The Widow Hobbs?”
“Exactly. The Widow Hobbs was an herbalist, some would call her a witch. She wasn’t a bad person, but she made her living by providing potions and tinctures for the people of the area. Her husband had died, leaving her penniless. She had a child to raise and the only money she could make was by providing her herbal remedies. Some people wanted potions for clearing their skin, or settling their stomach, just like the ginger cookies and the peppermint tea you are drinking. The Widow Hobbs cared for the people who came to her.
Other people had darker needs, an unwanted pregnancy that needed terminated, some rats that needed poisoned. She took care of those needs, too. She even made potions that would guarantee that the person who drank it would fall in love with the person who served it. Ariana came to the widow seeking an attraction potion. She was determined to win Seth. Coupled with the fact she had no problem offering her body as a guarantee Seth would fall for her, Ariana couldn’t fail in her plan. At least that is what she thought.
“In the meantime, Seth proposed to Adelaide. After a lot of discussion, Adelaide’s father agreed to the marriage. Adelaide was so happy, but Ariana was plotting. She was not going to let this thing happen.
“One night, under the cover of darkness, she led Seth to believe she was Adelaide. Apparently, she had managed to slip the attraction potion in his drink, so he was confused. Ariana took advantage of him. Once he realized what he had done, he cursed her for all time. She just laughed, certain she would get what she wanted. As the wedding day approached, Ariana grew more and more confident and smug. Seth would be hers. Seth was torn up with the guilt of what he had done, but he convinced himself that it was a mistake. It was only once, and it would never happen again. He loved Adelaide, and that’s all that mattered. Emma sighed. Griff looked up at his mistress and whimpered.
“On the morning of the wedding day, Ariana gleefully told Seth that she was pregnant, and that he was the father. Devastated and angry, he denied that it could be his, and he said that he would never love her or her demon child. Furious, Ariana threatened to tell Adelaide. He laughed at her and left her. He went to find Adelaide, eager to take his vows with her.
“Adelaide’s mother stopped Seth from entering the house, reminding him that a groom must never see the bride before the ceremony on their wedding day. Ariana entered the back of the house and went to meet her sister. Playing the part of the perfect maid of honor, Ariana told Adelaide that Seth wanted to see her. He had a gift for her, and he wanted her to have it before the wedding. He was waiting for her on the cliff by the ocean. Ariana gushed about how romantic it was for her to secretly meet him there before they got married.
“Adelaide rushed to meet her groom. The next thing that anyone knew, they found her body crushed on the rocks below. There was speculation that Seth confessed to her and that she killed herself jumping off the cliff. Later, when Ariana’s pregnancy began to show, there was whispering that she had shoved her sister off the cliff. Much to Ariana’s surprise, Seth didn’t do the gentlemanly thing. Instead, he boarded a ship and went back out to sea, leaving her to deal with her pregnancy alone. She visited the Widow Hobbs, determined to rid her body of the baby growing inside her, but the Widow Hobbs either refused to help her, or the herbs didn’t work. Ariana gave birth to twin girls, one with golden blonde hair, the other with darker locks, just like her and her dead sister. Ariana wouldn’t care for the blonde baby, so it was taken away from her to be raised by a relative who was nursing. Within days, the dark-haired baby died, and Ariana lost her mind. She went completely insane. She was a wild woman who attacked anyone who came near her.
“The family called
for a doctor from Portland to see if there was anything that could be done. He suggested that she be sent to a sanitarium where they could deal with her. The family refused. Then they tried the Widow Hobbs, but she wouldn’t help. She said Ariana was possessed by evil spirits, maybe even the Devil himself, and she would have nothing to do with it. After that, the family just decided to lock Ariana up on the fourth floor. They hired a husband and wife to help care for her. She lived for years up there, and the family tried to pretend she no longer existed, but it was hard to do because Ariana would scream for hours on end. Then, one day, the screaming stopped, and Ariana was dead.”
Emma looked over at Reagan. The girl’s face was drawn, and her mouth was hanging slightly open. The emotions ranged from anger to disbelief.
“So, you are telling me she now haunts the house, and she is looking for revenge or something?”
“I am telling you that you must have really pissed off that ghost.” Reagan shook her head in denial.
“What have I done? I’m living at Willow’s house and staying in Adelaide’s room. Why is that a problem?”
“It’s not that you are here. It’s that you are young, attractive, and strong enough of a presence to bring Seth back. You found yourself attracted to him, and apparently, him to you.” Reagan blushed and squirmed uncomfortably. Chase gave her a reassuring squeeze.
“Now you are saying Seth isn’t real? That a ghost gave me a necklace? A ghost fought off the birds? A ghost kissed me?” She stopped and looked up at Chase, guilt written all over her face. “Just to make things clear, I didn’t know you then.”
“I know. No worries.” Despite his words, Chase looked uncomfortable, but he squeezed her hand gently.
“Seth has a very strong presence, and it seems he has some unfinished business. Ariana has always been a presence in the house, but she has been quiet for years, in the background. She caused trouble in the past, but not recently. I think you coming here has stirred things up. I’m not sure what is going to happen, but I feel you are in some very real danger.”
The Starfish Talisman Page 14