Reagan ran upstairs to get her shoes. She looked carefully at the crate. The bottom tray was pulled part way out, and Sammy’s stuffed squeaky duck lay outside the cage. Maybe he did sneak out last night. She laced up her shoes and called for him. She didn’t hear the low chuckle that echoed down the stairs from the fourth floor.
As she entered the kitchen, she came upon Willow coming up from the first-floor basement.
“Any sign of him?” asked Reagan, anxiously.
“Nothing,” said Willow.
“Well, there’s a sign in here,” grumbled Cora Rose. Willow and Reagan followed Cora Rose’s voice into the library. There, on the hardwood floor was a small puddle of puppy pee. “You’d better find him soon, or there is going to be a lot more of these places for you to clean up.” Cora Rose raised her eyebrow at Reagan.
“I’m sorry,” Reagan mumbled as she went into the kitchen to get a rag and the spray bottle of white vinegar they had readied for such incidents.
“You clean that while we keep on looking.”
Reagan wiped up the urine and sprayed the spot with the vinegar. Her cell phone rang just as she was finishing.
“Hey Reagan, what’s wrong?” asked Chase, worry filling his voice. Reagan still wasn’t used to the fact that he knew when she needed him.
“Sammy is gone. His crate was empty this morning. The tray is pulled slightly out. I think he escaped. We found some pee in the library. Cora Rose is not happy.”
“I expect not. Have you checked the whole house?”
“Willow is looking in the house. I’m heading outside just in case he somehow got out.”
“Where’s Wiley?”
“You know, I have no idea. He’s not around either.”
“Well, you might find the two of them together. Keep looking. I’m going to head over to help you. I don’t have to go to work today, so I have the time.”
“You have to stop doing that,” said Reagan.
“Doing what?” said Chase, innocently.
“You know what… anticipating what I am going to say.”
“Get used to it. Besides, it saves time. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
Reagan put the cleaning supplies away and went outside calling for Sammy and Wiley. She checked under the porch then headed out to the orchard.
“Sammy… Sammy… Wiley. Here boy!” Reagan called repeatedly. There was no sign of them in the orchard. She wandered over to the barn, but the doors were shut tightly.
Crossing the meadow, she kept calling, but there was nothing. She found herself on the path to the cliff. She hadn’t been there since the day of the gull attack, the day Chase carried her in his arms up the cliff and away from this place. She hesitated at the top where the trail led down toward the ocean.
“Sammy,” Reagan called. “Sammy!” She stood there, listening. “Sammy!” she called again. Then she heard it, a slight, faint whimper over the sound of the ocean. “Sammy!” she screamed. Reagan started down the cliff path calling as she hurried along. As she rounded the cliff to the rocks, she saw her puppy, lying on his side on a slanting rock, waves crashing up and around his still body.
“Sammy!” Reagan ran over the last of the rocks, trying to get to her dog. He lay perfectly still. Another wave crashed, covering his body, the receding wave pulling him toward the ocean. “No,” she screamed as she jumped forward, trying to cover his body with hers. Another wave broke, and Reagan felt two strong arms push her. She fell back off the rock, dropping into the ocean three feet below.
Her head slipped under the water, the cold shock making her gasp. Her mouth filled with the salty ocean. Coughing, she kicked her way to the surface. Another wave hit her and slammed her into the rocks. Reagan fought against the strong pull of the receding tide. Her wet clothes drug her downward. Again, Reagan struggled her way to the surface and grabbed a bite of air. She tried to get a second breath, but she wasn’t quick enough. Again, salt water poured into her mouth. Her body, chilling down rapidly, was being battered against the rocks, and her arms were feeling heavy. Over and over again, Reagan fought the relentless waves and the pulling undercurrent. As hard as she tried, she was losing the fight to stay at the surface. She was just so tired, and it would be so easy just to stop.
“No!” Chase’s voice exploded in her head. She opened her eyes in the salty water. “You fight, damn you! You keep fighting! I’m coming to get you.” His voice was everywhere. Her head was completely under water, and her legs were being dragged along the rocky bottom. She kicked again, fighting to break through the surface. Again, a wave hit her, slamming her head into a rock. Everything went dark.
Reagan dreamt she felt arms around her. She looked into Seth’s sad eyes as he held her close. Her hair floated out away from her in silky tendrils, and her body seemed weightless. Seth kissed her forehead gently, then slipped the starfish necklace around her neck. Looking at her one more time, he chastely kissed her lips then lifted her high above his head. Reagan’s body floated upward, breaking through the surface of the ocean, the sun glinting off her hair and her starfish.
Strong arms pulled Reagan onto the rocks and gathered her close. A piercing scream rang though the air. Lips locked over hers and began to breathe life into her body.
Reagan looked on from above. She saw Chase working to bring her back. She watched Willow clutching Wiley by his neck and Emma rubbing Sammy’s tiny body, trying to pull the life back into his soul. She turned her attention from the scene and looked to the ocean. There she saw Seth, his face at peace, rising from the ocean depths. The sun was dazzling as he disappeared into its rays. A woman cried out, the anguish in her voice betraying the pain in her soul.
Reagan coughed and sputtered up sea water. Chase rolled her gently to her side so she wouldn’t choke all over again. When he was sure she was breathing on her own, he gathered her into his arms and once again carried her up the cliff.
Chapter 25
I should burn down the house.”
“That would be rash. You mustn’t let Ariana win this battle.”
“She nearly killed Reagan. She killed my brother. Nothing was the same after she drowned him.”
“Shh, Willow. Reagan and Chase will hear you.”
Willow lowered her voice.
“I should have let you destroy her the last time. She has just gotten stronger, and now I don’t know what’s going to happen. Seth has left this plane. Adelaide and Ariana are now alone, without hope of sharing existence with him,” said Willow.
“Adelaide can go now. She has no reason to be bound here. Seth has redeemed himself, so he is free. I would assume she will follow,” Emma mused.
“That leaves us with that witch, Ariana, and we don’t know what she has in store for us.”
Chase and Reagan walked in to the cottage living room.
“Ah, you’re awake,” said Emma. “Can I get you anything?”
“Could I please have some peppermint tea?” asked Reagan quietly. Chase tucked her onto the couch with a woolen throw around her shoulders and moved to the kitchen to help his mom make some tea. He was still scared and angry.
“Calm yourself, Chase. You won’t do anyone any good by being angry.” Emma whispered.
“I know, but you could have stopped this years ago, and you didn’t,” hissed Chase. Emma shot him a warning glance.
Reagan interrupted, her voice strong and determined. “It doesn’t take second sight to know that something is going on and being discussed here behind my back. I am so done with everything about this place, but most of all, I am done with secrets, so if anyone wants to start talking, I am willing to listen. If you all aren’t going to talk, then I’m not going to stay. I will drive myself home to Ohio and deal with my mother’s anger when she returns. It will be child’s play after what I’ve been through.”
Emma shot a meaningful glance at Willow, but before she could say anything, Reagan spoke up again.
“No one needs anyone else’s permission to speak up. It’s ti
me to come clean about everything, and I mean now.” Chase sat down next to Reagan and nodded his head in complete agreement with her.
At that moment, headlights briefly lighted the cottage before turning toward the soap shed. The lights turned off and a car door slammed. Emma opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. When Mr. Whitstock stepped into the cottage carrying Sammy, Reagan jumped up from the couch and took the puppy from his arms.
“Is he going to be okay?” Reagan asked.
“The vet checked him over and said he’s going to be fine. I fed him for you, and he has been outside. He is a very tired puppy and just needs some rest.”
“Thanks, Roger for taking care of him and bringing him back. What do I owe you?” said Willow.
“Nothing,” said Whitstock, gruffly. “I’m just glad this one turned out a hell of a lot better than the last time. I’ll be seeing you ladies. Chase.” With that, Whitstock left, giving Reagan a wink on the way out.
Reagan buried her nose in Sammy’s soft fur. She took a deep breath of the warm, puppy smell, and stroked his soft ears. Sammy lay down, curling into her lap, and was sleeping in an instant. Reagan smiled down at her puppy, then lifted her eyes to Willow and Emma. Her hands rose to touch the starfish hanging around her neck. It gave her the confidence she needed.
“Spill it,” she said. “Come clean, now,” she ordered
“My ancestors have always had healing powers and second sight. Usually, they used their powers for good, but often, the people didn’t understand. Many, many generations ago, my ancestors were hung, and back in Europe, were even burned at the stake as witches.” Emma’s eyes held pain as she talked about those atrocities. Griff got up from in front of the fireplace and sat in front of his mistress, leaning into her, whining softly. She reached her hand down and softly scratched his ears. Willow took this moment to excuse herself. She said she was heading back to the house to make sure everything was closed up.
“You know the story of Ariana and Widow Hobbs. You know she tried to help with the birth of the babies. She also tried to care for Ariana when she began her descent into the hell of mental illness, but Etta Hobbs recognized the evil that had taken over Ariana. It wasn’t just mental illness that ailed her. True evil lived in that girl, so Etta washed her hands of the whole thing and abandoned Ariana and her family.
“Your family begged Etta to exorcise the wickedness in Ariana, but Etta refused. All of our ancestors understood the danger of dabbling in the dark arts or confronting the evil one. Too many times we had suffered the consequences, so Etta never set foot on the property again.
“When Ariana died, again the family asked the widow to come and cleanse the house. They were terrified to go onto the fourth floor to retrieve the body. Again, Etta refused.
“Years passed, and the family learned to live with the hauntings. Adelaide wasn’t a problem, and, at the time, Ariana was weak. The door to the fourth floor remained closed.
“Generations lived and died in the house, and everything was pretty quiet, except for the hairbrushes and trinkets that were moved and chairs that rocked. Often, there was mysterious singing in different parts of the house. No one approached the fourth floor. Anyone who got close described a cold feeling of dread in their soul.” Emma cleared her throat, preparing herself to tell the rest of the story, that hard part.
“Then there were a brother and sister who were born in the house, your dad and Willow. Their parents allowed them to run kind of wild and explore at will. Wolf and Willow came upon my house on the bog, and we became fast friends. My mother was nervous about our relationship. Our families’ paths had not crossed since the time of Ariana, but Momma was enlightened and allowed the friendship. We were inseparable.” Emma smiled wistfully at the memory.
“We grew up together, playing in that house and on the cliffs. My gift of second sight developed strongly when I was about eight years old, and Willow’s ability to connect with the dead started when she reached puberty. Wolf was finding his own interests; sports and girls. He had drifted away from us and wasn’t involved in our shenanigans.”
“Wait, what?” said Reagan, sitting up straighter.
“Shh,” said Chase pulling her closer to him. “Just let her go.”
Emma picked up where she left off. “Willow told me about a beautiful woman who sang to her at night. She said the woman was nice, but kind of a ditz. That’s when we found Adelaide’s journal and read it. I recognized the cover as a match to one my mom had, so Willow and I found that one and read it, too. That’s where we learned about Ariana and the whole sordid mess.
“Willow was taken with Ariana. She felt a kinship to her. You see, I was Willow’s only friend. At school, she was made fun of. For one thing, she lived in the crazy house, and for another, she was artistic, with a name like Willow and a brother named Wolf. She was doomed. I think for a while Willow suffered a mild depression. Anyway, Willow made it a habit to sit at the top of the stairs next to the door on the fourth floor. She started to talk to Ariana, to connect to her. She was innocently trying to empathize with a tortured spirit, but what she did was awaken the evil. Neither one of us was equipped to deal with what was about to happen.
“When your dad was seventeen, he started talking about a beautiful young girl he met on the beach. We didn’t think anything about it, figuring it was just another one of his conquests. Then one night, he said he met another girl he liked. Willow had a bad feeling about what was happening, but Wolf wouldn’t listen to her. He was smitten with them both. One night, he and I were sitting at the top of the cliff taking about his newest love interests. He told me when he was with the blonde girl, it was like being in the light. She was sweet and kind, but the dark-haired girl was exciting and exotic. He said she was like playing with fire, and he liked the excitement. I remember being afraid for him, and I told him that. He just laughed at me and teased me about my imagined second sight. What he didn’t realize is by that time my second sight was incredibly strong. My mother had been training me in the healing arts, and I had been studying the writings of my ancestors. My mother was unaware of that little detail.
“Then one day, Wolf discovered the two girls were sisters. He realized the dark-haired sister knew the blonde liked him, so she set out to win him. Your dad didn’t like the deceit. He told me he was going to break it off with the dark beauty. He was unhappy about it, but Wolf really had a strong sense of what was right and what was wrong.” Emma picked up her knitting, but after two dropped stitches, she set it down again. She took a moment to center herself, then went on.
“The fateful day at the rocks, Wolf told the dark-haired girl that they were through, that he didn’t like her sneaky ways or how she betrayed her sister. He said he never wanted to see her again. Ariana had gained power from his love and attention. It was all she needed to grow strong. Once again, she was jilted out of a lover because of her sister, and she wasn’t going to have it. She used her powers and made your father slip off the rocks and fall into the ocean. If she couldn’t have him, no one would. She made him weak, so he couldn’t save himself. Scout tried to pull him out of the waves but couldn’t. I was with Willow in the house when I got the sense something terrible had happened. I asked Willow if she had ever been up to the fourth floor, and she admitted she had opened the door. All of the sudden I knew Ariana had gained strength and was free, and she was the dark-haired girl Wolf had been mooning about. At that moment, I knew Wolf was dead, and that Ariana had killed him.
“Are you telling me that my father was dead? And you brought him back to life with some hocus pocus? You want me to believe that?”. Reagan’s voice had taken on a touch of hysteria. Chase moved to hold her, but she threw his arms off. Emma waited patiently for Reagan to digest what she had said. Griff sat in front of Reagan, whimpering softly. The puppy opened his eyes and stretched in Reagan’s lap. Her hand dropped to her puppy, and she petted him gently to calm him. It calmed her, too.
“I know that it is hard for you to grasp. I
understand it goes against everything you believe in, but I can assure you, everything I have told you is true. I am not going to lie to you.”
“But you have been lying to me this whole time. Lying by omission, and so has Chase.” She looked at him reproachfully,
“Chase didn’t know that part of the story. I’m sure he is as disappointed in me as you are, probably more.”
“So, is that why my dad left here and never came back?”
“Yes, your father was haunted by what happened to him. He never got over losing Scout.”
“Did he know what you did? Did he know who Ariana was, and I am assuming Adelaide?” Reagan stared at Emma, accusations in her eyes. Emma smiled gently at her, accepting her anger, but loving her still.
“No, he didn’t, and we never told him. Although, I’m sure deep inside he knew things were not as they seemed. He refused to think about that day and the possibilities, but as soon as he could leave, he did. When his parents passed away, he begged Willow to leave, just to sell the house and move to Ohio with him, but she refused. He felt she was in danger, but he wasn’t sure why. When your father passed, Willow spiraled into a deep depression. I was afraid for her. She became terribly protective of the house and the spirits of Adelaide and Ariana.”
“Even after everything Ariana had done? I don’t understand that.”
“What you don’t understand is true forgiveness. Willow has the ability to forgive. It’s something that most people can’t do, but Willow can. I think she has always been afraid she would end up like Ariana because of her bouts of depression. Willow was terrified of being mentally ill and of the evil that possessed Ariana. What she doesn’t realize is her goodness, her ability to forgive, keeps the evil at bay. It’s why she can go back to the house and be safe, why she has been able to live there for all these years and not be harmed, and Ariana has recognized that Willow has protected her from harm.
The Starfish Talisman Page 17