One problem—how to carve them on the stone?
Hadn’t thought that far ahead, had you, Jensen?
I ran to the kitchen, pulled out drawers, and dug through them until I found something sharp enough to mark the stone. My fingers hit on a piece of metal.
A nail. The pointy tip would be sharp enough to scratch the runes into the stone.
I snatched the nail and began to swiftly carve the symbols on the lodestone.
Careful, Jensen, careful. The symbols must be made correctly.
Taking a deep breath, I concentrated on making calm, deliberate strokes, and while I did, visualized a shield of energy reaching out from the lodestone to surround me. To protect me.
Twenty minutes later and I was finished. My eyes flew to the clock. How much time did I have before Abby and Darci returned?
Quickly, I added up the elapsed time in my head. Yes. I pumped my fist. Thirty minutes to spare. More than enough time to change and get down to the lake.
Finally, dressed in jeans and T-shirt, I was on the dock, hooking up the motor to the boat. My windbreaker lay in the bottom of the boat, and my lodestone, with the bindrune written on it, rested safely in the left pocket of my jeans. Even now, I could feel its energy circling around me. A flashlight and backpack were also in the boat.
The moon had been waxing for the last four days, and it gave enough light for me to see the opposite shore. I glanced over my shoulder as I prepared to cast off, and then I saw the light.
The hair on my arm stood up while I watched it bob and weave as it had four nights ago.
The ghost lights were back.
I fought down the fear creeping up from deep inside me. I thought about Tink, about Abby, about Darci. All could be at risk. Something, or someone, unknown prowled around the woods across the lake, and I couldn’t fight it if I didn’t know what it was.
I had to go.
Turning back to my task, I cast off the rope and stepped to the back of the boat. I took one last look at our cabin and almost fell overboard when two shapes stepped out of the shadows.
“You weren’t planning on leaving without us, were you, Ophelia?” my stubborn grandmother asked.
Thirty
I grabbed one of the pilings and scowled at Darci in the darkness. “Darci, you promised—”
“Darci didn’t talk, Ophelia,” Abby cut in as she and Darci made their way down to the fishing boat. “Do you think I didn’t know you were up to something? The lodestone, the hustling back to your room? But I didn’t think you’d be foolish enough to attempt going to the cabin by yourself.”
In the dim light of the moon, I felt the weight of Abby’s stare.
“When Rick mentioned at the restaurant that you’d learned of the magician’s relationship to Juliet,” she continued, “all the pieces fell together. I insisted Darci and I leave immediately. And then when you weren’t in the cabin…” Her voiced trailed off. “By the way, you left the journal lying on the counter.”
I exhaled a long breath. “I don’t suppose you’d believe me if I told you I’m going night fishing?”
“No,” Abby replied tersely.
I quickly filled her in on what had happened that afternoon in Brainerd.
“Ophelia Jensen,” she said while she paced the length of the dock, “of all the foolish tricks—attempting to take on whatever is in those woods by yourself.”
“Abby, I’m prepared.” I explained to her about the lodestone and the bindrune.
Mollified, she stopped her pacing and stood on the dock near the boat. “It’s still not wise to go alone. I’m going with you.”
Darci, who’d remained silent while Abby scolded me, stepped forward. “I’m going, too.”
Abby and I exchanged looks in the moonlight. Abby gave a small nod.
This secret mission of mine was turning into quite a party.
I looked both of them over. Darci wore the shorts she’d worn earlier in the day, and Abby had on one of her long skirts. “I give up—you both can go with me, but you can’t go dressed like that.”
Abby threw an arm around Darci’s shoulders and led her back to the steps leading to the cabin. “Let’s go change. I expect you to still be here when we get back,” she called over her shoulder.
“I will. Oh, and Darci, don’t try and make a fashion statement. Jeans and tennis shoes will work,” I said as they climbed the steps.
Ten minutes later they had returned and we were on our way across the lake. Both had changed into jeans and sensible shoes. Darci had shoved her blond hair under a baseball cap, and she carried a light jacket like mine. Abby held a sweater, my backpack, and a flashlight in her arms. The scent of lemon and something else hung around them.
Keeping my hand on the tiller, I leaned forward and sniffed. “Jeez, did you guys have garlic pizza, or what?” I wrinkled my nose.
“No.” Darci reached in her pocket and drew out a small clove of garlic. Its scent filled the small boat.
“I don’t believe this,” I said in exasperation. “We’re not hunting vampires, Darci.”
Abby touched my knee lightly. “I gave the garlic to Darci. I have one for you, too.” She handed me a clove. “There’s a reason that the old tales mention garlic. It absorbs negative energy.”
Without arguing, I stuck the clove in my pocket, next to the lodestone.
The closer we got to shore, the more I felt the apprehension building inside me. At home, Abby hiked through the woods all the time, but these woods were unfamiliar to her. When I’d stumbled onto the clearing, it had been full daylight and the cabin still hung in shadows. What would it be like in the middle of the night? What if Abby tripped and broke a bone? Was it too late to turn around?
Yes. My jaw clenched. Abby and Darci were determined to find out about the cabin, and there was nothing I could do to talk them out of it.
I eased the boat toward shore. Darci and I hopped out barefoot and pulled the bow far enough in that Abby could step out onto dry land. Slipping on my shoes and jacket, I swung the backpack to my shoulder and we were off, flashlights in hand. Our beams bounced through the trees as we climbed the hill.
At the top, I stopped to get my bearings. Once sure I knew my directions, I pointed to my right and we began our hike. Darci walked on one side of Abby, and I on the other, ready to reach out if she so much as faltered.
In the half-light of the moon, I saw Abby’s smile. “Girls, I’m not decrepit, you know.”
I touched the sleeve of her sweater. “Humor me, okay.”
Walking in silence, I concentrated on leading us through the trees. I was relieved when our flashlight beams caught something shiny in the distance. The wire fence was directly ahead, its hole visible.
Reaching the hole, I held the wire back while Darci scrambled through and then helped Abby from the other side. I tossed my backpack through the hole and joined them.
“The cabin’s this way,” I said, pointing my flashlight through the trees.
While we walked, the darkness became more complete as the tall pines thickened, hiding the moon. The air around us was totally still, and a sense of something waiting just beyond our wavering lights came over me. My eyes traveled to Abby, walking beside me.
“Yes,” she said, her voice hushed. “I feel it, too.”
“Wait.” Darci halted suddenly. “Is that the cabin?” she asked, moving her flashlight in a wide arc ahead of us.
The light reflected back at us from one of the broken panes of glass.
She took a step forward, but Abby stopped her.
“Slowly, Darci.” She turned toward me. “Ophelia, how close were you to the cabin when you found the circle of cedar?”
“About fifty feet.”
“Hmm, it’s so dark, it’s hard to judge the distance,” Abby said.
Remembering the zap I received when I tried to cross the circle of cedar, I glanced at Abby. “You’ll feel it when you touch it.”
Abby stiffened her spine. “Let’s go.”
Side by side, the three of us approached the cabin, one small step at a time. I noticed the beam of Darci’s flashlight trembling on the ground in front of us, shaking like the hand that held it.
I didn’t blame her. My fear churned inside me, too. The only one who radiated calm was Abby. I felt her energy expand until it seemed to wrap both Darci and me in a protective circle.
Without warning, Abby’s hands shot out and pulled the both of us back.
She released us and extended her hand. “Right here.”
I closed my eyes and tried to feel what lay in wait on the other side of Walks Quietly’s circle. Again I detected the smell of rotting things, but this time the scent of garlic seemed to overpower the odor.
Grasping our hands, Abby looked first at Darci, then at me, before returning her gaze to the center of the clearing. “We’re going to step over the circle, but we don’t have a lot of time to reach the cabin. We’ll need to move fast. Ophelia, when we’re inside, lay out everything I’ve brought in your backpack. Darci, you hold the flashlights.”
“O-Okay,” Darci stuttered.
Abby cocked her head at a defiant angle, and giving our hands a quick squeeze, urged us forward.
Together we rushed across the clearing. Through the fabric of my jeans, I felt the lodestone grow warmer and warmer with each step I took. Abby’s energy surrounded us like a bubble, but from beyond the protective layer, the darkness swirled in an evil cloud.
We hurried up the broken steps and through the crooked door. Stopping just inside, Darci and I quickly scanned the room with our flashlights. The wooden floor was missing several boards, exposing the ground beneath the cabin.
I released Abby’s hand and gave my flashlight to Darci. Stepping over the holes in the floor, I crossed to the center of the room and emptied the backpack on an old table sitting there.
Darci and Abby followed. And so did the cloud.
Abby snatched a pouch from the table and scattered the contents around the room as if she were sowing seeds. She crossed to the door and laid a thick layer down at the threshold.
Without being told, I lit the two black candles Abby had brought. The wicks sputtered and popped before the flame finally flared to life. Picking them up, I placed them at both ends of the table.
As I did, the darkness that I’d felt chase us across the clearing grew smaller and smaller in the light of the candles. It sank like a heavy mist and receded out the door.
I exhaled the breath that I didn’t know I’d been holding.
Looking over at Darci, I gave her a weak smile. “You did good, Darce.”
In slow motion her knees gave out and she sank to the floor.
Abby was at her side in an instant, and crouching down next to her, she took both of Darci’s hands in hers. “Are you all right?”
“I—I think so.” She rested her forehead on Abby’s shoulder. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in all my life.”
Abby stroked her back. “We’re safe for the time being, but we can’t linger. Whatever that thing is, I haven’t banished it. It’s still sneaking around somewhere—”
Releasing Abby, Darci jumped to her feet. “What do you want us to do?”
“Look around. See what we can find,” I answered. Making a slow circle, I scanned the room.
Two doorways were to my right. Both had curtains hung across them. I walked over to the first and pulled the curtain back to look inside. “Darci, bring me a flashlight, will you?” I called over my shoulder.
After she handed it to me, I shone the light around the room. It was empty.
I wandered into the next room. The beam of the flashlight revealed a rusted metal-frame bed sitting in the middle of the small room. Covering the mattress was a tattered blanket. The floor was littered with what appeared to be food scraps. A bundle lay in one corner.
I disappeared inside the room and returned holding the bundle—a fatigue jacket. “Hey, will you look at this,” I said, shaking the jacket out.
Darci and Abby were crouched over one of holes in the floor. They both looked up when I called out.
Darci squinted in the dim light to see what I held in my hands. “Duane Hobbs wore a jacket like that.”
“I know.” I stuck my hand in the pocket, hoping to find some ID, but all I came up with was a can of tobacco and a half-chewed toothpick.
“What if it is Duane’s? Is there any blood on it?” she asked.
“Yuck.” I held the jacket as far away from me as possible and peered at it in the candlelight. “Nope, I don’t see any.”
“Maybe it’s not Duane’s,” she said with a shrug. “But look at this. Someone has ripped up these boards on purpose.” She held up a crowbar. “Abby found this laying by the stove.”
“Someone is looking for something?” I asked.
Abby pursed her lips and nodded. “I think so.”
“Duane?”
“Hard to say, but I’m more interested in what they’re looking for. Something Frederick Von Schuler left behind?” Abby held her wrist in front of her face and examined her watch. “It’s late. Whatever dwells in this clearing will gather strength after midnight. We need to leave. Now.”
Thirty-one
Abby didn’t have to say it twice. Darci and I flew around the room, extinguishing candles and loading everything into the backpack. I shoved the fatigue jacket in the bottom.
The three of us paused at the door, and I felt again Abby’s energy circle us. We took a step onto the rickety porch.
The presence of whatever had chased us across the clearing was no longer there, but we didn’t waste time wondering why. We dashed over the ground and across the circle of cedar.
Abby took the backpack from my shoulder and quickly removed her sea salt. Starting at the northern-most point of the clearing, she walked in a clockwise direction and poured a thin layer of salt next to the cedar. Finished, she returned the salt to the bag.
“One last thing—there should be a plastic bag in the front pocket of the backpack. Will you please hand it to me?”
When I did, she opened the bag and held it out. “Drop your cloves of garlic and the lodestones in here.”
“What? Toxic waste?” I plunked my stone in the bag.
“Yes. The lodestones and garlic are full of negative energy now.” Abby passed a hand in front of her eyes, and in the glow of the flashlight, I saw her sag.
I grasped her arm and steadied her. “We need to get you back to the cabin.”
Darci clasped Abby’s other arm, and we returned to the boat. Within twenty minutes we were safely back in the cabin.
I insisted Abby go straight to bed, and for a change I took care of her. Armed with a tray of hot lemon tea and lavender oil, I knocked on her door.
She sat propped up on her pillows, a journal lying across her lap, when I walked into the room. The soft light of the bedside lamp illuminated the weariness on her face. Scooting over, she patted a spot next to her.
“What have you got there?”
I placed the tray on the nightstand and handed her the mug. “Lemon tea and lavender oil. I thought the oil might help recharge you.”
Abby handed the mug back to me and shook out a couple of drops of oil in her palm. Immediately, the room filled with the sweet scent of lavender. After spreading the oil on her fingers, she massaged her temples. The fatigue in her face faded, and with a sigh, she eased back on her pillows.
“That’s lovely, dear. Thank you.”
I tucked the blankets around her. “You’re welcome.” My face tightened with concern. “Are you going to be okay?”
“Yes. I’ll be fine. An experience like tonight is very draining.” Her eyelids drifted shut.
I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “I’m leaving now. Get some rest.”
Her eyes shot open. “Wait. What are we going to do about Tink?”
“Abby, I don’t think we can do anything about her,” I said with a frown. “The Finches are her legal g
uardians.”
She stroked the end of the braid hanging over her shoulder. “Living at the compound is not good for her.”
Sitting back, I studied her. “You think the Finches are behind this?”
“Or Winnie.”
“You agree with Darci?” I gave her a skeptical look. “I don’t think Winnie’s clever enough.”
She tilted her head and watched me with amusement. “It doesn’t take cleverness to make up a spell.” The humor fell away. “But it does take wisdom to use the spell correctly.”
“And the person behind this isn’t wise?”
“No.” Abby’s whole body stiffened with irritation. “To use magick without proper understanding is anything but wise. It’s foolhardy and dangerous.”
“Yeah.” I picked up the journal from her lap and ran my hand over its worn cover. “Just ask Frederick Von Schuler. He didn’t understand, and messed with forces he couldn’t control. He lost his mind as a result.”
As I stroked the journal, Abby laid her hand on mine. “That’s why each woman in our family kept her own journal—to record her journey down the right path.”
A chill seemed to creep into the room. But what if someone chose the wrong path? Would that journey be recorded, too?
I watched the sun rise over the lake from my bedroom window. My bed had not been slept in. I’d spent the entire night adding up what I knew, but coming up with the wrong answer. I knew Jason admired Frederick Von Schuler. I knew Von Schuler had chosen to engage in the black arts and went mad. His tortured soul had spent his last days in that wretched cabin. I also knew, after listening to Abby speak with pride about our family’s journals, that Frederick Von Schuler had a journal, too. He would have wanted to chart his course on his path to unlimited power.
I slapped my forehead in frustration. For a psychic, I couldn’t be much denser. All along, the clues were there. My dreams had repeatedly shown me a book, but I had ignored them. The runes had foretold finding magic, and I had—black magic.
Abby and I had come to search for a lost girl who’d never belonged, and we’d found one, but it was the wrong girl. What were we going to do to help Tink? Abby was worried. So was I. But the Finches were her family, and we had no proof they were involved in anything illegal. There was no reason for us to become involved in Tink’s life.
The Trouble with Witches Page 21