Why the hell hadn’t I?
“How were they killed?” I asked. My mouth was suddenly very dry. I needed water.
“Car accident,” Josephine interjected. “A Mack truck swerved out of its lane and hit their car head on.”
I winced at the thought.
“And she wasn’t with them?” I asked. “Did y’all save her?”
Virginia spoke, “No. It was a very lucky coincidence that she had a disagreement with her mother before they left and she stayed behind.”
“That’s terrible,” I said, thinking of how she must have felt. But something was still sticking in my craw.
“So she got a family,” I said. “But you put me in a home. Why the hell would you do that?”
“We had to move fast,” Virginia said. She took a long swallow of her drink. “We knew they’d assume you’d be together. And they’d never figure we’d hide either of you very close to Charleston.”
“Who is they?” I asked. “And why would they want us?”
All three of them looked at each other.
“We should just show her,” Calista replied. “Like we showed Emma.”
“And you see how well that went,” Josephine remarked.
“Yes, but this time we don’t allow her to go off by herself,” Virginia snapped.
Both girls looked sheepishly at Virginia.
They might as well have been speaking another language.
I felt more lost than ever. And a little terrified to learn the truth.
Chapter 8
VIRGINIA EMBERS
Emma and Briar had lived many lives.
They’d always come back as twins and they’d always stayed together.
Until this last time.
It was why it was so difficult for Virginia to not only let them go, but to also distance them from each other.
And that’s where Shirley Ann Ayers came in.
Shirley Ann Ayers was 46 years old when she had her first and only baby that would one day be Emma’s father.
She’d married her beloved husband late in life; at least late for the time period. Most of her friends had married in their early 20s. It was just how it was done back then. A woman had limited options.
But Shirley Ann had gone to college and lived quite a life before settling down with the love of her life, Edward Ayers. She was 30 years old on her wedding day and she assumed getting pregnant would be easy enough.
She was wrong.
Each loss left a ragged scar on her heart; a heart she was amazed could go on beating after each tragedy. Her depression was long and deep. After the third loss there was an entire year when she didn’t leave her bed, much less the house.
Edward did what he could, but there were days when even he couldn’t reach her. She was in a dark abyss. An emotional Mariana Trench.
They’d keep trying, and every time, right before her second trimester should start, the baby would be gone.
It was more pain than any human should have to bear.
In those days, there wasn’t much that could be done. Shirley Ann was perfectly healthy and able, but for some reason her body would not allow her to carry the one thing she wanted more than life itself.
By the time she was 40 she had long since given up.
She’d made a flimsy peace with God about the entire thing. There had been years where she had resisted church. Edward would go alone on Sundays, while she stayed at home and wept in the shower over their circumstances. Part of her felt guilty for being this sad when she knew she still had so much in life to be grateful for. Edward was a tender and gentle giant of a man who loved her very much and never made her feel like she needed to “get over” things.
So she’d slowly allowed faith back into her life. It would never be like it once was, but if she couldn’t have children, at least she’d still have Jesus. And her sweet husband.
One day, while grocery shopping, an incredibly beautiful woman around her age had approached her. Shirley Ann had been examining peaches at the time, lost in the thought of the cobbler she planned to make for Edward later that evening.
“Excuse me,” the woman said. “I’m so sorry to bother you. Would you mind handing me that bag of grapes on the other side of you? I didn’t want to lean over and invade your space. I’d feel so rude.”
The grapes were tied neatly in bags in the corner of the produce section next to the peaches. Shirley Ann smiled. “Of course. Green or purple?”
“Green please,” the woman replied. “I’m Virginia, by the way.”
As Shirley Ann handed her the bag she said, “Nice to meet you. That’s a lovely name. I’m Shirley Ann.”
The two women made small talk about the recent weather and the latest episode of All My Children, of which they both were fans. Shirley Ann was not usually one to make small talk or to even talk at all to strangers, but Virginia was a mesmerizing presence and Shirley Ann was drawn to her. They seemed to have so much in common from what she could tell, even in just their short conversation together.
As Shirley Ann pushed her cart toward the register, Virginia handed her a card with a phone number on it.
“I know this is so silly,” Virginia said. “But I’m new to Lumberton and I haven’t made many friends yet. Would you like to have lunch next week? On me of course. It’s just nice to get out of the house for some adult conversation. I hope that’s not too forward.”
Shirley Ann shook her head, “No, not at all. Here, I can give you my number as well. I’m free most days except for Wednesdays. That’s my volunteer day at the library.”
“Wonderful,” Virginia said, taking down Shirley Ann’s number on a piece of stationery in her very expensive-looking handbag. “I look forward to seeing you again!”
Shirley Ann watched her walk away, feeling like she was in a daze.
Later on when recalling the story to Edward over dinner, she suddenly realized that Virginia had left the store without buying her grapes.
Virginia called Shirley Ann the next week and asked her to lunch at Brighton’s, a café just around the corner from Shirley Ann’s home.
Shirley Ann considered coming up with an excuse not to meet up with her. Shirley Ann wasn’t a social creature by nature; she found that it was hard for her to connect with other women. They usually had children, which meant they led very different lives from her, and that could be painful. Shirley Ann avoided reminders as best she could.
But Virginia had sounded so genuinely excited on the phone to meet up with her again. So Shirley Ann decided to go. Maybe she’d be surprised— maybe it would be fun.
It was the last week of February, 1970. Shirley Ann was 45 years old the day she met Virginia Embers for lunch. It was a day she’d never forget; one that would change the course of her life forever.
When Shirley Ann arrived at Brighton’s, Virginia was already there. She’d selected a table in the brightest corner of the café, next to the large window that looked out onto Pine Street in downtown Lumberton.
“I ordered us both a sweet tea,” Virginia, as Shirley Ann sat down. Virginia was wearing a rust-colored shift dress with a navy blue ascot around her slender neck. Her hair was in a tasteful chignon. If it wasn’t for the subtle lines around her eyes and mouth, Shirley Ann would have assumed Virginia was in her late 20s. She was a striking woman and Shirley Ann immediately felt silly in her plaid pantsuit and flipped bob. She was a woman of the 50s and 60s, but Virginia was modern and chic.
“Thank you,” Shirley Ann said, sitting down. “They have amazing pimento cheese here if you’re so inclined. It’s a vice of mine, I’m afraid.”
Virginia laughed. “Well, there are certainly worse vices to have.”
There was an awkward pause. Neither seemed to know what to say to the other.
“I understand,” Virginia started, “That coming to lunch with a virtual stranger is not exactly your idea of a fun afternoon.”
Shirley Ann looked at Virginia, knowing confusion had to be marking her expression. “What make
s you say that?”
“Just a hunch,” Virginia said, waving her comment away with a pristinely manicured hand as their server placed their drinks in front of them. “And I want to be upfront and honest. It wasn’t a coincidence I ran into you at the store the other day. I was seeking you out. I just want to be very truthful about that.”
Shirley Ann was suddenly nervous. She hoped this wasn’t a mistake. She wished she could leave, but she was frozen in her seat. Surprise had paralyzed her for a moment. She finally spoke.
“That’s a very strange introduction,” Shirley Ann awkwardly laughed. “Well, if you’re selling Avon or Mary Kay, I’ll just stop you right there. I don’t wear makeup most days. I’d be a useless customer.”
Virginia laughed again. “Oh, no! I’m not selling anything. I promise. But I am offering you something. A possibility. The answer to a prayer. I just don’t want to frighten you. I can sense your apprehension. There’s really no easy way to come out with this.”
Shirley Ann clutched her purse. Should she make a run for it? Was Virginia some sort of cult leader? The Manson murders had happened only 3 years prior. They’d led to a lot of anxiety for Shirley Ann and the rest of the nation.
What could this woman possibly want from her?
“I want nothing from you,” Virginia assured her, as if she could read her mind. “I mean no harm and if you’re not willing to hear me out, I do understand. These are modern times and people are pretty crazy these days. All I ask is for you to let me explain without interruption. And then you can tell me your thoughts. That’s all I ask.”
Shirley Ann’s hand was shaking. She didn’t know why. Perhaps her intuition had known before her brain could process it.
“Okay,” Shirley Ann said, suddenly not the least bit hungry.
“Thank you,” Virginia said, a sigh of relief escaping her. “What I am about to offer is going to sound ridiculous. Unfathomable. But just know that the world is full of worlds within it. And my world is one where we can make certain things happen. Especially when it’s for the greater good.”
They both sipped their tea at the same time. When their server came to take their order, Virginia asked her to give them a few minutes.
“My full name is Virginia Embers,” she said. “I live in Charleston. The South Carolina one, just to clarify. And… I’m a witch.”
Shirley Ann blinked. Now she really wanted to flee.
“It’s not what you think,” Virginia said. “I don’t fly on a broomstick or worship the devil. These are scare tactics used over the millennia to keep people afraid of powerful women. We interrupt the status quo. Anyway, that’s not what’s important here. What’s important is I can give you a baby. Or not give you one, but I can ensure that you become pregnant, and that your pregnancy is a successful one.”
Now Shirley Ann was furious. She stood up swiftly and slammed her purse on the table. The other patrons stared at her.
“That’s enough,” Shirley Ann said, her teeth gritted. “I don’t know who you are or what kind of sick joke this is… But I am not the sort of person who thinks it’s amusing.” Tears stung her eyes.
She quickly walked past the server, who was coming back to see what had happened. She thought about going back to leave some money for the tea, but thought better of it.
Virginia Embers could deal with that.
Shirley Ann had taken the bus downtown and walked a few blocks to get to Brighton’s. She walked quickly back to the bus stop now, willing the tears not to come. All she wanted was Edward. He was the only person she trusted and the only person besides her that knew the heartbreak of not having a child of their own.
The bus only came once an hour so she knew she’d be stuck waiting for at least another 30 minutes. She prayed Virginia would leave her alone, that she hadn’t followed her.
But oddly enough, when she reached her stop, Virginia was already there, sitting on the bench, waiting for her.
“How?” Shirley Ann asked, shaking her head. “Are you going to make me call the police? Please, I’m asking you to leave me alone. I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”
Virginia held up her hands, which were now clad in velvet gloves. She also had on a hound’s-tooth print trench that cinched her waist, showing how small it was.
“This is why I have to explain,” Virginia said. “Because I know it sounds outrageous and I know you think I am playing a cruel trick, but please know I would never do that. I’m here to tell you that you can have a child and that you will not miscarry. You will not lose him.”
Him. She was promising a son.
What sorts of drugs was this woman on?
“How can you know that?” Shirley Ann asked, her voice shaking. “We never told anyone about… losing the babies. Only our doctor knows.”
“I just know,” she said, her voice soft now. “And I know it’s the only thing you want in this world. And I’m telling you, it can and will happen. I know it’s unreasonable to ask you to trust me. But I’m begging you… give me a chance. I will leave you alone forever if you wish. But it’s very important you have this baby. For yourself. For your husband. For the world.”
Shirley Ann was dizzy now. She sat on the bench to keep from collapsing.
“You understand how I must feel about this, right?” Shirley Ann said, joining the mystery woman on the bench. The mystery woman who was now claiming to be some sort of savior.
But the truth was, Shirley Ann did want a baby more than anything. She’d only given up when she reached her forties because it seemed like the right thing to do. She must be too old. She couldn’t take any more heartbreak and she assumed that God had other plans for her.
She never imagined those plans would come in the form of a grown woman who called herself a witch.
But what if somehow there was even an inch of hope to her story? What would she lose by at least half-believing what Virginia was telling her?
“Okay,” Shirley Ann said. “Tell me what to do.”
Chapter 9
SHIRLEY ANN AYERS
Shirley Ann Ayers just so happened to be the 7th child of a 7th child. Her parents had come from almost nothing; her dad had been raised on a tobacco farm near Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and her mother had been the 7th child of a sharecropper. Her father hadn’t owned a pair of shoes until he was almost six years old.
They’d both died within a year of each other when Shirley Ann was seventeen years old. She’d been their last child and the only one still at home with them. She left for college months later, but had thought about not going. Her grief was so heavy, and her siblings were so despondent over the loss. The thought of being away from them broke her heart.
But then she remembered how much her mother had wanted her to go. Even though college for women, especially poor women, was very rare at the time. Shirley Ann wanted to make her mother proud. None of her siblings had even graduated from high school and they were reliving the lives of her parents.
Bless them, but that would never be enough for Shirley Ann.
So the 7th child had gone to college. The second world war was almost over and two of her brothers would be coming home. She was glad for that, but she was also a woman with laser focus. She would graduate with an English degree from Meredith College 4 years later. She’d be her only sibling who wasn’t married and didn’t have at least three children.
The fact that Virginia Embers was reciting all of this to her as they rode the bus to Virginia’s hotel was mind boggling. Virginia knew almost everything there was to know about Shirley Ann. It was bizarre to hear someone retell her history. And it was clear Virginia had admiration for Shirley Ann and her life that she had always seen as fruitless without children.
“You traveled the world!” Virginia exclaimed. “You saw things. You fell in love multiple times. And then you met Edward and it was like none of the past even existed. He was your everything.”
“He is my everything,” Shirley Ann said. “He deserves so much more tha
n me.”
Virginia stared at Shirley Ann, confused.
“How can you say that?” Virginia asked. “He’s crazy about you. He thinks you’re the most brilliant woman to ever walk the planet. He’d jump in front of a car for you. No one’s ever loved him like you do.”
The bus stopped and Virginia stood up.
“You’ve lived a great life, Shirley Ann,” Virginia said. “Most people do the opposite of living. They simply exist and go where they think they’re supposed to go. You’ve always been brave. It’s why he loves you.”
“But I haven’t been able to give him…” Shirley Ann started as they stepped off the bus. She lowered her voice. “You know... I haven’t been able to give him a family.”
“Family is more about quality than quantity,” Virginia said as they walked into the lush lobby of the Lumberton Inn. “You are his family. No matter what happens. You will always be enough.”
Shirley Ann was shaken by how absolute Virginia was when she spoke of Edward. What kind of power enabled her to know so much about them?
They took the elevator upstairs and didn’t say anything as they went up. Shirley Ann was still taking this in. Was she an idiot for going with a stranger to her hotel room? Probably.
But Shirley Ann did indeed love a risk. They always seemed to have a great reward on the other side of them.
“So let me make sure I have this right,” Shirley Ann said, as they sat on the bed in Virginia’s hotel room. “This is something called a ‘root’?”
She was holding a brown paper sack that was tied together with cotton twine. Two eggs were inside.
“Yes,” Virginia confirmed. “My friend Dr. Ibis is a root doctor. He’s made this especially for you.”
“Where are you from again?” Shirley Ann asked. “Where on earth do people do these things?”
“Charleston,” Virginia replied. “That’s not important. Roots work everywhere. Your belief is important though. You have to be open to this.”
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