Wicked Witches of the Midwest 9

by Amanda M. Lee

  “Bay?” Landon sounded concerned but I ignored him.

  “Leave her alone,” I said, taking a step forward. “She’s a little girl.”

  The ghost didn’t respond.

  “Do you see him?” Annie looked so hopeful it almost ripped out my heart.

  “I see him,” I said, bobbing my head. “You’re not imagining things. I promise.”

  “What do you see?” Belinda asked, frustrated. “Don’t play games with her. That’s not good for anyone.”

  “No one is playing games,” Aunt Tillie said. “There’s something in this room.”

  “What?” Chief Terry asked, annoyed. “Is it another poltergeist? If so, I’m leaving. I’m taking the cake and roast with me when I go, but I’m leaving.”

  “It’s something else,” Landon said. He looked helpless as I took another step away from him. He couldn’t see the enemy and had no idea what to do. “Bay, be careful.”

  “Leave her alone,” I repeated, locking gazes with the ethereal captain. “She’s a child. She can’t help you. If you need help … .”

  The captain didn’t respond with words. Instead he floated in Annie’s direction, his hand outstretched. I didn’t miss the terror as it flitted across Annie’s face and I reacted instinctively. I shoved Marcus out of the way and stepped in front of Annie, absorbing the spirit’s malevolence before it could wash over her.

  That’s when I heard it … the screaming.

  That’s when I saw it … the endless blood.

  That’s when I felt it … the terror and resignation.

  And that’s when my knees buckled and my mind flooded with images and sounds I never want to see or hear again.

  At the back of my mind, I registered the fact that Landon caught me before I could hit the ground. The last thing I heard before the blackness came was the sound of his anguished voice.

  “Bay!”

  TWENTY

  “Bay?”

  Landon shook me back to awareness, and when I finally managed to focus I found his eyes swimming with tears.

  “Hi.”

  “Don’t ‘hi’ me,” Landon said, pulling me close. “You scared the crap out of me.”

  “What just happened?” Chief Terry asked. He knelt next to Landon and his features were ashen. “Did I miss something?”

  “She expelled a ghost before it could touch Annie.”

  I jerked my head to the right and found Maggie Cornell studying me with a thoughtful expression. When did she get here? “I … .”

  “It’s okay,” Maggie said hurriedly, flashing a smile. “I know about you guys. There’s no reason to hide.”

  “I didn’t tell her,” Sam said, frowning when Aunt Tillie glared at him. “You guys are famous in certain circles. I’ve kept everything I know to myself.”

  “I can vouch for that,” Maggie said, patting my arm kindly. “I’ve been grilling him and he refuses to say anything. It’s very disappointing for a mother.”

  “You saw the ghost?” Aunt Tillie asked, her expression curious. “I thought Sam said that wasn’t your gift.”

  “I can’t see ghosts, but I can see auras,” Maggie explained.

  “I saw the ghost,” Sam volunteered. “It was wearing a captain’s hat. I … huh. Do you think it came from the tanker? It had to be the stuff you were talking about the other day, right?”

  I pursed my lips as I stared at the ceiling, my back resting against Landon’s knees as he bolstered me from behind. “I think that’s a very good guess.”

  “I think I want some answers,” Landon said. “What just happened?”

  “The ghosts are interested in Annie,” I explained, licking my lips as I glanced toward the spot where Annie stood moments before. “Where is she?”

  “Belinda took her upstairs when you passed out,” Thistle answered. For once she didn’t have a snarky response. She looked stricken. “She didn’t understand what was happening and thought everyone was acting odd.”

  “She can’t understand what’s happening,” Aunt Tillie clarified. “It’s surreal to her and she doesn’t know what to think. We need to explain things … although I’m not sure how open she’ll be when that happens.”

  “She’s a good person,” Thistle protested. “She’ll understand.”

  “She’s a great person,” Aunt Tillie said, bobbing her head. “This is still a world she can’t fathom. We’ll have to do our best when it’s time. For now, Annie is safe upstairs.”

  “Safe?” I challenged. “She’s not safe. The ghosts are interested in her. They’ve completely lost interest in me. It’s my fault.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Landon asked, suspicious. “When were the ghosts interested in you?”

  Uh-oh. The time for hiding that little tidbit was clearly over. “I … saw something … the day we visited the tanker for the first time,” I admitted. “That’s why I wanted to conduct research on it.”

  “Okay.” Landon remained calm even though it looked as if the effort strained him. “What did you see?”

  “A bunch of flashes.”

  “Like?”

  “Like scenes from the past,” I replied. “I’m not sure how to explain it. I think someone boarded the Gray Harker after dark and … massacred … the crew. It’s hard for me to put what I saw into words because it’s a jumbled mess of visions … and screams … and blood.”

  “Whatever it was caused her to pass out that first day, too,” Clove supplied. “We were worried, but then we found out that Maggie and Richard were coming to visit right away and I kind of forgot about it.”

  “Well, that’s just great,” Landon said, his agitation coming out to play. “That’s … freaking awesome!”

  Thistle ignored his sarcasm. “I didn’t forget,” she said. “We’ve been trying to figure out what’s going on for days. It’s not easy to do that when we have guests, an arsonist and whatever Aunt Tillie’s latest scheme is barreling down on us. We’re doing our best.”

  “I’m not questioning your distraction level or dedication to helping Annie,” Landon said. “I want to know why no one told me about this.”

  “I … .” I broke off, biting my lip.

  “She didn’t want to worry you,” Clove supplied. I knew she was trying to help, but the way Landon clenched his jaw told me she was doing exactly the opposite. “She loves you, Landon. You never want the person you love to worry.”

  “Yes, well, good job on that,” Landon said, pushing me to a sitting position and slipping out from beneath me. I missed his warmth the second he put distance between us, although Thistle grabbed my arm to make sure I didn’t fall back. “I’m not worried at all.”

  “Okay, calm down,” Chief Terry admonished, lifting his hand. “I need to be caught up on things here … and I would prefer doing it over pot roast.”

  “Oh, the pot roast!” Marnie, Mom and Twila wiped the worried looks off their faces and hurried back in the direction of the kitchen. They wanted to be updated on recent events, too, but serving a burnt meal was somehow more abhorrent than my swoon.

  “What did you feel?” Thistle asked, her pointed gaze burning into me. “Could you feel the ghost going inside of you?”

  “Not really,” I answered. “It was more that I felt anger and panic and could see people screaming and yelling as they ran across the deck of the tanker. Something really terrible happened there.”

  “Which is going to make it a hot ticket when it finally opens,” Sam said, rubbing his hands together. He had the grace to look abashed when his mother scorched him with a dark look. “That’s after we help the ghosts move on and Annie and Bay are safe, of course.”

  “What I don’t get is why Sam hasn’t seen any ghosts,” Clove said, her expression thoughtful as she rolled her neck. “He can see ghosts, too, and the ones on the tanker haven’t approached him at all. They were interested in Bay that first day, but you never saw anything, did you, honey?”

  Sam shook his head. “I never saw a thing,” he sa
id. “I sensed something. It was kind of cold … and dark. The best way to describe it is to say I felt a sense of dread.”

  “That’s what I felt, too,” I admitted, my eyes drifting to Landon. He refused to look at me, instead staring at the wall as he his hands rested on his hips. “I couldn’t figure out why I felt that way, and it left me feeling unsettled.”

  “Well, I guess we know now,” Landon said. “The first day you visited the tanker was the night the power went out here, right?”

  I nodded.

  “What did you really see that night, Bay?”

  I swallowed hard. I didn’t like his tone. “I saw ghosts in the library,” I answered. “I think there were six of them. They were staring at me. I already told you that.”

  “No, you said you thought you saw something and then later linked it to the tanker,” Landon said. “You already knew at that point that the ghosts came from the tanker, so that was a lie.”

  I pursed my lips. “I … .”

  “Okay, let’s not get dramatic,” Chief Terry said. “I can’t pretend to understand what Bay saw or did, but I’m guessing it was somewhat heroic, because she saved Annie. Speaking of Annie, I’ve never seen her that angry or mean. Are the ghosts doing something to her?”

  “I think they’re showing her images and visions,” I answered, swallowing the painful lump in my throat. Landon’s anger made me want to cry. “It’s frightening and she doesn’t know what to do with what they’re showing her. She doesn’t mean to be such a pain.”

  “I think the ghosts must’ve followed Bay home from the tanker that day,” Thistle said. “We were at the tanker this afternoon and Bay saw something again.”

  “Did you pass out?” Landon’s eyes were on fire.

  I shook my head. “I just saw flashes.”

  “I’m pretty sure it was an echo,” Aunt Tillie explained. “I don’t know how else to explain it. Whatever happened on the tanker was terrible enough to leave an impression decades after the event. That means the ghosts will be particularly hard to get rid of.”

  “Oh, well, that sounds lovely,” Landon intoned, shaking his head. “I just … .” He broke off and pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead. He seemed lost and hurt. I couldn’t blame him.

  “Landon … .”

  “Not now, Bay,” Landon said, his voice low.

  “But … .”

  “No.” Landon shook his head. “I’m so angry with you right now I know I’ll say something terrible that I’ll regret if we talk about this before I have a chance to process. I am not going to yell at you given what just happened.”

  “Because she’s a hero,” Clove said solemnly. “She’s a big hero, and you shouldn’t be angry with her, because you can’t fight with heroes.”

  Landon’s shoulders were stiff but I didn’t miss the way his lips quirked when he turned to Clove. “I love how you guys fight constantly but back each other up when something bad happens,” he said. “It makes me laugh.”

  “You don’t look like you’re laughing now,” Thistle pointed out. “I don’t know about anyone else, but I think we’d all feel better if you laughed. I know Bay would.”

  Landon finally turned his full attention to me. “I’m not in the mood to laugh.”

  “Are you in the mood to eat?” Chief Terry asked, turning his gaze to the swinging door as my mother and aunts barreled through it, their arms laden with serving dishes. “There’s no problem too big that pot roast can’t make it better.”

  Landon shrugged. “I could eat.”

  Well, that was at least something. He didn’t storm out and he was sitting through dinner. That’s good, right? Yeah, I’m not so sure either.

  DINNER was a somber affair. Landon sat in his regular spot, but he didn’t so much as utter a word to me and I was relegated to talking to Maggie, who seemed thrilled by what happened rather than worried. I could tell her reaction annoyed Landon further, but there wasn’t much I could do about that, so I pretended I was unbothered and happy to discuss ghosts even as Landon stewed next to me.

  After eating two huge slices of cake and promising to come up with a plan of action to help Annie the next morning, Landon and I left through the back door. I was ready for a fight … and maybe even some groveling … but the sight of Aunt Tillie hurrying back toward the inn with her arms full of herbs was enough to give me pause.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, confused.

  “That had better not be pot,” Landon said, his voice flat. “I’ll arrest you if it is.”

  “It’s not pot,” Aunt Tillie scoffed, her eyes thoughtful as they bounced between us. “I’m casting a ritual spell with your mothers to block spirits from the house. We’re doing it before bed. That should keep Annie safe – er, well, at least somewhat safer.”

  “That’s a good idea,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck as weariness overcame me. “Do you need help?”

  “No, you need rest,” Aunt Tillie said. “We’ve got this.”

  “Great,” Landon said woodenly. “Let’s go, Bay.”

  I fell into step next to him, resigned to the fact that we were going to have a long night. Aunt Tillie didn’t let us go quietly, however.

  “Landon, you need to let her off the hook,” Aunt Tillie said, taking me by surprise with her serious expression. “You’re being a butthead.”

  Landon stilled. I could practically feel the anger radiating off of him. “Why should I let it go?” he challenged, glaring at Aunt Tillie. “She could’ve been hurt. I don’t know what happened, but I felt the serious nature of it. She could’ve died in my arms. I don’t know how I know that, but I do.”

  “But she didn’t,” Aunt Tillie said pragmatically. “She’s alive and she protected Annie. What else would you have her do?”

  “Not get hurt.” Landon’s answer was so simple it caused my heart to roll.

  “You go to your job every day knowing that you could get hurt,” Aunt Tillie pointed out. “You would’ve done the same thing to protect Annie if you could. Don’t bother denying it.”

  “I … .” Landon’s jaw worked, but he couldn’t find the appropriate words, so instead he simply scowled.

  “You’re a good man, Landon,” Aunt Tillie said. “You’re ‘The Man’ and I hate you on general principle, but you’re still a good man and you love Bay. You can’t control everything. She’s just as much of a hero as you are. You merely take different roads to the same destination. You should be proud of her, not angry.”

  “That’s a nice sentiment and thought,” Landon said. “I’m always proud of her.” The simple declaration was enough to make hope surge through my chest. “But I won’t survive if something happens to her. I need her to use her head. I need her to tell me the truth when this stuff pops up.

  “I don’t want to change her,” he continued. “Heck, I don’t want to change any of you. Well, I might change you a little, but for the most part I’d leave you exactly as you are, too. I don’t like secrets.

  “Now, I understand why she didn’t tell me everything that was going on when we first met, because you had to keep yourselves safe,” he said. “Now, though, I think I’ve been pretty good about all of this. I don’t pretend to understand, but I don’t fight what you’re doing and I always try to help.”

  “You’ve been great,” I interjected. “That’s not why I kept it to myself.”

  “Then why did you?” Landon asked. He looked hurt and upset. “Why not tell me that first night?”

  “Because I didn’t want to ruin the weekend,” I admitted. “I wanted us to have a good time together, and if you thought that something bad was going on you would’ve insisted on fixing it right away and we wouldn’t have had enough time together.

  “I feel as if I’m always living on a timetable because you’re mostly here on the weekends,” I continued. “I didn’t want to ruin the weekend and I also didn’t want to tell you because I knew you would worry. You would’ve killed yourself figuring out a way to be close a
nd still do your job. That’s not fair to you.”

  Landon’s expression softened, which relieved some of the tension building in the pit of my stomach. “None of this is fair to you,” he said, cupping the back of my head. “I’m sorry you feel as if we’re living on a timetable. I’m going to figure it out. I promise.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” I protested. “I’m not trying to force you to do something to make me happy.”

  “See, that’s the problem, Bay,” Landon said. “All I want to do is make you happy. I don’t like living on a timetable either. Until I can fix things, though, you need to have faith in me.

  “I don’t want to worry about you, but not knowing what you’re up to is worse,” he continued. “I love you so much, sweetie, but you can’t shut me out of stuff like this. It makes things too hard, and I don’t want to spend every weekend wondering what you’re not telling me.”

  The reality of his words washed over me. I wasn’t being fair to him even though he worked overtime to be fair to me. “I … .”

  “That sounds like a good idea,” Aunt Tillie said, gripping the herbs closer to her chest. I’d almost forgotten she was there. “I think everything will work out if you two stop being idiots.”

  “That’s not what I said,” Landon admonished.

  “Huh, and yet that’s what I heard,” Aunt Tillie said, an evil grin spreading across her face. “Do you want to know what I think?”

  Landon and I shook our heads in unison.

  “Not even remotely,” Landon answered.

  “I’m going to tell you anyway,” Aunt Tillie shot back. “I think you two like the drama. This entire family likes drama, so Bay being dramatic doesn’t surprise me. You’re ‘The Man,’ so you’re naturally dramatic, too.”

  “Thank you,” Landon said dryly.

  Aunt Tillie ignored his tone. “You like a little drama here and there because it keeps things fresh and exciting,” she said. “That’s how Calvin and I lived our lives, too. Before he died, we loved the drama. It made making up much more exciting and … vigorous.”