T*Witches 3: Seeing Is Deceiving

by H. B. Gilmour

  T*Witches:

  Seeing is Deceiving

  H.B. Gilmour

  & Randi Reisfeld

  © 2001, 2012 H.B. Gilmour and Randi Reisfeld

  All rights reserved.

  First published by Scholastic in 2001.

  DEDICATION

  Dedicated to the memory of Deanna Reisfeld.

  Thanks for the inspiration, the support,

  and the red-haired twins.

  —R.R.

  With love and gratitude, for PJ and Fred.

  —H.B.G.

  A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT

  THE AUTHORS WOULD LIKE TO SEND A SPECIAL WHOO-HOO! TO STEVE KASDIN, NATHANIEL BISSON, MICHELLE LEWY, ELLIE BERGER, TINA MCINTYRE, AND THEIR TEAMS FOR USING THEIR EXTREMELY EXCELLENT GIFTS ON BEHALF OF T*WITCHES.

  Contents

  Copyright

  Chapter One: The Shoplifter

  Chapter Two: Helping Hands

  Chapter Three: A Crisis on Coventry Island

  Chapter Four: The Substitute

  Chapter Five: Tuning Out

  Chapter Six: Fitting In

  Chapter Seven: Beth’s Frost

  Chapter Eight: Blinded by the Light

  Chapter Nine: A Tale of Three Brothers

  Chapter Ten: Bruise Clues

  Chapter Eleven: One Father too Many

  Chapter Twelve: An Enchanted Evening

  Chapter Thirteen: The Nightmare

  Chapter Fourteen: Sunday in Salem

  Chapter Fifteen: Seeing is Deceiving

  Chapter Sixteen: Breaking Through

  Chapter Seventeen: Switching Sisters

  Chapter Eighteen: A Bird in Hand

  Chapter Nineteen: The Time has Come

  Chapter Twenty: Into the Rave

  Chapter Twenty-One: Friends Till the End

  Chapter Twenty-Two: Where we Belong

  Chapter Twenty-Three: The Bittersweet Truth

  Chapter Twenty-Four: Under the Sacred Tree

  About the Authors

  CHAPTER ONE

  THE SHOPLIFTER

  Snap! It happened in a heartbeat. So fast, no one could have seen it. No one normal, that is.

  Camryn hadn’t seen it yet, but she was about to. If not for the sudden attack of icy chills and the dizzying headache stopping her in her tracks, she might not have bothered to look around. But by now, she knew that the strange sensations that had been coming over her since childhood always warned of something.

  Like now. Like right here, in the middle of the Jewelry Corner, at the Marble Bay Galleria. Something bad was about to happen.

  Behind her.

  Cam whirled around. Across the store, she saw a girl about her own age, with stringy brown hair, trembling, reaching out toward the case where the most expensive jewelry was locked. The kind of jewelry that a salesperson had to extract for the customer to look at, to try on. Out on that counter, on a plush velvet cushion, sat a sparkling diamond tennis bracelet. But only for a split second.

  Cam narrowed her intense gray eyes. In addition to her ability to sense things before they happened, Cam also had incredible powers of sight. She telescoped in on the scene. A tall, thin woman with brassy blond hair was standing next to the girl and drew the salesperson’s attention away. In that instant, the girl quickly swiped the sparkler and slipped it into the right-hand pocket of her peacoat — in the same motion, she reached into her left-hand pocket, withdrew a look-alike bracelet, and replaced the one she’d stolen. The action had taken a fraction of a second.

  Although she’d been at the other end of the store and shouldn’t have been able to see any of it Camryn Barnes had just witnessed a shoplifting.

  In another corner of the store, the scent hit Alex before she heard the words. Fetid, sweaty, sticky, the smell of fear. Like Camryn, Alex had hyperabilities. She could smell things that regular people couldn’t. She could hear things, too. Even things that people thought, but didn’t say, like the unspoken pleas of a girl. Please don’t make me do this! It’s wrong…. I’ll get caught…. I don’t want to….

  Behind her.

  Alex Fielding realized the panicked thoughts were coming from the other end of the store.

  Another voice, this one scratchy, older, female, also unspoken: She’d better hurry it up! This kid is so slow — where’d we get her from, anyway? We’ve gone over this drill a thousand times. Just pick up the bracelet and stick it in your pocket, and replace it with the one we brought. We really need this!

  Alex knew what she had to do.

  Bolting to the jewelry case, she wasn’t surprised to find her identical twin sister also on the way. Cam had clearly seen what Alex had heard. No words passed between the twins as they gained on the thieves, who were now halfway to the exit.

  Cam intercepted them, blocking their way. Before the robbers realized her move was deliberate, Alex was by her side.

  The woman wore big sunglasses and was clearly rattled. With long, thin pincerlike arms, she tried to elbow past the twin-barrier. “Excuse me! Out of the way!”

  “Not so fast,” Cam said evenly. “Did you leave something behind at the jewelry counter?”

  Cam could see through the sunglasses. The woman’s black bug eyes flashed daggers at her. “No, we did not.” Her voice riveted Cam. Scratchy and harsh, she hissed, “We’re in a hurry. Now move!”

  Her own huge, inky-gray eyes flashing, Cam stared her down. “Not until you return what you stole.”

  The woman didn’t react, but the girl was in full-tilt panic, her whole body trembling. Alex’s heart went out to her. Whatever heist this duo was pulling off, the girl had been pushed into it.

  Reflexively, the girl’s hand went to her pocket, and her jaw dropped. “How … how did you …?” she sputtered.

  The woman whirled on the girl. “Lizzie! Just tell them you didn’t steal anything. Let’s go!”

  Lizzie bit her lip and started to shake. “I… you …”

  “You know she did!” Cam seethed — the pair were in this together! What kind of mother would force her own daughter to steal? “I saw you distract the saleswoman so she could make the switch! How can you —”

  Alex’s sharp kick to her shins stopped Cam’s rant. Give me a sec, she telepathically communicated to her twin.

  Then Alex leaned over to the girl and whispered, “Let go of the bracelet for a minute. I’m going to help you.”

  As the woman began to protest, Cam stared hard at her, using her powers to stun.

  It worked — the sunglasses were no shield against Cam’s remarkable gray eyes. The woman became confused and froze for a minute.

  Alex went into action.

  “Come back to the counter with me,” she directed Lizzie. “Let’s be casual.”

  “No! I can’t…. I didn’t want to. Please don’t turn me in.”

  “Sssshh, trust me,” Alex whispered as she escorted the terrified girl back to the scene of the crime. “Just pretend we’re friends checking out the baubles. Stand next to me. Keep both hands in front of you, on the counter. Don’t touch anything.”

  Petrified now, Lizzie did as she was told.

  The saleswoman was at the register and had her back to the counter. It wouldn’t be long before she turned around, however. That was all Alex needed.

  Let this work, Alex prayed silently.

  Alex focused on the jewelry in Lizzie’s pocket. She pictured the bracelet drifting up and saw it settling neatly onto the countertop. Alex was just beginning to be comfortable with her powers — like this one, the ability to move objects just by thinking about them. She waited, fully expecting to hear the gentle clink of diamonds on glass.

  Instead, she heard
nothing. What was she doing wrong?

  In school, when a jock had picked on a mentally challenged kid, Alex had loosened the drawstring on his sweatpants — somehow they’d fallen down, right in the middle of a basketball game. That was one for the yearbook!

  And just the other day, she’d found a rusted nail and given a sudden flat tire to a road-rageful driver who’d blasted through a stop sign.

  She’d been angry. Is that what it would take to help this girl? Well, she’d work up a righteous fury, then!

  It didn’t take much. Alex had just heard that this girl was being forced into stealing. She glanced at the flustered woman Cam had immobilized. What kind of twisted adult used a kid to steal a …

  Bracelet! At that moment, Lizzie gasped. The diamond bracelet came wafting out of her pocket, as if buffeted by a gentle breeze, and landed gently on the counter, barely making a sound.

  Mission accomplished.

  Alex grabbed Lizzie’s bony arm and rushed her out of the store. The blond woman went flying in another direction.

  * * *

  “We did it! Go, us!” Although her head still ached, Cam was flushed with excitement. “How cool was that? We totally prevented a robbery! Probably, we just saved another young soul from a life of crime, made her really think about her actions, that crime so does not pay.” Jubilant, Cam raised her palm for Alex to slap.

  “Kudos overload, anyone?” Alex said grumpily, ignoring her twin’s hand. “We saw, we heard, we intercepted. After that brief commercial break, they’ll probably just rob another store. So don’t get all PAX-TV.”

  “What crawled up your caboose?” Cam demanded.

  “It wasn’t the girl, and you know it,” Alex replied. “The woman pushed her to do it, and in that little drama, we probably had a negative effect.”

  Cam paused. She did know. But she realized Alex knew more. “You heard their thoughts, didn’t you? What were they?”

  “The woman was insisting, ‘We really need this.’” Alex stopped.

  “They need it? That’s so weird. They were well-dressed, they’re not the type —”

  “What’s ‘the type,’ Camryn? What would you know about the ‘type’ of people who steal? Are you saying only poor people steal?”

  As she always did, Cam took the bait and got defensive. “Gee, thanks, Als, I so need a reminder of your humble roots, which, of course, equals the ‘good’ twin; versus my privileged upbringing, which equals the ‘bad’ twin. I mean, the last seventy-nine zillion zingers just weren’t enough.”

  Unrepentant, Alex stuck out her chin. “Sorry if our life experiences were on the unparallel bars. When it came to the adoption lottery, could you help it if your number turned up among the big-bucks Barnes clan? Yet somehow, you managed to make do — the big house, trendy togs, laptop, cell phone, the trinkets of the trendoids. I know, it wasn’t easy….”

  Cam grimaced and wound the chain of her sun necklace around her finger tightly. The headaches she suffered after her premonitions lingered. Now Alex was giving her a bigger one.

  “Oh, and BTW,” Alex added. “Shoplifter woman? Not that girl’s mom.”

  The twins, identical in their pouty lips, gently sloped noses, strong jaws, and intense, charcoal-rimmed gray eyes, were opposite in just about everything else. Including:

  Dress: Cam was neatly pressed Banana Republic/Gap girl; Alex, the draggy, baggy crop-topper.

  ’Do: Cam’s thick chestnut hair brushed her shoulders; Alex’s gelled spikes stood at attention, in stripes of auburn, scarlet, and blue.

  Demeanor: Cam was naturally upbeat and sunny; Alex usually introspective and moody.

  Only now, they were both grouchy. They glared at each other.

  For the subject of mothers was a sore one. And a major one. Clarification: the most major one.

  Camryn Barnes and Alexandra Fielding had been raised by different families, in different parts of the country. Cam grew up in the upscale suburb of Marble Bay, Massachusetts, with Dave and Emily Barnes. Alex grew up in rural Crow Creek, Montana, with her mom, Sara Fielding. The girls never knew they were adopted. Never knew they were twins. Never knew they were witches, really.

  Until last summer, only a few short months ago. The summer they accidentally met, the summer that changed their lives forever. Alex and Camryn learned the truth about themselves — or at least part of it. They learned that they were born Artemis and Apolla into an illustrious family of witches and warlocks. They discovered that their biological father was dead and that they had been separated at birth to prevent evil witches and warlocks from harming them. But of their mother, they knew nothing beyond her name: Miranda. Who she really was, where she was, or even if she was — alive or dead.

  In the middle of finding all of this out, Alex’s mom, Sara, died. Which is how Alex came to live with Cam’s family. Together, the twins had been trying to piece together who they were, what their powers were, and what they were destined to do with them.

  Now the twins walked silently through the mall. After a while Cam blurted, “We should have reported them. You’re right. They’ll probably just go into another store and steal something else.”

  “Reported them?” Alex rolled her intense silvery eyes. “And said exactly what? Here’s the thing, Officer. See, we’re witches. And in that witch capacity, I can sometimes hear what people are thinking. And my sister here? Who was in the earring section, with her back turned? Her special witchy gift includes premonitions and abnormally sharp sight, so she eyewitnessed the heist from twenty feet away. Slammin’ plan, Cam-era.”

  Cam winced. She so hated when Alex did that mocking thing. Especially when Als was, like, right. She folded her arms. “What’s your action plan, then?”

  “Inaction.”

  “Inaction,” Cam repeated. “So brilliant, yet so bone-headed!”

  “What part of ‘we do nothing’ don’t you understand?” Alex challenged, leaning into Cam. “We’re …” She lowered her voice. “Witches. Not cops. We only flat-lined the robbery because of the girl. She was forced to steal. But we probably only made it worse for her.”

  Cam’s head was still throbbing, no thanks to Alex. “Okay, look, you’re probably right. I…”

  Alex grew concerned. “What’s the matter? You don’t look so good.”

  “I’m feelin’ woozy. You go ahead, I’m going to CVS.”

  “Want me to come?” Alex offered.

  She didn’t, really. Besides headache relief, she wanted Alex relief. So what if identi-girl was often on target? Big deal — Alex had all the right questions, but none of the answers.

  And Cam just needed not to see her own face belligerently staring at her. Head down, she hurried toward the mall drugstore. As she hurtled around the nearest corner, she checked over her shoulder to be sure Alex wasn’t following her.

  Bad plan. She crashed full-on into a freestanding cart….

  “Whoa! Hey … Watch out!”

  … And ricocheted right into the boy who was working at it.

  CHAPTER TWO

  HELPING HANDS

  “Extraordinary tackle!” The boy was obviously shaken — but not stirred enough to be angry with her. Which was lucky, considering Cam had clumsily managed to knock them both to the ground!

  Cam turned crimson and managed a weak, “I’m so sorry! I can’t believe I just did that.”

  “And yet, it appears you did,” he said teasingly, starting to get up. He was obviously unhurt. But when Cam didn’t respond right away, he added, “Hey, crash-test, are you okay?”

  She shook her head and focused, finally locking eyes with the boy she’d body-slammed. His were the color of cocoa, a light milky chocolate. His tousled hair was the same color.

  Cam’s hands went clammy. Her heart began to pound, she could feel her cheeks start to burn — and strangely, goose bumps rose at the back of her neck. It felt less like a premonition, more like a powerful attraction to the hottie she’d just knocked over. Because, on a scale of one to studline
ss, this boy was, she chuckled inwardly at the expression that came to her, knock-down-drag-out off the charts.

  Cam dusted herself off. “Only my pride is bruised, thanks. I am so embarrassed!” She reached out, assuming he’d extended his hand to help her up.

  Assumption wrong.

  Instead, he bent to pick up her tote, which she’d dropped during the head-on. It was when they were both standing that she noticed how tall he was, easily over six feet. Her eye level was at his chest, on which he wore an unusual pin, in the shape of a hand. It read, I’M SHANE. ASK ME ABOUT HELPING HANDS.

  He laughed, seeing her staring at the pin. “Yes, I am.”

  “Uh … you’re what?” Another clever retort, Cam bemoaned. That’s flustered — one; composure — zero.

  “Shane Wright. That’s my name. And you would be …”

  “Cam.” Flushed, she amended, “That is, Camryn Barnes.”

  “Well, ‘That Is Camryn Barnes,’” he teased, “I wasn’t expecting you to plow into me, but I’m glad you did.”

  “You’re glad?” Okay, off to an improbable start, but he was totally flirting.

  “Sure … now you have to give me your full attention. You owe me.”

  Or not.

  Cam frowned. Shane, devastatingly cute as he was, was selling something. He probably only considered Cam a customer — and a klutz! She took in the freestanding cart he was working at. It was packed with books and pamphlets, all with the same distinctive logo.

  “Helping Hands is a new organization. We raise money for kids in need,” the boy was explaining earnestly, as if Cam hadn’t just plowed into him.

  “Like UNICEF?” Cam asked, still trying to regain her composure.

  “Sort of, but more focused. We run Sunshine House, which is a shelter for kids who’ve been abused and abandoned or living below the poverty level. You’d be surprised how many kids fall into that category.”

  Cam flashed on Alex. Her twin had certainly been part of that statistic, living in a tin trailer, her critically ill mom working two minimum-wage jobs. If she’d only known Alex back then, she could have helped. How grossly unfair that they’d been separated.