Seasons of Love (Witches of Warren County)

by Summer Donnelly

  “That explains the glowing eyes.”

  “It’s a highly inconvenient sign that I’m receiving a vision.”

  “You can see the future?”

  “It’s hit or miss on timing and detail but, yes. If and when I receive one, I can see the future.”

  “That’s like totally cool!”

  “Not really. It can put a huge burden on my sisters and me. Not everyone wants us to know their secrets.”

  “Oh. I hadn’t thought of that.” January brightened for a moment. “That’s what Mickey meant when he said to ask you stuff. Is he a member of the Old Families?”

  “No, but he helps cover for Kel so I put up with his snide comments.” Tabby smiled. “I’m glad you’re not completely freaked out.” She looked down. “I don’t have a lot of friends. Please don’t be mad at me for lying. I wanted to know you better before I told you everything.”

  “I understand,” January said with a sad smile. “It all makes sense, really. I felt like I was missing something. I hate missing things.” Their boots made crunching sounds in the snow crusted woods. “Is Kel a member of the Old Families?”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t figure it out already,” Tabby said.

  “He can’t lie, can he?”

  “It’s more than that, but yeah, that’s part of it. Parkers can’t lie and if they make you a promise, they will have to hold it forever. Unfortunately, their wives tend to sneak off in the middle of the night.” Tabby’s grin turned sad. “Honesty is a good thing, don’t get me wrong. But too much honesty doesn’t make for long marriages, I guess.”

  January absorbed this part of the story. She stopped as something occurred to her. “But if they get married, they have promised to love and honor someone the rest of their lives.”

  “Yep.” They stood at the top of a clearing. Tabby scanned the area. “Can you see him?”

  “Who?”

  “Kel.”

  January frowned and scanned the clearing. “No.”

  “Look up. He’s in a tree stand.” Tabby pointed to a fat oak tree.

  “Oh. Okay. I see him, now. Well. Sort of. Is he in camouflage?”

  “Yep. That’s where we’re going.”

  As they approached, January realized they were several hundred feet behind the horse farm. “What’s going on?” she asked, her voice dropping to a whisper. Sound carried over the cold air and snow that lined the yard.

  “Kel, we’re coming up on your six,” Tabby said.

  “I see you.”

  January looked up. And smiled. “You look like Nanook of the North.”

  “It’s cold waiting out here,” he said from the warm cocoon of hat, scarf, coat, and gloves.

  “Deer season is over, cowboy,” Tabby said.

  “Season is wide open on vandals,” Kel said. He looked down at the girls. “Shouldn’t you guys be in school? What are you doing here? How did you know I was here? Did you see something, Tab?” His glanced bounced nervously off of January.

  “I told her everything,” she said. “And yes. Well maybe. Visions aren’t perfect, you know. Mickey is on his way over.”

  “Everything?”

  “I needed to know what was going on,” January said, her eyes defiant as she glared up at Kel.

  “You’re right. You did. It’s just hard to decide how to tell people.”

  January was still annoyed but she could see the truth in his words.

  “It’s one thing to be honest,” Kel continued. “But to tell people your great great grandmother was cursed or something is bit off-putting.”

  “The Parkers aren’t cursed,” Tabby said.

  “It feels like it somedays.”

  January reached out and touched Kel’s hand. “I don’t see it that way at all,” she said softly. “In fact, I think your family tells the truth to make you the most trustworthy ones. Like judges or something. A family people can put their faith in.”

  Kel smiled and looked down at his feet. “I never thought of it that way,” he said.

  A stumbling noise sounded in the distance. Kel’s eyes lit up. He lifted a pair of binoculars to his eyes. “Good. We’re going to need Mickey. I think this is our vandal now.”

  The unmistakable sound of mixing beads in a spray can echoed across the snow-covered ground. Kel jumped out of the deer stand. “Go get your dad,” she said. “We’ll watch him but tackle him if he gets too close to the barn.”

  Despite being cleaned off, the barn still bore the unmistakable scar of old paint. Fresh red paint was on order and Kel’s first job at Farraday Farms was to help paint the barn. He’d be damned if some dude with a can of spray paint was going to ruin it further.

  Keeping out of sight, January took off through the woods and headed for her dad’s office in the barn. Their only hope was in finding her dad without being seen and before more vandalism occurred.

  <<<>>>

  “Dad, come quick!”

  Zach looked up. Frowned. Looked at his watch. Then back at his daughter. “What are you doing here?”

  She tugged on his hand. “I’ll explain later. Please,” she begged. “I need you.”

  Zach stood and grabbed his flannel from the back of his chair and followed his daughter. Farraday was just coming into the barn and decided to follow them.

  January skidded to a stop as they rounded the back of the equipment shed. Kel had an older man pinned against the damp ground. Mickey was strutting like a rooster saying, “Did you see that? Did you get it all on your phone?”

  Tabby’s hair was mussed but her smile was triumphant. “Saw it, got it.” She turned to the man cursing in the mud. “You’re going to get what’s coming to you, Dr. Ivy.”

  “Stupid meddling kids.”

  “When did my farm become an episode of Scooby-doo,” Farraday demanded. “I take it this is my vandal?” The four teenagers nodded.

  Farraday winked at Kel, letting him know everything was cool between them. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the police. “Officer Winters, please,” he said into his phone.

  “You might want to stop that, Ivy,” Zach said. “There’s a big pile of road apples over to the right. One more squirm and you’re going to be wearing more than mud.”

  Ivy stilled and glared up at Zach.

  Zach nodded to Kel. “I think you can let him up. Ivy here isn’t going to get in any more trouble, is he?”

  Ivy sniffed but didn’t say anything as he was allowed to stand.

  Zach sidled over to his daughter and tossed an arm around her slim shoulders. “Good job catching the bad guy, Bug.” She grinned up at him. “But you want to tell me why you’re here instead of being at school?”

  Her grin grew strained. “Yeah, can we talk about that later?”

  Police sirens echoed in the distance.

  <<<>>>

  Hours later, as the early winter darkness descended on the farm, January and her dad ate pizza at the kitchen table.

  “Fill me in, Bug. What’s going on?”

  “Kel cut classes all week. I guess he wanted to be there in case Dr. Ivy came back. Which you have to admit was a very good idea. Who knows what kind of mischief that sneaky old man could have gotten into. And to think, Tabby told me he used to be a professor!”

  Zach waved a tired hand. “You. I want to know about you. How did you get out to the farm?”

  “A car.”

  Zach leaned back and crossed his arms across his chest and gave her his “Dad has had just about enough of your mouth” look. January sighed, knowing she had run her dad’s patience into the ground.

  “So, apparently Tabby had a premonition or something that Kel was out at the farm. We cut class and went to give him back up.”

  “You cut school?”

  “Dad, it doesn’t matter anyway. I don’t have enough credits to graduate and my grades are generally in the toilet. We haven’t stayed anywhere long enough for me to learn anything.”

  Shame crossed her father’s features and January
’s eyes filled with tears. She didn’t want her dad to feel bad but the bottom line was changing schools three times a year hadn’t done her any favors.

  “I haven’t been fair to you.”

  January felt her eyes fill with tears. “I want it to work here, Dad. I have almost my entire senior year left. Even if I have to get my GED, I want to stay here. I have friends here. I know after Mom died, you were lost. We both were. We just kinda’ went through the last few years like we were asleep.”

  Zach’s eyes filled with tears and he nodded. January stood up and walked up to him. “Daddy?” she said, sounding and feeling much younger than her seventeen years. He opened his arms and she hugged him like she hadn’t since she was a small girl. “It’s time to wake up. I want to stay here.”

  “I’ll start looking for a real apartment in the morning.”

  That night, as January climbed into the too-soft mattress, she was smiling from ear to ear. A dad who loved her, a permanent home, and friends — what else could a girl possibly want?

  Saturday morning, they gathered at The Breakfast Club. Tabby was supposed to be working but she spent more time gabbing than serving coffee.

  “I can’t believe that Ivy guy,” Tabby said. “Emma had to have him arrested for drunk and disorderly at her wedding two years ago. And now an arrest for vandalism? At this point, he won’t even get a job as a janitor at the community college.”

  “Order up, Tabby!”

  Tabby got to her feet. Her gait was light as she floated to pick up her January’s order. “Here ya go. One piping hot New Jersey Breakfast coming up.”

  January looked at the sandwich in front of her. “What is that?”

  “That,” Tabby said proudly, “is three thick slices of Taylor Ham, an over-medium egg, and a slice of American cheese on a hard roll.”

  “Because who needs words like organic or healthy where breakfast is concerned?”

  “Just try it,” Kel said, grinning.

  January took a cautious bite. “Omigoth,” she said around a mouthful of food. “How have I never heard of this? This is amaze balls!”

  Kel and Mickey laughed as they dug into their pancakes.

  Tabby left to freshen her customer’s coffees.

  January ate the rest of her sandwich with an eagerness that would have embarrassed her if it hadn’t tasted so good.

  “So, what’s on tap for you, January?”

  “Mr. Prescott got me a job at the Fire Box as a prep chef. I’ll work there after school. Go to school with everyone and take my GED this spring. But I’ll be able to walk at graduation with you guys.”

  Kel smiled and leaned back, massaging his now full belly. “Your dad has agreed to stay?”

  “Yep. We were looking for apartments but Mr. Farraday said he wanted Dad to stay on site. He has a two bedroom that we’re going to clean up and move into next week.”

  “That’s great,” Tabby said as she breezed past them. “Let’s go up to Emma’s house and go through her basement. Mickey, you can get her a few gallons of paint, right?”

  Mickey nodded, his mouth too full to answer.

  January checked her watch. “Yikes, I need to get going. I promised Dad I’d help him get horses ready for a Dandelion Girl Troop that’s coming for a riding lesson.”

  Kel stood and put money down for their food and a healthy tip for Tabby. They walked out into the bright, sparkling afternoon just as a mild snow flurry fell around them.

  January put out her arms and leaned back in order to watch the snow fall down. She stuck her tongue out, eager for a taste of the bright fresh crystals.

  Kel smiled and opened the car door for her. “January?”

  “Yeah?”

  “There’s a winter dance coming up next week,” he said.

  She looked up at him. “Oh?”

  “Would you like to come with me?”

  Her smile grew incandescent with pleasure. “I’d love to, Kel.”

  The End.

  Spring’s Promise

  “You need to take better care of your things,” Jeremy Colletti said to his youngest sister as he washed breakfast dishes. “And don’t turn those big puppy dog eyes on me. They may work for Jared, but they don’t work on me.”

  “I tripped, Jeremy. I wasn’t trying to break the phone. And besides, it needed a case. Everyone knows that.” She used her voice to drip as much sarcasm as possible into her sentence.

  “Check your tone.”

  Amber glared at her brother, her gaze as far away from “puppy dog eyes” as a human being could get.

  Jared came in, whistling a happy tune. “Head’s up,” he said, tossing the box to Amber.

  “You got her a new phone?” Jeremy demanded as he dried his hands.

  Jared’s expressive brown eyes went from one sibling to the other. “Of course, I did. It was under warranty.” He handed another box to Amber. “This is one of those indestructible type cases. The salesperson said it should help in case of any more accidents.”

  “You’re spoiling her.”

  “Jeremy, it’s just a phone. It was an accident. How many phones have we killed? Give the kid a break.”

  “Stop yelling at him,” Amber said, her voice trembling with repressed tears. “I don’t need a phone, Jare,”

  “Take it. I’ll feel better if I know how to find you if we need you.” He nodded to his twin brother. “Jeremy will too when he calms down.”

  “I am calm,” Jeremy said, folding his arms across his chest.

  Amber sat down and put her new phone in the case. She smiled when she saw Jare had already had it programmed for her. He really was the best brother.

  She stood and slipped on a pair of boots. She saw an owl nest the other day and was hoping to get a few pictures of the mom and her owlets.

  “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Jeremy asked.

  “Out,” Amber said.

  “You can’t just leave,” Jeremy said. “What if someone from DYFS needs to find you? What are we supposed to tell them?”

  Amber jutted out her chin in stubborn defiance. “I guess you can try calling me on my cell phone, couldn’t you?” She stormed out the door, furious with her brother.

  “You gotta’ stop pushing so hard, Jeremy,” Jared said, his low baritone carrying through the open window. “We just got her out of foster care. What’s so bad if we give her a few nice things?”

  Amber hated that they were arguing over her. She loved them both but so often just felt in the way. The Colletti twins were the perfect unit. They did everything together. Then she had come along, and their entire lives had changed.

  She stared at the bright red phone case in her hand. She loved them. Appreciated what they had done, assuming responsibility for her when they’d only been out of the foster care system a few years themselves. But that didn’t give Jeremy the right to yell at her.

  She headed for the wooded area around the old railroad tracks. She wanted to decorate her bedroom with pictures of the wildlife around her new home. If the owl proved elusive, hopefully she could find the fox whose tracks she’d seen in the mud yesterday.

  She found an abandoned tree stand and climbed into it, her eyes intently looking for little critters. She already had a woodpecker and a deer, but was really hoping for that gorgeous red fox.

  She saw movement and pulled out her camera, ready to take the picture. As she stood, she almost hit her head on a branch. She flinched and watched as her camera went flying out of her hands.

  “No,” she cried, jumping to the ground and sending a groundhog scuttling for safety.

  Amber chased her phone down the hill with focused intent. She couldn’t lose her second phone. She just couldn’t. Even Jared would be pissed this time.

  She jumped over a rock, but tripped when she hit a branch.

  “Oof,” she said as she hit the ground and rolled a few feet. Her eyes were instantly alert as she tried to find the flying object.

  She spotted it just as it boun
ced off a rock and left planet Earth to go flying into a ditch. She gathered her steam, ran, and slid into home hoping to catch the damn thing before it shattered.

  She dove, disregarding her safety and landed with a soft thud in the woods. But at least, she had her phone. She swiped her thumb, relieved so see it still working, and sighed with relief. Apparently that super bouncy case Jared bought was worth its weight in cell phone coverage.

  The slow clap was her only indication she wasn’t alone in the woods. She swept her tangle of brown curls off her face and looked up into the smirk of a boy around her own age.

  He wore a leather jacket and a pair of jeans that had seen better days. The distance made it hard to tell, but he appeared to be a little taller than her with shaggy white-blond hair. What her grandmother used to call a tow-headed blond. He probably would have been cute if it hadn’t been for the smug grin on his face.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” he said.

  “I think it’s you that doesn’t belong here,” she said, straightening her spine and facing her adversary.

  He nodded to the abandoned railroad track. “We use these to ride our dirt bikes on,” he said. “You weren’t even paying attention. We could have hit you.”

  Amber stared at him a moment. She had been listening to music and not really looking for dirt bikes, but weren’t dirt bikes loud? Like, way louder than her music loud?

  She shrugged, refusing to let Leather Jacket intimidate her. She’d been wondering around these woods since her brothers bought the house on the other side of the empty cornfield.

  She dusted herself off, bowed as though she had intended to perform such acrobatic feats, and hurried away.

  Now, if only her brother wouldn’t kill her for ripping her new jeans.

  <<<>>>

  Being the new kid sucked!

  Apparently, there was no elevator at Harper’s Mill High. And it only took Amber being the butt of five upperclassmen before she figured it out. They had all been so sincere, though in their directions. They had promised her that if she could only find the elevator, she could find her classroom.