A Wishing Moon (9 page)

Elizabeth had asked the detective to call on them the next day. Somehow, she had to convince the detective to look for more bodies buried in the woods. Secretly, she looked forward to the visit. The detective was a very handsome man.

Publicity also concerned Elizabeth. There was no way their involvement would escape the notice of the media.

Evangeline and Arabella had reported they had cast a circle at Enchanted Rock and felt they had made contact. Arabella also told what the young man had said about the accident that had happened there only days earlier. “I assume you are going to follow up on that nugget of information?” Elizabeth asked.

“
Of course, first thing tomorrow,” Arabella assured her.

“
And you are planning on meeting him tonight?” Angelique spoke softly and carefully.

“
Yes, I am going to perform the same ritual and use the dream pillow as I did last night.”

Angelique reached into the pocket of her dress. “I have something for you.” She pulled out a sapphire necklace.

“
Oh, Angelique, how beautiful.” Arabella held out her hand.

“
Wear this tonight. The stones will help you dream and it aids in what they call today, astral travel. You have to realize, this young man may be unaware he is leaving his body. He may not know this is anything more than a dream. You must ask him some questions and find out who he is, and if he is in trouble, where he is.”

“
I will try.”

They were about to call it a night and retire upstairs, but Nanette stopped them. “Arabella, before we go to bed, let’s check every window and every door to make sure this place is safe. The things we have been preoccupied with today are important, but our well-being must take first place. Tomorrow, we will put up a ward around this home to keep out any enemy or any evil. For tonight, wear your red gris-gris bags to bed and I will pray for our safety.” They listened carefully to their elder relative and did as she requested. Elizabeth could hear her mother’s thoughts as clearly as if she were speaking aloud. Nanette could feel the danger and thought it may very well be connected to the murders in the neighborhood, but she did not have the proof, yet. Elizabeth prayed they would have the answers, soon.

* * * *

The day had been a long one. Nanette, Angelique and Evangeline had not had more than a couple of hours sleep the night before, and they were exhausted. Arabella made sure everyone had everything they needed before she went to her own room.

She couldn’t wait to see what her dreams would bring. After preparing for bed, she placed the sapphire necklace around her neck with the red flannel bag. She could tell the piece was very old. She charged it in her right hand and asked the spirit of the stone to allow her to find out his name. The dream pillow went underneath her pillow and she, once again, smudged the room with mugwort and lavender. Not wanting a repeat of last night’s restless tossing and turning, she opted to begin reading a book from the outset tonight. Arabella had chosen a work by the great Edgar Cayce,
The Sleeping Prophet
. He wrote a great deal on astral projection and even though she found it very interesting,
The Sleeping Prophet
put her right to sleep.

Almost instantly, she found herself right where she had longed to be all day. Even though the hour had been late when she went to bed, sunlight shone brightly on Enchanted Rock. Again, she heard the cry of a hawk. Frantically, she turned around in a circle searching the vast top of the pink granite mount. She was all alone, no one in sight. Her heart lurched with deep disappointment. She fell to her knees and began to weep. Despair flooded her soul. What more could she do? With head in hand, Arabella prayed to the gods for mercy and help.

A shadow covered her. Lifting her head, she saw the object of her desire, kneeling in front of her. She threw her arms around his neck and wept with joy. He drew her close and cupped the back of her head. “Don’t cry. I’m here.”

Arabella found his lips with hers. The kiss this time was tender and full of reverence. “I didn’t think you were coming.” She held on to him with all the strength she possessed. The solidness of him seemed to be a contradiction she couldn’t bear to examine very closely. Afraid that she would lose herself in his embrace, she forced her mind to think clearly. “You are real, aren’t you? Tell me your name.”

He took a deep breath and rested his head on her shoulder. “My name is Jade, Jade Landale.”

She stroked his hair with her hand. Something was desperately wrong. “Jade, come to me. My name is Arabella and I live at Wildflower Way
in Wimberley, just a few miles from here.”

“
I can’t.”

What did he mean? “Then, I will come to you. Jade, how can I find you?” He turned her loose and stood. She rose also. Arabella held on to him, afraid he would vanish at any moment.

“
I am at Tranquility.” One moment, her fingertips knew the warmth of his skin, the next he was gone and everything went black.

Chapter Five

His name is Jade.

His name is Jade.

His name is Jade.

The litany played over and over again in her mind. She lay in the bed and stretched luxuriously. The world looked brighter. He had a name. Jade Landale. But the place,
Tranquility
? Arabella didn’t understand—tranquility was a state of mind, not a place. Nevertheless, she had somewhere to start.

A tap on her door interrupted her reverie. “Come in.”

Evangeline opened the door and eased in to sit on the bed beside her cousin. “Did you learn anything?”

“
His name is Jade Landale.”

“
Jade. What an unusual name for a guy, but a pretty name. What else?”

Arabella sat up in bed and scooted back until she could lean on the oak headboard. She tidied her hair with her hands and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “I didn’t get much more. When I asked where I could find him, he said something strange. He said he was at tranquility.”

“
Tranquility, what does that mean?”

“
Good question, I don’t know if it’s a place or an emotion. You don’t think he’s dead, do you?”

Evangeline patted her on the leg, offering comfort. “Why don’t we use a pendulum and ask some questions?”

Arabella brightened. “What a good idea. Let me get dressed and we’ll search for his name on the computer, and then use the pendulum if we don’t find all the answers on the Internet.”

Evangeline left Arabella to get ready.

When she went downstairs, wonderful smells greeted her. Coffee was brewing and breakfast was well under the way—Elizabeth’s French toast. “Hey, baby. Are you hungry?” Arabella realized she had really missed her mother.

“
Yes, as a matter of fact, I am.” She poured herself a cup of coffee, and not being able to wait a moment longer, opened up the laptop and entered Jade’s name in the search engine. Her heart skipped a beat when there were several hits. Evangeline came in and leaned over her shoulder to see what she had found. “Hey, look at this.” She clicked on the first website in the list. “Oh, my God. Now, I know why he seemed familiar. Jade is a State Congressmen. Here is a picture of him rock climbing with a local club. A large picture at the top of an article made her gasp. “Mother, look at this.”

Evangeline and Elizabeth both leaned closer as Arabella pointed at the tall good-looking blond man hanging by a rope off the side of a cliff. “Oh, he is handsome,” Elizabeth whispered.

Then Arabella moved the screen lower. “Oh, please—no.”

The headline read, EXPERIENCED CLIMBER, STATE CONGRESSMEN FALLS AT E-ROCK. She quickly scanned down the article until she reached this line. “Sadly, Congressmen Jade Landale will likely never recover. Doctors report Landale is completely paralyzed and will probably remain in hospital care for an indeterminate length of time. A promising political career has come to a tragic end.” Arabella’s heart lurched. Her mother placed a comforting hand on her daughter’s shoulder.

Tears were streaming down her face. She remembered what the man had told her at Enchanted Rock yesterday. The reality that he had been badly hurt wasn’t a possibility she had let herself consider. In her dreams, he was so vital and strong. “How can this be?”

Nanette and Angelique joined the group and Elizabeth softly explained to them what Arabella had found.

“
I’m so sorry, baby.” Nanette leaned over and kissed her granddaughter. “Does the article say what hospital he is in?”

Arabella finished reading the write-up, but there had been no mention as to where Jade Landale was being treated. “No.” She clicked back to the list of other web addresses that mentioned his name. “Here’s something.” She clicked on an article in a San Antonio newspaper.

A gasp escaped her lips. The other article had hit hard enough, but this one took her breath away. A smiling Jade Landale stood at the side of a beautiful blonde. CONGRESSMAN ANNOUNCES ENGAGEMENT. Arabella slowly shut the computer, stood up and exited the room.

* * * *

Elizabeth started to follow her daughter up the stairs.

“
Let her be for a while.” Nanette stopped her daughter. “Evangeline, get on that thing and see if you can find anything else out about that boy. Something is not right, here. Elizabeth, can’t you pick anything up?”

Removing the golden brown French toast from the griddle, Elizabeth prepared her mother a plate. “No, I can’t sense him at all, probably because he’s never been here, nor do we have any material item that he has ever touched. I have to have some physical contact with an individual before I can hone in on anything.”

Evangeline did not find anything more on the internet relating to his accident. She did find several sites devoted to raising support and money for a possible gubernatorial race in his name. After breakfast, she had every intention of going up and checking on her cousin. Before she could head up the stairs, Nanette stopped her.

“
Wait a minute, sweetie. We have a big job to do. As much as I would like to help Arabella find her beau, what I came here for trumps that concern. I saw danger in the waters and I cannot get the idea out of my head that what happened to those little girls down the road is tied in with my vision.” Nanette’s narrative got their attention.

“
I see where you’re going with this, Mom.” Elizabeth helped herself to a second piece of French toast; her perfect figure not in keeping with her appetite. “Our involvement will not go unnoticed by the killer.”

“
Absolutely. His first thought will be that the psychic who found the body will more than likely be able to identify him. We must put up a ward to keep him or anyone else who would do us harm from coming onto this property.”

Angelique stood up and announced, “I’ll begin gathering the supplies, Nanette. Time is of the essence.”

“
I know this is Christmas Eve, and what we’d rather be doing is baking, decorating and making eggnog. But I can’t stress to you how imperative it is that we put a wall of protection around this house.” No one argued with her. While Angelique readied all the equipment they would need, Evangeline hurried up to check on Arabella.

When she came to the closed door of the room, Evangeline could hear Arabella crying. She eased the door open, went in and curled up on the bed next to her heartbroken cousin. “Don’t give up. Maybe there’s an explanation.”

“
I’m not giving up, he may need help.” Evangeline could barely understand the words spoken into the pillow.

“
Sit up, so I can talk to you.” All of a sudden, Evangeline felt older than her cousin. Arabella scooted back until she could rest against the headboard. Her beautiful face was tear-streaked and swollen.

“
You have to remember, he may not even understand what is happening to him. He met you in a dream. Some power has linked the two of you together for a reason.”