Blood of the White Witch (28 page)

“It sounds fine to me,” he said with a
shrug.

“Call it a double date then.” I smiled
speaking up for Vance and myself.

When it was lunchtime, my parents came in to
watch the monitor.

“I made some sandwiches and laid out some
other things for your picnic in the kitchen,” my mom said.

“Thanks, Mom.” I said while Vance and I got
up off the couch. “That was really sweet of you.”

“Didn’t see anything, I’m assuming?” Dad
asked looking directly at Vance.

“Nope, sorry,” he replied.

“Well, take this radio out with you just in
case we need to get ahold of you quickly,” Dad said, giving a
handheld to Vance.

“See you in a little while,” I said. We
exited the room and made our way to the kitchen.

Mom had gone above and beyond herself this
time. She had dug up a large wicker basket from somewhere. She had
it laden with sandwiches, sweet meats, fruits and other snack
items, as well as a few bottles of water. Next to the basket was a
large blanket folded neatly on the counter.

“Mmm. Life is always good when Stacey’s
around,” Brad said when he peered into the overstuffed basket.

The rest of us nodded our heads in
agreement, looking at the mouthwatering items inside.

Vance picked up the basket, Brad grabbed the
blanket, and the four of us headed toward the front door of the
keep.

“So where do you want to go?” Vance asked
when we entered the courtyard.

“I was thinking about that little door in
the back wall that leads out onto the hillside,” I said. “There’s a
beautiful view from there of the mountains and the loch in the
distance.”

“I don’t know about that,” Brad said.
“Technically that’s outside the keep. Your dad wouldn’t like
it.”

“That settles it,” Vance said with
resolution in his voice. “That’s definitely where we’re going.”

I laughed at him and his attempted rebellion
against his restraints. He was going to push the limits as far as
he could possibly get away with.

“Well, I think the fact that we could see
anyone who wanted to sneak up on us for miles before they could
actually reach us will make it okay,” I said with a smile, looking
over at the others.

“I know,” Brad replied with a grin. “I was
just kidding anyway. I like messing with Mr. Macho over here
occasionally.”

“I know,” I said, smiling back at him and
adding a wink.

“Hey!” Vance said, yanking me up against his
side. “Quit flirting with Shelly’s boyfriend.”

“Whatever!” I replied’ and I sucker-punched
him in the abs.

He doubled over as if I had really injured
him, letting out a loud groan, before he popped back up laughing at
me.

“I didn’t believe you for a second,” I said,
making a silly face at him and sticking out my tongue like a
child.

“Guess I’ll have to work on my acting
skills,” he said still laughing.

“I guess so!” I replied, always enjoying
ribbing him a little.

We had reached the small door then, and
Shelly pushed it open so we could all walk through.

We walked out into the glorious sunshine
that was shining over the rolling hillside, stretching out to the
beautiful valley beneath us. We went out onto the grassy decline a
little ways, where Brad shook open the large blanket. Shelly and I
helped him to spread it across the ground before we all climbed
onto it, and Vance sat the basket of food in the middle so we could
all reach it.

We enjoyed the delicious items my mom had
packed, stuffing ourselves to the brim.

“This is really nice out here,” Vance said
moving to lie on his back, resting his arms behind his head.

I joined him, laying my head on his stomach,
looking up at the blue sky overhead with its puffy white clouds
that trailed across it like clumps of cotton balls.

“Thanks for suggesting this, Shelly,” he
continued. “It’s very nice to get out of the keep for a while.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied, and Brad
moved to sit behind her so she could recline against his chest.

We were quiet for a while then, just letting
the breeze move over the four of us, watching the clouds roll by,
while they cast shadows out over the landscape.

After a while I sat up and started to place
items back into the basket. That was when I noticed it.

“Look!” I said, pulling a Frisbee up out of
the basket. “Mom must have put this in.” I laughed. “I wonder where
she found it.”

“Let’s do it. I need some exercise!” Vance
said, jumping quickly to his feet, followed by Brad and Shelly.

We decided to play as teams, which gave
Vance and me a little bit of an unfair advantage since we often
used magic to make things interesting. Brad and Shelly did a pretty
good job at using their magic to keep up with us, though. I was
actually surprised at how good they had gotten.

Of course, the guys had to step it up a
notch from that, showing off all their physical prowess since they
had a captive audience.

I didn’t mind, though. I watched Vance
somersault through the air to grab an extremely high throw from
Brad. I could watch him move like this all day. The guy was
positively breathtaking!

He pitched the Frisbee back to Brad from his
peak in the air before tumbling back to the earth, landing easily
on his feet.

I cheered for Vance when Brad missed the
Frisbee, but was amazed when Shelly popped up behind him, catching
the disc easily and returned it artfully to us.

“I’m impressed!” I called out to her, really
meaning it. “You’re totally a natural!”

Shelly grinned widely back at me.

“Who knew I could be so athletic?” she
replied with a wide smile.

We played for a long while, each of us
trying to outdo the other until we collapsed into a tired heap on
the blanket.

“That was fun!” I said breathing heavily,
trying to catch my breath.

“It really was,” Vance agreed, nodding his
head. “You two were awesome! If I didn’t know any better, I’d think
you were a full-fledged witch and warlock.”

“Really?” Shelly asked with a genuine smile,
before sobering slightly. “Or are you just being nice?”

“Would I do that?” Vance asked, huffing.

“Probably,” Brad interjected with a
grin.

“I’m wounded to the core,” Vance said,
slamming his hand into his chest as if he had just been stabbed or
something, falling backward onto the blanket. “Quick! I think I
might need mouth to mouth,” he said, reaching out to grab me,
pulling me onto his chest.

“I happen to know rescue breathing,” I said
hovering seductively over him. I blew hard into his mouth instead
of kissing him, catching him by surprise, and he gagged and started
coughing.

The rest of us burst out laughing, and I
jumped up to run away, knowing I would be in trouble now.

I made it about a yard away from him before
he tackled me, and we went rolling several more yards down the
steep hill together.

When we stopped, we were laughing hard at
each other.

“That was fun,” I said a little
breathlessly.

“It was fun. I sure love you,” he said with
a big grin.

“I love you, too,” I replied smiling back at
him.

He leaned in to kiss me, and my breath
caught when his lips touched mine. I wound my arms around his neck
and pulled him closer to me, opening my mouth in invitation to him.
He let out a soft groan, kissing me back passionately.

“You’re going to start something that I’m
not going to want to stop,” he whispered against my lips, his eyes
flashing open to look into mine.

“Fine by me,” I countered, and I pulled him
back, kissing him harder.

He happily obliged me, kissing me back with
the same fervor that I was dishing out.

“What brought all this on?” he asked quietly
but with a mischievous glint in his gaze.

“Watching you in action, of course, and you
know it. You were doing it on purpose, hoping it would have exactly
this type of desired effect on me!”

“I’m thinking it’s nap time all of a
sudden,” he chuckled, not bothering to deny it. “What do you
think?”

“I think it sounds like a delightful idea,”
I replied while he nudged my nose with his. “If we can get away
without hurting their feelings,” I added, nodding up the hill
toward Brad and Shelly.

“Well, then, let’s get up and see what we
can do about that,” he countered, but he stopped to kiss me
breathless once more before he stood up and offered me a hand.

I slipped my hand into his, and he pulled me
to my feet.

“This picnic was a wonderful idea,” he
commented casually, locking his fingers with mine. “I haven’t had
this much fun in a while.”

I looked at him with saucer-round eyes,
trying to portray hurt feelings.

“Why I’m totally wounded by that comment!” I
said mockingly, placing a hand over my heart.

He started laughing, pulling me into his
arms once again and kissing me roughly, threading his fingers into
my hair with one hand and holding me tight to him with the
other.

“You were not included in that previous
remark,” he stated hotly. “Nothing is ever better than my time with
you.”

I felt my skin flush in response to his
words, and he let out a low sound when he moved to kiss me
again.

It was at this moment that Brad hollered out
at us.

Reluctantly we both turned to look up the
hill toward him.

“It’s Sean!” he shouted, pointing to the
radio. “They’ve spotted Darcy!”

The four of us raced back to the keep as
fast as we could. We burst in through the massive wooden doors and
nearly collided with my dad.

“We’re on our way out,” Dad said to Vance.
“You and Portia stay here. Shelly and Brad come with us.”

I heard Vance sigh in frustration, and Brad
and Shelly turned to follow Dad and Grandma out the door.

Standing at the doorway, I watched them
while they pulled out of the bailey, speeding off down the
road.

I turned to look at Mom.

“What happened?” I asked.

“A car with a driver pulled out of the
estate turning toward town. We could plainly see Darcy sitting in
the back,” she replied.

“Why would a driver be taking Darcy
somewhere? She’s the maid. Doesn’t that seem a bit odd to anyone?”
I asked.

Vance shrugged his shoulders.

“I have no idea,” he replied with a briefly
thoughtful expression. “So what’s the plan?” he asked Mom.

“They’re going to follow them and see if
they can get her alone somewhere. When Milly and Sean grab her,
they want Brad and Shelly to place the tracking device on the
vehicle. They plan on using a serum on Darcy to knock her out so
she won’t be combative,” my mom explained.

“I’m familiar with the stuff,” Vance said
with a grimace, and he looked at me. “We’d better go light the
torches in the dungeon and get things ready before they get back.
Stacey, are the construction workers still here?”

“No,” she said. “I think they left to go
work on another job for the rest of the day.”

“Perfect,” Vance said, grabbing me by the
hand. “Come on, let’s go.”

He led me to the stairs that entered the
dungeon, touching each oil-soaked torch when we passed, making them
burst into flame. Soon the place was ablaze, and we were standing
in front of the cleverly disguised cell.

We passed through the illusion which had
been placed in the hallway, stepping up to the real cell.

“Let’s open it,” he said, placing his hands
against the glass barrier.

I placed my hands next to his, and together
we melted a hole big enough for Darcy to be carried into the
cell.

“What now?” I asked him.

“Now we wait,” he said. He grabbed my hand
and led me back through the tunnels, up the stairs and out into the
hall. “We need to make sure that this door is always secured from
here on out, too, so no one accidentally wanders down into the
dungeon.”

He waved his hand over the lock, magically
securing it.

“Let’s go find your mom,” he said,
continuing on down the hall.

We made our way through the keep and back
into the sitting room to find Mom sitting next to the monitor.

“Did you see something else?” Vance asked
her when we came up beside her. He glanced quickly at the
screen.

She shook her head, holding up the portable
radio.

“I just heard from Sean. They have her
pinned down. They’re just waiting for an opportunity to drug her
where no one will notice,” she said, looking up at us. “I’m nervous
for them.”

“It’ll be okay, Stacey,” Vance replied
reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder. “Sean is an expert in
this cloak-and-dagger kind of stuff. He knows what he’s doing.”

Mom just nodded her head, not answering.

I went and sat on the couch. Vance began his
traditional pacing across the floor. Things were weighing heavily
on his mind.

In the end we didn’t have to wait long at
all.

“We have her,” Shelly’s voice crackled over
the radio. “We’re on our way back now.”

“Everything is ready for you,” my mom
answered her.

“This is it,” Vance said, rubbing his hands
together in anticipation. “Finally we can get some answers.”

“I wouldn’t get too excited,” I admonished
him. “When you were given this injection you were out cold for
hours.”

I saw a brief look of disappointment cross
his face, before he nodded in understanding.

He was waiting at the front door when the
car pulled back into the bailey, rushing down the steps to meet
them to help as they pulled Darcy from the vehicle.

Vance lifted her from Sean and carried her
petite form easily into the keep. I stepped aside so he could
enter.

“Portia, come get the door for me,” he said
as he passed.