Dead Moon Awakens: A tale of Cherokee myth and Celtic magic (Mystic Gates) (5 page)

deceits and betrayals,

“T
hey
won’t let me, Morri. I’m not staying here any longer. I don’t care if they try
to stop me. I’m leaving.” Still upset after her encounter with Mrs. Dawes,
Aishling smashed the tears off her cheeks. She sank to her bed, her heart
racing. The top of her right wrist was red and irritated. Had she done that?

“Calm down.” Morrigan came over and patted her
back. “We’ll figure out how to get your things.” Aishling wildly shook her
head. “I promise. But we can’t leave yet.”

“Why won’t they give me my things? They’re mine!”

“Tell me again what she said about your mother.”

“She said there were things Ma had been involved
with that might not be good for me, and she wanted to make sure I was either
mentally ready or had reached maturity.” Aishling pitched backwards onto her
bed and glared at the ceiling.

“You told her it’s your legal right?”

“Yes.”

“You told her you would report her to the state?”

“Yes, Morri, like we practiced!”

“Don’t get upset with me. I’m trying to help you.”
Morrigan paced.

“I’m sorry.”

“There has to be a reason why. There must be
something unusual about your stuff.”

“Let’s just leave this place.”

“No. I’m absolutely positive your things have
clues for us. And I know the Suti Stone is either in your amulet or with your
other stuff. I’ll figure out a way to get it.”

“Oh, it’s probably just an old rumor about that
stone, anyway. I’ve never heard of a stone powerful enough to bring someone
back from the dead.” She sat up and shrugged.

Morrigan jerked around. “Are you saying my mother
is a liar?”

Recoiling from the look on Morrigan’s face, she
answered, “No. I wasn’t saying anything bad about your mother. I meant that I
had never heard of the Suti Stone before, and maybe what your mother had heard
was a rumor.” She stood. “Please don’t be mad at me. That’s not what I meant.”

Morrigan went to her desk and took out her diary.
“We’ll figure something out. But, promise me you won’t run off without me.”

Aishling nodded.

“
And
, promise me you won’t bug me about it.
We’re
anamchara
now. You have to be honest with me, and we have to do
things together. Now, promise.”

“I promise.” She crossed her heart with her left
forefinger.

This diary belongs to Aishling Bran O’Brian

March 29, 1991

This is my first time writing in this diary, my
soul friend gift from Morri. But it feels strange, like it’s not really
my
diary.

It’s been a week since I asked for my things back,
and Mrs. Dawes hasn’t said anything. Morri hasn’t either. It’s like the whole
thing never happened. Whenever I try talking to Morri about it, she says, “You
promised.” And, she spends all her free time talking to Lance.

Today, Mrs. Dawes talked and talked about what
to say and how to act around those new people. Blah, blah, blah. But when I
asked again about getting my things, she ignored me.

I had a strange dream last night, too. It was a
“hearing” dream. I haven’t had many of them. Ma told me before that I should be
careful with these dreams because it might be someone using dark magick to make
me do something. This dream was confusing, too.

In the first part, I heard, “Be aware of a
person’s actions more than their words. When you get your amulet, you must keep
it on you at all times. Don’t let anyone else know.” In the second part, I
heard, “Follow my Morrigan. She’ll help you. Let her keep your amulet safe for
you.” Both messages and voices were different, like listening to two different
people. I don’t think I should tell Morri. But, how am I going to get my amulet
without her help? And how am I going to hide it from her?

Saturday, March 30

Morrigan sat up in bed, stretching. “Saturday,
already? Doesn’t it seem like time is speeding by? What do you want to do
today?”

Still lying in bed, Aishling grumbled, “I don’t
know.” She turned over, leaving her back to Morrigan.

“What’s the matter?”

“You know. And if you don’t, you should.”

“Well, I haven’t figured out everything yet.”

She flipped back toward Morrigan. “You said we’d
figure it out together. But whenever I try talking to you, you either shake
your head or you run off to Lance.”

“Are you jealous?”

Aishling sat up, huffing. “No! I just want to get
my things and leave.”

“All right, Miss Impatient, we’ll talk about it
after breakfast. You won’t have to worry about me talking to Lance today,
either. He’s going on a ‘get-to-know-you’ weekend,” Morrigan said, making
quotation marks with her fingers. She dropped her hands. “And, for your
information, talking to Lance has given me some ideas for getting away from
this dreadful place.” She made an exaggerated grin then frowned. “Gee, I hope
Lance doesn’t get placed yet.”

“How would I know you were coming up with ideas?
You didn’t tell me.” Aishling got out of bed. “Why wouldn’t you want him to be
happy?”

“It just so happens, Lance doesn’t want to be
placed. He told me so … in confidence. He’s been trying to get in touch with an
old friend of his parents. Lance wants him, Redhawk,—I think that’s his name—to
foster him. But, everyone is ignoring him.”

Morrigan smiled. “He’s so cool, Aish. Did you know
he and his parents have walked parts of the Appalachian Trail before?”

“How would I know that?” she said while making her
bed.

“Oh, don’t be smart with me. See, I think you are
jealous.”

“For the last time, Morri, I’m not jealous. But I
thought we would spend more time together this week so we could figure out how
to get my stuff and leave. Instead, you spent most of your free time talking to
him.”

“Will you stop complaining and listen. Lance told
me he brought his canoe and camping gear here, and it’s stored in that shed by
the river. I’ve been talking to him, Miss Impatient, to find out more about his
canoe and if he knew where that river went from here. See? I’ve been doing
investigative work this week.” Morrigan climbed out of bed and dressed.

“I’m sorry. I guess I am impatient. But, I’m
supposed to meet a couple today, too. That’s all Mrs. Dawes talked about
yesterday—how I should act so I’ll be fostered.”

“No!” Morrigan threw down her shoes. “You’ve got
to make them not want you. You’ve got to. We have to get your stuff. And … and,
I couldn’t stand it if you got placed and left me behind.”

“Don’t worry. By the time my interview is over,
they’ll be running from here.”

“Why? What are you going to do?”

“I’ll just be my old self. There hasn’t been
anyone who wanted me yet. I’m good at scaring people away. Remember?”

“Good. What time is your interview?” Morrigan picked
up her shoes and sat on her bed.

“Eleven.”

“After you’ve run them off, we’ll plan.”

Kelile leaped out of the bushes in front of
Aishling. “Caught ya.” He snickered.

She jumped and swiped at him. “You scared me, you
ding dong. How long have you been hiding there?”

“The whole time you’ve been on the picnic bench
with your new potentials.” He shook his head. “Girl, I guess you didn’t want
them to like you.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“You even scared me with your crazy talk. I
started wondering:
Hmm, maybe I don’t know this girl very well.
” He
grinned.

“I’ve told you before, I don’t want to be fostered
or adopted. I have my own family … somewhere.”

He latched onto her arm, pulling her off the
sidewalk and toward the swings. “I’ve been trying to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“What else, gettin’ away from this place.” He sat
in the swing, leaning to one side. “Did you know Lance has a canoe?”

“That’s funny. Morri just asked me that this
morning. No, I didn’t. But, now I do.” She pushed her swing into the air. “Do
you know where that river goes?”

“Oh, you and me are thinkin’ along the same lines,
girl.” He nodded at her. “Yeah, that there be the Little Tennessee. That way
goes into Franklin.” He pointed. “The other way goes to Otto and on into
Georgia.”

“Are you and Lance planning on leaving?” She
stopped her swing in mid-sentence.

“No, not Lance and I. He doesn’t want to go
anywhere yet.” Kelile pounded his left sneaker into the dirt. “He’s trying to
get a hold of a Cherokee guy. I was thinkin’ you and I could take the canoe
and—”

“You mean steal his canoe? No. I’m not doing
that.”

“Borrow it, girl. Borrow it.”

“How would you get it back to him, then, if you
aren’t stealing it?” She stood, fixing her fists onto her hips.

“Easy. We would write him a letter and tell him
where we left it. He could have someone pick it up for him.”

“But where would we go and what would we do?”

“That depends on what you wanna do. We could
paddle up to Franklin and put the canoe somewhere. Then we could hitch a ride
over to Andrews.” He stood. “I have to get Mom and the twins away from asshole.
Once I do that, then I’ll help you do whatever you want. So, what do you wanna
do?”

She looked around to make sure no one was close
by. “I want to go back to my home in Robbinsville and find Ma.”

“You never told me what happened to her.”

While hugging herself, she said, “I don’t talk
about it much, not even to Morri.” She stared at the ground. “We had a terrible
fire. I don’t really … Could the three of us fit in his canoe?”

“Three of—No! Prissy queen don’t need to come.
She’s got an aunt coming for her.”

“She has to come. She doesn’t know her aunt, and
she doesn’t want to go with her. She wants to stay with me. We’re like sisters.
Morri has to come!”

“I have to come where?” Morrigan strolled up
behind them. “What’s going on, Aish? What are you and slave boy talking about?”

“Oops, well, I’ll talk to ya later, girl. See ya,
prissy queen.” He sauntered away, chuckling.

“Well?” Morrigan crossed her arms over her chest.
Her eyes bored into Aishling’s eyes.

“Now, listen to me before you say anything. He
wants to get away from this place, too, and he—”

“No way.
No
way
! He’s not going
anywhere with us. No. No. No.” Morrigan turned and stepped away from her.

“Morri, wait. Please.” Morrigan stopped. “Kelile
already knew about Lance’s canoe and already had a plan. He needs to get to
Andrews and help his mother. Listen—”

“That was our secret. I can’t believe you told
him. What exactly
did
you tell him?”

“I only told him I wanted to go back to my home
and find Ma. But I said you had to come, too.”

Morrigan crossed her arms again and tapped her
foot. “What did he say about Lance’s canoe?”

“He knew about it and had already asked Lance
where that river goes. He said we could paddle up to Franklin and hitch a ride
to Andrews.”

“Lance is okay with that?”

“He doesn’t know. Now wait a minute. I already
told Kelile I wouldn’t steal it. He said we would just borrow it, and then send
Lance a letter telling him where to find it. Someone could pick it up and bring
it back to him.”

“And you went along with this?”

“We hadn’t agreed on anything yet. He was telling
me his plan. He was talking about him and me, and I told him I wouldn’t go
anywhere without you. That’s when you showed up.”

Morrigan chewed her bottom lip. “You hadn’t agreed
yet?”

“No.”

March 30

I’m ready for this day to be over. Morri was so
mad about Kelile. I don’t understand why she doesn’t want him to come with us.
He just wants to get home. He tried talking to me after she got mad, but I told
him I wasn’t ready yet. That’s what she wanted me to say. He looked hurt. I’ve
got to make Morri change her mind.

She’s figured a way to get my things. She went to
Preacher Collins and told him she had something she wanted to put in a safe
place. He told her there were school lockers in the storage building by the
river where they kept personal stuff. When she told him it didn’t sound safe,
he pointed at a cabinet behind him and told her not to worry, that he kept all
the keys there. Not only is the storage shed locked, so is each locker. We’re
going to get my stuff!

March 31

I had a terrible, horrible burning nightmare
last night! I watched my skin burn. I heard it sizzle. I could even smell it. I
heard my mother screaming.

Morri woke me up. She said I had been screaming
and crying. My hair was so wet I had to get a towel and dry it off.

I couldn’t remember all of the dream, though. Ma,
I can’t stand this. Where are you? Why won’t you help me? Did I die in the
fire? Maybe you think I did. That’s it! Maybe there was some kind of strange
mix up.

But why wouldn’t Mrs. Dawes or the preacher tell
her I’m still alive?

“Are you writing about that dreadful nightmare?”
Morrigan closed their bedroom door and sat on Aishling’s bed, handing her a
piece of toast.

“Yeah. Mrs. Sloan let you bring food into the
room?”

“She did. But, she knew what a dreadful night you
had. I told her you were still shaking, and it would be better if we stayed
here instead of going to church. She asked me if we knew this was Easter
Sunday. I said we did and that later, when you felt better, we’d go to church
and pray.” Morrigan rolled her eyes. “I also told her I didn’t think the
preacher would want anyone disturbing the service, especially today.”

“Thank you.” Aishling took a bite of toast.

“Okay, everyone’s leaving soon. You should lie
down and act upset or something in case Mrs. Sloan comes around before she goes.”

As Aishling finished eating her toast, she slipped
off her shoes and climbed back into bed.

Someone knocked. Morrigan put a finger to her
mouth and then opened the door. “Hi, she’s still resting. Can I stay here with
her?” she whispered.

Mrs. Sloan answered, “Okay. Come and get me if you
need anything.”

“Okay.” Morrigan closed the door, covering her
giggles with both hands.

“You’re good,” Aishling whispered, getting up
again.

“I know. I’m going for more toast. I’ll be right
back.”

When she opened the door again, Kelile said, “I
want to talk to Aishling.”

“Go ahead. Didn’t I tell you earlier you could?”

After she left, he said, “I think prissy queen is
up to something. That was her ‘I’m-gonna-get-ya’ look.”

Noticing she had forgotten to put her diary away,
Aishling snatched it off her desk.

“What’s that?”

She hugged it to her chest. “This? Nothing. Just
personal notes.”

“Uh-huh.” He sat on Morrigan’s bed, leaned over,
and picked up something.

Aishling turned away and slipped her diary into
her desk drawer.

“Huh, your little book looks like this one.”

She couldn’t react fast enough. “No, Kelile!”

“Ow!” The diary landed open when he dropped it. He
looked down at the opened page, picked the diary up again, and read aloud. “She
doesn’t suspect anything. Ow!” He rubbed his eyes.

“Kelile, stop reading it, now!” She lunged for
him.

He held her back and kept reading. “It must be in
her amulet. Oho!” Kelile let go of her, dropping the diary as he collapsed to
his knees. He covered his eyes with both hands.

When blood seeped through his knuckles, she
shrieked, “Morri, help! Help!

Morrigan ran in immediately. “What’s going on?”
she said before quietly snickering. “Oh my.”

“You’ve got to do something.” Aishling squatted
and hugged him.

“No. He read my diary.”