Innocence and Evil (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles #6) (12 page)

The dark haired child was named after her
grandmother who had flowing locks of golden hair before she became
old and frail with age. The grandmother may not have passed on her
golden hair, but what she did pass on could not be seen from the
outside…only those born of Goldalynn’s bloodline knew of their
special gift.

The women of their family were powerful;
they carried a magic within them that the family had promised to
nurture. They swore by the blood to keep their magic safe…and
secret.

“Goldalynn, harm none. This is the one rule
you must remember when you use your power,” her mother told her one
day when she was just a young girl. She sat at the large cutting
board island in the center of the sunroom where they grew their own
herbs. She watched her mother select ingredients from the shelves
of colorful plants and add them to the large bowl she held in one
hand.

“I didn’t mean to do it.” Goldalynn frowned
as she thought of the poor heron out in the swamp. “I just wanted
to touch it,” she tried to explain further. When she had tried to
approach the heron, it spread its wings wide in attempt to escape
her, a human. But, she had wanted to feel its feathers beneath her
fingers so desperately. The next thing she knew, the heron was
screeching in pain as it’s blue and gray feathers pulled from its
body.

Before the feathers reached her waiting
hands, fear wrapped around her like a blanket of darkness and she
turned, running back home as fast as her small feet would take
her.

Her mother turned to face her. “Which is
precisely the reason that we shall work harder for you to control
what is within you. Accidents happen, but with time these mishaps
will be but a memory.”

After the heron, Goldalynn practiced magic,
but only within her home and in order to control it. She longed to
be normal, to be without magic that could hurt and kill.

“Do you like being a witch?” she’d asked her
aunt one muggy summer day.

Her aunt had paused in her knitting and
raised an eyebrow at her niece’s question. “I don’t like the word
witch, it insinuates something evil.”

“Well, what are we then?”

“We are people, Goldalynn, just like anyone
else.” With that, her aunt let the topic fade and went back to her
knitting.

Now, every story has many elements and
Goldalynn is merely a portion of what brings this story full
circle. She lived on the banks of the bayou on a plantation with a
house the size of a castle, which had been in their family since
Louisiana first settled around two hundred years ago. The southern
mansion—complete with balconies and wraparound porch—always housed
the women of their family, as it was rare for any man to survive
long enough with a woman from Goldalynn’s bloodline. No one has
ever figured out why the men who loved them always ended up
dead.

However, these women had beauty which the
opposite sex were undeniably drawn to and they always ended up
falling in love, only to have their men meet an unfortunate
demise.

Goldalynn was no exception.

As a child she would run the grounds of the
plantation, crossing the small forest of cypress and oak trees,
trying to get a peek at the large white house which happened to be
their closest neighbors. She would watch the workmen outside
tending to the animals and building fences or small buildings.
Something drew her to the big, beautiful house next door, and it
wasn’t long before she found out what that special thing was.

The small forest of trees provided shade,
but did not protect her against the sweltering heat. Goldalynn had
brought her little wicker basket filled with snacks and two of her
dolls into the trees with her. She fully intended on having a
picnic party with her inanimate friends, since she didn’t have any
real ones. But, something interfered that day that would change her
life forever.

“Would you like more tea?” She offered her
little teapot to the doll who sat propped up with a little plastic
tea cup on its lap. “No?” She set the toy pot down onto the blanket
beside her basket. “I suppose you’re right, the sandwiches were
quite filling.”

Suddenly, a slight snapping sound echoed
through the trees. Goldalynn hopped to her feet, tumbling her
teacup and sandwich to the ground. Thinking it was perhaps a gator
or some other swamp creature her mother had warned her about, she
silently began to back away from her picnic blanket with the
intention of running home as quickly as possible.

Another snap echoed through the silence of
the trees, and then a footstep. She knew it was a footstep because
the leaves made the same crunching sound as they did beneath her
shoes as she walked. She may have been only ten years old, but she
knew without a doubt it was a person who made that noise “Who’s
there?” she called out.

No one answered. It was silent again except
for the light breeze that rustled the branches of the tree tops. “I
know someone is there?” When she still did not receive an answer,
she bent down and picked up a large stick that had fallen from one
of the trees. Her body shook with fear and beads of sweat slid down
her face, but she gripped the stick with both hands and charged
forward.

“Arrrggghhh!” she screamed with all her
might, pummeling forward over the fallen sticks and branches of the
forest floor with the stick held out in front of her, ready to
strike.

Movement streaked across her vision then
veered back, coming straight toward her. She swung the stick with
all her might, and it connected. A loud grunt and a very shocked,
“Owww!”erupted from her victim. Still clutching the stick,
Goldalynn staggered backward.

Gathering her balance, she glanced down at
the stick in her hand and saw that what had once been a bare,
brittle piece of wood, was now a thriving branch, complete with
lush green leaves that had sprouted from the broken nubs.

Forcing back a screech and the urge to throw
the magic sodden branch to the ground, she held onto it so she
could move forward and get a better look at what she had hit.

Her victim was a golden haired boy, whose
face now had blood splattered across his cheeks, mingling with the
freckles that graced his pale skin.

She dropped the branch and her hands went to
her mouth. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” Cautiously, she stepped forward.
“What are you doing out here?”

His hands covered his mouth and nose so he
couldn’t answer her, but his blue eyes followed her every move.

“Who are you?” Goldalynn demanded.

With his hands still covering his mouth and
nose, his response was muffled. “My name is William. I just moved
in with my aunt and uncle.” He pointed in the direction of the big
white house.

Goldalynn pulled a white linen handkerchief
from her picnic basket and offered it to him. Keeping his eyes on
her, he accepted the handkerchief and held it to his nose.

“I’m sorry about your nose.” She extended
her hand. “I’m Goldalynn.”

He tilted his head and considered her words
for a moment, then reached out and took her hand in his. “Well, I’d
better get back home for lunch.” He started backing away from her.
“And, thanks for the handkerchief, Goldie.”

That was the first moment that changed her
life forever.

For many years, Goldalynn and William were
best friends. The two children were inseparable and spent every
single moment they could with each other. As time passed their
bodies began to change and so did their emotions.

Goldalynn grew into a beautiful young woman
who preferred the library over cheerleading. She attended the high
school in their small town, only because she had pleaded with her
mother to let her go so that she could be around William. Through
history, the children in their family were homeschooled in order
for them to learn the magical aspects of life as well as the
curriculum they would learn in public school.

William was a young man who was desired by
most of the teenage girls in their small town, but he had eyes only
for Goldalynn. He began working at the local market that was owned
by his family. Actually, they owned many of the local businesses,
but William preferred the market where he could talk to the
townspeople whom he so loved.

Goldalynn hated his job immensely because it
took his time away from her. William consoled her by telling her he
had to work if they wanted any kind of future together.

Speaking of their future together, the
engagement was announced at a large picnic by the water with both
of their families present. William’s family was ecstatic, having
always known that Goldalynn would be the woman that their young
William would choose to spend his life with. But, Goldalynn’s
family on the other hand, were not quite so happy about the
engagement.

“It’s a bad idea,” Goldalynn’s mother told
her one day while they walked in the gardens harvesting the
vegetables and herbs. “None of the men we have loved live very
long. I just don’t want you to be disappointed when it happens to
you.” She dumped a bunch of lettuce into the basket Goldalynn
held.

“It won’t happen to us, Mother. I am sure of
it.” Goldalynn tried to sound enthusiastic, but she had been
witness to conversation on this topic by the women in her family
since she was born.

Her mother shook her head in frustration and
went to work cutting the zucchini loose from their vines. “No one
is an exception. Don’t you think all of us have thought the very
same thing? We were
all
in love once, we all wanted to think
that we would be the ones whose love would be strong enough to…”
She trailed off, unable to finish.

Goldalynn
did
believe that the love
she and William had was stronger than any other in their family and
that it would overcome the impending death which loomed over
them.

“Goldalynn.” Her mother stood and glared
down at her as she set the zucchini into the basket. “You do
realize that marrying that boy is basically giving him a death
sentence. If you do it, he will die, and it will be your
fault.”

“I’m marrying him, Mother.” She simply could
not comprehend why her mother refused to see that her situation was
different than the others. Being caught up in her own love story,
it had escaped Goldalynn’s mind that her mother understood how she
felt more than she would ever know.

“Fine, marry him. But, you can’t say we
didn’t warn you.”

Time passed with William working and
Goldalynn making wedding preparations. It wasn’t to be a large
wedding, but a simple ceremony for both their families and close
friends. After what seemed like forever to Goldalynn, the day of
the wedding finally arrived.

Outside the family home, rented white chairs
had been set up with gold ribbons draped between them, separating
them into two sections on the large expanse of lawn. The chairs
faced a beautiful arbor with white roses and more gold ribbon had
been woven between the carved swirls of wood. Beyond the arbor, the
bayou waters lined with cypress and draping Spanish moss created a
serene backdrop, an ambience Goldalynn loved.

Her dress was white, a symbol of her
virginity and a stark contrast against her black hair. She spun in
front of the full-length mirror, letting the full white skirt fan
out around her. Catching her footing, she ran her fingertips across
the corset part of the dress, admiring the perfection of the gold
trim around the white satin. The dress dated all the way back to
the 17
^th
century. It had been her mothers and her
grandmothers, and her great grandmothers and many more before them.
Her aunt had done some alterations, removing the long sleeves and
replacing them with cap sleeves. The tiny rhinestones glittering
across her bust had been an addition as well.

Her mother had spent hour’s intricately
braiding miniature white roses into her hair, of which the top half
was up and the bottom half she wore loose and flowing down to her
waist. Behind her, her mother smiled, tears glinting at the corners
of her eyes. “You look just like a fairy tale princess.” She wiped
away a tear and fiddled with a few strands of Goldalynn’s hair that
had gone astray.

Goldalynn turned to apply a quick kiss to
her mother’s cheek. “Mother. Please, don’t cry for me,” she
whispered.

Goldalynn’s mother tilted her head and
admired her daughter again, knowing full well she could not tell
her daughter that those were not only tears of joy, but also tears
of sadness for the impending despair her daughter would soon face.
However, if she chose to marry the boy, then she deserved the most
happiness she could have until the terrible day arrived when she
would lose him.

“It’s time,” she told her daughter as the
music began, signaling the bride’s entrance. She clasped hands with
Goldalynn and they marched forward so she could deliver her
daughter into the arms of her soon-to-be husband.

When the time came to exchange rings,
William produced a simple band of gold and held it up so that the
sunlight glinted off of it. With happiness shining just as brightly
in his eyes, he leaned forward and whispered. “This ring was my
great grandmother’s and grandmother’s. My grandmother gave this to
me before she passed away and told me to give it to you when we
married. Supposedly, it is made from melded fairy dust.” He grinned
and slipped it onto her ring finger.

She held her hand out, examining the ring,
and giggled. “William, you know fairies don’t exist.”

“If it was possible for a woman as beautiful
and amazing as you to agree to marry someone like me, then anything
is possible, my love.”

As the ring nestled against the skin of her
finger, her body warmed into a slow, smoldering burn. It was magic.
She may not believe in fairies, but she did, however, believe in
magic and the ring on her finger definitely held some within
it.