The Book of Spells (20 page)

“Thank you!” Eliza said, drawing her friend into a hug.

“I’ll hide up here for a few minutes, then come back saying I’ve delivered you to the front door of Crenshaw,” Catherine replied, her eyes bright.

Eliza gave her friend one last hug before she went. “Thank you, Catherine, truly. I couldn’t be doing this without you.”

“You’re welcome,” Catherine replied. “Now go! I’ll see you back at our room, and you can tell me all about it.”

As she raced through the chapel and out into the moonlit night, Eliza knew that of all the blessings she had in her life, Catherine White was one of the greatest.

It wasn’t until Eliza had crossed into the woods just south of the chapel that she realized she had no idea where she was going. A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance, and Eliza looked up anxiously at the sky. How far into the woods would Harrison be waiting? Would he be directly to the south, or somewhat east or west of the chapel entrance? Would she make it to him before the storm broke? She paused a few feet along one of the dirt paths that crisscrossed the woods and took a breath. The trees and bushes were being tossed by the wind, rustling and crackling, making it difficult to focus. Her heart rate was already accelerated with the anticipation of seeing Harrison. She had to calm down. She had to think.

What would Catherine do?

The answer came to her in an instant.
Scry.
But could she do it on her own? Another rumble of thunder sounded so close, it made Eliza flinch. The truth was, she didn’t have much choice. Alone she was.

Closing her eyes and ignoring the sliver of fear that ran down her spine, Eliza concentrated on a mental picture of Harrison. She didn’t have the pebbles or the water, the crystal or the glove, but she had an intense desire within her, and she hoped that would be enough. At the last moment, she decided to change the words slightly, hoping the specificity might help.

“Spirits from the other side, let your wisdom be my guide, take me to the place where Harrison hides.”

Suddenly raindrops started to drop all around her, drizzling onto her shoulders and back. Eliza felt the dizziness that seemed to accompany more complicated spell-casting, and she leaned a hand against the nearest tree until it passed. She tilted her face toward the sky, letting the raindrops cool her and bring her back to herself. Once she felt steady again, Eliza opened her eyes, unsure of what to expect. A sudden wind hit her from behind, tossing her hair in front of her face and tripping her forward.

Eliza gripped the tree and hesitated. Was this just more wind brought by the storm, or was this something else? She closed her eyes and concentrated. The wind whipped at her from behind, so hard she could barely keep her grasp on the tree bark. When she looked around again, she saw that the underbrush was being flattened in the opposite direction. That was the wind from the storm. This wind, the wind at her back, was something else entirely. This wind was leading her to Harrison.

Biting her lip in excitement, Eliza followed the breeze. Soon she came to a fork in the path, and suddenly the wind shifted. Her hair
blew across her face to the right, tickling her cheekbones and making her giggle. The rain, meanwhile, grew harder and more persistent, pounding on the leaves and branches above. Luckily the branches and leaves protected Eliza from the worst of the deluge. As she took the designated pathway, she was still relatively dry. Only a few drops here and there were visible on her dress.

Eliza walked a few paces and came to a large boulder, tall, white, and wide. When she came around the side of the boulder, she found Harrison Knox seated on a long, flat outcropping of the rock. He scrambled to his feet, and immediately the wind died down.

Eliza’s heart pounded. Magic was becoming rather useful in her life.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d come,” Harrison said. “Especially in this weather.”

He stepped forward and took her hand. He was dressed in a suit of brown tweed, a green-and-blue tie loosely knotted around his throat. The color combination somehow made him appear boyish—innocent. His blond hair was slightly wet from the rain, making it appear darker than usual.

“Of course I came.” The smile on her face was so broad, it ached.

“Eliza . . . I can’t stop thinking about you,” Harrison said earnestly.

The pitter-patter of the rain on the leaves above abated slightly, but another rumble of thunder sounded.

Eliza closed her eyes, letting his words wash over her. “Nor I, you,” she said, looking up at him again.

His handsome face broke into a grin.

“But what about Theresa?” she forced herself to ask. She didn’t want to, but she had to know how Harrison felt about his betrothed.

Harrison’s smile fell away. He dropped her hand and turned his back on her. It was the longest moment of Eliza’s life.

“I care for Theresa. I do,” Harrison said passionately, facing her again. “We’ve known each other all our lives, and I don’t wish to hurt her.”

Eliza’s heart panged miserably in her chest. Perhaps she should have waited just a few minutes longer to ask the question. Perhaps she should have allowed herself just a couple of moments to bask in the bliss of Harrison’s attention before causing it all to crumble away.

“But you should know, Eliza, our engagement . . . it’s not real,” Harrison said. He stepped forward again, and this time he took both her hands in both of his.

“It’s not?” she asked, confused but hopeful.

“I have to admit, last summer when it became clear to everyone that Theresa Billings had turned her attentions to me . . . I was very flattered,” Harrison said. “All the fellows coveted her. They were all jealous. Of me.”

Eliza swallowed hard.

“I got swept up in it,” he said, lifting his shoulders. “Suddenly everyone was asking me when we’d be engaged, where we’d make our home together, where we’d honeymoon, and it just seemed like . . . that was what I was supposed to do. If Theresa Billings loves you . . . you love her back.”

Eliza looked at the ground. Tears blurred her vision.

“But Eliza . . .” Slowly he drew her fingers up. Her breath caught as he tentatively, sweetly, brought them to his lips. “Eliza,” he said again. “I
don’t
love her. I realize that now. I could never feel about her the way I feel about you.”

“And how is that?” Eliza said, feeling weightless.

Harrison swallowed hard, his eyes searching Eliza’s. “I feel . . . I feel . . .”

With his right hand he gently cupped the back of Eliza’s neck. He was going to kiss her. She could see it in his eyes. As his lips edged closer to hers, she realized that all she wanted in the world was for him to kiss her. Her eyes fluttered closed and she tilted her head back, aching for the feel of his lips against hers.

And then they heard a shout. Harrison backed away, his eyes scanning the dark trees around them.

“What was that?” he asked.

There was another shout, and this time, Eliza recognized Catherine’s voice. A gust of wind whirled through the trees, drowning out the next words, but Eliza could have sworn she heard Theresa respond. Her heart flew into her throat as a flash of lightning was followed quickly by a clap of thunder.

“Someone’s out there,” Harrison said, reaching for her protectively. “Come. I’ll take you back to Crenshaw.”

“No,” Eliza replied. Harrison looked at her, his face creased with confusion. “I mean . . . no, thank you, Harrison. I can find my own way back. If you’re caught on the Billings campus—”

“What is that to me when your safety is on the line?” Harrison said, placing his arm around her waist.

Eliza glanced over her shoulder as another shout was whisked away by the wind. Theresa and Catherine were out there right now, arguing, and she knew it most likely had something to do with her. She had to go to them. She had to stop this.

I’m sorry about this, Harrison,
she thought. Then she placed her hand flat behind him, palm facing his back.

“Domicilus,” she whispered.

Instantly, Harrison released her and walked off, his eyes unfocused as if he was in a daze. He was headed for his own dorm on the Easton campus, just as the spell intended. Eliza bit her lip as his foot slipped on some wet leaves, but he righted himself and kept walking. She only hoped he would get there safely and not encounter anyone along the way.

“Stop it, Theresa!” Catherine’s voice shouted, closer than ever this time. “Let’s go back! Just come back with me!”

“Leave me alone!” Theresa responded. “You’re no friend to me, Catherine!”

Once again, the rain picked up, this time breaching the protective canopy of the trees and soaking Eliza through. She blinked the water off her lashes, hitched up her skirt, and ran toward the arguing voices, only hoping there was something she could do to help.

“I know they’re out here somewhere, and I know that
you
helped them!” Theresa screamed as Eliza emerged from the tree line into a small clearing.

Catherine and Theresa stood on the far side of a ravine that cut right through the trees. Theresa’s dress was soaked, the heavy fabric clinging to her skin. She whirled on Catherine, her dark hair matted to her face and neck. Eliza blinked, feeling an odd sense of déjà vu, but the memory was gone as quickly as it had come.

Theresa went on, “How could you do this to me? You’re supposed to be my best friend!”

“I
am
your best friend, Theresa,” Catherine replied, holding both hands above her eyes, shielding them from the rain. A flash of yellow peeked out between her fingers—the sulfur stick.

Neither of the girls had noticed her yet, and Eliza found herself frozen with uncertainty. Should she say something? Do something?
Or should she simply slink back into the woods as if she’d never been here? Suddenly her locket felt warm against her skin. She could have sworn it was actually pulsating, as if it was somehow reflecting the tenor of Theresa and Catherine’s argument.

But how could that be?

“But you don’t love Harrison,” Catherine continued. “We both know you don’t.”

“I’m not talking about Harrison right now,” Theresa replied, bending at the waist. “I’m talking about Eliza Williams! You like her better than me, don’t you? That’s why you’re helping her sneak around with
my
fiancé!”

A bolt of lightning lit the night, and Catherine’s eyes suddenly flicked to Eliza. Theresa turned around and instantly, Eliza began to sway on her feet, improvising a plan. She unfocused her eyes and looked from Theresa to Catherine and back again.

“Catherine? Theresa? Is that you?” Eliza said weakly.

Theresa whirled around and her jaw dropped. “What are
you
doing here?”

“Where am I? Is this the way to Crenshaw?” Eliza squeaked.

Theresa’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, so you’re lost, are you?” she demanded, stalking to the very edge of the ravine that separated her from Eliza. “What happened? Did Harrison desert you? Or did he never arrive? Perhaps he suddenly remembered that he was engaged to be married!”

Eliza gulped, her face burning even as it was pelted by cold rain. Part of her wanted to keep up the charade, out of both pride and self-preservation, but as she looked at Catherine, standing there with her
shoulders slumped as if exhausted, she decided enough was enough. She stood up straight, rounded her shoulders, and tried to ignore the sick, nervous feeling in her gut.

“How did you find out?” Eliza asked.

“I found his little love note!” Theresa said, whipping the paper from her pocket and holding it out. “Here’s some advice, Eliza Williams. If you’re going to try to steal someone’s beau, take better care of your correspondence.”

Eliza’s face stung at the sight of the cherished note clasped in Theresa’s fingers, turning to pulp in the rain.

“That’s one thing I can say for your sister,” Theresa said, tearing the note up into tiny bits. “When she stole George Thackery away from me, she was much more covert about it.”

The wet scraps of paper fluttered down around her feet. Eliza felt as if she could scream, but instead, she took a deep breath.

“Harrison didn’t desert me,” she said loudly, clearly. “He was there, but I sent him back with a spell when I heard you two fighting.”

Theresa paled. “So you admit it! You admit carrying on an affair with my future husband.”

“Theresa,” Catherine said impatiently.

“We’ve done nothing improper,” Eliza replied firmly.

“Nothing but plan a secret midnight rendezvous,” Theresa shot back. She took a step forward, and the unstable edge of the ravine crumbled beneath her toes. Eliza’s heart swooped. The gash in the ground was at least ten feet deep.

“Be careful,” Eliza warned her.

“Oh, you’re the one who should be careful,” Theresa replied, her
eyes narrowed. “Do you even realize what I could do to you?” Eliza’s heart turned cold, remembering the spell Theresa had cast so cavalierly on Miss Almay. Her gaze flicked to Theresa’s raised hand. Was the girl about to use some new spell she had up her sleeve?

Suddenly it all came back to her in a rush. The dream—the awful dream about Catherine’s death. They had been in the woods, in front of a hole just like this one. Eliza’s throat seized with fear. “Theresa, please!” she croaked. “Step away from the ravine.”

“You think you’ve won? You think you’ve stolen my Harrison?” Theresa continued. “Well, from this moment on, you’re going to want to watch your back, Eliza Williams.”

“Theresa!” Catherine shouted. “Stop it!”

“And you, Catherine White!” Theresa spat, whirling on her. “You are no longer my friend! Both of you stay far, far away from me from now on!” Theresa started to stalk past Catherine, but Catherine reached for her as she went by.

“Theresa, stop! Please!” Catherine said, throwing her arm out.

The moment she did, the sulfur stick suddenly let out a huge spark. Theresa shouted and jumped back in surprise as the spark hit a thick tree limb directly above Catherine’s head. Instantly, the branch severed, the cracking noise so loud, it drowned out the wind and rain. Eliza looked up as the branch began to fall. Her heart flew into her mouth.