The Witch is Dead (6 page)

“Ahh,” I sighed. “I love that smell.”

“What smell?” Tink asked, breaking her silence.

“Hay,” I replied, taking another deep breath. “It reminds me of when I was a kid and spent the summers with Grandpa and Abby.”

“You spent a lot of time with them, didn’t you?”

“Yup, a few weeks every summer until I was eighteen. I think Mother thought it was a good way to keep me out of trouble. It let Abby put me to work in the greenhouse.”

“And you enjoyed it?” Tink stopped to pick up a broken twig and began to strip off the leaves as we continued walking.

“Sure did. I don’t have Abby’s knack with plants, so after I killed several, she thought it wise to keep me busy watering and weeding.” I looked at her. “You like working with Abby, too, don’t you?”

Tink threw the stick into the bush. “Yeah…” Her voice trailed away and she kept her eyes focused ahead. “Ophelia, I’m scared.”

I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, our steps matching. “Why, Tink?”

She scuffed at the leaves on the path. “What if the judge decides to put me in a foster home instead?”

I dropped my arm and stopped in the path. “How did you come up with that idea?”

“Nell. We talked about it the last time I stayed the night at her house.” She kicked a rock. “A judge took Roger Jones away from his family.”

“Tink,” I said in an exasperated voice. “Roger Jones’s parents were mistreating him. I may not be the best mom in the world—I don’t bake you cookies, and home-cooked meals are in short supply—but I don’t think a court would call that mistreatment.”

A small smile played at the corner of her mouth. “I guess you’re right.” She sobered. “But what if the judge says no for some other reason?”

“I won’t let that happen,” I said with determination.

“Could you stop it?”

She had a point. Whatever ruling the court made, I’d be forced to follow it.

“Look, why would a judge say no? Jason is willing to let me adopt you; Iwant to adopt you; you want to be adopted…” A sudden thought brought back my fear. “You really do want to stay here, don’t you?”

Tink rolled her eyes and snorted. “Duh!” Her shoulders suddenly drooped. “This is my home now.”

T.P. came running over to Tink with a stick in his mouth.

She bent to take it away from him, but not before I saw her eyes fill with tears. She straightened and threw the stick.

The happy puppy scrambled after it.

I put my arm around her shoulder again and gave her a squeeze. “You have to have faith it will all work out—”

“But…” she said, pulling away.

“But what?” I asked when she didn’t continue.

“The past three days have been weird,” she said, rushing her words. “First, I had that dream about the shadows in the
woods. Mr. Buchanan at the airport. Sheriff Wilson at lunch. I—I—”

“Hey, slow down. You think all of this means something?”

“Yeah.” She looked at me with worry written all over her face. “What if they’re some kind of premonition? It’s left me feeling bad every time it happened. Isn’t that what premonitions do to you?”

“Tink, first of all—you’re not a psychic, you’re a medium—”

“But what if a spirit is trying to warn me of impending doom?” she asked, cutting me off.

If she hadn’t been so concerned, I would have laughed. “Impending doom” sounded just like Abby.

“Sweetie, if something tragic were about to happen, don’t you think Abby or I would’ve sensed it?” I asked her calmly.

“Yeah.”

“Have you had any more dreams?”

“No,” she mumbled.

“See? It was probably just a random dream,” I said, and squeezed her again. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

I felt Tink’s mood brighten.

“A judge would really let you adopt me?”

“Sure, I’m a fine upstanding citizen,” I said as I tugged on my T-shirt and stood tall. “Aren’t I?”

A cheeky grin washed over her face. “Yeah, but I don’t think I’d ask Aunt Dot to be a character witness. She might start telling the judge about her fairies. Wouldn’t look good for our family. He might think we’re all crazy.”

Now my eyes suddenly filled with tears. That was the first time Tink had ever said “our family.”

Wiping my eyes, I laughed and looked up at the sky.

“It’s going to be dark soon.” I whistled for the dogs. “We’d better get back to the car.” The dogs had just scampered back in response to my whistle when I turned and jumped, startled.

A man stood in the path, blocking our exit from the woods.

I grabbed Tink and shoved her behind me. As T.P. ducked behind Tink’s leg, Lady took a position in front of me. A low growl rumbled in her throat as the hair along her spine stood straight up. An insane thought popped into my head:Where was my Louisville Slugger when I needed it?

The man took one look at Lady and held his hands out in front of him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, his voice apologetic.

He appeared to be around forty, and from the way he was dressed, I would’ve guessed he was a farmer. His denim overalls, stained with rust, were worn over an old plaid shirt. Bits and pieces of twine hung out of his side pockets, and the center pocket of his bibs appeared stuffed full. He wore an old slouched hat on his head that shadowed the upper part of his face, and it was hard to see his eyes. His stance was relaxed and nonthreatening.

Deciding he was harmless, my heart slowed to its normal rhythm.

“I own the property over yonder,” he said, pointing to the trees behind Tink and me. “I was out checking my fence lines and on my way home.” He dropped his eyes, then suddenly bent down and picked up an object from the path. “Look, a quarter,” he said, holding the shiny coin high in the air. “Not yours, is it?”

I shook my head.

“Just never know what you’re going to find in the woods,” he said as he tucked it in his already full pocket. I’m Silas Green, by the way.”

Silas Green? The name wasn’t familiar to me, but I didn’t know everyone in the area. Darci did. I’d ask her about him tomorrow.

“Nice dog,” he commented, eyeing Lady. Returning his attention to me, he smiled to reveal a set of very crooked front teeth with long incisors. Immediately, he didn’t look so harmless.

Lady now stood glued to my leg. Never taking my eyes off Mr. Green, I reached down and patted her head. “Yes, she is.” Taking Tink’s hand, I started down the path. “Excuse us, we need to get home before dark.”

“That’s wise, miss. The woods aren’t a good place to be come nightfall.”

I paused and gave him a puzzled look.

“The mosquitoes. Once the breeze goes down at night, they come out. They’ll eat you alive if you don’t watch it.” With a tip of his hat, he turned and walked off in the other direction.

I watched in the growing dusk until he was out of sight. Dragging Tink behind me, I hurried us to my parked car.

We made it in record time.

Six

Since Darci’s classes started in two weeks, I struggled to come up with a schedule for the library that worked around her. But it was Claire Canyon, our library board president, who saved the situation. While talking causally with a woman who’d recently moved to Summerset, she learned the newcomer needed a part-time job. Claire had been impressed enough with to offer her an interview.

“This is pointless,” I said to Darci as I stared at the blank piece of paper lying on the counter.

Darci paused while checking in books. “What’s pointless?”

“Trying to come up with questions for the interview this afternoon.” I tapped the counter with my pen. “Claire’s vote of confidence is good enough for me.”

“But you have to at least go through the motions.” Darci flipped the book shut.

“I suppose. Hmm, how about ‘What are your favorite authors?’” I said, scribbling it on the blank sheet.

Are you familiar with the best-seller lists?came next. “Hey, I’m on a roll here,” I said as I started to write the next question. A nudge from Darci interrupted me.

I turned my head to see Abby escorting Aunt Dot through the door. As soon as Aunt Dot cleared the doorway, she shook off Abby’s hand and proceeded across the room like a steamroller, her head whipping from side to side as she took in the library.

“She’s so sweet,” Darci murmured next to me.

“Yeah? Well, just don’t mention murder or fairies, okay?”

“Huh?”

“Trust me on this one, Darce.” I plastered a smile on my face. “Hi, Aunt Dot,” I said loud enough for her to hear me.

“This is where you work, eh?” Aunt Dot trooped up to the counter, her walking stick thudding with each step.

“Yup. What do you think?”

“You have a lot of books,” she replied in a matter-of-fact voice.

My eyes traveled around the room. She was right—we had thousands of books in our circa 1920 library. Its heating and cooling system might leave something to be desired, and the blinds covering the arched windows were ancient, but I loved the old place. Our library had character. Crown molding ran around the high ceilings, and light from the antique light fixtures reflected off the soft gold walls, warming the room even on the darkest day. The floors had recently been redone. Wonderful pegged planks had been discovered underneath the worn carpet and restored to their original beauty. The whole building smelled of old leather and lemon oil polish.

My gaze settled on Abby, standing directly behind Aunt Dot.

The skin around her eyes looked pinched, and I noticed a faint twitch in one eyelid. Her normally immaculate braid had tendrils of silver escaping this way and that. And the aura of calm that usually floated around her was missing.

But before I could open my mouth to say anything, Darci stepped from around the counter to greet Aunt Dot.

“Hi, I’m Darci, Ophelia’s assistant,” she said, holding out her hand.

Aunt Dot took her hand in both of hers and studied Darci closely. “My, she’s a smart one, isn’t she?” she said over her shoulder to Abby.

Darci’s eyes widened in surprise at Aunt Dot’s remark.

Boy, I would have to explain that one later, I thought. Oh well, by now, Darci was well-acquainted with our family’s talents.

Abby smiled. “Yes, she is,” she replied with affection. “Ophelia told me you’re starting college in a couple of weeks,”

Darci gave a hesitant nod. “Um-hum. I’m a little nervous.”

Abby stepped forward and gave Darci’s arm a squeeze. “You’ll do fine,” she said, her voice reassuring. “I’ll miss seeing you around the library.”

“Oh, I’ll still be here on the weekends.” She shot me a look. “Someone has to keep Ophelia out of trouble.”

Ha! Since Darci had done more than her share toget me in trouble, I thought her remark very inappropriate.

“Aunt Dot,” Darci said, her eyes returning to my diminutive aunt. “Would you like me to give you a tour of the library?”

Uh-oh. I didn’t like that idea at all. Darci had her own fascination with our “adventures,” and I didn’t think it wise for her to spend unsupervised time with Aunt Dot. I shuddered to think of what kind of trouble two excitement junkies like Aunt Dot and Darci could get into.

I stepped quickly around the counter. “I’ll take her.”

“No.” Darci’s eyes sparked with wry humor. “I’d be happy
to show her around. You have to finish the questions for the interview.” She extended her arm to Aunt Dot. “Would you like to see the children’s section and Ophelia’s office?” She took a worried glance at the stairs leading to the basement. “But maybe the stairs might be a problem.”

“Ack, these old legs still work,” Aunt Dot said, setting off at her usual pace, pulling Darci with her.

I couldn’t help but grin. “She’s something else, isn’t she?”

My grin fell away when I saw the expression on Abby’s face. The pinched features warned me of problems brewing.

“You have no idea.” Abby’s voice rose on an exasperated note. “She’s only been here four days and she’s wearing me out!” She blew a stray strand out of her face. “If she isn’t up until all hours trying to make contact with the fairies she’s convinced live in my flower garden, she’s messing with the plants in my greenhouse. She quizzes every customer that comes in. And—and…” Abby was on a roll, “she’s decided, since she’s on vacation, it’s okay to have wine time every night. I’m going to be glad when that damn wine’s gone,” she muttered. “I swear—I’ve never known such a meddler.”

I had to drop my head to hide my smile. Abby was a fine one to talk about meddling; in my opinion, she was the expert. Maybe it ran in the family, along with our psychic gifts. But if that were the case, it meant that I—

I didn’t get to pursue that line of thinking. Abby’s next statement broke into my thoughts.

“Have you had a chance to speak to an attorney about the letter from Minnesota?”

“Yes, I talked to Warren.” I scrunched my face, thinking back over the last couple of days. “Today’s Wednesday, so yeah, Tuesday. I met with him over my lunch hour. He said
it might be a little more complicated since Jason is in Minnesota, but Tink lives in Iowa, so the proceedings will be in this county.”