Catalpa's Curse

by Terri Reid

  What happened to my body?

  Cat grinned. “I think you look adorable,” she teased. “And I’ve always wanted a puppy of my own.”

  Funny, Cat, now what’s going on?

  She sighed. “Do you remember what happened in the bedroom?” she asked.

  The puppy whined softly and put its head between its paws. It got to me, didn’t it? Somehow the demon got into me and was trying to hurt you.

  She nodded. “It entered you and took you over,” she explained. “But somehow you were able to still connect with me and warn me.”

  The whirlwind, you conjured a whirlwind and sucked the air out of the room. You didn’t get hurt?

  “No, I’m fine,” she said. “But we realized that the demon could get to you at the B&B, so we needed to get you to our house. But I needed to put you in a form that could be controlled in case the demon decided to jump you before we got to the house.”

  A puppy, really?

  She laughed. “A really cute puppy,” she said. “Anything smaller might have been too tempting for Fuzzy and Esmeralda. And anything bigger would have been too potentially dangerous for me.”

  Makes sense. So how long do I have to stay like this?

  “Just until we get home and I test you to be sure you’re all alone in there,” she explained.

  The puppy shook its head and sighed. Maybe you should keep me like this until you can be sure I can be trusted.

  Cat glanced over at him. “I trust you, Donovan,” she said softly.

  The puppy stood up, wagged its tail and pushed its nose against the bars of the carrier. Thank you, Cat. You don’t know how much that means to me.

  “You’re welcome,” she said. “But you need to realize you’re still vulnerable to its influence.”

  The puppy nodded and laid down. Yeah, you’re right.

  Then he looked up, cocked his head to one side, and yapped at her. Well, as long as you’re not thinking of taking me to the pound, I think we have a chance.

  Laughing, she reached over to the carrier, slipping her finger inside and stroking the top of the puppy’s head. “I can’t,” she said sincerely. “I need you, Donovan. We all need you to stop the demon.”

  Chapter Forty-three

  Finias, Joseph and Henry watched silently as Cat’s car drove down the street and finally turned right, heading toward her home. Several moments after the car had disappeared from sight, Finias turned to the other two men. “Do you want to tell me why you felt you needed to stay with me instead of accompanying Cat?” he asked.

  Joseph shrugged easily. “Do you want to tell us why you didn’t volunteer to accompany Cat to her home?”

  “Or how you knew that Cat had a wolf when she didn’t mention it?” Henry added.

  Finias folded his arms across his chest and nodded slowly. “It would seem that we are at an impasse, gentlemen,” he replied. “I can assure you that I mean no harm to any one of the Willoughbys, but I cannot divulge any more than that at this time.”

  “And we’re just supposed to trust you, right?” Joseph asked, shaking his head slowly. “Not going to happen.”

  “Actually, yes, you are just going to have to trust me,” Finias replied, “because you need all the help you can get to defeat this thing.”

  Henry sighed. “Actually, he’s right, we do need all the help we can get,” he said to Joseph, then he turned to Finias. “But it would make the entire ordeal much more palatable if you could offer us something that would help us feel more comfortable working with you.”

  Finias was silent for a few moments, as he contemplated their request, then finally, he nodded. “Okay, I can tell you that I have been Catalpa’s spirit guide since she was a child,” he confessed. “Which is why I knew about the wolf and other parts of her life. I’ve always had a long-distance relationship with her. But I was shown a vision several months ago, about Catalpa and her family, and knew that I had to come and help.”

  “Why didn’t you want her to know?” Henry asked.

  “She still needs her spirit guide right now,” Finias explained. “She needs the anonymous counselor who she’s trusted her entire life.”

  Joseph nodded. “Yeah, I get it,” he said. “It’s like virtual friends. It’s cool when it’s just texting or emails, but once you decide to meet face to face, the whole dynamic changes.”

  “Now that I’ve shared that with you, can we get to work?” Finias asked.

  Henry paused a moment, studied Finias’ face, and then continued. “Alright then, Ellis. You mentioned that we needed to do some research to see if any other spells or bindings were performed. There’s a Museum of Spiritualism a couple of blocks away, and if there are any records about the Pratt Institute and what they did, it will be there. We just need to go over and look.”

  “Isn’t that breaking and entering?” Finias asked.

  Joseph chuckled. “Not when you have the Chief of Police along with you,” he said. “I’m sure we saw someone inside the building, and we are just investigating.”

  Finias smiled and nodded. “What are we waiting for?”

  They took Joseph’s cruiser because it was more official and, with a quick spell on the aluminum locks, they had the door opened and the alarm silenced in a matter of moments. Finias waved his hand, and the area around them was illuminated, so they didn’t need to use flashlights. They slowly looked around the main room, each separating and going in different directions.

  Displays and dioramas were lined up on every wall, including a miniature of Whitewater’s downtown one hundred years earlier. A life-sized poster of Morris Pratt stood in one corner, staring out into the center of the room. Finias and Joseph met at that point and looked at the aged man in the dark suit.

  “Now that’s creepy,” Joseph said, walking forward and then moving back. “His eyes follow you.”

  “Are you afraid of ghosts?” Finias asked.

  “No,” Joseph replied, moving forward and back once again. “Just creeped out by dead old guys.”

  “I found it,” Henry called from across the room.

  Finias and Joseph looked over and saw Henry standing next to an open door that led to a smaller room. “This is the research area,” Henry said. “There’s quite an extensive library inside.”

  “Leave it to the professor to find the library,” Joseph replied wryly.

  They hurried over, entered the room, and were met with floor to ceiling bookshelves that covered three walls.

  “You weren’t kidding about extensive,” Joseph said. “Any idea what we’re looking for?”

  “I think it would be a diary or a notebook of some sort,” Henry said. “Probably handwritten. It could even be an essay book, because it was a school.”

  Joseph nodded. “I’ll start over there,” he said, pointing to the northeast corner of the room.

  “I’ll search across from you,” Finias offered.

  “Okay, I’ll start here,” Henry said, turning to face the tall stacks before him.

  Then he looked back over his shoulders, to the other two men and reminded them, “Search like your life depends on it. Because it does.”

  Chapter Forty-four

  “Oh, he’s is so cute!” Hazel cooed as she lifted the carrier from the car. “Look at those adorable ears and those eyes.” She looked up over the carrier to meet her sister’s eyes. “Can we keep him, please?”

  The puppy barked indignantly at Hazel and Cat laughed. “Donovan is not at all amused,” she said.

  Hazel lifted the carrier higher, so she was nose to nose with the pup. “Oh, is the little, tiny puppy upset with the big witchy lady?” she asked in an indulgent voice. “Well, the big witchy lady is just shaking in her boots.”

  When the puppy growled and barked again, Hazel laughed delightedly. “We really don’t have to turn him back, do we?”

  They walked to the back porch and, when Hazel started up the steps, Cat put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “Wait,” she said. “We need to be sure he
’s still okay.”

  “But we have wards,” Hazel said. “So, the demon couldn’t…”

  “Unless we invite him in,” Agnes said from the top step.

  “Right,” Hazel said, placing the carrier on the ground. “What do we do?”

  “Holy water,” Cat said, and she looked up at her mother.

  Agnes hurried over to the chair that held the large squirt gun and picked it up. “I never realized how important these would be for our safety,” she said, tossing the toy to her daughter.

  Cat looked down at the puppy. “Donovan sit,” she commanded. The puppy plopped its bottom down immediately and looked up at Cat. “Close your eyes.”

  “Cat, a puppy’s not going to know…” Hazel began, but then she stopped when the puppy obediently closed its eyes.

  “It’s not a puppy,” Cat reminded her sister. “It’s Donovan.”

  Then she aimed the gun and shot the holy water into the carrier, hitting the puppy on the shoulder and the chest. The puppy sat still, its tongue lolling out of its mouth, and its tail wagging back and forth. Cat aimed and shot one more time; the puppy continued to sit, enjoying the splash of water.

  “Okay, we’re good,” she said. “Quickly bring him inside before anything changes.”

  Hazel scooped the carrier up and ran up the stairs. Cat followed closely behind, carrying the squirt gun and her overnight case. Agnes waited on the top of the stairs for her daughter and hugged her once she stepped onto the porch. “How are you, really?” she asked.

  Cat smiled at her mother and nodded. “I’m good,” she said. “I feel stronger and surer of myself.”

  “And Donovan?” Agnes asked.

  Cat sighed. “I trust him, Mom,” she said. “He wants to help us.” Then she shrugged. “And I’m not going to think about anything beyond that right now.”

  “But, honey, Donovan…” Agnes began, but Cat shook her head.

  “No, Mom, nothing beyond the here and now. We all just need to concentrate on the next little while,” she said. “And accept that not everyone gets a happily-ever-after.”

  She gave her mom a quick hug and then hurried across the porch into the house.

  Agnes stayed on the porch and looked up into the night sky, like black silk with tiny diamonds scattered across it. She took a deep breath, inhaling the rich scents of a late summer night and the dewy moisture of the morning soon to be. Even though she’d had an encounter with the demon just a few hours earlier, this place, her back porch, held no residual fear or apprehension. She was safe here.

  She sat down at the top of the steps, rested her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. Her sigh was deep, yet soft, and she brushed an errant tear away from her cheek. She’d always wanted, always hoped, that her daughters would have more choices than she. Always prayed that they would find true love, partners who adored them, and respected them. Partners who could be with them forever.

  For a moment, she allowed herself to remember her first love. He had been gentle and strong, compassionate and wise, and they had been devoted to each other. But they both understood the ramifications of the curse and the obligations of her heritage. They stayed together as long as they could and finally, as Catalpa grew in her belly, they had to say good-bye.

  She returned to her home, this home, her safe place. And Catalpa had been born under this roof.

  She remembered when she first held her daughter, the result of their union, she was surprised to feel the instantaneous love for this tiny person blossom in her heart. But she could admit to herself, here in the early hours before dawn, that another part of her heart had never healed. The sorrow from being separated from her first love never quite went away. No matter how much love had grown, there would always be a barren part of her soul, longing for what never could be.

  She sighed again, but this time, the sadness was for her oldest daughter. She knew how much Cat loved Donovan. She knew that it was the kind of love that wasn’t going to go away, no matter how logical Cat tried to make it seem. And she prayed that her daughter would be spared the same sorrow she’d carried all these years.

  Chapter Forty-five

  “Where’s the puppy?” Rowan asked Cat and Hazel as they entered the living room a half-hour later.

  “Fuzzy’s watching him,” Hazel said with a smile. “And he’s not too happy about it.”

  “Who he?” Rowan asked. “Fuzzy or Donovan?”

  “Both,” Hazel snickered. “But Fuzzy has the upper hand, or should I saw upper paw? Every time Donovan tries to escape, Fuzzy plants a paw on him and holds that little wriggling body in place.”

  Rowan laughed. “Do you think Donovan is ever going to forgive you,” she chuckled, but her laughter stopped when she saw the look of pain in her older sister’s eyes. She reached out her hand and placed it gently on Cat’s arm. “Cat…I’m sorry.”

  Cat shrugged and pasted a smile on her face. “No. I’m good, really,” she said. “I just want to get through all of this, so our lives can get back to normal.”

  Hazel shrugged. “Well, as normal as they’ve ever been,” she agreed. “So, what’s next?”

  “We need to form a circle,” Agnes said, coming into the room. “Hazel, could you take care of the rug. Cat, the candles, and Rowan make sure we’re safe.”

  Hazel levitated the large oak table that stood over the huge braided rug and moved it into the corner of the room. Then, with a twist of her hand, the rug rolled itself into a tight roll and slipped against another wall revealing a Celtic knot design that was carved into the old wood floor.

  Cat moved four, five-foot-tall, ornately crafted, black cast-iron candlesticks to the outer points of the quaternary knots. The thick wax candles were white and, when Cat lit them, the flames were golden yellow.

  While her sisters were occupied, Rowan closed her eyes and envisioned a shimmering bubble encompassing the house, protecting all within and keeping all danger out. Then she toured the house in her mind, looking for anything that might contain darkness or evil. She breathed easily once she was satisfied that the house was safe, opened her eyes, and smiled at her mother. “We’re good,” she said.

  “Thank you, girls,” Agnes said, smiling at each of her daughters individually. “Now, before we begin this session, I need to warn you that I’m not comfortable with what you want to do.”

  “Mom, we need to find out what the Spiritualists did in the ballroom to learn how to fight against it,” Cat reasoned. “I agree there’s a risk, but there’s a greater risk if we don’t know.”

  Hazel pulled a granola bar from her pocket and took a bite. “Besides,” she said. “Not only are we going to be safe in the circle, but Patience is also going with us.”

  Agnes turned to Rowan. “Did Patience agree to this?” she asked.

  Rowan nodded. “Yes, Patience agreed to guide us and introduce us to the spirits in the room,” she replied. “She knew these people, and they knew her, so we think we’ll get even more information with Patience with us.”

  Agnes exhaled slowly and then nodded. “Well, I suppose you’re right,” she said. “I will stay and watch over things here. But if there is a speck of concern or modicum of trouble, you all come back instantly. And you must be back before the dawn, so that gives you about an hour, understood?”

  The three sisters nodded.

  “Fine,” Agnes said, stepping into the knot and taking her place on the eastern-most corner. “We can begin. I will offer the incantation.”

  Agnes lifted her hand, and a smudge stick appeared in it. She lifted it high above her head, a wisping, gray trail of smoke in the air behind it, and then drew a straight line down. “I cleanse the space to the east.”

  Catalpa, standing in the next clockwise space, lifted her smudge stick and said, “I cleanse the space to the south.”

  Hazel, in the next space, also lifted her smudge stick in the same manner. “I cleanse the space to the west,” she repeated.

  Then Rowan echoed the same actions a
nd said, “I cleanse the space to the north.”

  When Rowan had finished, all the women turned and walked clockwise around the edge of the knot. With their smudge sticks glowing, they filled the rest of the circle with the gray smoke and chanted, “We cleanse all spaces in between.”

  Stopping at the places they began, they raised their arms, so the distance between them from fingertip to fingertip was about twelve inches.

  “We cast this circle, as is our right,” Agnes chanted with her eyes closed. “To protect us with thy holy light. Nothing can harm or corrupt our plea. As we ask, so mote it be.”

  A beam of ultraviolet light appeared above Agnes and then traveled down from the top of her head and through her arms. The light traveled through her to Rowan and Catalpa on either side of her, through them and then finally to Hazel. The light was warm and bright and lit the inside of the circle with a golden glow.

  Agnes opened her eyes and smiled lovingly at her daughters. “Well done,” she said softly. “Now we are protected, so we can begin the spell.” She looked into the center of the circle. “Patience Goodfellow, we invite your presence.”

  Instantly, the spirit of Patience, who had been Rowan’s spirit guide since she was born, appeared before them. “Well met, my sisters,” Patience said. “Are you ready for your journey?”

  “Not yet,” Hazel said, positioning herself comfortably on a pillow. “I need to make sure my body’s comfortable before I leave. Pregnancy’s hard enough; I don’t need a stiff neck on top of it.”

  As Hazel shifted into a reclining position, Rowan and Cat sat down in a Lotus position and rested their hands on their knees.

  Agnes glanced around the circle, ensuring that her daughters were comfortable and then closed her eyes to recite the incantation.

  “Before the dawn, before the light,

  Their spirits must wander through the night,

  To those who summoned the entity,

  As I ask, so mote it be.”

  Suddenly, the spirits of all three girls stood next to Patience in the middle of the circle. They smiled at their mother and then, linking hands with each other and Patience, they vanished from her sight.