Earth: The Elementals Book Two

by Jennifer Lush

  He couldn’t remember falling asleep and had no idea how late it had become before he did. The wakeup call was definitely loud and rude at its nicest. A noise coming from the direction of the dining table jerked him awake, and he sat up rubbing his eyes trying to see what was happening. The only light was the moon glow through the open window which was partially blocked by trees. He could hear muffled crying from somewhere nearby and knew instantly it was Meredith.

  He moved near her and put his arms around her, rocking her gently. He stroked her hair and quietly whispered everything would be alright. More than ever, he wanted to be gone from this place.

  His aunt finally lit a candle in the kitchen allowing him to see what was happening. He and Meredith were partially blocked by the furniture as they sat huddled against the wall, but no one was paying attention to any of the children as they woke one by one.

  Samuel gathered enough to know that witchcraft accusations were being strewn about aimed at Meredith. The aunt had awoken during the night to hear the child chanting in her sleep. She was muttering a spell that would bring the devil upon her home the aunt yelled out.

  His father only laughed. If she had bothered to learn anything at all about his wife or her family’s beliefs over the years then she would know that the devil isn’t even a part of it. His daughter couldn’t possibly call upon something she doesn’t believe to be real. Not to mention that even if Meredith was to be the one called this generation, it wouldn’t happen for at least another ten years. She was much too young to demonstrate any signs yet. He tried to assure his sister that what she heard was merely a small child talking in her sleep, and her own fears made her believe it was anything more than that.

  Samuel whispered to Meredith as quietly as he could, and asked, “Do you remember what you were dreaming?’

  Meredith nodded. Her crying had stopped, but he could still see the stained tear tracks on her face.

  “Can you tell me?” he whispered, putting his finger to his lips to let her know to do it quietly. He leaned down and placed his ear in front of her mouth.

  She reached up and grabbed his head pulling him closer and whispered, “I dreamt about Anya.”

  He pulled his head back suddenly and turned to the kitchen to make sure no one had noticed them yet. It was safe. The only person paying attention to Meredith was him. Even his half-awake siblings were watching the adults, not them.

  “Anya? The first witch?” he asked for clarification.

  Meredith nodded. She started to cry again. This time her sobs weren’t as hard, but he held her close anyway. “She told me that we needed to leave because trouble was headed our way.”

  “She said that? In so many words exactly?”

  Meredith shook her head no. “She said we need to leave right now. Our lives depend upon it.”

  Samuel turned his attention back to his father. He didn’t know the hour, but he could see it was still awhile till sun up. There had to be a way to convince father to leave as soon as possible. Samuel was certain it would be Meredith to receive the calling now. If Anya had spoken to her, they would be wise to heed the message. They shouldn’t wait for dawn.

  The aunt was still insisting that she knew what she heard. It was chanting in a tongue she had never heard before, and the child was spelling her family and casting a curse.

  His father slammed his fist against the wall and yelled, “ENOUGH!”

  Everyone stopped at that moment and focused their full attention on him. “I might be a guest in your home Delilah, but remember your place. Need I remind you that you owe me your life? In more ways than one? You would not have met your husband if I hadn’t introduced you. Neither of you would have been employed by the owners of this estate that allowed you to live comfortably while you raised your own children if it weren’t for me putting MY name, MY reputation on the line for you. You would do well to remember that.”

  He turned to his children and told them to get dressed. They would be leaving immediately. This seemed to calm his aunt and uncle down at once. They tried to apologize for their error and convince them to stay, but his father would not hear any more of their weak attempt to make things right.

  “You didn’t like my wife. If you choose not to like my children, that’s your own unfortunate misguidance. You didn’t have to agree to take us in and help us when I wrote you, but you did. I am and always will be your brother. I thought you would at least extend the curtesy one might show a stranger they pass on the street, but you have done nothing except make us feel as unwelcome as possible? And now you awaken everyone in the middle of the night with these horridly absurd accusations? I’ll be damned if we stay here a moment longer.”

  The children jumped to their feet and quickly grabbed their meager belongings before rushing to the door. No one had to be told twice to leave. In fact, everyone would depart gladly even with the sleep disturbing scene.

  Samuel’s aunt and uncle followed them outside again trying to convince them to wait until morning. Gideon ignored them completely except for one instance where the uncle got to close to the wagon. “You would be wise to step back, Vincent.” He told him with a tone in his voice that could not be confused for anything other than what it was, pure unadulterated rage.

  They quickly loaded up and departed. Samuel sat by his father as he was now too awake to try to lay down with his siblings. Plus, he needed the chance to tell him about Meredith’s dream. He sat in silence until they were miles down the road and the sun had risen behind them.

  “How long until we reach New York?” he asked, when he felt his father’s temper had calmed.

  “Less than a week before we get to the city. I would say five days, four if we push hard.”

  Silence followed. Samuel had so much to discuss, but he wasn’t sure if his father was ready. He didn’t want to upset him more, but he knew there would never be a right time. He had resigned himself to waiting until that evening when they stopped for the night to eat and rest. After the younger ones had fallen asleep, he would try to approach him.

  These thoughts were interrupted by a small chuckle from his father. Samuel looked up trying to figure out what had amused him. Nothing about what happened in the last couple of days was humorous. His father saw the puzzled look on his face and laughed even harder.

  “What is it?” he asked him.

  “I shouldn’t be laughing, son. I have only now realized what a terrible thing I’ve done.”

  Samuel was even more confused. How could it have taken his father this long to realize that going to an aunt’s home who hated his family was a bad idea? As if reading his mind, his father shook his head.

  “No, son, it’s not that. I knew almost as soon as we arrived that we never should have gone there.”

  His father then explained that he had taken their talk the night before to heart. After Samuel went to join the others and go to sleep, he had gone into the shed and loaded the meat and other previously agreed to items into the wagon. He pulled the trunk of furs and other supplies to the edge of the wagon where it could be easily handed over to his sister and brother in law in the morning.

  “I was going to have us leave right after breakfast. I had everything ready. In the midst of the argument, I had forgotten all about my preparations.”

  “You didn’t leave the trunk for them?”

  “No, son. I’ve never thought of myself as a thief, and part of me is saying I should turn around without delay and give them what is rightfully theirs.” He sighed and looked off distant. “I don’t know. What do you suggest?”

  Samuel felt vitally regarded because his father had asked for his opinion. “There’s something I haven’t told you yet because I wasn’t sure when to bring it up. Send them something when we get to New York to ease your mind over what you took, but do not turn around. We can’t go back.”

  He went on to tell his father about what Meredith had told him. He described how she said Anya came to her in a dream advising they leave at once.


  His father laughed again. “So dear sister was right after all? My daughter was chanting in her sleep. Imagine that.”

  Samuel was happy his father took the news so well, but it was a little unnerving just how high spirited his father reacted. He had expected some concern over Meredith receiving a vision at her young age, or what would they do if the trouble followed them wherever they went.

  It would take a couple years before they knew it, but New York would turn out to be the best hope for their family. Father wouldn’t have to work from sunup till sundown like he had all his life. He would find employment tending the horses and driving the carriage of a wealthy businessman who treated everyone kindly. He and his children would live in a wing of his estate with a few of the other help. They would grow up being well provided for as this man’s heart was as generous as his waist was wide.

  Father had sent a package to his sister and brother in law repaying them for what he unintentionally stole. The package was returned to him some while later. It had never been opened. Father took it to mean that his sister had finally cut him out of her life and for good this time. His conscious was still clear as he had attempted to make amends for his wrong doings.

  Soon after they settled into their new life, Meredith would receive her calling. It would begin with prophetic dreams and visions. Soon it would grow stronger until she learned to harness her power gracefully. Father had worried about how to help whichever of his children were called since their ancestors had passed on leaving no one to help with the training. He also worried that if his employer suspected her of witchcraft, they would be tossed onto the streets if not reported to authorities and hung.

  His employer died unexpectedly one afternoon leaving a greatly distressed widow who would wander the halls of the estate aimlessly at night in her grief. The widow stumbled upon Meredith practicing the craft one night, but she was not frightened. The woman had long held a secret fascination with the occult and had privately visited psychics, fortune tellers, and so called witches many times throughout her life. She was eager to learn that there was a real witch hidden amongst the children who shared her home. In fact, she did everything she could to encourage her studies including finding rare and ancient texts and grimoires, supplies for spelling, anything the girl could want. In return, she only requested to use her powers to communicate with her deceased husband nightly. Meredith did this gladly.

  It was during this time that they learned the truth about the package, and why his sister had opened her home to his family that fateful night. Delilah had turned them in for witchcraft. When she talked to her employer about her brother’s request for a visit, she told him about the witchcraft in his children’s blood. The employer being a greedy man turned them in for a small reward. Hours after they fled the sister’s home, the authorities showed up to bring them into custody.

  Finding the family gone, his sister’s employer was left feeling humiliated in front of the crowd that had gathered to watch. He was also forced to repay the reward he had already received. Money he had already begun to spend. His embarrassment turned to anger, and he fired both the sister and her husband on the spot even accusing the husband of theft. He was arrested and died in jail. The property owner set fire to the small house they had lived in for over twenty years before Delilah could remove any of her belongings, or the little money they had stashed away.

  She was turned out penniless with no family to help her after she had so carelessly discarded her brother. Her husband was gone, and their children steered clear of her not wanting the ill affects the association would bring them. They learned that from her and her treatment of her own family. She was seen for a time living on the streets in Waterbury where she was often tripped, tricked and ridiculed publicly for having no one and no home. Eventually, she wandered off on her own hoping to find better favor in another town. She was never seen or heard from again.

  Meanwhile, Samuel and his family’s esteem continued to grow. A new maid at the estate where they lived was coincidently an Earth as well named Gaia. She taught Meredith so much more than she would learn from books in a lifetime. She also taught her about her heritage as an Elemental.

  Their kinship continued to grow and was believed by many to be an act of fate that they would find each other as Gaia had never married or had children of her own. She took Meredith under her wing like she was her own daughter. Nothing came between them until Meredith met Luke.

  Gaia disapproved of him immediately while father liked the boy’s spirit. Gaia warned Meredith from the onset to keep clear of him as he was nothing but trouble who would bring heartache to her family. Her warnings fell on deaf ears. Meredith fell hopelessly in love.

  Meredith soon learned the meaning behind Gaia’s warnings, and the sacrifice she would have to make to be with Luke. It was still worth it to her to be with her one true love. Meredith was working out how to break the news to father when the widow woman passed away. She had left her family enough money to be able to start over again on their own feet after having to leave the estate. It was no doubt a thankful tribute for the help she received from Meredith over the years to speak to her departed husband.

  Once Meredith knew that her father would not suffer for her choices, she fled with Luke. She never saw her family again, and they blamed Gaia for driving her away. Her family lived long and happy lives, but died not knowing what happened to Meredith. It was the only way she could be with Luke.

  They never knew it, but she visited them often. Meredith would stay in the shadows or be one of many faces in a crowd. She often left small gifts or surprises for them when she could. Only once did anyone suspect it was her. She had purchased a whittled figurine of two children huddled together at a small shop during her travels. She snuck into Samuel’s home one day long after his own children were grown and left it atop his dresser.

  Chapter Twenty

  Everleigh went upstairs to the room where her aunt had slept last night after rescuing Lilah from her uncle. Voices could be heard in the hallway, but they weren’t argumentative at least. She quietly rapped on the door. Nothing. She knocked again louder.

  The door opened a crack. It was Luke. “I knew you’d miss me.”

  She glared at him. “Where’s my aunt? I need to talk to her.”

  Luke opened the door for her then flung himself back on the bed hard enough to bounce acting like a child.

  “Is something wrong?” Todd asked.

  “No, I just wanted to tell you guys not to come downstairs for a little while.”

  “She’s telling him then?” her aunt was pleased, and you could hear it in her voice as well as see it on her face.

  “Soon. She’s going to take a little glance into the future first.”

  “What?” Todd was visibly shaken. “That is too dangerous for her to do without someone nearby in case it goes badly.”

  “I know the risks, but it was the only way she’d tell him. She had to see for herself first that Jackson would take the news well.”

  “I’m going down there,” Todd headed for the door.

  “She has already started,” Everleigh stopped him, not sure if it was true. Lilah would be doing it soon at any rate.

  Todd shook his head in frustration and began pacing the floor like a madman with his hands on his hips. “Do you have any idea what could happen?”

  “I do,” Everleigh said annoyed. She wanted to leave him to his panic attack and jump in the shower like she told her friends downstairs.

  “It could be severely damaging for her. There’s no limit to the injuries that could result.”

  “She is well aware of this. She’s only going to see into the future as far as this conversation. Lilah’s told me she’s looked farther than that before.”

  “With one of her parents on guard!”

  “On guard?”

  “You know what I mean. Someone to help if things go wrong.”

  “And things only go wrong if she gets sucked down the rabbit hole, right?” />
  “That’s right.”

  “Which only happens if she tries to see too far ahead? Not just one simple conversation?”

  “You don’t understand, Everleigh. You haven’t seen the adverse effect it could have on us.”

  “I do understand the risks, but I also know Lilah wouldn’t do anything to tempt that fate. Stop treating her like a child and trust she knows what to do.” Everleigh said angrily, growing tired of the eggshells that everyone had to walk on around Lilah. Let her live and learn already.

  “Even the strongest of us have slipped down that slope. It’s easier than you realize.”

  That was enough pointless arguing for Everleigh. It was a pointless argument. Lilah was already on her vision quest and could even be finished by now. No arguing could change it. They insisted she convince Lilah to tell Jackson the truth as soon as humanly possible. Mission accomplished. If they don’t like her methods, maybe they should have put someone else up to the task.

  “I’m going to take a shower,” she said to her aunt. “I’ll check on things downstairs when I’m done and let you know.”

  Meredith mouthed the words thank you at her niece, and focused on Todd to try to assure him everything would be fine.

  Everleigh walked down the hall to the room she had shared with Matt and Rita, sneaking in slowly not wanting to wake them. It was a good thing Jackson’s dad was out of town, or they’d have run out of room for people to sleep. She grabbed her overnight bag and headed back out, but noticed Rita’s eyes had opened.

  Kneeling down by the bed, she whispered quietly what was happening downstairs. If anyone walked in while Lilah was talking to Jackson, she would lose her nerve. Everleigh was as certain of that as she was her own name.

  Now that everyone had been informed, she headed to the bathroom. It needed to be as believable as possible for Lilah’s sake which means there could be no questioning by either of them what she had been doing upstairs if not taking a shower like she had told them she was going to do. There would be a hell of a storm to contend with if that girl found out Jackson already knew. It was sure to come out one day and likely soon, but there was hope Lilah would be able to handle it by that time.