“What is it?” asked Leigh Kate.
“A reminder,” I said. I approached the previously broken window to peer out in the direction of the pond. When Foster and I had driven by, I could have sworn I’d seen someone out there even though the banks had been shrouded in fog.
“I see the wheels in your head turning.” Foster joined me, brushing his arm against mine.
“Just looking out the window,” I answered without a glance his way. My heart ached just looking at him. So maybe if I didn’t, I could breathe again.
“I don’t buy that, there’s smoke coming out your ears,” he chided.
I touched the cold glass, reveling in its cool sensation, and laid my fingers over a particularly boxy patch of fog while staring so hard that my vision went blurry.
“Hey.” Foster knocked his shoulder against mine.
“I see something,” I told him.
“There are lots of things out there to see,” he said.
Then, as if just for me, the fog parted. Little Sophie was dancing circles around a tall figure. I couldn’t make out who the character was, but I seriously doubted Greenteeth put up with much dancing. That could only mean one thing. Gram.
I bolted from the room as Foster shouted after me, followed by Leigh Kate. If Gram was there, I needed to talk to her.
Tearing out the front door and across the gravel drive, I heard boots behind me and forced myself to run faster. Foster couldn’t go anywhere near the pond. If I could get to the fog, I’d be able to lose him.
The vapor surged forward as if reading my thoughts, swallowing me whole.
“Gram,” I shouted, instantly blanketed in a dense fog cloud. I veered off the road, but not too far. My sense of direction regarding the pond had increased. I knew it was somewhere to my left.
“Sophie,” Foster yelled. I came to a sudden stop.
“Foster, go back. It’s my Gram.”
“Don’t be stupid, Sophie. Come back.” He was still on the road; at least that’s where his voice was coming from.
“Go back, please don’t come into the fog.” I jogged farther in. I figured that if I kept the pond on my left, I’d stay beside the road.
“Hey, Sophie, it’s about time you came to play.” I recognized Little Sophie’s voice.
“Is my grandmother with you?” I called out.
“Did you come to bring me my ribbon?”
“I thought it was a present for me.” I slowed and picked my way carefully toward her voice.
“It was, but then you left it behind.”
“I have it now.” I held the item up above my head.
The mist directly in front of me opened. But there was no sign of Little Sophie. Or Gram.
Greenteeth stood there. Her thin black hair covered part of her face, shielding her eyes and her hideous teeth. Before I could run, she snaked out a hand, latching onto my wrist.
Her frosty touch burned my skin. I clamped my lips shut, refusing to scream out in pain or fear, unwilling to give her the satisfaction. Most importantly, if Foster heard me, he would rush into the fog to save me without a thought to his own safety.
Jenny flicked her hair back enough to reveal her ugly mouth and green teeth. I locked my jaw and lifted my chin, matching her move for move. I would not reveal how much she scared me.
Her fingernails were sharp as daggers, and the witch dug them into my skin, puncturing it. Tiny droplets of blood oozed out where her nails had been. Bringing my wrist to her mouth, she licked them clean.
She must be working overtime to scare me because now I was terrified. I wouldn’t allow myself to falter and look away from her. I may have been quaking inside, but she’d never know it.
Greenteeth tilted her head.
Now we talk.
Her voice, scratchy from disuse, spoke directly into my head, exactly like Titan.
Talk. I sent back at her in an irritated tone, glad I’d had practice with Titan.
Foster belongs to me. He is mine.
I chewed on the inside of my cheek, figuring I had two options. Talk to her, maybe bargain with her. Or I could remain silent, refusing to play her games and anger her more. She was stronger than me, and we both knew it. She’d nearly pulled me to the bottom of her pond once before. Wresting myself free of her probably wasn’t a move I could pull off. So, I’d play along for now.
I smiled. Not for much longer. I will figure this out. My hatred for her echoed in every word.
We deal, you and me alone. Another shake of her head, and her hair fell back to reveal her whole face. Not surprising, her eye sockets were black pits. I have much you want.
I shook my head.
I will give you your brother for Foster.
My breath left me in a whoosh.
Is this how you claimed my grandmother’s soul? Did you pierce her skin and talk to her? Convince her you’d stop if she promised to be yours?
I have lots of children. I care for them, but they are frightened of me. Jenny pulled back her lips in a sneer. They like Foster, but when he’s away from me, they need someone else. Callie agreed to be that person.
“She’s telling you the truth, love.” Gram appeared behind Greenteeth’s shoulder. “I agreed to help her take care of the children if she promised to break the cycle until I’d lived my life.”
“No, Gram. That can’t be right. She broke her promise when she took Sam,” I wailed. “Why would you agree to that? I still need you.”
“Those children are lonely. Would you want to be left alone with Jenny for eternity? And Sam, I think, was to make me less sad. It bothers her that Foster hates being with her.”
“But why?” I demanded.
Gram’s shoulders slumped. “Little Dylan Jennings. Bryan’s brother. I loved him like my own. I couldn’t save him, but I could be with him. I was too young to realize that one day I’d have a family I’d have to leave and a grandchild to lose.”
Little Sophie also materialized out of the fog. She clung to Gram’s legs, twirling a braid, the one missing a ribbon now wrapped around her fingers. A little boy with a mophead of curls approached with caution; his arm wound around Gram’s other leg.
At that moment, I thought maybe I understood. Gram had once said that Greenteeth would have something I loved and would use it to get what she wanted from me. The little boy clinging to Gram must have been her incentive.
Now you understand. Give me Foster, and I will give you Sam.
No. I shook my head. Foster wasn’t mine to sacrifice. Not like that.
“She’ll get him eventually, Sophie. In the end, she always does,” said Gram. “You wanted to save Sam. This is your chance.”
“Not like this, Gram.” We still had the sea cave. Greenteeth didn’t know about our excursion tomorrow.
“Jenny,” called Little Sophie. “Hannah is coming.”
Choose now. Greenteeth commanded.
No deal. The tone of my answer left no doubt.
Then your brother will be dead by morning. She let go of my wrist. I fell to my knees in the mud.
I’d had enough of the mind speak and knew she could hear me anyway. “Please don’t,” I cried.
Gram opened her mouth as if to tell me what a fool I was even though I already knew it. She never got to speak.
Chapter 54
A great shuddering clap sounded through the fog. Hannah shouted something foreign, and the fog dissipated in a heartbeat. Gram and Little Sophie disappeared with it. Greenteeth remained, throwing her arms over her face and hissing. Then she lurched back toward her pond and the safety of its dark waters.
I had one last shot, and I needed to think quickly.
“Jenny,” I yelled. “What did you do to Timothy?”
Greenteeth froze and slowly turned around. Black water poured from the pits where her eyes had once been. I could feel hate radiating off her like the cold that she enveloped herself in. The old saying “if looks could kill” applied. A shiver ran from my head to toes.
“Jea
lous, weren’t you? Your boy didn’t want you, and Hannah’s loved her so much. You didn’t just curse him, did you? You gave him a push off that cliff.” It was a hunch, but I was going with it.
Hannah shrieked, “No.” She was much closer to me than I’d realized.
Greenteeth resumed a deliberate slink back to her rotten, watery home.
“You took from your sister the only person on this earth who loved her. You stole her happiness,” I spewed.
If Greenteeth wanted to play hardball and hurt me and scare me, I wanted to do the same to her. She could creep back to her pond all she wanted, but first, I was going to tear from her the only ally she had. Because no matter what Hannah said about trying to end Jenny, I had sensed she hadn’t told us the whole truth.
My chest grew tight, and I knew what it meant when a heavy sea breeze blew over me. Titan had arrived. He wanted some revenge too. I stalked closer to Greenteeth.
“You don’t get to win this time. I will find Sam; I will restore Timothy; and I will save Foster,” I spat at her. All my anger and grief rose to the surface as if it rode the wave of my disgust.
“Let her go. Please, let her go back to her pond.” Hannah grabbed me from behind.
“I don’t think so, do you, Titan?”
At that, the roar of the ocean grew so loud it hurt my ears; the smell of salt became overpowering, and I almost gagged.
“Timothy?” Hannah’s grip on me loosened, and I pulled free. Greenteeth had reached the edge of the pond.
I rushed forward and was on her before she could turn around to defend herself. I pushed her as hard as I could. She lost her balance and toppled into the water. She sunk out of sight like a stone.
“Jenny,” Hannah stumbled into the water after her. “Jenny, what did you do?”
Titan stood by the road in full dragon glory, no longer ethereal, blocking Foster and the others from running to us. The sunlight glinted off his golden scales and craggy horns. He tilted his head back and roared, releasing all his pain into one horrific call. I understood him. If my pain and anger were enough to choke me, how much more must his have been?
Hannah dug her fingers into my elbow.
Titan lowered his head. The sea breeze he snuffed out of his giant nostrils blew our hair back.
Hannah forgot all about me. She let go of my arm and placed a hand on Titan’s wide jaw.
“Timothy?” she whispered.
Three hundred years and you never appeared to her. I suspected Titan could hear me.
He snorted. The children you seek are not in the sea cave. That is where I reside.
With that revelation, he might as well have kicked me in the gut. The sea cave was my last hope, the only place I knew to look. Now, our plans were at square one again, and the friends who’d been counting on me would be devastated.
Titan roared. I am sorry.
“Sophie,” Hannah asked. “You’re awfully pale. Did Jenny hurt you?”
“She licked me.” I held my arm out for her to see.
“So, you could hear her?” Hannah brushed her fingertips across the small wounds Greenteeth’s fingernails had left behind.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” I said. After all these centuries, Hannah and Titan deserved a moment together.
Don’t fret. Titan called after me. I think Hannah may know more than she lets on. Greenteeth is her sister after all.
After what I’ve done, she might not be interested in helping me.
The dragon dipped his head. I will ask.
I nodded. When I was about back at the road, my knees gave out, and I hit the ground hard.
“Sophie,” Leigh Kate rushed to me, grabbing my shoulders. Uncontrollable hot tears streamed down my face.
“I’m lost,” I said as she wrapped me tightly in her arms. “She’s going to kill Sam.” I buried my face in Leigh Kate’s hair. My whole body shook with sobs. I’d failed everyone. Mom, Dad, Sam, Leigh Kate, Garner. . . the list was long. So long.
Leigh Kate rubbed my back and rocked me gently just like Dad had done.
“Here.” Foster’s warm arms slid around my back and under my knees. He lifted me up, and I tucked my head against his shoulder. “Let’s go back to the house.”
My friends were murmuring around me as they followed us back inside. They wanted to know what had happened, where Hannah and I had been. Foster, however, remained silent until he sat on the couch, still holding me tight against his chest.
“Tell us,” he said softly.
“The children aren’t in the sea cave. I probably should have asked the dragon before we planned to go there. That’s where he lives. I have no idea where to look now,” I said. I scrubbed my hand over my face and climbed out of Foster’s lap. I didn’t want to, but I’d better be sitting on my own when he heard what I had to say next.
“If I don’t agree to let Greenteeth have Foster without a fight, she’s going to kill Sam. Tonight.”
As I expected, he shot off the couch.
“What?” he screamed.
“What about the rest of them?” demanded Garner.
“I don’t know. I think Jenny’s current focus is on hurting me. We might still have time to find the others.” I guessed. I had no way of knowing.
“You said your Gram was there?” Leigh Kate had joined us on the couch and took my cold hand in hers.
“Gram had known more than she’d revealed. She made a deal with Jenny, agreeing to be a nanny of sorts for the times when Foster wasn’t there. The kids don’t like Greenteeth, and she didn’t want them frightened,” I explained it as best I could.
“Charming,” muttered Lucy.
The front door opened and closed. Hannah entered, her shoulders drooped, weary with a heavy burden.
Chapter 55
“There’s another pond,” she said in a rush as if she might lose her nerve. “It’s on protected land in the next county. An animal preserve.”
“Have you known all along?” I asked with a sharp bite in my voice. Timothy must have pried that secret out of her.
“I don’t know for certain, but it’s where we found Jenny when she was released by the Abenaki. They used to have a settlement there, but when they moved on, she was left behind.”
“Is that why you tried to get us to abandon the sea cave trip?” asked Lucy. I was surprised by her perception.
“I’m not certain that’s where she takes them. It’s only a guess,” Hannah repeated.
“You never tried to rescue the kids she stole?” Foster glared at Hannah. “You never thought your sister was wrong?”
Hannah’s head snapped in his direction. “I couldn’t stop her.” A single tear slid down her cheek. “My duty was to you and Timothy. To try and right what she’d done to you, for my husband’s sake.”
“That was your duty?” Foster paced in front of the fireplace. “That, and not protecting innocent children from her? How many kids did you let her kill so you could weave memories for me?” It hurt to see the anguish written on his face. I lowered my gaze and stared at my hands.
“I made friends with the very people you were allowing to be destroyed by tragedy, and for what?” He stalked toward her, shouting. “Tell me, Hannah.”
“For years I never knew about Timothy. I thought he’d died. He’d gone to the cave and never came back,” said Hannah.
“Would it have made a difference? Would you have helped those kids if you’d known she killed Timothy?”
“Foster.” I jammed myself in between them. “Your aunt’s been mourning her husband for hundreds of years.”
“Really, Sophie? Your brother is going to die because of this shit, and you’re defending her?” He grabbed my shoulders, looking ready to thrust me out of his way.
“No,” I shook my head and laid my hands on his chest. “It’s reprehensible that she didn’t try to help those little ones, but the grief and fear you’re feeling now has been eating her alive for centuries.”
He clenched his jaw, but his grasp o
n me eased.
“Do you know how to kill her?” he asked Hannah over my head.
“She’s already dead.” Hannah’s voice was flat.
“You know what I mean,” he growled.
“She’s my sister.”
“She’s a murderer,” said Foster.
“Salt and iron. It’s a witch’s weakness. I believe it will banish her spirit.”
I remembered Timothy from her tale bringing buckets of saltwater to the pond. “But Timothy tried those, and they didn’t work,” I said.
Hannah looked away. “I’m not sure what else to do. And if she goes, I don’t know what will happen to us. To me, Timothy, and Foster. Her curse touches all of us. When she’s gone, we might very well be too.”
I couldn’t stand to hear any more. I slid my hands up around Foster’s neck and leaned into him.
“We have to try to save those children,” said Foster. He released my shoulders and wrapped his arms around my back, pulling me even tighter against him. I was so glad he said that, saving me from having to make a horrible choice. My brother wasn’t the only child in danger.
“We’ll all join you this afternoon, Sophie,” said Luke. I nodded, bumping my head against Foster’s chin. The entire group of our friends shuffled out and pounded up the stairs, back to the library to hash out a new plan. I let them go. I wanted a few moments with Foster.
We stood, pressed together until he sighed and leaned back.
“Hey.” He put his hand under my chin and turned my face to look into his eyes. They were haunted.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“No, I’m sorry. If I’d known Hannah could help . . .”
“I know you would have done something.” I swallowed the huge lump that had formed in my throat. “I’m going to lose you, aren’t I?”
“I’m afraid you might.” His smile was sad. “But it’s the only way.”
“I know,” I said. I closed my eyes, and he kissed me as if he might never get to again. I combed my fingers into his hair, clutching him to me while tasting the salt of my own tears. I’d known from the beginning that this boy would eventually break my heart. I wouldn’t have changed anything about him, but it would have been lovely to have known him in another time when all this other stuff wasn’t piled on top of us.
The Curse of Jenny Greene Page 26
