Preserves & Premonitions

by Bella Falls

  As I returned to the table, I heard Nana trying to return things to as close to normal as possible.

  “Ladies, I know the significance of your presence.” Nana dipped her head in respect. “We thank you for taking the time to come all the way to our fair town. I understand it is not your usual way, so allow me to express our deep appreciation.”

  Frida grinned wide, showing off a serious lack of teeth. “Vivian, you ol’ sweet talker. You always could smooth over the tiniest wrinkle with your words.”

  “Mr. Steve is working on your meal right now,” I said, settling next to my grandmother.

  Enya snatched the eye out of Frida’s hand. “Good, then we can get a little business out of the way and eat afterwards. Please, have a seat.”

  Dina patted the chair right next to her with a grin. A little spit still rested in the corner of her withered mouth. She hit the mark for terrifying more than for friendliness.

  Mason attempted to rush over and pull the seat out for me, but Dash got to it first. The two collided with a slight thud, staring at each other. And neither of them succeeded in scooting the chair out far enough. Taking matters into my own hands, I adjusted the fought-over piece of furniture and sat down.

  “That right there is a prime example of how things have gotten too messy.” Frida slapped the table to emphasize her point.

  Dina leaned closer to me. “The most recent choice you made has marred the fabric of your life.”

  “If you don’t fix things, then I’m afraid the entangled mess you leave behind will have rippling effects,” warned Enya. The pupil of the eye she held widened.

  Mason cleared his throat. “Forgive me, ladies, but I don’t understand how Charli’s current…circumstances affect more than just her and Dash.”

  Frida tilted her head in the detective’s direction and made kissy faces at him. “Ooh, even his voice is attractive.” After the disgusting display of flirtation, she tittered like a schoolgirl at me. “I can see the appeal. You would have been better off entangling yourself with him.”

  Dash emitted something akin to a growling grunt, but I ignored his irritation.

  “But I am with him. I mean, we are dating. Well, more than dating, I guess.” My cheeks heated as I fumbled my attempt to explain our relationship in front of the strange sisters and the riled-up wolf shifter. The more his emotions got stirred, the more they affected me and became harder to block.

  Dina snapped her fingers with impatience until Enya gave up the eye to her. She flashed the ocular appendage between Mason and Dash. “Hmm, yes, I see what you mean, sister. But all is not lost as of yet. What exists does not have to remain.”

  “If you mean that Charli and I have to get rid of this blasted binding or whatever, then there are already efforts to find someone to help us out,” Dash exclaimed.

  The three sisters devolved into abrasive cackling that grated my nerves. They tittered to each other as if we’d missed out on some great big joke. Their condescension did nothing to ease my nerves.

  “Listen!” I bellowed, slamming my hand onto the surface of the table. My voice held a tinge of authority I’d never experienced before. “This is getting us nowhere. If you’ve got a suggestion or anything else that would be helpful, then I’m all ears. If not, then I see no point in staying.”

  I began to stand up to leave, but Frida grabbed my hand and held me in place. “We do not meddle in lives unless there is good reason.”

  “And what reason do you have?” I asked, holding back a wince at her jagged talons of fingernails digging into my flesh.

  Enya added her hand on top of her sister’s. “There are a few instances of one particular life that, if it gets thrown off course too far, will upset many more lives than the one.”

  My mouth gaped open. “I don’t understand.”

  Dina’s hand flashed out as she grabbed ahold of my wrist. Her nails actually did bite into my skin. “If you cannot extract yourself from the connection, then not just your life but many others will be the poorer for it.”

  “Are you saying that if Charli and I can’t break this binding then we’ll be dooming others to a bad fate?” Dash snarled, his lip curling back to show his teeth. “This is the biggest load of hogwash I’ve ever heard.”

  Although the shifter’s words tried to dismiss the sisters’ warning, my heart ached for a reason that didn’t belong to me. Dash’s hurt feelings would have to wait until I figured out what the sisters wanted that made them come all the way to our town.

  “There is no time to lose. You must dissolve that which was never meant to be,” Frida commanded.

  Nana placed a hand on my shoulder. “As has been said, we are trying to find a solution to the problem. However, if you ladies have a suggestion, believe me, we are all ears.”

  Mr. Steve pushed the swinging door open. “Order up. One of you has to come get it because I’m not coming out there.”

  Enya lifted her large beak in the air and drew in a long sniff. “My, that’s almost as mouthwatering as these two boys.”

  Dina turned the eye on her sister. “Focus, Enya, for I am starving.”

  “I’ll go sort out the food,” Mason offered, leaving me at the mercy of the weirdest trio I’d ever encountered.

  “Right, Dina. Which of us will bestow the gift?” Enya asked.

  “It comes from all of us.” Frida tightened her grip even more, threatening to crack the bones underneath her fingers. “Your future depends on you. To fix that which has been broken, you must mend.”

  Her words sounded like nonsensical gobbledygook, but I nodded as if I understood to get them to stop crushing my hand.

  “What ties you together can only come undone when the two work together,” Dina continued.

  “And in order to help, we bestow this gift.” Enya attempted a toothless smile in my direction. “May it guide you in the right direction.”

  All three hands covering my hand and wrist grew hot until their grips burned my skin. I gasped and yanked to pull myself free, but all of them tightened their grasp.

  “Be still and receive our gift,” Frida instructed.

  I grit my teeth. “But it hurts.”

  “Pain is often the companion of that which is worth gaining. Fighting us will only delay the transfer.” Dina turned the grotesque eye to stare at me.

  Gripping the edge of the table with my free hand, I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath. “I’m a Goodwin woman. I’m a Goodwin woman,” I repeated under my breath in order to bolster myself.

  Dina cackled. “I told you, my sisters, that a lack of blood connection would not lessen her tenacity.”

  “Hush. Let us pass on the gift and be done.” Frida squeezed harder one last time.

  The heat bloomed into an inferno, and I was sure that when they withdrew their hands, my skin would be charred to the bone. Power flowed out of them and into my body. A whoosh of energy blasted from my hand and crashed over me like a tidal wave. For a moment, I felt it pulling me away like a riptide.

  A strong hand gripped my other arm, drawing me back to the present. “That’s enough,” Dash commanded.

  The three sisters released me all at once, and I fell against the back of my chair, breathless and worn out. I tried to ask a question, but I couldn’t find the strength to speak yet.

  “What have you done to my granddaughter?” Nana asked. “Even I felt the edge of the power.”

  Frida unfolded the paper napkin and wiped her brow with it. “Trust a progeny of yours, Vivian, to handle what we bestowed.”

  “Not many would possess the fortitude.” Enya held out her palm to Dina and waited for the eye. When she received it, she turned it to gaze at me. “You are indeed a strong link to the line in which you were placed.”

  “What…did you do…to me?” I asked, still panting with great effort.

  “We did nothing to you. We granted you the use of our endowment,” Dina insisted. “There are those who have begged us for such a gift as we gave to you.”
>
  I placed a hand over my heart to contain the beginnings of an ache in a way that felt foreign and out of place. “Has your gift hurt me?”

  “Oh, no. Not as such,” Enya tried to reassure.

  “You won’t die from it, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Frida said.

  “Not directly, sister. But if she does not react or takes the wrong actions, then her life could be forfeit. We never promise that which we cannot see.” Dina spoke in more riddles, muddying the already murky waters of their explanation.

  Nana moved to stand at the head of the table. She placed a hand on her hip. “Listen, my patience and politeness only extend so far, but when you’re messing with my family, they dry up real fast. In plainer terms, what is the gift that you have given to Charli?”

  Frida rotated the eye to see me and pointed at my chest. “Her instincts have been heightened. She possesses the ability to be forewarned. Of portent.”

  Nana’s mouth deepened into a frown. “Psychic abilities have never been one of her talents. How will she deal with having premonitions?”

  Mason returned from the kitchen, balancing all of the plates in his hands and on his arms. “What did I miss?”

  “A sideshow of weirdness, man,” Dash admitted. “This is too much for me to handle.” Without another word, he sauntered out of the cafe, his figure disappearing down the sidewalk and out of sight.

  Enya stuck her large nose into the air. “That smells delectable. I have dreamt of this plate of food for many moons.”

  “And we must replenish ourselves. It’s not every day that we pass on a part of ourselves.” Dina rubbed her hands together.

  Reaching across the table, Mason placed a heaping plate of food in front of each of the sisters. Frida reached out and pinched his behind as he set Dina’s dish down catty-corner across from the cheeky offender.

  “If things don’t work out with this young one here, maybe you can come to our house and try to bargain for your future in person,” Frida teased.

  “That never works,” Dina scolded. “We tell that to everybody who tries. Even your father.” She nodded her eyeless head at me.

  “We can’t change anyone’s fate,” Enya managed through a mouthful of fried chicken. Juices spilled out of her mouth as she spoke.

  I raised my hand. “Then why come here? Why give me the ability to…whatever it is…if nothing can be changed?”

  Dina tore at the chicken leg like a predator tearing into its prey. She scarfed down the cooked flesh with noisy fervor. “We can’t. But you can. You have a rare opportunity to change the pattern of your life.”

  Frida pointed her heavy-laden fork at me. “And in doing so, you will either stop the destruction of the fabric of others’ lives or set in motion that which can destroy.”

  The light throbbing behind my eyes strengthened. “No pressure, then.”

  “I definitely missed something important,” Mason said. He held out his hand for me to take. “But it looks like Charli needs to take a break.”

  Sliding my palm into his bolstered me more than I expected. A little of the weariness from whatever the sisters had done to me wore off.

  I stood up, feeling a little lightheaded and woozy. “Thank you, I guess.” Before I left the table, a thought popped in my head and stopped me. “Just exactly how does this premonition thingy work?”

  Frida swallowed her mouthful. “Don’t know. Something you’ll have to figure out.”

  Enya responded despite having shoveled a full bite of macaroni and cheese into her mouth. “Different for us than it will be for you.”

  “But you’ll know when something’s amiss. And then you will have to use your best instincts to take action,” Dina stated, waving her fork in the air. She paused and set the utensil down, swiping the abandoned eye off the tabletop and glancing at Nana. “I don’t suppose you would include dessert in our meal? We would consider things square if you did.”

  My grandmother suppressed her initial response and gave in with a resigned groan. “It would be my pleasure.”

  Mason placed a steadying hand on my back while he linked our fingers together. He escorted me with slow and steady steps toward the door. About the time we reached the exit, one of the sisters cleared her throat to get our attention.

  “Why don’t you take some pie home with you,” Enya’s voice called out. “I find that pie can always make things a little better.”

  For the first time in my life, I was pretty sure pie was the last thing I wanted or needed. And that realization made me sad—and more than a little bit worried.

  Chapter Four

  My long nap turned into sleeping the rest of the day away. Instead of taking me back to my place, Mason left me in my old room at Nana’s. Like a gallant knight, he had carried me up the stairs and placed me under the comfy quilt from my childhood. The last thing I remembered seeing was his smiling face hovering over me before he planted a kiss on my forehead.

  Bright sunlight streamed through a crack in the drapes and landed on my face. I went to move my legs but found them pinned down by something lying on top of the covers. Lifting my head, I spotted a small orange furry mass curled up between my two legs.

  “Hey, Peachy Poo. Guess you figured out where I was staying.” I yawned and stretched my arms out to the sides.

  My cat unrolled herself and stretched her front paws out. Her claws dug into the old quilt, and her tiny mouth gaped as she joined me in shaking off our sleepiness. Trotting in my direction, she rubbed her head on my chin and down each side of my jaws, a strong purr rumbling in her chest.

  Pie might not have been the right cure for what ailed me, but a good rest and a furry kitty definitely made me feel closer to normal. Lost in thought about what had happened at the cafe, I ignored my orange fluff ball too long for her liking. She placed her head underneath my fingers and bumped them with insistence.

  I chuckled and obeyed her, scratching under her chin until the satisfied rumble deepened and she gave me that so-desired kitty smile. “Peaches, I might not understand what in Blue Hades happened to me, but my instincts say that doing this is the smartest thing I’ll do all day.”

  She turned her head this way and that to make sure I petted her in all the right spots. When she finished with my attention, she jumped off my chest and curled up next to my head. Spreading her legs akimbo, she began her feline ablutions with much licking enthusiasm.

  “And that’s my cue to get up.” I crawled out from under the covers and shuffled to the bathroom in the hallway.

  After taking a few necessary minutes to pull myself together, I did my best to straighten my wrinkled clothes and headed downstairs in search of sustenance. The appetite that had died when around the Gray sisters had returned in full force.

  Nana pulled open the oven and retrieved a plate piled high with pancakes. “I’ve warmed up the syrup, so be careful when you pick up the bottle. I’ll fry up some bacon. And do you want your eggs runny or scrambled?”

  By the time she finished asking her questions, I’d already snatched one of the fluffy pancakes from the plate and stuffed it into my mouth. “Mmf…sowfy. Ruphee echs.”

  My grandmother chuckled. “Wanna finish your mouthful and try again?”

  I chewed as fast as possible and swallowed. “Runny eggs, please.” Rushing over to her, I planted a big, wet kiss on her cheek.

  She wiped it off as if annoyed, but deep down, I knew she loved it when she could fawn over me or my brother like she did when we were kids. Soon enough, my pancakes were drowned in melted butter and syrup, and the sweet sound of the pop and sizzle of bacon frying filled the room.

  “What time is it?” I asked as she brought over four thick slices of crispy bacon.

  “A little after one in the afternoon.” She pointed her greasy tongs at me. “You were zonked out after yesterday’s ordeal with…them.” It seemed that even Nana didn’t know what to make of the Gray sisters.

  I crunched on some of the bacon while she cracked eggs
into the skillet. Frowning, I went over the whole meeting with the unusual women. I shuddered when I recalled their “gift” being passed onto me. And yet, I couldn’t tell that there was anything different about me today. As if needing to take stock, I started feeling my body from head to toe.

  “What are you doing?” Nana asked, sliding two over-easy eggs next to my half-eaten stack of pancakes.

  “Trying to figure out how this new power is manifesting. What did you call it?” I asked.

  “Premonitions. The sisters said they gave you the ability of portents. It’s like when you know something big is about to happen,” Nana explained.

  I stopped chewing. “Something bad?”

  After setting the skillet down, she brought over a basket full of fluffy buttermilk biscuits. She remained eerily quiet while she fished out a brand-new jar of strawberry preserves from the pantry that I’d helped her put up back at the end of the season.

  Nana struggled to open the mason jar, and I took it from her, twisting the metal top with everything I had until it popped the seal. I handed it back to her so she could slather some of the delicious jelly onto her own biscuit first.

  “Your silence worries me,” I admitted.

  The knife she’d dipped into the preserves dripped the sweet jelly over the biscuits and a little onto her plate. Sticking the knife back into the jar, she offered it to me.

  Licking her fingers, she finally spoke again. “The truth is, I don’t rightly know what this supposed gift will do to you. And neither will you until it just…happens. Which is what bothers me the most.”

  My appetite lessened despite most of the food still sitting on my plate. Even the tang of a freshly opened bottle of homemade preserves couldn’t tempt me or soothe the unease in my gut.

  I pushed the plate away from me. “So then, what am I supposed to do? Other than try to figure out why they gave me this premonitions thingy. And try to decipher what they meant by how Dash and I are supposed to get rid of the binding ourselves. I mean, if we could do that, we would have done it by now.”