Mama Nadege shook her head. “You’re as green as you are white, son. This magic is new to you, ain’t it?”
I tried not to bristle. “I’ve had magic all my life,” I replied. “But no real schooling in it, until I met Sorren. I’ve got a lot to learn.”
My answer seemed to satisfy Mama. “That you do, son. Well, here’s your lesson for tonight. A necromancer draws power from enslaving spirits. Not just killing, slaving. I imagine you can guess how I feel about somethin’ like that.”
I swallowed hard. For all her power, Mama Nadege herself was owned as property by one of Charleston’s wealthy families. It didn’t take much imagination to guess that she’d take a dim view of any slaver, before or after death. “I imagine I can,” I said quietly. Another thought came to me, and I dared to look up at Mama Nadege.
“If you know Von Dersch was a slaver, why didn’t you do something yourself?”
Mama Nadege began to laugh, but it wasn’t a pleasant sound. “Oh, I did do something, child. I marked veves—powerful veves—around the places my people live. Those cabins out there, they’re the safest place in Charleston. He has no power, not in my alley. But how you reckon an old slave woman gonna come up against a judge, ‘specially when all the masters favor him? Uh-uh. All I’d get is dead, and then who’s gonna protect my people?” She leaned forward. “But I can help you, if you’re of a mind to do it. That I can. And I’ve got some powerful friends myself.”
I exchanged a glance with Evann. This might be the best chance we were going to get. “All right, I said. “What do I need to do?”
“You need to get into that Judge’s house, and find his object of power. By himself, his magic is weak. I know this. It’s not his magic makes him so strong, it’s some dark object he has; bad thing, very bad. You get in there, you gonna find that he keeps something from all of the souls he’s bound, a reminder. I bet he’s got somethin’ belonged to the poor girl, too. How she got mixed up with him, I don’t know, but she got stuck, like the others. You go in there, you make it right, hear me? You be like Moses and let those poor slaved souls go free.”
I drew a deep breath. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t figured it would come to this, but hearing Mama Nadege say it made it entirely too real. “Sorren had someone scouting the houses,” I said finally. “He might have learned something we can use. I’d like to talk with him—and with Sorren—before we do anything.”
Mama chuckled. “You think I was gonna send you out tonight? Uh-uh. These things take time. I have to call the power. I have to talk to my Loa, my guides. I know who I’m gonna call to help us, just the spirits who will want to see this man get what he deserve. You come back to the alley tomorrow night; mind it be an hour before low tide. Very important—because those souls, they be bound on the shoals. When the tide is high, his power is high. Tide go out, he’s weaker. That’s the time to strike.
“You get Hawk to bring you back here. My people know Hawk. They’ll leave you alone if you’re with him. You leave it to me. I’ll get you into that house—and out, too, maybe.”
I didn’t like the way that sounded, but it was probably the best I was going to get. Hawk saw us out to the end of the alley. “Thanks,” I said, not sure what to say to the ghost.
Hawk shrugged. “If you can help that girl, I’ll do what I can for you. I’m stuck here because I was stupid. I deserve what I got. But her—I don’t think she did anything wrong.”
I nodded. “I’ll see what I can do,” I said, feeling less sure of just what could be. Evann and I walked to where we were supposed to meet the carriage. To our surprise, it was still waiting for us.
“Get in.” The voice from inside the carriage was Sorren’s. I tried to hide my surprise as Evann and I climbed inside. Coltt was there, too. It made for a crowded ride.
“I had time to get into most of the houses on my list before your little party wound down,” Coltt said. “But there was one house I couldn’t enter. Wasn’t the locks—I can pick them. It was dark magic, and I couldn’t break it.”
“Let me guess,” I said with a look toward Evann. “Judge Von Dersch’s house.”
Sorren gave a cold smile. “I thought you might come to that conclusion.”
“We found something else out,” said Coltt. “About Felicity.”
I looked up with interest. “And?”
“Sorren did some research on the old court cases Judge Von Dersch handled. There was a case about six months after Felicity went missing where an entire pirate crew was seized and brought to trial. They were found guilty and hanged, but here’s the interesting part. The records say there was a woman aboard. She was dressed like a trollop and too drunk to give testimony, so they hanged her along with the pirates as the ship’s whore.”
A cold shiver went down my back. “If she’d been their prisoner for months… been dishonored… she might not have been in her right mind by the time they found her,” I said quietly.
“Or the pirates might have kept her liquored up to make sure she couldn’t tell anyone who she was,” Coltt put in solemnly. “But it would explain what happened to her.”
“And why her ghost hasn’t been able to rest,” I finished.
I looked at Sorren. “You know anything about a mambo named Mama Nedege?”
“Mambo asogwe,” he replied. “In magic, distinctions matter.” Sorren paused. “So she found you?”
“I would have said we found her, but yes, we’ve met.”
Sorren chuckled. “More like, she led you to her. Mama’s very powerful. But she can’t go up against the judge on her own for the same reason I couldn’t confront him at the ball tonight. The risks of exposing what we are outweigh the possibility of being able to win. That’s why we need someone like you.”
I grimaced. “So I’ve been told.” Sorren and Coltt listened closely as Evann and I recounted our evening. I ended with Mama’s offer to help get me past the wardings that had stopped Coltt. Sorren nodded sagely.
“If anyone can do it, she can,” he replied. “Let’s get you home. You’ve got a long day tomorrow.”
I met Hawk at the end of his alley just before two p.m., when the tide would be lowest. In the daylight, it was more difficult to see him, but when Hawk stepped into the shadows, he was nearly as clear as he had been last night. Hawk’s fatal dueling wound was as raw as the first time I’d seen him, but if it still gave him pain, he did not show it. Instead, he seemed as excited as a ghost can be about the day’s work.
“Where’s your other friend?” Hawk asked, looking for Evann.
“Coltt and Evann have the house staked out. They saw the judge leave this morning for court. He shouldn’t be home until around 4 p.m.”
I followed Hawk back to Mama Nadege’s cabin. The other slave homes were empty, their occupants presumably about their daily business. Mama sat on the steps of her cabin, weaving a seagrass basket and singing. Around her were seagrass baskets of all sizes and shapes, beautiful objects with intricate patterns, woven with the touch of a master.
“You like my baskets, huh?” Mama greeted me. “Now that I’m old, this is what the master has me do all day. When I’ve made the ones Master needs for the household, I can make as many as I can to sell for myself down in the Slave’s Market.”
“They’re beautiful,” I replied, looking at the array of designs.
Mama Nadege laughed, a deep belly laugh. “Oh, you just looking at the surface, child. Stretch out your magic, and see what it tell you.”
I did just that, and my eyes grew wide. The baskets weren’t just beautiful; they were tinged with power. Magic to bring luck, to win love, to keep relationships harmonious, to prevent food from spoiling. “Household” magic my mother would have called it, often not respected as much as the great magics to affect weather or turn the tide of battle. Yet as my mother always reminded me, such small magics were the warp and woof of our lives, and without them, we would be much poorer. “Do your buyers know?”
Mama let her head fall back and gave another deep l
augh. “What, you think I’m crazy, child? No one knows why, they just think my baskets are lucky as well as strong. Make them feel good when they own one, make their food last longer, make their house happier. Then they come back and buy more, and get more lucky.” She gave a crafty grin. “And the more of these baskets Master has, the more he likes me. The nicer he be to my people.” She chuckled.
When this is over, if I live through it, maybe I’ll be back for one of those baskets, I thought. Something for protection, or to make the ladies notice me.
Mama held out a woven basket that looked like a cylinder with a matching lid. “I made this for you, child,” she said, and her dark eyes grew serious. “To take into that house where you’re goin’. When you find that thing your master wants, you put it in there, and my magic will keep it still. Mind you don’t open the lid once it’s in there and check on it. You keep that lid shut tight, and what you find will go to sleep.”
“Thank you,” I said. I’d been wondering how I was going to get whatever-it-was out of the house, and I sincerely hoped it would fit in Mama’s basket.
She stood and waved for me to follow her into her cabin. “Mind where you step,” she cautioned, and I looked down to see two intricate veves etched in the dirt near the center of her small house. To the side lay a skin drum and several guttered candles. Three candles: black, purple, and silver, still burned.
“We worked the magic last night,” Mama said, and I could see that she looked very tired. “I called to the Loas, the spirits. I asked them for guidance. Ghede came to me. Powerful Loa. Loa of death and resurrection, huh. The right spirit for this job, no? Ghede is also the patron of vampires. I think he knows just what we doin’, don’t you think? Ghede Nibo came to me. He helps the spirits cross over, and he especially cares for spirits below the water.”
She set her hands on her hips, pleased with herself. “Huh. I think we got the right Loa, that's for sure. We fed him and gave him rum and let him smoke his cigars, and when he be all happy and satisfied, I ask him for your protection, to get those poor souls out of that house. Ghede Nibo, he say yes. That be powerful magic on your side, child.”
“Here, you take this, too.” She held out a charm woven of seagrass that hung on a leather strap. The seagrass had been darkened to a red brick color, and as I held it in my hand, some of the powder that stained it colored my palm. “This veve, it’s for Ghede Nibo. Help you take his magic with you.”
“Thank you for the charm,” I said, fastening it around my neck. “But Coltt said the house was warded against entry. How will I get in?”
Mama gave a toothy smile. “I’m getting to that, child. We raised two Loa last night. Ghede Nibo be one of them. Papa Legba is the other. Papa, he holds the doorway between us and the Loa. Papa Legba, he will take you to the house and open a passage for you through the magic. What happens inside is up to you. When you find the object that gives the Judge his power, you put it in my basket, seal it tight. If you can free the spirits, Ghede Nibo say he will help them cross over. The Loa will wait outside. Once you’re inside the house, child, you be on your own.”
I shivered, but nodded. “Let’s go. I want to be in place at low tide when the Judge’s power is weakest.”
“I have business down by the Slave’s Market, and then I’ll go to the oyster beds. I’ll call to Yemanja, mother of the sea, to set those souls free. Slaving them in her waters is an affront to her. Find what that judge holds over those souls and break the bond, and Yemanja will set them free.” She nodded to a pile of bloody feathers in the corner that had once been a chicken. “I’ve done sacrifice to Lady Yemanja. She’ll hear me.”
Mama met my gaze. “When you’re done, come back to the alley. Papa Legba will show you the way. I will keep the candles burning for you, give you my blessing.” She reached into the folds of her voluminous white dress and brought out a small bag. It was made of leather and bulged with whatever was inside, tied off with purple and black string.
“You take this. It’s a gris-gris bag. Very powerful. Put it in your shirt, over your heart. Keep it with you. It will give you power.”
I made a slight bow, though my heart was thudding at the idea of what I was about to do. “Thank you, Mama Nadege.”
She held her hands out over me in a gesture of blessing. “Come back safely, child. And set those spirits free.”
Hawk walked back with me to the end of the alley, though in the sunlight, he was difficult to see. At the end of the alley, an old man waited with a dog. He was a very dark man, and a half-smoked cigar hung from one corner of his mouth. A wide-brimmed straw hat kept me from seeing his eyes. He leaned on a crutch on his left side. The dog sat quietly beside him, watching me. I’d probably passed old black men who looked just like him a hundred times in the streets of Charleston, but I knew for certain I hadn’t passed him. Even at a distance, I could feel the waves of power that rippled from him. I didn’t know what he was, but I was certain of one thing; he wasn’t human.
The old man waved for me to follow him, and set off at a faster pace than I would have thought possible toward Judge Von Dersch’s house.
I could feel the wardings around the house before we reached it. Cold, evil power. No wonder people crossed to the other side of the street when they passed. Even without magic, the house had a bad feel to it. And I was going in alone.
Evann was staked out down the street, with a big hat that hid his features. He leaned against a wall, reading a newspaper, but I knew he was keeping watch to make sure the Judge didn’t return. Evann gave me a nod that might have been just friendly, but it was his all-clear signal. Coltt wasn’t in sight, but I knew he was watching the back of the house, and if he’d seen something, he’d be out front along the sea wall, smoking a pipe.
I followed Papa Legba and his dog into the narrow alley between the houses. The wardings pressed on my magic horribly, screaming in my head for me to leave. I could see the warding like a dark film around the house. Papa Legba raised a hand, and there was silence in my mind. A doorway opened in the dark warding, and I stepped through. Mama Nadege said Papa Legba would help me get out again, and I certainly hoped he understood that part of the plan. I had my veve charm and Mama’s basket, and although I didn’t doubt her magic, in my belt was a loaded pistol. Taking a deep breath and clutching the seagrass basket, I stepped over the warding.
I’d been afraid that I would need Coltt’s skill at picking locks, but it turned out that the Judge put a lot of confidence in his wardings. The locks on his house were easy enough for me to get open, with a little jiggling from Coltt’s picks and a nudge from my magic. I glanced up at the sky. The day had grown cloudy, and now it looked as if a storm were brewing. I opened the side door and stepped inside.
The interior of the house was gloomy. Blinds were drawn closed over many windows, and a thick layer of dust lay everywhere. Cobwebs cascaded in the corners, filled with the dead husks of the spiders that dared intrude on the Judge’s sanctuary. Gray sheets covered the furniture, slipcovered as if the owner had gone off for an extended trip. Yet we knew that the judge still resided here. Maybe “lived” wasn’t the word. Nothing seemed to live within these walls.
The odor of mildew and the stale air made me cough. Beneath it was a strong smell of camphor. I had entered through the piazza and now made my way into the parlor. Faded curtains shrouded the windows, letting through only dim rays of light. On the slipcovered furniture, boxes, scrolls, books of all kinds and sizes and metal tins were piled haphazardly several feet above the cushions. More boxes, crates, barrels, and tins were stacked in every corner of the room, leaving only a few narrow paths. Here and there, I saw discarded pieces of clothing and old rags. I had the mental image of a dragon’s lair, and a large black dragon coiled atop a mound of bleached bones and moldering treasure. Judging by the dust, none of the Judge’s collections had been touched in years.
On shelves all around the parlor, I saw small glass boxes. Most of them were filmy with dust; none looked as
if they had been opened or moved in a long time. There were dozens of them on the bookshelves, atop the side tables, on the mantle above the fireplace. I vowed to take a closer look on my way out.
I touched the veve on the strap at my throat for luck and moved further into the house. It was dark enough that I lit a small candle lantern that sat on a side table. With the draperies pulled tight, I wasn’t worried that I’d been seen by neighbors. The candle’s glow was comforting, and I moved deeper into the gloom.
The next room was a library. Shelves ranged all the way to the ceiling, several feet above my head. There were hundreds of leather-bound books; not surprising for a scholar and a judge. But on every shelf were three or four of the glass boxes, and here and there small urns. I struggled to remember where I had seen urns like that before, and then I remembered. One or two such urns had come into Uncle Evann’s shop. Cremation urns. I shuddered. Somewhere in the house, I could hear the deep, regular ticking of a large clock, and it seemed to echo my pounding heart.
I reached out with my magic. My touch was cautious, checking for magical traps. I was astounded to see the room lit as if with captured stars as every one of the glass boxes began to glow.
I looked closer at the boxes on the shelf nearest me and had to blow on it to clear away enough dust to see inside. A button from a man’s coat lay in the box and a few strands of hair. I backed up a step as my magic touched the box. A wave of anger hit me like a punch in the jaw. I had a glimpse of a man in worn and stained clothing wearing a tattered coat with buttons like the one in the glass box. He looked like a brigand, and I was glad I hadn’t met him in a dark alley. Quickly, I turned my attention to the next box. Inside was a meerschaum pipe, stained with tobacco from long use, a sailor’s comfort. With it, also, were a few strands of hair.
I gaped at the shelves, understanding what I had found. By holding onto a possession of each condemned man and a few strands of hair, Judge Von Dersch had been able to tap into the power of the souls bound to eternal torment in the oyster shoals. There were boxes everywhere I looked, and I was certain that if I counted them, I would find three hundred glass cases, one for every damned soul on whom Judge Von Dersch had passed sentence.
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