Shadow Witch

by Geof Johnson

  Carl, Jamie, John Paul, and the sheriff stood over the open grave, staring down at the dirt-covered lifeless body of Brenda Gundy. A couple of deputies, wearing their light brown uniforms, waited nearby, holding shovels.

  Sheriff Mason, a solid, square-jawed man in his mid-forties, frowned as they regarded the gruesome sight. “That’s some nasty business. Looks like Duane went too far this time.”

  “You think he did it?” Carl asked.

  “Probably. Ain’t no secret that he’s been beating her. Brenda’s sister calls me at least once a week from Spartanburg, demanding that I lock him up. She and Brenda apparently talked on the phone a lot, especially after one of his rampages. Some fellow called me a couple days ago and said he heard the Gundy’s fighting, and that Duane might’ve hurt Brenda, but I figured Brenda’s sister was behind it...gotten her husband or somebody to call.”

  “I hate domestic violence calls,” John Paul said. “It’s a good way for a cop to get shot.”

  “Sure is,” the sheriff said, “and seems like most of the time the woman changes her mind and won’t press charges. There was nothing I could do about this situation ’cause Brenda never called in a complaint.”

  Carl nodded. “Sammi says that when she lived here, Mr. Gundy beat her and Brenda regularly.”

  “Sammi’s the foster daughter?”

  “Used to be. She lives with some friends of ours in Hendersonville now.”

  “You’re a long way from home, Carl.”

  “We were on a fishing trip just north of here. We promised Sammi we’d stop by on the way home and pick up some of her things that she left at this house. There was no answer when we knocked on the front door, which seemed kinda odd, so we decided to have a look around before we left.”

  “And you found this grave.” Sheriff Mason nodded toward the body in the ground before them. “I’m gonna have a search warrant here pretty soon. Wanna stick around while we check out the house?”

  Carl cleared his throat. “Uh, no, we gotta get on the road. It’s a long drive back to Hendersonville. We’ll give you a statement before we leave, though. Are you gonna get an arrest warrant for Gundy?”

  “More than likely.”

  “Do me a favor and call my cell phone when you do. I have a feeling that he’s headed our way.”

  * * *

  That night, Carl went with Jamie and Rachel to the Callahans’ house to meet with Miss Francesco, the social worker. Sammi sat on the couch between Larry and Lisa, her eyebrows drawn low and her face pinched into a tight mask.

  “Carl,” Larry said, “how do we know that Mr. Gundy isn’t on his way to our house right now? He could be on our street already, watching and waiting for a chance to snatch Sammi.”

  “I doubt he could figure out so quickly which street is ours from that torn envelope. There are probably a dozen street names in Hendersonville that end in wood. There’s Applewood, Oakwood, Maplewood, just about every kind of tree-wood, and he doesn’t have the house number.”

  “He could get lucky.”

  “Maybe. There’s no reason to panic, though. Sammi is safe.” He stole a glance at the frightened-looking little girl, who seemed to be withdrawing into a protective shell as she pulled her legs up and curled them under her body, and pressed against Lisa’s side as if she were trying to glue herself there.

  “Maybe you could take Sammi to Eddan’s world and sleep in the stone house tonight,” Rachel said. “He’d never find her there.”

  “There’s no air conditioning in that house, and it’s hot,” Lisa said. “We’d have to sleep with the windows open, and then I’d be scared. I’d rather stay here, where we can lock up everything and turn on the alarm system.”

  “But I’ll be scared,” Sammi said in a small voice.

  “Do you want me to sleep on the couch?” Carl asked.

  “Yes, please.”

  Rachel shook her head. “Then I’ll be scared because you won’t be with me, Carl. Sammi should stay with us tonight, instead.”

  Jamie held up his hand. “How about if I sleep here? Only I’d rather sleep on the air mattress than the couch. Will that make you feel safer, Sammi?”

  She nodded but still looked frightened. Larry narrowed his eyes and said, “Jamie, if you’re here, how are we going to keep Fred from sneakin’ downstairs in the middle of the night and foolin’ around with you?”

  “Dad,” Fred said with an exasperated sigh, “give me some credit. I’m not gonna do that. I think I should sleep with Sammi, and I’ll wear my Stupefyin’ pendant. Sammi, you should, too. Where’s your half-moon necklace?”

  “On my dresser.”

  “You should wear it all the time. If Mr. Gundy tries to get you, you’ll have that for protection.”

  “I’m sure you’ll be safe,” Carl said, “and we probably won’t have to worry about it for long. Soon as Gundy shows his face around here, we’ll arrest him. John Paul is going to pass out copies of Gundy’s picture to all of the patrol officers.” Carl turned to Miss Francesco, who was sitting in the wing chair. “The only thing that’s going to be tricky is Tuesday, when Sammi has to go to Social Services.”

  “Do I have to?” Sammi said and pushed even closer to Lisa’s side. “I’ll be scared.”

  “Yes, unfortunately,” Miss Francesco said. “We need to have you brought in by a policeman, since that’s the way it usually happens. It needs to seem routine so that it doesn’t raise any red flags. We don’t want anybody to know that you’ve been at the Callahans house for all this time.”

  “Sammi, I can’t take you because I have to testify in court that day,” Carl said, “so John Paul will come by here and pick you up Tuesday morning in his patrol car. He’ll take you down to Social Services and stay with you as long as he can, but he probably won’t be able to stay the whole time.”

  “You mean I’ll be by myself?” Sammi’s mouth fell open.

  “No,” Miss Francesco said. “Somebody from Social Services will be there.”

  “But why can’t Mr. or Mrs. Callahan stay with me?”

  “Because that would look suspicious. We’re already pushing our luck with this ruse as far as we can, so anything that seems out of the ordinary will make it harder to pull it off.”

  “But...I’ll be alone?”

  “No,” she said firmly. “Look, do you want this to work or not?”

  “Yes ma’am,” Sammi said in a small voice.”

  “Then trust me, okay? You’ll be safe, I promise, and it shouldn’t take long. I have an appointment early that morning, but as soon as I’m through with that I’ll get my supervisor to sign the papers certifying the Callahans as foster parents.”

  “Why can’t you do it tomorrow?” Sammi said.

  “They still have one more class left, and that’s tomorrow night. But I should be able to get the certification signed without a problem, because that’s routine. Then, while I’m at it, I’ll try to slip some more paperwork by my boss, the request to transfer Sammi’s custody from Bartram County to this one. That’snot routine, so that could be tricky, but I think it’s necessary. I don’t want there to be any chance of Sammi getting sent back to Bicksby.”

  Sammi face grew agitated. “I won’t go! I can’t!”

  “I know, I know.” Miss Francesco gestured gently with both hands. “I’ll try really hard to keep that from happening. But once my supervisor signs off on that, I’ll recommend that Sammi be placed in this household as a foster child, and he should go along with that. He usually leaves the choice of foster homes up to us social workers.”

  “Then what happens?” Rachel asked.

  “Once my boss approves it, we’ll call the Callahans and one of you can come pick her up, hopefully.”

  “I’ll come get her,” Lisa said. “My boss already said I could take the afternoon off.”

  “And Sammi will officially be ours, right?” Larry said. “No more hiding her from the neighbors or lying to our friends?”

  “You probably should k
eep her out of sight of Duane Gundy.”

  “Of course. And Sammi won’t go anywhere without one of us.”

  * * *

  Fred pulled back the covers on Sammi’s bed and tried to slip in quietly beside her, but Sammi rolled onto her side and faced Fred.

  “What are you still doing awake, little girl? It’s late.”

  “I’m scared, Fred.”

  “Aw...I’m sorry. No need to be. We’re all locked up and Jamie’s on the air mattress down stairs, and Mr. Sikes is going to watch the front of the house for a while, just to be sure.”

  “I’m still scared.”

  “Do you have your necklace on?”

  Sammi pulled the silver half-moon pendant from under her nightshirt and showed it to Fred.

  “How about the counter charm? It’s no good without that. You’d end up stupefyin’ yourself, otherwise.”

  Sammi took her left hand out from beneath the sheet and wiggled her wrist, the woven bracelet dancing around her arm like a small hula hoop.

  “So you’re completely safe,” Fred said. “You couldn’t be in a safer place.”

  “I’m still scared. Mr. Gundy is out there somewhere and...and you don’t know how mean he is!”

  “I have a pretty good idea. He killed his wife, after all.” By the dim glow of the nightlight, Fred could see Sammi’s face grow sad. Fred raised herself up on one elbow and stroked Sammi’s shoulder. “I’m sorry he did that. I know you liked her.”

  “She was a nice lady,” Sammi said quietly.

  “I know. But now you’ll have my mom and dad to look after you, so you’re going to be okay. We’re going to do whatever it takes to keep you safe, because we love you, Sammi.”

  Sammi’s face seemed to soften and she looked deeply into Fred’s eyes. “I love you, Fred.”

  “I know you do.”

  “I love your mom and dad, too.”

  “Have you told them yet?”

  “No. Should I?”

  “I think they’d like to hear that.” Fred pursed her lips and tried to remember the last time she’d told her parents that she loved them. “Boy, I haven’t told him them myself in a long time. Too long, probably.”

  “We should both tell them, first thing in the morning.”

  “Sammi, I don’t get up first thing in the morning. They’re always gone to work by the time I roll out of bed.”

  “Then you should tell them as soon as you can. You mostly just fuss at them, you know, especially your mom.”

  “Not so much lately,” Fred said defensively. “Not since you got here, really.”

  “Well, you used to. I know. I heard you.”

  Sammi!” Fred glared at the little girl with the big brown eyes. “Sometimes I wish you weren’t a Shadow Witch.”

  “Well, I can’t help it. I hear stuff and I know it must be important, and I know that it’s important that you tell your parents that you love them.”

  The expression on her small face was so determined. She’s probably right. Fred said, “Do you want me to go tell them right now?”

  “No, ’cause then I’d be by myself and I’d be more scared.”

  “Okay, I’ll tell them tomorrow sometime.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise. But I’ll stay here with you now so you won’t be worried.”

  Fred waited on the couch in her dream-living room until Jamie appeared beside her.

  He shook his head until he got his bearings. “Okay, I’m dreaming.” Then he nodded. “We haven’t done this in a while. What’s up?”

  “Sammi’s scared out of her mind. She just now fell asleep.”

  “I don’t blame her. I’d be scared, too.”

  “Jamie, I don’t like this situation one bit. Why don’t you just catch Mr. Gundy and banish him to another world? Then we won’t have to worry about him anymore.”

  “Well, for one thing, I don’t know where he is. Can you do a scrying and find him?”

  “Not if he’s on the move. He has to be stationary or the spell won’t work.”

  He nodded again. “For another thing, my dad doesn’t want me to banish Gundy. He wants Gundy to be arrested and prosecuted for murder, the old-fashioned way. He said it’s the right thing to do.”

  “Hmph.” Fred crossed her arms and frowned. “What if Gundy’s found innocent? Then what are we going to do?”

  “Then I’ll banish him to another world, if we can find him.”

  “Make sure it’s the one where we sent that demon. That would serve him right.”

  “Who, the demon, or Gundy?”

  Fred laughed. “I don’t know which one’s meaner.”

  His dream-image began to shimmer and he said, “Hold on! I think I just heard something. I seem to be waking up.”

  He vanished, and Fred woke too. Her heart began to race and she squeezed the sheets with both fists. She held her breath and grasped her fairy pendant when she heard footsteps on the stairs, and then the door creaked open. Jamie put his head inside the room and whispered, “It’s okay. It was just one of the neighbors slamming their car door. You can go back to sleep now.”

  “Not ’til you kiss me.”

  He tiptoed to the bed, leaned over and softly pressed his lips to hers. He straightened and started to leave, but she said quietly, “Sammi, too.”

  Jamie frowned. “Uh...I’d feel funny doing that.”

  “Don’t be a baby. Do it anyway.”

  “Oh...all right.” He leaned over again, all the way across Fred’s body, and gently kissed Sammi on the forehead. Then he stood up straight and whispered, “Satisfied?”

  “I suppose. You can go back to your air mattress now.”

  Chapter 22

  The next morning, Jamie made a portal to the front of the Rivershire School for Evelyn, Rachel, and Sammi. When they stepped through, they found Mrs. Tully already there, waiting with Aiven in the carriage. Jamie said a quick hello and went back to Hendersonville while Rachel unlocked the door.

  Mrs. Tully handed Aiven his lunch sack and he hopped down from the bench seat, then she looked at Evelyn and said, “May I have a private word with you?”

  “Of course.” Evelyn turned to the others and said, “Go on in. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  Mrs. Tully waited in the carriage until the door closed behind Rachel and the kids before stepping down and facing Evelyn, her mouth tight and a worried look in her eyes.

  “Is something wrong?” Evelyn asked.

  “There’s been a challenge to my intent to adopt Aiven.”

  “Who did that?”

  “Mr. and Mrs. Beasley.”

  “On what grounds are they contesting it?”

  “They will claim some complicated, convoluted family link to Aiven, and if the court grants custody, they will take him to their farm and force him to work like a slave. They have done it before, six times.”

  “Six? That’s incredible. Are you sure?”

  “Yes. They have one of the largest farms in the county and they are quite successful, but their success comes on the backs of orphans instead of them paying laborers like the other farmers do.”

  “Oh, my. What can you do about it?”

  “I am allowed to bring council, and I am asking you to represent me.”

  “Me? Why? I don’t know the first thing about the law, especially here in Rivershire.”

  “But you are well-spoken and intelligent, and not easily cowed.” Mrs. Tully’s eyes were intense as she regarded Evelyn. “And you are my friend.”

  “Well...I’m flattered, but wouldn’t you be better off with a lawyer?”

  “I cannot afford one.”

  “What if we help pay for it? I can talk to Jamie. He’d be glad to help, and if he can’t, we’ll find another way.”

  “No. You are the one I want speaking on my behalf. You are the oneI trust the most. I can think of no one better.”

  “Oh, gosh.” Evelyn drew in a slow breath. “Okay, if you insist, but...um...I still don’t
know about the local laws on adoption.”

  “I will get you the information that you need. You will be prepared.”

  “God, I hope so.” Evelyn took another deep breath and nodded. “Let me tell you about our little crisis.” She related how Carl, Jamie, and John Paul had found the body of Mrs. Gundy. “And now Sammi is really scared. I don’t think she slept much last night.”

  “If it gets too dangerous for her, she can always stay with me. Aiven and I will be happy to have her.”

  “Thank you, but I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  * * *

  Duane Gundy woke with a sneeze. He sat up on his elbows, the bed squeaking beneath him, and he felt disoriented. Where am I?

  The mattress was lumpy and sagged in the middle. The air conditioner rattled noisily beneath the only window, blowing not-quite-cool-enough damp air across his body. The place smelled moldy and musty.

  He could tell by the dim morning light that the walls were covered with cheap paneling. There was a small table and a chair in one corner, and an old floor lamp with a cobweb-covered shade stood nearby. Squeezed into the far corner was a kitchenette — a three-burner electric stove, a small refrigerator, a coffee maker, and a microwave oven. Then he remembered.

  I’m in a hotel.

  He’d arrived in town after dark, tired from driving without the aid of his little black pills. He’d made most of the trip from Bicksby running on adrenaline, excited about the prospect of finding Sammi, but by the time he’d reached Hendersonville, he was losing steam and nodding off behind the wheel.

  The hotels near the heart of town were too expensive — the Ramada charged $129 per night for a single room — and there were no vacancies. So Gundy wasted hours driving farther and farther out, searching for an affordable place to stay, before finding a small, inexpensive inn, two miles off of the main road, halfway to Brevard. It consisted of one long row of single rooms with the tiny office attached to one end of the building, a rusted neon sign hanging at the edge of the roof and a night clerk with olive-colored skin and an accent. Normally, Gundy hated foreigners, but checked in anyway because the man accepted cash and didn’t ask any questions or look too closely.