The Trouble with Witches

by Shirley Damsgaard

  Shutting the books, I pushed them to the side and crossed my arms. “Any more ideas?”

  “One—”

  “Find anything?”

  We both jumped. We’d been so intent on Von Schuler, we hadn’t noticed Rick slip up behind us.

  “No,” Darci said, her voice heavy with disappointment. “Did you find anything?”

  Rick waved two photocopies in front of our noses. “These.”

  Darci made a move to grab them, but Rick, with a smug look on his face, held the papers out of her reach.

  “I’ll read them to you.” He crossed to the other side of the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down. “It isn’t much, but it raises some questions.”

  I rolled my eyes. “We’re supposed to be finding answers, not more questions, Rick.”

  “Let me read them, and then you can tell me what you think.” He laid out the papers in front of him. “Okay, the first one is only a couple of lines about the death of Violet Butler’s brother.” He looked down at the paper. “Refers to him only as her brother, his name isn’t mentioned. It also does not mention any other siblings.”

  “So you’re assuming it was just Violet and her brother?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then the niece the Butlers raised would’ve been the brother’s child?”

  “Right,” Rick answered.

  He pointed to a line on the paper. “But the last line struck me as odd. The article ends with, ‘May the spirits rest in peace.’”

  “Not may his spirit rest in peace?” I said.

  Rick raised his head. “No.”

  Darci’s eyes darted to mine and she mouthed the word “ghosts.” I shook my head and sighed.

  Rick saw the exchange and smiled.

  “What year was this article written?” Darci asked, turning to Rick.

  “Nineteen thirty-three—”

  Darci’s eyes flew wide. “That’s the same—”

  “Shh.” I placed my hand on her arm to silence her. “Let Rick finish.”

  “Once I found that article, I decided to dig a little deeper.” He paused for a moment, pride at his discovery flitting across his face. “Care to guess what I uncovered?” he asked, drawing out the suspense.

  I narrowed my eyes and scowled at him. “Would you cut to the chase?”

  “Oh, okay.” He picked up the second piece of paper and held it out with a flourish. “This is a short announcement concerning the marriage of Victor Butler to the former Violet Von Schuler—”

  Before he could finish, I grabbed the page out of his hands and scanned it quickly. “Violet Butler was Frederick Von Schuler’s sister?”

  “Yes.”

  “That means—”

  “Juliet Finch is the granddaughter of Frederick Von Schuler,” Rick said, finishing the sentence for me.

  I chewed the inside of my lip, thinking. The connection explained several things. Why the Finches lived at the lake. Why Jason was fascinated with Von Schuler. And if Von Schuler truly had been a psychic, the relationship could explain Tink’s psychic talent. She inherited her gift from her great-grandfather.

  I looked over at Darci. “You didn’t read anything about Von Schuler being a medium, did you?”

  Darci opened the books and reread the passages swiftly. “Nope, nothing in here about that. Why?”

  “No reason,” I replied distractedly. My mind was locked on Tink’s tie to Von Schuler.

  I pushed back my chair and stood. “I guess that’s it. This information is very interesting, but it doesn’t help us find Brandi.” Picking up the books, I headed toward the counter.

  “Wait.” Darci hurried to catch up with me. “I have one more idea.”

  I slowed my steps. “What now?”

  The question was pointless. I had a pretty good hunch what Darci’s next idea would involve. Rick wouldn’t like it, but for once I agreed with her.

  “We need to go to the abandoned cabin,” she whispered.

  “Okay,” I said, and walked away, leaving Darci with a stunned look on her face.

  We hurried out of the library and left Rick with a noncommittal “See you later.” But before Darci pulled away from the curb, I placed a hand on her arm, stopping her.

  “Darci, are you sure you want to do this?”

  She looked at me in surprise. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  I thought about the last time I’d been at that cabin, and I shivered in spite of the heat. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea for you to go along.”

  She whipped her head around and glared at me. “I don’t care. I’m going with you.” Her eyes became narrow slits. “And if you sneak off without me, I’ll follow you.”

  “I don’t know if I can protect you from whatever’s in that clearing. What if it attaches itself to you?”

  “I’ve already thought about that.” She fluttered a hand in my direction, dismissing my concern. “I’m not a psychic. I won’t be as open as you are.”

  “Darci—”

  “Quit worrying about it. If anything happens, you can exorcise me later.” She gave me a wink.

  “Darci, that’s not funny.” I picked at the hem on my T-shirt. “I have so many things to learn about magick yet. I don’t know if I have enough skill to protect us.”

  “We could take Abby.”

  “Oh Lord, no,” I exclaimed. “The cabin is deep in the woods. I can’t let Abby tramp all that way.”

  “I guess it’s up to you, then.” She calmly pulled away from the curb.

  I exhaled slowly and thought about what I needed to do. Suddenly an idea hit me, and I pointed to the sign I saw on the left. “Darci, pull over to that gas station.”

  She whipped into the parking lot, and I hopped out and ran inside. A few moments later I was back in her car with a piece of paper in my hand.

  “Here,” I said, handing it to her. “We need to find this address.”

  She read it quickly. “What is it?”

  “A New Age shop. We’re going to buy a few supplies.”

  Lucky for us, the store was only a few blocks down the street. By now it was late afternoon and stores were starting to close. Darci slowed to a stop. I jumped out and ran into the store while she found a place to park.

  The door chimed as I walked in, and the woman behind the counter gave me a pleasant look. Long crystal earrings dangled from both her ears and ropes of beads hung over her ample chest.

  “May I help you?” she asked, strolling out from behind the counter.

  “Yes.” My eyes scanned the store. “Where are your crystals?”

  “Over there.” She motioned with a ring-covered hand to a shelf on the other side of the store. “Is there a particular stone you’re looking for?”

  “Lodestone.” I held up my hand, stopping her when she made a move toward the shelf. “That’s okay, I can find them.”

  I rushed past the books and the scented candles, over to the crystal display. While I looked over the bins of crystals, I heard the door chime again. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Darci come in.

  I motioned for her to join me.

  “Wow, what a cool store.” She took a deep breath. “I love the way it smells in here.” Her eyes strayed across the shelves. “Do I have time to look around?”

  “Darci,” I hissed, “we’re not here to shop. Now which stone do you like?” I asked as I held out two black rocks.

  “This one,” she replied, touching the stone with a long red fingernail.

  “Okay.” I turned back to the bins and selected one for me and one for Abby. Stepping over, I examined the crystals in the next bin. Picking one up, I turned to Darci.

  No Darci.

  She’d wandered over to the books and was engrossed in browsing through one. Abruptly, she looked up and waved wildly for me to join her.

  Shaking my head to myself, I replaced the crystal and crossed to where she stood.

  “Look what I found.” Her voice vibrated with excitement. “It’s a book on nineteenth centu
ry spiritualists. Frederick Von Schuler is in here.”

  “Great.” I handed her the crystals and took the book.

  I opened it to the index and found Von Schuler’s name. Quickly, I found the pages that referred to him.

  The author had written a very complete biography of Von Schuler that covered the time until he disappeared. And, yes, Von Schuler had been a very talented medium. In addition to his magic show, he had conducted many séances for the wealthy throughout the country.

  My eyes moved rapidly down the page with a growing sense of dread.

  Von Schuler had soon grown tired of only contacting the dearly departed; he figured out a way he could use his gift to increase his own personal power. Or so he thought. Instead, his experiment had led him down a path of scandal and self-destruction.

  Von Schuler had gone mad after summoning a demon.

  Twenty-nine

  I paid for the three lodestones and the book and hustled Darci out of the store.

  “What is wrong with you?” she asked when we were on our way again. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “No,” I mumbled, staring out the window at the passing stores. “A demon.”

  “I must not have heard you right.” She gave a nervous laugh. “I thought you said a demon.”

  “I did.” I watched Darci’s reaction. “Frederick Von Schuler became involved in what most people call the ‘black arts.’”

  Her mouth dropped open but no words came out.

  “My thoughts exactly,” I said sarcastically.

  “What are you going to do?” she asked when she got her voice back.

  “I don’t know.” I tugged on my lip. “Darci, promise me you won’t tell Abby about Von Schuler?”

  “I promise. But don’t you think we should? She’ll figure out we’re hiding something.”

  “I’ll take the risk. I don’t want her near that cabin until I figure out what’s going on.”

  “Are we still going?”

  “I don’t know.” I hesitated. “Let me rephrase that. I don’t know if I’m going. I do know you’re not.”

  Darci’s face took on a mulish look. “Last time I checked, I was overage, so I don’t think you can tell me what to do, Ophelia.”

  “I can this time.” My voice rose. “And you’re not changing my mind.”

  “I’ll follow you.”

  “No, you won’t,” I said, my tone final.

  She shoved back against the car seat and her fingers drummed an angry beat on the steering wheel. The rest of the ride back to the lake passed in silence.

  She parked next to the SUV, shut off the motor, and jumped out, slamming the door. By the time I reached the cabin, Abby stood in the center of the kitchen with a perplexed look on her face.

  “Why is Darci so angry?” she asked. “She tore through the house and out to the deck.”

  I shoved my hands in my pockets. “I suppose I should go talk to her,” I said, and took a deep breath.

  I took another breath and let the difference I felt inside the cabin sink in.

  No headache, no buzzing, no sudden nausea.

  “Abby,” I said, my worry over Darci’s anger momentarily forgotten. “The atmosphere feels great.”

  A smile teased at the corner of Abby’s mouth. “A bunch of amateurs. It took me no time at all to get rid of their spell.” Her eyes twinkled. “And this time I added a little extra something to protect us. If they try it again, they’re going to get a surprise.”

  “Do you think it’s the Finches?”

  She nodded. “Or Winnie.” Her eyes lost their sparkle. “I’m concerned about Tink. She’s very sensitive, and she’s never been taught how to guard herself. It’s like she’s a sponge, soaking in whatever energy comes her way. I’m afraid all this fooling around with magick could have a damaging effect.”

  “But you showed her how to shield this morning.”

  “Yes, but as you know, proficiency takes practice.”

  One more worry to add to my already full bag. I’d think about Tink later, right now I had Darci to deal with. I started to cross to the sliding glass doors.

  Abby’s voice stopped me. “I’d leave Darci alone for now, if I were you, dear. Whatever it is that’s bothering her, give her time to work through it.”

  If Abby only knew, but I had no intention of telling her. Abby would be as insistent as Darci about going with me, and a lot harder to dissuade.

  My hand found the lodestones in my pocket. I pulled one out and handed it to Abby.

  “What’s this?” she asked with a pleased smile.

  “I didn’t know if you had a lodestone or not. And with everything going on…” My voice trailed off when Abby gathered me into a hug.

  “It’s very sweet of you, dear,” she said, stepping back.

  I withdrew the other stone and handed it to her. “I bought one for Darci, too. Would you give it to her when she comes in? I want to do some reading in my room.”

  “Of course. I’ll charge it with protection, too.” Abby looked at me with a hint of suspicion in her eyes, and I saw the questions flitting across her face.

  I beat a hasty retreat to my bedroom before the questions were asked.

  My decision had been made as I listened to Abby talk about Tink. Abby had called the girl a sponge for energy—like the energy that lurked around the abandoned cabin. She would be an easy target for whatever prowled that clearing.

  The lodestone I’d selected for myself was perfect for what I had in mind. A large stone, with one side relatively flat. First, I intended to charge the stone with the purpose of absorbing negative energy. My next step would be to write a bindrune—a group of runes combined together in such a way that they created a design on the lodestone. The runes I selected would be those known for their powers of protection. I had a feeling I would need it.

  The procedure would take a couple of hours. All I had to do was figure out a way to avoid Abby and Darci in the three-room cabin for two hours. And not raise their suspicions in the process. Easy, right?

  I groaned and paced the small bedroom.

  Drug them? Naw, that would be a bit severe, and I’d never drugged anyone before. It seemed kind of cold for my first attempt to be on my grandmother and my best friend. Send them on a wild goose chase? Where? Brainerd? Maybe I could enlist Rick’s help?

  The cordless phone was on the end table next to the couch. All I had to do was steal down the hall, reach around the corner, grab the phone, and make it back to my room. Undetected.

  I peeked out the door of my bedroom and listened. I didn’t hear any activity in the kitchen. Slipping out the door, I skulked down the short hallway toward the main room. The cabin was silent.

  I felt like a teenager sneaking out of the house, while I tiptoed across the tile floor. Two more steps and I’d be within snatching distance of the phone.

  The shrill ringing had me skittering and sliding all the way back to my room. From my position, with my back plastered against the door, I heard Abby answer on the fifth ring.

  “Ophelia, it’s Rick,” she called.

  Fate was smiling on me.

  Composing my face, I opened the door a crack and took the phone from Abby. “Thanks.”

  “Ophelia—”

  “Got to talk to Rick,” I said with a bogus grin while pointing to the phone in my hand. “Hi, Rick.”

  “I know the last few days have been hard,” he said, “and I think it would be good for the three of you to get away from the lake for the evening. How about joining me in Brainerd for a pizza?”

  I mouthed a silent thank-you.

  “Gee, Rick, I’m tired, but let me find Abby and Darci. I’m sure they’ll be happy to meet you. Hang on.”

  Flying down the hall, I found them in the kitchen. “Rick wants to take everyone out for pizza. How about it?”

  Darci gave me a stony look and turned her eyes to Abby, who nodded in agreement.

  “Yeah Rick, they’d love to come,” I told
him, and wrote down the directions to the pizza parlor.

  After a quick good-bye, I handed the slip of paper to Abby. “Here are the directions. Rick will meet you in a half an hour, so you’d better get going.”

  Abby’s eyebrows knitted together in a frown. “Aren’t you coming?”

  “No, I’m tired. The last few days have gotten the best of me,” I said with wide-eyed innocence. “The cabin feels so much better, I think I can get a good night’s sleep tonight.”

  Abby walked over to me and laid a hand on my forehead. “You’re not running a fever, are you?”

  I stepped back from her touch, afraid of what my clever grandmother might pick up. “No, I’m fine. You and Darci go and have a good time.” I gestured toward my bedroom. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll take a look at those journals.”

  “Good for you. It’s time you started studying them,” she said with a pat on my arm. A look of pride crossed her face. “Those journals contain the history of our family, Ophelia. Every spell, every cure, what worked, what didn’t. I recommend you start with my mother’s. It’s on my nightstand.”

  Abby’s pleasure that I’d finally read those old books was apparent. And here I was lying about it. How rotten did I feel?

  I stole a glance at Darci. She leaned against the counter and watched me with a steely look in her eye.

  She wasn’t buying it, but I knew I could trust her to keep her promise. She cared about Abby as much as I did, and she wouldn’t risk Abby’s safety by spilling what we knew about Von Schuler.

  After they left, I checked the time. Twenty minutes to reach the restaurant, a good hour for dinner, and twenty minutes to get back to the lake. An hour and forty minutes. I had just enough time if I hurried.

  I heard each second tick by as I rushed to make my preparations. After a purifying bath in sea salt, I grabbed my great-grandmother’s journal and flipped through the worn pages, looking for the correct runes to carve on the lodestone to create the bindrune. They had to be exactly right or the spell wouldn’t work. Finally, I found three that, when placed in a design, would not only be pleasing to the eye, but would give me the most protection.