I’d always heard curiosity killed the cat, but I needed to look around the area near the cabin. I wouldn’t be stupid enough to visit the clearing again until I was better prepared, but maybe something in the woods would give me an idea of what I was dealing with.
After throwing on jeans and a T-shirt, I slipped past Queenie and Lady and out of the cabin without alerting anyone. In no time at all I was in the fishing boat and on my way across the lake.
In the early morning light, a mist hung like a shroud along the shoreline, and the only sound was the low hum of the fishing boat’s electric motor. The air around me seemed thick and heavy and carried the promise of a day hotter than the one before.
Banking the boat as I had last time, I got out and looked around. The last time I headed east, I had walked to the clearing with the abandoned cabin, so this time I’d head west, staying close to the shoreline. I hadn’t walked far when I noticed a heap of brush at the water’s edge. The branches seemed to be piled in a systematic order. I moved closer to investigate. Setting the top branch aside, I found the curved bow of a canoe.
Someone had a boat stashed at the water’s edge.
Removing the rest of the branches, I flipped the boat over, and the owner of the canoe became obvious. Tink. A small life jacket lay under it.
I fisted my hands on my hips and looked around. I was standing at a point where the shore jutted out. Directly across from where I stood, the land projected out on that side, too, causing the lake to form a wide channel. Wouldn’t take long at all to paddle across the lake at that spot. I scanned the opposite shore until I found what I was looking for. A familiar plume of smoke floating above the pine trees. Smoke from Walks Quietly’s cabin.
Now I knew one of the ways Tink managed to escape from underneath the watchful eye of her aunt and uncle.
I flipped the canoe back over and covered it up. Tink would never know that I’d found one of her secrets.
I’d finished covering the boat when the breeze moving through the pines carried the sound of a human voice.
Tink singing one of her songs?
But the voice wasn’t Tink’s. I followed the sound up the hill, away from the lake and through the pines.
In a small clearing, with her back toward me, Winnie crouched in front of a fire ringed with stones. From where I stood hidden in the trees, I couldn’t make out her words, but she repeated them over and over in a singsong voice. And as she did, she threw something into the fire.
What do you know? Winnie was doing a little dabbling on her own. Should I confront her, or move away undetected?
The decision was made for me when I took a step away from the tree and stepped on a stick. The sound of it breaking echoed in the quiet. In an instant Winnie was on her feet and staring right at me.
“What are you doing spying on me?” she demanded without a preamble.
Spying? Gee, I seemed to be getting accused of that a lot lately.
“Hi, Winnie.” I plastered a pleasant expression on my face. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
Winnie crouched down in front of the fire and began shoving things into a canvas sack. “Why don’t you go away and leave us alone? You’ve brought nothing but trouble.”
I walked closer to the fire and peered over her shoulder, trying to make out what she was putting in her bag.
Her head whipped toward me and she hunched forward, blocking my view. She scooped up what was left and dumped it all in the bag.
“How have Abby and I caused you problems, Winnie?”
She stood abruptly and, with her eyes full of anger, watched me. “You just have, that’s all. Ever since you showed up, Juliet and Jason have been upset. You’ve disturbed our peace.” She took a step toward me. “Jason is an extraordinary man, and you’re interfering with his work.” As she talked, her face became mottled with angry red spots. “You have no right. No right.”
Backing up a few paces, I tried to sound reasonable. “How have we interfered, Winnie?”
Behind her glasses her small eyes narrowed into slits. She opened her mouth to speak, but then snapped her jaw shut. Without another word she spun on her heel, grabbed her sack, and marched away.
Brilliant, Jensen, I thought. My interrogation skills left a lot to be desired and I’d blown my chance to corner Winnie. What do I do now?
I lifted my head and looked around the clearing. Glancing down, I saw that Winnie’s fire still smoldered. Faint curls of smoke slithered from whatever Winnie had thrown on the burning sticks. Stepping closer, I took a deep breath. Basil, an herb used to either banish what you don’t want or draw what you do want. Now why would she be using basil? And in this spot?
My eyes scanned the clearing for a clue. A low row of juniper grew at the top of a slight rise beyond Winnie’s campfire. Blue, almost purple berries hung in clusters from the branches. On all except one. It was in the center of the row, and the needles were brown and brittle, a sharp contrast from the rich green foliage of the rest of the bushes.
I waded through the hedge till I reached the dead bush. Bending down, I saw exposed roots where the dirt had sunk in a deep indentation around the trunk of the bush. I picked up a stick and started to probe the hole.
“Sneaking off again?” said a voice from behind me.
Jumping to my feet, I whirled around.
Darci—with her arms crossed and looking none too pleased with me.
Thirty-two
“How did you find me?” I said, standing.
“Walks Quietly’s boat,” she said, and started off down the hill. “Abby sent me. We need you back at the cabin. Tink’s missing.”
I rushed after her. “What do you mean, Tink’s missing?”
“Walks Quietly found a message under a rock by his front door this morning,” she said over her shoulder. “Evidently, Tink had been there, and when she couldn’t find him, she used some paper from his cabin to leave a note. She wanted him to meet her down by the lake. But when he reached the lake, she wasn’t there. He found her bicycle in the woods across from our cabin—”
“She’d stopped by our place?”
At the bottom of the hill, Darci looked over at me from where she’d moored the boat right next to mine. “We don’t know. Neither Abby or I heard her.” She untied the boat. “What about you?”
“No,” I said, untying mine. “I was up at first light and came over here.”
Darci pushed the boat away from shore and stepped into it. “Well, Abby and Walks Quietly can fill you in when we get to his cabin. Abby’s there.”
I followed Darci across the lake to Walks Quietly’s dock. Once there, we docked both boats and headed up the hill to his cabin.
Walks Quietly’s little cabin consisted of one main room with two bedrooms in the back. Rough-hewn stairs to the left led to a loft above the main room. A cook stove, much like Abby’s, stood along one wall, near a planked table. The remains of his breakfast still sat there.
“What’s going on?” I said as Darci and I entered the room.
Abby stood quietly in the room, and Walks Quietly stopped his pacing and began to remove the dishes from the table. “I had troubled dreams last night, so I went to the sweat lodge at daybreak to find guidance.” His face tightened in a frown. “But I learned nothing. Tink must have come while I was in the sweat lodge.” He picked up a piece of paper lying on the table and handed it to me. “I found this on the porch, under a rock.”
I read the note quickly. It was as Darci had told me. Tink had wanted him to meet her down by the lake. No reason given, just that she had something important to tell him.
I noticed the jagged edge on the pad of paper. “She came in the cabin to write this?”
“Yes.” Walks Quietly moved to the old sink and began rinsing the plate and silverware. “Tink never comes in the cabin. We always have our talks by the lake, even in the winter.”
I turned to Abby. “What do you think?”
She shrugged.
“Darci said y
ou found her bike in the woods,” I said to Walks Quietly. “Has anyone talked to the Finches?”
“Of course. I went to the compound after I found her bicycle, but no one was there.” He turned away from the counter. “The place is deserted, empty.”
“It can’t be,” I said, confused. “I saw Winnie in a clearing directly across from here on the other side of the lake.”
“I tell you, the place was deserted.”
“Should we call the sheriff?” Darci piped in.
“And tell them what, dear?” Abby asked.
Darci pulled out a chair and plopped down. “I don’t know.”
“Has anyone called Rick?” I asked.
“I did,” Abby replied. “But he wasn’t in his room. I left a message for him to come to the lake as soon as he gets back.”
I turned toward the door. “I’m going to the Finches. Someone has to be there.”
Darci sprang from her chair. “I’m going, too.”
“Darci—” I stopped. One look at her face told me I’d be wasting my time arguing. “Okay, let’s go.” I glanced over my shoulder at Abby. “You stay here and wait for Rick.”
Fifteen minutes later Darci and I stood on the Finches’ porch, knocking at the door.
“Walks Quietly was right. No one’s here,” Darci whispered.
I arched an eyebrow. “Why are you whispering?”
She rubbed her arms. “It’s so quiet here that it’s spooky. Don’t you feel it?”
She was right. The air was totally still, and a feeling of abandonment hung over the place.
Turning the knob, I found the door unlocked. Opening it and sticking my head in, I called out, “Hello. Anyone home?”
Silence was the answer.
“Let’s go in,” Darci said, pushing passed me.
“Wait a second.” I made a move to grab her arm but missed. “We can’t go barging into someone else’s house.”
“Yes we can.” She was already down the hall.
Following her in, we did a quick search of the rooms downstairs. Nothing. It did look like the Finches had left. Even Juliet’s loom was gone from its spot by the windows.
“Do you suppose that’s what Tink wanted to tell Walks Quietly? That they were leaving?” Darci asked from the middle of the room.
“Maybe.” My eyes traveled the empty room. “Let’s go outside and look around.”
We went back out the way we came, carefully shutting the door behind us. We had rounded the corner of the house when I saw Winnie, with her head down, scurrying up the hill from the boathouse. In her arms she carried a bundle of what looked like clothes.
I grabbed Darci’s arm and pulled her behind a tree. Putting a finger to my lips, we hid while Winnie hurried by. Once she reached the top of the hill, I motioned toward the boathouse. Like a couple of characters out of a spy novel, Darci and I moved from tree to tree until we’d reached the building. We dashed around the corner and were finally out of sight of the main house.
Leaning against the boathouse, I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Made it,” I said in whisper.
“Winnie sure seemed anxious to get away from here, didn’t she?” Darci asked.
“Yeah.” My eyes slid toward Darci. “Let’s see why.”
We climbed the rickety steps leading to the upper story. I tested the wooden door. Unlocked. Swinging it open, we stepped inside the room.
Cardboard boxes were stacked everywhere, and an old cot was shoved against one wall. Next to the cot was a large, black-lacquered box, taller than I was and wide enough for two people, wrapped in chains.
“Darci,” I said, crossing over to it. “This must be one of Jason’s props. And look, the padlock isn’t shut.”
Darci joined me while I removed the lock and let the chains drop to the floor. Turning the small knob, I let the door swing open.
“Whoa, what is that smell?” I pinched my nose to block the pungent aroma that filled the room.
“This,” Darci said, reaching inside the box and pulling out a ratty blanket. “Gosh, it smells like somebody died in there…” Her eyes widened as she stared at me. “You don’t suppose—”
“Brandi?”
“I told you to go away, but you wouldn’t listen,” said a voice from across the room. “Now I have to punish you.”
Darci and I whirled to see Winnie standing in the center of the room.
Strands of hair straggled around her face, and her eyes darted back and forth between Darci and me. In her shaking hand she held a gun, its barrel waving wildly.
Panic fought with fear inside me. I could see Winnie’s finger tremble on the trigger. Any second the gun could go off. Maybe we could make a run for it. But Winnie blocked our way to the open door.
I hooked Darci’s arm and edged sideways, pulling her with me. “Winnie, put that gun down. You might shoot someone,” I said with false bravado.
Her mouth twisted in a snide grin while she kept the barrel trained on us. “That’s the point, isn’t it?”
The blanket slipped from Darci’s limp hands, and she clutched my arm. “Ophelia.” Her voice was tight with fear.
I ignored her and took another step to the side.
Winnie grabbed the gun with both hands and motioned with the barrel toward the box. “Get back over there.”
I released Darci’s arm and held up my hands in surrender. We moved until we were in front of the box again.
“Get inside.”
I glanced over my shoulder at the dark interior and shuddered.
“Go on,” Winnie said, drawing my attention back to her.
“You don’t want to do this,” I pleaded. “I know Jason is looking for Von Schuler’s book. The book is evil, Winnie. You have to get away from him. We can help you.”
Winnie seemed to sag, and the barrel of the gun dropped.
I took a step forward, but she stiffened and brought the gun up sharply.
“You don’t understand. I can’t leave. I have to do what they want.” Her chin jutted out. “And you’re too late. We found the book. You led us right to it. It was buried under the bush you were digging at this morning.” The gun quivered. “Now get in the box.”
Betting my will was stronger than hers, I crossed my arms and glared at her. “No.”
Wrong bet.
The gun stopped shaking, and Winnie’s pudgy face filled with determination. “Either get in the box or I’ll shoot you both.”
What a choice—in the box or die. I picked in the box.
Grasping Darci’s arm, I pulled her in with me.
In an instant Winnie crossed the room and shut the door, extinguishing all light. From inside I heard the clank of chains as she wrapped them around the outside. The last sound was the tiny click of the padlock closing.
Seconds ticked by in silence while I pondered what to do next. Not like I had a lot of choices. We were shut inside a box, in total darkness. Nothing to do but wait.
“I don’t feel so good,” Darci moaned in the darkness.
I waved my hand until it came in contact with something solid. Darci.
“You can’t get sick,” I said, shaking her arm. “It smells bad enough in here.”
My hand lost contact as I felt Darci slide to the bottom of the trunk. I inched my way down until I was kneeling next to her. “Take deep breaths and put your head between your knees.”
The sound of Darci’s deep breathing filled the darkness. Suddenly, the sound stopped.
“What if we run out of oxygen?” Darci asked in a voice full of panic.
“We won’t. This isn’t airtight.” I found Darci’s shoulder and patted it. “We’ll be rescued. Abby will turn this place upside down to find us.”
“Can you reach her, umm, you know, ‘mentally’?”
“I can try.”
I sat back and leaned against the side of the box. Closing my eyes, I tried to picture Abby’s face. Silver hair, green eyes full of worry at our disappearance—once I had the image fixed in
my mind, I concentrated on where we were. Dark, alone. My eyes shot open.
That’s what Abby had said when she looked at Brandi’s pictures. While I was having dinner with the Finches, Brandi had been just a short distance away—shut inside this box.
The thought sickened me.
“Anything?” Darci asked.
“No.” I patted her knee. “Don’t worry. They’ll find us.”
Darci’s breathing became rapid. “We’re going to die in this stupid box.”
Dang, she was hyperventilating.
An idea popped in my head. “Darci, you believe I’m psychic, don’t you?”
“Well, yeah,” she gasped. “Sometimes I wonder how good you are, though.”
You and me both.
“Okay, since I’m psychic, I should be able to tell your future, right?” I said, trying to sound confident.
Her breathing slowed. “Right.”
I found Darci’s hand in the darkness and placed my other hand on top. Nervous sweat dampened my palms. What if I didn’t see anything? Would that mean we were both going to die?
I shook my head. Darci was going to get a positive reading even if I had to make something up.
Slowly, images began to appear in rapid succession behind my closed eyes. I saw Darci standing before a crowd of people. Everyone was smiling and nodding their heads in approval as they watched a man in a suit hand Darci a plaque. Darci, with a radiant look on her face, shook the man’s hand. When she did, the crowd clapped with enthusiasm.
Darci’s hand clenched mine. “What do you see?”
“You’re going to win some kind of award,” I said, opening my eyes. “And the whole town will be there, cheering you on.”
She snorted. “Yeah, sure. Everyone in Summerset thinks I’m an airhead.”
“But I know you’re not.” I squeezed her fingers. “Really, Darci, something’s going to happen, and you’re going to receive the recognition you deserve.”
“That would be nice,” she said in a small voice. “I get tired of people thinking I’m stupid.”
The Trouble with Witches Page 22
