Dominic dropped his friend off at the auto shop, then we drove through Pine Peaks on our way to Peaceful Pines Resort. As we passed the heart of town, I asked Dominic to slow down. Then I stared with a heavy heart at the Chloe Museum. The curtains were drawn, there were no lights, and on the door was a large CLOSED sign.
Dominic glanced at me curiously, but said nothing, and I was grateful. Being so close to him made me self-conscious. Like I wondered if my hair was messy or if my makeup was bad or if my jeans fit right. I looked down at my lap and realized I was wringing my hands. To give my hands something to do, I asked Dominic to borrow his phone so I could call Nona.
Only it wasn’t Nona who answered. Penny-Love was there, helping with the love business again. I braced myself, feeling bad for letting her down with the dance. But instead of chewing me out, she was excited about a new guy she met while setting up decorations, he was from the art club and volunteered to help out at the last minute.
“So thanks to you, I have a new guy!”
I told her it was great, and fought the urge to ask about Josh. I knew Penny-Love would tell me exactly what he did at the dance. But I found myself reluctant to know. As if suspecting him of dancing with other girls made me feel less guilty.
Still there was one thing I had to know. “Was Evan at the dance?” I asked.
“Evan Marshall? Sure, he was there. He had a new girlfriend, too, kind of skinny with bad teeth. I didn’t talk to her, but heard she was from San Jose. Isn’t that where your family lives? Maybe you know her?”
“No!” I said too sharply. “It’s a huge city.”
“Yeah, I figured that.”
“So did Evan say anything odd …” I hesitated, “About me?”
“No. Why would he or anyone else? You’re like the most normal person I know.”
She laughed, and after swallowing the lump in my throat, I laughed, too.
My reputation was safe … for now.
Minutes later, we arrived in Peaceful Pines Retirement Resort.
As we stepped out of the truck, I noticed an elderly couple heading towards a white sedan. I was surprised to recognize Teddy and Cathy, dressed in formal clothes, their arms linked cozily. When Cathy spotted me, she rushed over to give me a hug.
“Thank you, dear,” she whispered.
“For what?” I asked.
“For getting that old fool to face the past instead of pretending it never happened.” She tilted her head toward Teddy who waited by the sedan. “Last night he took me to the celebration and this morning he’s invited me to church.”
“But all we did was talk about Chloe.”
“Which he hasn’t done for over fifty years. I think he’s finally forgiven Chloe—and me. When he held my hand, I got all funny inside like I was sixteen again. Who knows? We might even go steady.” She giggled, then waved and hurried back to Teddy.
Dominic was giving me a curious look. “What was that about?”
“Young love,” I told him with a smile. “They make a cute couple, don’t you think?”
He arched his brows, clearly not sure if I was teasing or serious, and that was fine with me. Then we entered the resort and made our way to Eleanor Baskers’s cottage.
And this time when I knocked, the door opened. A friendly-looking woman with thick blue-framed glasses and a colorful tiny braid woven in her medium-length brown hair stood there. When she smiled, I noticed a gap in her front teeth.
Her eyes widened and she exclaimed. “You!”
I looked around, wondering if someone was standing behind me. But her gaze fixed on me, leaving no doubt I was the object of her surprise.
“Uh … do you know me?”
“Not yet, but I’ve been expecting you,” she said mysteriously. Without even asking our names or what we were doing there, she ushered us inside her home.
The first thing I noticed about her warm home were the cows. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of glass, porcelain, stuffed, wood, and plastic cows filed on shelves. There was even a cow-shaped coffee table. And when I sat on a black-and-white couch, my elbow brushed against a pillow that mooed.
“After we talk, I’ll take you on the complete tour of my collection,” she told us with a proud smile. “I have a case of Elsie memorabilia in a back room, including several purple cows like that old poem.”
“Poem?” I repeated.
But Dominic nodded and quoted, “I never saw a purple cow, I never hope to see one, but I can tell you anyhow—”
“I’d rather see than be one!” Eleanor chimed in, laughing. “How in the world did you know that old poem?”
“He reads a lot,” I said wryly. “Practically lives at the library.”
Eleanor smiled approvingly, then she sat down in a chair across from the couch and grew serious. “Now we need to discuss my dream.”
“Your dream?” I questioned.
“Last night I had the most bizarre dream, and you were in it.”
“But you don’t even know me.”
“That’s what makes it so unusual. A woman with thick black hair and rather exotic features, like she was Egyptian or Indian, was sitting on the edge of my bed. It felt more real than any dream I’ve ever had before.”
“Opal,” I whispered, warmed inside. She hadn’t deserted me after all.
“Yes, Opal. That’s what she called herself. She held a photo album and opened it to show me pictures of a young blond girl.”
“Me?”
“Yes.” Eleanor nodded. “And she told me to expect you today. I thought it was a weird dream until I opened my door just now.”
“What else did she say?” I asked eagerly.
“That I was to tell you a story about my great-grandmother. I’d almost forgotten the story, but now it’s crystal clear in my mind. About how my great-grandmother Martha took in four neighbor girls when their mother died. She wanted to raise the girls and keep them together, but they were taken from her and adopted separately.”
“Agnes and her daughters!” My pulse quickened. “That’s what I came to find out. Agnes was my ancestor and it’s urgent I find a family book of remedies that’s been lost for a long time. Do you know anything about it?”
She shook her head. “Sorry, but I don’t.”
“What about the sisters? Any idea what happened to them?”
“Now there I can help you.” Mrs. Baskers scooted her chair closer. “About a year after the girls were sent away, Martha had a knock at her door, and there stood a dour-faced woman with a small girl. The little girl was the youngest of the four sisters, and the family who’d taken her didn’t want her anymore.”
“The poor girl. What happened?”
“She stayed.” Eleanor smiled. “And grew up to become my grandmother.”
“So you’re—we’re related?” I jumped, almost knocking over a cow-shaped coat rack.
“Very distant cousins. I’m afraid I can’t tell you much about our mutual relatives. The four sisters weren’t ever reunited.”
I sighed, my hopes sinking.
“But I have a record of their adopted names. After my dream, I searched out the records and wrote the names down.” She pulled out a small paper from the pocket of her skirt and handed it to me.
Dominic was watching quietly, taking this all in, not saying anything but his blue eyes shone with interest.
“Wow!” I exclaimed, only glancing at the names. Impulsively, I gave my new distant cousin a hug. “Thank you so much!”
“You’re very welcome. The woman in my dream asked me to give you something else.” She stood up and walked over to a fireplace mantel. Pushing aside a glass statue of a cow jumping over a moon, she lifted up a small envelope. Then she returned and handed the envelope to me.
“I don’t understand what this is about, but I understand about family and love, and I want to help.” She handed the envelope to me. “This has been in my family for a very long time, and now I’m happy to pass it on to you.”
Hardly able to brea
the, I lifted open the envelope flap.
I pulled out a tiny silver charm shaped like an old-fashioned house.
My second charm! I was halfway towards finding the remedy book. I couldn’t wait to tell Nona!
“Since we’re cousins, I’ve decided to give you something else,” Mrs. Baskers added with a mysterious smile. “I found it when I was rummaging around in the attic, and frankly I had no idea what to do with it. Until now.”
“What is it?”
“An object of superstition,” she said with a wink as if she didn’t take superstitions seriously. “It was used to ward off evil spirits. All it’s been doing in my attic is gathering dust. With a little polishing, it will make a lovely decoration.”
I stared in awe at the reflective mirror-like sphere. I’d never seen one before, but Nona had told me stories about these magical objects. When I touched the sphere, I had a strong feeling the stories were true. And that something ancient still lurked inside.
“Do you know what it is?” the old woman asked me.
“Yes.” I shivered. “A witch ball.
Linda Joy Singleton lives in northern California. She has two grown children and a wonderfully supportive husband who loves to travel with her in search of unusual stories.
Linda Joy Singleton is the author of more than twenty-five books, including the series Regeneration, My Sister the Ghost, Cheer Squad, and, also from Llewellyn, Strange Encounters.
Table of Contents
Cover
Half_Title
Title_Page
Copyright
Dedication
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
About_the_Author
Last Dance Page 13
