“You never know, Bay,” Aunt Tillie said. “Today might be your lucky day. Everyone needs to finish their breakfast, and then it’s time for a strategy session. We need to take these ghosts head on … and we need to start today.”
I pursed my lips as I glanced at Landon. He didn’t seem bothered by Aunt Tillie’s attitude. “What do you think?”
“I think I hate it when she gets bossy,” Landon replied. “She’s not wrong, though. We have two problems and no solutions. Today is the day we need to find solutions.”
“Okay, but if this backfires on us, I’m going to remind you of this moment.”
Landon patted my knee under the table. “You’re a woman, sweetie,” he said. “All women do that. They can’t help themselves.”
I was pretty sure he meant it as an insult so I stole a slice of his bacon and made a face. “You’re on my list.”
“SO WHAT do we do?” Belinda seemed in better spirits by the end of breakfast, but when we met in the library to discuss our options she appeared shaky.
Annie was upstairs playing hide and seek with Marcus, seemingly unbothered by the drama floating through the inn. That’s one of the joys of being a kid. When you’re younger, the big things in life seem somehow easier because the adults want to absorb all of the pain for you.
“We need to figure out what the spirits want,” Aunt Tillie said, flopping on the couch between Landon and me and squeezing between us so we had no choice but to separate.
“What do you mean?” Belinda asked. She was behind when it came to discussing ghosts, but she was working overtime to catch up. “What do ghosts usually want?”
“It’s hard to say, but a lot of ghosts don’t realize they’re dead. They eventually pass on when someone tells them the truth or exposes the facts of their death,” I explained. “Others stick around for revenge. Once their killer is caught and some form of retribution is meted out, they’re usually content to leave.”
“And you see ghosts, too?” Belinda asked. “Why don’t all of you see ghosts?”
“Because it’s a specific gift passed down through bloodlines,” Aunt Tillie answered. “I can see ghosts. Neither of my sisters could, although one of my sisters didn’t share my mother’s blood, so that’s not surprising.
“None of my nieces have the gift,” she continued. “I was hopeful it would skip the younger generation, but it didn’t. I knew when Bay was really young that she could see ghosts and it would mark her for life.”
“I don’t understand why it’s such a heavy burden,” Belinda admitted. “Wouldn’t it be nice to speak to ghosts?”
“Not when no one believes you and everyone thinks you’re a freak because they see you talking to yourself all of the time,” I supplied.
Landon shot me a sympathetic look before reaching across Aunt Tillie’s lap to touch my shoulder. Aunt Tillie slapped his hand away before he could.
“Don’t get fresh,” Aunt Tillie warned, causing Landon to scorch her with a look. “We don’t need any foreplay today. We have real work to do.”
“Soothing her isn’t foreplay,” Landon challenged.
“They look the same to me,” Aunt Tillie said. “Bay is right. It’s a hard gift. It will be easier for Annie because we’ll be here to help her. We’ll figure out how to do that once we get the immediate threat under control.”
“If the ghosts are hanging around until someone pays for what happened to them, why not solve the mystery of their deaths?” Belinda asked. “Isn’t that what will send them away?”
“In theory, yes,” I confirmed. “The problem is that you don’t usually run into a group of ghosts like this. The most I’ve ever seen together is two. This is, like, eight of them, and they’ve spent so much time together it’s as if they’ve somehow combined powers.”
“Yes, they’re like the Justice League of spirits,” Thistle deadpanned. “We’re just waiting for them to suit up and beat the crap out of the living.”
“That’s not helping, Thistle,” Mom snapped, cuffing the back of her head. “We need to figure out a way to get the ghosts out of here.”
“What would happen if Sam moved the tanker?” Twila asked. “I mean … if the boat is gone, won’t the ghosts leave, too?”
“Where am I going to move the tanker?” Sam challenged. “It’s not exactly built for the open lake these days. Aside from the money I’d be out – which I would gladly sacrifice to keep Annie safe, mind you – I can’t simply dump the boat in the middle of the lake.”
“And selling it will take weeks or months,” Chief Terry mused, rubbing his chin. “What else can you do?”
“We can try talking to the ghosts, but they haven’t exactly been chatty with me,” I replied. “I think we need to focus on why they’re fixated on Annie. They seem mildly interested in me, but ever since they found Annie it’s as if they’re obsessed with her. Why?”
“I guess I don’t understand the question,” Belinda said.
“Most ghosts fixate on adults because they can help them and they’re less likely to be terrified,” Marnie said. “At their heart, most ghosts are good because they’re victims. You do get the occasional vengeful ghost, but they generally take the form of a poltergeist. We vanquish those instead of helping them pass over.”
“So why would these ghosts be focused on Annie?” Belinda asked. “What can she possibly give them? She doesn’t know how to help them pass over. From what I understand, they’re not interested in passing over. They’re more interested in getting her to join them.”
“I think you’re missing the point,” Maggie interjected, taking me by surprise with her fortitude. “I haven’t seen these ghosts, but it sounds as if they’re fixating on the youngest member of the group for a reason.”
“That’s just what we were saying, Mom,” Sam said gently. “We’re trying to figure out the reason.”
“I already know the reason,” Maggie said, causing every head in the room to swivel in her direction. “The ghosts want Annie because she has the lightest aura. I already told you that. The ghosts live in a world of darkness, so they’re drawn to the light.
“On a limited level they probably understand that they’re dead,” she continued. “They’ve been trapped where they are for so long, though, time has ceased to hold meaning. All they know is they saw a flash of light when Bay hit the tanker, so they followed her home.
“That light grew brighter when they saw Annie,” she said. “They want Annie to come to them because they probably think she’ll be able to keep the light burning forever. They don’t understand that her light will dim if she does what they want.”
“That actually makes a lot of sense,” Aunt Tillie said, causing Maggie to beam. “You’re smarter than you look. That’s a relief.”
Maggie’s smile slipped. “I see you weren’t exaggerating at all when you described her, Sam.”
Sam shook his head. “Aunt Tillie needs no exaggeration.”
“That’s the way I roll,” Aunt Tillie said. “I think Maggie is on to something. The ghosts are attracted to the light. They don’t care how they get it. They simply want to keep it.”
“So how do we get them to stop focusing on Annie?” Landon asked.
“We give them another light to focus on,” Aunt Tillie answered. “It’s simple.”
It didn’t appear simple to Landon, and when he shifted his eyes to me he was clearly confused. “Did she just explain something?”
I couldn’t be sure, but I had a feeling I knew where she was going. “Maybe,” I said after a beat. “We need to provide the ghosts with a new light and make them walk into it.”
“You mean make them cross over, right?”
I nodded.
“Well, great,” Landon said, mustering a minimal amount of fake enthusiasm. “How do we do that?”
Aunt Tillie’s grin was mischievous. “I have an idea.”
Thistle groaned. “And those are words no one ever wants to hear.”
“Watch it, mo
uth,” Aunt Tillie said. “You’re already on my list. Do you want to be in the top spot?”
Nobody wanted that. “Okay,” I said, forcing everyone’s attention to me. “Where should we start?”
Aunt Tillie didn’t appear bothered by the question. “With magic, of course.”
Of course.
TWENTY-SEVEN
“Do you have any idea what you’re looking for?”
I watched Clove and Thistle bustle around their shop shortly before noon, their eyes intent as they studied the shelves and collected ingredients.
“Aunt Tillie gave us a list,” Clove answered, holding up a piece of paper but not looking in my direction.
“Yes, it’s a delightful list,” Thistle deadpanned. “It says to grab things like wolfsbane, dandelion root and nettle. We expected that. It also gives us little chores … like stop kvetching and refrain from being an obnoxious mouth.”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing at the murderous look on Thistle’s face. That sounded exactly like Aunt Tillie. Somehow the knowledge lightened the mood. “I’m sure it will be okay,” I said after a beat. “She knows what she’s doing.”
“Yes, but none of us have ever battled a group of ghosts before,” Clove pointed out. “It’s a mess. Sam feels responsible, but his mother seems to be having the time of her life. Is it wrong that I’m excited about that?”
“No,” I said. “It would be wrong if you put Maggie having fun ahead of Annie’s safety, but you’re not. As for the tanker, well, it should be fine and full of fun stories once we get rid of the actual ghosts.”
“I can’t help but feel a little guilty about that,” Thistle said, moving three plastic bags to the counter and fixing me with an odd look. “These ghosts have already been traumatized. They were obviously murdered. Now we’re working against them to force them to cross over. Doesn’t that feel somehow … mean?”
She had a point. “It doesn’t feel good, but what else are we supposed to do?”
“We could try talking to them.”
“We could,” I agreed. “I haven’t ruled that out. I want a contingency plan in place for when we hit the tanker, though. Once we climb that ladder again – and I’m totally making Landon carry Aunt Tillie this time – I want it to be the last time we see them. We can’t mess around with Annie’s safety.”
“No, we definitely can’t do that,” Thistle agreed, her expression thoughtful as she started tossing ingredients into a small box. “What did you think about Belinda this morning? She seemed to take the news about us being witches fairly well.”
“She’s apparently known for a long time. She’s a great actress.”
“Yeah, I was surprised she knew, yet … I wasn’t really surprised either. I don’t know what to make of that.”
I pursed my lips as I locked gazes with Thistle. She was rarely melancholy. She’s moody as crap when she wants to be, don’t get me wrong, but she seemed almost wistful and philosophical this afternoon.
“I think she didn’t say anything because we didn’t say anything,” Clove offered, handing Thistle a stack of herbs. “I mean, think about it from her point of view. What if she was wrong? How do you accuse people of being witches?”
“Especially when they’re your employers,” I added. “She was in an untenable situation. I don’t blame her for keeping quiet. I do blame me for hiding the information about the ghosts. She has every right to be angry about that.”
“What were you supposed to say?” Thistle asked. “Were you supposed to walk up to her and say, ‘Hey, Belinda, sorry to bother you but there’s a pack of ghosts haunting your daughter?’ I’m guessing that wouldn’t have gone over well.”
“I think we had a bad situation all around,” Clove said. “Dwelling on what we did wrong doesn’t help matters. We need to focus on finishing this up right. That’s the most important thing.”
“Oh, that was almost poetic,” I teased.
“Yes, that’s what happens when you’ve got your nose stuck so far up your boyfriend’s mother’s bottom that you have nothing better to do than think up dumb things,” Thistle said. “You become a poet.”
“I’m going to make you eat dirt,” Clove threatened, her calm demeanor slipping. She’d been nothing but serene in Maggie’s presence over the past few days. It was nice to see shades of the real Clove come out to play.
“Oh, there she is,” Thistle cooed, giggling when I clapped my hand over my mouth. “It’s good to have the kvetch back.”
“I’m definitely going to make you eat dirt,” Clove grumbled, shaking her head as she turned back to the herb display. “We have everything but the eyebright.”
“Crap, we’re out of that,” Thistle said, sobering as she moved toward Clove. “I forgot all about that. We don’t even have any in the greenhouse. I looked the other day. There are plenty of pot sprouts disguised as mums if anyone is in the market, though.”
“What is eyebright?” I asked, racking my brain. It sounded familiar, but mixing potions and spells had never really been one of my favorite activities.
“You basically use it to induce visions,” Clove explained. “You’re supposed to put it on your eyelids every day.”
“And why do we need that?”
“Because Aunt Tillie thought it might be smart to make it so everyone can see the ghosts,” Thistle answered. “She thought it would be less dangerous. These ghosts are working as a group. They’re not technically poltergeists, but that doesn’t mean they can’t hurt us if they band together.”
That was a very good point. “What should we do?” I asked, glancing around. “Do you know any place where it’s growing wild? I can pick it while you’re getting the rest of the stuff ready.”
“I don’t,” Clove said. “We had to order seeds online so we could grow it in the greenhouse in the first place.”
“I actually do know where there is some,” Thistle said, tapping her chin as she took on a far-off expression. “I don’t know if it’s in season, though. I haven’t looked in months.”
“Well, it can’t hurt to try,” I said. “Where is it?”
Thistle’s expression shifted from thoughtful to impish. “Take a wild guess.”
Oh, I didn’t even know the answer and I already didn’t like her happiness. This wouldn’t be good.
“UGH, WHO plants witch herbs in a cemetery?” I complained, narrowing my eyes as I scanned the expansive plot in search of the grave Thistle told me to look for. According to my cousin, Aunt Tillie planted emergency herbs throughout the entire cemetery years ago – something I didn’t know, but which came in handy now.
“Apparently someone who was thinking ahead,” Maggie replied, her tone pleasant and teasing as she watched me glance between graves. “It obviously worked out in our favor.”
Given the fact that ghosts kept showing up and threatening a small child to the point she was sneaking out of the house after dark, I wasn’t sure how well things were working out in our favor. I decided to let that slide, though.
“Thank you for coming with me,” I said, changing the topic. “Landon is with Chief Terry working on the arson investigation – apparently they managed to lift partial fingerprints from the containers we found last night – and Clove and Thistle are busy at the store. I’m not keen on being alone in a cemetery given our issues with ghosts.”
“I’m happy to do it,” Maggie said, her smile pretty. “You’re not what I imagined, Bay. You’re so much more than I expected. I … don’t know why I just told you that, but it’s true. You’re different.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. “What do you mean?”
“When Sam mentioned he was going to visit the infamous Winchester witches, I told him it was a bad idea,” Maggie explained. “He didn’t seem to think that was the case, but your reputation precedes you. Well, actually, Aunt Tillie’s reputation precedes her. In certain circles, people are warned about going near you. Do you know that?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t know that,
but it doesn’t exactly surprise me. Aunt Tillie has worked long and hard to cultivate a reputation that terrifies everyone. She’s good at it.”
“She is,” Maggie agreed, bobbing her head. “She’s also the most loyal person I’ve ever seen. The way she backs all of you up is … well, it’s wonderful.”
I wasn’t sure what she meant. “How does she back us up?”
“She takes up for you when you’re not around,” Maggie replied. “Your mothers are wonderful people, but they like to complain. Their favorite three targets are you, Clove and Thistle. When you’re not around, your great-aunt argues on your behalf. When you are around she enjoys messing with you. Why do you think that is?”
I shrugged. “She says it keeps her young,” I answered. “What do you mean she takes up for us, though? How does she do that?”
“Well, the other day your mother was complaining because she could see you and Landon making out in the back yard when you were supposed to be coming for breakfast,” Maggie said. She didn’t appear bothered in the least to be ratting out my mother. I liked that about her. “Your mother watched through the window, making a fuss about you guys doing it out in the open. Tillie ordered her to quit spying and leave you alone because you were happy. I thought it was kind of cute.”
That didn’t sound like the Aunt Tillie I knew at all. “The euphrasia is over here,” I said, gesturing toward Uncle Calvin’s grave. “Thank you for telling me that. I had no idea Aunt Tillie was such a softie.”
“She doesn’t want you to know,” Maggie said. “She wants you to live in fear of her. That’s just the persona she wears, though. It’s not the person she is.”
“Wow. Twice in one day,” I intoned.
“What’s twice in one day?”
“I’m hanging around potential poets,” I teased, smiling as I knelt to snap off several of the plant’s white blooms. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“You like Clove, right?” I asked, turning my eyes to Maggie to see how she would respond. “You don’t dislike her, do you? She really wants you to like her.”
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