Conjuring Sight (Becky Jo Chronicles Book 1)

by Teresa Rae

  He raises an eyebrow. “And who do you think will use such a confounded invention?”

  “Your entire household,” I answer, finding the sack of peppermint sticks. I pass one to him. “If you want to keep your teeth, you have to brush them. Also, to help you break your smoking habit it would be good if you had something else to do with your mouth. Peppermint sticks are a lot better for you than tobacco, as long as you brush your teeth afterward.”

  * * *

  It’s raining, again, when we arrive at the Mansion. Colonel Blair parks the carriage just long enough to unload the food before returning to town to finish his drink. I walk into the house, covered in water.

  “You poor critter,” Rose exclaims when she sees me walk into the Mansion soaked to the bone. “Where Massa James done gone? Why ain’t he accompanyin’ you here?”

  “He did. He just returned to town to have a drink with a friend in the Washoe Club,” I answer, taking off my very wet cloak.

  Gabe frowns from the doorway before heading out into the rain.

  “Ida, be helpin’ Miss Rebecca change into somethin’ dry while I be startin’ dinner,” Rose calls up the stairs.

  “Where’s Samuel?” I take off my new bonnet.

  “Same place as always. He be off bettin’ on cards.”

  “Great, while Colonel Blair is drinking himself stupid, his uncle is gambling. This family is an absolute mess!” I say to myself, knowing that it’s going to get a lot worse. I shake my head before heading up the stairs.

  I decide that while Colonel Blair is out destroying his liver, I might as well do something useful. I pick up the box of toothbrushes. It is the perfect time to teach everyone how to brush their teeth.

  7

  Paiutes

  Tuesday, March 9, 1875

  I open my eyes to find a beautiful, yet fearsome, woman standing above my bed. I know at once she is a ghost because her clothes date back much further than 1875.

  “Hello,” I say, sitting up. Unexpectedly, she jumps back at the sound of my voice and clutches her heart. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,”

  “You can see me?” she asks.

  “I have the sight,” I explain.

  She looks at me curiously. “Very few have the sight.”

  “That’s what I’ve been told.” I pull my blankets tight because of the chill in the air. “May I ask your name?”

  “Rosanna,” she answers, looking me over.

  “Is there something I can help you with?”

  “Why have you come to the Blair Mansion?” she asks pointblank.

  “I conjured myself here to save Colonel Blair’s life,” I say.

  “And why do you assume his life is in danger?” She sits on my bed.

  “Because he, Gabe, and Henry have been haunting me in the future,” I answer. There’s no reason to hide the truth from a ghost.

  Her face darkens. “I have been trying to warn Gabe about that man!” She doesn’t sound surprised that I’m from the future or that I’ve been conjured there.

  “Yes, Samuel will shoot Colonel Blair and blame it on Gabe and Henry. Then he will lead a mob to lynch them.”

  She holds her hands tightly together, pursing her lips. “Why have you gotten involved?”

  “Gabe and Henry are my friends, and it makes me sad they’re stuck in limbo.”

  “And James?” She raises an eyebrow.

  “He’s just as irritating in death as he is in life.”

  She shakes her head. “No, he is a good man, like his papa. His life is worth saving. I am glad you have come. Is your family the next family to occupy the mansion house after Samuel?”

  “No, Samuel commits suicide, and the house has been sold several times over the past hundred and forty years.”

  Her eyes open wide. “You are from a hundred and forty years in the future? It is impossible to conjure over such distances!”

  I shake my head. “Gabe told me how to do it. I wished to help the Colonel, and here I am.”

  She sits silently for several minutes, understanding the ramifications of my words. “You have risked much to save these men. We will have to ensure your gift is not wasted, but you are going to need some help.”

  “Who will help me? It’s not like anyone would believe me if I were to tell them the truth.”

  “Miss Harris, you are not the only one in the manor who has the sight. My son also has it, and he will believe me when I tell him of your mission. Furthermore, you were right when you said he was one of the most intelligent men in Nevada. Gabe is the only man capable of helping you with the task of saving his own life and the lives of his best friends.”

  * * *

  Klunk!

  The bottle noisily hits the bottom of a wooden bucket. Another follows and then another. I get on my hands and knees, pulling bottles out from underneath the bed and a couple chairs.

  “Gabe, what is that confounded racket?” Colonel Blair asks from his cocoon of blankets. “My head is pounding, and you decide to clean up!”

  “You may enjoy living in a pigsty, but I do not,” I answer, throwing more bottles in the bucket.

  The blankets are immediately wrapped around him, and he sits up.

  “Miss Harris, you have gone too far!” he exclaims. “It is beyond indecent for you to be in my bedroom!”

  “And it is beyond indecent for you to stay out all night drinking,” I retort, unfazed. “You are going to destroy your brain and liver with all this alcohol.”

  “First my pipe, and now this? What I do with my leisure time is none of your concern!”

  I pick up a half-full bottle of whiskey off his chest of drawers and march to the window. I throw it open, dumping the whiskey in the frozen grass below. Henry waves up to me while feeding the dogs in the dark of the early morning.

  “Henry, don’t let those dogs drink the whiskey,” I call down. “The last thing we need is more drunkards roaming the streets.”

  Henry laughs as I shut the window.

  “Miss Harris, you just watered the grass with very expensive whiskey,” Colonel Blair says with frustration as he covers his bare chest with his blankets.

  “The grass needs it more than you do.” I put the bottle in the bucket with the others.

  “I must object!” he exclaims as I head to the dresser and begin searching through his drawers. He frowns deeply when I find his stash of pipes and tobacco. I add them to the bucket of bottles.

  “I was serious about the smoking,” I say, putting the bag of peppermint sticks on his dresser. “I have an errand to accomplish today. I will see you this evening.”

  I march out of the room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. I drop the bucket at the backdoor.

  Rose looks up from the pot she’s stirring and nods when she sees the bucket of empty bottles and pipes.

  “Dem drinks ain’t good for nobody,” she says.

  “No, I didn’t come all this way to watch him destroy himself.” I go to the door. “I have an errand to complete today. I will be home late.”

  “Where you be goin’?”

  “To visit an old friend.”

  * * *

  Sitting on a wet log, I painfully rub my right ankle as rain falls on me. The roads and paths in my time are more developed than the roads and paths in 1875. I thought the walk to Clara’s would take me only an hour or so. I was wrong. At first I was able to travel quickly, but then it started to drizzle, and I tripped over my skirts. Now, I’m in the middle of nowhere, sitting in one of the few thunderstorms Nevada will experience this year, and my ankle hurts too much for me to finish walking to see Clara. Worse still, I skipped breakfast. A handful of pine-nuts isn’t much, and I’m starving.

  “Miss Harris!” a voice yells out loudly in the distance.

  I immediately recognize it and call out, “I’m here, Colonel Blair!”

  A horse thunders through the small grove to me, and the Colonel is off it as soon as it stops.

  “Thank God!” he
exclaims when he sees me. His relief quickly turns to agitation. “Damn it, girl! Don’t you have any commonsense? You have upset Rose and the rest of my help with your foolish antics! Nevada is filled with Indians. It is a miracle you did not run into any of them.”

  “I did run into some,” I say, “and they were kind enough to give me directions to the village I am looking for and some pine-nuts for my lunch.”

  He pinches the ridge of his nose in frustration as Gabe also rides up on a horse.

  “You are fortunate you met the Indians you did,” Colonel Blair says. “We need to get you home and out of this storm.”

  “No, I have to go to the village today. I have an important message to relay to a friend.”

  “It is a miracle you have not hurt yourself walking through the mud. It is best you save your visiting for another day.”

  “Colonel Blair, you do not understand. I must go to Clara’s village, and as I am closer to the village than Virginia City, it just seems practical to finish my journey. And, as far as not hurting myself goes, I have hurt myself. I have twisted my ankle.” I painfully lift my muddy, right foot.

  Ankles are taboo to men in 1875. Colonel Blair looks to Gabe for guidance. He merely shrugs his huge shoulders. Swearing under his breath, Colonel Blair takes off his leather riding gloves and kneels in front of me. He nervously takes my foot in his hands and rotates my ankle. I cry out with pain.

  “It is not broken.” He immediately puts down my foot. “But it is a very bad sprain.”

  “Good, then I can still walk on it.” I force myself to my feet.

  “No, you must stay off it.” He stops me from taking a step. He sighs audibly. “If you must visit this friend, you can ride my horse. Gabe can show you the way.”

  I shake my head. “No, I will be fine.”

  “Girl, you can barely stand let alone walk!” he snaps.

  “I am fine and stop calling me ‘girl’!” I retort curtly. “Besides, I have never been on a horse in my life. It is better for me to walk than risk being thrown.”

  Understanding fills his face. Wordlessly, he picks me up and places me on the horse with my legs hanging off the left side. Then he climbs on behind me. I’m fine until the horse moves. I gasp, twisting at the waist so I can throw my arms around Colonel Blair’s chest to keep from falling off.

  “You are not going to fall,” he says, urging the horse forward.

  My body begins trembling from the cold and fear.

  “You really are frightened,” he says before chuckling. His tone has dramatically softened. “I never thought I would see the day something frightened you, Miss Harris.”

  I’m too scared to respond with some witty comeback. I just hold tightly onto him.

  One of his arms wraps around my waist. “What village are you wishing to visit? I will take you, and I promise I will not let you fall.”

  The Colonel is true to his word, he keeps me safely atop his horse during our ride to Clara’s village. Once we reach the village, he slides off the horse and leads the animal with me holding tightly to the saddle horn.

  We are met by a tall and handsome Native American. The man’s eyes go directly to me.

  “Miss Harris is looking for a member of your tribe.” Colonel Blair gets between me and the man.

  The man walks around him and gazes up at me.

  “I have been expecting you, Silver Queen,” he says.

  Colonel Blair scowls at him. “Miss Harris is not my sister,” he snaps.

  “Of course not, Colonel Blair. I was referring to her silvery hair, not to you being one of Nevada’s Silver Kings.” His English is impeccable. He smiles serenely. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am White Cloud.”

  “You do not look Paiute,” Gabe says from his horse. “You are too tall, and your facial structure is different.”

  “Correct, as usual, Gabriel.” He continues to smile in a Zen-like trance. “What an unusual trio the three of you are: the tormented warrior, the hidden potential, and the…”

  He just stops in mid-sentence. His smile disappears as his eyes go to me.

  “You are much more than others realize, Miss Harris. Come, we will lunch together. Rabbits have been trapped for the occasion.”

  He excitedly takes off into the village, leaving us gaping.

  “Miss Harris, you must let go of the saddle,” Colonel Blair takes my hands to pry them off the saddle horn. “I will help you down.”

  I slowly nod, reluctantly letting go. Colonel Blair helps me slide down the horse to the ground. I breathe in a deep breath of air, grateful to be on the ground again.

  “That is the strangest Indian I have ever met,” Gabe says, also dismounting.

  “I think he is wonderful,” I respond truthfully. I don’t know why, but White Cloud’s presence brings me peace. Yes, he’s different, but different in a good way.

  “Miss Harris, you are very naïve for even a thirteen-year-old,” Colonel Blair says.

  I laugh. “Colonel Blair, I may be petite, but I am certainly not thirteen. I turned eighteen more than six months ago, and I stopped growing much sooner than that. Furthermore, I am not naïve. I just believe most people are good.”

  The walk through the village is excruciating. My ankle protests, and my muscles are sore from the ride. I limp to join White Cloud outside a rounded structure made of tree limbs.

  “Miss Harris, I know you wish to speak with Clara. She is waiting for you in the wikiup,” he says. “I will entertain Colonel Blair and Gabriel.”

  I nervously enter the wikiup. It’s a strange to be in 1875. It’s even stranger to have to tell Clara that she will die in less than a month if she doesn’t heed my warning. However, no matter how difficult, I must do it. Clara is my dearest friend.

  “Clara?” I say, looking around the dark wikiup.

  “I’m here,” she replies from a dark corner.

  I limp across the floor covering of branches to her. I smile when I see her beautiful dark eyes. It is so wonderful to see her in the flesh!

  “Hello, my name is Rebecca. I have come a long way to see you,” I tell her.

  “I know; White Cloud had a dream you were coming.” She hesitates. “You have not come with good news, have you?”

  I take her hand. “Actually, I have come with very good news. I have a warning which will save your life.”

  Clara listens as I tell her to stay away from Virginia City on the twenty-first. She smiles faintly when I finish.

  “Thank you, Rebecca. What you ask of me is very simple. I will remain with my family that day.”

  I breathe a sigh of relief and pat her hand. “Good, now I better get Colonel Blair out of your village before he offends everyone.”

  Clara giggles. “White Cloud already warned us about him.”

  “That makes me feel a little better.” I stand. “Tell me, who exactly is White Cloud?”

  She stands, helping me through the wikiup. “He is a very wise man. It is an honor for him to stay with our band.”

  When we emerge into the cold day, we find White Cloud, Colonel Blair, and Gabe all staring at each other. The rest of Clara’s band is staring at the three.

  “It appears we can go.” Colonel Blair immediately jumps to his feet when he sees me.

  “You have just enough time for a hot bowl of stew before the storm worsens,” White Cloud says, getting to his feet. He says something to the others in Northern Paiute.

  Clara takes my hand and directs me to a fire. “You can help serve the stew.”

  “Miss Harris should stay off her ankle,” Colonel Blair objects. “Furthermore, we need to get her out of the weather.”

  “I think this is fun,” I tell him. “It is not every day I get to eat with Paiutes.”

  He crosses his arms and frowns.

  “Would you like some tobacco, Colonel Blair?” White Cloud offers.

  I give them both a dirty look. White Cloud breaks into hysterical laughter while passing Colonel Blair a small pouch. I’m no
t surprised to see Colonel Blair pull out a pipe. He must have another stash in the Mansion. I make it a goal to locate and destroy it.

  Once at the fire, I’m given a ladle. Clara’s small band gets in line. I serve each and every one of them stew, which isn’t very many. There are only twenty-three in all, including White Cloud.

  After making sure Gabe and Colonel Blair have their lunch, I join Clara and a group of small children. I play with the beautiful children until Colonel Blair comes for me.

  “Miss Harris, I must insist we leave,” he growls.

  I put down a cute little boy.

  “You are a very impatient person,” I retort. “Maybe you should pray for patience.”

  “I did, and then you came to town. God definitely has a sense of humor!”

  “It’s good someone does, because you certainly do not.” I stand, looking at the gray sky.

  “Yes, it is time for you to leave,” White Cloud says, holding out the reins to Colonel Blair’s horse.

  I hesitate for a moment, wanting to spend more time with Clara.

  White Cloud smiles at me. “Miss Harris, we will see you again. I guarantee it.”

  * * *

  “I shudder to think of what you told that poor girl,” Colonel Blair says in my ear on the ride back to Virginia City. “She looked like she had seen a ghost.”

  “In a way, she had,” I answer, holding tightly to him.

  “You are squeezing the life out of me.” He forces a laugh as he tries to loosen my grip around his chest.

  “You may like horses, but they frighten me.” I hold tight.

  “I already promised I would not let you fall. Don’t you trust me?”

  “I don’t trust you or the horse.”

  He laughs a real laugh, not one dictated by his southern manners. He holds me tightly around the waist. “Open your eyes. The storm has blown over.”

  I squint through my eyelids, and he’s right. The clouds have opened, revealing a stunning sunset. I slowly open my eyes the rest of the way. The sky is full of reds and pinks. I look over the horizon, appreciating the view. Suddenly, Colonel Blair’s horse leaps over a tumbleweed bush.

  “Stop showing off!” I hiss with fear.