by Stephy Smith
"Shining Moon?"
"Yes, Sweet Sarah."
"Why did these ghosts suddenly appear?" She wiped her hands on her apron. Respect for the man swelled in her chest. He quickly removed the disgust from his face, but not until after she noticed it.
"Did you hear anything that sounded like a chant or a spell? Did you see or smell anything unusual a few days before the ghosts showed up?"
"My brother and sisters were here. Wait! When I came home from town they were all in Mother's house. The air was full of a strange kind of smoke I had never smelled. They were all laughing and said they were glad to get rid of the old bat." Searching her mind, "I didn't know if they were talking about me or Mother. Then, when I came into my own house, I smelled the same smoke, but I don't know what it was. I didn't think anything of it because they all are in... Oh my, an occult. You don't think — I mean… they wouldn't… would they?"
Shining Moon reached over and rested his hand on her arm. "The colors that surrounded your siblings the day of your mother's funeral were not good colors, Sweet Sarah. I was afraid for you then. I should have come to you, but I didn't want to cause you any trouble. For this I am sorry."
"I too am sorry. I should have trusted you… with my fears. The overwhelming power the ghosts held on me—"
"I know Sweet Sarah. There is no reason for you to explain." Shining Moon said, interrupting her.
"But, I was rude and mean. How can you ever forgive my silly actions?"
"Because I care deeply for you." He closed in on her and brushed his lips across hers. She leaned into his massive body. The warmth of his touch sent a fire searing through her body. She drew in a deep breath.
The low chuckle rumbled from his throat.
"What is so amusing?" Heat crept across her face. Had it been so long since she had kissed a man that she had forgotten how to kiss? Was he laughing at her?
"Cord once told me about this kissing among a man and woman. He said it was sweet and intoxicating. At the time, I thought our lips would melt together or I would fall down slobbering drunk. That is not so. I now know the meaning of his words and they are very pleasing."
Sarah giggled. "He does have a way with words, doesn't he?" She was relieved Shining Moon's amusement was from his memories and not from her kisses. Her own lips still tingled with desire for more, meaningful kisses than the two they had shared.
"We better step back inside. You need to rest before the ghosts come." Shining Moon stood back while Sarah entered the cabin.
The spirits came later than usual. There wasn't as many this time. The laughter was still eerie and the chill in the air not as cold as before, but the voice still called Sarah. She stood with more confidence, in a defiant stance, and thought back to her brother and sisters and their evil little ways. She remembered how their laughter sent shivers down her spine. How their voices changed when they spoke to her. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to forget they were ever a part of her life.
On this night Shining Moon offered cedar. Once again, he raised the bowl. With the wing he pulled the smoke to his heart and over his shoulders. Goose bumps tracked across Sarah's skin as she listened to his deep voice while he prayed and chanted. Cord took the pot and poured water over the lava rocks making the steam.
The cabin filled with the smell of cedar, and caused Sarah's eyes to itch. The smoke tickled her nose into a sneeze. It would be worth it when the ghosts were no longer a part of her life. The noises that always accompanied the spirits didn't seem as shrill as they had been. The ghosts withdrew earlier. The family relaxed and visited before they retired.
"Shining Moon?"
"What is it, Sweet Sarah?"
"Is there any way to rid the evil from certain souls? Like the ones who probably put the spell on my house?"
"You mean a cleansing ceremony on someone who is not present?"
"Yes."
Jessie, Cord, and Travis leaned forward as if they were listening to the conversation. Sarah absorbed every word Shining Moon spoke. The soft, sultry voice coming from his mouth sent goose bumps tracking across her arms. A gleam in his eyes, when he gazed at her, pulled her into the depths of his soul.
"There is a ceremony. First, all of us here will need to protect ourselves before we attempt something as serious as a distance healing. I believe you know what that is?"
"Yes, I am familiar with it. When can we do the cleansing ceremony for all of us?" Sarah gestured around the room.
"In two days, we'll have our cleansing ceremony and the feast. We want to make sure we don't contaminate ourselves before we do distance cleansing."
"I see…" Sarah reached over and patted the back of his hand.
"Mother, how do you know what a distance healing is?" Travis asked.
"I come from a long line of Irishmen, and there are a lot of leprechauns in the family." She teased her son. "My mother used to perform cleansings on all of our relatives before they passed. She also did some of the distance healings. I assumed they worked because I never knew the people she did them for, or where they lived for that matter. I was always there with her for the cleansings and healings. Liz, Carolyn, and Will never participated in any that I know of. They were too busy putting frogs down each other's backs or, now that I think about it, they may have used those poor critters in some kind of evil brew. Even back then they said Mother was crazy for practicing 'witchcraft'."
Cord had a strange look of confusion on his face. "You know a lot about these things?"
"I wouldn't say a lot. I know of these things. I know you feel more of these things than Jessie and Travis."
"Then why didn't you do your own cleansing ceremony to rid the house of ghosts?" Jessie asked.
"That, I tried. I don't know how to do one properly and had never seen it done. If you don't know how to do these things, they can become worse. I was desperate when I tried, and that may have caused the haunting to be more severe." Sarah was shocked at the interest her sons showed in her knowledge of the spirit realm.
Travis twisted his hands in his lap. "Grandma was a witch? No wonder she knew every little move we made." He blurted out.
Laughter came from Sarah's mouth, and then she said, "Yes, if that is what you want to call her, actually she was a healer. She studied under a very powerful healer in Ireland when she was a teenager. I was to be sent, but then I married and had you kids."
"You regret not going don't you?" Cord's eyes narrowed.
Sarah took Cord's hand and looked him in the eye. "Not one bit. If I had gone, I wouldn't have the three of you. I don't regret things I did or wonder about things I could have done. I had the best and that was enough for me. I'm at peace with the way my life turned out."
Sarah looked up to see a dullness in Shining Moon's eyes. She didn't mean to hurt him. He rose from his chair and left the cabin. Sarah followed. "Shining Moon?"
"Sweet Sarah."
"Would you teach me more about being a healer?"
"You just said you didn't need more." Shining Moon glared at her. They stood on the front porch.
"You don't understand what I meant. I didn't need more at the time I was raising my family. I had a good life. I can't be sorry for loving my children and wanting more for them, even if it meant giving up my dreams. Now that my children have homes of their own, I have time to do things for me."
"Why do you want me to help you?" He asked.
"I trust you."
"Do you trust me enough to come to my village with me?"
"Yes."
"Without a question?" Sarah assumed he was giving her time to change her mind. She wasn't afraid of his people. There had been a few times when she and her sons had visited. They had always been treated with the utmost respect.
"Yes."
"You need to get some sleep, Sweet Sarah. Your body and mind are weak from months of abuse. Good night." Shining Moon disappeared in the darkness.
"Good night." Sarah entered the cabin with three pairs of eyes trained on
her.
"Why didn't you tell us about Grandma before?" Jessie asked.
"You never asked."
"Did she cast spells?" Travis glanced at his arms and legs as if he would turn into a frog at any minute.
"Yes, she cast spells. But she didn't cast evil spells, she cast good ones to help people. There were a lot of things she did that were good in her life."
"If she had the powers to help people, do we?" Cord asked.
"More than likely. I know I do."
"You talk about this as if it were nothing important." Travis said.
"As long as you know your heart, that is what's important. Tomorrow I'll show you her book."
Her son’s eyes glistened with interest. "Her book?"
"I hid the book in the barn before Liz, Carolyn and Will arrived. That was the only thing Mother had worth anything to them. That and the money. I knew they would tear her cabin to pieces looking for it."
"Did they?" Jessie asked.
"Oh yes, I cleaned it up. Get some sleep now. We have a lot of work to do before the next battle."
Sarah relaxed on her bed. She knew her sons would be waiting like children on Christmas Eve. Laughing to herself, she couldn't contain her excitement at the look in their eyes when she told them Grandma cast spells.
When Sarah rose the next morning, her three sons were sitting at the kitchen table, eyes shining, smiles spread across their faces, coffee made, and breakfast cooked. Cord jumped up and dished up the bacon and eggs for her. Travis served her coffee and Jessie gave her butter for her biscuits. Shining Moon brought in an armload of firewood.
"What's going on?" She knew the anticipation was getting to them.
"We were just waiting for you to get up. You've been through so much lately and we thought you could use some… um… um pampering." Jessie held her chair for her.
Cord milked the cow while Travis gathered the eggs. Jessie washed the breakfast dishes. Shining Moon filled two buckets with water and carried them up the hill.
Sarah mused at the way the four of them acted. The young men must have filled Shining Moon in on their discovery. The mention of one little book had set the men straight. Did they think she would turn them into some terrifying creature? Softly laughing, she walked to the barn.
Digging under the hay in the manger, she found the hidden compartment. She pulled up on the board to open it and then pulled out her mother's book. Sarah ran her fingers over the soft blue cover and silver writing. In the center was a silver interlay of a pentagram and her mother's name. Sarah's apron pocket hid the book. She walked back to the house empty handed.
She sat at the kitchen table, her elbows rested on the hard surface, her fingers woven through her hair as if she had to hold her head straight. By all rights, the book should have been destroyed when her mother died. It didn't protect anyone or anything now that her mother was gone. If the wrong people got their hands on the book, they could ruin her mother's reputation of being a healer by accusing her of being a witch. The men entered the cabin.
"What's wrong?" They all stepped toward her.
"Oh nothing," she said.
"You look so depressed." Cord narrowed his eyes.
"If you will sit down, I'll show you the book."
They took their seats. "This book has the spells Mother used. She never used it to harm anyone, only to protect against evil or negative energy. So there aren't any bad spells in here."
"How did the spell get put on your house if it was used to protect you?" Travis asked.
"The book was in Mother's house. It was to protect her. She never blessed my house. Since her house and the barn were blessed, they are protected from evil. She had stopped using her powers when her memory failed."
"This house was never blessed?" Shining Moon had a frown on his face, his eyes reflected concern.
When Sarah's parents had settled in the area, her mother blessed the land on which the house and barn were to be built. Her father had built both of the structures. Then Sarah had married and her parents moved to the small town.
Sarah lowered her head, "No. Mother and Father lived in Eagle Glenn when this house was built. Matthew and I built my cabin after Jessie and Cord were born. We lived in the small cabin until this one was ready. After my husband, the boys' father, died Mother and Father moved into the small house so I could help Mother take care of my father. He was sickly at the time. By that time no one had remembered this house needed to be blessed."
"We will bless it when we get the spirits out. Then you can bring the book back in. It should be kept in a safe place until then." Shining Moon poured coffee for everyone.
"The book only provided protection for Mother. Now it is only a recipe book containing her spells." Sarah pulled the book from her apron pocket and placed it on the table. She ran her hand over the cover.
The men marveled at the black frayed edges and worn pages that signaled daily use of the old book. The sweet smell of herbs lingered between the covers. Remnants of the crushed plants sprinkled the table as the crumbled herbs fell from the pages.
"I remember that smell," Jessie said. "It smells like Grandma."
"I remember the smell, too," Cord and Travis both agreed with broad smiles.
Shining Moon sniffed deeply. "That is a good smell. She was a good woman."
Her mother was a good woman who had worked hard to maintain her image as the loving, caring woman she was. Her work as a healer was known to some of the locals in the area. She had worked as a midwife, along with healing the neighbor's farm animals when called upon.
In spite of her mother's small frame and frail bones, she was strong. One day Sarah had watched as her mother worked tirelessly to birth a calf that was almost as big as she was. Sarah giggled as she remembered the event.
Her mother had sat on the ground as her dress fell between her legs, making a makeshift cradle. Both feet were on the cow, her hands pulling on the front legs, as she wiggled the calf up and down to inch it out. Sarah's mother had thought the calf was dead as she threw it over her shoulder. At the bawl of the calf, the cow had jumped up off the ground, and her mother ran for the fence. Her skirt whipped in the wind and wrapped around her legs. But that hadn't slowed down her mother or the cow right behind her.
Sarah had referenced the book many times when her mother was ill. She used some of the recipes to prepare the herbs from her mother's garden. There were remedies to help with breathing and other illnesses Mrs. Burgess's failing body couldn't fight off on its own.
"Well, if you're done gawking at Mother's book I shall return it to its safe place. When we get rid of the problem at hand, we'll turn to it." Sarah grabbed the book and walked back to the barn to place it in its hiding place.
When she returned, she listened to the conversation between the men.
"That's why there are no evil ghosts in the barn? Why aren't there ghosts in the cemetery?" Cord asked Shining Moon.
"The cemetery was probably blessed by your grandmother when your grandfather died or Grandma, as she preferred to be called."
"The barn was blessed when it was built." Sarah said.
"But there are ghosts in her house," Jessie said.
"Yes, like your mother said, they're not evil," said Shining Moon.
"The spells only keep out evil?" Travis asked.
"Yes. The one Grandma used." Sarah glanced at Travis.
"Where does that rotten smell from her house come from?" Jessie asked.
Shining Moon said, "The evil spirits were trying to enter. The blessing your grandma put on the house refused them entry. In retaliation, they have caused a stink."
The clinks and clanks of a carriage neared the front of Sarah's cabin. The sky grayed. Cold air whooshed about and bit into the skin of Sarah as she and her sons gathered on the porch. A tall, lanky man exited the conveyance. He wore a black top hat and long-tailed coat.
Wicked shards of fear shivered her bones. What was this man standing before her? His glares piercing into her sou
l like a flaming torch. Even under the pressure of the evil spirits, she had never felt such intense hatred in her life.
"I'm looking for a Mrs." he pulled a folded paper from his pocket. His eyes shifted across the page. "…Sarah Eastin." His smile was cold and sinister.
Sarah shivered as she looked into the cold, black eyes of the man. Her heart pounded in her chest. She hid her shaking hands in the folds of her long skirt. An odd rumble of thunder clashed around them. Tiny lightning bolts spiked from the carriage.
Cord stepped forward and pushed her behind him. "Who are you and what do you want with her?"
"My name is Lucifer Devlin. I was sent by three members of my cov — congregation." He glanced back down at the paper and then raised his eyes back to them. "Carolyn Brown, Elizabeth Johnson, and William Burgess. They have informed me—"
"You have been informed wrong." Shining Moon interrupted him as he rushed toward the man. He held some kind of object dangling from a long leather thong. Sarah recognized the shape of his sacred talisman he had used when her mother died.
Sarah knew in an instant she was in the presence of the devil himself. She tried to banish her fears so he couldn't feed off her. However, her doubts strangled her ability to stand strong in front of him. A horrid shiver ran down her spine. Her knees threatened to give way under her fright.
Mr. Devlin struggled to maintain his balance as he stepped backward. Shining Moon continued his advance. Devlin's eyes turned the color of hot embers in a burning inferno.
"Give me the woman!" Devlin's lips thinned, and when he spoke, his voice was harsh and sinister. Devlin's laughed was not of amusement, but filled with hate and intent to instill fear in all of them. He was here to steal her soul.
Cord, Jessie, and Travis formed a triangle around her. Their nearness crushed her in the midst of their bodies to shield her from the wickedness of the man.
Shining Moon raised his arm above his head. His wrist began to circle, and the shaman whirled the talisman above, faster and faster as his movements picked up speed. A strange hum filled the air and Shining Moon started chanting. The horse pulling the carriage began to prance and snicker uncomfortably. The bolts of lightning from the carriage reached a greater distance. Mr. Devlin backed toward the carriage, his hands held in front of his chest with his palms facing Shining Moon.
