by Rachel Wells
“Well, what?” Mandy said, playing with Steve.
“What about the note?”
“Oh, that. Guess you’ll have to read it and see,” Mandy had laughed, ducking away and into the safety of her class, leaving poor Steve more anxious than ever.
Ever since that day they had practically inseparable. Steve picked Mandy up and drove her home each day. He continued to walk her to all of her classes, only now hand in hand. They ate lunch together and if Mandy didn’t have to work they pretty much spent their afternoons together after school as well. If she did have to work, more often than not Steve popped in to say hi. Of course the weekends they spent together. Sometimes they just hung out and watched TV, sometimes they played skeeball at the arcade or got ice cream at Brown’s, or sometimes they met up with Ally and the other kids. Everyone had gotten used to seeing the two of them together. If you wanted to see Mandy you saw Steve, and vice versa.
Steve was being especially supportive about the huge encyclopedias of flowers. Mandy almost felt guilty about this because as much as she wanted to tell Steve the truth about why she was reading the books, she had simply told him she needed to be more familiar with flowers for her job at Dew Drops. She felt bad about withholding information from Steve, but she was afraid the truth would scare him away. She couldn’t help but remember how she had felt when she first found out about the “family secret”. She hadn’t wanted anything to do with it. She had thought it was weird. Practically, Mandy knew she had to tell Steve because it was only a matter of time, days actually, before Doris’s first piece on Mary would be published and then word would be around town. Mandy vowed she would tell Steve everything the next time she was alone with him.
Normally Mandy was happy to spend time with Steve, but it seemed the moment she made that silent vow in her head to come clean with Steve, the phone rang. “Hello?” Mandy asked, almost one hundred percent sure she knew who it was.
“Hey, Brown eyes! What are you doing right now?” Steve, of course.
“Um, nothing much. Reading.”
“Those flower books again? What some help? I was thinking we could make flash cards. That usually makes memorization easier for some reason. I can quiz you,” Steve offered eagerly.
“Well, I don’t know, Steve. Aren’t you getting sick of the whole flower thing? I’d feel bad wasting your afternoon like that again,” Mandy hedged.
“It’s not wasted as long as I’m with you.”
“All right, but don’t say I didn’t offer you an easy out!” Mandy laughed half-heartedly. Too bad you didn’t take it, Mandy thought.
“I don’t need an easy out. I’ll be over in a few minutes.”
“All right, see you then.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.” Mandy replaced the phone on the receiver reluctantly. Now she was going to have to tell him. She felt a nervous pit begin to form in the hollows of her stomach. Steve had always been easy going and laid back so she wasn’t even really sure what she was so worried about. It just seemed so far-fetched to tell anyone that a.) you’re a healer, and b.) yes, this means you do believe in all that stuff that most people think is make believe. No wonder she was worried about telling him…he was going to think she was crazy!
Mandy sighed and went back over to her bed where the enormous book was sitting. She stared at the page it was open to blankly until she heard her mom call up the stairs, “Mandy, Steve’s here!” Her heart seemed to stop and then begin again at a gallop. There were three quiet knocks on the door to her bedroom and then it swung open slowly, revealing Steve in the doorway, hands in his pockets.
“Hey, Beautiful!” Steve said, walking forward. Mandy hopped off the bed, momentarily forgetting her worry, and wrapped her arms around Steve’s neck. He kissed her forehead and hugged her back. “Missed you,” he said in her ear.
“Me too,” Mandy replied, giving him an extra squeeze. She stepped back and motioned for Steve to sit on her bed. “Ready for all the fun I promised you?” she said sarcastically.
“Bring it on,” Steve said agreeably. “Do you have note cards?” he asked looking around at her desk.
“Of course,” Mandy answered, walking towards the desk. She opened one of the side drawers and produced an unopened package.
“Where’d we leave off?” Steve asked, turning the book towards him and flipping the pages.
Now or never, Mandy thought to herself. She took a deep breath and said, “Actually, before we get into that, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure. What’s up? Still forgetting the scientific name for Posies?” Steve asked, not looking up from the book.
“No, it’s not about flowers. Well, I mean, it is, but it isn’t,” Mandy felt tongue-tied. She wondered what the best way to do this was. Directly, she decided. “Do you believe in um, say, things like witchcraft or healing?”
“Witchcraft and healing? Uh, like old women with warts in black and boiling cauldrons and stuff? Probably not,” Steve said, looking up at Mandy, clearly taken aback.
“No, I don’t mean in that sense. I mean, have you ever thought that some of it might be true though? That perhaps people, certain people, might have certain, um, abilities, and are able to help others? That maybe those abilities might scare other people and hence the bad reputation?” Mandy laughed nervously.
“Yeah, I guess I could see that. I mean, it’s kind of like Mary Nasson, what happened to her,” Steve said, always practical.
“Exactly! Yes, that’s exactly what I’m talking about,” Mandy said triumphantly.
“Ok, you’re talking about Mary Nasson? I’m not sure I’m following you.”
“Ok, I’m sort of talking about Mary, but I’m sort of talking about me. You remember she was an ancestor of mine?”
“Yes.”
“You know she was a healer?” Mandy pressed.
“Yes, I’ve heard that. Unfortunately she got the reputation as being York’s infamous witch.”
“Yes. Well, do you see where I’m going with this Steve?” Mandy urged, hoping he would guess and not make her say it out loud.
“Not exactly. What is it? You can tell me,” Steve said putting his hand on Mandy’s.
“Ok, well I know this is going to sound crazy, I didn’t believe it myself at first. And I won’t blame you if you don’t want anything to do with me, because I didn’t want anything to do with it at first either. I know this is weird, but Mary’s talents were real, and they’ve been passed on from generation to generation.” Mandy spit out in a tumble.
Steve looked incredulously at Mandy. “So, are you telling me…”
“Nana is a healer, just like Mary. The real reason I’m reading these gigantic, crazy flower books is because it’s in my blood too. I’m destined to be a healer. Reading these is just the beginning. Nana’s going to start teaching me how to use my, um, abilities.” Mandy looked sheepishly at Steve, expecting the worst.
“Ok, well then, we really better start paying more attention to uses for these things,” he said motioning towards the book.
“That’s it?” Mandy asked. “You’re not going to freak out or dump me now?”
“Why would I? I told you I liked you, and I do,” Steve said simply.
“I know, but c’mon, this is weird! I just told you I’m going to start learning how to heal people and you don’t think anything of it? Even I think it’s weird! I thought my nana was crazy when I first found out. Like seriously crazy.”
“I don’t think it’s crazy. Different, yes. But different is good. I do have one question though, why didn’t you tell me before?”
“I was scared to. I thought you would think I was a freak. And I wanted you to hear it from me first, so I decided I had to tell you.”
“What do you mean you wanted me to hear it from you first?”
“Well, pretty soon it’s going to be common knowledge. Nana’s always been very quiet about what she does. I mean, I didn’t even know until just recently. She helps people without bein
g upfront about it. This is a small town. What’s wrong with different folks practically blows in through the door to her flower shop on a sea breeze, you know? Nana has a lot of friends, people feel comfortable talking to her. So sometimes they may mention something directly, or sometimes she hears things through the grapevine. Sometimes she’ll just send a bouquet to someone as a friendly gesture, or if they come into the shop she might recommend what might benefit them the most or steer them in the right direction. No one really even seems aware of what Nana is doing,” Mandy finished, shrugging her shoulders.
“You said it’s going to be common knowledge soon though. What do you mean?”
“Well, it’s a long story, Steve. You see that trunk over at the foot of my bed?”
“Yeah?”
“Well that once belonged to Mary Nasson herself. I found some old papers in it a
while ago that contained a secret that’s been buried in the trunk for hundreds of years. Buried in time, essentially. A lot of people feel that Mary Nasson was falsely accused of witchcraft and was executed needlessly, but no one could prove it until now. The papers contained proof.”
“Whoa…what do you mean? What did you find exactly?”
“A letter from the only doctor in York at the time, threatening Mary. More like ominously promising her death, actually.”
“Geez, you’re serious…” Steve trailed off.
“Yeah, this isn’t a joke. So my Nana wanted to right the situation and Mary’s name even though it’s been centuries. So she brought the papers and Mary’s story to her friend…Doris Carter. Have you heard of her?”
“Everyone around here has heard of Doris,” Steve laughed.
“Well Doris is writing a three part article on Mary for her column. The first part is going to be about Mary, the second will be about her grave and the letters, and the third part is unfortunately going to be about my Nana and possibly Lucas’s father.”
“Why Lucas’s father? How’s he figure into all this?”
“Lucas’s father just so happens to be a descendent of the doctor that wrote the letter…” Mandy grimaced and looked at Steve.
“God, Mandy, have you talked to Lucas about this? Do you know how he’s taking it? I mean, this could leave a sour taste in town about Lucas’s dad and their restaurant.”
“I know, and I tried to tell my grandma that, but she was eminent that if she was going to tell the story, she was going to tell the whole story. The thing is, Lucas’s dad can refuse to be interviewed by Doris all he wants. But you know Doris. If he refuses she will still go ahead and include him in the article, if only by name. And that will be enough.” Mandy stared at the book of flowers silently as did Steve.
Steve broke the silence first. “Well, it seems like there’s nothing you really can do to stop it. It’s not like you or your grandma have done anything wrong. You’ve only told the truth, and brought to light facts that will clear up an innocent person’s name. Even though Mary is long gone, she still deserves this. I think you’ve done the right thing. Nana too.” Steve smiled at Mandy.
“I don’t know. I have a bad feeling about this. Once people read about Nana in the last article I can only imagine things might get a little crazy. I mean, like I said, she’s never advertised her skills. Once they’re out in the open, what if people start expecting her to do crazy things for them? And I also can’t help but worry about myself. People will make the connection between me and Nana. I’ll probably be a social outcast at school,” Mandy frowned.
“Nah. Nana’s lived in this town her whole life and has lifelong friends here. They wouldn’t take advantage of Nana like that. And as for social outcast, I should think once word gets out it might actually have the opposite effect on you.”
“What do you mean?” Mandy asked nervously.
“Think about it. No one else can claim abilities like that around here. You’ll be like a rare diamond. People will be fascinated by you.” Steve gave a half smile.
“I don’t know about that. Besides I don’t want either way to happen. I don’t want to be an outcast, but I don’t want to be fascinating either! I just want things to continue on how they are now.” Mandy moaned.
“Well when’s the first article due to come out?”
“Friday.”
“So, you’ve got a couple of days. Maybe longer. You said the article’s going to be published in three parts, with Nana’s out last, right? So you’ve got a couple of weeks. I wouldn’t worry about it anyway. I bet it will be fine.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I usually am. I was right about the first day of school wasn’t I? And you pretty much had convinced yourself that it was the end of the world,” Steve laughed.
“Yeah, you were right,” Mandy conceded.
“So let’s try not to worry about this then. And don’t forget I’m in this with you,”
Steve said.
“You don’t have to be, you know. If it’s too much, too crazy, I’d understand,” Mandy said, hoping that he wouldn’t take her up on this offer.
“What would be too crazy would be being away from you. I want to be in this with you,” Steve said seriously. He leaned over and kissed Mandy on the lips gently.
“Ok, we’ve got some studying to do, I think.”
“Flowers, schmowers,” Mandy mumbled and pushed the book off the bed. She leaned forward and kissed Steve like she meant it, losing herself in the moment and letting her head go completely empty except for Steve.
* * *
Chapter 21
Thursday afternoon and evening Mandy was a restless sea of emotions. She tried to focus on anything other than the first of the three impending articles that was to be released tomorrow, but nothing kept her attention. She tried to drown herself in her schoolwork, the book of flowers, music, all to no avail. Her mind kept wandering down What If Boulevard with unpleasant thoughts in tow. Finally she could take it no longer and she picked up the phone to call Steve.
“Hello?” Steve picked up on the second ring.
“Hey!” Mandy answered trying to sound anything but worried. “Whatcha doing?”
“Nothing really. I had a feeling you were going to call though.”
“Weird. Why?” Mandy tried to sound casually surprised.
“Cuz I know you. You’re worried about tomorrow aren’t you?” Steve laughed a bit.
“Why? What’s happening tomorrow?” Now she went for innocence.
“Like you don’t remember…you’re a bad liar!” Steve laughed louder.
“Fine, you’re right. I’m a ball of nerves over here. I’ve been trying not to think about it but it’s like going around and around in my head of its own accord. I don’t know what to do!” Mandy practically wailed.
“Ok, first off, calm down! Like I’ve said before, it’s going to be fine,” Steve sounded reassuring. “Do you want to meet in town for a while?”
“Now?” Mandy looked at the clock. It was 7:30. “It’s a school night.”
“I’m sure I can find an excuse. What about you? It’ll take your mind off it all.”
“Um…fine. Give me ten minutes. Where do you want to meet?”
“Benches in front of Bill and Bob’s sound good?”
“All right. See you in a few,” Mandy said hanging up the receiver. She grabbed her keys from the foot of the bed and headed to the door of her bedroom and down the stairs, hoping she could just slip out unnoticed. Of course not. As she got to the bottom of the stairs she could see her dad had taken up residence for the evening in the big flowered chair adjacent to the fireplace, which unfortunately meant he had a perfect vantage point of the front door.
“Mandster! Up for a little Scrabble competition?” He sounded excited by the prospect.
“Uh, raincheck? I was actually just going to go into town for a little bit,” Mandy said, quickly adding, “If that’s ok?”
“It’s a school night, Honey. What do you want in town?” Mandy’s mother chirped in.
&
nbsp; “Um, popcorn. I have this craving,” Mandy lied.
“There’s Jiffy Pop in the cabinet,” her mother offered.
“Yeah, I know, but I wanted some of that gourmet stuff. Like cinnamon or jalapeno, something different. I won’t be gone long,” Mandy wheedled.
“Well, all right, but just to get your popcorn and then back, all right? It’ll be dark before too long and you’ve got to get up in the morning,” Mandy’s mom relented.
“I know. I will,” Mandy sealed the deal with what she hoped was a friendly looking smile.
“You’ve got your cell…” Mandy’s dad started up.
