Prelude to a Witch, Amanda Lee [ebook reader web txt] 📗

do?” Landon asked as he followed me away from the water. “How are you going to figure out what happened down here?”

“There’s only one way I can think of.” I was grim. “Remember I told you about the two ghosts I managed to call to me here, the ones who had been sort of forgotten?”

He nodded. “You were going to interview them for that series you have planned for The Whistler.”

“Yes, and I still plan to do that. I haven’t been back down here since the girls went nuts and wanted to kill us. I’ve been busy with other stuff. They’re still down here.”

“Ah.” He nodded. “They’ll know if anybody else has been here.”

“In theory. They’re sort of detached from this world, which is why I want to get their stories and help them move on. But they should know something.”

Landon rubbed his hand up and down my back. “Let’s see what they know and go from there.”

I WAS NERVOUS PUTTING MY abilities on display. I had to wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans as I prepared.

“It’s okay,” Landon said as he stood in front of me. “You don’t have to put on a show.”

“No, but from Hannah’s perspective I’ll be talking to thin air. It’s nerve-wracking.”

He sighed. “It doesn’t matter what she thinks, because I know you’re amazing. Just do your thing like you normally do. Everybody else here believes in you.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Aunt Tillie?”

“Well, maybe not Aunt Tillie.” He grinned and then leaned close. “She believes in you more than anybody.” His voice was low. “She’s a Winchester, so she can’t admit it. If she does, she’ll look soft.”

I shook my hands at my sides. “You’re right. I need to do this. Just ... keep everybody behind me.”

“I will.” He gave me a kiss. “Do your thing.” I watched him retreat toward the others, deftly reaching out his arm to catch Aunt Tillie around the waist as she tried to cut around him. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“To help,” Aunt Tillie replied. “That’s what I do.”

“Since when?”

“Um ... since before you were born, Sparky.”

“We should let Bay do this on her own. She’s the one in control here.”

“I’m in control. In fact, if there was a job for people who simply had control of everything, I would be the queen.”

“Yes, you could do it professionally.” Landon refused to let her go. “You’re sticking with me.”

Aunt Tillie didn’t put up much of a struggle. She positioned herself between Landon and Chief Terry and waited. That was as good as a declaration of love from her.

“Okay,” I murmured to myself as I closed my eyes. I knew who I was calling to this time. I wasn’t casting a net. There were two specific souls in this vicinity. Carol Umber and Carter Culpepper. They’d both died years ago. I planned to get their stories for a series I was going to run in the newspaper and then set them free.

Carol.

Carter.

I whispered their names in my head over and over again. They weren’t “present” ghosts. They spent most of their days drifting. Unlike the first time I’d called them, there was no reticence. They showed up right away.

“I knew you would be back.” Carol’s eyes sparkled as she looked me up and down. “Is it time for us to go?”

“Soon.” I felt guilty for ignoring her as long as I had. “It won’t take long,” I promised. “I have some questions first.”

“She always has questions,” Carter grumbled. “So many questions. Typical woman. That’s what she is.”

“If you ask my husband-to-be, I’m not typical at all,” I argued.

“Definitely not,” Landon agreed. “That’s one of the best things about you.”

“Has anyone been out here?”

Carol’s face was blank. “You’re out here right now.”

“I mean before now.”

“You’ve been out here before,” she said.

“Yes, but ... I’m talking about between the time I was here before and now. You saw us that night, the big group of us, and we were working against some younger girls. Do you remember that?”

Carol nodded. “You said they were evil.”

“She didn’t say they were evil,” Carter countered. “She said they were consumed by magic. There’s a difference. I just found them to be mouthy females. There’s always a lot of mouthy females out here.”

I studied him a moment, considering. “Have those girls been back here?”

“Not that I’ve seen.” Carter was blasé. “But I haven’t been looking.”

“What did they say?” Hannah asked.

“Shh.” Landon admonished her with a whisper. “Let her work. She’ll fill us in when she’s done.”

I appreciated that he’d taken control of Hannah. That allowed me to deal with my ghosts. “What about you, Carol?” I asked. “Have you seen them here again?”

“I ... don’t ... know.” Carol appeared conflicted. “I know they’ve been here, but I have trouble marking time. I’ve told you that.”

“You have,” I agreed. “You’re floating a lot of the time because nothing really anchors you here any longer. This is important. I need you to remember.”

“I can’t really remember.” Carol held out her ghostly hands. “All of it is ... jumbled. It doesn’t help that the dark ghosts have been here. I don’t like them, so I hide when they come. I don’t want them to find me.”

My heart skipped a beat. “The dark ghosts?”

She looked around. “They’re like us.” She gestured between herself and Carter. “They’re no longer in this world yet they stay. But they’re different in some ways.”

“More mouthy females,” Carter groused. “They talk and talk and talk. They never shut up.”

“What do they talk about?” I asked. “What do they say?”

“They have dark plans.”

Carol agreed. “They want the power that they say is floating around Hollow Creek. They want to take it and use it.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know. They talk about a lot of things.”

“They must have mentioned specifics,” I insisted.

“There is one thing.” She spared a glance for Carter. “You tell her. I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news.”

Carter rolled his eyes. He was a cranky bastard when he wanted to be ...