Hacienda Moon (The Path Seekers) (29 page)

“Real smooth to blame a little kid for something a bunch of teenagers started,” Eric said. “Tandie none of this is your fault. Don’t you dare start blaming yourself.”

“What would’ve been smooth is if she had stayed put. We were coming back to get you, idiot girl.” Turning to Eric, she said: “And keep running that flap trap mouth of yours and I won’t stop Gus the next time he lifts his pitchfork.”

“I’m sorry,” Tandie said, feeling guilty for Eric and Norma’s suffering. “I understand your pain. Really, I do. You have every right to be angry with me. But, please, just let everyone else go.”

She scoffed and snorted. “Is this
Dark  Souls Night
? Or did somebody change it to
I Wanna Be a Martyr Day
? No one is leaving or sacrificing themselves. See, the curse on my family can be broken. All I have to do is rid the world of all your faces,” Shania said and moved her wild eyes toward Tandie. “I want to save my daughter. Surely, you can understand that?”

“Your daughter?” Eric asked.

The door to the store creaked open. Tandie’s screaming gardener girl, Ella, stepped out of the door and stopped when she saw Tandie sitting on the ground. Glancing at the heart around Tandie’s neck, her face crumpled and she started rubbing her hands together. “You were supposed to stay in the hole,” she hissed at Tandie.

“This is my sixteen-year-old daughter, Ella Leanne Woodard. Virgil knew about her. He kept my secret, even from you, Eric,” Shania said, her voice determined. “Say hello, Ella.”

Now Tandie understood why Ella acted the way she did. Her mother was just as psychotic as her daughter.

“Hey ya’ll,” Ella said and lowered her head. She was dressed in a tee shirt and jeans, a normal teenage girl’s wardrobe.

Shania walked over to her daughter and placed an arm over her shoulder. “Now tell me, dearest daughter, what do you mean by asking the sacrifice why she isn’t in the hole?” With each measured word, Shania’s voice became more deadly.

“I don’t mean nothing by it. I was just asking,” Ella said, shrugging.

Something about the girl was different tonight. Maybe it was the way she kept looking at the necklace around Tandie’s neck. Or maybe it was the fear in her voice when she told Tandie that she should’ve stayed in the hole. Either way, something was up with Shania’s daughter.

“I’m sick and tired of all this babble. Ella, it’s time. Help the psychic get inside the store.” Now Tandie understood the gasoline cans. Shania intended to burn the store down with her inside it. Eventually the fire would reach Norma and Eric still tied to the posts too; but not before they watched the store burn.

Ella bent down and touched the heart hanging from Tandie’s necklace, shaking her head and staring as if she were consumed by a deep thought. “No, mama.” She replied in a low voice.

“What did you say?” Shania asked, her eyes narrowing.

And then the face Tandie had seen Ella use so many times before, the face of a girl possessed, turned toward her mother. “I said I’m not gonna do it. I won’t be hurting my sissy no more.”

“What the hell are you talking about? She’s not your sister,” Shania answered back.

“But she is my sissy. Don’t you see that heart?” Ella grasped the golden charm at Tandie’s neck.

“Behind Shania, something in the woods beyond the deserted road began to stir. Faint lights glowed in the dark areas among the trees. Eric stopped grinding his rope, glanced at the area, and frowned.
Could he see them too?
Norma had her eyes closed. And even though she wasn’t speaking out loud, her lips moved, quietly forming the words of the strange chant.

Gus ripped the belt out of his pants and stalked toward Ella, his arm raised, his face crumpled with rage. “You respect your mama, or I’ll skin you right here,” he griped at Ella.

Tandie shuffled around in front of the girl. That strange tingle she felt each time Alice’s spirit took over trickled through her body. “You will not touch this girl, you fucked up psycho.”

Gus frowned and lowered his arm as if the thing inside Tandie commanded him to do so. “All right then. We’ll just get this over real quick. I always felt like Shania was too dramatic, anyway.” He dropped the belt, pulled out his gun, and aimed it straight at Tandie’s face.

“No, you stupid fool. This is my night, my revenge. It’s going to be done my way!” Shania yelled.

“Your way? Or his way?” Gus nodded his head toward Eric. The statement Eric made earlier about Shania coming on to him hit the mark. Gus’s creepy, long face turned a fiery red and his body trembled.

Behind them, Norma’s gaze was alert and locked on Tandie, her eyes wide as if she were trying to use telepathy to say something. Eric moved his arms up and down.
What was he doing?
Tandie forced her attention back to the arguing couple, Bolivia’s answer to
Psycho
.

At once
Eric surged toward Gus, knocking him off balance. Two gun shots thundered in the air. One hit the old water pump about two feet away from Tandie’s head and the other one zipped past Ella. The two men struggled for control of the gun, Gus’s height versus Eric’s muscular build.

Tandie covered her mouth, feeling wretched and useless. Ella placed an arm over her shoulder and caressed Tandie’s hair. “It’s gonna be all right, now,” Ella said, her calm eyes pulling at something deep inside her.

Choking noises ripped Tandie’s attention back to the fighting men. Gus fell backward on the pitchfork, the prongs jutting up through his neck, a mockery of the way he had mutilated his victims. Blood spurted everywhere, a demon’s waterfall. His body thrashed on the ground for about thirty seconds and stopped.

“Gus!” Shania cried. The agony in the wail raised the level of her scream to a deafening pitch. She dropped to her knees beside Gus’s body and started swaying with her eyes closed.

The chill in the air around them deepened. Something was happening to the woman. That
probably wasn’t a good thing. Eric moved over to Norma and started to cut away her bindings. As soon as he’d let the first section fall, Shania snapped out of her trance.

“Curse you, witch.” She lifted her gun and aimed at Tandie.

“Damn it, Shania. No more!” Eric ran and dived in front of Tandie and Ella. The bullet shot out of the gun and thudded in
to his chest. It was a sickening clank as if you could hear it striking a bone.

Eric’s body struck the ground, sliding a bit before it came to a stop. At once Tandie shuffled over to his motionless body. And this time her screams weren’t silent. Pulling his body up in her arms, she cried out until her voice broke. “Are you satisfied now?” she snarled at the mad woman.

“Not quite yet. Ella, move back,
“ Shania said.

An image of a blurry face flickered around her head. It was the woman Tandie had seen in her visions--Mary Jean Cropsey. The witch’s spirit was inside Shania McKinnon just as she suspected. If Tandie would’ve paid attention, she wouldn’t be holding a lifeless Eric in her arms. Once again someone’s death was due to her shortcomings. If Shania’s bullets didn’t kill her, then the pain closing in on her heart would.

She aimed the gun at Tandie again. But she didn’t care what happened now. Her soul, the very reason she’d found for leaving
a meaningless existence was gone. Feeling as dead inside as the man she loved, Tandie glanced down at Eric and waited for the bullet. Nothing.  There was only clicks and a growling woman. Shania’s gun malfunctioned. Of course that would be the case.

“Tandie watch out!” Norma shouted. She tore her gaze away from Eric’s face, so peaceful in his eternal dream. Shania charged toward her, Gus’s pitchfork high above her head.

The reaper didn’t favor the Cropseys this night, though. Instead, something else did.

31

The lights in the woods started moving. Tandie already knew what was making them. Orbs darted forth, lit up by the full moon’s glow. Hundreds of lights surrounded Shania, ripping the pitchfork out of her hands—the shadow people. Only they weren’t dark this night. The lights of the victims Mary Jean Cropsey and her descendants had sacrificed over the years burned bright.

Spinning around in all directions, the woman screamed. The sight entranced both Tandie and the spirit inside her.

Beside Tandie, Ella stared at her mother, her eyes wide and her face innocent like a small child. Just as Shania did moments ago, Tandie began to sway in a circle, never once releasing her grip on Eric’s body.

“Come here and help me finish untying this rope, child,” Tandie heard Norma’s voice say to Ella.

But the evil spirit in Shania wasn’t ready to lose. Shuffling through the lights that stuck to her body like fireflies, Shania snarled and reached toward the pitchfork lying on the ground a few feet away. “Your dead family won’t stop me, Alice Chelby,” she said, and still managed to lift the tool.

The lights faded. It was almost as if the orbs had entered her body. For a moment, Shania stood completely still, her eyes wide and her mouth open. Her gaze flickered toward Tandie, and her face softened when she glanced at her daughter standing beside Norma.

“Mama, don’t do it,” Ella whispered, tears streaming down her pale face. But even her daughter’s pleas couldn’t stop the vengeful spirit inside her mother. Shania’s eyes rolled upward and then widened as they focused back on Tandie.

“It’s over, Mary Jean,” Tandie said in a higher-pitched tone, Alice’s voice. Both Ella and Norma stared at her. “You have lost your daughter and the spirits have taken control of the body you’re in. Give it up, for God’s sake.”

“I will. But guess what, little Alice Chelby? You’re coming with me.” She snarled and positioned the pitchfork to strike, even though her face crumpled as if she were in pain. Tandie leaned over Eric’s body, shielding him from the blow that never came.

A gunshot boomed through the air. Ella screamed. Tandie glanced up. Blood oozed from out a wound just above Shania’s heart and seeped through the long, light colored dress she wore. The blood-stained fabric reminded Tandie of the night Ella poured crushed rose petal water all over hers. Shania’s body slinked to the ground in a movement as graceful as a swan. Her daughter hobbled over to her, threw herself over her mother’s body, and sobbed.

Sirens sounded in the distance, just before Saul emerged from inside the trees to the left side of the store behind Tandie. He still had a smoking gun aimed at Shania as he approached them.

“Tandie are you all right?” Saul asked, coming to a squat beside her.

“No.” Tandie cried, still rocking Eric’s body.

“He’s going to be all right, now,” Norma said, bending down beside Tandie. “Look at his chest. It’s moving.” She reached toward Eric and touched his forehead. Right away, his mouth opened and he inhaled sharply. Every cell in Tandie’s body shot to fiery life as his eyes fluttered open, those beautiful hazel eyes.

“But—but, I don’t understand,” Tandie said, her body tingling.

“See. Both of ya’ll will be just fine,” Norma reassured, reaching into Eric’s shirt pocket. She pulled out the golden clover. The charm bore a large dent in the middle; but it had still kept Shania’s bullet from piercing Eric’s heart.

Grandma Zee’s prophecy was complete. The ring kept Breena’s spirit around long enough to help her mother. Alice and Enrique’s golden heart reminded the spirit inside of screaming Ella that she had a sister. And Eric’s lucky charm, a golden four-leaf clover passed down through his family, saved his life. Together, the three items ended Mary Jean Cropsey’s terror reign.

“It took you long enough, Chelby,” Eric said through gasps. Sweat beads prickled his forehead. He was still in a lot of pain, even though he was trying to sit up.

“I wouldn’t move around too much, hero,” Saul said. “An impact like that had to either crack or break something.” He met Tandie’s gaze, gave her a slight smile, and then walked over to inspect Shania and Gus’s bodies.

Eric’s gaze drifted up to Tandie. He gave her the lazy smile that made her silly heart flutter like crazy. “While I was unconscious, I dreamt of you,” he said. “But it was another time, some other place. We were at a party and you wore a light blue dress that I gave you. You had the blackest hair and your smile…it was so beautiful. You were the prettiest girl at Chelby Rose that night. I hate to admit it, but I do believe, Tandie
. I want you to know that I believe you are my soul mate.” She took his hand, squeezing it, and pressed it against her cheek.

Tears streamed down her face. Happy tears. It was time to say goodbye to sad ones. She placed her lips on his, giving him a deep kiss, anything to keep him from trying to sit up.

The sirens turned out to be an ambulance and a fuming Detective Newman. Saul must’ve called them in sometime before he handled Shania. The detective stormed right over to Saul, who was standing over Gus’s body as if he were making sure the man wouldn’t move again. A traumatized Ella was still lying across her mother’s body.

“Where is it? The evidence. You better have one hell of a testimony to make up for those two dead bodies lying there,” Newman said, his chest heaving.

“Check under the edge of the water tub.” Saul crossed his arms, shook his head, and smiled as if he were listening to a private joke. Newman felt along the edge of the tub, cursing when he came up empty-handed. The two uniformed officers that had arrived after him took a step toward Saul.

Saul glanced at them and said, “Hello gentlemen.”

Detective Newman felt along the edge of the tub. Even Eric turned his head so he could take a look. Cursing under his breath, the detective glanced back at Saul and held up a fancy recorder, the kind that uses Bluetooth to transmit signals.

“I assume you know how to use one of those?” Saul asked, his eyes gleaming along with his smugly boyish grin.

Detective Newman twisted his lips, sighed, and pressed the silver button. The last hour’s nightmare sprang back to life on the recorder as he replayed the taped events. The detective pointed at Saul. “This isn’t over yet.”

“Careful, Newman, I’m starting to think you’re anxious to see me in handcuffs for some reason,” Saul said. “People talk about things like that these days.”

“Don’t push it, Chelby. And don’t leave town. Any of you,” Detective Newman warned as he stalked off toward the other officers.

The paramedics brought a stretcher over to Eric. The woman who examined him confirmed Saul’s theory. Three ribs around the area where the bullet struck were cracked and possibly broken. They didn’t want to take any chances with him trying to sit up because the ribs could move and pierce his heart. After moving Eric’s stretcher over to the ambulance, the other paramedic secured Tandie’s foot and ankle in a temporary brace. She felt instant relief, and even managed to hobble back over to the ambulance before they lifted Eric’s stretcher up.

“He won’t let us put him in there until after he talks to you,” the female paramedic said.

“We need three body bags,” one of her partners said. Surely they didn’t still think Eric needed one. The energy in his kiss told Tandie that he was nowhere close to dying. Across the road, she spotted Norma standing beside the coroner as he took pictures of Gus, Shania, and Ella who still lay across her mother, their hands laced together.

“Oh no,” Tandie said. Lying on the cot, Eric followed her gaze over to the small group.

“I had hoped I was wrong,” Eric said, squeezing Tandie’s hand. “The second bullet that Gus shot hit Ella. At first, I thought it hit you until I saw Ella clutching at her side.”

Now she understood why Ella’s face was so pale and why she hobbled over to her dead mother. Like Eric, she was in pain. But unlike him, Ella’s wounds turned fatal. The girl had scared the crap out of Tandie, rearranged her rose bushes, and threatened to bury her alive so she could save someone else’s life. In the end, Ella proved to be the brightest light among all the souls Tandie came across. She was just a young girl aching to have the love of someone who cared about her.

Bending down, Tandie kissed Eric again. She craved a distraction from the heart-wrenching scene behind them. “Do not ever scare me that way again,” she said. “If you do, then I will burn all your tools.”

They shared a small laugh and stared in each other’s eyes.

“All right, sugar. We have to take him now.” A female paramedic placed a hand on Tandie’s shoulder.

“Norma’s going to drive the Jeep for me,” Tandie said, moving sweat-soaked strands away from his face. “I’ll be right behind you. Always.”

“I know,” he answered, smiling with his eyes.

“Okay, Romeo. Time to leave Juliet for a bit,” the woman said. She and her male partner lifted Eric’s stretcher up into the ambulance, shut the doors, and sped off down the road.

A gentle set of hands touched her shoulders and turned her around. “Are you all right?” Saul asked. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if anything had happened to you.”

“I’m fine. Thank you, for everything,” she said.

“Don’t thank me like I’m one of the suits. Make no mistake, none of this was about saving Fontalvo. Looking after you is all I care about. You knew I’d come, didn’t you?” he said. She didn’t want to lie; so she redirected their conversation.

“I found Alice and Eliza’s bones. Your family can find peace, now,” Tandie said, feeling anxious to leave for the hospital.

Scoffing, he shook his head and said, “Do you really think it’s that easy? We all just walk off into the sunset. It never works that way, Tandie. Nothing has broken inside me. I hate to tell you this, but waving the magic wand didn’t work. Maybe it did for Fontalvo, but I’m still the moth looking for a way to touch that flame.

“I’m sorry, Saul. I think I should tell you that I’m falling in love with Eric,” Tandie said, chewing the inside of her lip.

“Think? That doesn’t convince me. The word ‘think’ shouldn’t even be in the equation.” He took her hand and kissed it gently. “As I said before, my heroics was about you and me. Period. I don’t do Mr. Nice Guy so well. And I am not giving up, Miss Harrison. I can’t,” Saul whispered, his blue eyes blazing a strange hole through Tandie’s soul.

He had saved her from a crazy woman. And in a way, he was the reason she started to believe in herself enough to give Eric a chance. Before she could say anything, Saul drifted away, walking down the deserted road the same way he did the night Detective Newman was at her house.

“There goes a young man with a tortured soul. I don’t need to be a psychic to see that,” Norma’s voice said behind Tandie.

“I know. I was just like him not too long ago,” Tandie said, staring out into the darkness where Saul had disappeared. Sighing, she turned to Norma and said, “But that’s all in the past now.”

“There’ll be others like the Cropsey’s,” Norma laced her arm through Tandie’s, supporting her. “As a path seeker, you can free those poor souls terrorized by the darkness.”

“What kind of enchantment did you use earlier?” Tandie asked as they hobbled toward Eric’s Jeep.

Norma tilted her head back and laughed. “That wasn’t a magic spell. It was a little something I learned long ago.”

“And what was that,” Tandie asked.

“
The Lord’s Prayer
in Latin. Now let this old woman get you to the hospital.” Norma smiled and shut Tandie’s door.

Glancing over at the woods where the shadow people had emerged, Tandie touched her throat. Ella, Eliza, and the two Chelby boys’ spirits stood amongst the trees. Holding hands, the two girls smiled and waved at Tandie. Neither Alice nor Breena’s spirits were anywhere to be seen, but of course they wouldn’t be. Breena had said goodbye to her mother back in the hole sometime after she brought Eric to rescue her.