Shadow Witch (52 page)

“I shall search in town, also,” Mr. Winston said. “In the carriage.”

Miss Duffy nodded. “I shall come with you.”

“Somebody needs to stay here in case Sammi gets away and comes back,” Rachel said.

“I’ll stay,” Evelyn said, “but I don’t have my Stupefyin’ charm.”

“Then take mine.” Rachel pulled her necklace over her head, took off her countercharm bracelet and handed them to her.

“I don’t think I —”

“Mom, don’t argue, just take them! I’ll be with the others, so I’ll be safe.”

“Jamie,” Carl said, “you can search from the sky. Might want to go to Brinna’s shop first and warn her. You can get there quicker than we can. Somebody else should search the woods.”

“After that I’ll check the roads leading away from town.” Jamie took two steps and was airborne, and he flew away.

“That’s it, then,” Carl said. “We can rendezvous in front of Brinna’s shop. And while you’re searching, see if you can find Momma Sue and Mrs. Malley. Maybe then can help us.” He nodded once. “Let’s go.” He took off running toward the town gates and Rachel followed with the others.

Sammi’s terror was gradually giving way to numb resignation as Mr. Gundy continued to push her mercilessly through the brush around the town wall. Every step drained a little bit of feeling and hope from her, and soon there would be nothing left but a wooden figure that looked like her and walked like her, but was as dead and emotionless as a stick.

I wish I had drowned in the river instead
. Anything would be better than the fate that awaited her if Mr. Gundy succeeded in getting her through the doorway back to Earth, and there was a good chance that he would. She felt sure that no one knew he’d kidnapped her, and no one knew where she was. And if they did, they couldn’t stop him because he had a knife.

He’ll kill me if they won’t let him take me back
. Back to the life of misery that she’d had before, only worse without Mrs. Gundy to blunt his cruelty and abuse.

Sammi remembered floating in the rain-swollen river, staring at the sky and thinking of her mother.
Yes, drowning. That would’ve been better. Anything but this
.

She grunted in pain as he yanked on her hair again, and she stumbled on through the woods.

Rachel’s legs ached and she had a cramp in her side from running, but she still pushed herself onward, down every side street, looking into every shop she passed. None of the proprietors had seen anything unusual, nor had any of the pedestrians she stopped and asked. The children ran, too, and she sometimes saw them popping in and out of buildings near her, frantic looks on their small faces.

Now she panted as she hurried through the press of pedestrians and carriages toward Brinna’s shop, where she saw Carl standing out front with his arms crossed, eyes scanning the crowd.

“Any word?” she asked when she reached him, leaning over and resting her hands on her knees while she tried to catch her breath.

“Not yet, but Brinna said they haven’t been back here, so that means Gundy and Sammi are still around somewhere. We just have to find them.”

“Have you seen Jamie?”

“He flew by a few minutes ago, and then took off again to search the river road. He said he’ll check back soon.”

“Carl, what if we don’t find her?”

“We will. Think positively.”

But that was hard, right then. Rachel could only imagine the worst — Gundy had somehow made it through to Earth already, or worse, had molested and killed Sammi.

Sammi! Oh, you sweet little girl. I hope you’re all right
.

A few of the schoolchildren began to arrive in groups of two, but no one had seen any trace of Sammi. Rachel felt their chances of success slipping away, one negative report at a time.

Milly raced up with Leora from the other direction. When they reached Rachel and Carl, they pointed behind them and Milly said in between gasping breaths, “We think we found them...back that way...behind those buildings, by the town wall. We saw them hiding behind some bushes near the west gate.”

Carl took off in a full sprint without waiting for Rachel or the others. She ran after him as fast as she could, and the children followed.

Rachel’s heart was pounding as she raced around the last building, searching for Carl. She found him just ahead, in an open area behind the row of shops. His back was to her and he was bent over, laying his pistol on the ground. Then he slowly stood and held his hands up. “I’ve set the gun down, Mr. Gundy. You can put away your knife now.”

She slowed to a stop when she reached Carl and she said, “What is it?”

He gestured with one hand and said, “Gundy’s over there, about thirty yards away, by the wall with Sammi, and he’s got a knife. He’s threatening to kill her if we don’t back off.”

“That’s right,” a creepy, unfamiliar voice came from the direction Carl was facing.

A chill ran down her spine at the sound of those awful words.

It’s really happening
. Any hope that there was another explanation for Sammi’s disappearance had been dashed by the dreadful reality they now faced — Sammi was in the grasp of Duane Gundy, and she was in terrible danger. “Please don’t hurt her,” Rachel called to him.

“Y’all get out of our way and let us into that store, and I won’t.”

Rachel leaned close to Carl and lowered her voice. “Maybe I can stun him with my Stupefyin’ pendant.” She reached for it but it wasn’t there. She groaned and said, “I gave it to my mom. Maybe one of the kids can run back and get it.”

“We don’t have that much time. Gundy wants to go now.”

Rachel could see him with Sammi, behind some bushes near the high brick wall that circled the town. Sammi’s back was pulled tight against his body and she was crying. Rachel couldn’t get a clear view of Mr. Gundy, but from what little she could see, she could tell that he looked different, his hair dyed blond and his face clean-shaven.

“What can we do, Carl?” Rachel asked.

“We do what he says, for now.”

Rachel stood with Carl and watched helplessly, and some of the school kids began to arrive and they gathered behind her. They seemed to sense the severity of the situation and talked in lowered voices.

“Mrs. Sikes?” Blane said, but Milly shushed him quickly. Rachel gave him barely a glance before turning back to face Sammi and Mr. Gundy.

We’ve got to do something!

But Carl was watching and waiting, and she knew that she should, too, though every nerve in her body was screaming at her to take action.

Rachel turned around when she heard the clatter of horse’s hooves in the distance, and she saw Momma Sue and Mrs. Malley driving their wagon toward them at a furious pace.

There was a blur in the sky, streaking in her direction like a missile, and Jamie flew down and landed nearby with a couple of staggering steps. “What’s going on?” he asked.

Carl quickly filled him in and Jamie’s face grew angry and determined. “I’ll deal with him,” Jamie said and started toward Gundy and Sammi.

“Step back or I’ll kill her!” Gundy said.

Jamie paused and Rachel said, “Jamie, don’t. Sammi could get hurt.”

“But we can’t just stand by and do nothing!”

Carl gestured gently with one hand and lowered his voice. “Sammi’s still alive. That’s the most important thing. Even if he gets her through the portal back to Hendersonville, John Paul will be there at his house to hold him up, and then we can bring in a hostage negotiator and maybe end this without any bloodshed.”

“
Maybe?
” Rachel said. “This is Sammi we’re talking about. Maybe isn’t good enough!”

“Doing something rash isn’t either,” Carl replied.

“Jamie?” Rachel said. “Can’t you do something?”

“I can’t see the knife so I can’t do anything about that.” He squinted in Gundy’s direction and leaned sideways to get a better view of him through the bushes. “If I could get a clear look at Gundy’s face, I could cut off his air supply like I did to those bank robbers when I was a kid.”

“
If
,” Carl said. “
If
doesn’t cut it when you’re dealing with a murderer. Don’t forget that he killed his wife. He might kill Sammi, too.”

Jamie ran one hand through his hair and took a deep breath. “Well...I can’t get behind him because of the wall, but maybe I can make myself invisible and sneak up on him or something. Or translocate back to the school and get the Stupefyin’ pendant from Gramma.”

Sammi grunted painfully and Gundy said, “I can hear you, you know. You do anything funny and I’ll cut her guts out right now.”

Rachel, Carl, and Jamie stared at each other wordlessly while the buzz from the children behind them grew louder. Then Rachel heard Momma Sue’s firm, raspy voice. “Let me handle this,” the voodoo queen said authoritatively.

Rachel watched the old witch push through the crowd of school kids while Mrs. Malley followed her. Momma Sue’s face was rock-hard and her black-marble eyes were narrow and menacing. “Sammi’s one of
my
witches,” she growled. “Nobody messes with my witches and gets away with it.”

“
Our
witches, Sue,” Mrs. Malley said. “She’s one of
our
witches.”

“Right. Our witches.” Momma Sue walked purposefully forward and Mr. Gundy yanked on Sammi’s hair again and she cried out as her head jerked back.

“Stop right there or I’ll kill her now,” Gundy said.

Momma Sue ignored him as she strode past Rachel toward Gundy and Sammi.

“You think I’m kidding?” Gundy’s voice became shrill. “Tell her, Sammi. Tell her I ain’t.” Sammi moaned but didn’t answer.

Gundy turned slightly, and through the bushes Rachel saw the glint of the steel blade at Sammi’s side. A red spot of blood stained her yellow T-shirt. Rachel sucked in her breath sharply.
He’s really going to do it
. Rachel took a step and said, “Momma Sue! Stop!”

A firm hand gripped Rachel’s forearm, and she turned to see Mrs. Malley beside her. The old woman shook her head. “Leave her be, Rachel. She knows what she’s doing.”

Momma Sue steadily closed the gap and panic flared in Gundy’s eyes, but a look of hope seemed to fill Sammi’s, even though she grimaced in pain from the knife in her ribs.

“I mean it!” Gundy shouted. “Turn around right now or I’ll stick this knife all the way in her.”

“I think not,” Momma Sue said without slowing. She extended her arm toward him and curved the fingers of her hand cruelly, as if she were going to wrench out his soul and squeeze it to dust.

“Stop, dammit! I’ll kill her. I swear I will. I’ll—” Then his voice turned to a gurgle and he staggered with one hand at his throat. His face grew red and his eyes bulged for a moment, then they rolled up into his head and he collapsed into an unconscious heap, the switchblade falling to the ground from his limp fingers. Rachel stared with her mouth open.

The world was silent.

But not for long. Shouts of relief and joy erupted from the crowd as Sammi bolted away from Mr. Gundy, straight to Momma Sue, who knelt and took her in her arms. Sammi sobbed loudly and Rachel felt a huge surge of relief. “Thank God,” she said.

Momma Sue said something into Sammi’s ear and Sammi nodded.Then Momma Sue let her go and Sammi ran to Rachel, who swept her up and squeezed her tightly.

Nothing had ever felt better than the fierce hug Sammi gave her, skinny arms wrapped around Rachel’s neck and her legs around Rachel’s waist. Rachel held her like that for a long while before saying, “Are you all right, Sammi?”

“Yes ma’am,” Sammi said into Rachel’s shoulder and sighed deeply. Rachel patted her back and kissed her on the cheek.

“What are we gonna do about him?” Jamie asked, standing next to the unconscious body of Duane Gundy. “He knows about the magic now, and about Rivershire and the doorways. I guess I’ll have to banish him to that world where I sent Rita and Cassandra.”

“No,” Carl said firmly. “He’s got to stand trial for the murder of his wife.”

“But he could ruin everything.”

“I think I can do something about that,” Mrs. Malley said. “Jamie, can you make a doorway for me back to my house?”

“Yes ma’am.” Jamie drew the outlines and pushed it open. Mrs. Malley went through, and returned a minute later with two small bottles in one hand.

She pulled a cloth bag from her dress pocket and handed it to Momma Sue. “If you will put this healing powder on Sammi’s wound, I shall see to Mr. Gundy.”

Mrs. Malley knelt beside Gundy and unstoppered one of the small glass containers. Then she pulled down his bottom lip with her finger and poured a few drops from the bottle into his mouth.

“What does that do?” Jamie asked.

“It’s a forget potion. He won’t remember a thing from the last few days.” She opened the other bottle, pulled down his lip again, and poured more drops into his mouth. She stood and faced Jamie. “That other one is a truth potion.”

“Won’t that wear off eventually?”

“Not this potion. It shall last his lifetime. He can never tell a lie again, ever.”

“Good thinking, Mrs. Malley.” Carl grinned. “That’ll make it convenient when we question him at the police station.”

“What do you want to do with him now, Dad?” Jamie asked.

“Make another doorway back to John Paul’s house. He’s already there with a patrol car. Then we can take Gundy to jail.”

What a wonderful sound!
Rachel thought.
Take Gundy to jail. S
he made a silent prayer:
And please lock him away forever
.

* * *

Sammi yawned and pulled the sheet up to her chin, then smiled at Mrs. Callahan, sitting in the chair beside the bed.

“You look tired, little girl.” Mrs. Callahan closed the book she’d been reading aloud. “I think that’s enough of
The Boxcar Children
for tonight.”

“I can stay awake. Honest.”

“You need to go to sleep. You must be worn out. It’s not every day that you get abducted by a psychotic killer.” She frowned. “And get stabbed.” She pointed at Sammi’s side. “How’s that feel?”

“It doesn’t hurt at all. There’s not even a mark there. Mrs. Malley’s healing powder really did the trick.”

“Sammi, I am
so
sorry that you had to go through that. It pains me terribly to think about it.”