Shadow Witch (9 page)

Fred couldn’t help but laugh again at the happy-looking child.
No need to get so excited
,
Sammi
, Fred almost said aloud.
It’s just dinner
. But when Sammi ran back to the kitchen to get the napkins, Fred realized that it was more important than that.
This is something that she wants very badly. A real dinner with a real family
. Fred stared blankly at the table.
She’s probably been thinking about this for months
. Fred shook her head and sighed.
And I take it for granted
.

Dinner was awkward that night, the most awkward Fred could remember. While Lisa tried to be accommodating to their little guest, Larry sat quietly through the entire meal, stiff as a statue, visibly uncomfortable. Sammi didn’t seem to notice, though, glowing like a jar full of sunlight and bubbling like a fountain at every question Lisa asked. By the time they finished eating, they knew almost everything about Sammi.

“Well, Libby sounds like a very good friend,” Lisa said as she set her fork on her empty plate. “I think she and her brother took a big risk by taking you to the bus station.”

“Unh hunh,” Sammi said. “Their daddy would spank ’em hard if he found out, especially about the money.”

“What money?” Larry said and narrowed his eyes.

“They gave me the money for my bus ticket. They snuck it from their daddy, mostly.” Sammi bit her lower lip. “I, um, kinda told them I’d pay them back when I get the chance. Is there...is there something I can do to make some money? I can wash your cars or rake leaves, maybe.”

“Wrong time of year for raking,” Lisa said. “How much was it?”

“Sixty-five dollars,” she said quietly.

Larry gazed at Sammi, slowly working his lower jaw as if he were chewing on something of questionable taste. “I’ll give you the money. You can make it up to us by doing some chores around the house while you’re here.” Sammi’s face lit up again and he added, “Since Fred doesn’t seem to do them anymore.”

“Hey!” Fred sat up in her seat. “I do chores. I wash the dishes.”

“When?” Lisa asked.

“Uh...this week.”

“When this week” Lisa arched one eyebrow.

Fred scowled at her mother. “Fine. Sammi and I will do the dishes tonight.”

“Mr. Callahan?” Sammi bit one thumbnail as she looked at Larry. “Is it okay if I call Libby so I can tell her I’m okay?”

“That’ll be long distance.”

“I won’t talk long,” Sammi said quickly. “I don’t want her to worry about me, and she’s my best friend and all.” She made a pitiful puppy dog face at Larry, more devastating than any Fred had ever made, with her big brown eyes sad as a heartbreak. Fred knew her father had no defense against that.

Larry waved a hand and looked away. “Yeah, fine. Just keep it short. And block the caller ID, too. We don’t want anybody knowing where you’re calling from.”

Sammi vibrated with excitement while she waited with Fred’s parents for Fred to tap the numbers on the phone. Fred finished, offered it to Sammi and said, “I dialed star sixty-seven so they won’t know it’s us.”

Sammi waved both hands frantically at Fred. “No, you talk to them first, in case her daddy answers.”

Fred shrugged and held the phone to her face. “Good idea.” Sammi held her breath until Fred spoke into the handset, “Hello, may I please speak to Libby?” She whispered to Sammi, “It sounds like a teenage boy answered.”

“That’s Luke,” Sammi said, bouncing in place and reaching for the phone. Fred handed it to her, and Sammi put it to her ear and held her breath again until she heard a girl’s voice on the other end. “Hello?”

“Libby, it’s me.”

“Sammi!” Libby squealed.

“Shhh. Not so loud. We don’t want your parents to hear you.”

“Oh, right. So...so you made it?”

“Yes! I’m here in you-know-where.”

“Awesome! Are they going to let you stay?”

Sammi glanced at Fred’s parents before answering, “I don’t know yet. But I’m staying here for now.”

“Mr. Gundy came here looking for you and my daddy threatened to shoot him.”

“Oh, yes!” Sammi breathed a heavy sigh of relief. “Then maybe he won’t come looking for me.” Sammi nodded and said, “I’m going to send you the money for the bus ticket. I’ll send cash so your daddy won’t know.” She glanced at Fred’s father again and he mouthed,
Cash?

“That’s good,” Libby said. “I’ll get a whipping if he finds out.” Sammi heard Libby draw in a deep breath. “Oh, Sammi, I miss you something awful and it’s only been three days!”

Sammi felt a sharp pang in her heart and she swallowed hard. “I miss you, too. You’re my best friend in the whole world, Libby.”

Sammi heard a man’s voice in the background and Libby said. “My daddy’s here. I gotta go. Call me again, okay?”

“Wait! I need your address!”

“Forty-two-oh-five Tilly Road. Bye!”

The line went dead and Sammi felt tears well in her eyes. Fred put her hand on Sammi’s shoulder. “Come on, kiddo. Let’s get you in the bathtub. That’ll make you feel better.”

Fred went upstairs with Sammi to help her get ready for her bath, and Fred took her camera with her to get a picture of the bruises on the little girl’s back. Sammi didn’t want to let her at first. She sat stubbornly on the edge of the tub, fully clothed with her shoulders hunched and her arms wrapped tightly around her chest, eyebrows drawn down so low that her eyes nearly disappeared.

Fred pointed out that she needed the photo as evidence in case Mr. Gundy was ever charged with child abuse. “Since your foster mother won’t back you up,” Fred reminded Sammi. The sullen child reluctantly removed her shirt and exposed her back so that Fred could take her picture, and Fred winced when she saw the purple and green marks across Sammi’s shoulder blades and lower back. The look in Sammi’s eyes just then spoke volumes to Fred.
She’s embarrassed, and hurt, and it’s not just skin deep
.

* * *

Jamie felt the gentle hand on his forehead as he became aware in the dream. His head was in Fred’s lap and they were together on her dream-couch in her dream-living room. He reached up and wrapped his fingers in her red curls as he often did. “Hey.”

“Hey yourself,” she said with an angelic smile.

“So it’s my turn with the Dream Fairy?”

“Yep. Your number came up.”

“How’d it go with Sammi tonight?”

Fred shrugged. “Pretty good. My dad is still awkward about the whole situation and my mom is trying too hard, but Sammi doesn’t seem to mind. She’s as happy as a she can be.”

Jamie sat up straight and wrinkled his brow. “Does it seem like our moms are going a little overboard about this deal with Sammi? Mine is acting really weird.”

“What do you mean, weird?”

“She keeps getting this strange look in her eyes, and every time I turn around, she’s running over to your house.”

“My mom is worse. She’s treating Sammi like she’s a royal princess or something, and she’s probably hugged Sammi ten times today, at least, and she keeps putting Sammi in her lap every chance she gets. Your mom hugs her, too, when she’s over here.”

“Hmph.” Jamie scrunched his mouth up. “There’s probably a term for it, like transference of affection, or projection of —”

She stopped him with a touch of her finger to his lips. “No geek-talk, please.”

“Well, I think they’re getting hugs from Sammi ’cause we’re not as affectionate as we used to be.”

Fred frowned. “You don’t think I’m affectionate?”

“You are to me, but probably not to your mother. Do you even remember the last time you hugged her?”

Fred scratched her cheek while she seemed to consider it. “Um, I do it once in a while. Not like I used to, I guess.”

Jamie stared at his knees for a moment. “My mom started acting weird long before Sammi showed up. My dad said my mom’s starting to get empty nest syndrome.”

“Maybe our moms are thinking Sammi can refill the nest. They did call for her, you know.”

“Not by her name, they didn’t.”

“No, but she’s exactly what they asked for, that time out in the gazebo.”

Jamie continued to stare at his knees for a long while, and then he turned to face Fred. “First thing I’m gonna do when I wake up in the morning is hug my mom.”

Chapter 4

Sammi reached up and took Mrs. Wallace’s hand as they waited for Jamie to begin the outlines of a doorway to Eddan’s world on Monday morning. “Are you nervous?” Mrs. Wallace asked her.

“A little.” Sammi looked at the Tupperware container under Mrs. Wallace’s other arm. “What’s that?”

“Carrots and celery sticks for our lunch, with a little ranch dressing.”

“Oh,” Sammi said unenthusiastically.

Mrs. Wallace smiled. “That’s not all we’ll eat. I thought we’d go into the market and get something from one of the food carts, since it’s close to the school. But they don’t have anything like this.” She rattled the plastic rectangular box to make her point. “Sausage on a bun is tasty, but not all that healthy.”

“They don’t have a McDonald’s?”

She laughed and shook her head. “You’ll like the market anyway, I think.” She glanced at the stairs and said, “I wish Fred were awake. I’d like to see her before we go.”

Jamie started tracing the portal in the middle of the room and said, “It’s too early for her to get up. It’s not even eight-thirty yet. I wouldn’t be up if I didn’t have to go to work.”

“What time did you get up, Sammi?” Mrs. Wallace asked.

“I got up to eat breakfast with Mr. and Mrs. Callahan, but Fred told me last night not to wake her too early.”

“She’s got to get up soon,” Jamie said. “She’s got to go to work at the gift shop.” He pushed the doorway open. “I’ll go with you so I can give Sammi the grand tour before I leave for work.”

They stepped through and found themselves before the stone house that Jamie had inherited from Renn on Eddan’s world, months after Jamie had killed the psychotic sorcerer. Sammi spun slowly on the well-maintained front lawn and tried to take it all in. They were on a slight rise that overlooked a quaint landscape of hills and trees, with a pasture and a barn visible in the distance. “So pretty,” she said. “It’s even prettier than I pictured it.”

Jamie gestured at the house. “The roof is all new, with modern shingles. Dad and Bann put it on in one afternoon, after I stripped the old one off with my magic.” Glossy black solar panels covered most of it, and Jamie pointed at them. “We just put these on recently. There are more than enough of them to generate the house’s basic electricity needs, like ceiling fans and the lights. There’s a fan in every room, even the kitchen and the new bathroom.”

They started for the front steps and Sammi said, “Is Mrs. Tully here?”

“Not yet,” Mrs. Wallace said. “She doesn’t come in as early as she used to, but she and Aiven will arrive soon. We’ll wait ’till they get here before we go to the school.”

Jamie gestured at the windows. “All of these are new, too, and they’re double-pane. When they’re open, we get a nice breeze off the river. It’s not too hot most of the time, if the ceiling fans are on.”

“You don’t have air conditioning?” Sammi asked.

“No. There’s no furnace, either, just fireplaces. But we may get portable heaters this winter if we need them.”

They reached the top of the steps and Evelyn said, “I’m glad you didn’t replace the front door. I like this one.”

“It’s sturdy, solid oak. Renn had it made especially for this house. Got a new doorknob, though.” He touched it and it clicked open.

“Don’t you have a key?” Sammi said.

“Somewhere.” Jamie gave a tiny shrug. “Back at my house in Hendersonville, and Mrs. Tully has one, too. I don’t need it.”

Mrs. Wallace turned to Sammi and rolled her eyes. “He just wants to show off with his magic.”

Jamie opened the door and grinned. “Of course I do. If I can’t use magic on this world, where can I?”

They stepped inside to the main room. It was square and spacious, though not large. There was a stone fireplace on the front wall, flanked by windows, with empty shelves and more windows on the wall to their right. On their left were two bedroom doors with a day bed in between, and the entrance to the kitchen was on the far wall, the big table and chairs just before it near the corner. A furnished sitting area occupied the middle, and a shiny new ceiling fan with a globe light was above it. Jamie pulled the chain on it and the blades began to rotate as the light came on. “Pretty cool, huh? The first ceiling fan on the planet.”

“It’s very nice, dear,” Mrs. Wallace said. “I’m glad you got all of the books out of here. It looks so much bigger now, and more open.”

“It was a lot of work.” Jamie rubbed his lower back and grimaced. “I’m still sore, even though I had a lot of help. But we got them all moved to the new building out back, my personal library.”

“That’s finished already?” Mrs. Wallace raised her eyebrows. “My, you have been busy.”

“Bann and his crew did most of the work. All I did was translocate the stone from Eddan’s old tower. It’s just been sitting there on that hill, a worthless pile of rubble, since Renn destroyed it, so I thought I’d put it to good use. The stone matches the house perfectly. We used it for the bathroom and the new shed, too. I think Eddan would’ve approved.”

“I can’t wait to see it.” Mrs. Wallace set the Tupperware box on a small table in the sitting area, next to the padded bench seat and matching chairs.

“It’s a mess inside of the library right now. We haven’t had time to build shelves yet, so the books are just stacked everywhere.”

“Like they used to be in here.” Mrs. Wallace nodded firmly. “You should have seen it before, Sammi. Books were all over the place, floor to ceiling.” She gestured broadly with one arm. “You couldn’t see the walls for all of the books.”

Jamie put his hands on his hips and surveyed the room. “I had no idea the walls were white. But we’re gonna paint them this weekend, soon as Mom and Mrs. Callahan and Mrs. Wilkins pick out the colors.” He waved them on and said, “Let me give you the five-minute tour.”

Jamie pointed at the furniture in the sitting area. “We’re going to replace all of this stuff pretty soon. I may offer it to Mrs. Tully. She’s already taken the feather mattresses.”