The Prophecy (3 page)

“It’s
nice to see you again,” Adrian said politely.

Charley’s
gaze narrowed as she spotted Shyla over his shoulder, like a hawk homing in on
its prey, but no words passed between them. Shyla’s posture stiffened, however.
She stood straight-backed, her round chin jutting up and out in defiance.

Charley
finally released Adrian and turned to Imogene. “Thank you for reaching out to
me and apprising me of—” She cast her eyes to me briefly and then back to
Imogene. “The situation.”   

I
stared at her.
The situation
? Is that really what I was to her; a
problem?

“I
wasn’t sure what else to do,” Imogene answered. “The circumstances are extremely
unusual, as I’m sure you will agree.”

“Unusual,
indeed. And you haven’t seen Victor since the incident?” Charley’s eyes darted
to me when she said “the incident,” and I cleared my throat uncomfortably.

“There’s
been no word from him at all,” she said.

“Fine. We’ll
speak about this later.” Charley turned her full attention to me then, and I
felt the steely weight of her gaze. “I assume you’re Melody’s daughter.”

“That
was a wild leap,” Shyla muttered beside me. David laughed, and then conveniently
suffered a coughing fit when Meg nudged him in the ribs with her elbow. Charley’s
lips tightened, but she otherwise ignored the comment.

I
stood, fumbling my lemonade so that it sloshed down the side of the glass and
onto my hand. I placed the drink on the table and inconspicuously wiped my wet
fingers against the butt of my shorts.

“Yeah.
I mean, yes. I’m Sarah.”

Charley
came to stand directly before me, so close that I caught the scent of lavender
shampoo wafting from her hair. Unlike Jasmine’s somewhat jointed thinness, Charley
moved with grace, like a lily in suspended animation on the surface of a pond.

Meg
once said that my mother and Charley had been two of the most beautiful girls
on the reservation. At the time I thought she’d been exaggerating—a young
girl’s envy of her older sister, maybe. But I could see now that she’d been
right.

Charley’s
beauty hadn’t diminished with age, despite her tight-mouthed expression. I felt
an overwhelming desire to reach out and touch her supple skin and midnight hair,
but then I realized it was only loneliness for my own mother. Of everyone here,
Charley had known her probably best of all. Regardless of whatever Charley had
become, of whatever had happened before I came along, she remained a tenuous connection
to my mother’s past.

And
mine.

Charley
smiled and touched my arm, her cool hand lingering before dropping back to her
side. “You look just like her. Has anyone ever told you that?”

I nodded,
a knot in my throat preventing me from speaking. “All the time,” I whispered at
last.

She
studied me a moment longer, her eyes exploring every inch of my face, looking
for . . .
what?
Then she turned and beckoned to her daughter. “This is
my youngest, Jasmine.”

I attempted
to smile, but it fell short. I’d seen the way Jasmine had looked at Adrian—like
she owned him. Furthermore, I couldn’t ignore Caleb’s comment about someone,
presumably Jasmine, and their opinion about Adrian having a girlfriend now. Had
something happened between them?

The
tips of my fingers tingled as my breathing became shallow, and I realized all
too quickly what was happening. I took a deep breath and balled my hands into
fists, willing myself to calm down. At last, I managed to squeak out a hello.  

“Whatever.”
Jasmine gave an impressive eye-roll and turned to her mother. “This is boring. I’m
meeting some friends in a few.”

Charley
glanced at us and then chuckled uneasily under her breath. “Right now? We have
guests.”

“Yes,
right now. Astrid’s picking me up.
In her new car
.”

“I’ve
already told you I’m not discussing this.” Charley spoke with a forced smile,
but her icy tone left no room for negotiation. With a requisite snort and flip
of the hair, Jasmine turned and stormed off through the open door.

Unapologetic
for Jasmine’s behavior, Charley grabbed Caleb’s hand and yanked him to her side.
“And this is my son.” I half expected her to add
my pride and joy
with
the way her eyes lit up.

“Yeah,
Mom. We’ve already met. ” He may have left off the
duh
at the end of the
sentence, but it was definitely implied.

“Of
course.” Charley cleared her throat and dropped Caleb’s hand. She turned to me.
“Sarah, do you know why you are here?”

Was she
serious? “Because you told me I had to come,” I said.

Adrian started
to laugh as Meg opened her mouth, probably to tell me to mind my manners, but
Charley held up her hand to silence them. She leveled her gaze at me. “Besides
that.”

I took
a deep breath and shifted from one foot to the other. Wanting to be prepared, I
had practiced my answer in case someone asked. “Because our Spirit Leader
willed it to be so. And because this is my rightful place,” I added as an
afterthought, with more boldness and confidence than I felt. “I’m a member of
this tribe, too.”  

Charley
half-smiled, and I didn’t for one minute believe she thought I had any right to
be there among the Katori people. “You are here,” she said, “because you have
been appointed the tribe’s new Spirit Keeper. And as the physical embodiment of
our Spirit Leader Katori, it is your privilege and responsibility to protect
the people of this tribe from those who wish to harm them.”

Unable
to think of an appropriate response, I only succeeded in laughing. I couldn’t
help it. And the more I tried not to laugh, the harder I did. I waved my hand
and mouthed
sorry
repeatedly, but I couldn’t seem to get myself under
control, no matter how hard I tried. 

“Do you
mind sharing with us what’s so funny?” Charley spoke with the same forced,
patronizing politeness she’d used with Jasmine just a few moments before.

I shook
my head and squeezed my eyes shut, breathing in deeply through my nose. I knew
if I looked at anyone else except Charley I’d start laughing again. When I
opened my eyes, I focused my attention only on her.

“That’s
just the thing,” I said. “Exactly who am I supposed to protect the tribe
from
?
You live in the Adirondacks of upstate New York. The scariest thing you have to
face around here is the occasional wild moose or bear rifling through your
garbage.”

“Sarah!”
I didn’t have to look at Meg to know she was completely mortified. I recognized
it clearly enough in her voice. “Have you lost your mind?”

I
ignored Meg. “If you think I’m about to head off into the woods like Annie
Oakley with a rifle slung across my back to protect the tribe—a tribe that
doesn’t even want me, I might add—think again.”

The
only sound was the
cawing
of crows that had taken flight from a nearby
tree. The sight made me recall that a group of crows is called a
murder,
and
that’s exactly what Meg looked like she wanted to do to me at that exact moment.

“Sorry,”
I said through gritted teeth.

Charley’s
eyelids fluttered as though she couldn’t bring herself to believe I’d actually voiced
an opinion that wasn’t her own. Finally, she said, “Has anyone ever told you
that you
act
just like your mother, too?”

“You
should take that as a compliment,” Imogene stage-whispered beside me.

Charley
fluttered her eyelids again and pressed her fingers to her head, as though to
ward off an impending headache. Her words came out clipped. “Do you really want
to know who our people need protection from?”

I met
her eyes, unwavering. “Yes. I would.”

“People
like—”

Imogene
stepped in front of me, shielding me with her body. “Choose your next words
carefully, Charlene Moon.”

“People
like who?” I said, nudging Imogene out of the way. “People like my father, you
mean?”

Charley’s
nostril’s flared. “You weren’t alive the day that monster breached the barrier
and killed a woman, but I was. I remember that day well, how it tore apart the
people of this tribe and stole our sense of security. Since then, we have lived
in constant fear of another attack.”

Imogene’s
anger crackled like a live wire next to me. “No one remembers that day better
than I do. Aida was my daughter!”

She
took a deep, deliberate breath and continued more calmly. “What you must remember,
Charley, is that until just a few months ago, Sarah had no idea that any of
this,” she said, sweeping her hand around us, “even existed. Her life has been
completely uprooted. Everything has changed. She is no longer the girl she once
was.”

Charley
put her hand to her chest, her long, slender throat bobbing with each
convulsive swallow. “And neither am I!”

Imogene
blinked in confusion. “Whatever do you mean by that?”

Charley’s
chest heaved once more, her hand dropping to her side. “Nothing. Never mind.”

She
forced another smile and smoothed her hands down her denim skirt, leaving the
rest of us confused and wondering what had just happened.

“Now,
if you’ll get in your cars and follow me, I’ll show you where you’ll be
staying.”

FOUR

Jasmine
lay stretched in a lounge chair, waiting for her friends. She’d changed into a
pair of shorts that barely covered her essentials, and a bikini top smaller
than a square of toilet tissue. Lowering her sunglasses, she wiggled her
fingers at Adrian as we walked by, and I took no small amount of pleasure in
visualizing breaking every one of her perfectly manicured digits.

We
followed Charley in our cars down the main road, driving
past
what appeared to be the reservation’s business district, if that’s what you could
call a few souvenir shops and an ice cream hut. Finally, we bumped along a dirt
road down to the edge of Blue Mountain Lake, coming to a halt in front of a
rectangular brick building that had been painted a vibrant shade of yellow.

“This
is Council Hall,” Charley said as we gathered around her. “You’ll sleep here tonight,
and this is where we’ll hold the meeting in the morning.”

Imogene
put her hands on her hips and looked around, scowling. “Do you intend for us to
sleep on the floor?”

Charley
seemed offended that her hospitality had been called into question. “Exactly
what do you take me for?”

“Well—”
David started to reply, but both Meg’s elbow and Charley’s quick reply cut him
off.

 “We’ve
set up cots in the back room,” she said. “I think you’ll find them perfectly
adequate.”

“Cots?”
Imogene’s voice rose as she shook her snowy head. “In case you haven’t noticed,
I am much too old, and big, for a cot.”

Charley
continued as though Imogene hadn’t said anything. “There’s a bathroom and
kitchen, as well. Fully stocked for your brief stay.” She emphasized the word
brief
.
“I’m sure you’ll find everything you need to make yourselves comfortable.”

“And what
should we do in the meantime?” Meg said.

Charley
removed her sunglasses from atop her head and slid them back into place on her
nose. “Well I don’t know, Meg. I’m sure you’ll figure out a way to keep
yourselves occupied until the morning. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get
back and prepare for the meeting. Caleb,” she said, addressing her son with a
snap of her slender fingers, “let’s go.”

Caleb cast
his eyes to Adrian and gave a half-hearted wave. Then his eyes caught mine and
lingered. I almost looked away, but held his gaze until he broke the connection
first.

After
they left, David breathed a sigh of relief. “I have no idea what Melody ever saw
in her.”

Meg sighed
as she popped open the trunk of the car and began pulling out the overnight bags.
“She’ll never win a Miss Congeniality contest, that’s for sure.”

Imogene
clapped her hands. “All right. Enough chit-chatting. Let’s get settled and then
we’ll fix a late lunch. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m starving.”

The
idea of getting settled did little to calm my nerves. I felt myself slowly unraveling
like a threadbare rug the more I fixated on what might happen at tomorrow’s
meeting.  

“Let’s
get out of here,” Adrian suggested, running his thumb down my bare arm and trapping
my hand in his.

He led
me to the shade of an overgrown lilac tree where he kissed me firmly on the
mouth, rocking me off my heels and taking me totally by surprise. I broke off the
kiss a moment later and put my hands to his chest, pushing him away so that I
could catch my breath.

“Slow
down,” I laughed. “We’re gonna get caught.”

Adrian
shook his head, a wry smile on his mouth. “Sorry.”

His
breathing was erratic, though, and I noticed he didn’t look the least bit sorry.
Our make-out sessions had become increasingly hot and heavy over the past few
weeks, and I knew it was only a matter of time . . .