Witch Ball - BK 3 (7 page)

"You looked lovely and I was very impressed
with your young man," she continued. "Has Josh
ever considered modeling? I could put him in contact with some key people if he's interested."

"I don't think so. But I'll tell him."

"Also be sure to tell him he's welcome to visit
anytime."

"Should I come, too?"

"Don't make jokes, Sabine. I'm being sincere."

"Well ... thanks. I'll tell josh and we'll plan a
visit."

"Excellent. He's exactly the sort of young man
I'd hoped you'd find, and clearly a very good influence to help you overcome your past problems."

"You don't have to worry about me."

"I'm not-but I'm concerned about Amy."

"Why?" I asked cautiously.

"She's at an impressionable age, and I don't want
her to experience anything unnatural. I wouldn't
have allowed her to stay with you if I hadn't thought
you'd outgrown all the woo-woo nonsense."

Yeah, like I'm going to take Amy to a coven
meeting where we'll dance naked with spirits in the
moonlight.

Mom hadn't changed at all-my abilities still
freaked her out. She'd only called to make sure I
didn't corrupt my little sister. Her sugary compliments were as fake as artificial sweetener. Arguing
would just bring a quick end to Amy's visit. So I said what Mom wanted to hear-lying through
my clenched teeth for Amy's sake.

Then I slammed the phone down.

I woke up early the next morning with a heavy sense
of dread, at first not remembering why, then it all
rushed back. Manny's ominous prediction, Mom's
barbed words, and no call from josh.

Sitting up in bed, I look toward the window
where gray sky was softened by an orange-golden
dawn. I refused to let that prediction scare me and I had lifelong practice ignoring Mom's criticism.
But Josh not calling ... well that worried me.

Had Evan carried out his threat and told josh
everything?

Hugging my pillow, I felt a sharp ache inside.
What would I do if Josh dumped me? No more
romantic morning meetings at my locker and I'd
have to go back to sitting with the cheerleaders at
lunch. My friends would be sympathetic, but they'd
wonder what I'd done to lose such a great guy. Or
maybe they'd know already because Evan would
have spread malicious rumors. Then they'd stare at
me with suspicion.

Of course, if Manny's prediction came true, I'd
be dead in a week anyway.

Stop that negative thinking immediately, a familiar bossy voice said in my head.

"Opal! You're back!" I cried joyfully, tossing
aside my pillow and seeing her in my mind. A dramatic vision of tawny skin, ebony hair swept high,
and dark brows arched over sparkling, black eyes.

As I've told you repeatedly, I never go away in a
physical sense.

"But I tried and tried to contact you, only it
was like a wall blocked me."

The obstruction was on your side. I continued to
communicate. Your inability to hear me led to a significant amount of frustration.

"It was the witch ball."

The object you speak of is of little consequence,
although there did seem to be an unusual aura ofdis-
cord surrounding it. You were wise to distance yourself from such negative energy.

"Is that why I can hear you again? Because it's
not here?"

That seems a likely summation.

"What about Manny's prediction?" Amy stirred
across the room, so I lowered my voice. "Why did
the witch ball make him say such terrible things? I
mean, predicting I have only five days to live. That's
crazy, right?"

The course ofyour future must remain unknown
so you can follow your chosen path and learn from
experiences.

"So you don't know?"

I am not all knowing, that job belongs to someone else.

"Then the witch ball can't know either."

A logical summation as earthly objects have no
insight. But if there is a lost soul involved, what you would call a ghost, I cannot ascertain the scope of its
abilities.

"You mean ..." I clutched my covers to my
chest. "The prediction could be true?"

I have no sense ofyour joining me anytime soon.
But there is no certainty when human will is involved
and you remain the master ofyour life chart. When
you are ready to come home, rest assured I will guide
your journey.

"But when? What's going to happen?" I asked,
only I felt her energy draw away. "Opal, tell me!"

Across the room, Amy lifted her head and
blinked sleepily at me. "Sabine . . . did you say
something?"

If Amy found out I'd been speaking to my
spirit guide, Mom would never let her visit again.
So I dove under my covers, pretending to be asleep.

When Amy's breathing was even and I was
sure she was fast asleep again, I climbed out of bed
and changed into jeans and a warm sweatshirt.
Tiptoeing out of the room, I shut the door so gently there was no sound. Then I hurried downstairs
and out into the chilly morning.

It was so early, not even the livestock stirred as
I crossed the driveway and headed for the pasture. Dominic lived in a loft apartment over the barn.
He had a kitchenette and private bathroom, and
usually kept to himself. His official job was farm
assistant, but the real reason Nona hired him was
to locate a long-lost ancestral remedy book. Her
episode with the clocks showed that her illness was
worsening. I was losing her in small pieces at a
time. If we didn't find the book with the only cure,
she'd lapse in a coma and I would lose her forever.

When Dominic invited me into his loft, I didn't
waste time on small talk.

"Where is it?" I asked with an anxious glance
around. With no family pictures on the walls, the
loft felt as personal as a hotel room. Yet the way
Dominic smiled when he saw me was a warm
welcome.

"Locked in the tool shed," Dominic said. I noticed an open window and empty wood perch where
Dagger sometimes rested, and suspected the falcon
was still on guard duty.

"Thanks for helping out."

"No problem." He pulled out a key from his
pocket. "Take this."

"The key to the shed?"

He nodded. "If you want the ball and I'm not
around."

I'rn the one who might not be around, I thought
morbidly as I pocketed the key.

A movement of white caught my attention and
I noticed a snowy fur ball curled on top of Dominic's
dresser. "Hey, what's my cat doing here?"

"Sleeping."

"So this is where she's been hiding." Lilybelle
opened her green eye, then her blue eye. As I ran
my fingers across her silky fur, she regarded me for
a moment. Then she closed both eyes and resumed
sleeping.

"Traitor," I said fondly. "You're supposed to be
my cat."

"She still is," Dominic said. "With the witch
ball out of the house, she'll return soon."

"Lilybelle doesn't seem to be in any hurry. I
think she likes being here."

"What about you?" Dominic spoke with an
intensity that made my heart jump. I didn't want
to guess what he meant and purposely changed the
subject.

"At the carnival, I appreciated you showing Amy
around the booths." I cleared my throat. "She loves
the unicorn you won for her."

"She's a good kid."

"Yeah ... she is." He was leaning close to me
again. I pulled back, then babbled on, hardly knowing what I was saying. "Amy is shy and wouldn't
have left my booth if you hadn't offered to go with
her. I would have taken her, but one of us had to
stay with the booth. The only other person she knew
was josh, and he was busy, too."

"Yeah. I saw him," Dominic said with a wry
twist of his lips. "Nice clown suit."

The way he said "nice" didn't sound very nice
at all. More like "stupid and ridiculous." I pursed
my lips and said in a cool tone, "Josh is the most
generous person I know. Not many guys would
give their time for a good cause. He's considerate
and wonderful."

"And makes sure everyone knows it."

"That's not true. He cares about people-unlike you."

"I care about select people."

"Well Josh isn't selective and tries to make the
world a better place. He entertains sick kids in hospitals and at school even the teachers respect him."

Dominic shrugged. "If you say so."

"You don't know anything about him."

"But I know plenty about you. "He gave me a
deep look. "Can you say the same for josh?"

"Things have never been better with us," I lied.

"So you haven't told him about ... ?" He didn't
need to finish. Just remembering that stormy kiss
made my stomach feel funny.

"No-and I don't plan to."

"Afraid he'll get the wrong idea about us?"

"There is no us." Dominic was so close I could
smell his earthy, fresh scent. I stepped away and
added firmly, "What happened in Pine Peaks meant
nothing."

"Sure about that?"

"Positive. We don't need to feel guilty."

"I don't." He abruptly crossed the room to a
mahogany dresser.

While I stood there, not sure what to say or
why my face felt so hot, he opened a drawer and
withdrew the engraved box that my grandmother
had left with him. The box had belonged to my
ancestor Agnes and held clues to the location of
the lost remedy. When Nona had asked me to
search with Dominic, she'd shown me what was
inside the box: a family Bible, a photograph of my
ancestor Agnes with her four daughters, and two silver charms. Each daughter took a charm when
they were split up after Agnes's death. We had two
of the charms: a tiny silver cat and a house.

"I found something out," Dominic said, lifting the lid on the box.

"Where the other charms are?" I asked hopefully.

"Not yet. But I showed these to a jeweler."

"Good idea. What'd you learn?"

"They're made of an impure silver that could
date back to the Nevada silver strikes."

"Agnes said she was going out west. You think
she ended up in Nevada?"

"I plan to find out."

"How?"

"By going there Saturday."

"Were you planning to leave without telling
me?" I folded my arms across my chest. "Well forget it. I'm going too."

"Fine with mebut your boyfriend might
not like it."

"He won't mind." Especially ifEvan has told him
what happened at my last school. Of course I didn't
say that, but thinking it was scary. I liked how my
life was and didn't want anything to change.

Dominic was staring at me in that intense way
again. Uneasy, I turned from him, saying I had to
get back before Amy woke up. Then I hurried out
of the loft.

Once in my bedroom, I closed the door behind me. Amy was sleeping with one arm thrown
to the side and the other cradling her pillow. Tangled black hair curled around her shoulders and
her soft breathing was relaxed. I envied her innocence, knowing my future dreams would be far
from peaceful.

I crossed over to my wall calendar by my desk.
I picked up a pen and made a note on Saturday:
Nevada/Dominic.

Looking at the calendar, each dated square of
empty white loomed ominously. Moments left of
my life. I thought of the deadly witch ball prediction. Five days from yesterday. Placing my finger
on today's date, I traced a path across the squares,
counting down four more days.

Thursday, I realized with a sick feeling.

Would I make it to Saturday?

I had to take control of my future-no matter how
short it might be. I was playing a dangerous game
where losing could be fatal.

Waiting for calendar days to pass would make
me crazy, so I needed to discover what powers I was
up against. But I'd already asked Opal, and her answers were less than reassuring. I couldn't ask Nona
for advice without risking her health. I considered holding a seance, but Nona had warned me never
to invite unknown spirits into our home. So what
else could I do?

That's when I had a great idea. Okay, it wasn't
that great, but it was the only idea I had, and it was
better than sitting around hoping to hear from
Josh. I knew he wouldn't call me until after noon
since he liked to sleep in late on weekends. Jill, on
the other hand, boasted about being an early riser.