Chapter 8

Susana wielded Lily's "pocket boline" with more grace and precision today than she had yesterday. Her sandals discarded beside her, she knelt in the dirt, not concerned about the soil and grass staining her blue jeans, and she wore a broad-brimmed straw hat to shade her delicate features from the sun. Three large baskets sat beside her, and as she filled them, she was careful to keep the herb cuttings in distinct piles. Not her favorite work in the garden, but at least she didn't suck at it. Lily would be back at the house after the lunch shift at the diner, and she could critique her work then.

Susana inched forward on her knees to the next group of lavender plants. Though she had protested when Lily asked her to work in the garden today, she was enjoying the time alone, in the company of scented plants and an old dog. Susana looked over at Baird on the porch and smiled. All of the running around she had planned to do that day seemed miles away from being even remotely important.

She held the sharp edge of her knife to the closest plant. "Thank you,"s he whispered to the plant, not remembering the poetry of gratitude that Lily had taught her, and still feeling a bit foolish for talking to the garden. She harvested what she needed, placed the fragrant leaves into the smallest of the three baskets, and continued forward. She was getting into her rhythm, an almost trance-like state surrounded by so many healing and mystical herbs.

Unbidden, a song was born in her throat and slowly climbed its way to her lips. "Now I walk in beauty," she serenaded the lavender quietly. "Beauty is before me, beauty is behind me." She kept cutting and moving forward, her mind on nothing but the plants in front of her. "Above and below me. Now I walk in beauty..."

Susana sat back on her heels and wiped the seat from her brow with her garden glove. Where had she learned that song? She closed her eyes and raised her face to the sun, feeling the gentle breeze across her damp skin as she heard the leaves above rustling in the tree branches. Breathing in the sunlight, she let the boline knife slip from her hand into the grass.

Susana....

She opened her eyes, startled. Had someone just called her name? It was almost as though she could feel gentle hands on her shoulders, pulling her forward. She looked around the yard, but there was no one there. On the porch, it was still just Baird keeping watch over her. But there was something.... She shook it off and reached down to pick up the knife.

Susana....

She was on her feet, again scanning her surroundings. It wasn't a voice she had heard, exactly, but what was it? She glanced back toward the greenhouse, half-expecting to find Maimie standing in the doorway scowling at her, but the brooding spirit was nowhere in sight. Turning to scout the other side of the yard, her eyes came to rest on the side gate leading to the sidewalk that skirted the neighborhood. She felt that small nudge again. Susana slid her feet into her sandals and strode across the grass, headed for the gate.

The gate closed with a small click behind her. Stepping outside the property boundaries, Susana looked up and down the sidewalk but still didn't see anyone. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a tall, slender man appeared at her side.

"Hello?" he inquired tentatively.

Susana jumped at the sound of his voice, and took a couple of steps backward, away from him.

He grinned in apology. "I didn't mean to startle you," he offered. "I just moved in and thought you might be one of my neighbors?"

Sizing him up, Susana recognized him by Lily's description. The strange man with the strange accent and the strange Tarot reading. Like her cousin, she was more amused than suspicious. "I am," Susana replied cheerfully, extending her right hand. "I'm Susana, and I'm guessing you must be Roy."

He smiled and accepted her handshake. "I am indeed." He grip was soft but strong, and he could read her immediately, Not as standoffish as her cousin, not as certain of herself or of her own strength. This was the one he had come to meet.

* * * * *

Lily returned home that afternoon smelling of potato salad and tunafish. After a collision with another waitress at the diner had left her covered in someone's lunch, she just hadn't been able to get the scent off of her. Turning off the car, she pulled the keys out of the ignition and just sat for a moment, realizing that the whole car reeked of the diner -- and not just today's menu items, either.

It could have been worse, she kept reminding herself, though she was hardly in love with her job to begin with. Maybe she would quit. Running Tic's herb business wasn't all that difficult, but together she and Susana could absolutely grow the client base and even branch out into new areas. It would break Ruby and Mo's hearts to se her leave the Dogwood Deli, which they'd been running themselves since they opened it in 1974, and they had been so very good to her, treating her almost as a member of the family, since she started there a few years after high school. But did she really want to be a waitress the rest of her life?

She grumbled a few unintelligible syllables and dragged herself out of the car, not noticing the black sedan that sped by on the road behind her. At least she'd get to play with plants this afternoon, she promised herself.

She heard voices coming from the wrap-around porch and stopped dead in her tracks. Susana was sitting with Roy on the veranda, sipping iced tea. For Christ's sake!

"Susana!" Lily called out to her and waved. The sooner Lily got this guy's attention and found out what he was up to, the better.

"Hey! You remember Roy, right?" Susana smiled at Lily as she climbed the front steps and made her way over to their tea party.

"Of course." Lily nodded toward their guest, not letting her guard down.

"It's good to see you again, Lily," Roy replied smoothly. It wasn't that she was so much suspicious of Roy himself, but of his convenient appearance instead. Was it just her imagination, or did he just always seem to be hanging around?

Susana pushed a footstool across the porch to Lily, encouraging her to sit down. "Roy was just telling me about his decision to come to Richmond. It's funny, because I'd never though of someone actually choosing to be here...." Susana laughed, but she was dead serious. She was thirty years old and still stuck in her hometown. She'd always heard the Native American legend that once a person had ventured into the area, unless he left by a particular, hidden pathway, he would always return, again and again, to this place. It had always sounded like more of a curse to Susana.

"It really wasn't so earth-shattering," Roy explained. "Life has a way of conspiring to get us exactly where we need to be. Right place, right time."

Lily nodded. "Something like that." She thought again about the diner and tried to imagine herself as a waitress ten years in the future. She shuddered at the thought.

Roy leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "Ladies, have you ever felt that you had a calling in life? Or, that a destiny had reached out and chosen you, even when you may have been looking for something else?"

The cousins hadn't been prepared for the sudden serious turn in the conversation. Susana pulled her arms in close to her chest. She glanced quickly at Lily, who was staring at her feet. Susana looked back to Roy, whose tender eyes awaited her reply.

"You know, that very thing, I think, happened to me just about a week ago." She kicked at the leg of her chair with the toe of her sandal. "I was on a career path that, while completely successful -- or, well, mostly successful, things were going well -- it just didn't feel right to me. But I didn't know what else I might choose, so I just kept with it, you know? I was afraid of getting stuck, I knew I was getting stuck there, in advertising, but I couldn't imagine what else I might do."

Lily looked up at her, realizing that the Universe was speaking to her now. Nobody wanted to get stuck. Everyone wanted to reach out for a bigger life of meaning. But how many people had the courage to make that choice? To choose to walk the unbeaten path?

"So then, Bam! No more job." Susana nearly laughed, even though it still stung. "It was like a slap in the face, a real shocker, but at the same time, there was this part of me, deep down, that knew that it was all going to be okay. That everything would be alright, and that this was even a good thing."

Roy nodded. Susana smiled at Lily, just a hint of tears springing to her eyes. "Of course," Susana continued, "It turned out that was the same day Tic died." She hung her head and sniffed back the tears. Roy, sitting close to her, reached out to pat her shoulder gently. Lily watched the exchange, saw the gentleness in Roy's eyes, and relaxed.

"I'm sorry." Susana shook her head and shrank away from his touch.

"No, that's precisely what I was talking about." Roy sat up straight in his chair, considering how much to reveal. "It was nearly a year ago that applied to the masters program in health administration. I wanted to come to America to study, and then to take my education back to Trinidad, to try to improve things there. It's not an impoverished little county," he scratched his head and looked across the front lawn. He was distracted by a flash of movement, an unnatural shadow in the hundred-year-old magnolia tree. This was unexpected.

"But you wanted to do something to help." Susana prompted him, drawing Roy's attention back to the conversation.

"Right, yes." He glanced between the two women. He was certain that neither of them knew they were being observed. "But there was a terrible accident, just a few weeks ago." Roy took a deep breath. Though he hadn't been there, his body could still feel the pain as though the wounds were fresh. "I was shot."

Lily sat bolt upright. "What?"

Roy tried to wave off her concern. "It was a drive-by shooting, something gang-related. I was one of the innocent bystanders. You know the story."

Susana shook her head and sank back into her chair.

"But, you're okay?" Lily asked.

"Yes." Roy unconsciously put his hand just below his ribs, over the new scars. "But what I wanted to say was that sometimes things happen, completely unexpected things, that either thwart the plans you already had for yourself or make you stop and think about the direction your life is taking."

Roy took a sip of the cool tea. He felt the women's eyes on him, and their shock over his revelation. They had no idea what they were in for, Roy noted. He put the glass back down on the small, metal side table. "They tell me that I died on the operating table." Roy shook his head and laughed. "What I know is that I woke up in that hospital, you know surrounded by health care, which was my chosen field, and I knew I had something bigger to do than administration."

"Yet you still came to Richmond." Susana propped her feet up on the spoked of her chair.

He nodded. "Yes. I knew that whatever was coming next for me, it wasn't in Trinidad." Roy paused to clear his throat. "At least, not right now. Whatever the next step is," he spread his fingers and pressed his palms down, emphasizing this moment in time, "It's here. It's in Richmond."

Lily laughed. "Well, that's a first!" She immediately regretted her remark, but caught the glint of a smile in Roy's eyes. "I mean, this is a pretty backward place, is all. Even with all the Southern Splendor."

"Yes," Roy smiled broadly. "Precisely."

* * * * *

Susana weighed the aengus wort file folder in her hands while Lily inspected Tic's basement workroom. "Okay, he was definitely working on something down here," Lily commented as she inspected the ceramic pots on the handful of burners, laid out on a medium-sized table next to a massive sink. The milk crate full of the bottles of tincture they had found in the greenhouse sat on the large worktable in the center of the space.

Susana sat down at the desk, slightly larger yet organized as a mirror image to the one in the greenhouse. She fingered a stack of large, very old books. Susana guessed that they had been sitting there since they were first published, but then she realized that not a spec of dust marred the leather covers. Lifting them carefully, she spread the books out in front of her. She opened a few to check the titles.

Lily was checking the measuring cups and spoons left lying about, trying to figure out what they'd last been used for. Giving up, she reached up over the sink and opened the double cabinet on the wall. She found another collection of the small tincture bottles, each full of liquid and labeled with a name a date. "Bingo!"

Susana got up from the desk. "What did you find?"

Lily pulled one of the bottles down from the cabinet. "Another stash." She examined the writing on the label. "What did the other ones say? 'Aengus wort day,' right?"

Susana sat on the edge of the desk. "Yeah."

"Well," Lily said with a smile as she shook the small bottle and held it up to the light. "These are 'Aengus wort, night.'"

"What's the difference?"

Lily looked over at her cousin and smiled. "We're going to find out." She twisted the cap off of the bottle and took at sniff at the contents, then stepped over to the center worktable. She grabbed one of the previous bottles and similarly uncapped it, comparing the scent of the two bottles. She couldn't detect a difference.

Susana looked back down at the books beside her. "Lily, what's a grimoire?"

"It's a book of magic, you know, spells. Same thing as a book of shadows. Why?"

Susana scanned the title in front of her. "Because I've got a whole stack of them over here."

Lily put the bottles back down on the table and walked over to the desk. She had never seen these books before, that was certain. Tic had never been stingy with his wisdom in the past, so what was so special about these books? She ran her fingers over the dark, age-worn covers.

"Where did you find these?" Lily asked as she opened the largest volume.

Susana shrugged. "They were just sitting right here."

Lily frowned and looked at her. "Are you sure? Right here?" She gestured toward the top of the desk.

"Yes, right here." Susana wasn't sure what Lily was driving at, but she didn't like her suspicious tone. "I sat down, and there they were."

"Okay..." Lily held her hand to her forehead. She turned slowly to scan the rest of the basement workspace, then turned back to stare down at the magical books in front of her.

"What's the problem?"

"I don't know if it's a problem," Lily began. "But I was down here yesterday. I was sitting at this desk, looking through the drawers. There was nothing on top of the desk. These books were definitely not here yesterday."

* * * * *
In his bedroom, Roy sat in his chair, facing the window looking out onto the Frye house. In his lap he held the waxy magnolia leaf he had taken from the tree in Lily and Susana's front yard. At the end of their tea party conversation, after the two ladies had retired into the house, Roy had approached the tree, slowly, trying to gauge what he had detected in its shadows earlier. He could feel the wisdom emanating off of the tree in gentle waves. Having asked the tree for permission, he had chosen a single leaf, by which he intended to discern more of what was going on inside that house, and more specifically, in the back garden.

Eyes closed, Roy took a deep breath, enjoying the homemade incense. He let the leaf rest lightly on his fingertips and humbly asked it to tell him its story.

In a flash, Roy saw the man's concerned face in his mind's eye. The deep wrinkles in his wizened visage betrayed more than his years, and Roy immediately recognized the spirit of the elder. "Greetings, grandfather," Roy whispered as he sat still in his chair. In his vision, the shaman leaned heavily on his staff, having grown weary of his watch over the land. He pointed a bony finger toward the Frye garden, and Roy could see the plant in question, glowing against the dark ground as it grew and flourished before his eyes.

"Yes," Roy whispered to the medicine man. "I see it."

"Honshawe." The word echoed through Roy's head. A glint of a smile grew in the old man's eyes, and Roy understood his meaning perfectly. He nodded and pressed his lips together. "It is time."

Roy opened his eyes, surprised by the darkness in the room. How long had he been meditating? The orange and red light of sunset spilled in through the windows, illuminating the magnolia leaf in his lap. It sparkled there in his hands, then evaporated into thin air.

* * * * *

Susana and Lily were camped out around the coffee table in the living room, papers and notebooks strewn across the couch and the floor, with Tic's files and his ancient grimoires spread out on the table in front of them. The sun had long since set, but the women had forgotten dinner in the excitement of their discoveries. Two brown tincture bottles -- one of 'aengus wort, day' and one of 'aengus wort, night' -- sat on the mantle above the fireplace.

Susana had pulled her long, blonde hair up into a ponytail to keep it out of her face, while Lily wore reading glasses and had her dark hair tucked behind her ears. Susana put down the book she had been balancing carefully in her hands and leaned back on the sofa. She tightened her ponytail and watched Lily chew a pencil while she read.

"I'm still trying to get my mind around what I'm looking for." Susana looked up at the ceiling to stretch the muscles in her neck, then reached up to gently massage her own shoulders.

Lily took the pencil from between her teeth and pursued her lips. "Yeah," she sighed. She pushed her glasses up on her face and looked at what she had written in her notebook. Despite their work over the past five or six hours, they hadn't learned much more than they had known to start with. They were finding bits and pieces here and there about the history of the mysterious herb -- it had apparently gone by many different names over the centuries -- but had uncovered frustratingly little about the plant itself and what it could do.

Susana's stomach growled loudly. She held her hand to her rib cage in embarrassment. "Sorry."

Lily checked her watch. Yes, it was way past dinner time. "I'm pretty hungry, too."

"I'm thinking.... pizza," Susana suggested as she rose to her feet.

"Good idea." Lily glanced at the books on the table that she still hadn't opened yet. "You'd better order plenty of soda, too. It looks like we're going to be up for awhile."

Susana was already on her way down the hall to the kitchen. "You sure you want soda?" she called back to Lily as she sorted through the collection of take-out menus that had accumulated on the kitchen counter. "We're not exactly teenagers anymore. At least, I'm not." She found the menu she'd been looking for and crossed the floor to pick up the phone.

"Yeah, I know," Lily called back from the living room. "We're old enough to know better, we'll pay for it in the morning, blah blah blah." She put down her pencil and rubbed her eyes under the frames of her glasses. What had Tic been up to? She tossed her notebook and pencil onto the coffee table, then leaned back against the couch. She rested her head on the back of the couch, looking up at the ceiling, and then closed her eyes.

"Hey." Susana plopped down onto the couch beside her cousin, startling her. "The pizza will be here soon." Susana reached for the largest grimoire on the table and began leafing through its pages, very carefully.

"Sorry," Lily grumbled. "I guess I fell asleep for a second."

"You can go rest, if you want," Susana suggested. Two weeks ago, she wouldn't have been the least bit interested in the healing properties of herbs, nor even known what a grimoire was. Now, she couldn't get enough. "We've not yet looked in this one, right?"

"Yeah," Lily slowly sat back up and gazed sleepily at the book Susana was holding. "You know you need to–"

"Be careful with the old books. Yeah," she replied in mock frustration. "Where did Tic get all of these?"

Lily shook her head. Had they really just manifested on the desk in the basement overnight? Doubtful, Lily told herself, or the books at least would be more helpful than this. She reached for her notebook and reviewed what she had jotted down so far.

"Okay," she announced to her cousin. "We know this plant has a habit of showing up spontaneously, which I'm guessing is what happened here."

"Mmm," Susana replied without listening. She stopped turning the pages of the book in her lap and lightly ran her fingers over the text in front of her.

"And there's got to be a reason for the two different batches, you know?" Lily speculated. "Solar and lunar energies could produce different results in an herbal remedy."

"Uh-huh," Susana studied a short paragraph, reading and re-reading the words, an expression of excitement growing on her face.

"It's just not like Tic not to keep better notes on the uses and properties of a new plant." Lily shook her head.

"Maybe he didn't have to," Susana suggested. She was up on her knees on the couch, ready to burst with her discovery. "Hey, I think I found it."

"What?" Lily leaned over to take a look at what Susana was reading, but the text was upside down to her. Even so, it didn't look like English.

"See here. It's talking about our plant." Susana read aloud from the pages in front of her. "This sacred herb springs from pain into wholeness, a medicine without equal. Its derivatives bring darkness to light, hatred into love. The drink releases fear and heals the soul. Let the earth drink, heal what binds her. Moonlight soothes the heart; sunlight heals the body. Treasure this medicine that comes to you. With it, the magician heals the world." She sat back and smiled at Lily.

Lily frowned. "That's it? Let me see it."

Susana shifted the book so that Lily could read the words, sliding a piece of notebook paper that had been resting on the opposing page into her hands.

"This isn't even in English!" Lily complained. "Quod sanctus panaces," she read haltingly.

"Latin," Susana commented. "And not particularly good Latin, either."

Lily sighs. "I always knew you went to better schools."

Susana waved the piece of notebook paper in the air. "The translation is right here. It was tucked into the book."

Lily grabbed the paper from her cousin's hands and examined it. "This isn't even Tic's handwriting. Is the whole book in Latin."

"Hardly." Susana pulled the book back into her lap and flipped through the pages. "It's a hodgepodge, really. All handwritten, with some drawings...."

Lily lifted the pages at the front of the book, trying to get a glimpse of the very first page. "Hey, Susana..." Lily turned back to the first page, where a generations-old inscription stared back at the them. Lily drew in her breath and smiled.

"Who was Nora Frye?"

"Tic's grandmother. Oh, goodness, I didn't know that anything like this existed."

Susana turned to look at her cousin. There was pure magic in Lily's eyes as the understanding of what she held in her hands began to sink in.

"This is the Frye family book of shadows," Lily whispered. She laughed, and with tears in her eyes turned toward Susana. "It's like the family bible."

Susana nodded. "Okay, so who left it out on the desk, then. You said yourself you didn't even know Tic had such a thing."

"Well," Lily mused as she traced her fingers over her great-great-granmother's handwriting. She closed the book and hugged it lovingly to her chest. "Maybe Grandma Nora put it out for us. This was her house, you know."

Susana closed her eyes and frowned. "This is all giving me such a headache." She shook her head, allowing her skepticism to get the better of her.

The doorbell rang. "Pizza." Susana jumped up from the couch and grabbed her purse from the floor in the hallway.

Lily patted the book in her arms. "Saved by the bell," she whispered.

* * * * *

Roy was on his knees beside the sacred plant, in the back yard behind the Frye house. He disliked having to be so surreptitious, but it could not be helped, not now. He was glad for the new moon, at least, which granted greater cover of darkness for his reconnaissance mission.

He planted his hands in the soft earth surrounding the network of plants and bowed his head low -- not in worship, but to better understand what the plant was telling him. Roy had traveled thousands of miles to serve as guide and steward. He had stepped into a damaged and dying body, restoring its structure and systems so that he might play his small part in this miracle.

Roy watched as the stems and leaves transformed into structures of light before his eyes. The plant revealed to him its deep network of roots. He saw the interconnectedness across time and space, but he was still having difficulty grasping the plant's appearance here. Why Richmond? Why now? Certainly there were other places, other needs more demanding, more dire. He saw again the glowing network, and Roy smiled. He lay his head on the ground next to the small cluster of plants, feeling the tips of the leaves tickle his cheek.

"Whatever you need, you've got it," he whispered the the roots below, feeling the surge in the ground beneath him.

He heard the distant doorbell at the front of the house and sat up quickly, brushing the dirt off of his clothes. Trying to explain all of this to Susana and Lily now would only compound matters. He let himself out the side gate just as the light in the Frye kitchen snapped on.

Roy walked up the block toward his small apartment in the house across the street. Before cross Hermitage Road, Roy turned around and stared up the long, dark road. He could feel their eyes on him, even if he couldn't see them. They were finally learning how to disguise themselves properly, Roy mused. He smiled and waved to the darkness, then turned around and crossed the street to his apartment.

Chapter 7B

The glass doors slid open, and Roy Macedo stepped outside, greeted by the sun blazing overhead in the sky. Sunset was still a half-day away. There was plenty of time. He took a deep breath of the humid, warm air and could practically taste the pollen.

Welcome to Richmond, he thought to himself. This is a sticky place.

Less than an hour before, he had stepped off of an airplane into a new world. Though he had gone through immigration at Miami International Airport, he hadn't felt the culture shock until just now. Except that pretty much everything these days was culture shock for Roy. He was still getting used to the feel of his own skin.

Richmond, Virginia. Capital of the Confederacy. A city that had no idea what to do with itself. Roy had done some quick reading about this place before he left Trinidad, though he knew it would still take him by surprise. It would take awhile to get used to the friendly, Southern drawl that the locals tried to mask, and the strong suspicion against outsiders. Even the few native Richmonders he had met on the plane coming in had seemed both proud of and embarrassed by their city. This was his first assignment, and he already knew that it was going to be a doozy.

Roy crossed several unused traffic lanes and pulled his rolling suitcase to a stop next to a shuttle stop sign. He shielded his eyes from the sun and looked around for the blue Rodeo Elaine had said she would be driving. A black sedan with tinted windows drove past, slightly too quickly, and Roy laughed. These guys don't waste any time, he told himself.

He checked his watch just as Elaine's SUV pulled to a stop in front of him. She rolled down the passenger-side window with the touch of a button, greeting him with smiles and apologies. "Roy? I am so sorry I'm late. I meant to be here ages ago!" The pretty blonde woman jumped out of the car and ran around to his side to help Roy load his suitcase into the backseat. "This should go right in here with no trouble," she told him, grabbing the suitcase from his hands and loading it herself.

Aggressively friendly, Roy noted to himself. He guessed that she was in her late forties. Standing back up to face him, she was barely as tall as his shoulder. "Elaine Matthews," she proclaimed loudly, extending her hand to shake his. "I sure hope you're Roy Macedo!" she exclaimed with a laugh. "Otherwise, you probably think I just tried to steal your luggage."

Roy smiled, surprised by the strength of her handshake. Appearances can be deceiving, he reminded himself. "Yes. I'm Roy Macedo," he responded. The sound of his own voice still caught him by surprise, as did the way he seemed to interact with this world so smoothly. Roy Macedo, he repeated silently to himself. Who was Roy Macedo? Who will he be?

"Well, get in," Elaine directed with a giggle, opening the door for him. "I'll have you to your new place in no time."

Roy stepped up into the SUV and slid across the pleather seat. Elaine had already jumped back into the car and was putting it into gear when he reached for his seatbelt.

"I trust your flights were okay," Elaine asked as she pulled out into airport traffic, not expecting an answer from her passenger. "It's not the snazziest little airport we've got here, but it gets the job done." She followed traffic to a multi-pronged fork in the road and sighed, trying to make out which way she wanted to go. "You know, it's like this place is always under construction," she lamented, her Richmond accent drawing out her vowels. "As soon as they finish what they said they were going to do, they find it wasn't enough and start planning for more construction, and it's still just never enough."

Roy smiled. "Richmond doesn't trust it's own growth."

Elaine laughed and flashed him a quick smile. "Maybe so. You know, you have the cutest accent!"

Roy pulled his sunglasses out of his shirt pocket. "Thank you for meeting me at the airport, Ms. Matthews."

She giggled again. "It's no trouble! And you needn't be so formal with me. Elaine is my name. But other ladies might take offense at such presumed familiarity, just so you know."

Roy nodded. Elaine guided the car onto the highway as they sped back toward town.

"Now, I talked to your landlady," Elaine advised. "She said she's going to leave the key under the flower pot by the door, she she won't be there to meet you herself. Now, I don't advise you do the same thing with your keys," she warned him. "You'll find that Richmond is a big small town, so people can be right neighborly, but there are still some nasty elements you need to watch out for. Especially where you're going to be."

If she only knew, Roy thought to herself. "Thank you."

"Where are you from again?" Elaine was driving much too fast on the highway, though Roy noticed a similar disregard for road rule from the other drivers.

"Trinidad," Roy replied. "Port of Spain."

"That's right. I knew it was someplace exotic. I've never been that far down, myself, though I do love the Caribbean," Elaine said wistfully. "What's it like?"

"It's nice," Roy replied vaguely. Though he had left Port of Spain just this morning, it seemed a lifetime ago. He remembered Trinidad, his life there as a boy, yet those memories still felt foreign to him. It hadn't been his life at all. "It's hot there," he told her cheerfully. "And humid."

"Oh! So just like it is here," Elaine laughed. Roy noticed that she laughed a great deal for someone who had so little real joy in her life.

"Not quite. I don't think there's anyplace quite like Richmond," Roy understated.

"Isn't that the truth!" Elaine exclaimed with glee. "I think you'll really like it here. Everybody does," she asserted, not catching herself in her own lie. "And you've come in plenty of time to get settled and learn your way around town before your classes start up in the fall." She frowned, for a split second, before her face lit up again.

"That's the idea," Roy responded, knowing full well that he would never see the inside of a classroom.

"I normally pick up a full carload when I've got airport duty for the school," Elaine rambled on. "I think you'll enjoy our program. It's the best anywhere in health administration."

Roy just nodded absently and checked the rearview mirror. No further sign of the black sedan. He relaxed into his seat and watched his new world pass by outside the car window.

* * * * *

Elaine had dropped him off at his rental property and had kindly left him to go about his business. She had been surprised by the Civic hatchback that had been waiting for him -- keys in the ignition -- in the driveway , but he had feigned some story about a friend of his cousin's living nearby, and she had seemed more willing to accept the invented explanation than to dig further. She directed him to the local grocery store and the post office and then had mercifully departed, speeding off toward the highway.

Roy climbed the worn wooden stairs to his second-floor apartment and let himself in with the key from the flower pot. This was the only true apartment in the house -- a large, single-family place that had been converted into a kind of dormitory for professional adults. Unlike the other renterts, Roy had a private entrance and wouldn't have to go through the larger house, save for the monthly "resident dinner" his landlady insisted upon. The small, furnished, one-bedroom apartment was as expected: clean, modest, and simple. He took a quick walk through the place, noting to himself the eastern-facing bedroom windows and the decent-sized balcony with a southern exposure. The kitchen -- boasting antiquated but working appliances and fixtures -- shared the same space as his dining area and living room, but it was just what he needed; nothing more, and nothing less. He rolled his suitcase into the bedroom, hefted it onto the single bed, and unzipped it. He hung up a few items of clothing in the closet, whose "door" was fashioned out of a beaded curtain, but he couldn't tear his attention away from the large house across the street.

The Hermitage House, he had been calling it to himself, though it was known better as the Old Frye Place. Lily would be giving Tarot readings in the house right about now, he reminded himself. He glanced back at his suitcase, then smiled at the books that had already been stacked on the bookshelves before his arrival. He could unpack later.

Roy quickly changed his shirt, exchanging his starched white oxford for a casual sweatshirt and traded his leather loafers for a pair of sandals. He stepped back outside onto the stoop at the top of the staircase, locked the door behind him, and slipped the key into his pocket as he jogged down the stairs.

* * * * *

Lily was taking a break. She sat at the breakfast table, the afternoon sun streaming in through the windows. Lily sipped a soda and munched on a small bag of chips while she slowly thumbed through this months issue of Whole News. She always checked the practitioner listings in back first thing, to make sure that her information as correct. She also, even now, got a small thrill seeing her name listed there amongst the area's growing list of healers, feng shui consultants, animal communicators, and new age ministers. This time, though, she made a mental note that Susana should get her own listing soon.

Finishing an article about lunar transits, she checked her watch. She still had an hour until her next appointment was due to arrive. Plenty of time to relax, maybe even watch some television.

There was a weak knock on the screen door leading to the back porch. "Umm, hello?" an unfamiliar voice called to her. Lily looked up, startled to find this dark skinned stranger on her back steps, smiling in at her.

"I'm sorry," he said smoothly "I didn't mean to startle you. I heard you were doing readings here today?"

Lily stood slowly and walked toward the door. She was glad that the hook was in place, barring his entrance. "I am. Who are you?"

"My name is Roy," he responded with a gentle smile, sliding his hands into the front pockets of his trousers to effect a casual air. "I'm new in town, but I heard you were the best."

"Of course," Lily accepted the compliment cooly, crossing her arms over her chest. She couldn't place the accent. "But why did you come around to the back of the house?"

"Just had a feeling you were back here," Roy replied.

Lily's regarded him through the screen, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. Roy laughed nervously.

"Listen," he began. "I just moved in across the street, into the upstairs apartment at Mrs. McKenny's place." He gestured toward his new home. "So I can come back another time, if you want." He looked Lily directly in the eye, disarming her with his genuine smile. "I really didn't mean to make you nervous."

"No, it's okay." Lily checked her watch again, as a diversion, then decided it was okay to let this guy inside. She reached forward to undo the latch and pushed the door open for him. "I have a little time before my next client comes by."

"Thank you," he said the Lily as he crossed the threshold into the kitchen. "I don't need anything elaborate anyway."

Lily nodded and led him down the hall toward the living room. "What did you say your name was, again?"

"Roy," he said, catching up to her. "Roy Macedo."

They stepped into the living room, and Lily closed the french doors behind them. "You're not from around here, are you?" she asked as she gestured toward a chair for him to sit down.

Roy shook his head and laughed. "No, and I'm beginning to think I stick out like a sore thumb." he took the chair she offered and pulled it closer to the small table she had set up for card reading. "I'm from Trinidad. I just arrive in Richmond a few hours ago."

Lily's eyes flashed on his face, then she smiled. "If you just got here, then how did you know I'd be reading cards out of this house today?"

Roy knew she had caught him, but he still had a ready answer. "My cousin has visited here before, and she has a friend who recommended you."

Lily pulled her cards out of their velvet bag and laid them on the table between them. "And what's the friends name?"

Roy looked up at the ceiling. "Umm. Anne, maybe?" He shrugged his shoulders and looked back at Lily. "I'm sorry, I really don't remember."

Lily relaxed. "I'm sorry to give you the third degree and all. Just trying to be careful."

"I understand. Back in Port of Spain, my grandmother is a medicine woman, and she has to be careful who she takes for clients."

"Exactly," Lily nodded. "Now, if you'll shuffle the cards a few times..."

Roy already had the deck in his hands, letting the cards mix easily between his fingers. "I know what to do," he smiled at her, putting her at ease. "And I just want to draw a few key cards, if that's okay. Instead of a full spread."

"Sure," Lily replied. "But the cost is the same."

"Of course," Roy agreed. He placed the deck back down on the table, face-down, and pulled four cards in succession, laying them down facing up. With each card, he told Lily its purpose. "This one is my recent past, my origin," he said, laying down The Star. The card startled him, and he sat back a moment to study it. Lily watched him carefully as he regained his composure.

"This card is my current situation," he suggested, and pulled The Fool.

Lily leaned back in her seat, observing him. Why had he come to her? He obviously could have read his own cards just as easily.

"This card is the immediate future," Roy chanted. He turned the third card over to reveal the eight of cups.

"Hmm," Lily commented involuntarily.

Roy stopped and looked up at her in surprise. She waved away his concern. "No, go ahead," she told him.

These same cards had come up -- though in different placement -- for Susana at the bookstore. And Lily had noticed a similar pattern in the readings she had been giving clients all morning. The card that had come up the most frequently in recent days had been The Tower. Lily couldn't think of a single reading in which it hadn't appeared. She saw that Roy was ready to draw his final card, and she was certain she already knew what it would be.

"This last card, then, is for my destiny," Roy said wistfully. He drew a fourth and final card from the deck, and turned it over: The World.

"Huh." It wasn't what Lily had expected after all.

Roy put the rest of the deck down on the table and gazed thoughtfully at Lily. "I gather it's not what you had anticipated."

"Hmm?" Lily responded in surprise. "Oh, no. I was just.... Nevermind." She leaned forward over the table and turned the cards around to face here. "Let's see what we've got here." She rested her fingertips on The Star. "So you're coming from a place of inspiration, your serenity and clarity restored, perhaps recapturing faith after a time of doubt or darkness."

Roy leaned back in his chair and smiled. Yes, darkness indeed. Only weeks ago, the old Roy had been lying on an emergency room table in Trinidad, his life's blood splattered across the floor as doctors and nurses had worked frantically to save him. He had been restored alright.

"You could say that I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel," he offered, deliberately cryptic.

Lily cocked her head to one side. "This card caught you by surprise. I could see it."

Roy pressed his lips together. He wouldn't be able to fool this one for long. "Let just say that it was more literal that I had expected." His realm of origin was The Star. He enjoyed the joke on himself.

Lily trained her eyes on the card in question, letting her gaze drift out of focus and inviting her intuition to step in. She felt a spark go off in the center
of her forehead. The card of origins, Lily thought to herself as he mind played. Spark, star... From the stars.... From the stars! Lily's eyes grew wide. She looked back up at Roy and found a patient and understanding smile waiting for her.

"Hold that thought," Roy suggested. Lily found herself nodding vigorously. Yes, she would hold that thought indeed. How could she have wrapped her mind around it otherwise?

"And so the next card is The Fool," Roy continued forward. "What is your take on that?"

"Well..." Lily forced herself back into focus. "This card obviously reinforces the one that came before it." She sighed, putting her feet flat on the floor to help her pay better attention to what was right in front of her. Who was this man? She tensed her shoulders and released them, and pulled herself back to the cards. "New beginnings, an adventurous kind of humility as you venture out into the unknown. Whatever just sparked you here," Lily pointed to The Star, refusing to allow the card to engross her again, "Is manifesting into action here with The Fool. And then, this continues on here," Lily tapped on the face of the third card. "With the eight of cups here, you're allowing this new direction to lay out a road map before you, even though it's something you've never done before."

Lily looked up at Roy, her eyes searching for something in his face. He waited patiently for her to continue. She dismissed the moment with a smile. "Still, I get the feeling that it's new, but it's not new. Does that make any sense?"

"It makes a world of sense," he replied.

"And speaking of world..." Lily turned her attention to the last card. "The World card is very positive in its placement here. All of your dreams fulfilled. Mission accomplished. You'll need to watch out for world-weariness, of course," she said, indicating the eight of cups and the wold cards together. "But this is a card of integration and wholeness. So whatever your destination is, even if you're not always able to keep it clearly in sight, you're going to reach it. Eventually. No problem."

"Good," Roy said with satisfaction. "That's what I was hoping to hear."

Lily shook her head. "No. Why do I get the feeling that this isn't why you came over here?"

Roy smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "That I can't tell you." He stood up and straightened his trousers. "What do I owe you?"

Finding herself suddenly off-balance, Lily leaned on the arm of her chair as she rose to her feet. She waved off his question. "Call it a house-warming present."

"I insist." Roy reached into his pocket and pulled out a thick wallet.

"Yeah," Lily ran her hands through her hair nervously. Maybe it wasn't a good idea for this man to owe her any favors. "It was a short reading, so let's say, uh, twenty-five?"

"That's fair." Roy pulled two crisp bills from his wallet and dropped them onto the table, on top of the cards he had drawn.

"What brings you to Richmond, anyway?" LIly asked as she walked him toward the front door.

"I'm hear to pursue a masters degree in health administration, but I have the feeling I'm about to get seriously sidetracked," Roy laughed. "Thank you for your time." He was half-way out the door when he turned back to face Lily. "Will you be continuing with your uncle's herb business?"

A confused smile spread across her face. "How did you know about that? How did you know about my uncle?"

"My, uh, my cousin's friend..." Roy explained.

"Right." Lily wasn't buying this for a second, but at least her suspicion had grown instead into curiosity. "Yes, it looks like we will be doing just that. Is there something you're looking for?"

"I'll let you know." Roy walked across the front porch and descended the stairs.

"Hey, Star-man," Lily called out after him. Roy froze in his tracks and turned back around. She smiled at him. "See you around."

"Yeah," he responded in relief, then continued on down the walkway.

* * * * *

Lily climbed out of her beat-up Mustang convertible, toting take-out bags from La Casita. Feeling the weight of the food as she trudged up the front walkway, Lily knew that eventually, she and Susana would have to start cooking. She paused when she saw Susana's car in the drive. She couldn't wait to tell her cousin about their new neighbor. But what would she say?

She half-expected Susana to be curled up on the couch in the living room, absorbed in one of the books she'd leant her. But Lily walked through the front door into an empty house. "Susana?" she called out into the hallways, listening to her voice and footsteps echo through the house. But she did catch an unenthusiastic "yip" from Baird on the back porch. Susana must be outside.

Lily dropped the paper bags of burritos and enchiladas on the breakfast table and pushed open the screen door. It was only 7pm and still mostly light outside, but the season wasn't yet in the long days of summer. Still, the growing shadows on the grass told her that night would be upon them before too long. She stepped off the bottom of the staircase, pausing a moment to slip off her sandals. She loved the feel of the cool, crisp grass beneath her bare feet. She tossed her shoes up onto the stairs and stepped further out into the yard. There was still no sign of her cousin.

"Susana?" Lily called out as she scanned the gardens.

"In here," came the muffled reply from the greenhouse. Lily saw that Susana had left the door standing open, the light from Tic's desk lamp spilling outside. Tic was the only person Lily had ever known to keep an antique desk inside a greenhouse.

Stepping inside, Lily found Susana sitting at the desk, hunched over the file of papers on aengus wort. She had propped her bare feet on one of the open desk drawers and was making notes in a spiral notebook.

"I brought dinner, if you're hungry," Lily offered as she approached.

"Mmm," Susana responded, not really hearing her cousin.

Lily looked around, not noticing anything out of the ordinary. But what would constitute "out of the ordinary" in a place like this? "I'm surprised to find you in here," Lily commented. "Since Maimie gave you such a scare last time."

Susana shot her a cross look, raising her index finger to her lips to quiet Lily. "Don't call her that!" she whispered sharply. "Besides, I did see her, briefly," Susana turned back to her reading. "I told her to back off."

"Making progress with the ghosts," Lily commented as she stepped up behind Susana to look over her shoulder. "How long have you been back?"

Susana put down her pen and stretched her tired arms out to her sides. She turned her head from side to side to work out the kinks that had developed. "Not that long," Susana replied as she spun around in the chair to face Lily. "After lunch, I just.... I just spent some time walking around Maymont. I don't know where the time went."

Lily walked over to the work table, where the single leaf of aengus wort still lay. It was in surprisingly good condition, considering how long ago it had been clipped from the plant. Lily hopped up to sit on the table, facing Susana. "How did that go?"

Sighing, Susana extended her arms out in front of her for one last stretch, then laughed as she leaned back into the chair. "Not particularly well." She pulled up her feet to sit cross-legged. "So, overall, about as expected."

Lily chuckled in sympathy. "I guess you step-monster isn't too thrilled about you being here. Or about me."

"I don't know what bug is up her ass," Susana replied, surprised at the crudeness of her own language. "She was wearing her halo of martyrdom in full glory this afternoon. Told us some crazy story about a centuries-old, bitter feud between the Fryes and the Randalls."

Lily slid down off of the table and landed gently on her feet. "What did she say?" she asked, trying not to appear too curious.

"Ah," Susana waved a hand in the air in frustration. "Some nonsense about kidnapping and human sacrifices."

Lily laughed nervously. "Yeah?"

Susana nodded. "Oh, and then she went all racist about some rumor of 'dark blood' running in the Frye line. She actually used the word 'negro,' if you can believe it."

"Oh, I can believe it," Lily replied. She traced the edge of the ceramic-top table with her fingers. "Don't forget where you are."

"Yeah," Susana's voice darkened. She spun herself back and forth in the swiveling chair. "How was your day? Anything juicy come up in the cards?"

Lily leaned back against the table, her hands on her hips. "Nah. Same old, same old." She looked down and crossed one foot over the other. "There was this one guy, though.... Let me tell you about our new neighbor."

"Before you do that," Susana cut her off, spinning around in the chair to face her. "Take a look at what I found." Susana hopped up out of the chair and pulled an old milk crate out from underneath the worktable. With obvious effort, she hefted it up and placed the crate on top of the table, accompanied by the clinking sound of glass bottled.

Lily looked down into the crate. There had to be four dozen two- and four-ounce brown tincture bottles. Each bottle was full and labeled simply with a name and a date, in Tic's meticulous handwriting.

"What's all this?" Lily asked without taking her eyes from the bottles before her.

"You tell me," Susana replied, standing beside her. "But those bottle are dated just three days before Tic's death."

* * * * *

Back in his apartment, Roy had finished unpacking and had rearranged the books on the small case. It was an impressive though small collection, and he knew that he would become very familiar with their pages over the coming weeks, however long this would take.

He glanced quickly at the telephone on the wall out in the kitchen area, then thought better about calling home. No one there was expecting to hear from him anyway, given how he had left things. He knew that it would be a long time before he was back in Trinidad, if her ever returned there. Better to burn those bridges now and leave it all behind. No ties to bind him.

He turned back to look out his front bedroom window, toward the Frye house. A quick glance to the street showed that familiar black sedan parked just a half-block up the cross street of of Hermitage. "These guys are unbelievable," he whispered to himself. "How they ever manage to catch anyone is simply beyond me."

He stepped over to the bookcase and opened a box of incense he had brought with him in his suitcase. Lighting a single stick, he set the burner on top of the bookcase and closed his eyes to inhale the first whiffs of fragrant smoke, immediately picking out the peppermint, cinnamon, and juniper from the rest of the blend. The exact recipe sprang immediately to his mind, and for a moment, he was back up the star-filled sky of the new moon, grinding the herbs, roots, and resins together in the stone mortar and pestle. It as as though he had been born that night, the mysterious knowledge suddenly fully accessible to him. But that had been before the accident.

Roy stepped away from the bookcase, and from the memory. He pulled one of the small chairs from the kitchen table into his bedroom, and set it up facing the window. Sitting down, he made sure he was oriented in the direction of the Frye house. He took in a deep breath through his nostrils, letting the air completely fill his lungs and sink deep into every cell of his body. Exhaling slowly through his mouth, Roy closed his eyes and began to chant.

Chapter 7

Lily didn't bother trying to disguise her puffy eyes the next morning. Grief was nothing to be ashamed of. But she would relax awhile with chamomile tea bags on her eyes before her clients started coming by.

Susana was already in the kitchen, having laid out a simple breakfast on the table. She smiled at Lily's appearance in the doorway. "Good morning! I thought you might be hungry...." She stopped short, seeing that Lily had obviously spent the night crying.

Lily sniffed at her headache and brushed away Susana's concern with a wave of her hand. "It's nothing. It just really got to me last night. You know, everything."

"Yeah, I do know," Susana responded softly. "I ran to the grocery store last night, after you went to bed." Susana gestured toward the table, where orange juice, toast, and fruit beckoned. "I wasn't sure what you liked."

Lily sat down at the table and reached for a slice of melon. "This is perfect, actually. Thanks."

Susana took another seat at the table. "You just spent so much time taking care of me the past couple of days...."

"Listen," Lily jumped in with her usual authority. "I've got clients coming to the house today, beginning at 10." Lily buttered her toast with determination, trying to get into the rhythm of the day. "I normally do reading at the bookstore, but I figured since we've got the space here -- and it is such a good space -- there's no sense giving a cut to anybody else."

"No, sure, that makes sense." Susana wasn't sure she liked the idea of people coming in and out of the house all day. "Umm, I guess I should make myself scarce."

"It's okay." Lily took a large bite of toast, speaking with her mouth full. "You can hang out if you want. I figured I'd just close off the living room and do it there." She swallowed and reached for her glass of orange juice. "I can't let you watch though."

"No, of course." Susana wiped her mouth with her paper napkin. "I can do some more reading, you know, look at Tic's notes on the mystery plant."

Lily smiled at her. "It might not make much sense to you, though," she suggested. "You're still pretty new to all of this. The herb thing, I mean."

"I'm sure I can figure it out." Susana was surprised that she felt so competitive and defensive with her cousin this morning. This was certainly Lily's area of expertise -- at least, her cousin was much more knowledgeable about Tic's business than she was. Why was she feeling suddenly possessive?

"Oh, wait," Susana remembered. "I'm supposed to have lunch with my sister and step-mother today."

Lily laughed involuntarily, then stopped herself. "Sorry. Good luck with that."

* * * * *

Susana was the last to arrive at the restaurant, and she was immediately embarrassed. She spotted Lauren and Bitsy through the window of Strawberry Street Cafe -- where Bitsy liked to eat when she was feeling arty and rebellious. Checking her watch, she realized that she wasn't even five minutes late, though she dreaded that inevitable look she'd get from her step-mother. Before opening the door to go inside, Susana stopped to smooth her hair and straighten her skirt. She hated skirts, but Bitsy had always frowned upon young women in trousers.

Susana caught her reflecting in the glass of the door and immediately stopped her fussing. What was she doing? She was a grown woman, fretting over lunch. Remembering something she'd read in one of Lily's books the night before, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and imagined herself surrounded by a sphere of scintillating white light. Anything that could help protect her against this hour of hell was welcome.

She eyed the bathtub salad bar as she entered, making up her mind that she wouldn't even have to look at the menu or the specials board today. She made her way to the table as Bitsy looked up and smiled at her. "Susana!" she exclaimed, rising to kiss her step-daughter on the cheek. Susana gave her older sister, Lauren, a quick huge as she sat down next to her.

"We weren't sure when you'd make it," Bitsy chastised, absently tapping the face of her watch. "So we went ahead and ordered you a turkey burger. That's alright, isn't it?"

Though her voice was sweet, Susana couldn't help but feel the daggers. "Sure," Susana said, forcing a smile. It has started already, and I've scarcely sat down, she seethed to herself.

"How are things with the new house?" Lauren asked, sympathy mingling with curiosity in her gaze.

"Oh, yes," Bitsy cut in. "You must be having just an awful time of things this week. How have you been holding up?"

Bitsy's Windsor Farms accent had always grated on Susana, especially after she had left home. There was something about that Old Southern Aristocrat speech that dripped of wealth and pretension, even when unintentional. Today, though, it didn't seem to bother her as much.

"Actually," Susana said with a satisfied smile, "I think everything is going to be just fine."

"Really?" Bitsy responded in genuine surprise.

"Really. I didn't really like that job in advertising anyway."

Lauren smiled quietly and nudged her sister under the table. Susana looked at her with raised eyebrows. "So now I'm exploring other avenues."

"Great!" Bitsy jumped in with enthusiasm. "What do you think you might like to do next?"

Susana laughed to herself. Bitsy sounded like she was talking to an eight-year-old. Susana relaxed her jaw and looked her step-mother directly in the eye. "Well, I'm taking a serious look at the business Ol' Tic was running out of his house." Susana was satisfied to see a look of cold alarm growing on Bitsy's face. "It looks to be a good bit more extensive than we'd thought."

"We?" Lauren asked, stirring artificial sweetener into her iced tea.

"Yes, he left the property to me and cousin Lily."

"Not Lily Scott?" Bitsy practically shouted.

"The very one," Susana nodded. She reached for the cool glass of iced tea that her step-mother had ordered for her and took a sip.

Bitsy reached for the glass container of sugar packets. "Oh, I'm sorry, I hadn't sweetened your tea yet...."

"No, it's okay," Susana pushed the sweetener away. "I like it without." I've always liked it unsweetened, Susana thought to herself. Not that anyone would have noticed.

"Good for you," Bitsy complimented her. "So much easier to keep your girlish figure." Bitsy's gaze took on a more sinister expression as she looked across the table at Susana. "Tell me, how is Lily these days?" Bitsy always did like a good piece of gossip to chew on over lunch.

Susana smiled darkly at her step-mother. Perhaps that little protection spell was working after all. "She's an amazingly caring and generous person," Susana offered, feeling the energetic struggle with Bitsy, and not sure she could take her. "I wish I'd gotten to know her better a long time ago."

Bitsy looked down at the table, changing strategies. She took a deep breath and then looked back up at both of her step-daughters sitting across from her. "Let me tell you girls something." She cleared her throat. "Something about the Frye family you should know."

Lauren bristled at her step-mother's tone, though Susana leaned back against the wooden booth and nearly laughed. "I'm tired of all those dark rumors, Bitsy." Susana was shocked by her own irreverence, but she shoved her guilt back down again.

Bitsy steadied herself. "Look, I don't know why you have to be so hostile, Susana. I'm just trying to tell you something for your own good, before you find yourself over your head with God knows what."

God indeed, Susana smiled to herself. She felt Lauren's hand on her arm and looked into the concerned face of her sister.

"I know you've had a really hard week," Lauren said softly. "But maybe you should hear what Bitsy has to say."

Susana stared at her sister in disbelief. "So you're in on this, too?"

Lauren shook her head. "There's nothing to be in on, Susie. But there is a reason Mom ran away from her own family."

Susana sighed, nodding slowly. She would listen, for her sister's sake.

"There's a reason that there was bad blood between the Fryes and your father's family," Bitsy began, then stopped short when the waitress arrived at their table with their lunch order. She waited patiently for each of them to be served, and then for the waitress to move far out of earshot.

"All that you girls have heard is just the tip of the iceberg," Bitsy continued as she picked at her chicken salad plate. "We just didn't want to frighten or upset you."

Lauren stirred a large dollop of sour cream into her bowl of chili, afraid to take a bite, nervous that whatever her step-mother was about to reveal would ruin her appetite. Susana just stated at her turkey burger, which she hadn't wanted in the first place. She decided she'd just have it boxed up to go, and picked up one of the french fries instead.

Bitsy took a tiny bite of her salad, chewed daintily, and then sipped on her iced tea. Swallowing, she looked back up at the two young women. "You girls know how much your father and I love you. We just didn't want to burden you with this, but we wanted to keep you away from those Fryes at all costs."

"So all the rumors of witches, they're not true?" Lauren ventured hopefully.

"No, they're true all right," Bitsy responded darkly. "But there's more to it. It's worse than that."

Lauren put down her spoon, fearing the worst. Susana munched on her french fry.

"You know the Randalls were tobacco farmers, going way back," Bitsy began, loading another small bite of chicken salad onto her fork. "Well, the Fryes go that far back, too." She put the fork in her mouth and then dabbed at the corner of her mouth with the linen napkin. "They were witches then, just like they're witches now."

"Wait, no," Lauren interjected. "Dad said that all stopped generations ago."

"Well, of course," Bitsy corrected herself, reaching automatically for her glass of iced tea. "But there have still been a few, here and there." She motioned toward Susana. "Like that eccentric Tic and young Lily Scott." Bitsy looked down at the table and smiled. "But we're talking about the 1600s, now, aren't we?"

Susana reached for another french fry, grateful for the simple barrier of light she'd called upon outside.

"The Randalls were honest, hard-working people. It was a God-fearing, law-abiding family, and you girls should be proud to carry the Randall name." Bitsy poked at her chicken salad with her fork. "The survival of the whole community depending on everyone working together. It was so hard then," Bitsy sighed as she loaded up her fork and then took a bite. Again, she dabbed at the corner of her mouth with her napkin. "But there were jealousies and other dark forces at work."

Lauren pinched off a bit or cornbread and slowly put it in her mouth. Susana reached for her glass and took a big drink of tea.

"The Fryes..." Bitsy sighed, then looked across the table into the expectant eyes of Lauren and Susana. "The Fryes were nothing but a coven of witches, malcontents determined to bring down the Randall family."

Susana cleared her throat, preparing to voice a challenge, but it was Lauren who spoke up. "But, why?"

"Why, sweetheart?" Bitsy asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yes," Lauren replied. "Why would the Fryes be interested in the Randalls?"

"Well," Bitsy stalled. "Yes, the Fryes were jealous of their wealth and status in the community, and they aimed to have that for themselves. So, naturally, they kidnapped the lady of the house. Stole her right out of her wedding bed?"

"Stole her right out of her what" Susana asked, reaching for another french fry. She paused to dip it in some ketchup before putting it in her mouth and looking across at Bitsy.

"Her... She had just been married, that very afternoon," Bitsy stammered. "And those Frye witches," she practically spat out her words, as though she had been the injured party, "They broke into the house and kidnapped the bride!"

Lauren inhaled sharply. Susana withheld judgement. She'd see where this story was going soon enough.

"They, they took that poor girl," Bitsy choked, beginning to tear up. "They took her out into the dark, savage woods. They stripped her naked and made her dance with the Devil! They accosted her in all manner of unspeakable ways." It pained her to speak of such things, and Bitsy held her hand to her chest in distress.

"And then...." Bitsy pushed her food away from her dramatically, having lost her appetite. "Then they tied young Mrs. Randall to a tree. They slit her throat and offered her pure blood to their dark god.... to Satan himself!"

Lauren crossed her arms over her chest in obvious discomfort. She disliked dark, supernatural stories, even ones she doubted to be true.

"And then, to top it all off," Bitsy threw her hands up in the air, "When Mr. Randall, the wronged husband, tried to bring those dirty witches to justice, they just laughed and cursed him, cursed the whole family for generations to come!"

Refusing to react to all of the drama being presented on the other side of the table, Susana again reached for her iced tea and took a long drink. Setting the heavy glass back down on the table, she leveled her gaze at her step-mother. "What kind of curse?"

"Oh," Bitsy said. "Well, I, I don't really know. And that's, of course, if you believe in such things. But you can understand why the two families don't have a happy history."

"It couldn't have been too bad," Susana retorted, "If Mom and Dad managed to get together."

"But don't you see?" Bitsy implored her youngest step-daughter. "She was running away from all of that. She was reaching out of the darkness for a better life." Bitsy calmed down and took a sip from her glass. "I'll give your mother one thing," she told the sisters. "The best thing she ever did for you was give you the Randall name."

Susana was infuriated. She had no idea where this rage was coming from, but she couldn't control it. "Don't you dare!" she hissed at Bitsy, pointing at her angrily. "Don't you dare speak of our mother."

Lauren placed a strong hand on her sister's shoulder, holding her back and immediately calming her. A small, satisfied smile tickled the corners of Bitsy's mouth. Susana shuddered, shaking away the fire that had been rising in her.

"I..." Susana stuttered. "I, oh, Bitsy, I am so sorry." Susana sniffed back the tears that suddenly threatened. "I have no idea where that came from."

"It's alright, dear," Bitsy reached across the table to pat Susana's hand. "I know how devastating it must be to hear this."

"Yes," Susana said absently. "I mean, that's quite a story."

"There's something else you girls should know, I'm afraid," Bitsy pulled her plate back toward her, having regained her appetite. "And I have to warn you, it's a bit nasty." Bitsy took a large bite of chicken salad, licking the excess from her top lip. "There were some, unseemly pairings going back in the Frye line, what with all of their dark rituals and such."

Lauren closed her eyes, close to tears. "I'm not sure I want to hear this."

"You need to hear this, dear," Bitsy continued, consuming another forkful of her salad. "There is the possibility of Indian and even, Negro, blood in the Frye line." She looked up at the sisters in reassurance. "But don't you worry. The Randall is strong, solid line. And I'm sure anything like that got bred out long before your generation."

Susana was incredulous. Did she just hear what she thought she'd heard? She turned to her sister to gauge her reaction, but Lauren's face was blank. Susana looked again at her step-mother. And she burst out laughing.

"Are you kidding me?" Susan practically shouted. "Is that what you're so worried about? That's the big bad secret?"

"It's quite unpleasant," Bitsy chided her quietly. "It's not something you want spread around."

"Why not? Who the hell cares?" Susana knew she was offending both her step-mother and sister, and she laughed again at the absurdity. Regarding Bitsy's stricken face, Susana softened her voice. "Oh, I get it. You think we're not pure. Is that it?"

Bitsy sat back against the booth and tossed her napkin onto the table. "Oh, come now, Susana. Don't be ridiculous."

But Susana caught her eye and saw the truth there. "No, that's it, isn't it? All these years, it's that little doubt, that stupid little ounce of prejudice and doubt that held you back from us, from being a real mother to us."

Lauren turned to her sister in shock, but she knew is was true.

Bitsy was indignant. "I have done nothing but love and care for you girls, since the moment I met your father." She could feel the color rising in her cheeks, which only further angered her. "I saw to it that you both were well-educated and respected in society. I did everything in my power to protect you from this!" Bitsy sniffed back angry, hurtful tears. "I saw to it that Lauren was introduced to society and made a good match. But you, Susana...." Bitsy looked across at the younger sister, her tone of anger changing to sadness. "You have always shut me out. Rejected me at every turn."

Susana stared at her blankly. She was long used to these little drama tantrums from her step-mother.

"Even now, when I try to help you," she sniffed again, in fine form, "You just throw it all back in my face." Bitsy looked around the room, making sure that no one was starting but that everyone was paying attention. "If you want to ruin your life with this witch cousin on your evil uncle's dark estate of devilry, that's entirely up to you." Bitsy slid out of the booth and stood next to the table, playing the perfect part of the martyr. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to the ladies room."

She turned and strutted off with an air of regal injury. Susana turned to her sister and was about to apologize, but Lauren stopped her.

"Look, Susie, she's always been like that. Don't take it personally." Lauren picked up her spoon and finally took her first bite of chili. "Myself, I don't know what to make of everything she just told us. Things get exaggerated, but there's usually a shred of truth."

"Right," Susana sighed. She knew her sister was onto something.

"But I'm glad you like Lily," Lauren continued. "I always thought she was kind of cool, you know, from a distance." She put down her spoon and turned to face Susana. "Did Tic really worship the devil?"

Susana looked at her sister and smiled.


* * * * *

Chapter 6

Susana leaned back into the generous leather sofa in the living room, the take-out spaghetti from Zorba's untouched on the coffee table. In one of the adjacent over-stuffed chairs, Lily inhaled her white pizza with vigor.

"You've got to eat something," Lily said with her mouth full. She wiped at her mouth with a paper towel and swallowed. "Don't think I don't know what it's like," she said, reaching for her glass of gingerale. "Everything's turned upside down, sure. Suddenly you've living in a totally different world."

Susana stared at her dinner on the coffee table. "Pretty much."

Lily took a sip of soda and put her glass back down. "For me, it's just the opposite. I mean, every time I go to work or run a regular errand, that's when I feel like I step into some kind of alien dimension. To me, the mundane, every day world is the one that doesn't feel real to me."

Susana glanced at her cousin and crossed her legs.

Lily pointed at the floor with both hands to emphasize her point. "This, this is what's real to me. This is the real world. All the rest is...." Lily saw that Susana wasn't buying it. "Well, you make up your own mind. Just give yourself some time to get used to the changes, yeah?"

Susana untied her boots and slipped them off of her feet, letting each fall to the floor with a heavy thud. She folded her legs beneath her and looked her cousin dead in the eye. "So. What do you want to tell me?"

Lily raised her eyebrows as she reached for another piece of pizza. "What do I want to tell you? About what?"

Susana crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips. "Well. First you asked me to participate in some kind of witch ritual, telling me that it's what Tic would have wanted. You managed to convince me that I'm some kind of St. Francis or Dr. Doolittle with the ability to talk to animals. You even dragged me off to have my fortune told."

An amused smile began to grow on Lily's lips as she listened to Susana's litany of complaints, but she hid it by taking another bit of pizza, listening patiently.

"You convinced me to learn more about Tic's business," Susana continued, "In order to have a better idea of what he'd left us before we start selling things off." She looked hard at Lily. "You have no intention of selling either the house or the business, do you?"

Lily smiled and gulped down her pizza. "Not so much, no."

Susana sighed in frustration and held her arms even closer to her chest. "And now," she practically laughed to herself, "Now, you have me sleeping here tonight, to get a better feel for the place!" Susana regarded Lily suspiciously, narrowing her eyes. "Did you put some kind of spell on me?"

Lily laughed out loud, nearly spilling her drink. "You're kidding me, right?" Lily looked back at her cousin and stifled her laughter. "No, I guess you're not." Lily planted both of her feet on the floor and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. She looked up at Susana. "You really don't know anything, do you?"

Susana snorted, her mouth settling into a hard expression. She stared ahead of her at the empty fireplace.

Lily looked down at the floor in resignation. "Okay, that's not what I meant...."

Susana took a deep breath and softened, her hands relaxing down into her lap. "I know that we come from two different worlds, blood kin or not."

"Susana..." Lily began, but her cousin cut her off.

"Let me finish this," Susana protested calmly. "I know that I don't understand where you're coming from, or what Tic was all about," she gestured upward toward the house. "I grew up with nothing but a lot of crazy rumors and dark whispers about all of this -- Tic, the family history. You know what I'm talking about."

"Yeah," Lily sighed, pushing away the rest of the pizza. "It's pretty silly stuff, but stubborn."

"Monday morning, I woke up and went about my regular routine. I got up, got dressed, had a pitiful breakfast, and battled through traffic to get downtown by 8am. I had a normal life, a great job...." Susana sighed. "But then by 9am, there was no more job. I sat at home, both fighting and indulging outright panic, because it was all a blessing and a curse at the same time."

Lily looked up and watched Susana intently.

"I loved what I did, but I hated it at the same time. I don't know how to explain it," Susana said. "I had plenty of money, power even, though not much, admittedly, but I knew how and where I fit in. Only, I didn't fit in." Susana turned to look at Lily, who nodded in understanding.

"So even with all of the craziness this week," Susana played with her fingers, "And you have to admit, that coming from my world, this has been one really crazy week -- but even so, there was a part of me that kind of, leapt with relief that something new and different cropped up so quickly. Just magically appearing at the right time to take the place of my 'normal life' that seemed determined to crumble to pieces."

Lily smiled. "Magically appeared? I thought you said you didn't believe in magic?" Lily teased her.

Susana shot Lily a hard look, but her face softened into a smile. "You know what I mean. But it has just been too much. As much as that little part of me may want to, I can't just switch gears so completely and so quickly like that. I need some help, some preparation. I need to know what's coming next." Susana leaned forward and looked directly into Lily's eyes. "I need you to let me know what you have planned. I need to know what I'm dealing with here, in this house, all of it." She swallowed hard. "I need to know what's coming next."

Lily relaxed back into her chair. "Fair enough."

Susana smiled sheepishly.

"Where would you like to start?" Lily asked.

* * * * *

Climbing the last stairs to the second floor with their overnight bags in hand, the two women stopped in the upstairs hallway. Susana glanced to her right to find Baird curled up on the floor at the foot of his master's bed.

"Are you sure he's okay?" Susana asked.

"Yeah, he's fine. He was just really devoted to Ol' Tic," Lily replied. Then she nudged Susana with a smile, "But you're the pet psychic. You know better than I do how he's doing."

Grudgingly, Susana smiled. "Yeah, yeah."

Lily led Susana to the bedroom next to Tic's. "I thought you'd want this room. It wasn't used much, but I put some fresh sheets on the bed for you."

"I could have done that," Susana said, hefting her duffle bag up onto the bed. She saw that a collection of books was spread out on the checkered bedspread.

"And I got some books out for you," Lily explained. "You want to know what's going on, what to expect, and I figured this would be as good as any a way to start."

Susana scanned the titles of the volumes in front of her: Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, The Spiral Dance, Magical Herbalism, Book of Shadows, Living Wicca, Green Witchcraft, The Truth About Witchcraft, Wicca in the Kitchen, Moon Magic, Drawing Down the Moon, Herb Magic, and The Magic Garden.

"Umm, that's a lot of reading," Susana commented.

Lily smiled. "Take your time. It's not like there's going to be a test. This isn't exactly the kind of magic that Tic was practicing, if you want to call it that. But it might help you understand more of where he was coming from. And maybe shed some light on all those rumors you heard growing up."

Susana nodded, picking up one of the volumes and examining its front and back covers.

"And no one's expecting you to convert, or anything," Lily added. "It's just.... It would be helpful for you to know."

"I understand. I guess I just need some time to...." There was a noise overhead. Susana looked up at the ceiling, her eyes following the path of footsteps coming from the attic above.

"Oh, yeah," Lily almost laughed. "It's not just the greenhouse that's haunted."

Susana turned to her cousin with raised eyebrows. "And this doesn't bother you? I'm not sure I can sleep here." She dropped the book onto the bed and crossed her arms over her chest instinctively.

Lily rested a reassuring hand on Susana's shoulder. "When you grew up in a haunted house, the way I did, you just kind of take this stuff for granted. If it makes you feel any better, I've never seen anything in this house, and I've never had anything weird happen to me. It's just the occasional noise in the attic."

"Okay..." Susana responded slowly. "But what exactly is in the attic."

"That I can't tell you." Lily shrugged her shoulders. "But given that you could see Old Maimie inthe greenhouse–"

"She said she's not Maimie," Susana corrected.

"Right, but given that you could see her, when no one else could," Lily suggested, "I though maybe you could tell me, about what's in the attic."

"I am not going up there!" Susana protested, nearly jumping out of her skin. The footsteps above stopped just as suddenly as they had started.

Lily laughed. "I didn't mean right this second," she teased. "And you can always sleep with the light on, if that helps. Or convince Baird to sleep in here with you."

Susana sighed loudly. "This really is a sudden trip to Fantasyland for me, you know."

"Yes, but you'll enjoy the ride, I promise. And, anyway, it's probably more like the Magic Kingdom," Lily joked, evincing a weak smile from her cousin.

"While we're on the subject," Susana prodded, "Are there any other little surprises I should be ready for?"

"Well..." Lily replied, "Since we're talking ghosts.... I know there are some Yankee ghosts living out in the hedges." She gestured toward the back yard. "And a shaman was over here once, a few years back, said something about a Native American elder living in that old tree in front of the house."

"A shaman...." Susana repeated.

"Yeah, you know, one of those Indian medicine men."

"I know what a shaman is," Susana defended. "I just.... Sure, okay, there was a shaman here."

"Yes," Lily confirmed. "He was helping Tic get rid of this really weird fungus that he couldn't get rid of in the garden. It was attacking the mugwort. See, Tic had started growing this stuff, and it was just going gangbusters, so his business started competing with this lady on the other side of the river, who had been the only one selling mudwort. So the shaman came to banish the curse the lady had put on Tic's crop–"

"Yeah, okay, and there's some kind of wise man living in the tree?" Susana was only hearing bits and pieces of what her cousin was telling her.

"Well, not a real man, of course," Lily explained. "The spirit of an elder. Probably Powhatan or Cherokee."

"Great," Susana said in half-hearted sarcasm. "Anything else? I mean, is Elvis living in the basement or something?"

Lily laughed, then thought better of it. Susana was having a hard time with all of this, she reminded herself. "No, not that I know of," Lily replied. "Look. Why don't I just let you get settled here, you know, give you some time and space."

Susana nodded slowly, looking blankly at the walls.

"And if you want, you could even start looking through a book or two." Lily backed away toward the hallway. "If you need me, my room is just down at the end of the hall, though I'll probably just be down in the den with the television."

Susana looked up at Lily in surprise.

"Yes, Tic had television," Lily smiled. "He wasn't a complete recluse."

Lily disappeared down the hallway, and Susana turned back to look at the books on the bed. After a quick glance toward the ceiling, she climbed up onto the mattress of the four-poster bed and propped up the pillows against the headboard. She reached for one of the books Lily had left for her, leaned back into the pillows, and began to read.

* * * * *

Lily toted her suitcase into the back bedroom -- the very room Tic had offered to her years ago. But she had refused. So much more she could have learned from him, if she simply hadn't been so headstrong. But that was just the Frye family way.

She smiled sadly as she put down her old suitcase at the foot of the brass bed. These old antiques had the comfortable, worn-in feeling that Lily had longed for in her own apartment. She liked the small brick fireplace in each of the bedrooms, the polished hardwood floors that ran the length of the house, and the creaks in the rafters when the wind blew outside. She admired the hand-made quilt folded up neatly at the foot of the bed, and she traced the patterns of the blue and green fabric with her fingers, but then she frowned. She hadn't put that quilt there.

Baird let out a quiet moan from down the hall. No doubt that sound would send a shiver down Susana's wound-up spine, Lily thought to herself. But her cousin wasn't the only one having a hard time reconciling the events of the week. Baird certainly was proof of that. Poor old dog, he barely left the master bedroom except to eat and to follow the women outside into the yard.

Lily kicked off her shoes and sat on the side of the bed. It hasn't been so easy on her, either. All this week, she had been taking care of her clueless cousin, constantly reassuring her and trying to get her to open up just a bit more each day.... Lily held her face in her hands and took a deep breath. She hadn't taken any time out for herself this week, hadn't taken any time off of work except for yesterday to go to the lawyer's office. She'd stuck to her shift schedule at the diner all weekend and had a weekend full of client Tarot readings scheduled ahead of her.

"Maybe just a hot bath," she said to herself quietly. But before she could move a muscle, the tears came, out of nowhere. The grief she had been holding inside all week came bursting out of her, though she still kept her voice, not wanting her sobbing to disturb Susana.

"Oh, geez," Lily said to herself, both in pain and frustration. She looked up at the ceiling. "I just didn't know it would be like this."

Pulling the quilt up around her shoulders, Lily curled up into a ball at the head of the bed. She buried her head under the blanket and closed her eyes, letting her grief take her where it would.

Chapter 4

Susana re-entered the house alone, leaving Lily to say her final goodbye to their uncle in private. There was just so much that she didn't know about her own family. Her mother's family, more accurately.

Susana and her older sister, Lauren, had been so small when their mother was killed in that horrible car accident, and the uneasy peace that had existed between their father and their mother's family quickly dissolved into a growing distance. Susana often felt that the only real connection she had to her mother, or to her mother's heritage, was the family name that had been give to her as a middle name at birth. Susana Frye Randall.

It wasn't until she was a teenager that she had begun to understand why the Frye name was rarely if ever mentioned in her house. There was some vague rumor of a coven of Frye witches during the Civil War, and a dark shadow of suspicion had followed the family ever since. She knew her step-mother had been afraid of the Frye curse when she'd married her father; Susana could feel Bitsy's fear even now, as though she were both afraid for Susana and afraid of her. Susana had possessed the gift of second-sight as a child, or had at least appeared to, but she soon learned that any such abilities would not be welcome in the Randall household. Though Susana had puzzled over the Frye family's dark secret and wondered how she might fit in, whatever talents she'd had as a child were gone now. Besides, it was probably all just a fairty tale anyway.

The only real family witch Susana had ever heard of was Lily, now outside talking to the garden. But even that designation was speculation. Lily looked perfectly normal, and though she had some definite personality quirks, Susana didn't feel threatened by her.

Still, there was this mysterious figure of Ol' Tic that had both fascinated her and haunted her worst nightmares since as far back as she could remember. Who was this man? She got the feeling he wasn't the evil sorcerer she had been led to believe.

Susana went to the refrigerator, hoping there was something there that hadn't yet expired. She opened the door and surveyed so many containers of leftovers. She shuddered, thinking of the dead man's ashes outside in the yard. Just a few days ago, he had probably stood where she was, trying to decide what to have for breakfast. She closed the door and started opening kitchen cabinets instead, finally finding a drinking glass, which she filled in the sink. She felt the dull emptiness at the pit of her stomach, remembering that she hadn't eaten in twenty-fours hours. In fact, she'd scarcely eaten at all since her entire department had been laid off Monday morning.

She took a long drink of the cool water, feeling her neglected stomach expand like a balloon.

"Yeah," she said to herself, patting her belly. "We'll definitely need to feed you sometime today." She noticed a collection of take-out menus hanging on the side of the refrigerator, and then remembered the book of matches from the Chinese place down the street. Maybe they'd call up that restaurant, she thought to herself, and order whatever had been Tic's favorite. Lily would like that.

The past few days were finally beginning to catch up with her, and she felt unsteady on her feet. No sleep and little food for three days will do that, she chided herself. She filled her glass again with tap water and crossed the floor to sit at the breakfast table. She put down the water glass and relaxed into the straight-backed chair. Maybe if she just put her head down on the smooth, wood surface, she could even get a little sleep....

Then she saw the stack of cards. Susana didn't know why she hadn't seen them before, as they were the only thing on the table, situated dead center. A stack of oversized playing cards, with one turned face up. She leaned forward to get a better look. No, these weren't playing cards -- the image of destruction that stared up her plainly indicated that. Tarot cards? Though her first instinct had been to recoil, her curiosity got the better of her. She picked up the deck and turned the cards over in her hands, fanning them out in her fingers. She had never seen Tarot cards up close before. Susana leaned back in the chair and started to flip through the cards, one by one. The card called The Tower she left on the table, undisturbed.

Lily came in at last from the yard, headed immediately toward the sink to wash the dirt off of her hands. "The ashes have been mixed in," she announced, whether Susana was listening to her or not. She wiped away a stray tear, confident that her cousin wasn't watching her. Getting herself together, she turned toward Susana with a smile, but was surprised to find her sitting at the table shuffling through a deck of Tarot cards.

"What have you got there?" Lily crossed the floor and took one of the empty chairs at the table. "Are those Tic's cards?" Certainly Susana wouldn't have had a deck of her own? Or perhaps Lily had misjudged her.

"I guess," Susana shrugged. "I just found them in the middle of the table." She continued moving the cards around in her fingers, looking at all of the different pictures on them. She knew that each card held its own hidden meaning, and these had belonged to Ol' Tic. What magic must they hold.

"Oh, and there's that one, too," Susana pointed with her chin at the single card lying on the table top.

Lily leaned forward to get a better look at it. "Oooh. Hmm. That's interesting."

Susana stopped shuffling and looked up at her cousin. Perhaps Lily could unveil the meanings of the cards? "I thought that one looked kind of scary, so I left it where it was."

Lily frowned at her cousin. "So this one was already on the table like that? You didn't draw it for yourself?"

Susana shook her head. "Uh-uh."

"So Tic must had drawn this card...." Lily looked back down at The Tower. "On the day he died?"

Susana leaned forward and studied the side of her cousin's face. "What does it mean? Is it something bad?"

Lily regained herself and managed a quick grin for Susana's sake. "No, not necessarily bad." She turned the card around to face her. "It's a card of change. Big change. Sudden."

"So that's how he knew he was going to die?" Susana's voice caught in her throat. She knew she sounded like a frightened little girl.

"Uh, no, I don't think so," Lily responded slowly. "I don't think this is Tic's card. I mean, I don't think it's about him." She pushed at her teeth absently with her thumb, trying to make sense of the image before her. She knew full well the symbolism of the card, but why was it left here? What sudden shake-up was it warning her about?

Lily slid the card across the table toward her and reached for the deck in Susana's hands. Susana handed her the cards without question. "Let's just put it back in the deck," Lily offered. "For safe-keeping."

Watching Lily add the Tower card back to the deck and shuffle them awhile, Susana suddenly became aware of a feeling of deep uneasiness. Laying her hands on her stomach, she checked in with herself, but soon realized the origin of the disturbance lay elsewhere. Lily noticed the concern on her face and stopped shuffling. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Susana said, withdrawing her hands from her midriff. "I'd thought I was feeling anxious." She glanced around the kitchen and out through the windows, trying to find some kind of trigger, anything. "But now I don't know where it's coming from." Then her eyes came to rest on a pair of metal bowls on the floor in the far corner of the room, and she remembered something she'd seen earlier, but that hadn't registered. Her glance flashed to the backdoor, and she saw it again: a large dog door.

"Lily?" Susana queried as she got up from her chair. "Did Uncle Tic have dog?"

Lily's eyes widened. "Baird! Oh, geez, I totally forgot about the dog." Lily jumped up from her chair and went over to look at the dog bowls on the floor. Both were empty. She picked up one and began to fill it with water in the sink.

"You didn't see a crusty old bloodhound anywhere outside, did you?" Lily asked Susana while she watched the metal bowl fill with water.

"I don't think so," Susana responded as she stood in the threshold leading to the back porch, her eyes scanning the yard.

"He never strays, so he couldn't have gone far." Lily placed the water bowl back on the floor and reached into the pantry for the large bag of dog food she knew would be there. On her knees, she scooped some food into the bowl. Susana was about to step outside, but Lily's voice pulled her back. "You'd better let me go looking for him. He doesn't know you, and who knows what kind of upset he is, with Tic gone and being left all by his lonesome the past few days."

Lily stepped past her cousin on her way outside. "Besides, he's probably holed up under the porch, and there's nothing more treacherous than an upset and cornered animal. Even sweet old Baird."

Susana listened to the rattle of the boards as Lily bounded down the back porch stairs. So Tic had a dog, Susana thought to herself. She wandered back into the hallway, noticing for the first time the hand-carved newel post, bannister, and crown molding, all made of stained and polished cherry. Such an incredibly beautiful house, and so full of light! Standing in the middle of the front hall, Susana's eyes followed the light and shadows playing on the wall as a gentle breeze blew outside.

Then she heard it: a low moan, coming from upstairs. Was there someone else in the house?

"Lily?' Susana called out tentatively for her cousin, though she knew she wouldn't hear. "Okay, then." Susana steeled herself and took a step toward the great staircase. The worst that could happen would be finding a mostly-dead zombie upstairs or a partially disemboweled sacrificial victim. Or maybe the house was just haunted? She wasn't sure which idea she liked least.

She climbed the stairs slowly, stopping mid-way when she heard a scraping noise from somewhere above. She leaned over the bannister and looked down toward the kitchen to see if her cousin had come back inside. "Lily?" she called out again. There was no reply.

"Okay," she said to herself again, and made her way up the stairs.

At the top of the staircase, Susana looked up and down the hallway at so many doors, not knowing where to begin. Then she heard that low moan again, coming from the front of the house. She gripped the wooden railing, her blood turning to ice in her veins. What was up here with her?

She crept down the hallways toward the partially open door. Then the noise came again, stopping her in her tracks. Susana realized that she was standing hunched over, leaning on the railing, and had been tiptoeing down the hallway. "What the hell am I doing?" she demanded of herself. Straightening her spine, she let go of the bannister. "Hello?" she called toward the door. "Is there someone there?"

There was movement behind the wooden door. Something was stirring. Then she heard a padded clicking sound approaching the door. Footsteps? Slowly, the door began to creak open, and Susana again reached for the railing to steady herself. She was prepared for anything, she told herself. Even if it's a vampire back there.

But what she saw instead was the face of an old, tired dog, gazing up at her sadly. Susana placed her hand over her heart in relief, starting to breathe again. "Baird?"

The bloodhound took a few more steps forward, tentatively wagging his tail. Susana leaned down to his level, a sympathetic smile growing on her face. "Oh, honey, it's okay."

* * * * *

Lily was downstairs in the hallway. She hadn't spotted the dog -- nor any trace of him -- anywhere outside, and now Susana had gone missing, too. "Susana?" she called out, listening to her voice echo off of the walls.

"Up here," came the muffled reply. Lily raced up the stairs, taking them two at a time. At the top of the staircase, she turned toward the master bedroom, the door standing open. There at the foot of the bed, sat Susana on the floor, with Baird's head resting in her lap.

Susana smiled up at her cousin. "He was in here the whole time," she explained, stroking the big dog's ears. "He misses Tic."

Lily walked into the bedroom and leaned back against the doorjamb. "He's okay, right?"

"Yes."

Lily got down on her hands and knees and crawled over toward the dog. Baird lifted his head and allowed her to stroke his chin. "He's always been a friendly dog, once you get to know him. I'm surprised you two made friends so fast."

Susana laughed. "I gotta tell you, there's something going on in this house."

Lily rested back on her heels and looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, that I nearly got the shit scared out of me, looking for this guy," she said, gently scratching Baird behind the ears. "And then when she shows up, it's like, I don't know, I could hear him speaking to me, inside my head."

Lily looked at Susana quietly and smiled.

"He told me about how he missed his master, how he was afraid, being shut up in the house all by himself, how tired and lonely he has been. That kind of thing." Susana looked up at Lily. "Do you think he's a magic dog?"

Lily threw her head back and laughed. "Baird? Hardly." Lily reached out to pet the dog again. "He's a good dog, sure. But just a regular dog." She caught Susana's glance. "Maybe you're the one that's magic."

* * * * *

Lily was practically running, pulling Susana along behind her.

"Are we late for something?" Susana was nearly out of breath.

Lily slowed her pace. "Sorry," she said. "I'm just kind of anxious to find something out."

Susana stopped and rested her hands on her hips. "Wait." She demanded.

Lily complied, turning to face her cousin, impatient to get moving again.

Susana looked down at her feet and assessed the beating her designer heels were taking. "I just didn't wear the right shoes today."

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Lily responded, beginning ti relax. "Today has been a big day for you. Don't think I don't know that."

Susana nodded her head, looking around at the storefronts. She wasn't sure where Lily was taking her, but she was hoping that lunch might be involved. "Explain to me again," she asked, "The difference between witchcraft and.... umm, wicca?"

"Sure." Lily's face lit up. "Walk with me."

They continued moving forward, past clothing stores and furniture galleries. The mixed aromas of the approaching food court made Susana's stomach leap.

"Wicca is a religion, earth-based," Lily explained slowly. "It comes from the old European agricultural communities, mostly. I'll give you some books, or something. But witchcraft..." Lily took a deep breath. "That's not so much belief as it is action. Witches are people who simply aren't afraid to harness their own power."

Walking alongside her cousin, Susana frowned. "What kind of power?" She knew it was wrong, but her mind flashed back to episodes of Bewitched and I Dream of Jeanie.

"It's not like what you've seen in movies," Lily responded, as though she'd read her mind. "But just the power of the soul, the power of the individual that each of us has every day. It's about stepping up and doing something instead of sitting on the sidelines. It's about the power of just being alive and having an impact on the world."

"Yeah, see, that doesn't sound Satanic at all."

Lily laughed in surprise. "That's an entirely different discussion. Here we are."

They walked in the door of the Aquarian Bookshop. Susana was at once mesmerized by the vast assortment of crystals and gems, breathing in the perfumed air, but Lily headed directly for the sales counter. "My cousin would like a reading," she said to the woman behind the register. The sales clerk looked over Lily's shoulder at Susana, who was slowly circling a display of feng shui crystals. Lily nodded, "Yes, that's the one."

"Marlena is available," the clerk indicated while making a notation on a clipboard.

"Perfect," Lily replied. She walked over to Susana. "You can come on back. This should be fun."

Lily led her toward the back of the store, behind a temporary partition that had been set up. They found a small woman in her 50s sitting at a tiny card table that had been draped with a sarong. She was reading a romance novel and eating potato salad out of a grocery store take-out container.

"Marlene," Lily prodded gently.

Marlene looked up, slightly embarrassed. "Sorry. Hey, Lily! Who have you brought me?"

"What good is a psychic who doesn't know you're coming?" Susana snorted, immediately wishing she'd kept her mouth shut. "Sorry," she stammered. "That, that was my stupid attempt at a joke."

"Marlene," Lily said. "This is my cousin, Susana. She's new." Lily looked at her cousin suspiciously. "Sort of."

"Okay, well," Marlene began, quickly putting away her lunch and her book into a canvas bag down by her feet. "Have a seat then, and we'll get started."

Susana pulled out the plastic lawn chair at the other side of the table and sat down. Lily began to back away. "I'll just be out in the store, looking around."

Susana looked up at her in slight panic. "You're not staying?"

Lily looked down at Marlena for guidance. "You're welcome to stay, if she would like you to," the psychic said as she pulled her own deck of Tarot cards from a dark velvet bag. Susana noticed that these cards were larger and looked different than the one's at Tic's place.

"Yeah, okay." Lily pulled up a spare chair from against the back wall. "Usually, the reader is alone with the petitioner," Lily explained. "But I'll stay if you want." She settled in next to her cousin, though slightly pushed back from the table.

Marlena placed the deck of cards at the center of the table, face-down. "Have you ever had a reading before?" she asked Susana.

Susana shook her head. "No, but I've seen it done before, once or twice."

"I want you to pick up the deck of cards, and keeping them face down, just shuffle them a few times," Marlena instructed.

Susana complied, then placed the deck back on the table.

"Good," Marlena encouraged her. "Now, using your left hand, I want you to cut the deck into three piles, moving right to left. And they don't have to be three equal piles."

Susana reached for the cards and did as she was told.

"Okay," Marlena smiled at Susana. "Let's see what we've got, then." Marlena turned over the top card for each of the three stacks. Susana watched in a kind of numb blur. The first card was the Two of Swords, followed by The Priestess, and the Eight of Cups. Susana heard a satisfactory smile from Lily.

Marlena looked up at Lily with raised eyebrows. "I'm surprised you're not reading her cards yourself."

Lily leaned back in the chair and stretched her legs out in front of her. "Oh, you know," she replied. "I didn't want to read my own expectations into her cards."

"I know how that is," Marlena responded. She gathered up the cards before her and started laying them out in a grid pattern that Susana didn't quite follow. All sorts of cards were coming up, with both engaging and frightening drawings on them. Then she saw one she recognized: The Tower. She still didn't like the look of that one.

"Ooh, there's that card again," Susana said glumly.

Marlena rested her fingertips lightly on top of the card. "It doesn't have to be a bad card, you know. But it does mean big change. We'll take a look at it in the context of the other cards, alright?"

Susana sat back in her chair and waited. Marlena seemed to be counting the cards laid out in the grid, back and forth, up, down, and diagonally. Lily leaned over to Susana. "She's looking at how the different cards relate to each other," she explained quietly. "But you've got good cards, so don't worry."

Susana closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she got up this morning, she'd had no idea that she would inherit an ante-bellum estate, participate in a Wiccan funeral rite, nor communicate psychically with an old dog. Having her Tarot cards read, while a completely new experience as well, just seemed to fit with the weirdness of the day.

She opened her eyes again and found Marlena looking at her. "Let's talk about what we've got," she suggested.

Both Susana and Lily leaned forward, studying the cards on the table.

"You've got the High Priestess, representing yourself. She's a highly intuitive person, one who represents potential and mystery," Marlena began. "She is associated with the goddess Artemis, the protector of animals and a great healer."

"Yeah, that's why you could talk to Baird," Lily commented. "Did you know you were an animal communicator?"

"A what?" Susana blinked at her cousin. "Wait a minute." Susana held a hand to her head, then looked back up, her gaze shifting back and forth between Lily and Marlene. "When I was a kid, I wanted to be a veterinarian."

"Well, that could be something..." Marlena replied.

"No," Susana insisted. "I mean, that's what I said, because I knew what they wanted and needed. The animals. I knew."

Lily nodded. "And then what happened?"

A bitter smile played across Susana's lips. "My step-mother. That's what happened." She couldn't believe what she was revealing to these two women whom she hardly knew, but the rest of her life had already fallen apart earlier in the week, so she might as well go for total upheaval.

"Okay," Marlena said, looking back down at the cards. "See here, the two of swords, with the knight of swords, positioned as they are.... I'm seeing someone in your life, a family member, who has been rather blunt and authoritative with you. So you've felt you needed to block your own emotions almost, or that you've at least maintained an uneasy stalemate with this person, and within yourself."

Susana snorted. "Yeah, that would be Bitsy."

"But you've got a lot of cards here pointing to new beginnings, letting go of the past and of the expectations that have held you back," Marlena added. "The Hanged One, The Fool, The Moon. Major arcana cards like these are more immediate." Marlena rested her fingertips on the cards and squinted at the various combinations. "The advice these cards are giving you is to trust your intuition, and trust what's going on around you. A lot of change swirling around."

Lily chuckled. "You got that right."

"Just have faith. And here, the eight of cups.... This is a journey into yourself, leaving behind the rat race, though you've also got to slog your way through feeling burned out."

"Yeah," Susana said shyly. "I lost my job on Monday."

Lily turned to her in surprise. "Did you really? I mean, I know that sucks."

Susana looked down at her hands in her lap. "It was a buy-out. My whole department is gone. Without warning."

"You're beginning to feel this influence here," Marlena tapped on the face of The Tower. "But it's not done with you yet. The is a time of major shifting, but it's only uncomfortable if you resist it."

Chapter 3

Susana parked her car in front of Ol' Tic's house and turned off the engine. She looked up at the old house in disbelief. She had always avoided this house, before. Who was she kidding, she'd avoided the entire Bellevue neighborhood, just to keep her distance from this place.

Lily unbuckled her seat belt. "Bigger than you though, yeah?"

"Yeah," Susana answered absently. She studied the wooden shutters that looked like they had been painted yesterday, the sparkling glass in the windows, and the mortar that should be crumbling between the bricks but wasn't. The cobblestones of the cul-de-sac were worn but not broken, the stone steps leading up to the door slightly grooved by the comings and goings of so many feet.

Susana pulled her keys out of the ignition and got out of the car. Lily stepped around the car to stand beside her cousin. "Built in the 1840s," she said, as though that was the only explanation Susana needed.

"Mmm," Susana wondered. "It's, umm, just not what I'd expected.

"Oops!" Lily exclaimed in surprise. "I almost forgot Tic." With a quick laugh, she opened the passenger door and retrieved the simple pewter urn from the floorboards. "We couldn't have that, could we?" she smiled at Susana.

"I guess not," Susana replied, still lost in the bewilderment of the day.

"You've got the keys, right?" Lily asked over her shoulder as she headed up the steps to the wrap-around portico.

Susana shuffled around in her purse, finally grabbing hold of the letter-sized envelope. She tore open one end and allowed the contents -- three brass keys -- to fall out into her open hand. Following Lily up the stairs, she crumpled up the empty enveloped and stuffed it back into her purse. Standing at the massive, forest green door, Susana handed one of the keys to her cousin.

Lily took the key awkwardly, trying not to drop the urn in her hands. Giving up, Lily leaned down to rest the container on the marble beneath her feet. "Here you go, Uncle Tic," she said to the polished metal. "Take a load off." Lily reached into the front pocket of her khakis and pulled out her keychain -- a narrow carabiner with a plastic mermaid charm hanging off of it. She added Tic's key to her collection. She turned to her cousin. "You want to do the honors?" she asked, gesturing toward the door.

Susana stepped forward and slid her key into the door. It turned easily in the ancient lock, and the heavy wooden door was surprisingly easy to open. Susana let the door swing wide, while she remained on the threshold, peering in uncertainly.

Lily lifted her uncle's ashes and rested the urn on her hip. Waiting for her cousin to make the first move, Lily lost patience and stepped inside. "Normally the place wouldn't be locked up so tight," she said over her shoulder. "But you know the estate people."

Whatever, Susana thought to herself as she finally stepped inside the house. This place was definitely not at all what she had expected. Instead of the dark and gloomy haunt she'd only heard about in catches and whispers growing up, the front hallway was filled with light streaming in from two stories of windows. The chandelier over her head was clean and understated, and the french doors to her right revealed a comfortable living room full of overstuffed chairs and houseplants surrounding a stone fireplace.

Lily had stopped halfway down the hall, on her way tot he kitchen at the back of the house. She studied her cousin's confused expression and smiled. "What did you expect?" she teased. "Bats and cobwebs?"

Susana stammered in embarrassment. "No, I, umm, I just...."

"It's okay," Lily reassured. "Tic had that kind of reputation. I think he liked it, because then most everybody left him alone, you know?"

"Mmm," Susana replied with a forced nod.

"Anyway, I figured that we'd take care of Tic here," Lily said, slightly hoisting the urn that was growing heavier by the minute, "and then have a browse around the place. I bet he's getting antsy." Lily turned on her heel and continued down the hall to the kitchen.

Susana studied the dark, polished wood beneath her feet. She wasn't too sure she wanted to think about her estranged, dead great-uncle getting antsy about anything. Her mind raced with all of the crazy stories she had heard about him in her childhood -- about how Ol' Tic was some kind of crazy warlock, practicing black magic holed up in the basement of some ancient, decrepit house; about how he was burdened with a mysterious curse that had haunted the Frye family for centuries; about how he had made a deal with the Devil himself and danced half-crazed under the full moon, howling up at the stars.

"This whole thing is nuts," Susana whispered to herself, glad her cousin was out of earshot. She'd heard some disturbing things about Lily, too -- not terribly surprising, since Lily had been the only one in the family remotely close to Uncle Tic. For years, she had been helping him run his business, whatever that entailed. She seemed normal enough, but ever since they were small children, Susana h