Page 17 (1/2)
Nell put it all out of her mind, or tried to, and went to work She served coffee and ulars She wore her new blue sweater and stirred the pu for the lunch crowd
She replenished the stack of business cards Mia had suggested that she put beside the cafe&039;s cash register
It was all so normal, aler wore a dozen tie of Zack covered with blood flashed through her o to theoff-island was one ed Left to lie bleeding and dying
By the end of her shift she&039;d concluded she hadn&039;t done enough, and needed help
She found Mia helping a customer with a selection of children&039;s books She waited,her hands, until the choices were made and the customer headed to checkout
"I know you&039;re busy, but I need to talk to you"
"All right Let et my jacket We&039;ll take a walk"
She was back moments later with a suede jacket tossed over her short dress Both were the color of butternut squash that lint like a mane of fire
She waved at Lulu as she walked out the front door "Taking my lunch break Great sweater," she added as they stepped outside "Lulu&039;s work, isn&039;t it?"
"Yes"
"You&039;ve ju that fine if she hadn&039;t decided to accept you Congratulations"
"Thanks I did you want to get some lunch?"
"No" Mia shook her hair back, breathed deep There were times, rare times, when she felt locked inside the bookstore When she needed space desperately "I want to walk"
Ripley had been right about Indian suiven way to balmy days of warmth and moist breezes that carried the scents of both sea and forest The sky was clouded up, and against that dull pewter the trees rose like fla beacons The ocean
"It&039;ll rain within the hour," Mia predicted "And look" She gestured out to sea Seconds later, as if she&039;d ordered it, a pale jag of lightning cracked the steel ood story of it puh I want my cliffs in a storm"
Mia slipped out of her lovely shoes, hooked theers, and stepped barefoot into the sand "The beach is alood place to walk, and for you to tellyou"
"I had a I don&039;t know if it was a vision I don&039;t knohat it was It frightens h Nell&039;s and kept the pace easy "Tell"Why did you give him your locket?"
"It was all I could think of An i that matteredit when you died You brought it with you into your new life This symbol of where you ca ic He&039;ll wear it because you asked hier yet"
"It&039;s a locket, Mia Soht my mother for Christmas one year It&039;s not particularly valuable"
"You know better than that Its value is itsto you, and the love you have for your parents, the love you&039;ve given to Zack"
"Is it enough? I don&039;t see how it can be I knohat it meant, Mia" And this was the terror that stretched like a beast inside her "In the vision his face was gray, and the blood-there was so much blood In the vision, he was dead" She ain "He was dead Isn&039;t there so you can do?"
She&039;d already done all she could think of, all she felt within her power "What do you think I can do that you haven&039;t?"
"I don&039;t know So much more Was it a premonition?"
"Is that what you believe?"
"Yes Yes" Even thinking of it stopped her breath "It was so clear He&039;s going to be killed, and I don&039;t kno"
"What we see are possibilities, potentials, Nell Nothing is absolute Nothing, good or bad, is guaranteed You were given this vision, and you acted to protect"
"Isn&039;t there a way to stop whoever will try to hurt him? A spell?"
"Spells aren&039;t a cure for every circumstance, or shouldn&039;t be And remember, what you send out can co, unleash another"
She didn&039;t say ent through her un
"A stor is going to slash through the sky this afternoon"
"You know so I can&039;t see it clearly Perhaps it&039;s not for me to see" That was a frustration, this barrier And the knowledge that she, so long a solitary witch, couldn&039;t do what needed to be done alone "I&039;ll help you all I can, that I can promise"
Even as she worried it wouldn&039;t be enough, she saw Ripley standing on the edge of the sand "Call Ripley down She&039;ll come for you Tell her what you&039;ve told me"
Nell didn&039;t have to call, only to turn and look In her practical chinos and sensible boots, Ripley strode toward theet wet if you stay out here er"
"Thunder," Mia said, and a dull ru" And it burst like a firewall toward the west "But no rain for a half hour or so"
"You forecasting the weather now, Glinda?" Ripley said pleasantly "You ought to get yourself a job on TV"
"Don&039;t Not now" Nell expected the sky to break open any second, but she didn&039;t care "I&039;m worried about Zack"
"Yeah? Me, too I&039;ve got to worry when irlie jewelry But I have to thank you for giving me the opportunity to razz hi it?"
"No And I hesitate to repeat just what he did say to ot our day off to a fine start"
"I had a vision," Nell began
"Oh, perfect" In disgust, Ripley started to turn away, stopping when Nell gripped her ar to piss o, Nell She&039;s afraid to listen"
"I&039;" And it burned her butt that Mia knew exactly which button to push "Go ahead, tell me what you saw in the crystal ball"
"I wasn&039;t looking at a crystal ball I was looking at Zack," Nell said, and told her
No ed, Ripley was shaken down to the toes "Zack can take care of hiain "Look, in case you haven&039;t noticed, he&039;s a capable, thoroughly trained officer of the law He carries a weapon, and kno to use it when and if he has to If he makes the job look easy, it&039;s because he kno to handle whatever co I&039;d trust hi if she can trust you with his"
"I&039;ve got a badge, I&039;ve got a weapon, and a solid right cross That&039;s how I handle things," Ripley said furiously "If someone coo through me"
"One times three, Ripley" Deliberately, Mia laid a hand on her arm "In the end, that&039;s what it&039;ll take"
"I&039; to do it"
Mia nodded They were standing in a circle under the angry sky "You already are"
Instinctively, Ripley stepped back, broke the connection "Don&039;t look for me," she said "Not this way" She turned her back on the at the sand, she walked back to the village
"She&039;ll think about this, and struggle with it As her head&039;s er than I like But for the first ti pat on the shoulder "She won&039;t risk Zack"
They went back to the bookstore, and had no sooner stepped inside when the rain fell in a torrent
Nell burned the candles in her trio of jack-o&039;-lanterns not just to decorate now, but for their original purpose She set thehten away evil
Between the knowledge gleaned from the books Mia had lent her and her own instincts, she set about e
She swept away negative energy, lit candles for tranquility and protection She laid red jasper and ss of rosemary under the pillows on her bed
She made a pot of chicken soup
It sie became a cozy cocoon
But she couldn&039;t relax in it She paced from indow, door to door She looked for busy-work and couldn&039;t find it She forced herself to sit in her office, to coain, her concentration as fractured as the lightning-struck sky
Giving up, she called the station house Surely Zack was back from the mainland by now She would speak to him, hear his voice Then she&039;d feel better
But it was Ripley who answered and told her in a voice as cold as a slap that Zack hadn&039;t returned, that he would be back when he got back
Now her worry doubled The storm took on the proportions of a teer musical but full of teeth and threats
The rain was a s a weapon hurled
Dark pressed against the s as if it would break the glass and burst in The power she&039;d learned to accept, even to ean to waver like a candle flame under hot breath
A thousand scenarios raced through her mind, each more horrible than the last In the end, unable to bear it, she grabbed her jacket She would go down to the docks, wait for the ferry Will him to cohtning In the blind dark that followed, she saw the shadow h the scent of rain and wet earth and the sting of ozone, she caught the scent of her lover
"Zack!" She leaped at hi off the stoop as he caught both her and his balance "I&039;ve been so worried"
"And now you&039;re wet" He carried her into the house "I picked a hell of a day to go off-island Bitch of a ferry ride back" He set her on her feet, then stripped off his soaking jacket "I&039;d&039;ve called, but I couldn&039;t get my cell phone to connect That&039;ll be the last ferry coed a hand through his hair, scattered rain
"You&039;re soaked to the bone" And because his shirt et, she saith relief, the faint outline of the locket just above his heart "And cold," she added when she took his hand
"I&039;ve got to ad about a hot shower the last half hour"
And would have had one by now, he thought, if
Ripley hadn&039;t ated him, then told him Nell had called in a panic
"Go take one now Then you can have a bowl of hot soup"
"Definitely the best offer I&039;ve had all day" He cupped her face in his hands "I&039;m sorry you worried You shouldn&039;t have"
"Now I&039;m not Go on, before you catch cold"
"Islanders are hardier stock than that" But he kissed her lightly on the forehead and went straight for the shower
He left his clothes in a sopping heap on the bathrooh when he stepped in
The little rooned for a ht at his throat, and if he wasn&039;t careful he rapped his elbow against the henever he moved his ar the ti his hands on the front wall, he bent over so the spray sluiced over his head and back Since she tended to use fragrant and feminine soaps and shae above the lip of the tub
Neither of the he&039;d left on the shelf of her closet
They didn&039;t talk about the fact that they rarely spent a night apart Other people did, he knew He saw the winks and was beco his naether as if they were one word
But they hadn&039;t spoken of it Maybe it was a kind of superstition, he thought, not to speak out loud what you were most afraid to lose
Or maybe it was just another kind of cowardice
He wasn&039;t sure it mattered, but he was sure it was time to take another step forward
He&039;d taken one hiest step he&039;d ever taken, on the mainland that afternoon
He had to adood about it He&039;d felt a little jittery, but that had passed quickly enough Even the hideous ride back froed to dampen his mood
The sounds on the other side of the curtain surprised hiainst the wall echoed in the little room, and was followed, viciously, by a streaht?" Torn between aht and kept his wet bundle of clothes craainst her chest