The ambulance came. The paramedics transported Mildred on a stretcher through the rain, then secured her inside the vehicle, placing an oxygen mask over her face. Saige thought that didn’t bode well. She watched from the lounge room window, struggling to swallow the metallic build-up of saliva at the back of her tongue.
Is this my fault?
Jasper was feeding all the cats. “They just keep popping up from everywhere,” he cried from the kitchen. “How many cats does this woman own?”
The least they could do was make sure Mildred’s animals were tended to. Saige was only partly relieved to learn from one of the paramedics that this wasn’t Mildred’s first visit to the hospital. They would be able to contact her next of kin, a daughter called Sarah who lived on the other side of the island. That was at least one thing Saige didn’t have to worry about. She wouldn’t have known where to start otherwise.
She walked around the lower floor, surveying the windows and making sure they were properly shut. Then she checked the bedrooms upstairs. Two cats were sleeping in the main room, curled into two fluffy balls in the middle of a large bed. They didn’t even move except to look at her through slitted eyes. Saige checked the window and made sure it was secure. Lightning flashed outside, causing yellow dots to dance across her vision.
“Saige.”
She jumped at the voice behind her. She fancied she could even feel cool breath on the back of her neck, but when she twisted around, there was nobody there.
Her heart thumped erratically against her chest.
The voice had been soft. It had sounded like…
Mum.
Something small dropped from the overpacked bookshelf to her right. She crept forward to take a look. It was a plain black book with an embossed sigil on the front. Saige picked it up and flicked through the pages. What appeared to be handwritten spells filled the volume. Saige had read enough about mythology to know this was a grimoire. A spell book.
On the inside cover in the corner was a name.
The Roma Witch.
Saige nearly dropped the book. She couldn’t breathe, the air seemingly lodged in her lungs.
Jesus. Did this belong to her? How the hell does Mildred have it?
She went to put it back on the shelf, then second-guessed herself.
What if there are answers inside?
It was far too convenient that it had just fallen from the bookcase.
Okay, Mum. I trust you.
Saige pocketed the book, ignoring the queasy sensation of guilt in her stomach, and made her way downstairs.
“All secure?” Jasper asked when she met him in the hallway.
“All secure.”
“Do you think the cats will be all right? You know, with the upcoming storm?”
Saige almost smiled. Almost. “They’ll be fine. But I’ll try and find a number for Mildred’s daughter. She can come and get them.”
It took some searching, but finally they came across a small address book in the kitchen and found Sarah’s number. Saige hoped the call would go unanswered and she’d be able to leave a voicemail. She was grateful when Jasper followed one of the cats out into the hall to pet it. She didn’t want him to hear her balls this up, which she no doubt would do.
How do you tell someone you’re partly responsible for putting their mother in hospital?
Sarah picked up on the fourth ring. “Hello?”
Mentally cursing, Saige took a deep breath, introduced herself, and explained the situation.
* * *
Saige returned to the hall, dejected and tired. “Sarah is going to the hospital, and then she’ll come over here and stay with the cats.”
Relief shone on Jasper’s face. “Okay. That’s good.”
“Since when have you liked cats?”
One of the black tabbies was rubbing itself against Jasper’s legs and enjoying a nice back scratch from him. “I’ve always liked cats.”
Saige was positive that wasn’t always the case. She looked at the time on her phone. “Jasper, it’s three minutes to two!”
We’re going to miss the last coach!
The pair clambered out of the house into the grey, swampy afternoon. Saige locked the door and dashed into the rain after Jasper. She’d return the key to Sarah or Mildred when she recovered. Or when the storm was over. Whichever came first.
Part of the high street had flooded, the puddles now the size of small, shallow ponds. They took a narrow laneway down to the seafront to the bus stop. The street was empty, but it was madness to even risk standing on the road. The tumultuous sea smashed against the promenade, the waves so powerful that Saige feared they’d rip the balustrade apart. The fiercely briny wind and salt spray stung her eyes.
Jasper’s face fell in disappointment. “We definitely missed the coach.”
The bus stop looked lonesome and derelict in the rain. The roof seeped, and the wooden bench had a mini waterfall running off it.
There was meant to be a king tide that evening. Saige fretted that the little houses and shopfronts would be inundated by waves. The thought of all that water sent goose bumps up her arms. “Let’s head back to the high street. We’ll have to stay at the evacuation centre.”
Jasper lifted his chin and stared up at the sky as though the heavens were playing a cosmic joke on him. “Well, at least we’ll be away from Wolvercraft Manor.”
Saige wrapped her arms around herself. “That’s what I’m worried about.”
“What do you mean?”
“Zoe. She’s fair game to the curse.”
“Even if you were at the manor, I really don’t think there’s anything you could do about it.”
Guilt weighed in her heart. Just like with Harriette’s notebook, the large pocket in her hoodie seemed to burn where she’d stored her latest finds. “I might have been able to do something with these.”
She carefully extracted the spell book and Theodosia’s journal.
Jasper blinked in the rain. “Jesus, Saige. How many stolen goods do you have in that hoodie?”
“I think something wanted me to take the grimoire.” She swallowed, hoping Jasper wouldn’t think it was a far-fetched idea. “I think my mum showed me where it was.”
She was almost too afraid to look at his response.
He raked his tousled dark hair out of his eyes. “Well, I’m not against having a ghost on our side for once, but are you sure this is a good idea… messing with something like this?”
“No. Of course not.”
They stood there in silence, staring at each other in the rain. Saige’s heart pounded. It always did around Jasper, but when he looked at her like that, she couldn’t deny the monstrous attraction she still held for him. Her body quaked with nerves at the memory of what nearly occurred between them at the gazebo, and only the recollection of her brother’s words snapped her out of the dream and back into reality.
She pulled away as tears she didn’t want to deal with built inside her. “Let’s head to the town hall. That’s about a twenty-minute walk. Maybe half an hour with the rain.”
He nodded, disappointment heavy on his face. He strode past her and started the ascent toward the laneway that would take them to the high street. Saige followed. The distance between them hurt.
This is the right thing to do. Jasper doesn’t care about anyone but himself. I will not go through that pain again. And he has a girlfriend.
But every step Jasper took away from her felt like the wisp of a lovely dream she could no longer hold on to.
* * *
They walked through the onslaught of rain. Saige had forgotten that the most direct route to the town hall meant going past Ashvall’s gated cemetery. She’d always hated being near cemeteries. The sensation that eyes from a place beyond watched her sent her mind into a living nightmare.
If I’m a medium like Mildred said, I suppose that feeling makes sense.
I’m being watched.
By the dead.
She snuck a peek through the high cast-iron fence that had been taken over by crawling ivy. Mist swirled between the grey headstones, which seemed to jut out of the ground like crooked teeth. She wondered if any of her ancestors were buried here or if they were all in the family grave in the Hauteville Woods.
“Saige?”
She jumped.
Jasper was watching her, his face scrunched in concern. “Do you see something in there?”
“No.”
She ignored the figures that moved in and out of the twisting fog, refusing to acknowledge her gift.
Seeing the dead. Great.
Her life was already far too complicated as it was.
A car horn tooted. A black cab pulled up to the curb beside them. The window wound down, and a bald man with a tweed golf cap poked his head out. “Are you kids all right? You shouldn’t be walking out in this rain. It’s too dangerous.”
Saige almost laughed. Kids? She supposed compared to his age they really were just children. He had to be at least seventy.
Jasper smiled politely. “Archer? That’s your name, right?”
Saige drew closer, recognising the cab driver from yesterday.
Archer winked at Jasper. “You have a good memory, kid. You off to the evacuation centre?”
“Could you give us a lift? I can pay you.”
Archer waved the suggestion off. “Never mind that. Get inside.”
Saige and Jasper settled into the back seat and strapped themselves in.
Archer forced the cab into a small burst of speed, the mad chatter of the windscreen wipers doing a poor job of creating visibility through the rain. “I’m just out here doing a final round in case anyone was stranded. Lots of retirees in Ashvall who need the extra help. It's lucky I found you kids. I was just about to head home. I have my daughter and grandkids there.”
Saige pressed back into her seat, wishing to close her eyes and rest, but her moral compass was spinning. She couldn’t let this opportunity slip away. “Do you think you could take us to Wolvercraft Manor instead?”
Jasper gripped the seatbelt, his knuckles white. He shook his head at her.
Archer shot a glance at Saige through the rear-view mirror before settling his eyes back on the road ahead. “The lane is windy and narrow to the house, miss. With all this rain, well… it’s risky.”
“Of course. I understand. It’s just….” She heaved a long sigh. “I have a child waiting for me there. She’s with family, but I know she’ll want me.”
Archer’s shoulders tensed. “I understand, miss. Children come first. I’ll get you to the manor.”
He flicked on his indicator and made a slow U-turn down the street.
Saige only felt marginally guilty. She knew the child trick would work, but Jasper’s razor-sharp stare cut her deep. She’d never seen him look at her with such… disappointment. Turning away, she focused on the rain outside the window.
How dare he judge me? He’s lied enough in his lifetime.
Archer stopped at a set of lights that were out, did a quick look for traffic, and continued down the road. “So how old is your sweet little girl?”
He wasn’t staring at Saige in the mirror. He was staring at both of them.
Saige was lost for words for a moment before she finally opened her mouth. “Oh, we’re not—”
“She’s six,” Jasper interrupted. “Loves her mummy and daddy more than anything in the world.” He pointed his thumb at Saige. “Can you believe she didn’t even tell me about my daughter until recently?”
Saige caught the teasing, acerbic tone in the words.
Archer kept his eyes on the road. She could tell he didn’t know what to say to that.
She leaned forward to the cab driver, hoping to change the topic. “Thank you for taking us to the manor.”
Archer’s good-humoured laugh filled the vehicle. “I can’t let a little girl worry over her parents, now can I?”
He gingerly steered the car through another intersection, careful in the rain, which seemed to have doubled in intensity.
Saige stared through the window up to the sky. Cruel flashes of lightning zigzagged through the plum-shaded clouds, the atmosphere charged and tense. She didn’t doubt the weather prediction. This storm was going to be bad. She could feel it.
They left St Albert Port, past the pastures and green farmlands, the road narrowing as they climbed to higher elevation. Archer drove about ten miles below the speed limit, which was annoying, but Saige understood the preventive measure. Dense trees packed them in from either side of the road. Saige could see nothing but the vastness of the Hauteville Woods and storm clouds sprouting above the treetops.
Archer had the heater on, but the hairs on Saige’s arms still stood stiff from cold. She blew warm air on her fingers. The tips were wrinkled like a soaked prune. She imagined her toes in her boots hadn’t fared much better. She’d left her rain jacket at Aunt Prue’s and was grateful she’d decided to wear her waterproof hoodie, but it still didn’t stop the cold from sinking into her marrow.
“Not long now, folks.” Archer careered the car gently around a bend.
A deafening screech met Saige’s ears. She looked up in time to see Archer steer the wheel hard left, the back of the cab fishtailing through the hammering rain, sending them spinning across the road. The wheels locked, the car probably leaving tyre treads scorched in the tarmac. She caught a brief glimpse of Archer’s white-knuckled hands gripping the wheel, then Jasper latching on to the granny handle as he slammed into the side of the vehicle. She experienced her own weightlessness, her body lifting from her seat, the belt the only thing keeping her secure.
It all played out in painfully slow seconds before the car swerved to a drastic halt in the middle of the road, the engine rattling. Saige swallowed gulps of air. Her stomach felt like it had flattened to a pancake. She stared through the rain. They were facing the opposite direction, back the way they’d come.
Archer turned to them, his skin ashen and his eyes wide in shock. “Sorry about that. That was messy but necessary. Otherwise, we might have all been drowned.” He stole a sad glance at Saige. “I’m sorry, miss, but we’re not going to be able to get you to your daughter after all.”
Saige opened the door and scrambled out of the car. The road behind them was flooded by a destructive stream of fast-moving water. She knew the road dipped here, but she didn’t realise just how low. There was a creek not far. It amazed her that it could have turned into a raging river in so short a time.
Jasper slid out of the car. He stood next to her with a satisfied grin. “Back to the town hall, then? How disappointing for our daughter.”
She debated a snide comment, but she was too tired to put any effort into it. “Archer just assumed. I didn’t think he’d do that.”
His eyes pinned her in place. A muscle in his jaw twitched. “Come on, Saige. Look at the sky. Let’s head back. We’re putting Archer in danger too.”
She swept her gaze to the trees. In the fierce wind, their branches came alive, appearing like fingers beckoning her to come forward. Saige thought about the grimoire in her pocket. Her mother had shown it to her for a reason. There had to be answers inside. Perhaps a way to break the curse. Saving Zoe meant saving her brother pain and heartache. That was worth it.
She exhaled a shuddering breath. “I’m going to the manor. It’s only about three miles from here, and I know the way through the woods.”
“Are you serious?” Jasper’s laugh wasn’t quite on pitch. “There’s a frigging creek in the woods that’s broken its banks.”
“There’s a footbridge.”
“It could be flooded.”
“I’m doing this. Get back in the car. Go to the town hall.”
Jasper blew out a silent sigh. “You’re crazy. You know that?”
He wandered back to the cab while Saige tried to ignore the empty feeling inside her. She faced the woods, unnerved by the mist that swept through the dark foliage.
I can do this on my own. I have to do this.
The engine revved. The sound of the car accelerating downhill grew fainter.
She tried her hardest to keep her emotions inside, but a small tear leaked out. She reluctantly delved into the trees.
“Wait up,” a voice called from the road.
She spun around and gave a short, startled laugh.
Jasper walked right past her into the thick fold of the forest, his head held high. “Let’s get this over with. I am craving a warm shower, warm pyjamas, and a warm bed. Archer thinks we’re mad, by the way.” His voice dropped an octave. “He also thinks we’re good parents. I’ll let your guilt brood over that for a little while, shall I?”
Saige hurried after him. She wanted to frown at Jasper. She wanted to appear annoyed, but deep inside, she was grateful he was with her.
I don’t want to be alone. That’s all it is. There’s nothing more to it.
But she knew it was a lie.