Chapter Twenty-Two

Despite getting almost no sleep last night, I am up before dawn. My dad had the early shift today, so I don’t have to worry about him questioning me about slipping out of the house so early. I left a note for my mom to let her know I am meeting Bas and Tanner for a hike. She’ll be disappointed that we won’t be making pancakes together, but I know she had a lot of work to do for the historical society today anyway.

My backpack thumps against my back as I jog toward the field. My texts to Bas and Tanner may not be seen for a while yet, so when I reach the field, I flop down on the grass and pull out my sketchpad from art class. I may not understand a lot of the techniques and terms Mr. Bell tries to teach me, but my sketching has improved quite a bit. That’s mainly due to Sibeal’s tutoring.

I grab a charcoal pencil out of my pencil bag and set to work trying to remember what the stone looked like. Lack of sleep, thoughts of Bas, pressure to figure out this thing with Sibeal…focusing doesn’t come easy. I start with the box the stone was in. The box is a little easier to concentrate on. I sketch the edges, the sides, the lid. After about fifteen minutes I have a fairly accurate drawing of the little wooden box. Now for the contents.

Five minutes later, I’m still staring at an empty box. The sound of feet shuffling through gravel pulls my eyes up anxiously. I can’t explain the rush of emotions that sweeps through me at the sight of Bas standing on the edge of the field. He looks worn out, but, I admit for the first time, irresistible.

I never let myself get past my initial dislike of him to consider how handsome Bas is. His dark hair reminds me of warm molasses, evoking thoughts of cold mornings made cozy and alluring. Bas is someone who could belong in any time. He is neither trendy, nor old fashioned. He is just confident in who he is and how he wants others to see him.

That brief moment of waking up next to him last night was fleeting, but I could feel the quiet strength I sensed in him, and it isn’t just his athletic build. Yes, he is strong and fit. His strength never gives me a moment of fear, though. Somehow, I know it will always be used to protect and not hurt. His blue eyes, as bright as robin’s eggs, make looking away from him impossible.

“Hey, Arra,” Bas says quietly as he approaches.

I swallow hard. “Hey.”

He sits down next to me, close, but not too close. Or maybe not close enough. “How long have you been out here?” he asks.

“Half an hour.”

His eyes glance at the sun barely peeking through the trees. “I take it you got about as much sleep as I did then.”

“Less.”

Bas nods slowly. “Look, I know we agreed not to talk about it until after this thing with Sibeal, but I feel like the world’s biggest jerk right now.”

Bas’s head drops into his hands. The agony he’s carrying around hunches his shoulders. I bite my bottom lip in an effort to keep myself from doing something I shouldn’t. It doesn’t last long. Bas jumps when my hand touches his arm. He looks up at me with a mixture of emotions I can’t define.

“Please stop beating yourself up,” I beg. “Maybe the timing wasn’t the best, but we were both going to have to face this eventually. I’m not upset at you, if that’s what you think.”

I don’t pull away when Bas’s hand slides over mine. He lifts his head enough to meet my eyes. Much of his anguish melts away when he looks into my suddenly calm expression. “You really aren’t mad, are you?”

“No, of course not.”

I don’t know what it is about Bas that makes everything seem so much less scary when he’s around, but I’m glad for it. His words sent through text messages are enough to help me get to Kivera. Being near him is even better. Feeling the warmth of his hand on mine has a calming effect. The jumbled up thoughts sit down in an orderly fashion and wait their turn.

“Once all of this is over with Sibeal, I think we should spend some time together…as friends,” I tell Bas. The way his eyes light up is hard to ignore. “We’ve spent the whole time we’ve know each other in this weird limbo of you trying to make me dislike you and me being confused about who you really are. Maybe if we get to know each other for real, we’ll know if this is just a case of the grass being greener on the other side, or if we really want to take the next step. Would that be okay with you?”

“What about Tanner?” Bas asks.

Weighed down by guilt, I shake my head. “I don’t know. I’ll talk to him after we save Sibeal, or whatever we’re supposed to do.”

Bas nods slowly. “Okay.”

I don’t want him to, but he releases my hand. It takes me a few seconds to stop missing his touch and focus. My eyes turn back down to the unfinished drawing in my hands. Bas looks at it as well. “What’s that?” he asks.

Sighing, I turn it so he can get a better look. “I’m trying to remember what the stone looked like. So far I can only focus enough to draw the box it was in when the woman gave it to Sibeal. I know I saw it long enough. It’s just trying to bring it back up that’s giving me trouble.”

“Close your eyes,” Bas says.

I do as he asks without question.

“Think about the room they were standing in, the lighting, the sounds, and smells.”

My mind slowly conjures up the memory of the little cottage, the dim interior and hushed atmosphere. The lingering scent of burning herbs reaches my nose, but I don’t recognize the source. The wooden walls give the room a small feeling, the clutter not helping the sensation.

“Now picture the woman. Think about the way she carried the box. How did she act in its presence? Did the feeling of the room change when she brought it out?”

The woman’s dark hair was streaked with grey, pulled back in a braid that had been broken halfway apart by sleep. Tendrils fell around her eyes, but she didn’t push them back. All of her focus was on the box in her hands. Her movements were careful, her steps precise. The atmosphere had been tense from the moment Sibeal arrived. By that point, it was nearly suffocating.

“Picture her offering Sibeal the stone, opening the box,” Bas instructs.

The sound of Bas’s voice keeps me calm as I try to continue the progress of the dream. I watch as the woman’s hands reach forward. The box is held firmly in the palm of one hand while the other reaches toward the lid. Her fingers close over the lid, hesitating before slowly lifting it up. The shadow created by the darkness of the room, and the position of the lid, hide its contents. Anxiety builds as the lid lifts bit by bit. The rise and fall of my chest ceases as I hover over the dream images. Finally, the stone is revealed, its simplicity defying the dark aura it casts over the room.

The words they speak fall on deaf ears as I memorize the details of the stone. I hold onto its image as long as I can before the woman denies me further study by closing the lid and letting the dream fall into obscurity.

My eyes flutter open and Bas says nothing as I snatch up my pencil and start dragging its tip across the paper. Thoughts seem distant as the image simply pours out of me. My hand seems to belong to someone else as it sketches out the details of the slightly irregular edges of the stone. Quick strokes shade the edges of the stone, giving the illusion of depth, telling me that the rock is thin and flat, something that could easily fit on a person’s palm.

The real amazement comes when I begin the sweeping lines of the design. The outer circle surrounds the figures of three cats with their legs outstretched. Their tails intertwine in the center of the rock, forming the swirls I vaguely remembered seeing the first time. Symbols decorate the bodies of the cats in intricate designs that my novice hand cannot fully capture. My fingers fall away, aching from their frantic work, as the symbol becomes whole.

“Wow,” Tanner says, scaring me into jumping.

“When did you get here?” I demand.

He laughs. “A few minutes ago. You were so absorbed in what you were doing, I didn’t want to interrupt.”

My heart slowly gets a hold on itself. “Thanks. I was finally focused enough to get a clear image in my head and I was afraid it was going to vanish.”

Tanner takes the pad of paper from my hand and studies it. “That art class must be pretty good. This is a lot different than the drawing you showed me a few weeks ago. I didn’t think Mr. Bell was that good of a teacher.”

“He’s not. Sibeal has been helping me.”

“That’s kind of ironic,” Tanner says with a dry laugh.

No kidding. I finally have an image of the stone, but I have no idea what to do with it. Taking the notepad back from Tanner, I pass it to Bas. He looks at it with a confused expression. His silence seems to last forever. I can’t take it after a while.

“Any thoughts?” I practically demand.

Bas shakes his head. “I don’t get it. Cats?”

Tanner shrugs. A touch of panic creeps into my mind. “You don’t know what it might mean? What the curse was meant to do?”

“I don’t know,” Bas says, exasperated. “I’ve seen cats used in Celtic artwork before, but it doesn’t make any sense that it would be on a curse stone. Cats usually represent intuition and independence. What would that have to do with a curse?”

My hands run through my hair, scrunching my locks together at the back of my head. The tight hold I have on my hair is the exact opposite of the control I seem to have over this situation. The sharp sting of my hair pulling at my scalp doesn’t help me think as I would have hoped.

“Is it not a curse stone, then?” I ask.

“I don’t know what else it would be.” Bas shrugs helplessly.

“What about someone else in your family? Is there anyone you can ask?” I can hear the whine in my voice, but I don’t care. We have to figure this out or someone is going to die. Possibly several someones. I have no idea whether it will be Sibeal or Darcy, but if either of them dies, I’m pretty sure I will too.

Bas picks up his phone with renewed eagerness. “My cousin might still be at work, but if he doesn’t answer, I can leave him a message. It should be early evening for him right now.”

I stare down at the drawing, hoping with everything I have that Bas’s cousin will know something. My eyes close as Bas puts his phone to his ear. I focus on his voice.

“Hey, Noel, what’s up?” Bas laughs. They banter back and forth for a few minutes before Bas gets to the reason he called. “I wanted to thank you for those articles you dug up, and I have another favor to ask.”

Bas is quiet for a moment as his cousin responds. He laughs. “No, no, nothing that will require slogging around dusty old news archives again. It’s about curse stones.”

Tanner and I glance at each other as we wait for Noel’s reaction. Surely he’ll think we’re crazy, right?

“Of course, that’s why I asked you. I figured you might know a little about them after that business with your aunt a few years back.” Bas listens again, and I can’t help wondering what happened to Noel’s aunt. “Yeah, this is related to the articles. The girl who went missing, her sister lives here in town. We think something strange is going on with her, and it may have to do with a curse stone.”

Again, I wait for Noel to laugh or tell Bas to quit wasting his time. It doesn’t happen. I can’t hear what Noel is saying, but Bas’s expression turns serious and the murmur of Noel’s voice is no longer cheerful.

“No, my friend, Arra …” Bas pauses when Noel interrupts him. His eyes dart over to me before going back to the phone. “Yeah, that one.” I swear I see the hint of pink in Bas’s cheeks. “Anyway, she saw the stone. The sister has it. We just don’t know what it does, or did.”

Bas listens as Noel asks a question. “Cats,” Bas answers. He shakes his head. “Seriously, cats. It’s weird, I know.”

The mumble of Noel’s voice is all we can hear for a few seconds. Bas eventually shrugs and holds the phone out to me. I take it feeling a little unsure. “Hello?”

“Arra?”

“Yeah.”

I expect questions about the stone, but Noel isn’t thinking about curses at the moment. “So you’re the bird that has my cousin all twisted up, huh?”

My eyes dart over to Bas with a “save me!” expression. He just shrugs. “Uh, I guess so.”

“So what’s holding ya up? My cousin, he’d be a good fella to you, even though he’s a culchie.”

“A what?”

Noel laughs. “A country boy! He told me you’re a townie, and townies and culchies don’t always sit well, but I can tell ya he’s a good guy. If you were his mot he’d treat you right.”

“What’s a mot?” I look over at Bas, but he’s too busy rolling his eyes and trying to grab the phone from me to answer.

“A mot? That’s a girlfriend. Hasn’t Bas taught ya anything?” Noel huffs. “Look, Bas isn’t into that bold stuff, nothing naughty. He’s as good as they come.”

“I already know that,” I say. My brain scrambles to explain. Tanner sitting next to me with a perplexed expression is making that difficult. “That’s not exactly the problem.”

Noel laughs. “What, you mean his sham? I mean his mate, Tanner?”

“Yeah.”

“Bas is better. Shouldn’t be too hard to figure out.”

“Uh, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Anyway, tell me about this curse stone ya had a peek at,” Noel says.

Glad to be off the topic of Bas, I describe the stone to him with as much detail as I can. Not sure I did a good enough job, I snap a picture with Bas’s phone and send it to him. He examines the picture and listens to the few clues I can give him with only the occasional grumble. The cats do seem to throw him for a minute as well. When I finish my explanation, the line is silent for quite a while.

“What makes you think this is a curse stone?” Noel questions.

Because Bas told me it was. I try to come up with something a little more intelligent. Quickly, I tell him about the reflections, the dreams, and the woman who gave Sibeal the stone. It crosses my mind at some point during the explanation that I may be baring my soul to a complete stranger who may think I’m a total loon. It’s too late to turn back now, though.

When I finish my spiel, I wait for Noel’s response.

“Hmm, definitely sounds like a curse stone to me,” he says simply. “What kind is the trouble. Arra, hold on just a minute.”

He doesn’t wait for me to say okay. He simply clicks off and leaves me on hold. I pull Bas’s phone away from my ear to make sure it’s still connected. It is. I shake my head at Bas’s interesting cousin.

“What happened?” Tanner asks.

I shrug. “He told me to hold on. I guess he’ll be back soon.” I really don’t know, though.

“What were you two talking about?” Tanner asks. “Seemed like it took him a while to get to the point.”

Bas grunts next to me, but doesn’t say a word. I’m sure he knows exactly what Noel and I were talking about. Turning to Tanner, I say, “Just a little harmless teasing. Noel’s a bit of a character, if you ask me.”

“That might be putting it lightly,” Bas mumbles.

Tanner starts to ask another question, but Noel is suddenly back on the line. “Sorry about that, Arra, but I had to make a call. There was something about the cats that was bothering me. I was thinking it had another meaning, but I couldn’t place what it was.”

“Did you find out?”

Noel laughs. “I came through on the articles, didn’t I?” He takes a moment to gloat before continuing. “Cats were known in more ancient times as the guardians of the Otherworld.”

“The Otherworld?”

“Sometimes referred to as the Underworld.”

“But, Darcy isn’t dead. Not yet anyway.” None of this is making sense! “Whatever the stone did, it was only temporary. It won’t become permanent until tomorrow.”

Noel considers this carefully. “Then perhaps she is trapped somewhere in between until the curse is either finalized or resolved.” I can hear his pen tapping against his desk. “Something about this seems familiar. A story maybe? A legend. I can’t remember where I’ve heard this before, but if you give me some time, I’ll look into it tonight.”

“You will?”

“For the beautiful and lovely Arrabella? Of course I will.”

I can’t help laughing. “You’re shameless, do you know that?”

“Just trying to help my cousin out. We may live oceans apart, but he’s still one of my best mates,” Noel says, serious for once. “I know how much he cares about ya. Can’t blame me for trying to convince ya what a good catch he is.”

“You don’t have to convince me of that,” I say. That is one thing I’m very sure about. Bas is sweet and caring, someone I know would always be there for me if I let him.

Noel doesn’t speak for a moment. When he does, there is weight behind his words. “Arra, will ya do me a favor?”

Considering what he’s doing for us … “Of course, Noel, just name it.”

“Ask Bas about the fire.” I try to tell him that I already know, but Noel powers over the top of me. “Ya may know the details of the event, but ya don’t know what it did to Bas. I think I’m the only one he’s really talked to about it, and he won’t even tell me everything it put him through. Talk to him, find out why he’s not like every other guy chasing after girls. Find out why he’s been waiting for someone like you. Will ya do that?”

Such a request terrifies me more than I can say, but I know I can’t refuse Noel. “I will.”

“Good,” he says, suddenly more cheerful. “I’ll call you in a few hours after I’ve done some research.”

“Thank you, Noel.”

I end the call and hand the phone back to Bas. He looks at me with concern in his eyes, but it’s not for me. I think he is trying very hard to figure out what Noel and I talked about just now. My chest tightens as I realize he’ll know soon enough. Not right now, though, not in front of Tanner.

“So?” Tanner asks.

“I heard you say something about the Otherworld,” Bas breaks in. “What did Noel say about it?”

“That cats were once believed to guard the Otherworld. He thought Darcy might be trapped between the real world and the Otherworld. What happens with the curse tomorrow will determine where she goes.”

“What does that mean exactly? Where is Darcy now and how is Sibeal supposed to determine how the curse will play out?” Bas asks.

I shake my head. Noel couldn’t tell me anymore than that. I hope he’ll find something when he goes home, but I can’t rely on Noel to figure everything out. It’s time to confront Sibeal.

“Bas, Noel said he’d call if he figures out any more about this, so keep your phone on you. In the meantime, maybe you two can see if you can find out any more about the Otherworld or the cats.”

“What are you planning to do?” Tanner asks. His arms folding across his chest are a clear indication of how he’s going to take my plan.

Squirming a bit, I say, “I’m going to talk to Sibeal. She knows what’s going on, at least some of it.”

Immediately, Bas and Tanner are throwing a fit. Tanner most of all. Neither one of them thinks it’s a good idea for me to go alone. Tanner was forced to stay behind when I was taken by the Aztec guardians. He tells me in no uncertain terms that he has no intention of letting me go again.

“Guys, nothing is even going to happen until tomorrow. I just want to talk to Sibeal right now. She’s got to be freaking out about now and looking for help,” I say.

“Why?” Tanner demands.

Looking at both of them, I say, “Because I don’t think Sibeal knows what to do with the curse.”

“Neither do we,” Bas reminds us.

“No, but we may be able to figure it out together.” I fix both of them with a firm stare. “I need to do this. Talking to Sibeal may at least show me what the goal is, saving Darcy or keeping her locked up. We need help, and Sibeal is the only one who can give it to us right now.”

Both look defeated as they are forced to admit I’m right.