Book

9

Through the Veil

Isobel Bird

CHAPTER 1

Annie stood on the street, looking up at the house in front of her. The street lamp beside her cast a warm pool of light around her feet, which were bare, and the cold night air chilled her skin. She rubbed her arms, shivering. Why am I outside? she wondered.

The windows of the house were dark—all except for one downstairs. There were white curtains hanging in it, but behind them she could see multicolored lights blinking on and off in a random pattern. They look like Christmas lights, she thought vaguely as she continued to watch the house. There was something familiar about it, but she couldn’t quite place it.

All of a sudden she saw a flash of light in the window. A moment later the curtains burst into flame as tongues of orange and yellow licked at the glass.

Fire! Annie thought. The house is on fire!

Then she knew where she was and why the house was so familiar to her. It wasn’t just any house. It was her house. Not the house she lived in now in Beecher Falls with her Aunt Sarah and her younger sister, Meg, but the house she had lived in when she was a little girl. It was her house, and it was burning.

Not again, she thought, fear overcoming her as she realized what was happening. Not again.

She tried to move, but her feet wouldn’t carry her forward. All she could do was watch as the flames in the window grew brighter. She wanted to scream, to call for help, but her voice was frozen inside of her. She knew that behind the window she was lying on the couch, where she’d fallen asleep after sneaking downstairs to plug in the Christmas tree lights and watch them twinkle. And she knew that her parents and Meg were still asleep upstairs, oblivious to the danger that was creeping toward them as the flames spread quickly through the house.

Then she saw a light go on in an upstairs window, and the shadow of a figure ran past the curtained glass.

Daddy! she cried out silently. She knew her father, awakened by the smell of smoke, was running downstairs to see what had happened.

Get Mommy! Annie called to him, feeling like the six-year-old girl she had been on this particular night. Wake her up! But she knew that her father, still half asleep, was stumbling down the stairs. She knew that in a moment he would see her, huddled on the couch, and pick her up in his strong arms. Upstairs, her mother, confused by the thickening smoke, would just be realizing the danger that was upon them.

Leave me! she screamed. Go help Mom and Meg!

The front door opened, and Annie saw her father emerge, clouds of smoke surrounding him as the fire was fed by the fresh air that was sucked into the house. A small figure was in his arms, her hands around his neck as he came down the stairs and into the garden.

That’s me, thought Annie sadly. That’s me he’s carrying.

Her father set her down. “Stay here,” he ordered as he turned and ran back toward the house.

No! Annie called out. No! You’re going to die!

But her father didn’t hear her. She saw him disappear into the mouth of flame and smoke. She saw herself standing in the garden, nightgown singed and hair disheveled, staring after him.

Why didn’t you stop him? she thought as she watched herself. Why?

But she could stop him now. She knew that. She could save him and her mother. All she had to do was run into the house. All she had to do was get her feet to move. She could find them and lead them to safety. They wouldn’t have to die because of her.

She tried to move forward, but she couldn’t. She was frozen, helpless, as she watched her house burn with her parents inside of it. No matter how much she tried to will herself forward her body wouldn’t obey her. Something was holding her back.

She woke up then, knowing instantly that the dream was over. That was how it always ended. But she hadn’t had the dream in almost three years. Why had it come back now?

Annie sat up and turned on the light beside her bed. She was in her upstairs bedroom in the big old house she’d lived in since her aunt had come to get her and Meg after the fire. She was nowhere near that other house, and many years had gone by since that terrible December night. But she could feel it all over again, the waves of confusion and helplessness that had consumed her as she’d stood in the garden, waiting for her father and mother to come out and tell her that it was all right, that it was safe to go back inside and climb into her cozy bed in the room down the hall from theirs.

Her father had come out again—once more—carrying Meg. “Watch your sister,” he’d told Annie as he’d put the seven-month-old baby in her arms and turned to go into the flames a second time.

But he hadn’t come back for them. They’d stood in the garden, Annie holding Meg tightly, waiting. But he hadn’t come. Only the neighbors had come, and then the fire trucks. The neighbors had led them away from the house while the firemen in their yellow coats and heavy black boots had gone inside with their hoses and their axes. Annie had asked them over and over again when her mother and father were going to come out, and they’d told her that it wouldn’t be long.

Of course they hadn’t come out. They’d died in the fire, overcome by the smoke and the flames. Annie had never seen them again. She’d remained with some friends of her parents until Aunt Sarah had arrived a few days later to take her and Meg back to Beecher Falls and their new life.

For years Annie had blamed herself for the fire and for the deaths of her parents. Countless times she’d relived in her mind the events of that night. Countless times she’d told herself that if she hadn’t plugged in the tree and fallen asleep it would never have happened. And countless times she’d closed her eyes at night and found herself dreaming about it all over again.

She’d never told anyone about her role in the tragedy, not until a few months earlier, when she’d faced death in a different way during a Midsummer ritual she, Cooper, and Kate had attended. She’d spent that evening acting as the squire of the Oak King, an actor playing the role of the pagan figure who ruled over the waxing half of the year. She’d watched as he engaged in a mock battle with his brother, the Holly King, the lord of the waning year, and was slain.

Although she’d known that it was all pageantry, and that the Oak King had not really been killed, watching his death had unleashed the years of pent-up emotion that had been brewing inside of her. After the ritual was over and he’d finished playing dead, she’d told him about her parents’ deaths and about her feelings of guilt. Somehow he had helped her understand, at least a little bit, that there was meaning and purpose to the way things happened. She still didn’t know what purpose there might be in her parents’ leaving her in such a horrible way, but she’d felt better.

Now, though, the full weight of those events had come crashing back down on her. In recent months she’d begun to reconnect with her parents through her memories and through some of their belongings—photographs and some small objects that had been saved from the fire—that Aunt Sarah had found in storage. Aunt Sarah also had some of Annie’s mother’s paintings, which Annie cherished greatly.

But with this reconnection had come renewed pain. Annie was happy to have the good memories come back, and she had been delighted to discover that not everything had been lost to the flames. She was particularly glad that Meg would have the opportunity to learn about their father and mother. But along with those things came some of the old feelings of guilt and responsibility.

And now the dream had returned. Annie sighed deeply, thinking about it. There’d been a time, particularly in the first couple of years after the fire, when she would wake up several times a week screaming or crying out for her father. Each time it was because of the dream, a dream in which she stood, unable to move, while her father gave his life to rescue first her and then Meg. Each time she woke up from the dream Aunt Sarah would rush in and hold her, telling her that everything was all right while Annie sobbed and thought, No, it’s not all right. It will never be all right because they’re gone and it’s my fault. But not once had she ever told her aunt that her tears and her nightmares weren’t just because her parents were dead—they were because she’d caused those deaths with her carelessness.

Annie got out of bed and went to the window. The moon, slowly growing to the fullness it would reach in less than a week, was hanging almost directly above the houses. It would be full on the nineteenth. Annie knew this because that was the day of her sixteenth birthday. When she’d looked at her moon calendar and seen that, she’d been thrilled. She loved full moons, and to have one on her birthday—especially such an important one as her sixteenth—seemed like a sign of good luck.

She still hadn’t decided what she wanted to do for her birthday. She knew her friends would do something for her. They’d already been hinting around about a big surprise, feeding her tiny clues in an attempt to get her to beg them for more information. But she’d refused to give them the satisfaction, even though wondering what they might have planned sometimes drove her crazy. As for her aunt, she’d been asking Annie for weeks what she wanted to do. So far Annie hadn’t thought of anything. Sixteen was a big deal. It felt as if she’d been waiting for it for a long time. She wanted to do something really special, but to her surprise she hadn’t been able to think of anything.

Suddenly she found herself wondering what her mother and father, if they’d been alive, would have done for her birthday. They’d always done wonderful things, like the year she was five, when they’d taken her to Golden Gate Park to fly kites, or the year she was six, when they’d hidden all of her presents and sent her on a treasure hunt through the house and garden for them. She knew that they would have made a big deal out of her turning sixteen.

She walked over to her bookcase and took down the photo album that she and her aunt had made with the photographs that Aunt Sarah had found some time ago while cleaning out some boxes. Returning to her bed, Annie slipped beneath the sheets and pulled the comforter up around her. Even though it was October, she had her window open a little, and the room was chilly. But it was warm beneath the blankets, and the light of her bedside table lamp was cheerful in the predawn dimness.

Annie opened the book and turned the pages, looking at the photographs. She and her aunt had arranged them chronologically, so flipping the pages was like watching the years go by. She saw herself as a baby being held by her father, whose face wore a nervous expression as he looked into the camera, as if he were afraid of dropping her when the flash went off. There were pictures of her in the garden of the house, playing with a kitten, and sitting on the laps of both her grandmothers, who had died before she was five.

It was fun seeing pictures of herself, but the images Annie loved the most were the ones of her mother and father. Whenever they appeared she paused, studying their faces. Her mother, with her long golden hair, was always laughing. Her dark-haired father was more serious, seldom allowing himself a full smile, but his eyes always shone brightly. Because her parents had usually taken the pictures, they seldom appeared in them together. But there were some, taken by friends or relatives, in which they stood side by side. These were Annie’s favorites. She looked at them for long periods, trying to decide if she looked like one parent more than the other. She had her mother’s mouth, she decided, and her father’s eyes. In general, she resembled her father more, while Meg was growing up to be a smaller version of their mother.

I just wish she could have known them longer, Annie thought sadly as she thought about Meg. She’d been a baby when they died, and remembered nothing about them. She’d missed out on knowing two of the most wonderful, loving people Annie had ever met. That, maybe, was the greatest sadness of all, and the thing for which she felt the most guilt.

She continued to turn the pages of the photo album, pausing here and there to remember or to wonder what occasion had resulted in a particular picture’s being taken. The more she looked at the images the more she remembered. In particular, she remembered the house at 279 Salingford Street, in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, where she’d lived with her parents. She could easily close her eyes and picture the little pink-and-white Victorian house with its funny peaked windows, white steps, and garden filled with roses and poppies. It had been a place where she’d felt secure, a place where nothing bad could happen to her.

But something bad had happened, destroying that veneer of safety. Still, Annie remembered the house warmly. She hadn’t seen it again after the fire; the people she was staying with had wanted to keep her away from the sight of it. And she’d never been back. She wondered now what had happened to it. Had it been totally destroyed? Had another house been built where it had stood? Was there still a garden?

She closed the photo album and set it on the bedside table. Ten years, she thought. It had been almost ten years since the fire. She’d lived without her parents for a longer time than she’d lived with them. Yet they were still an incredibly important part of her life. They were responsible for who she was, and what she had become. But what would they think of the person she was now? Would they be proud of her? Would they like her friends, and would they approve of her involvement in Wicca? She was pretty sure that they would, but it would be nice to know for sure.

She found herself glancing at the picture that hung on the wall across from her bed. It had been painted by her mother, and it depicted Annie as a little girl, being held by her mother as she stared out at a full moon that seemed to reflect the face of the Goddess. Ever since first seeing it hanging in an exhibition of her mother’s work, Annie had wondered exactly what her mother had been trying to portray in the picture. Now that it hung in her own room she looked at it a lot, and still she didn’t have any answers.

“If I could just talk to you,” she said out loud, speaking to the image of her mother. “If I could just ask you some questions.”

That’s what she wanted for her birthday, she thought. She wanted to be able to see her parents again, to talk to them and have them hold her. Just for a few minutes. That would be the best gift she could ever receive. It was also impossible.

She continued to look at the picture of herself and her mother. And as she did an idea came to her. She knew it wasn’t possible to get her parents back. But perhaps there was something she could do that would help her feel as if she were closer to them. Perhaps she could do something to help heal some of the pain she felt about their deaths.

She lay in bed, thinking. It was too early to get up, even though the excitement inside her was growing stronger the more she thought about her idea. Could she do it? She wasn’t sure, but she knew it was worth a try. She couldn’t do anything until the morning, though, so she tried to will herself back to sleep.

Eventually she did sleep, although fitfully. She woke up every half hour, hoping that the sky outside her window would be lighter. And finally it was. She looked at her digital clock. It was 6:13. Relieved, she got up and went to her bathroom to shower. When she was done she pulled on some clothes and went downstairs. Her aunt, still in her bathrobe, was in the kitchen making herself a cup of tea.

“Good morning,” Aunt Sarah said sleepily. “You’re awfully awake for this hour.”

“I know,” Annie replied. “I’ve been up thinking.”

“About what?” asked her aunt.

“My birthday,” Annie answered. “I’ve decided what I want.”

“Hallelujah,” said Aunt Sarah, adding milk to her tea. “So what is it? Clothes? Tickets to see some band I’ve never heard of? The complete works of Sylvia Plath? What does my soon-to-be-sixteen-year-old niece desire most in the world?”

“A trip,” Annie told her.

“A trip?” her aunt repeated. “You mean like to Paris or something?”

Annie shook her head. “No,” she said. “To San Francisco.”

Aunt Sarah looked at her in surprise. “San Francisco,” she said. “You’re sure?”

“Yes,” Annie said, nodding. “I’m sure. I want to go home.”

CHAPTER 2

“What would you like to talk about today?”

Kate looked at Dr. Hagen. “I don’t know,” she said. “What do you want to talk about?”

It was her fourth meeting with the therapist her parents had insisted on taking her to after she’d told them about her interest in Wicca. So far things had gone surprisingly well. Kate had expected the doctor to tell her that there was something wrong with her and insist that she must have severe mental problems if she was into witchcraft. But Dr. Hagen hadn’t been like that at all. She was nice, and although she hadn’t offered any opinions on the Craft one way or the other, she at least seemed to know something about it, which was more than Kate could say for her parents. They still refused to even say the word witch. Kate had noticed that they were even a little edgy about the Halloween decorations that were going up all over town now that the holiday was approaching.

“Why don’t we talk about the night of Cooper’s hearing?” Dr. Hagen said.

Kate sighed. She’d already told the therapist about the events of that evening several times. But Dr. Hagen kept going back to them.

“You went out with your parents that night to go bowling,” said the doctor, as if she were making a time line for a jury or something.

“Right,” Kate said. “My father thought we should do some kind of family thing, I guess. I’m not sure he even knew about the hearing, but maybe he did. Anyway, he insisted that we all go out to King Pins.”

Kate thought back to the night a few weeks before when Cooper had gone before the school board to argue against the ban they’d placed on the wearing of symbols associated with witchcraft. In particular, they had forbidden her to wear a necklace featuring a pentagram, or five-pointed star. She’d fought hard for her right to keep wearing it, and the result had been a showdown with the seven-member board, one of whom was Ralph Adams, the father of Kate’s former friend Sherrie Adams. Mr. Adams in particular had wanted to see all symbols of Wicca banned from the school, but ultimately Cooper had prevailed when a lawyer who also happened to be a witch had come in to help Cooper out. The woman was a friend of Sophia’s, who ran Crones’ Circle bookstore, where Cooper, Kate, and Annie studied Wicca, and she had provided the legal ammunition needed to reverse the board’s decision.

But that hadn’t been the most important part of the evening, at least not for Kate. And it wasn’t what Dr. Hagen wanted to hear about. She wanted to hear about how Kate had defied her parents and gone to the school board meeting to support her friend.

“We went to the bowling alley,” said Kate. “It was me, my parents, and my Aunt Netty. We bowled a game, and Aunt Netty and I won. Then my dad suggested we switch partners so that I would play with him and my mom would play with my aunt. I told him I needed to go to the bathroom first.”

She paused. The doctor waited patiently for her to continue. “When I went to the bathroom I just sort of found myself walking out the door,” Kate said. “I didn’t even change my shoes. I just walked to school wearing those stupid bowling shoes.”

Kate laughed a little as she recalled how silly she’d looked walking down the street in the shoes that were half green and half red. They’d been really uncomfortable, but she’d kept going.

“Weren’t you concerned about what your parents would think when you didn’t come back?” asked Dr. Hagen.

“Not really,” said Kate. “I wasn’t exactly thinking about that. I just knew that I had to get to that meeting.”

“Why was it so important to you?” asked the doctor.

It was a good question. The first time the therapist had asked her, at their session the day after the board meeting, she hadn’t had an answer. But she’d been thinking about it a lot since then, and she’d come up with one.

“I didn’t want Cooper to go through it alone,” Kate explained. “At least that’s what I told myself as I was walking there. I said I was doing it for her. And I was. But that’s not the real reason I went.”

“What was the real reason?” Dr. Hagen asked her.

“I was doing it for me,” answered Kate. “I was doing it because I needed to stand up for what I believe in.”

“Even though you knew your parents would be angry?”

“That’s the funny thing,” Kate said. “I didn’t really care whether they were angry or not. I mean, at first I thought maybe I was doing it to show them that they couldn’t keep me from being who I am, you know? And yeah, I knew my dad would go all aggro when he realized I was gone. But that was all just in the back of my mind. I really was doing it because I needed to. See, all this time Annie and Cooper and Tyler and pretty much everyone have been telling me that I need to let people know that I’m into Wicca. They’re right. But the person who needed to hear it most was me.”

“What do you mean?” said the therapist. “Obviously you know that you have an interest in Wicca.”

“Yes,” Kate replied. “I knew it in my head. But I needed to know it here,” she said, putting her hand over her heart. “I needed to know that it really meant something to me and wasn’t just this idea I said I believed in. It’s sort of hard to explain.”

“You needed to risk losing it?” suggested the doctor.

“Kind of,” said Kate. “I needed to make it real. When I went into that room and stood up with my friends so that everyone could see me, it made it real for me.”

“But you didn’t know that was going to happen,” Dr. Hagen said. “You didn’t know all those people would stand up.”

“No,” Kate said. “But I knew that if I went there something would happen. I can’t tell you how I knew, but I did. I knew I’d have to stand up and say, ‘Yes, I’m Wiccan.’ ”

Dr. Hagen wrote something down in the notebook she always seemed to have with her. “Now tell me about afterward,” she said. “What happened when the meeting was over?”

“That was the weirdest part,” said Kate. “When it was happening I didn’t really think about afterward. It’s like when you see those movies where the kids all stand up to the parents who won’t let them hold a dance, or to the people trying to close down their school or whatever. They always end it right at the point where the kids win and you’re all excited for them, but you never see what happens after that. All I was thinking about was how cool it was to see all of those people standing up with Cooper, and how great it felt to be one of them.”

“But at some point someone has to do something,” the therapist said.

“Well, people just filed out,” Kate said. “It wasn’t any big thing. I went to talk to Cooper and Annie and everybody, and that was it. Nobody on the board said anything to us, and there were no fights or anything like that. At least not until my parents showed up.”

This was the part she’d just as soon forget about. She’d been so excited about the outcome of the meeting, and about her own coming out as a Wiccan, that she’d almost forgotten about her parents. At least until the doors had opened and her father had walked in.

“My father figured out where I was,” she said. “He came over to the school to get me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so mad. He stormed into the room and started accusing everybody within sight of trying to corrupt me. Mr. Rivers tried to calm him down, but he was just furious. He told Cooper’s dad that he could let his own daughter make a fool of herself if he wanted to but that I wasn’t going to be any part of it. That’s when I decided it was probably best to just get him out of there. I knew if I didn’t someone would tell him that I’d announced to the whole room that I’m Wiccan. As it is, he found out anyway. One of his customers told him the next day at the store.”

Kate stopped talking. That was pretty much where the story ended anyway. Her father had come home from work and informed her that she wasn’t to leave the house for any reason other than school and intramural basketball league games until he said that she could. She’d argued with him for a while, but she’d known it was a lost cause.

“How do you think your father felt about your saying that you’re Wiccan?” asked Dr. Hagen.

“I might as well have told him that I’m a murderer,” said Kate glumly. “He just doesn’t get it at all.”

“And your mother?”

“My mother doesn’t get it either,” Kate answered. “But I think she thinks this is just a phase I’m going through. I mean, she didn’t even tell my father about the E-mail I got from Tyler.”

“Why do you think she didn’t?” said the doctor.

“Maybe because she remembers how much my grandmother didn’t like my father when they were going out,” said Kate.

Dr. Hagen nodded. “What about Tyler being a witch?” she said.

“I’m not sure my mother even thinks witches are real,” Kate replied. “Like I said, I think she’s convinced that this is just a phase I’m going through and that if they keep me away from my Wiccan friends I’ll forget about it.”

“But they can’t keep you away from them entirely,” said Dr. Hagen. “You see them at school.”

“For now anyway,” Kate responded. “My dad is still talking about sending me to St. Basil’s.”

“How would you feel about that?” asked the therapist.

Kate thought about it. Tyler attended St. Basil’s, which would be a plus. But she would miss Cooper, Annie, Sasha, and the rest of her friends at Beecher Falls High. It would also mean having to quit the intramural basketball team, which she didn’t want to do. Ironically, before her father’s meltdown she had almost had to quit anyway because a majority of the games were going to be held on Tuesdays, the same night her Wiccan study group met at Crones’ Circle. But now that she’d been forbidden to go to the class she had Tuesdays free. It was, as far as Kate could tell, the only possible bright spot in her otherwise dismal situation.

“I don’t want to go there,” she said. “I like my school.” Then she had a thought. “Couldn’t you tell my dad that sending me to St. Basil’s would be a really bad idea?” she asked.

Dr. Hagen smiled. “I don’t take sides,” she said.

Kate frowned. “Then what do you do?” she said.

“I try to get you to think,” the doctor answered unhelpfully.

“I’m tired of thinking,” Kate told her. “I think too much as it is.”

“Maybe we should do something different then,” said the therapist unexpectedly.

“Like what?” Kate asked, wondering what she might have in mind.

“Word association,” Dr. Hagen said. “I’m going to say a word and you tell me the first word that pops into your head. No thinking involved. Just say the first thing that comes to you.”

“And the point of this is?” asked Kate.

“Maybe there isn’t one,” said the doctor. “Maybe it’s just fun.”

“Right,” Kate said. “That’s just what me seeing you is all about—having fun.”

Dr. Hagen didn’t say anything in response. She sat back in her chair, thought for a moment, and then said, “Home.”

“Family,” Kate replied almost instantly. It seemed a logical choice to her, since her home was where she lived with her family. She wondered if it was the right answer. She looked for any sign of Dr. Hagen’s feelings about her response, but as usual the therapist’s face was unreadable.

“Friends,” said the doctor.

“Acceptance,” Kate said, surprised at how quickly the word came to her.

“Love,” Dr. Hagen said immediately.

“Tyler,” said Kate, feeling herself blush.

“Magic,” said the therapist, taking Kate a little by surprise. She hadn’t expected Dr. Hagen to throw out words like that.

“Risk,” Kate said, again wondering where the word had come from. But before she could think too much about it the therapist tossed out another word.

“Witch,” she said.

“Me,” Kate replied without even thinking.

Dr. Hagen looked at her curiously.

“Well, someday anyway,” Kate said.

Dr. Hagen shut her notebook. “That’s it for this time,” she told Kate.

Kate got out of her chair. “What was the point of all that?” she asked the therapist.

“I told you,” said the doctor as she walked Kate to the door. “It’s just a game. Oh, and by the way, I think maybe your parents should join us for next week’s session.”

“What?” Kate said. “Are you nuts?”

Dr. Hagen laughed. “Most people want me to tell them if they’re nuts,” she said. “Now, don’t worry. We’re just going to have a little talk.”

Kate snorted. “You clearly don’t know my parents,” she said as she turned and walked toward the waiting room.

Dr. Hagen asked Mr. and Mrs. Morgan to come speak with her for a few minutes. When they came out of her office Kate tried to read their expressions, but like Dr. Hagen’s, they were completely blank. What did she do to them? Kate wondered as they all left the office.

Neither her mother nor her father had ever asked her what she and Dr. Hagen talked about in their sessions. Usually they just rode home in silence, or her parents talked about something totally unrelated to the fact that Kate was in therapy.

This time, though, her mother turned to her shortly after they’d pulled out of the parking lot and said, “How are you liking Dr. Hagen?”

“She’s fine,” Kate said. “I like her.”

“Do you think she’s helping?” her father asked.

“Define helping,” replied Kate. She thought it was a weird question for her father to be asking her, and she was still mad enough at him that she wasn’t going to give him any breaks.

“Are you making progress with her?” her father tried again.

“I’m not a project, Dad,” said Kate. “It’s not like refinishing a bathroom, where you know you’re done when the tile is all set. That isn’t how this works. We just talk.”

Her father didn’t respond. He just looked straight ahead as he drove. But Kate thought about his question. How was she doing in therapy, and what was the point? She knew that as far as her parents were concerned the point was getting her to stop being interested in Wicca. But that wasn’t going to happen, so why was she going? Did she have a goal?

What she wanted was for her parents to say that it was fine with them if she went ahead and studied Wicca. She wanted them to say that she could keep going to the class at Crones’ Circle and that she could keep hanging out with Cooper and Annie apart from seeing them in school. She wanted them to say she could date Tyler and that they accepted him as her boyfriend. But she knew the possibility that these things would ever happen was about as likely as her becoming the next teen pop-singing sensation. Her parents didn’t want to understand witchcraft. They didn’t want her involved in it, and they didn’t want her hanging around people who were. That wasn’t going to change. Ever.

Thinking about that made her depressed. The truth was that she was enjoying talking to Dr. Hagen. Well, not enjoying it, exactly, but she was definitely getting something out of it. It felt good to be able to talk about her feelings with someone who didn’t expect her to feel one way or another. Her friends all wanted her to feel one way, and her parents wanted her to feel another. With Dr. Hagen she just had to say what she really thought.

She hadn’t even told Cooper or Annie that she was going to a therapist. She wasn’t afraid that they would make fun of her or anything; she just wanted to keep it to herself for a while. So much of her life had been made public recently that she wanted to keep something private. Dr. Hagen was almost like a journal where she could write down her thoughts and not worry that people were going to see them and make fun of them or anything.

“Dr. Hagen wants your father and me to sit in on your session next Saturday,” Mrs. Morgan said.

“That’s what I hear,” replied Kate.

“Is that okay with you?” her mother asked.

“Do I have a choice?” Kate said.

“You always have a choice, Kate,” her father answered.

Really? Kate thought. You mean the way I got to choose whether or not you took me to a shrink? But what she said was, “Whatever.”

CHAPTER 3

“We have to do something really cool for her birthday,” Cooper said. “A girl doesn’t turn sixteen every day.”

She, Sasha, and Kate were in the girls’ room on the second floor, hiding from Annie. They needed to discuss their plans, and they hoped she wouldn’t think to look for them there.

“What did you have in mind?” Sasha asked.

Cooper thought back to her own sixteenth birthday. She had received a car. And not just any car—a 1957 Nash Metropolitan convertible. She still sometimes couldn’t believe she actually owned it. But clearly Annie’s friends weren’t going to get her a car, so she had to think of something else. Still, she wanted it to be good.

“Dinner and a movie is out,” she said flatly. “We can do that anytime.”

“What about a concert?” Sasha suggested. “Limp Bizkit’s in town this week.”

“We’d never get tickets,” said Cooper. “Besides, that’s not really an Annie thing.”

“So what is?” Sasha asked. “It’s not like there’s some big science fair or anything. And I am not going to the museum again. There’s only so many times you can look at those paintings of moon-faced girls from Holland.”

“Whatever it is, I won’t be able to go anyway,” Kate said sadly.

“Not to worry,” Cooper told her. “I thought about that and I’ve got it covered. We’re going to have a little party during lunch on Wednesday. It means you’ll have to skip your sixth-period class, though.”

“Algebra with Mr. Niemark,” Kate told her. “No problem there.” For the first time in the semester she was glad that she had lunch during a different period than most of her friends. Any excuse to get out of math class was fine with her.

“I’m bringing a cake,” said Cooper. “You just have to show up with gifts.”

“That still leaves her big surprise,” Sasha said.

Cooper leaned against the sink and thought. What would Annie like? Sasha had only been half kidding when she mentioned a science fair and the museum. Those were the kinds of things that Annie liked to do. But they weren’t birthday things. They needed something better, especially now. Annie had recently been dumped by Brian, the first guy she’d ever gone out with, after she wrote an editorial for the school newspaper in which she both supported Cooper’s battle against the school board and revealed her own involvement in the Craft. Cooper knew that Brian’s reaction had been really hard for Annie, and she wanted to do something to help her friend forget about the breakup.

“I’ve got it,” Cooper said, suddenly thinking of something. “We’ll take her to a psychic.”

“A psychic?” Kate said doubtfully.

“Sure,” said Cooper. “I’m sure Sophia or Archer can recommend one.”

“I’m sure they could,” said Kate. “But why would you take Annie to one?”

“Because it’s fun,” said Cooper. “She can tell Annie what’s going to happen to her this year or whatever.”

Kate looked at her skeptically. “I don’t know,” she said.

“Oh, come on,” Cooper replied. “She’ll love it. It fits the whole Halloween thing, too. What do you think, Sasha?”

Sasha nodded. “I think it might be cool,” she said. “I mean, since we can’t get her into a strip club or anything.”

“Why don’t you like the idea?” Cooper asked Kate.

“Don’t you remember what happened the last time Annie got involved with telling the future?” Kate answered, thinking about the Tarot card readings Annie had done for the school’s spring carnival—Tarot card readings that had caused a lot of trouble.

“This isn’t the same thing,” said Cooper. “This will be a professional.”

Before Kate could answer, the door opened and Annie appeared. “There you are,” she said. “I’ve been looking all over for you guys.”

Kate, Cooper, and Sasha all pretended to be engrossed in looking at themselves in the mirror.

“Just checking our makeup,” Cooper said unconvincingly.

Annie eyed them suspiciously. “Not making any plans for anything, are you?” she asked.

“Plans?” said Kate. “For what?”

“I think my eyeliner is fine,” Cooper said cheerfully.

“Me too,” added Sasha. “Let’s go.”

The three girls turned and walked past Annie and out of the bathroom. Annie followed them.

“Just so you all know,” she said loudly, “I like chocolate cake.”

Cooper turned and glared at her. “How can it be a surprise if you start demanding things?” she asked with mock irritation. “Not that there’s going to be a surprise or anything.”

“I’m not ordering,” Annie said. “I’m just saying that if there’s going to be any surprising done I wouldn’t be sad if it involved chocolate cake. With buttercream frosting.”

“Okay then,” said Cooper. “Not that there’s going to be a surprise.”

They went down the stairs to the first floor, and when they got to the end of the hallway Cooper stopped at the door leading to the basement music rooms. “I’m practicing with the band this period,” she said. “I’ll catch you guys later.”

“Since when are you in band?” asked Kate.

“Not the band,” Cooper clarified. “My band. Schroedinger’s Cat. Now that everyone is back we’re starting up again. I’ve been writing some great stuff. I can’t wait to show it to them.”

She opened the door and went down into what the music students affectionately referred to as the Underworld. A portion of the basement of the school had been divided into numerous practice rooms, all of them soundproofed to a greater or lesser extent, and Cooper loved being able to go down there to work on her music. It was her part of the school, a place where she could get away from things and just let loose.

She found the room where the band was practicing and went in. Her boyfriend, T.J., was already there, playing around on his bass, and Mouse had dragged a set of drums in from another room and set them up in the corner. She was tightening the bolt on the final cymbal when Cooper entered.

“Hey there,” Mouse said, pushing her long brown hair out of her eyes.

“Where’s Jed?” Cooper asked, picking up her guitar case and setting it on a table so she could open it.

“He should be here in a minute,” T.J. told her. “He had to go see the Greeley about missing class yesterday.”

Cooper felt an involuntary shudder at the mention of Mrs. Greeley. The history teacher was far from her favorite person, and had become even less so after putting Cooper through a humiliating mock trial in her class a few weeks before. At the end of that trial, Cooper had been found guilty of overstepping the bounds of free speech. Cooper couldn’t do anything about having to take Mrs. Greeley’s American history class, but she wouldn’t mind seeing the teacher get her comeuppance somehow.

“What are we working on?” Mouse asked as she sat behind her kit and did a few rolls with her sticks.

“I’ve got some new stuff,” Cooper said. “That is, if you guys want to hear it.”

“So do I,” T.J. said. “Have some new stuff, I mean.”

“You’ve been holding out on me?” Cooper asked her boyfriend. She and T.J. frequently showed each other what they were working on musically, but he hadn’t shown her anything since the summer.

“No more than you’ve been holding out on me, apparently,” he retorted, blowing her a kiss over his bass.

“I was waiting for just the right time,” Cooper said. “Besides, it’s really new. I just wrote the lyrics this week.”

She took out the notebook in which she wrote lyrics, and opened it up. She’d been working on some songs she really liked, and she was anxious to share them with the others. As she read over the lyrics she heard the songs in her head, and she couldn’t wait to try them out with the whole band.

“Sorry I’m late,” Jed said, coming in carrying his guitar case. “The Greeley’s lecture on attendance took longer than anticipated. I think she was in a worse mood than usual.”

“She must be about to molt,” commented Mouse, making them all laugh.

Jed took out his guitar, plugged it into one of the waiting amps, and began tuning. “What’s on the agenda?” he asked.

“Cooper and T.J. both have some new stuff,” Mouse told him.

Jed raised an eyebrow. “Dueling songwriters,” he said meaningfully. “You guys better watch out—look what that did to groups like Fleetwood Mac and Oasis.”

“Please,” Cooper said. “T.J. and I are much more mature than Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks or the brothers Gallagher.”

Jed snorted while Mouse giggled. Cooper looked at T.J. and made a face. “They don’t believe us,” she said.

T.J. nodded. “Just to prove how well we work together, I’ll let Cooper play her song first.”

Cooper nodded. She looked at her notes and began to play a simple melody on the guitar. Then she sang. Her bandmates listened as she went through the first verse and the chorus. When she stopped they all nodded approvingly.

“I like it,” Jed said. “It could really rock once you add more guitar to it.”

“Yeah,” agreed Mouse. “And I love the chorus. What was that line about dancing in the stars or something?”

“The song is called ‘Dancing in Her Hand,’ ” Cooper said.

“ ‘Dancing in Her Hand,’ ” Mouse repeated. “Cool.”

“I like it, too,” T.J. told Cooper. “But what’s it about? It sort of sounds like a love song about a girl but not quite.”

“It’s about the Goddess,” said Cooper. “It’s about what it feels like to just let go and trust that things are going to work out. I wrote it after the whole school board thing.”

“I think people will love it,” said Jed. “Let’s definitely work on it. Now, what do you have, T.J.?”

“Well, it’s a lot different from what Cooper wrote,” T.J. answered, beginning to play a strong bass line. “It’s more along the lines of No Doubt or something.”

Cooper listened to T.J.’s song. He was right—it was different from hers. But she liked it. She could see what he was doing, and she liked his lyrics. She could easily imagine playing guitar to his bass line, and she knew audiences would love the song.

“Okay,” said Jed when T.J. was done. “So maybe we can have two songwriters. Those are both really good. Way to go, guys.”

Cooper and T.J. high-fived each other. Then Cooper decided it was time to spring another surprise on the group.

“I got us a gig,” she said. “That is, if we want it.”

“A gig?” Mouse said. “Where?”

“It’s a Halloween party,” said Cooper. “For some friends of mine.”

“Friends of yours?” T.J. said. “What friends?”

“Actually, it’s for a group of pagans,” Cooper explained. “See, every Samhain a bunch of the local pagan groups get together for a big masquerade party and dance. They asked me if we’d like to play.”

“What’s a sowen?” asked Mouse.

“Samhain,” Cooper repeated. “It’s what pagans call Halloween.”

“These are your witch friends, then?” Jed said.

“They’re not all witches,” Cooper told him. “But they’re all pagans. What do you guys think?”

“Well, a gig would be great,” said T.J. “But we’re not all pagans. What kind of music would they want us to play?”

“Our usual stuff,” said Cooper. “Plus I’ve written some more songs like ‘Dancing in Her Hand.’ If we get going on this stuff we can have the new material down by then.”

“Are all your new songs about witch stuff?” Mouse asked her.

Cooper shrugged. “More or less,” she said. “Why?”

“Just asking,” said Mouse, suddenly seeming interested in checking the position of her drum kit pieces.

Cooper looked at T.J. and Jed. “What?” she said. “I thought you liked the song.”

“I do,” said T.J. “I really like it.”

“But?” said Cooper.

“We’re not all into Wicca,” said T.J.

“You don’t have to be into it to play the songs,” Cooper said. “They’re my lyrics.”

“Why don’t we just hear all the songs and then decide?” suggested Jed.

“Sure,” Mouse said. “That sounds okay.”

“Wait a minute,” said Cooper. “I think maybe we should talk about this. Are you guys freaked because I’m writing about this stuff?”

“No one is freaked,” T.J. replied. “We all like the song. I think maybe we’re just concerned that the music might go in a direction we haven’t gone in before.”

“Right,” said Mouse. “It’s just that it’s not like what we’ve done before. But like I said, I think this song is great.”

“You just don’t want any more like it,” Cooper said.

“Let’s take it on a song-by-song basis,” Jed suggested. “That’s what we’ve always done.”

Cooper looked at the three of them. She wasn’t sure how she felt. Jed was right. They had always decided whether to work on a song after hearing it and discussing it. And they hadn’t always liked all her songs, even when they weren’t about witchy things. She couldn’t expect them to just agree to do a bunch of songs they hadn’t heard. And they all liked ‘Dancing in Her Hand.’ There was no reason why they wouldn’t like the rest of the material she’d been writing. They just had to hear it.

“Okay,” she said. “That sounds good. What should I tell them about the dance?”

“Can we let them know next week?” T.J. asked.

Cooper nodded. “I guess that’s fine,” she answered.

They went back to playing, working on some of their old songs just to get back into the rhythm of playing together. It felt good to be playing the familiar material, and Cooper easily slipped into the music. She played and sang, enjoying the feeling of being part of a group that worked so well together.

At the same time she couldn’t help but wonder if the time they’d been apart over the summer had changed things somehow. So much had happened to her, and she knew that in many ways she was a different person now. Her lyrics reflected that, and she wanted her friends to like the material as much as she did. But T.J. was right—they weren’t all Wiccan. Maybe they wouldn’t be able to understand everything she was writing about.

She was determined not to let her worries interfere with the enjoyment she felt while she was playing with T.J., Mouse, and Jed. They’d formed the band for fun, and she wanted it to remain fun. So she concentrated on just letting go and losing herself in the music.

After half an hour, during which they ran through five of their old standbys, she did feel better. She was relaxed, and she was relieved to see that even though they hadn’t played together in a while things still worked as well as they’d always worked. As she put her guitar away she felt confident that Schroedinger’s Cat would continue to be something she could look forward to being a part of.

They’d played through the last period of the day, and now it was time to go home. Cooper said good-bye to Mouse and Jed and then waited for T.J. to put his equipment away so they could walk home together.

“So, you really like my song, eh?” she asked him.

T.J. nodded. “It’s really good,” he said. “You’re a great songwriter.”

The compliment made Cooper happy. She loved the fact that T.J. appreciated her talents and wasn’t afraid to say so. Usually guys were all defensive and jealous when girls were good at something they were into also.

“If you liked that one, you’re going to love the others,” she said.

T.J. nodded but didn’t say anything.

“Hey,” Cooper said. “What’s up? You’re acting weird.”

T.J. closed his bass case and sat on the amp beside him. “It’s like I said earlier,” he replied. “Not all of us are as into Wicca as you are.”

“I know,” Cooper said. “But I’ve always written about stuff that not all of us are into. You, for instance, are not a disaffected, slightly hostile teenage girl, but you like my songs about being one of those.”

“That’s because they’re more universal,” T.J. explained. “I’m just afraid that these new songs might be a little too—specific—for most people.”

“Specific,” Cooper repeated.

“Yeah,” T.J. said. “You know, all about witchcraft and the Goddess and whatever. Not everybody understands that.”

Cooper looked at him. “So you think I shouldn’t write any more songs about this stuff?”

T.J. knew where she was headed with her questions, and he held up his hands. “I’m not going there,” he said. “This isn’t about being too public or anything. This is about writing songs that people can get into.”

“And you don’t think they can get into songs about Wicca?” said Cooper.

“I’m going to lose this argument,” T.J. said, leaning over and kissing her. “So why don’t we just go meet the girls and walk home. We can discuss this some other time.”

“Fine,” Cooper said grudgingly. “But we aren’t having an argument. Yet.”

CHAPTER 4

“So you’re really going to San Francisco?” Tyler asked Annie. They were walking along the beach, watching the gulls dive at the waves.

“Yeah,” Annie said. “We leave on Friday. I can’t really believe I’m doing it, but I am.”

“Are you scared?” said Tyler.

Annie nodded. “A little,” she answered. “I don’t really know what to expect. But I know I have to go. It’s time.”

“Have you had any more dreams?” Tyler queried.

“Not about the fire,” Annie told him. “But I have had some weird ones. Mostly I’m walking through a forest filled with mist. I don’t know where I’m going, but someone is calling for me. I try to follow the voice but it keeps coming from different directions, as if whoever is calling me is constantly moving.”

“Sounds sort of sad and creepy at the same time,” Tyler remarked.

Annie nodded. “It is,” she said. She liked talking to Tyler about her dreams. The two of them had been talking quite a bit in recent weeks, mainly because Kate wasn’t allowed to call him or E-mail him and the only way they could relay messages to each other was through Annie and Cooper. Annie was impressed with how concerned Tyler seemed to be about Kate and what was happening between her and her parents. If Brian had been even half as caring, he would have understood why I wrote that editorial, she thought. But Brian hadn’t understood. He’d just judged her without giving her a chance to explain himself. Kate was lucky that Tyler wasn’t that kind of guy.

“You guys are coming to the Samhain ritual and party, right?” Tyler asked her.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” said Annie. “I just wish Kate could be there.”

“Me, too,” said Tyler.

“This whole thing must be really rough on you,” said Annie.

Tyler nodded. “I really felt terrible about telling her I wouldn’t go out with her unless her parents knew about my being a witch,” he said. “I feel like I’m the cause of all of this.”

“Believe me,” Annie said, thinking about her own guilt over her parents’ deaths, “I understand. But it’s not your fault. She needed to do this. And don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t think she did it for you. I think she did it for her.”

Tyler looked at her and grinned. “That makes me feel really good,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” Annie replied. “I didn’t mean to sound like you weren’t a big part of the reason. I just meant you shouldn’t beat yourself up over it.”

Tyler looked out over the water. “Sometimes I just don’t get her and me,” he said.

“What do you mean?” asked Annie.

“Well, Kate’s not exactly the kind of girl I thought I would end up with,” he said. “She’s a jock, and she’s into clothes and makeup and all of that. She’s not out to her family about being into Wicca, or at least she wasn’t. I always thought I’d date someone who was more down-to-earth, someone who was into nature and reading and the things I’m into. Kate’s almost my total opposite. I guess I always figured I’d be with someone more like you.”

Annie didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to tell Tyler that she’d also wondered on more than one occasion why he and Kate were a couple. It wasn’t that she thought they were wrong for each other or anything; it was just that they were so different. But she’d never thought that she might be more Tyler’s usual type.

“I really love her,” Tyler continued, apparently oblivious to the meaning of what he’d just said. “But you have to admit that we’re sort of an unlikely pair.”

“I think you guys look good together,” said Annie.

Tyler gave her a look. “You know what I mean,” he said. “There’s a lot more to being a couple than how you look together.”

“Not for some people,” replied Annie.

They walked along in silence for a while, watching the waves crash. Then Annie said, “Why do you love her?”

Tyler turned and looked at her. “Why?” he repeated.

Annie nodded. “I know it’s none of my business, and you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. I’m just wondering. You guys are really different. So what keeps you together?”

Tyler thought for a moment. “You know what I think it really is?” he said. “I think it’s that she’s everything that I thought I would never find in a girl who was into witchcraft. Kate just isn’t what you imagine when you think about the Craft. She surprised me, and that was really appealing.”

“So, Cooper and I are what you expect in girls who are into witchcraft?” Annie asked.

“It’s less surprising that the two of you are into it,” Tyler explained. “If I didn’t know Kate and someone told me she was studying Wicca, I would be a little shocked. But with you and Cooper it makes sense.”

“Why?” said Annie.

“I don’t know, really,” answered Tyler. “With Cooper, I guess it’s because she’s kind of a rebel and doesn’t really care a lot about what people think.”

“And me?”

Tyler looked at her. “You’re smart,” he said. “You question things and you want to find answers. But you’re also open to new things, which a lot of scientific types aren’t.”

“I suppose I get that from my mother,” said Annie. “She was the artist. My father was a professor. He taught English. I know that’s not the same as science and math, but it kind of explains the academic thing.”

“Kate doesn’t make sense,” Tyler continued. “Normally she’d be the kind of girl who hangs out with the really popular kids and only worries about how she looks and whether or not people like her. But she was willing to give a lot of that up to try Wicca. That impressed me.”

“That all makes sense,” Annie said. She wondered if she would ever find a guy who was impressed by her. Was Tyler the only cute, sensitive guy around who wasn’t afraid to really talk to a girl and who was into Wicca? Probably, she told herself grimly.

“I just wish I knew what to do,” said Tyler. “I don’t think Kate’s parents are ever going to let her see me again.”

Annie said nothing. She, too, wondered whether Kate was ever going to be allowed to join them for witchcraft-related events again. From what she could tell, Mr. and Mrs. Morgan were being pretty definite about not wanting Kate to have any involvement whatsoever in the Craft. It was going to take a major miracle to get them to change their minds.

“I’m glad I have you guys to hang around with, though,” Tyler added.

He put his arm around Annie and hugged her. In the brief time when she was pressed up against him, Annie breathed in Tyler’s scent and felt the warmth of him on her skin where their cheeks touched. For a moment she felt as if she were back with Brian. Being touched like that, and being close to someone, made her feel good. It made her feel as if someone special wanted to be close to her.

Then Tyler let go, and they were walking apart again. Annie tried to hang on to the warm feeling that had filled her during Tyler’s brief hug, but it disappeared like the pale October light dancing off the waves. She crossed her arms over her chest and rubbed her upper arms with her hands.

“Are you cold?” Tyler asked.

“Not really,” said Annie. “Well … just a little.”

“We should go,” said Tyler, looking at his watch. “It’s almost four thirty. I’ve got to get home. Walk me to the bus stop?”

Annie shook her head. “I’m going to stay a little longer,” she said. “You go on ahead.”

“Okay,” Tyler said, smiling. “I’ll see you later.”

Annie turned and started to walk away down the beach. Then Tyler called after her. She turned around and saw him trotting toward her. When he reached her he leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek.

“Thanks for listening,” he said. “I appreciate it.”

He smiled again, then turned and ran for the stairs that led back up to the wharf. Annie watched him go, still feeling the soft touch of his lips on her cheek. When he was halfway up the long set of stairs, she turned and continued on alone.

She walked to the far end of the beach and crossed the line of large stones that marked the official boundary. Beyond it was the small cove where she, Kate, and Cooper had performed their first real ritual together back in February. It was a special place, one she went to when she wanted to get away from things and just think. Now, with twilight falling, it was deserted and she had it all to herself.

She climbed onto a large rock and sat down. The sky above her was purple and gray as the sun set, and the ocean stretched out as far as she could see, a rippling dark blanket covering the world. She looked out at it and hugged her knees to her chest.

Then she began to cry. This surprised her. She hadn’t planned on breaking out in tears, hadn’t known that the warm, wet drops that trickled slowly down her cheeks were coming. But there they were, sliding over her skin and falling onto the sleeves of her sweater.

She didn’t even know exactly why she was crying. It was just that she was overcome by a great sadness. She felt empty inside, as if there were a space in her chest that needed to be filled with something. But when she tried to identify what she felt was missing, she couldn’t. She knew that she ought to be excited. Her birthday was coming. Then she was going to go to San Francisco with her aunt. These were good things. Yet there she was, crying.

Maybe you’re just crazy, she chided herself. But she knew that wasn’t it. Something was bothering her. She realized then that she had placed her hand on her cheek. Her fingers were resting on the spot where Tyler had kissed her.

She jerked them away from her face and pulled her hand inside the sleeve of her sweater, making a fist. Was that it? she wondered. Was she upset because of her talk with Tyler? It had reminded her of her breakup with Brian. Was that what the tears were all about?

She’d thought she’d finished crying over Brian. After all, it wasn’t as if the two of them had gone out for very long or had gotten particularly close. And she knew that getting all upset over a guy was not a rational thing to do. She shouldn’t still be upset over it. There was just no point. But that had to be what was wrong. Why else would she be so unhappy all of a sudden?

She breathed deeply and let out a long sigh, trying to let go of the sadness that had overwhelmed her. She closed her eyes, picturing the negative feelings leaving her body with her breath and scattering over the waves.

“Annie.”

Someone was calling her. It was a woman’s voice. Annie opened her eyes and looked behind her. Had someone followed her? She didn’t see anyone standing in the cove.

“Annie.” The voice came again, this time from a different direction.

It’s like my dream, Annie thought suddenly. The voice she heard was the same one that called to her in her sleep.

“Hello?” she called out softly. “Who’s there?”

There was no answer except for the shriek of a gull that was poking around in the rocks.

“Annie,” said the voice. “I’m here.”

Annie stood up and looked all around the cove. Someone was definitely speaking to her. But the cove was completely empty. If someone was calling her, whoever it was had to be hiding in the rocks. But why would someone taunt her that way? Was it someone playing a joke?

“Annie.” It was a different voice this time, but equally faint.

Now she was frightened. She couldn’t see anyone, and the voices were coming from all around her. In fact, they even seemed to be coming from behind, carried on the winds that swept in from the sea.

“Annie. Annie. Annie.” The voices surrounded her.

She jumped from the rock and ran to the boundary of the cove. The growing darkness that had seemed so comforting when she’d first arrived now terrified her. It had brought something with it, something faceless that called to her but refused to show itself. She didn’t know what it was, but she wanted to be away from it.

Annie scrambled across the line of rocks and headed back toward the beach. She scanned the beach for signs of other people, but it was eerily empty. Gone were the couples that usually walked along the shore, the dogs that danced in and out of the waves, and the people who came, like Annie, just to watch the water. The entire stretch of sand was deserted. This only added to Annie’s mounting fear. Where was everyone? Why was she all alone? It felt just like her dreams, only she was awake.

Her feet seemed to slide in the sand as she tried to reach the stairs that would take her to the wharf. She knew there would be people there. She wouldn’t be all by herself. She wouldn’t have to listen to the voices calling to her from out of thin air. There would be conversations, and the noise of cars, to keep her from hearing the sound of her own name being repeated by unseen mouths.

She glanced behind her as she walked, and now it seemed as if someone was following her after all. In the gathering dusk, she thought she saw a shadow slip from those cast by the large rocks, a shadow that moved across the beach toward her. She couldn’t see what cast the shadow. It was as if the shadow was the thing itself, a blackness that took form and moved of its own free will.

Then a thin veil of mist rolled in from the sea and began to sweep over the sand. As quickly as it had appeared, the shadow vanished. She could no longer see it, and she wondered if her eyes had simply mistaken the shadow of a bird flying overhead for something more sinister.

Or maybe whatever is calling to you is hiding in the mist, she thought. Maybe it’s waiting.

She renewed her efforts to get to the stairs, reaching them and practically throwing herself onto the first step. She grabbed hold of the handrail and forced herself forward, climbing as quickly as she could. Her knees trembled, and she was afraid she might fall, but still she moved upward.

Only when she was safely at the top, with the lights of the shops and the reassuring sight of other faces around her, did she stop and look back. Below her the beach was iced with a swirling layer of fog. The stairs she had just climbed rose up out of it, as if they emerged from the clouds. And somewhere in the fog was the thing, or things, that had called her name. They had escaped her dreams and entered the real world.

She walked to the bus stop. She wanted to be home, in her own room. But they’re there, too, said a voice in her head. And it was true. If the voices really were the same ones from her dreams, they could follow her wherever she went.

But who are they? she wondered. And what do they want?

This wasn’t the first time she’d heard voices talking to her. It had happened before. But that time she had been receiving messages from the goddess Hecate, and the goddess had shown herself to Annie. This was different. Annie hadn’t been frightened by hearing Hecate’s voice, at least not overly frightened. But this time she was scared. There was something about the voices that chilled her. They sounded sad, and lonely, and lost. When she heard them it made her feel that way, too, and she didn’t like it.

The bus came, and she got on it with a sense of relief. Running her pass through the meter, finding a seat, settling in for the ride home—these things all felt normal and right. They reminded her that she was in the real world, surrounded by real people, and not sitting on a rock by the ocean hearing things that probably weren’t there.

But they were there. She couldn’t deny that, no matter how hard she tried. She looked out the window and tried to think of anything but the one thought that wouldn’t stop running through her mind: Something was trying to get to her.

CHAPTER 5

“Kate, I’m open,” Jessica called.

Kate tossed the ball over the head of her opponent and Jessica caught it. Jessica jumped, the ball lifting from her fingers, and Kate watched as it swished through the net.

“Yes!” she yelled as Jessica ran over and they slapped hands.

It was the first game of the intramural league season. There were six teams, and Kate and Jessica had been assigned to the same one, to which its players had given the ridiculous name of Court Monkeys. Tara, much to her annoyance, had ended up on a team whose members chose as their moniker the even more inglorious Dribblers. But since the whole point of the intramural league was to have fun, the crazy names simply added to the carnival-like atmosphere that surrounded the games.

For Kate, though, the games were more than just fun. They were her only real time away from school and her parents. Although the thought that Annie and Cooper were attending the weekly Tuesday night Wicca study group without her made her sad, she was happy to be on the court, playing a game she loved. She also knew that although Coach Coleman said that nobody should take the games too seriously, she watched the players carefully and used their performance in part to select her lineup for the varsity team, which would start practice later in the fall.

Tonight the Court Monkeys were playing the Ballgrrls. So far Kate’s team was ahead 19–17, and she was feeling good about her performance. Unlike the rest of her life, which seemed to be totally out of control, her game was on. She’d scored twelve points so far and had only missed two shots. Not bad for your first night out, she congratulated herself.

She was running up the court, looking for an opening so she could sneak through and get under the net, when she looked up and saw her father sitting in the bleachers, watching her. He would have been hard to miss; he was the only one watching the game. Nobody came to intramural matches, especially not parents. Seeing her father there, Kate knew that he could only be there for one reason—to check up on her.

Mr. Morgan saw Kate looking at him and waved. She didn’t wave back. Instead, she turned and threw herself back into the game. There wasn’t a lot of time left, and she didn’t want to waste a second being angry at her father. But she was angry. She couldn’t believe he would come over to the school to make sure she was really playing, like she said she was. She’d told her parents that she was getting a ride home with one of the other girls. Clearly, they hadn’t believed her.

“What’s your dad doing here?” Jessica asked her a minute later as they stood waiting for one of the Ballgrrls to shoot a free throw.

Kate wasn’t sure how to respond. Jessica and Tara didn’t know the extent of the trouble she was in with her parents, and even Annie and Cooper didn’t know that she was going to therapy sessions. She didn’t want her friends to know any more than they had to.

“He probably stopped in on his way home from the store,” she said. Her friends all knew her father worked long hours at the sporting goods store he owned, so she hoped Jessica would believe her.

She seemed to, since all she did was nod and then get back to focusing on the game. Kate did the same, and in the next fifteen minutes she made six more points. Then the ref blew her whistle and it was all over. The Court Monkeys had won, 27–22, and they congratulated one another with high-fives and whoops of victory.

Kate walked in the direction of the locker room. As she approached the bleachers her father walked over. “Hi, honey,” he said.

“Hi,” said Kate evenly.

“Good game,” her father told her.

Kate shrugged. “It was okay,” she said.

At that moment Coach Coleman happened to be walking by. She patted Kate on the back and said, “Play like that, Morgan, and you’ll be starting for me in a couple of months.”

“Looks like it was more than okay to me,” Mr. Morgan said as the coach went to talk to some of the other players.

“I’m going to go shower,” replied Kate. She knew her father was trying to make nice with her, but she wasn’t in the mood to give him anything.

“I’ll wait outside,” he said.

Kate walked away without saying a word. She didn’t want her father to wait for her. She wanted to be able to get a ride home with one of her friends, like the rest of the girls. Instead, she was going to be treated to her own personal escort just so her father could make sure she didn’t try to make an unscheduled detour to Crones’ Circle.

She took a long time under the shower, knowing her father would be anxious to get home. Then she dressed slowly. When she finally packed up her gear and walked out to the parking lot she saw her father pacing around the car. She knew he was irritated, but she didn’t care. He was making her life miserable; he was due for a little bit of misery himself.

She started to open the passenger’s-side door just as her father said, “Uh-uh. You drive,” and tossed her the car keys.

She looked at him with a surprised expression.

“You need the practice,” he said, opening the driver’s-side door and motioning for her to get in.

Kate walked around to the other side of the car and got behind the wheel, while her father got in the passenger’s side and shut the door. He immediately snapped the seat belt in place, then turned to her and smiled. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s roll.”

Kate inserted the key and started the engine. What was her father up to? He never let her drive. It was her mother who allowed her the occasional turn behind the wheel. Her father always said it made him too nervous to be in a car with a student driver. Even her older brother, Kyle, hadn’t been allowed to drive when their father was a passenger.

Well, she wasn’t going to question it. She wanted the practice. Even if her father was just trying to get on her good side, Kate wasn’t about to turn down the chance to drive. She put the car in reverse and backed out slowly, making sure to check her mirrors just the way Mr. Caffrey had showed them in class.

When she reached the front of the school, Kate switched on the left blinker and prepared to turn. But her father said, “Turn right.”

“Right?” Kate asked, not sure she’d heard him correctly.

Mr. Morgan nodded. Kate flipped the blinker from left to right and turned the wheel in the opposite direction. She eased out onto the road and began to drive.

She had no idea why her father had told her to turn right. Their house was in the other direction. He was probably afraid I’d have an accident if I made a left-hand turn, she thought. But going right meant she could take the long way home, which also meant even more driving.

Her father didn’t say anything as they drove along. Kate figured that he was probably too tense, waiting for her to make some mistake. She was extremely careful to be on her best behavior, watching the speed limit and driving with the utmost care. She wanted to prove to her father that she was responsible, that she could handle herself and make good decisions.

“Turn here,” her father said, again surprising her. The right-hand turn he was indicating would take them even farther from home.

Again she did as he said, not asking why. The road they were on was narrow, with lots of curves in it, and she had to concentrate as she navigated the twists and turns in the dark with only her headlights to guide her.

Then she saw, somewhere ahead of her, flashing lights. They flickered in the dark like giant fireflies doing a crazy dance. Seeing them, Kate slowed down and looked at her father. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“Keep going,” her father said. “Just drive slowly.”

Kate drove on. When she rounded the next turn she saw a group of police cars. They lined both sides of the road, the lights on their roofs circling. Kate also saw an ambulance and a fire truck parked on the road.

“What is this?” she asked, confused. “It looks like an accident.”

“It is an accident,” said her father as a police officer waved Kate along.

She pulled forward, driving between two spurting flares that had been laid out to warn drivers away from the accident. As Kate passed the ambulance she looked to her right and saw that a car had run into a tree. The front of the car was crumpled, as if the vehicle had been made not of metal but of paper, and some giant hand had simply squeezed it into a ball. The windshield was shattered and thousands of bits of glass sparkled in the glare of her headlights. Both front doors had been wrenched off the car, and Kate could see dark stains on the road. She didn’t want to know what had made them.

“That happened about two hours ago,” Mr. Morgan said as Kate finally passed the accident scene. “Alec Noble from the volunteer firemen told me about it. Two kids from out of town. They were going too fast around the turns and hit that tree. They’ll both survive, thank God, but they’re both really beat up, and one lost a leg.”

Kate felt her stomach rising. Why was her father telling her this? Why had he made her drive past such a grisly scene?

“I don’t drive too fast,” she said. “And I always wear my seat belt.”

“Good,” said her father. “But that wasn’t really the point of this.”

Then what was? Kate thought to herself, but she waited for her father to continue on his own.

“Driving is fun,” he said. “When it’s done responsibly. But when it gets out of control, this is what can happen.”

“I get it, Dad,” Kate said. “I’m not going to be a speed freak when I get my license.”

“It’s not just driving, Kate,” Mr. Morgan continued. “There are a lot of things that can seem like fun that can wind up hurting you if you’re not careful.”

Suddenly Kate got it. Her father hadn’t brought her out to see the auto accident because he had concerns about her driving. He’d brought her out there because he was trying to equate the crash with her interest in witchcraft. She couldn’t believe it.

Her grip on the wheel tightened as she attempted to remain calm. She was so angry that she could feel herself shaking. Just what did her father think he was doing? There were so many things she wanted to say to him, and none of them were nice. But she knew she couldn’t lose her cool. That would just make him think he was right.

“You’re a smart girl, Kate,” her father said. “Your mother and I have always trusted your judgment.”

Until now, Kate thought.

“We know that the recent problems you’ve been having aren’t really your fault,” he continued. “You were just curious about what your friends were into. That’s normal. But you have to see that sometimes getting too curious can be dangerous. We just want you to use that good judgment of yours and make the right choice this time.”

Kate didn’t say a word the entire drive home. She just let her father talk. He kept repeating how much faith he and her mother had in her and how they knew that she would make the right decisions in her life if she just focused on what was right for her.

It wasn’t until she’d pulled into their driveway, turned the engine off, and gotten out of the car that she turned to her father and said icily, “If you really knew anything about me—anything at all—you’d realize that my wanting to be involved in Wicca is what’s right for me. But you don’t want to see that. You don’t want to even try to understand why this is important to me. So I really don’t think there’s anything for us to talk about.”

Her father stared at her, a stunned expression on his face, as she turned and walked into the house. As she passed through the kitchen her mother said, “Hi, honey, where’s your—”

Kate slammed the keys on the counter and walked past her mother without a word. She stormed up the stairs to her bedroom, kicked the door shut, and threw her gym bag on the floor. Then she stood there, trembling all over and trying to slow the beating of her heart. She couldn’t take it anymore. She just couldn’t take it. Her parents were treating her like she’d been rescued from some kind of cult and needed to be deprogrammed. They watched her every move, waiting for her to do something suspicious. She was starting to wonder if they’d bugged her room or if they went through her stuff when she wasn’t home.

She walked to her closet and looked in the far corner for the shoebox in which she kept the few ritual objects she had in the house. She kept most of them at Annie’s, but she liked to have a few things around for her own use, like candles and some incense. She wished she could have an altar, like Annie and Cooper had, but that wasn’t possible with her parents as upset as they were about the idea of her practicing witchcraft.

She lifted the sleeping bag under which she had hidden the box. The box was gone. Someone had come in while she was at school and taken it, and there was absolutely no question about who that someone was. Or someones, she thought angrily as she shut the closet door.

She had to do something. But what? She couldn’t run away, which is what she was sort of tempted to do. That would just be stupid, and it wouldn’t solve the problem. Neither would arguing. Her parents weren’t going to listen to anything she had to say as long as they thought she was just being stubborn or belligerent. She needed to find a different way to deal with them.

Meditate. The word flashed into her mind.

I can’t meditate now, Kate argued with herself. I’m too mad.

Meditate. The word came to her again. And again she brushed it aside. But it refused to go away, and the more she thought about it the more it made sense. Sophia was always telling them that the point of meditation was to focus intention. That’s what she needed to do—focus. She needed to channel her energy and use it to find a solution to her problem.

But I don’t have anything I need, she thought helplessly. Her candles, her matches—everything that had been in the box was gone.

You don’t need those things, her inner voice told her. And again she remembered Sophia telling them that the tools of witchcraft were just that—tools. They helped you do the job you needed to do. But the real power behind all magical workings was the force of your own intentions, the power you had within yourself. If that was working properly you didn’t need the tools.

Kate sat down in the middle of her room and closed her eyes. She breathed deeply. It felt strange just sitting there with no candle to focus on. She felt as if there should be more to it, and her mind kept filling with excuses about why she was wasting her time.

One by one she brushed them aside. She imagined herself in her favorite place, a hilltop from which she could look out over meadows and forests. She pictured herself sitting in a ring of flowers—her magic circle. Already she could feel her breathing coming more easily, and some of the anger she felt toward her parents slipped away.

After a minute she began the familiar exercise of drawing energy from the earth and letting it fill her. When she could really feel it moving throughout her body she imagined the anger inside her as a black ball. She let the energy swirl around the ball, breaking it up into millions of tiny pieces so that it was completely destroyed. Then she let the energy run out through her hands, going back into the earth and taking the anger with it, leaving her feeling clean and refreshed.

The meditation was the first thing she had tried after finding the book that had introduced her to Wicca. She’d been doing variations on it ever since, and never failed to be amazed at how good it made her feel. It made her feel even better now because it had helped her get rid of some of the negative feelings she’d been gripped by since her father’s lecture ambush. Doing it successfully proved to her that she really didn’t need to be in a Wicca study group to practice the principles of the Craft. She didn’t need to do rituals with Annie and Cooper to keep up her abilities. Those rituals would be nice—fantastic, in fact—but she saw now that although her parents could take away the class and her time with her friends and even her ritual tools, they couldn’t take away everything she’d learned.

She hadn’t solved her problem. She realized that. But she’d proved something to herself, and it was something that made her feel good. The rest could wait for a while. If there was one thing Kate had learned during her months of study, it was that the hardest magic—the strongest magic—took time.

She opened her eyes. As she did she saw the door to her bedroom close. Someone had been watching her. But who had it been, and how much had that person seen?

CHAPTER 6

“Happy birthday, dear Annie. Happy birthday to you.”

Annie sat at the table in the cafeteria, surrounded by her friends. In front of her was a huge chocolate cake covered with candles. She listened as Cooper, Sasha, Kate, Jessica, Tara, and T.J. finished singing. Then she leaned over and blew out the candles.

“What did you wish?” Tara asked her.

“For a date with Ricky Martin,” answered Annie untruthfully. She wasn’t about to tell them what she’d really wished for.

Cooper took a knife and began to cut the cake, putting the slices on the brightly colored paper plates she’d brought with her. She’d already made everybody put on pointed birthday hats. She was enjoying the silliness of the occasion, and she was glad that Annie seemed to be having a good time.

“You remembered the buttercream frosting,” Annie said as she took a bite of the cake.

“Anything for your special day,” Cooper said sweetly. “Now eat.”

After Cooper had handed out cake to everyone Kate picked up a wrapped gift and put it in front of Annie. “Happy birthday,” she said.

Annie tore off the paper and looked at what was inside. “A moon calendar for next year!” she said. “Very cool. Now I can keep track of when it’s waxing and waning.”

“I had Cooper pick it up at the bookstore for me,” Kate said.

“So that’s what was in the package you had last night after class,” said Annie.

“I had Archer get it while Julia was explaining candle magic to us,” said Cooper. “Luckily you were way too into it to notice.”

“This is from me and Jess,” Tara said as she handed Annie a second present.

“Thanks!” Annie said, genuinely surprised and happy that Tara and Jessica had gotten her something.

She opened their gift and gasped. “I was just looking at this at the store,” she exclaimed as she held up a beautiful pale blue sweater. “Thanks, you guys.”

T.J. took a small gift out of his pocket and slid it across the table to her. “This isn’t quite as fancy,” he said, “but maybe you’ll like it anyway.”

Annie opened the present and examined it. “It’s a tape of Schroedinger’s Cat songs,” she told everyone.

T.J. blushed slightly. “It’s our first real recording,” he said.

“Even if we did just record it in the garage,” added Cooper. “Still, it’ll be worth something someday when we’re on the cover of Rolling Stone.”

She took an envelope and handed it to Annie. “And this is from Sasha and me,” she said.

Annie opened the envelope and pulled out a card. As she opened it something fluttered out and landed on the table. It was a piece of paper. Annie picked it up and looked at it closely.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Just read it,” Cooper replied.

“ ‘This coupon entitles you to one evening of fun and surprises with two of your very best friends in the whole world,’ ” Annie read. “ ‘The adventure begins at six o’ clock P.M. with dinner at El Burrito.’ ”

“Mexican food,” Annie said. “Very yummy. But what’s the surprise part?”

“That’s for us to know and you to find out,” said Sasha. “But I think you’ll like it.”

Annie tried to get them to tell her what they had planned, but no matter how much she begged they wouldn’t say a word. She wasn’t any better at getting anything out of Kate, so finally she gave up. Besides, there was cake to enjoy for the moment, as well as the fact that her friends were all there with her. It made her forget about the frightening events of the preceding evening.

“Did your aunt do anything for your birthday?” Jessica asked her as they were scraping the last of the cake off their plates.

“She made blueberry pancakes for breakfast,” Annie said. “Everyone seems to think I need to be fed now that I’m sixteen. Her big present is the trip to San Francisco this weekend.”

“That’s going to be so much fun,” Kate said. “I wish I could go.”

“I hope it’s fun,” said Annie. “I’m a little nervous about it. I haven’t been there in almost ten years. I’m afraid nothing will be the way I remember it.”

“It probably won’t be,” said T.J. “Things usually aren’t exactly the way you remember them. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be fun.”

Annie nodded. She hadn’t let herself think too much about the San Francisco trip. She was really excited about going, but she was also apprehensive. She didn’t know what she was going to find there, or even what she was looking for, really. She just knew she had to go back for something. But worrying about that could wait. Right now she was having a good time.

“This is the best birthday ever,” she told her friends as she looked around at their faces.

“Well, mine is next,” Kate reminded them. “And it’s only eighty days away, so start planning now.”

They finished lunch and then went to their classes. For the rest of the day Annie wondered what Cooper and Sasha had planned for her after dinner. She tried once more, on the walk home, to get some information out of them, but they wouldn’t crack. By the time five thirty came and Cooper arrived at her door in the Nash to pick her up, she was nearly bursting with anticipation.

They picked up Sasha at Thea’s house and drove to the restaurant. Inside, they were led to a table in the back and sat down.

“Okay,” Annie said. “Now will you tell me what’s happening after dinner?”

“What do you think is happening?” asked Cooper as she munched on some nachos from the bowl on the table.

“I’ve narrowed it down to either roller skating or karaoke,” Annie replied.

“Wrong on both counts,” Sasha said. “It’s even better than hearing Cooper do ‘Hound Dog.’ ”

“We’re not going to tell you,” Cooper said. “So you might as well just stop trying to figure it out.”

Momentarily defeated, Annie opened her menu and looked over the choices. It all looked good, and she had a difficult time deciding what she wanted. But she narrowed it down to two things, and when the waiter came she ordered chicken enchiladas with mole sauce.

“How’s it feel to be all grown up?” Sasha asked when their food came and they were all chewing.

“Pretty much the same as it did yesterday,” said Annie. “Besides, I won’t feel grown up until I can vote.”

“Not me,” Sasha said. “When I turn sixteen in March I’ll feel like I’ve gotten there. I mean, hey, you can quit school when you’re sixteen, right?”

“I didn’t say I was going to,” she said when the other two stopped eating and glared at her. “I’m just saying you can. Anyway, there’s something kind of magical about sixteen, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, acne and real breasts,” Cooper said. “Big fun.”

“I guess there is something sort of magical about it,” Annie said. “It’s like this weird twilight time between being a kid and being totally grown up.”

It was true, when she thought about it. She did feel sort of different. It wasn’t anything she could put her finger on, but something inside her had changed. Or maybe it had been slowly changing for a long time and she was just now noticing it. And it wasn’t just the changes that had occurred in her since she’d invoked the goddess Freya. Those were changes she could definitely identify. This was something else, a subtle shift in the way she looked at things and felt about things, a change in the way she saw the world. She just didn’t have a name for it.

They finished eating, and after Cooper and Sasha paid the bill, Cooper looked at Annie. “Ready for the rest of the night to begin?” she asked.

Annie was more than ready, and she eagerly followed Cooper and Sasha back to the car and got in. As they pulled out of El Burrito’s parking lot and started driving she tried to figure out where they were taking her. But they drove right by all of the places she’d thought they might be going. Finally, when they pulled up in front of a house she’d never seen before, she was puzzled.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Your surprise,” said Cooper, getting out. “Come on.”

Annie followed her friends as they walked up to the door of the house and rang the bell. A moment later the door opened and she was looking into the face of a tall woman with long, curly brown hair. She was dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt, and when she saw the girls she smiled kindly.

“Come in,” she said, stepping back and motioning for them to enter the house.

They stepped inside, and the woman shut the door behind them. “You must be Annie,” she said, holding out her hand. “I’m Jace Myers.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” said Annie, shaking the woman’s hand while looking at her friends with a confused expression. “I hope this doesn’t sound rude, but why are we here?” she asked.

“Jace is a psychic,” Cooper told her.

Annie looked at Jace again. “You are?” she said, surprised.

Jace laughed. “I know,” she said. “I don’t look the part.”

Annie blushed. “It’s not that,” she said. “It’s just that I was expecting roller skating.”

“We thought this would be fun,” Sasha said. “Jace can tell your future.”

“Well, not quite,” said Jace. “What I do is see what’s going on around you on a psychic level. Come on in and sit down.”

She led them into a living room and indicated a comfortable-looking couch and armchairs for them to sit in. Annie sat in the chair and looked around. Jace’s house was really beautiful. The wood floors were covered with soft carpets, there were paintings on the walls, and in the fireplace a small fire crackled merrily. There were several candles on the coffee table around which they sat, and they gave off the scent of vanilla as they burned.

Jace reappeared a few minutes later with a tray on which there were four mugs and a teapot. She set the tray on the table and then poured tea into the mugs.

“Mmm, mint,” Annie said as the steam from the mugs rose up and filled the air.

“I find it helps people relax,” Jace told her as she handed her a mug. “There’s milk and honey if you want it.”

“What exactly are we going to do?” Annie asked, taking a sip from her mug.

“Cooper told me it was your birthday,” Jace said.

Annie nodded. “I’m sixteen,” she said.

Jace smiled. “A big year, if I remember. It was a while ago. Well, birthdays are good times to do readings. Sometimes the energies around you are stronger then. I’m just going to do my usual thing and see what comes up.”

“Your usual thing?” Annie said. “So, are you a witch?”

“No,” said Jace. “I’m actually a rabbi.”

Annie was surprised to hear this. “A rabbi?” she asked. “I’ve never met a rabbi who was a psychic.”

Jace laughed. “Most people haven’t,” she said. “Then again, most people have never met a woman who was a rabbi, so I guess I’m just a mystery all around. But I’ve been very psychic ever since I was a child. My father, who is also a rabbi, recognized my abilities at an early age. He helped me nurture them.”

“That doesn’t really go with the whole rabbi thing, does it?” Cooper asked.

“Some people might say it doesn’t,” Jace said. “I see it as just another way of exploring the universe.” She put her tea down. “So, shall we get started?”

“What do we need to do?” asked Annie.

“Nothing,” Jace said. She stood up and walked to a dimmer switch on the wall. Turning it, she lowered the lights before returning to her seat. “You can all sit just where you are. What I’m going to do is go into a kind of trance. Shortly after that I’ll begin speaking. I’ll tell you what I see. All you have to do is listen.”

Annie watched as Jace leaned back in the chair, closed her eyes, and took several deep breaths. She seemed to relax, almost as if she were going to sleep. Then Annie saw her give a little start. Annie waited for her to speak.

“Dark,” she said. “It’s so dark.” Her eyebrows knitted up as if she were confused. Then the lines of her face smoothed out again and she seemed less tense. “Someone is here,” said Jace. “Someone is close by me. I can’t see who it is, but I feel a presence. It’s very strong, and it’s trying to communicate.”

Annie leaned forward in her chair. Who was Jace sensing? Who might want to get a message to her? Then she had a thought. “Ben,” she said, thinking about her friend from the nursing home, the old man who had died suddenly over the summer. “Is it Ben? Ben Rowe?”

Jace’s brow wrinkled again. “No,” she said. “That’s not the name. It’s too strong. I hear too many voices at once. I can’t make out what’s being said. They’re pushing at me.”

All of a sudden the candles on the table blew out, casting the room into a web of shadows from the fireplace and what little light came from the lamps. Annie saw Jace jolt back in her chair, as if a great force had either slammed into her chest or had pulled her from behind, pinning her to the chair.

“Annie.” A voice emerged from Jace’s mouth. But it wasn’t her voice. It was someone else. It was the voice that Annie had first heard on the beach. Hearing it now, she was instantly terrified.

“Annie,” the voice said again.

“Who are you?” Annie said, her voice almost a whisper.

There was no answer for a moment. Then Jace replied in her own voice, “It’s cold. There’s so much confusion. I can’t—”

“Annie.” Jace’s voice was cut off as the other voice spoke again. “Come home.”

Home. The word rang in Annie’s ears like a bell. Suddenly she knew who was speaking to her.

“Mom?” she said hesitantly. “Dad?”

“Come home,” the voice said again, and this time it seemed to be two voices speaking at once.

“Is that you?” Annie asked, shaking. “Mom? Dad? Is that you?”

“They’re gone,” said Jace in her own voice. “They couldn’t stay.”

“Who was it?” asked Annie. “Was it my mother and father?” She was almost crying, and her hands were trembling.

Suddenly Jace opened her eyes. It was so sudden, and so unexpected, that all three girls screamed simultaneously. Jace looked at them and blinked.

“I’ve never felt anything quite like that,” she said.

“What was it?” asked Annie. “Was it my parents?”

Jace shook her head. “I can’t tell you for sure what was happening. There was such a rush of emotion that it was like being pulled under by a wave and not being able to come up for air. Whoever it was, they were really trying to reach you. I got the feeling that they’ve been trying for a long time.”

“Why couldn’t they stay?” Annie asked. “Why did they go?”

“They seemed almost lost,” Jace said sadly. “They didn’t know where to go.”

Annie put her face in her hands. She was afraid she was going to start weeping, and she didn’t want to.

Jace went to the light switch and turned the lamps up so that the room was once more filled with warmth. “Have you felt them around you before?” Jace asked Annie.

Annie nodded. “I heard someone calling me on the beach the other day,” she said. “But I couldn’t see who it was and I got scared. I ran away.”

“I don’t blame you,” said Jace. “If what you felt was anything like what I just felt, it would be very frightening.”

“But why would Annie’s parents want to scare her?” asked Cooper.

Jace sighed. “Sometimes spirits want so badly to reach someone that they get a little, shall we say, pushy. They try to break through the veil between their world and ours. They’re not trying to scare anyone deliberately. They’re just trying to make contact.”

Cooper nodded. “I remember that from when Elizabeth was trying to get through to me,” she said, referring to the spirit of the dead girl who had asked her for help in solving her murder. “I thought I was having nightmares.”

“Is there some reason your parents might want to contact you?” asked Jace.

Annie sighed. Yes, she thought. There’s one really big reason.

“They told you to come home,” Jace said. “Do you know what that means?”

Annie looked at her and nodded. “I think I might,” she said, thinking about her upcoming trip to San Francisco and suddenly wondering if it was a good idea after all.

CHAPTER 7

“What do you mean you don’t want to do it?”

Cooper stared at T.J., Jed, and Mouse in disbelief. They were in T.J.’s garage, about to start rehearsing. Cooper had her guitar around her neck and a pick in her hand. Right before she had been about to suggest that they start working on “Dancing in Her Hand,” T.J. had told her that he and the others had decided not to play at the Samhain party.

“We just don’t think it’s the right kind of gig for the band,” said Mouse nervously.

“It’s a gig,” Cooper said, “which is more than what we have right now.”

“Actually, it’s not,” Jed replied. “I gave our tape to a DJ friend of mine over at the college radio station. He really liked it and played it for some people there. They’ve asked us to play at a Halloween dance there.”

“I get it,” Cooper said. “You’d rather play for a bunch of college jerks than a bunch of witches.”

“They’re the audience we’re trying to reach, Cooper,” T.J. said.

“So now witches don’t listen to cool music?” she snapped. “Have you guys listened to the lyrics of my songs? They’re perfect for the Samhain dance.”

“That’s just it,” Jed told her. “We don’t want to do that kind of music. We like your old stuff better.”

Cooper looked at T.J. “What did you guys do, have a listening party to decide whether my new stuff is good enough?”

“No one said it isn’t good,” T.J. answered. “We just don’t think it’s what the band should be doing.”

Cooper was so mad that she couldn’t speak for a moment. She just stood there, glaring at her bandmates. How could they tell her they didn’t want to do her songs? They’d always loved her music. Plus, she knew it was good. Not just good. The new songs were great. “Dancing in Her Hand” was a fantastic song, and she knew that they knew it.

“The band can’t just be about one person,” T.J. said. “Before it was always about what we all wanted to do. Now it’s turning into what you want to do.”

“Maybe because I write the songs,” Cooper shot back.

“You’re not the only one,” he said. “And even if you were, it’s not fair to the rest of us to only do what you want to do.”

“Why can’t we just do our old stuff?” Mouse asked.

“Because I’m tired of it,” Cooper told her. “I want to do this new material. That’s what songwriting is about—your life. When your life changes, your music changes.”

“Well, maybe your life is changing in a direction the rest of us don’t want to go in,” suggested Jed.

“Meaning what, exactly?” demanded Cooper.

“Meaning maybe you should save some of your stuff for outside the band,” said T.J. “We can still do the stuff we all agree on, but some of the other songs just aren’t right for Schroedinger’s Cat.”

Cooper chewed her lip, looking at her boyfriend. Then she said, “Maybe it’s not the songs. Maybe it’s me who’s not right for Schroedinger’s Cat.”

“We’re not asking you to quit the band,” said T.J.

Cooper shook her head. “I know you’re not,” she said. “But I don’t think I can be in the band if I have to worry about what I’m writing.”

She took her guitar from around her neck and unplugged it from the amp. “I’m going to go,” she said.

“Cooper,” Mouse said. “We don’t want you to go. We just don’t want to play at the witch thing.”

“It’s okay,” Cooper said. “Really, it’s okay.”

She put her guitar into its case and snapped the case shut. “I’ll talk to you guys later,” she said as she turned and walked out the door.

She was almost to her car when T.J. caught up with her. “Hey,” he said. “Don’t run away again.”

She turned and looked at him. “I’m not running away,” she said. “I just don’t belong in there.”

“You started the band,” he said.

Cooper nodded. “I know,” she said. “But what I said in there was true. I’ve changed, and my songs have changed. Maybe they really aren’t right for Schroedinger’s Cat. You guys don’t want to play them, right?”

T.J. didn’t say anything.

“Okay then,” said Cooper. “I don’t think there’s much more to say about it.”

“But I want you in the band,” said T.J. “I love playing with you. You’re why I’m in the band.”

Cooper sighed. She put down her guitar case, walked over to T.J., and put her arms around his waist. “I love playing with you, too,” she told her boyfriend. “And we can still play together. I just don’t think we can play together in Schroedinger’s Cat. You write great songs, T.J. The band can do those.”

“What will you do?” he asked.

Cooper shrugged. “Who knows?” she said. “Maybe I’ll start another band and we’ll kick your butts.”

T.J. laughed. “Revenge through success,” he said. “Nice.”

“Hey,” said Cooper. “It worked for Robbie Williams, so why not me?” She paused for a minute and then said, “The band isn’t us, T.J. Just because I don’t think I can be in it anymore doesn’t mean I don’t want to be with you anymore.”

“What happened to all the yelling and screaming you used to do?” he asked suspiciously.

“You’ve mellowed me,” she said, kissing him. “Not. I’ve just learned a few things. I’m not saying I’m not upset about this. I’ll probably go home and throw a few things. Just not at you.”

She let go of him and picked up her guitar. “I’ll call you later,” she said as she waved good-bye.

She got into her car and pulled away. As she drove home she thought about what had just happened. She hadn’t told T.J. the whole truth. She was really angry. In some ways she felt betrayed by the band. But she had been truthful when she’d said she’d learned a few things. The incident with the school board over her pentacle had shown her that throwing a temper tantrum every time she felt slighted wasn’t going to help anything. There was a time for yelling, and this wasn’t it.

She was disappointed that Jed, Mouse, and T.J. didn’t want to play her new songs. She really liked the songs, and she thought they could be something great. If the others were scared off by the content she couldn’t help that. As she’d demonstrated before by going ahead with her spoken word performances and by standing up to the school board, she wasn’t going to let other people’s fears control her life.

But what are you going to do? she asked herself. You love being in a band. That was true. Music meant a lot to her, and she was happiest when she was playing. She needed to have an outlet for that part of her creativity, and the prospect of not having people to play with really bothered her.

T.J. had asked her if she was going to start another band. If someone had suggested that a few hours before, she would have said absolutely not. She loved Schroedinger’s Cat, and she couldn’t imagine playing with anyone else. But now she thought about the idea some more. Maybe she could start a new band. But who would she get to be in it? She knew that finding exactly the right people was really difficult. She’d been lucky to hook up with T.J., and not just as a couple. The two of them played well together. Finding someone else she could do that with was going to be tough.

She reached her house and parked in front. Getting out, she locked up the Nash and walked to the front door. When she stepped inside, her mother was standing there, looking through the day’s mail.

“I thought you were going to be at band rehearsal,” she said.

“I was,” Cooper replied. “But I don’t think there is a band anymore. At least not one with me in it.”

“You broke up?” she asked.

Cooper shook her head. “Just me,” she answered.

“What about T.J.?” her mother said, setting the mail down on the hallway table.

“Oh, we’re fine,” Cooper said. “This has nothing to do with us.”

Cooper had just turned to walk into the kitchen when her father came out at the same time, and they almost bumped into each other. “Oh,” he said, startled. “We didn’t expect you home so soon.”

Cooper looked at her parents. “You guys seem a little edgy,” she said. “Is there some reason you want me out of the house? Because I can leave for a while if you want to get naked or something.”

Her mother looked at her father. “No,” she said. “It’s fine. But we do need to talk to you.”

Cooper narrowed her eyes. “What’d I do now?” she asked.

“Nothing, honey,” said Mr. Rivers.

Cooper raised an eyebrow. “I must have done something,” she said. “You never call me honey unless it’s serious.”

“Let’s go sit down,” her mother said, walking into the living room.

Cooper followed her, wondering what was going on. There was a definite air of seriousness in the tone of her parents’ voices. But she couldn’t think of anything she’d done that might have caused a problem. In fact, she and her mother had recently gotten over the icy silence that had descended upon them during the battle over the pentacle, when Mrs. Rivers refused to support Cooper’s stance while her father took Cooper’s side.

“Did Grandma die?” Cooper asked suddenly.

“What?” her father asked.

“Grandma,” Cooper repeated. “You know, your mother. Did she die?”

“Not unless something happened to her in the last hour,” her father said. “She was fine when I talked to her. Why?”

“You guys just seem all tense and weird,” said Cooper. “If I didn’t do anything, then someone must have died, right? So if it’s not Grandma, then who is it?”

“No one is dead,” Mr. Rivers said.

“Cooper,” her mother said. “Your father and I have decided to separate.”

Cooper laughed. “Right,” she said. “What’s really going on?”

Her parents weren’t laughing. Cooper’s smile faded. “No way,” she said.

“We’ve been talking for some time now,” Mr. Rivers said quietly. “We think the best thing for us is to be apart, at least for a while.”

“You guys can’t separate,” Cooper said. “You’ve been together forever. What happened? It’s not like you fight all the time or anything.”

“People change, Cooper,” said her mother. “Your father and I aren’t the same people we were when we got married.”

“Is this because of the pentacle thing?” Cooper asked suddenly. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’re splitting up because you disagreed about that.” She stood up. “You’re doing this because of me. Because I made you take sides.”

“Cooper, it’s not because of you,” her father said.

“Your father and I disagree on a lot of things, Cooper,” said her mother. “But that’s not why we’re doing this. It has nothing to do with you.”

Cooper stood before them, not knowing what to do. She still couldn’t really believe what her parents were telling her. They were splitting up? How could that be? Other people’s parents split up, but not hers.

“Sit down, Cooper,” said her mother.

Cooper did as she was told, so stunned she couldn’t even argue. She just sat there on the couch, staring first at her mother and then at her father.

“We know we’re just sort of throwing this out at you,” said her mother.

“What happens now?” Cooper asked numbly.

“I’m going to be moving into the apartment the firm owns in town,” her father said.

Cooper nodded. It figures, she thought. The guy always moves out.

“It’s the easiest arrangement,” her mother explained. “But your father will still be here a lot. It’s not like we’re not all going to see each other.”

Cooper didn’t say anything. She was thinking about her father living somewhere else. Not only did that make her sad, but it meant that she would be spending most of her time with her mother. She and her mother had always had an uneasy relationship, one that occasionally resulted in fireworks. Her father was able to keep them from clashing too often, and Cooper was afraid that things would be difficult without his calming presence. In particular, she was worried that her mother’s grudging acceptance of Cooper’s involvement in Wicca might become a bigger issue than it already was.

“Cooper, do you have any questions?” her father asked.

“When are you moving?” she said.

“I’ll stay at the apartment tonight,” he said. “I’ll come back this weekend to get some things from the house.”

“How long do you plan on being there?” Cooper asked him.

Mr. Rivers shook his head. “I can’t answer that,” he told her.

“I guess that’s about it, then,” Cooper said. “I’m going to go up to my room now, if that’s okay.”

She stood up. Her parents also stood, and her father put his hand on her arm. “Cooper, it’s okay to be angry about this.”

Cooper looked at him. Suddenly she could feel her eyes beginning to tear up. “I’m not angry,” she said. “I’m just sad.”

Her father hugged her then, holding her close and rubbing her back. She knew he was trying to make her feel better, but she just felt stupid. At the same time, she didn’t want him to let go. As long as he held on to her she could pretend that he wasn’t going anywhere, wasn’t about to walk out the door and move into a new apartment where she and her mother weren’t.

“It’s going to be okay,” he whispered in her ear. “It really will.”

Cooper let go of him. Her mother gave her a small smile but didn’t make any move to embrace her. Cooper wondered if her mother was as apprehensive about living alone with her as she was about living alone with her mother. She felt as if she should say something to her, but she couldn’t think of anything that would sound sincere. “I hope we don’t kill each other” would just sound sarcastic, even if it was the truth.

“I’ll come up and see you before I go,” her father told her. “I have some things to do here first.”

Cooper nodded and left the room. Going upstairs, she went into her room and shut the door. When it was closed she leaned her back against it and sighed. “What else can happen to you today?” she asked herself out loud. “First the band and now your parents.”

She lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about what had happened with Schroedinger’s Cat and now with her parents. No matter what anyone said, she couldn’t help thinking that both disasters were at least partially her fault. If she hadn’t insisted on writing songs with lyrics the rest of the band couldn’t stand behind, she’d be practicing with them right now. And maybe if she hadn’t caused tension in her family over the pentacle issue her father wouldn’t be moving out.

You can’t do this, she told herself. You can’t start thinking that your involvement in the Craft is to blame for any of this. She’d done that before. She’d even quit the study group because of her fears that being part of Wicca was causing problems in her life. But when she was honest with herself she knew that was just an excuse. Practicing witchcraft wasn’t responsible for what was going on. But it sure didn’t help anything, she thought.

There was a knock on her door. “Come in,” she called.

Her father opened the door and came inside, shutting the door behind him. He was carrying a suitcase.

“I’m going to go now,” he said.

Cooper sat up. “Did you remember your toothbrush?” she asked, trying to make a joke.

Her father smiled. “And my clean underwear,” he said. He smiled sadly. “I can’t tell you how hard this is.”

“I know,” said Cooper.

“You’re going to have to be nice to your mother,” her father told her. “This is really hard on her.”

“That makes two of us,” Cooper replied.

“Three,” her father corrected her.

“You’re not seeing someone else, are you?” Cooper asked suddenly.

“No,” her father said, sounding shocked.

“Mom isn’t seeing someone, is she?” tried Cooper.

“No one is seeing anyone,” her father told her. “This is just about two people going in different directions.”

“And you’re positive this doesn’t have anything to do with me and the witch stuff, right?” Cooper said.

“Absolutely nothing,” Mr. Rivers replied. “I hate to break it to you, sweetie, but you had no part in this particular upheaval.”

Cooper smiled despite the sadness she was feeling. “I know,” she said. “I can be a real drama queen sometimes.”

“Sometimes?” said her father.

Cooper stood up and hugged her father. “I love you,” she said. “Come back soon, okay?”

“I’m only going into town,” her father answered. “You’ll probably see just as much of me now as you always have.”

Cooper pulled away. She nodded. “Okay,” she said as her father picked up his suitcase and turned to leave. But as he shut the door behind him she knew that she didn’t believe it.

CHAPTER 8

“Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seat belts for the descent into San Francisco International Airport.”

Annie looked out the window of the plane as she buckled her seat belt across her waist. Below her she could see green hills and blue water. It all looks so small, she thought as the plane began to glide slowly downward and the world rose up to meet it.

Half an hour later, having collected their luggage, Annie and her Aunt Sarah were in a shuttle van on the way from the airport to the city. Annie looked out the window. She was excited, but she was also worried. She hadn’t told her aunt anything about the voices she’d been hearing or about the visit to Jace Myers. But she’d definitely been thinking about them. A lot. She was sure that the voices were her parents trying to contact her. But what did they want? They sounded so insistent, and they made her so frightened. Were they mad at her for what had happened? She didn’t think she’d be able to bear that, although she wouldn’t blame them at all if they were. After all, it was her fault that they were dead.

“Does anything look familiar?” Aunt Sarah asked as they entered the city.

Annie looked out at the houses and stores passing by them. “No,” she said. “But it was a long time ago.”

She wanted to remember. She wanted to feel as if she was coming back to a place she’d been happy in once, a place that had been her home. But she couldn’t pretend to recognize anything when she didn’t. All she could do was watch the people and buildings go by and wait for something to bring back memories.

The van turned and drove up a hill. As they crested the top, Annie saw a park spread out before them. People were walking dogs, playing catch, and jogging along the paths that wound through the trees and bushes.

“That looks kind of familiar,” she said.

“It should,” her aunt replied. “Your old house is only a few blocks away. Your parents used to bring you here in the afternoons.”

Annie looked at the people in the park. There were many families enjoying it on this warm, sunny day. Two men were walking with a little girl between them, each of them holding one of her hands. Looking at them, Annie remembered what it felt like to walk like that with her mother and father. She had been so happy then, and it had felt as if nothing bad could ever happen. She hoped the little girl felt the same way. And when she saw a woman walking a big brown dog while a boy who looked about Meg’s age ran ahead of them chasing a ball, she couldn’t help but smile as she thought about how she’d constantly begged her parents to get a dog. They’d promised to get her one when she was seven, but the fire had ended that dream as well.

The van turned again and drove halfway up a narrow street before stopping in front of a small house. The driver got out and opened the door for Annie and her aunt. As he collected their bags from the back of the van the front door of the house opened and a woman came running out. Her long black hair was twisted into numerous braids, and the silky pale pink shirt she had on over her jeans made her cinnamon-colored skin glow.

“Sarah!” she cried, running to Annie’s aunt and giving her a big hug.

“Riza,” Aunt Sarah said. “It’s so good to see you again. Annie, you remember Riza, don’t you?”

Annie looked at the woman. A vague recollection of her face swirled in her mind, but she couldn’t quite place her.

“My hair was much shorter then,” Riza said, laughing.

Suddenly, Annie remembered. “You’re the one who made those sculptures out of glass bottles!”

Riza laughed. “You do remember,” she said. “Unfortunately, you’re about the only one who remembers those. Now I paint scenery for drama productions.”

The front door opened again, and this time a man came out. He had thinning silver hair that was cut short, and he had a goatee. When Annie saw him she cried out, “George!”

“Hey, Annie Bananie,” the man said, picking her up and swinging her around. When he put her down again he rubbed his back and said, “You’re a little bigger now than you were when you were six.”

“George used to baby-sit me when Mom and Dad went out,” Annie told Aunt Sarah.

“I know,” her aunt replied. “And he tells me that you never went to bed when you were supposed to.”

“That’s because he let me stay up to watch old movies with him,” Annie protested.

“No child should be allowed to grow up without seeing Casablanca,” said George.

“Do you still make movies?” asked Annie as they took their bags and walked up the steps to the house.

“Sure do,” George said. “I’ll show you the latest one later on.”

When they got inside George showed them to their rooms on the second floor of the house. Annie put down her bag and went downstairs, where everyone had gathered in the living room.

“What do you want to do while you’re here?” Riza asked Annie as she set out some chips and salsa for them to snack on.

“I hadn’t really thought about it too much,” Annie said. “I guess just sort of look around.”

“I think we can manage that,” Riza said. “And maybe one night we’ll go see the show I just did scenery for.”

“Great,” Annie said. “I think right now I’d like to go walk around. Is that okay?”

“It’s fine with me,” Aunt Sarah replied. “Do you want me to come with you?”

Annie shook her head. “Thanks,” she said, “but I’ll be okay by myself.”

“Just be back by six,” Riza told her as she rose to go. “Dinner will be ready then.”

Annie left the house and walked down the street. She went in the direction the van had come from. Aunt Sarah had said that her old house was only a few blocks away. That’s where she was going. She’d turned down her aunt’s offer of company because she wasn’t sure she would actually go through with it. This way, only she would know if she wasn’t able to do what she’d come there to do.

She reached the park and stopped. Which way was her old house? She tried to remember. She knew she must have walked there hundreds of times with her parents, but at the moment she was completely lost.

She closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of the city. It was different from Beecher Falls. She liked it. The warm air felt good on her skin, and despite her anxiety at being back in the city she’d grown up in, she felt good.

Suddenly she had an image of herself walking with her parents down the very street she was standing on. She opened her eyes and looked to her right. Their house was that way. She knew it for certain. She had walked down this street with her mother and father.

She walked in the direction she’d seen in her mind. She passed three streets before coming to a sign that read SALINGFORD ST. That was it. Her street. She looked at the houses. Did she remember any of them?

She was surprised to find that she did. There was number 65, where old Mrs. Wilkins had lived. Was she still alive? Annie wondered as she walked past, thinking of how in the summer Mrs. Wilkins always gave her and her friends lemonade. Then there was number 88. Her best friend, Milly Lefcourt, had lived there until she’d moved away, right before the fire. What would Milly think of my being a witch? Annie thought. She and Milly had dressed up like witches many times, pretending they had magical powers. Annie smiled as she thought about her old ideas of what witches were like.

She passed the houses slowly, looking at each one. Many of them had been repainted since she’d lived there, and now their multicolored faces looked back at her placidly. Others, like number 133, where her piano teacher, Mr. Gilman, had lived, looked almost the same but had faded from their former glory. But as she walked, the feeling of going back in time grew stronger. It really was as if she were simply walking home from the park or from school. She’d walked down that street countless times during her six years in San Francisco. Now, ten years later, she was doing it all over again.

As the house numbers entered the 200s, she began to slow down. She knew her house was coming up. Was she ready to see it? What if it had been completely changed? That would make her really sad. But if it looked the same, that would be even worse. It would be as if she and Meg had simply been plucked out of it and dropped somewhere else.

Annie was almost there. She passed 267, 270, and 273, then paused as she came to 277. That was the house she and Meg had been taken into right after the fire. The house where they’d sat in the kitchen and waited for their parents to come get them. The house where they’d been told that their parents were never coming to get them again.

She came to 279 and stopped. There was her house. It had changed, at least some, yet it still looked basically like she remembered. But she also knew that the fire had done the most damage to the inside of the house, so she wasn’t too surprised. She stood on the street, looking up at the round room on the left-hand side, the gabled roof with its gingerbread house–like decorations, the porch that stretched across the front. The house was a different color, the pink paint replaced by violet and blues, but it was still the house she remembered.

Even the garden was the same. Whoever lived there had added some purple flowers to match the new paint, but the big pink rosebushes were still there, winding around the porch railing and covering the fence that ran along the edge of the sidewalk. Looking at the flowers, Annie thought about all of the time her mother had spent in the yard, carefully tending the plants.

“We can’t get rid of them,” said someone behind her.

Annie turned and saw a girl standing on the walk. The girl was about her own age. She had light brown hair that had been pulled into two pigtails. Her battered leather jacket was covered with stickers for all kinds of bands and protest groups, and she was wearing what looked like a Catholic school skirt with a T-shirt featuring a picture of a big can of Crisco. In her hand was a comic book, but Annie couldn’t tell which one it was.

“This is my house,” the girl said.

Annie realized that she was staring at the girl. “Sorry,” she said. “I was just looking at it.”

“That’s okay,” said the girl, smiling. “It’s pretty, isn’t it?”

Annie nodded.

“We moved in about nine years ago,” said the girl. “There had been a fire here or something and nobody wanted to spend the money to rebuild the place. But my father thought it would be fun to fix it up, so we took it.”

Nine years ago, thought Annie. So the house had sat empty for almost a year before anyone had bought it. For some reason that made her feel sad.

“I’m Becka Dunning,” the girl said.

“Annie Crandall,” replied Annie.

“Did you just move here?” Becka asked her.

Annie shook her head. “I’m just visiting some friends,” she said. For some reason she didn’t want to tell Becka that she had once lived in the house. It was Becka’s house now, not hers, and she didn’t want the other girl to feel weird about her standing there staring at the place.

“Too bad you don’t live here,” said Becka. “We could use more people our age around. It’s lots of old people and people with babies.”

Annie laughed. “At least you have a beautiful house to live in.”

“Very true,” Becka said. “Do you want to see the inside? My dad did an amazing job on it.”

Annie hesitated. Becka was inviting her to go inside the house. Part of her was ready to jump at the chance. But was she ready to do it? She’d been in San Francisco only a few hours. She had the whole weekend to think about going in there. But what if Becka wasn’t around when she made up her mind? What if this was her only chance?

“Okay,” she said. “I’d like to see it.”

Becka opened the gate, and the two girls walked to the front door. Becka took a key out of her skirt pocket, inserted it into the door’s lock, and pushed the door open. She stepped inside, and after pausing a moment to try to compose herself, Annie followed her.

Almost instantly Annie was overcome by a rush of memories and emotions. To her left was the living room where the fire had started. For a second she thought she could still see the blinking lights of the Christmas tree, but she closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them she saw that the living room was filled with furniture that she didn’t recognize. It was also a different color, the once-white walls having been painted a cheery yellow color.

Annie turned around, looking at everything. Becka was right—her father had done a beautiful job. He’d restored all of the house’s original details, and it looked much the way it had when Annie lived there.

“Come on,” Becka said. “I’ll show you around.”

Annie followed her from room to room, only half listening as Becka pointed out the things her father had done. Annie was lost in her own memories, as each room made her remember more and more things about her life in the house. There was the kitchen, where she had spent hours watching her mother prepare food; the big room on the side, where her mother had often set up her canvases to catch the strong morning light; and the staircase that turned in on itself in the middle before going to the second floor. As Annie passed through each room she touched the doorways, ran her fingers over the walls, and remembered.

“This is my room,” Becka told Annie when they reached the second floor. She pointed to what had been Annie’s own room.

Annie stepped inside. This is where I slept, she thought as she looked around. Covered with Becka’s stuff, the room looked nothing like it had when it had been Annie’s, but she still felt a twinge of jealousy that it no longer belonged to her.

Becka resumed the tour, walking past Meg’s old room, which had been turned into what looked like a library with shelves of books lining the walls. Then they reached the large bedroom at the end of the hall.

“My dad’s room,” Becka said. “It’s a mess.”

Annie peered in briefly. She wasn’t ready to spend a long time in what had been her parents’ bedroom. Thankfully, Becka was already on her way to the third floor.

“This is my dad’s office,” said Becka as they reached the top of the stairs. “He writes his books in there.”

Annie looked inside. She saw a desk with a computer on it. The screen was on, and what looked like a page half filled with typing was displayed on it. Stacks of papers were piled on the floor, and there were more shelves of books. On the walls were framed posters of what looked like book covers. Annie looked at them more closely.

“Your father isn’t Grayson Dunning?” she said to Becka.

Becka nodded. “That would be him,” she said.

“As in Grayson Dunning, the author of the Changeling series?” Annie asked.

Becka laughed. “I take it you’ve read them?”

“I love those books,” Annie said. “I think I’ve read them all at least twice.”

Annie had first discovered the Changeling series a few years before in the school library. They were all about a girl who found out that she was part faerie and that it was her destiny to help prevent an evil faerie from using some runestones for evil. Only unlike the plain old f-a-i-r-y fairies of children’s stories, the faeries in Grayson Dunning’s books were the real kind, powerful beings originally from Ireland who possessed very strong magic. Annie had fallen in love with the books, and she eagerly awaited the release of each new one. She couldn’t believe that the author of her favorite books was living in what used to be her house.

“He likes to write in here because of the ghosts,” said Becka.

Annie whirled around and looked at her. “Ghosts?” she said.

Becka nodded. “The house is haunted,” she said. “That’s one of the reasons my dad wanted it. But don’t worry, they won’t hurt you. The ghosts, I mean.”

Annie could feel herself shaking. Ghosts. Becka was telling her that there were ghosts in the house. She needed to get out. She couldn’t stay. She’d made a mistake even coming to the house—she knew that now.

“I have to go,” she said suddenly. “I have to get back to where I’m staying.”

“Are you sure?” Becka asked. “My dad should be back soon. Don’t you want to meet him? He’d love to meet a fan.”

Annie didn’t answer. She was already walking down the stairs to the second floor. She was finding it hard to breathe, and she needed to get outside. No, she told herself. You need to get away from this house.

She’d reached the second floor when suddenly the smell of smoke overwhelmed her. The house was on fire. She could smell it downstairs, and she was sure she heard the sound of flames climbing the stairs.

“Annie.” The voice was clearer than it had ever been before.

“No,” Annie said. She turned one way and then the other, suddenly confused and disoriented. “No. Go away.”

“Annie.”

“I said go away!” Annie cried out.

“Hey, are you okay?” Becka asked her.

Annie clutched at her, feeling as if she might collapse. “I need to get out,” she said. “I need to get away from them.”

“Them?” Becka said. “Them who?”

“The ghosts,” said Annie. “My parents.”

CHAPTER 9

Kate was trying very hard to remain calm. She was sitting in the chair in Dr. Hagen’s office. But this time she and the therapist weren’t alone. Kate’s parents had joined them for the session, and they were sitting on the couch looking very uncomfortable.

Good, Kate thought. Now maybe they’ll realize what it’s like to have someone grill you about your feelings. She knew that wasn’t entirely fair. She actually liked Dr. Hagen a lot. But she couldn’t help but be a little bit pleased that on this occasion her parents were the ones who had to answer the therapist’s questions.

“Joe, why don’t you tell Kate some of the things about her that you admire,” said Dr. Hagen.

Kate squirmed. This wasn’t exactly what she’d had in mind when Dr. Hagen had suggested bringing her parents in. She’d thought maybe the doctor would tell them that she was completely well emotionally and that they were being way too harsh on her. Instead, she was waiting for her father to tell her what he liked about her.

What if he doesn’t come up with anything? Kate thought, her stomach tightening.

Her father looked over at her. He looked as if he would rather be anywhere else but on the therapist’s couch.

“Well,” he said, clearing his throat. “I think she’s a great ballplayer.”

“Tell her, not me,” Dr. Hagen instructed him.

He looked at Kate. “I think you play ball really well,” he said.

Kate looked at Dr. Hagen. What was she supposed to say? “Thanks” would sound really dumb, but she couldn’t really think of anything else.

“Now, Kate, why don’t you tell your father something you admire about him,” said the therapist.

This was worse than having to say thank you. Dr. Hagen wanted her to compliment her father? That felt really weird. For a minute Kate just sat there, looking at the floor. What did she admire about her father? She wasn’t about to say he was good-looking, or could sing well, or anything like that. That would be too embarrassing. So what could she say?

“I like that you always made time for me and Kyle when we were growing up,” she said. “Even when the store was really busy.”

Mr. Morgan nodded. “I haven’t been able to do that so much lately,” he said, sounding sort of sad.

“Don’t respond to what Kate says,” Dr. Hagen told him. “Just listen. Now, Teresa, why don’t you tell Kate something you admire about her.”

Kate’s mother looked at Kate and smiled. “I admire the fact that she isn’t worried about fitting in with everyone else.”

Kate blushed. Her mother sounded so confident. But Kate wasn’t sure that what her mother had said was really all that true. She did worry about what people thought of her. Not as much as she used to, but she still worried. Still, it was really nice to hear her mother say something like that.

“And what do you admire about your mother, Kate?” Dr. Hagen asked.

“I really admire how she’s made her business a success,” Kate said. That was an easy one. She was incredibly proud of the way her mother’s catering business had taken off. She knew it made her mother happy, and that made Kate glad, too.

Kate looked at her parents. Hearing them say nice things about her made her a little less anxious. She wondered if hearing her say nice things about them had helped them at all. Her father’s hands were still clasped in his lap, but her mother seemed a little more at ease.

It was funny, she thought, how her father picked something physical about her to be proud of while her mother had chosen something more emotional. Just like a guy, Kate thought. Why did guys have such a hard time saying what they felt? Tyler doesn’t, she reminded herself. That was true, but she hadn’t spent any time with Tyler in quite a while, and she didn’t know when she would be able to see him. So far her parents were still refusing to let her out of their sight.

“Let’s try something else now,” said the therapist, bringing Kate back to the moment. “Kate, I’d like you to tell your parents something you wish were different about your relationship with them.”

That one was easy. Kate had been complaining to Dr. Hagen about this subject since day one. “I wish they didn’t expect me to be just like them,” she said.

“Tell them,” said the doctor gently.

Kate sighed. She didn’t want to have to repeat her statement. But she did as Dr. Hagen asked and looked at her parents. “I wish you didn’t expect me to be just like you,” she repeated.

She felt better almost instantly. She’d wanted to say that to her father and mother for weeks now, but she hadn’t been able to because she’d always been too angry at them. Now, though, sitting there with Dr. Hagen nearby, she was able to do it, and it felt good.

“We don’t expect you to be just like us,” her mother said, sounding confused.

Kate looked at the therapist. Was she supposed to say something back, or were there rules to this exercise like there had been to the last one? Dr. Hagen simply nodded at her, so she guessed she was allowed to respond.

“Yes, you do,” Kate said. “You might not say it, but it’s what you want. You’re happy as long as I think the same way you do about things.”

“Just because we don’t want you getting mixed up with this witch nonsense doesn’t mean we expect you to think just like we do,” said her father defensively.

There, it was out in the open. No one had said the W word since all the trouble had begun. Now that her father had actually uttered it, Kate’s feelings spilled out like water from a bursting dam.

“It isn’t nonsense!” she said. “It’s real, and I like it. Being involved in Wicca has changed my life. Mom, you said it yourself. I’ve matured a lot since I began studying it.”

“You’re just growing up!” her father objected. “It has nothing to do with that crap.”

“It does,” Kate said. She was trying to calm down and not let her emotions run wild. She didn’t want her parents to think she was being hysterical. “It’s completely changed how I look at things. It’s made me a better person.”

“You’ve dropped your old friends. You’ve dropped a really great boyfriend. You call that changing your life for the better?” her father asked her.

“I dropped one friend,” Kate said. “A friend who tries to ruin other people’s lives because she’s so insecure. And I’ve made two fantastic friends. As for Scott, you liked him more than I did. You haven’t even given Tyler a chance.”

Her father threw his hands in the air. “You don’t get it, do you, Kate? Your mother and I are trying to stop you from making a big mistake.”

“What mistake?” asked Kate. “What mistake, Dad?”

Her father looked at her mother. “Teresa, will you talk to her?”

“You haven’t said anything yet, Teresa,” said Dr. Hagen. “How do you feel about what Kate has said?”

Mrs. Morgan sighed deeply. “I don’t know what to think,” she said simply, shrugging her shoulders.

“What do you mean, you don’t know what to think?” said Mr. Morgan irritably.

Kate’s mother turned to her father. “I don’t know what to think, Joe,” she said. “You know Kate has never done anything to make us distrust her judgment.”

“Until now,” said Mr. Morgan.

Kate’s mother turned to the doctor. “I don’t understand what this class is that Kate has gotten involved in,” she said. “I don’t understand why she’s interested in it or what they do. That scares me. As her mother I want to protect her and keep her safe, and my inclination is to pull her away from anything that is potentially dangerous.”

She paused a moment, then looked up at Kate. “But Kate’s right. She has changed over the past few months. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it is just getting older.” She looked at her husband. “But maybe it’s not.”

“Teresa,” Kate’s father said. “Don’t tell me you’re buying this stuff.”

Mrs. Morgan shook her head. “The other night, when Kate came home so mad at you for taking her by that accident, I went up to talk to her,” she said.

So that’s who shut my door, Kate thought. Her mother had seen her doing her meditation. Why hadn’t she said anything about it?

“Kate was sitting in the middle of her room with her eyes closed,” Mrs. Morgan continued. “I wasn’t sure what she was doing, so I watched her for a while.”

“What were you doing, Kate?” Dr. Hagen asked.

Kate hesitated. Should she admit that she’d been doing a kind of ritual? She knew that might make her parents freak out. But she didn’t think now was the time to be covering up the truth.

“I was doing something we learned in the study group,” she said. “It’s a meditation for helping you focus your energy.”

“I thought we told you we didn’t want any of that in our house,” her father said, responding exactly as Kate had feared he would.

“It was just a meditation!” she said.

Mrs. Morgan held up her hand. “Please,” she said. “Let me finish.” She looked at her daughter and her husband to make sure they weren’t going to interrupt her. Then she continued speaking. “I watched Kate doing her meditation,” she said. “I probably stood there for four or five minutes. While I watched her, she changed.”

“What do you mean, she changed?” Mr. Morgan asked.

“It’s hard to explain,” Kate’s mother said. “At first she looked really angry. But then her face relaxed. Her whole body relaxed.”

Kate listened to her mother. Had she really noticed a change in Kate while she was doing her meditation? What she was describing really was how Kate felt when she was doing that ritual, but she’d never imagined that someone watching her could tell what was going on inside of her.

“I didn’t know what she was doing,” Mrs. Morgan continued. “I almost told her to stop. But the longer I watched her, the happier she looked. It was like all of the anger inside of her was melting away. By the time she was done she had an expression on her face that I knew I’d seen before but couldn’t place. It took me a long time to realize what it was.”

“And what was it?” Dr. Hagen prodded her after she’d stopped talking and seemed to be thinking about something.

“It was the look I used to see on her face when she was a little girl and I would check in on her after she’d fallen asleep,” replied Kate’s mother. “It was a look of total contentment, like she was in a place where she felt safe and loved.”

Dr. Hagen looked at Kate. “Is that how you were feeling, Kate?”

Kate nodded. “I’ve never thought of it that way before, but it’s exactly how I felt,” she said. “I was really angry at my dad, and I decided to try to calm down by doing the meditation that Sophia taught us. It helped a lot.”

“Joe, how do you feel about what you’ve just heard?” the therapist asked Kate’s father.

“I’m glad Kate has found a way to control her anger,” Mr. Morgan said. “But I don’t see why she can’t just stick with this meditation stuff. Why does she have to get involved with all the other business?”

“That is the other business, Dad,” said Kate. “Wicca is all about learning to focus your thoughts and your energy. It’s not what you think it is. Don’t you remember what Sophia and the others did for Aunt Netty? They used their energy to help her heal.”

“That was medicine, Kate,” her father said. “That ritual had nothing to do with it. See, this is why I don’t want you mixed up in this stuff. It’s confused you. You think witchcraft is responsible for everything, when really it’s just a lot of superstitious gobbledygook.”

“How can you say that?” Kate asked. “You don’t know. You’ve never been to one of our classes or to a ritual—well, except for that healing ritual we did for Aunt Netty. You think you know what we do and what it’s all about, but you really don’t.”

Kate leaned back in the chair and groaned. They weren’t getting anywhere. Her mother sort of got what her meditation was about, but Kate didn’t think she entirely understood it. And her father was just being his usual stubborn self, refusing to listen to her or even consider changing his mind now that he had it made up.

“Kate, what if you gave your parents the opportunity to find out what Wicca is about?” Dr. Hagen asked unexpectedly.

“What do you mean?” Kate replied. “You mean give them some books to read?”

The doctor nodded. “That would be a start,” she said. “But I was thinking more along the lines of letting them observe firsthand what you do in class or at a ritual.”

Kate stared at her. Was she serious? Her parents attend a ritual? She almost laughed just thinking about it. There was no way her mother and father would ever go for that.

“I don’t know,” Kate said hesitantly.

“Joe. Teresa. If Kate can arrange it, are you willing to go see what it is she does with her group?” the doctor asked.

Kate’s father snorted. “Why bother? I’ve seen one of their so-called rituals already, when they visited my sister-in-law in the hospital. I think I’ve seen enough.”

“Teresa?” Dr. Hagen said.

Kate’s mother thought for a moment. “I don’t know that I believe in this any more than Joe does,” she said.

“I knew it,” Kate said sulkily.

“But,” her mother continued, ignoring Kate’s comment, “Netty has expressed a great deal of faith in it since her recovery, and I can’t deny that Kate seems to get something out of it. I’ve never seen her so attached to something, so I know it must mean a great deal to her. I can’t say I understand why, but if she wants to try and show us, then yes, I’ll go to a ritual or whatever they’re called.”

Kate was speechless. Her mother had just agreed to attend a Wiccan gathering. But what about her father? He was still sitting there, scowling. If he wasn’t willing to give Kate a chance, there seemed to be little point in fighting anymore.

“How about it, Joe?” the therapist said. “Will you go to one event? Just one?”

Mr. Morgan looked at Kate. His gaze was piercing, and he seemed to be trying to see right through her. “Is this that important to you?” he asked her gruffly.

Kate looked back into her father’s eyes without blinking. “Yes,” she said. “It’s that important.”

Mr. Morgan let out a long sigh. “All right,” he said. “I know enough to know I’m never going to win a battle against two Morgan women. I’ll go to one of these whatever-they’recalled.” He looked at Kate again. “But that doesn’t mean I’m giving you the okay to get back into it,” he said. “I still think it’s a lot of garbage.”

“Kate, does this all sound fair to you?” the doctor asked her.

Kate nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “I think it sounds fine.”

“Good,” Dr. Hagen said. “Then Kate will arrange for the two of you to attend an event with her group. After that you can decide whether you feel that Kate’s continued participation in the group is acceptable to you. And Kate, if after that your parents still insist that you refrain from any involvement in Wicca, you agree to abide by that decision, correct?”

Kate nodded. She knew that Dr. Hagen had just won her one chance to prove to her parents that Wicca wasn’t something they had to be afraid of. One chance. Would it be enough? She took a deep breath. What was she going to take them to? One of the study group classes? A ritual? She didn’t know.

“Okay,” said the therapist. “That’s our time for this session. Now, I’ll be away next week, so we won’t see each other until November the fifth. I hope you’ll have been able to arrange things by then, Kate, and we can talk about how everything went.”

They all stood up, and the doctor walked them to the door. Kate’s parents shook Dr. Hagen’s hand as they exited the room. When it was Kate’s turn the therapist leaned over and whispered “Good luck” into her ear.

Kate looked at her, surprised. During their sessions together Dr. Hagen had never once offered her own opinion about Kate’s interest in witchcraft. Now she seemed to be saying she thought it was a good thing. Kate was hoping she would say more.

But all she did was wink and say “See you in two weeks.”

CHAPTER 10

“You’re the girl who lived in this house?”

Annie nodded. Grayson Dunning was standing in the doorway of the living room, bags loaded with groceries still in his arms. He hadn’t even had a chance to set them down before Becka told him what had happened to Annie.

“I’ve always wondered what you were like,” Mr. Dunning said. “I asked the neighbors, but they wouldn’t tell me much. Nobody really wants to talk about the fire.”

Neither do I, Annie thought. But she was going to have to tell Mr. Dunning something to explain the way she had behaved earlier. She was wishing now that she had just run out. But Becka had persuaded her to stay. All Annie had told her was that she’d heard voices and that she thought they belonged to her parents. She hadn’t told her that she thought her parents were angry at her, or why.

Mr. Dunning put the groceries on the floor and came into the living room. Despite being tired and frightened, Annie couldn’t help but look at him. He was, after all, one of her favorite writers. She’d never thought she might be sitting in his living room one day—and especially not that his living room would be her old living room.

Grayson Dunning was younger than she’d expected him to be. She figured he was probably the same age as her Aunt Sarah. His black hair was cut short, and his face was handsome in a way that made Annie feel as if she could trust him. As he came and sat down across from her, she found herself wondering where Becka’s mother was. Mr. Dunning wasn’t wearing a wedding band, and Becka had never mentioned her mom. Were Becka’s parents divorced? Annie wondered. Was Becka’s mother dead?

“Excuse me for asking these questions,” Mr. Dunning said. “It’s just that I’ve wondered for so long about what happened here. Finding you sitting in my living room is sort of like something out of one of my books.” He laughed, and the sound made Annie’s fears abate a little bit. “But I should ask you how you’re doing first, right?”

Annie smiled at his earnestness. “I’m okay,” she said, although she was still rattled by having heard the voices.

“These voices,” Mr. Dunning said. “Becka said you’ve heard them before.”

“Yes,” said Annie. She sighed. “I think it’s my mother and father.” She knew what Mr. Dunning wanted to ask her, and she spared him having to do it. “They’re the ones who died in the fire here.”

He nodded his head. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said. “I knew it was a young couple who had owned the place, and that they had a daughter, but nobody would tell me much more than that. The realtor said that there were rumors that the place was haunted. The kids on the block were terrified to come near here, and I figured people were just spooked by that.”

Annie wondered why people had said that the house was haunted. Had they seen things there? Had her parents been living there as ghosts ever since their deaths? Thinking about that made her sad. She didn’t want to think that their souls might have been wandering around the charred remains of their once-beautiful home. And all because of her. No wonder they were angry at her now. No wonder they were chasing after her.

“Actually, there were two daughters,” Annie said. “But my sister, Meg, was so little that people might have forgotten all about her.” She paused a moment, wanting to ask a question but not sure if she should. “Becka told me that you’ve seen ghosts here,” she said finally. It felt funny talking to someone whose books she’d read. It was even stranger talking to him about ghosts and hauntings and knowing that he might really believe in such things.

“Well, we haven’t exactly seen them,” Mr. Dunning said. “It’s more like we’ve felt them. We’ve both had the feeling from time to time that we’re being watched. Sometimes we wake up at night and think we see something or someone just leaving the room. But nothing more than that.”

“I’ve heard them whispering,” Becka added. “But nothing like what you heard this afternoon.”

“But you didn’t hear it yourself, right?” asked her father.

“No,” Becka said. “I didn’t hear anything at all. Only Annie did.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, why do you think your parents were calling to you?” Mr. Dunning asked Annie.

Annie took a deep breath. Should she tell him the truth? She sort of felt as if she owed him an honest answer, if only because he had to live in the house with her parents’ ghosts.

“I think they’re mad at me because I started the fire that killed them,” she said quickly, before she could back out.

Mr. Dunning looked surprised. “You started the fire?” he asked.

“Not on purpose,” said Annie. “It was an accident. But yes, I started it.”

Becka let out a low whistle. “No wonder you were freaked,” she said.

Annie looked at Mr. Dunning. “You write about things like this,” she said. “Do you really believe them?”

“People ask me that all the time,” said Becka’s father. “Usually I tell them that I don’t disbelieve them. But the real answer is that I believe in them very much. You see, I’ve seen ghosts, too.”

“You have?” Annie said.

He nodded. “My wife died shortly after Becka was born,” he said. “She drowned while we were at our summer home. Not long after that I began to experience things I couldn’t explain—hearing voices, catching glimpses of faces in mirrors, that kind of thing. I thought I was going crazy.”

Annie thought about how disorienting it had been for Cooper when the ghost of Elizabeth Sanger had appeared to her. She imagined Mr. Dunning must have felt even more confused, since he didn’t have a group of witches around to help him figure things out.

“One night I woke up convinced that someone was in the room with me,” Mr. Dunning continued. “I looked around and saw my wife standing outside the window, looking in at me. I was so scared I couldn’t move. But then she smiled at me, and suddenly I knew everything was all right.”

“Did she say anything to you?” asked Annie.

Mr. Dunning shook his head. “She just turned and walked away,” he said. “I went to the window and saw her walking into the lake. Then she just disappeared like the mist that covered the water. I’ve never seen her again.”

Annie looked at Mr. Dunning’s face. His mouth was in a small, wistful smile, as if he was remembering something both pleasant and sad at the same time. She knew a little bit about how he must feel. She felt that way sometimes when she remembered the good times she’d had with her mother and father.

But she wasn’t having a good time now. She just felt scared. She’d come back to her house hoping to make peace with what had happened, but her parents’ ghosts didn’t seem to want that. They seemed to want her to go away. But why? Hadn’t they told her to come home? She was confused. She’d thought that her parents had wanted her to return to San Francisco. But it was as if they’d been trying to warn her away ever since she’d made the decision to come. Why hadn’t she listened? Why had she insisted on stirring up old memories just when she was starting to accept them?

“I confess that one of the reasons I wanted this house so badly was because of the fact that it might be haunted,” Mr. Dunning told Annie. “Ever since my experience I’ve been fascinated by such things. It’s why I write about them, really.”

“What are you going to do now?” Becka asked Annie.

Annie shrugged. “I don’t really know,” she said. “I’m not sure there’s anything I can do. If my parents don’t want me here, I’ll just go away.”

But would her parents leave her alone even if she left San Francisco? They’d come to her in Beecher Falls already. Would they keep coming? Annie didn’t know.

“I think right now I should just go back to my friends’ house,” Annie said. “They’re probably wondering where I am.”

“I’ll walk you there,” Mr. Dunning said. “Becka, can you put the groceries away?”

“Sure,” said his daughter.

Annie stood up to go. “It was nice meeting you,” she said to Becka.

“Same here,” Becka replied, smiling. “I’m sorry about the ghost thing.”

“It’s okay,” said Annie.

“Maybe we can hang out some more while you’re here,” Becka suggested.

“I’d like that,” said Annie.

Becka took the groceries into the kitchen while Annie left with Mr. Dunning. She gave the house a final look as they walked away from it. She didn’t know if she would ever see it again.

They walked in silence for a block. Then Mr. Dunning said, “You seem to know a lot about ghosts and the supernatural.”

Should I tell him about being Wiccan? Annie wondered. Would he think she was just some crazy teenage girl who thought she might be a witch? She had a feeling he wouldn’t, so she said, “I’ve been studying witchcraft for a while. One of my friends had a run-in with a ghost this past spring. We learned quite a bit from that.”

“Sounds interesting,” Mr. Dunning said. “So, you’re a witch?”

“No,” said Annie, relieved that he hadn’t just laughed at her, as she knew a lot of adults would have. “I’m studying to become one, but that doesn’t happen until next April.”

“I don’t know a lot about Wicca,” said Mr. Dunning. “I’ve read a little because of the kind of books I write, but I’m far from being an expert.”

“I’m no expert either,” Annie replied. “It takes a long time to learn what witchcraft is all about.”

They turned onto the street where Riza and George’s house was. When they got to the door Annie rang the bell and waited for someone to answer.

“Thanks for walking me here,” she said to Mr. Dunning.

“Any time,” he said. “And I hope you will come and see Becka again. Maybe tomorrow?”

The door opened before Annie could answer, and her Aunt Sarah appeared. “There you are,” she said. “We were starting to worry. Is everything all right?”

“I’m fine,” Annie answered. “Aunt Sarah, this is Mr. Dunning.”

“Call me Grayson,” said Mr. Dunning as he reached out and shook Aunt Sarah’s hand. “ ‘Mr. Dunning’ makes me feel like the father of a teenage daughter. Which I am, but I like to pretend I’m not hurtling rapidly toward middle age.”

Annie’s aunt laughed. “I know how you feel,” she said.

“Mr. Dunning walked me home,” Annie said. “He lives in our old house.”

The expression on Aunt Sarah’s face changed suddenly to one of surprise. “You went to the house?” she said.

Annie nodded. “I wanted to see what it looked like,” she said.

“And how was it?” Aunt Sarah asked carefully.

“I’ll tell you all about it inside,” said Annie. She turned to Mr. Dunning. “Thanks again,” she said.

“Say,” Mr. Dunning said. “I have an idea. How about you and your aunt have dinner with me and Becka tomorrow night?”

Annie looked at her aunt. “Is that okay?”

Aunt Sarah nodded. “That would be nice,” she said.

Mr. Dunning smiled. Annie couldn’t help but notice that he seemed very pleased that they had accepted.

“Here’s our number,” Mr. Dunning said, pulling a business card from his pocket and handing it to Aunt Sarah. “Give us a call tomorrow and we’ll make a plan.”

“We’ll see you then,” said Annie’s aunt.

Mr. Dunning nodded and walked away. He turned once and waved, and Aunt Sarah waved back. Then she and Annie went into the house.

“He seems very nice,” Aunt Sarah said when she closed the door. “And very cute.”

“He is nice,” said Annie. Then she realized what else her aunt had said. “What do mean he’s cute?” she demanded.

“Well, he is,” said Aunt Sarah.

“Who’s cute?” asked George, coming out of the living room and overhearing the tail end of the conversation.

“Grayson Dunning,” said Aunt Sarah. “The gentleman who just brought Annie home.”

“He’s a writer,” Annie told them.

“And he brought you home?” George asked.

“And we’re having dinner with him tomorrow,” said Aunt Sarah. “What should I wear?”

“I still want to know why he brought Annie home,” George said.

“Who brought Annie home?” Riza appeared from the kitchen, a wooden spoon in her hand. “And George, why aren’t you chopping garlic like I asked you to?”

“I’ll explain everything,” said Annie. “Let’s all go into the kitchen.”

Once they were all in the kitchen, Riza went back to making dinner with George’s help. Aunt Sarah and Annie sat at stools around the wooden island in the center of the kitchen, and Annie told them everything that had happened.

“You really think your parents’ ghosts are in that house?” George asked.

“Yes,” said Annie. “And this isn’t the first time I’ve heard them.”

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this?” asked her aunt, sounding concerned.

“Because there’s nothing you can do about it,” said Annie. “Besides, I wasn’t sure it was really them. Not until today.”

“Why would your parents be angry with you?” Riza asked as she stirred the sauce she was preparing.

Annie didn’t know how to answer that question. In telling her story she’d left out the part about how the fire had been her fault. She’d never told her aunt that, and she didn’t want to do it now. Instead she just said, “I don’t know.”

Nobody said anything for a moment. Then Annie said, “I wish Sophia was here. She’d know what to do.”

“Who’s Sophia?” George asked.

“The woman who runs the Wicca study group I go to,” Annie said.

“Wicca?” Riza said. “You mean she’s a witch?”

“Yes,” Annie said. “My friends and I take a class at her bookstore.”

“If you need a witch, I can help you out,” said Riza.

“You’re a witch?” Aunt Sarah said.

Riza shook her head. “No,” she answered. “But my friend Dixon is. I’m sure he could help you out.”

“How come everyone seems to be clued in to the witch world but me?” Aunt Sarah asked. “Until Annie introduced me to Sophia and her group I’d never even met a witch.”

“Please,” George said as he peeled a potato. “This is San Francisco. The place is crawling with witches.”

“Do you want me to call Dixon?” Riza asked Annie.

“I don’t know,” Annie said doubtfully. “I’m not really sure what he could do.”

“It can’t hurt to ask him,” said Aunt Sarah.

Annie looked at Riza. She really did wish Sophia was around to talk to. But maybe talking to another witch would help. “Okay,” she said. “If you don’t think your friend will mind.”

Riza laughed. “Dixon?” she said. “He’ll do anything for an audience. I’ll call him right now.”

She walked into the other room and returned a few minutes later. “He’s happy to help,” she said. “I told him to come for dinner and the two of you can talk about it.”

“Thanks,” Annie said.

For the next half hour they all pitched in making dinner. Annie was just taking the pasta off the stove and pouring it into a colander when the doorbell rang.

“That will be Dixon,” Riza said as she dried her hands on a towel and went to answer the bell.

Annie heard her open the door. A moment later she heard someone say, “Darlings, don’t fear. The good faerie is here.”

“Prepare yourselves,” George said to Annie and Sarah.

Annie gave her aunt a puzzled look. Then Riza came back into the kitchen with Dixon. Annie turned around and had to keep herself from looking as shocked as she was.

Dixon was about six feet tall. He was thin, with bright red hair and startling ice-blue eyes. And he was wearing a billowy pink dress and carrying a wand, just like Glinda the Good Witch in the movie version of The Wizard of Oz.

CHAPTER 11

“How’s it been at home?” T.J. asked Cooper as they walked through town on Saturday afternoon.

It had gotten colder almost overnight, and Cooper was wearing her battered old blue wool navy jacket. She kept her hands stuffed in the pockets as they walked. In response to her boyfriend’s question she shrugged and let out a sigh.

“My mother doesn’t say much,” she said. “I think she feels weird being there with just me. My dad was kind of like insulation, you know. He kept the friction down.”

“But you haven’t been fighting, have you?” T.J. inquired.

Cooper shook her head. “Not at all,” she answered. “In fact, we don’t see each other very often. Mom has a lot of school meetings, and I’ve been busy with my writing.”

“What about your dad?”

“We’re having dinner tonight,” Cooper said. “It feels weird, making an appointment to see your own father.”

“It’s not quite that bad,” T.J. replied.

“I know,” Cooper said. “But it’s sort of like that. Anyway, I don’t really like to think about it much.”

“Well, you’re going to have to think about it sometime,” said T.J. “If they get divorced, then it’s just going to get worse.”

Cooper didn’t respond. She didn’t want to think about the possibility that her parents’ current living arrangement might be permanent. She kept telling herself that they just needed a break and that once they worked out their problems her father would move back in and everything would be like it had always been.

“I didn’t mean to lecture you or anything,” said T.J., noticing her silence.

Cooper took one hand out of her pocket and slipped it into T.J.’s hand. His fingers closed around hers. “I know,” she said. “It’s just too new. And I feel really stupid about it. Most of my friends’ parents are divorced. You’d think it wouldn’t be a big deal. But whenever I even start to think about it I get this sort of sick feeling inside. So I just don’t go there.”

T.J. didn’t say anything. He simply bumped his shoulder into hers, reminding her that he was there when she was ready to talk. Cooper appreciated the gesture, and she smiled at him.

“Speaking of divorces, how’s the band?” asked Cooper.

“They’re okay,” said T.J. “You really surprised Jed and Mouse when you left like that. I think they’re still expecting you to come back.”

“I really don’t think I can,” Cooper said. “I need to do my own thing, at least for a while. Besides, now you don’t have any excuses for not finishing all those songs you’ve got sitting around.”

“Maybe,” T.J. said. “It’s not quite the same without you there. I mean, I like Jed and Mouse just fine, but I didn’t start a band to be in it with them. I did it so that I could play with you.”

“So let’s play together,” Cooper suggested. “Just you and me. You can still play with Schroedinger’s Cat and I can do whatever it is I’m going to do. But we’ll make one night a week just us. We can try out our new stuff on each other.”

T.J. considered her suggestion, then nodded. “Sounds good to me,” he said.

Cooper checked her watch. “I have to meet my dad in a little bit,” she said. “I should go.”

“Yeah,” T.J. said. “And I’ve got to get home.”

“Talk to you later tonight?” asked Cooper.

“I’ll be there,” said T.J. He gave her a kiss and hugged her tightly. “You’re pretty cool, you know,” he said.

“You’re not so bad either,” Cooper replied as he let go. “Later.”

She turned and walked away. She was really happy that she had T.J. around. She still couldn’t quite believe that she had a boyfriend, especially one she could actually talk to about things. It was nice to have someone who understood her, at least most of the time.

She walked to the corner. The light was red, so she waited for it to change. As she did, she heard someone playing a guitar. She looked for the source of the music and saw a girl standing in front of a building across the street, a guitar in her hands.

Cooper listened. The girl was good. She played the guitar with confidence, picking out the notes with both strength and delicacy. There was a small crowd gathered around her, and they were tapping their feet and nodding their heads as she played.

When the light turned green Cooper crossed the street and joined the crowd around the girl. Now she had a better look at her. The girl was a teenager, younger than Cooper had expected. She was kind of heavy, with a round face and full lips. Her long black hair tumbled around her shoulders, and she tossed it around as she played.

The girl’s eyes were closed. Cooper watched her play. She seemed to be lost in the music, her body and her head moving along with the melody she played. Then she opened her mouth and began to sing. Her voiced rolled out, low and throaty. It was an old voice, and Cooper was pleasantly surprised to hear it coming from such a young woman.

“Standing at the crossroads, looking for my way,” she sang. “Mother, do you hear me? Do you hear the words I say?”

The words hung in the air like smoke rings. The girl’s voice had the audience spellbound. Cooper, too, stood enraptured. Something about the way the girl performed, the way she was playing for herself first and for the audience second, resonated within Cooper. It was how she played, too.

Plus, there was something familiar about the girl’s lyrics. Cooper heard in them the same kinds of things she herself wrote and sang about. She listened more closely, and as the girl’s song went on Cooper found herself more and more certain that they shared more than a love of music.

When the girl finished the crowd applauded her. She thanked them with a nod of her head. Some people tossed coins and even bills into her open guitar case. Then, when they saw that she wasn’t going to sing another song right away, they dispersed, leaving Cooper alone with the girl. The girl didn’t pay any attention to Cooper, looking at the money in her case while she absentmindedly played something on her guitar.

“Nancy Wilson,” Cooper said, recognizing the music. “ ‘Silver Wheels,’ although most people only know it as the intro to ‘Crazy On You.’ ”

The girl stopped playing and looked at her. “You like Heart?” she asked.

Cooper nodded. “Not the glam-eighties stuff, but the older songs, yeah. Nancy Wilson’s a fantastic guitarist, and Ann has one of the best voices in rock.”

The girl smiled. “You’re right about that,” she said. “Most people our age don’t even know about them.”

Cooper snorted. “They probably think Courtney Love was the first woman to pick up a guitar,” she scoffed. “But I like all of that older music. Heart. The Pretenders. Joni Mitchell. I know she’s not really a rocker, but I’ve learned some great stuff about tunings from listening to her records.”

“You play, too?” the girl asked.

Cooper nodded. The girl took her guitar from around her neck and handed it to Cooper. “Play me something,” she said.

Cooper took the guitar and slung it over her shoulder. She strummed it a few times and then began playing a little bit of a song she’d learned from one of her favorite records.

“The Indigo Girls,” the other girl said, nodding approvingly. “Not bad. Do you do your own stuff, too?”

Cooper started playing “Dancing in Her Hand.” She picked out the notes and then sang the first verse and the chorus. When she stopped the girl said, “Let me hear the rest.”

Cooper played the remainder of the song. As she did, some people stopped to listen. This made her slightly uncomfortable, but she kept going. When she was done she was pleased to hear people clapping, and then she saw more money being dropped into the girl’s guitar case.

“That song is great,” the girl said when everyone had left.

“Thanks,” Cooper replied. “I thought you might be able to relate to it.” She paused expectantly, wondering if the girl would pick up on the subtle clue she had just dropped. Had she really understood any of the Goddess references in Cooper’s song?

If she had, the girl didn’t say anything about it. She just said, “You love Heart and play guitar. Where have you been all my life?”

Cooper laughed. “I’m Cooper,” she said, handing the girl’s guitar back to her.

“I’m Jane,” the girl said. “I know, it’s really boring. But I sort of like it because of that. I called my band Plain Jane.”

“I like it,” said Cooper. “So you’re in a band?”

“I was,” Jane replied. “Not anymore.”

“Same here,” said Cooper.

“How sad for us,” Jane said, frowning dramatically. “So much talent yet bandless.” She knelt and started scooping the money out of her case. Most of it she stuffed into her pocket, but she handed some bills to Cooper.

“What’s that for?” Cooper asked.

“For playing,” Jane told her. “Go on, take it. You earned it.”

Cooper took the money and put it in her pocket. “Thanks,” she said as Jane put her guitar away. “So do you maybe want to get together and play sometime?” She figured that even if she had misunderstood Jane’s song to be about the Goddess, she still played and sang really well. It would be fun to play with her.

Jane looked up at her. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m kind of a one-woman show, you know. Hence the not-having-a-band-anymore thing.”

“Oh,” Cooper said. She was surprised to find herself feeling more disappointed than she expected to be. She’d really enjoyed Jane’s music and their conversation, and she’d begun to think that maybe they would be able to be friends.

“Look,” Jane said, standing up. “You seem really cool. I don’t mean to sound like some kind of bad girl loner type or something. I just don’t play well with others, if you know what I mean.”

“Been there,” said Cooper. “But maybe we could just talk or something.”

Jane nodded. “Sure,” she said. She reached into her pocket and produced a piece of paper and a pen. “Here’s my number,” she said as she scribbled something down. “Give me a call.”

She handed Cooper the paper, then turned and walked away. Cooper watched her go. What a weird chick, she thought to herself. Jane had thrown her for a loop. Cooper had expected her to be as excited about meeting her as Cooper was about meeting Jane. But she seemed to be taking it all very casually.

Cooper looked at the paper in her hand. All it said was JANE 555-3591. There was no last name or anything. Cooper didn’t know anything about the girl except that they seemed to be the same age and that she could play amazing guitar. Where did she go to school? Where did she live? Cooper felt like an idiot for not asking her more questions.

She was tempted to run after Jane, whom she could still see walking down the street a block away. But she had to meet her father. She watched the other girl’s retreating back for a moment and then, reluctantly, turned and walked in the direction of the restaurant her father had chosen for their dinner.

When she arrived she found him already there. He saw her in the doorway and waved. Cooper wound her way through the tables over to where he was sitting.

“Hey,” she said, removing her coat and pulling out the chair across from him.

Her father stood up and kissed her on the cheek. “Hi, honey,” he said.

Cooper was startled. “What’s with that?” she asked. “We’re not on a date or anything.”

Her father blushed. “Sorry,” he said. “I guess this just feels kind of strange.”

Cooper had to agree with that. But she was still half thinking about Jane and their conversation, so she wasn’t as self-conscious about meeting her father for dinner as she might have been otherwise.

She picked up the menu and looked at the selections. Almost everything seemed to have meat in it, and she started to ask her father why he hadn’t picked someplace with more vegetarian options. But when she looked at him he seemed to be looking at his own menu with such a vacant look that she knew he probably wasn’t even aware of what he was reading. This is just as hard for him as it is for me, she thought.

“How’s the apartment?” she asked, closing her menu and putting it down.

“Okay, I guess,” said her father. “It’s an apartment. You know how it is. It always takes a while to get used to somewhere new.” Then he looked at her and laughed slightly. “Actually, I guess you wouldn’t know,” he said. “We’ve lived in that house since you were born.”

“I still know what you mean,” said Cooper. “It’s hard when things change.” She thought about the band, and about the other changes that had taken place in her life during the past months. None of it had been easy.

“You haven’t killed your mother yet, I hope,” her father said, taking a long drink from his water glass.

“Not yet,” Cooper said brightly. “But there’s always tomorrow. Actually, things have been quiet on the home front. Remember, it’s only been two days.”

Her father took a roll from the basket of bread on the table and began to pick it apart, popping the pieces into his mouth. “And how’s school?”

“Dad,” Cooper said. “You only moved out on Thursday. Give me at least a week to come up with some new drama.”

Her father put down the bread. “Sorry,” he said. “I guess I don’t know what we’re supposed to talk about.”

“I don’t know either,” Cooper replied. “How about how you’re doing? You’re the one who seems a little edgy about all of this.”

“I’m supposed to be the grown-up here, remember?” replied her father as the waitress came to take their orders.

Cooper ordered the pasta primavera, while her father requested broiled fish. When the waitress was gone Cooper said, “You know, T.J. and I kind of broke up once because we disagreed about some stuff.”

Her father looked at her. “You didn’t tell me that.”

Cooper gave him a look. “You know teenagers don’t talk to their fathers about that kind of thing unless it’s absolutely necessary,” she said. “I’m only bringing it up now because, you know, maybe I understand a little bit what all this is about.”

Her father smiled gently. “Maybe you do,” he said.

“I remember thinking we’d never be able to get over it,” Cooper said, recalling how horrible she’d felt when she and T.J. had been fighting.

“But you did,” said her father.

“Only because I let him think he was right,” Cooper responded, grinning.

Her father laughed. “You’re more like your mother than you probably think,” he said.

Cooper groaned. “I hate it when you say things like that,” she said.

“Well, it’s true,” said her father. “Why do you think the two of you butt heads so much?”

“Because she’s impossible,” said Cooper.

“That’s exactly what she said when she and I had this conversation,” Mr. Rivers told her.

“You two talk about me?” asked Cooper suspiciously.

“Oh, now and again,” said her father teasingly. “Of course we talk about you.”

“What do you say?” Cooper asked, intrigued.

“That we should have gotten a puppy like we planned,” answered her father. He paused, looking at her. “Actually, we both agree that you’ve turned out to be a really interesting person,” he said seriously.

Cooper looked at him. She wasn’t sure what to say. Her father had never spoken to her that way before. It was like he was talking to a friend and not just to his kid.

Before she could say anything the waitress came with their food. For the rest of dinner Cooper and her father talked about anything except the separation. Then it was time to go. When they were outside once more her father offered to drive her home.

“That’s okay,” Cooper said. “I feel like walking tonight. But thanks for dinner.”

“Any time,” Mr. Rivers said. “In fact, how about Tuesday?”

“Can’t,” Cooper said. “Witch school. Thursday?”

“It’s a date,” her father said. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Cooper hugged her dad good-bye and began the walk to the bus stop. She wasn’t going to see him again until Thursday. That was almost a week away. She sighed. This separation thing is harder than remembering my school schedule, she thought.

It was chilly, so she put her hands in her pockets to keep them warm. When she did she felt the piece of paper that Jane had given her. Once again she recalled how excited she’d been to hear the other girl’s music. She took the paper out to look at it again. It was flipped to the wrong side, and she was about to turn it over when something caught her eye.

She looked more closely at the paper Jane had used to write her name and number on. It had been torn from a larger piece of paper, but Cooper could still make out some of the words. As she tried to piece them together she realized that she had seen the paper before. It was a flyer for the upcoming Samhain ritual being sponsored by Crones’ Circle. She had seen the flyers sitting on the counter by the cash register the last time she’d been there.

And if Jane had one, that meant that she had also been at Crones’ Circle.

CHAPTER 12

Annie was sitting on the couch in the Dunnings’ living room, watching Mr. Dunning watch Dixon. Becka was beside her, and she leaned over and whispered, “I wonder where he got that fabulous outfit?”

Dixon—or Dixie, as he had told Annie to call him—was standing in the middle of the room. He had exchanged his costume from the night before for a new one. Gone were the pink dress and the wand, and in their place was something Annie could only describe as Barbie Goes to the Circus. He had on a blond wig styled in a flip, and he was wearing a leopard-print jumpsuit with an orange feather boa around his neck.

At first Annie had been unnerved by Dixie’s appearance. But the more she’d talked to him the night before, the more she’d realized that he knew a great deal about the Craft. He’d told her that the costumes were all for fun and that they helped him get in the mood for, as he called it, “helping Momma make some magic.”

Momma was what he called the Goddess. Dixie was originally from Georgia, which made his nickname even more appropriate, and he had a wonderful Southern accent. Whenever he said “Momma,” Annie had to smile. He said it as if he and the Goddess were the best of friends.

It had been Dixie’s idea to do a cleansing ritual at the Dunnings’ house. He’d told Annie that sometimes spirits continued to hang around the places where they died, even long after their deaths. He’d suggested that perhaps her parents were still in their old house, waiting for someone to help them leave.

Annie had called Mr. Dunning and told him about Dixie’s theory. He’d been happy to talk more about it, and that’s why they were now all sitting in the living room. Aunt Sarah, Riza, and George were also there, all seated in chairs or on the couch.

“So what we’re going to do,” Dixie said, “is go through the whole house with these sage leaves.” He held up a bunch of pale whitish-green leaves. “The smoke from these babies helps cleanse a place of negative energy.”

“Will that drive the ghosts out?” asked Becka.

Dixie shook his head. “We don’t want to drive them out,” he said. “We do the cleansing part after we help the ghosts cross over.”

Annie breathed a sigh of relief. Hearing Becka talk about driving the ghosts out had made her worry. Her parents weren’t mice or bats or something that needed to be gotten rid of. They were her parents. She didn’t like the idea of sweeping them away like dust. But she still didn’t know what Dixie had in mind.

“Chloe and Peter are lost souls,” Dixie said, using Annie’s parents’ names. “They’re sort of stuck between this world and the next one. They have been for a long time, so they’re very tired. They need our help to pass through the veil.”

“Through the veil?” Mr. Dunning asked.

“Yes,” said Dixie. “That’s what we say in the witch world when we’re talking about venturing from one plane of existence to another. We believe that many worlds exist side by side, separated by veils of energy. But sometimes we can pass through those veils, especially at this time of year. With Samhain coming up, the veil between our world and the spirit world is particularly thin. We should be able to send Peter and Chloe on their way without too much trouble.”

“Then we won’t live in a haunted house anymore,” Becka said, sounding kind of sad.

“I know it sounds kind of boring,” Dixie said. “But think about what it’s like for the poor ghosts. It’s no fun being stuck on this side when you belong on the other one.”

Becka nodded. Annie looked at her. “A friend of mine met a ghost who was stuck here once,” she said. “Trust me, it wasn’t pretty.” She thought about how miserable poor Elizabeth Sanger had been, not knowing what had happened to her and not being able to get where she needed to go until Cooper, Annie, and Kate had helped her.

“You’ve done this before?” Mr. Dunning asked Dixie.

“Not exactly,” Dixie said. Then he noticed the concerned expressions on the faces of the others. “But don’t worry. Momma’s gonna help us out and it will be fine.” He said fine like “faaaahn,” drawing it out into a much longer word.

“So, what do we do?” Annie said.

Dixie clapped his hands together. “Where is the energy the strongest in the house?” he asked Mr. Dunning.

“We tend to feel things most in my office upstairs,” he replied.

“Then that’s where we’ll go,” Dixie said. “Follow me, children.”

He turned and walked up the stairs, his boa twitching behind him like a cat’s tail. Annie stood up and followed him, the others coming along behind her. They all marched upstairs and went into Mr. Dunning’s office.

“Sorry about the mess,” Mr. Dunning said. “I didn’t know we’d be doing a ritual in here. Otherwise I would have straightened up.”

Annie looked at him and gave him a smile. She appreciated his sense of humor about what they were doing. It made her feel a little bit more at ease. She also appreciated how he hadn’t brought up what she’d told him about having started the fire that killed her parents. She hadn’t told Dixie that little piece of information either, and once again she was feeling guilty about it.

“Y’all get into a circle,” Dixie said. “As much of one as you can make, anyway.”

They formed a rough circle in the room. It was hard, what with all the papers and books on the floor, but they managed to make a fairly round one. Dixie stood in the middle.

“Now hold hands,” he instructed them.

Annie was standing between George and Becka. She took their hands and held them gently. She hoped her palms weren’t sweating too much, and she wished she’d thought to wipe them on her pants first.

“Actually, Annie, I’d like you in the center with me,” Dixie said.

Annie looked at him in surprise. Her? He wanted her in the center with him? But why?

“Come on,” he said, drawing her toward him by crooking his finger. “I need your witchy self to help me and Momma out.”

Annie let go of George’s and Becka’s hands and stepped forward. She stood awkwardly beside Dixie, looking at her aunt and the others. With everyone watching her she felt as if it were her first time ever in a circle, even though she had done this dozens of times.

“Just relax,” Dixie said softly. “You’re a star.”

Annie giggled. Dixie was so nice, and he was being so helpful. Still, she was nervous. She was in her old house, about to do a ritual to help send her dead parents to the other side. This is not what normal teenage girls do on the weekend, she told herself.

“We’re going to cast a circle now,” Dixie said. “Don’t worry, Annie and I will take care of the magic part. The rest of you just listen and follow along.”

He took Annie’s hand and held it up in his. “You just help me direct the energy,” he told Annie as he began.

“Circle, circle, round us form,” Dixie said, turning around slowly. Annie turned with him, picturing a circle of clear white light forming around the group.

“Those inside are safe from harm,” Dixie continued, still circling. “Sacred space is filled with peace, and the sound of blessed bees.”

He began to buzz, making the sound of bees flying around. Annie laughed and looked at him, wondering what he was doing.

“Sorry,” said Dixie. “Just a little Wiccan humor. But it does help to picture the light flying around like a lot of little bees, doesn’t it?”

Annie nodded. Now that she thought about it, it was a really cool idea. Once again Dixie had made her reexamine her ideas about how things could be.

Dixie released Annie’s hand and looked at the circled people. “We are now inside the sacred circle,” he told them. “This is a safe place. What we’re going to do now is try to turn it into a doorway for Chloe and Peter to pass through. We’ll do that by raising some energy and calling them in here with us.”

“How do we raise energy?” Becka asked.

Dixie turned to Annie. “What do you think?” he asked her.

Annie was taken aback. Dixie was asking her opinion. But surely he knew more about these things than she did. Why did he need her help? But the more she thought about it, the more she was pleased that he had asked. It made her feel special, and it made her feel as if she was really contributing to the ritual to help her parents.

“Well, the room is too small for a spiral dance,” she said, and Dixie nodded. “We don’t have any drums or anything. So what about chanting or singing?”

“My thoughts exactly,” Dixie said. “And the song?”

Annie had to think harder about that one. She knew quite a few songs from all of the classes she’d been to and the rituals she’d attended. But were any of them appropriate for the occasion? Then she had a thought.

“How about ‘We All Come from the Goddess’?” she suggested.

“Perfect,” said Dixie. “Now everybody, Annie and I are going to sing a little something. Listen up the first few times and then sing along once you’ve got it. Okay?”

Everybody nodded. Dixie looked at Annie and began singing. “We all come from the Goddess, and to her we shall return,” he began.

Annie joined in. “Like a drop of rain, flowing to the ocean.”

They sang it again, slowly, so that everyone could get the words and hear the melody. Then, the third time around, the others joined in, at first hesitantly and then with stronger and stronger voices. Annie watched as first Becka and Riza, then her aunt, and George, and finally Mr. Dunning all took up the song. Their voices filled the room.

Annie closed her eyes and listened. She loved the song and the lyrics. Now they seemed even more special, with their message of how all things came from the Goddess, or from the earth, and how when they died they returned there. That’s what she hoped her parents would do—return to the place their spirits came from.

They sang for what seemed a long time, their voices joining to create a soothing drone. Annie could hear the different voices—some higher than others, some stronger—but really they all seemed like one voice with different tones to it. She imaged their words swirling around like the blessed bees that Dixie had joked about. They formed a cocoon of light and warmth, built by the voices of the people in the circle.

Then, as if hearing an unspoken command, the voices died out and they were left in silence. Standing there, Annie realized that the room felt much warmer than it had when they began. She opened her eyes and saw everyone looking around with smiles on their faces, as if they were all sharing in the warmth of the circle.

“Now we’re going to call to Peter and Chloe,” Dixie said quietly. “We’re going to invite them into our circle and ask them to pass through the doorway we’ve opened here. Becka and George, I’d like you to drop your hands and each step aside a little bit to form a doorway.”

Becka and George did as Dixie asked. When there was a space between them, an opening in the circle of linked hands, Dixie spoke again.

“Chloe and Peter,” he called out. “We know that you’ve lived in this place for a long time. We know that you’re confused, and maybe even angry. We ask that you come into our circle now and step through the doorway we’ve created, a doorway that will take you into a place of rest.”

He paused. Annie looked at him, wondering what was supposed to happen. She’d never been at a ritual where spirits were called, and she had no idea what to expect.

“Call to them,” Dixie told her. “They might recognize your voice more than mine.”

Annie swallowed hard. Dixie wanted her to call her parents’ ghosts? She was the one they were angry at. Why would they listen to her? But she knew she couldn’t say no. It would look weird. So she took a deep breath and tried.

“Mom,” she said, her voice shaky. “Dad. It’s me. Annie. If you’re here, please come into the circle. We want to help you.”

She didn’t know what else to say, so she stopped. She stood there, waiting, not knowing what might happen. Would her parents come? How would she know? For the first time she wondered if maybe they were just being ridiculous.

“Annie.” The voices swept through the room like a cold breeze. Annie gasped.

“What?” Dixie asked her, apparently not hearing anything.

“They called my name,” she said.

Dixie smiled.

“Annie.” The voices came again, two of them, winding around each other like birds flying together.

“They’re definitely here,” said Annie. This time she didn’t feel like running away, but hearing her parents’ voices still unnerved her, and she was glad that she was in the sacred circle surrounded by people she liked and trusted. She knew they wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her.

“Peter and Chloe,” Dixie said in a strong voice. “Welcome to the circle.” He looked at Becka and George. “Join hands again,” he instructed them, and they did as he asked.

“The circle is now closed once more,” he said. “Chloe and Peter, we thank you for joining us. We ask now that you pass through the doorway we have opened for you.”

“Annie.” The voices rang in Annie’s ears, louder this time. But instead of sounding relieved to be passing through the doorway of the circle, they sounded anxious.

“Annie.” They were growing louder. But if her parents’ ghosts were passing through the veil, shouldn’t they be getting softer? Something wasn’t right.

“I don’t think it’s working,” Annie said to Dixie.

Before he could answer a great wind swept through the room. It swirled around the circle, and Annie saw looks of surprise on the faces around her.

“What’s happening?” Riza asked, sounding a little frightened.

The wind continued to swirl, pushing papers around and making the curtains at the windows billow out. It grew more and more forceful. Then the voices came. “Annie!” they cried, over and over. Soon Annie felt herself surrounded by a chorus of voices that called out to her frantically.

“What?” she cried out. “What do you want?”

She put her hands over her ears, trying to block the sound of her parents’ voices calling her name. “Annie. Annie. Annie,” they repeated endlessly.

No one else seemed to be able to hear them. Annie turned around and around, looking for help from someone, anyone. Dixie reached out and put his arms around her, pulling her close. But still the voices battered her.

“Stop!” she called out. “Please stop!”

Immediately the wind was gone and the voices ceased calling to her. The room was eerily quiet, and she stood in the circle with her face pressed against Dixie’s chest.

“What happened?” she asked him. “Where did they go?”

“I’m not sure, honey,” Dixie replied. “I think they might have passed over.”

“But are you sure?” Annie asked him. “Are you sure they’re gone?”

Dixie smiled. “No,” he told her. “I’m not. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

“What was all that?” Mr. Dunning asked.

Annie looked and saw the others still standing with their hands joined together. The looks on their faces were mixtures of awe, fear, and relief, as if they were glad that whatever had happened was over but were excited to have experienced it.

“That was ghosts,” Dixie answered. “At least I think it was. It was definitely something moving through here.”

“It was them all right,” Annie said. “They were calling to me again.”

“I hope they were saying good-bye,” Becka said.

Annie looked at her. “So do I,” she said.

CHAPTER 13

“So, what do you think?”

Kate waited anxiously, the phone pressed tightly to her ear. On the other end, Sophia was deciding whether Kate’s parents could attend a ritual with the group.

“Well, we often allow people interested in joining the class to come to an open ritual,” Sophia said. “And certainly when we do larger open rituals, members of the outside community can attend. But we generally don’t allow people to come who we know aren’t particularly supportive of Wicca. It disrupts the energy.”

Kate felt her hopes fade. If her parents weren’t allowed to come to a ritual, they would never know what rituals were really like. This was her only chance, however slim, of showing them that she wasn’t involved in something they had to be worried about. She needed to convince Sophia of that.

“However,” Sophia said before Kate could speak, “I think this is a special situation. I know how important the class is to you. And we’ve all missed having you. So if they’re willing to come, then I think we should let them.”

Kate was so happy she felt like jumping up and down. “Thanks,” she said, relieved.

“Why don’t you invite them to the Samhain ritual?” suggested Sophia.

“Samhain?” Kate repeated. “Are you sure? It’s sort of—” She stopped, uncertain of how to explain what she was thinking.

“Sort of strange?” said Sophia.

“Well, yeah,” admitted Kate. “Wouldn’t one of the more boring rituals be better?”

“I know what you’re thinking,” Sophia replied. “But I think this is a good one for them to see.”

Kate sighed. “Okay,” she said doubtfully. “I’ll ask them.”

“Don’t forget that you’re supposed to come in costume,” Sophia reminded her. “There’s a party after the ritual.”

Kate groaned. “I don’t think I can get them to wear costumes,” she said.

“They don’t have to,” said Sophia. “I was talking about you.”

Kate hung up and went downstairs. Her parents were in the kitchen, reading the Sunday paper and drinking coffee. She walked in and pulled out a chair.

“I just talked to Sophia,” she said carefully, feeling incredibly nervous. “She says it’s fine for you guys to come to one of the rituals.”

Her mother and father exchanged glances across the table. Kate wondered if they were as apprehensive about seeing a Wiccan ritual as she was about their being there. The healing circle that Sophia and the others had done for Aunt Netty had been very low-key. But Kate knew that the Samhain ritual was going to be much different. Samhain was the biggest night of the year for witches, and she had a feeling that the organizers were going to go all out for it. It had to be Samhain, she thought miserably. Why couldn’t it have been a nice safe little sabbat like Mabon or something?

“There’s going to be a big gathering this Saturday night,” Kate continued. “It’s a Halloween ritual.” She wasn’t about to hit her parents with the Wiccan name for the holiday yet. She wanted to make things sound as familiar to them as she could.

“And just what’s going to happen at this … ritual?” her father asked.

Kate calmed her nerves. “I don’t know exactly,” she said. “Probably some singing and dancing. Things like that.”

“Then what makes it a ritual?” asked her father gruffly.

“Dad, I just don’t know what they’re going to do,” Kate said. “It could be anything.”

“So it’s just a big Halloween party, then?” he said.

Kate sighed. “No,” she said. “Although we are supposed to come in costume.” She saw the worried looks on her parents’ faces and added quickly, “But you guys don’t have to. Unless you want to, that is.”

“What kind of costume?” her mother asked.

“Whatever you want,” Kate said. “Only nothing bloody or monstery. This isn’t that kind of Halloween party.”

Her father leaned back in his chair. “What’s a Halloween party without monsters?” he asked.

“Halloween isn’t the same for witches as it is for everyone else,” Kate said, wanting him to understand. “It’s sort of like New Year’s. They look at it as the last day of the year, and it’s all about the cycle of death and rebirth.”

“Sounds cheery,” Mr. Morgan remarked.

“Well, it kind of is, really,” said Kate. “It’s serious, but it’s fun, too. It’s about spirits and all of that, and the dressing-up part is supposed to remind us that even though we all die it’s just a part of the big picture.”

Her father looked at her, not saying anything. Kate watched his face, wondering what he was thinking. He seemed to be appraising her, almost the way he would size up a new product a salesman was trying to get him to buy. Was she measuring up? she wondered, or was he thinking that she’d really gone off the deep end this time?

But all he said was, “I see.” Then he got up, folded his paper, and announced, “I’m going to run by the store for a while. I’ll be back this afternoon.” He kissed Mrs. Morgan, grabbed his coat from the hook by the door, and left.

“Does that mean you guys are going?” Kate asked as the front door shut.

Mrs. Morgan took a sip of coffee. “I think so,” she said.

Kate got herself a bowl and poured some cereal into it. She filled it with milk and then sat down again. “I didn’t explain it very well, did I?” she asked her mother.

“You were fine,” Mrs. Morgan answered.

“Then why did he run off like that?” said Kate.

“Because that’s what he does when he doesn’t know what to say,” her mother replied. “He always has. The first year we were married he spent more time at that store than he did here, mainly because whenever we had a fight he would run over there and straighten shelves or unpack hockey pucks or something.”

“You guys had fights?” asked Kate, surprised to hear her mother say that. “But you almost never fight.”

“That’s because we’ve fought about everything already,” said her mother, laughing. “We’ve run out of arguments.”

“I’m really glad you guys are coming to the ritual,” said Kate after a moment. “It means a lot to me.”

“Just remember,” her mother told her. “No promises.”

Kate nodded. “I know,” she said. “But I’m glad you’re coming anyway. And thanks for saying what you did at Dr. Hagen’s yesterday, too.”

Her mother nodded but didn’t say anything. She went back to the list she was making of possible recipes for an upcoming catering job. Kate finished her cereal, then washed the bowl in the sink and put it away.

“I’m going to go for a walk,” she said. “I’ll be back later.”

“Okay,” said her mother distractedly. “See you.”

Kate went to her room and grabbed her jacket and her backpack. Then she left the house. But instead of walking to the bus stop, she got on her bike and headed in the other direction. She pedaled down the street and turned, heading away from town and toward the big park that lay just outside of it.

The park was about four miles from her house, and it took her a while to get there. But the October sun was warm and the colorful leaves that still covered some of the trees were beautiful to look at, so she didn’t mind the ride at all. When she got to the park she rode to the end of a particular parking lot, chained her bike to one of the stands, and then started walking up a narrow trail.

The trail went up, following a hill. Kate walked along under the trees, taking in the rich earthy smell and looking around at the autumn landscape. There was nobody else in the woods, so she was able to walk in silence, hearing only the sounds of the birds and the animals that scurried around in the brush.

When she reached the top of the hill the trail opened out into a clearing ringed by pine trees. Kate stood, looking out at the magnificent view of the park she had from her position high above everything. She and Tyler had found this spot on a walk they’d taken over the summer, and it had quickly become one of their favorite places. They had gone there several times, sometimes bringing picnic lunches and enjoying them in what felt like their own castle in the air.

Kate set her backpack on the ground and sat on a large rock. She sat there for a while, simply enjoying being outside. She looked around, noticing how the place had changed since the summer. The trees had fewer leaves, and the light was different—colder and flatter than the brightness of the summer sun. The flowers that had bloomed around the clearing were gone, but the dried skeletons of their stems and leaves remained behind. It really did feel as if the year was closing in on itself, preparing to go to sleep for the winter.

She’d been tempted to call Tyler and ask him to meet her at the park. It would have taken one quick phone call. She hadn’t seen him in a long time, and she really wanted to be able to see him and talk to him again. But now that her parents were making the gesture of coming to a ritual, she didn’t want to do anything that might make them change their minds. Besides, if everything worked out, she and Tyler would be able to date again soon.

If everything works out, she told herself. And that was a big if. She’d been thinking about that ever since Sophia had agreed to let her parents come to the ritual. And that was one of the reasons she’d decided to come to the park. She wanted to do everything she could to ensure that things worked out for the best, and she’d decided that she would do a little ritual.

She picked up her backpack and opened it. Inside were some things she’d brought from home. She took out a notebook and a pen and opened the notebook to a clean page. Then she made a list.

1. Fighting with my parents over Wicca

2. Not being able to see Tyler

3. Worrying about people at school and what they think

She looked at the three items on her list. They were the main things that had been bothering her lately, the things she wished she didn’t have to deal with. There were other things, too, like Cooper’s situation with her parents and Annie’s sadness over being dumped by Brian, but she knew she could do magic only for herself, not for her friends. Maybe later they could do a ritual together, but for the moment she had to concentrate on her own problems.

She ripped the piece of paper out of her notebook and folded it in half, then in half again. Then she sat cross-legged on the rock, holding the paper in her hands. She closed her eyes and began the familiar exercise of drawing light up from the earth and letting it fill her body. Then she pictured that light pouring out of her and forming a circle with her at the center.

When that was done she held her hands in her lap, cupped, with the paper in the middle. Then she sat quietly, feeling the wind, smelling the scents of fall, and soaking in the atmosphere of the park. She let the rich smell of the decomposing leaves fill her nose. She imagined the world around her readying itself for cold, the autumn fading into winter as everything slowed down and prepared for sleep.

She then imagined the paper in her hands as part of that process. She pictured it buried in the earth, slowly disintegrating as the water and the cold turned it into millions of invisible particles. And as the paper disappeared, so did the worries that she had written on it. They were eaten up by the earth and turned into rich soil that would provide a bed for the seeds in the spring. Then, out of her troubles would come tiny flowers and towering trees, the creations of the earth.

Kate opened her eyes. She looked around and found a spot not far from the rock where the earth looked soft. She walked to it and knelt down. Using her fingers, she dug a hole in the ground and placed the paper in it. Then she gently spread the dirt back over it and patted it down so that the ground looked just as it had before. She even sprinkled some pine needles and leaves over the top so that it would blend in.

She knelt there for a few minutes, looking at the place where she’d buried her worries and fears. While she would have liked to make them vanish in an instant, she knew that wasn’t possible. Overcoming them would take time, the same way it took time for seeds to grow into plants or for fallen leaves to turn into soil. Buried in the earth, the list of things she wanted to rid herself of would decompose, little by little each day, until they were gone. And she knew that the things that were bothering her in her life would also gradually fade away with time if she let things take their natural course.

She stood up and went back to the rock. She sat down again and reached once more into her backpack. This time she took out a bottle of water and an apple. She sat on the rock and enjoyed her snack for a while, feeling a little bit more confident than when she’d arrived. From all the studying she’d done, she knew that no ritual could change her life if she didn’t do the things that needed to be done to change it, but burying the piece of paper had been symbolic of letting things go that she needed to let go of, and that felt good. Real magic, as Sophia was always telling them, came from inside, not outside.

When she finished the apple, Kate tossed the core into the trees for the squirrels and birds. Then she packed up the rest of her stuff, shouldered her bag, and walked back to her bike. As she got on and began the ride home, she wondered what would happen next in her life. Something else she’d learned about magic was that it seldom worked exactly the way you expected it to. Sometimes it even seemed to be working completely contrary to the way you wanted it to. That could be frustrating, especially if, like Kate, you tended to be impatient. But she was trying to be more patient, and she’d seen many times how things that seemed hard or even impossible often turned out to have the greatest rewards. She hoped that this would be one of those times.

She then turned her thoughts to the Samhain ritual and, more specifically, the dance afterward. What was she going to go as? Picking a costume was always hard. She, Annie, and Cooper had gone to a dance once as the three good fairies from the movie Sleeping Beauty, and she had gone as a faerie princess to the Midsummer festivities a few months before. What would she be this time?

I think you need to get away from the whole faerie thing, she told herself as she pedaled. It’s time for something different. But what was that going to be? She could always ask Annie and Cooper what they were going as, and try to come up with some kind of theme, but she wanted to surprise them with something unexpected. She also wanted to choose something her parents might be impressed by.

A lot of ideas went through her head as she made her way back home, but none of them seemed quite right. Going as a witch would be sort of redundant, she thought, and all the other typical Halloween things like ghosts and vampires and stuff weren’t right either. She needed something special.

By the time she reached her house she still hadn’t thought of anything. As she rode her bike into the garage she was surprised to see that her father’s truck was parked in the driveway. He’d come home early from the store. Thinking about it, Kate had a moment of panic. Had he come back to tell her that he’d decided not to go to the ritual after all? He had seemed sort of hesitant when they’d talked. What if he’d gone to the store, thought about it some more, and changed his mind?

She parked her bike and walked into the house, her uneasiness growing. She’d been so relieved that things seemed to be working out. If they all fell apart now she would be devastated. She tried to prepare herself for the worst, but she knew that if it came she would probably just start to cry.

She heard voices in the kitchen. Her parents were in there. But what were they talking about? She paused, trying to determine the tone of their conversation. For a moment she thought they were fighting, but then she realized they were laughing. They sounded as if they were having a great time.

Her spirits lifted. If they were laughing, it couldn’t be too bad. But she still wondered what was going on. She walked into the kitchen.

“Hey,” she said, trying to sound cheerful. “What’s going on?”

She paused. Her parents were standing in the kitchen dressed in costumes. Her father had on a long shiny blue robe covered in silver stars, and there was a tall pointed hat on his head. He also had on a long white fake beard. Her mother was dressed in a black robe with a wide-brimmed black pointed hat. She had on a long black wig.

“How do you like them?” her father asked happily.

“Your father decided to pick up some costumes for us,” said her mother, twirling around in her robe. “He’s a wizard, and I’m a witch.”

“I see that,” said Kate, trying to remain calm.

“I thought I should at least try to get into the spirit of this thing,” said her father.

Kate smiled at him. She wanted to be supportive. After all, he was trying. But he couldn’t have picked out two worse costumes if he’d tried. She knew the real witches at the ritual would be horrified by the cartoon versions her parents were dressed as. But what could she say? She couldn’t tell her father that his well-meaning attempt was really kind of offensive.

“So, what do you think?” asked her father. Kate looked at her parents. They were both smiling back at her, waiting for an answer. She took a deep breath. “I think they’re great,” she said.

CHAPTER 14

“He kissed her good-bye?” Sasha said, amazed.

Annie nodded. She was sitting in the cafeteria with Sasha and Cooper. She had just finished telling them about her trip to San Francisco. She and her aunt had returned on Sunday evening, and this was the first chance she’d had to talk to her friends about the events of the weekend. At least some of the events. She hadn’t told them about Dixie, or about the ritual he’d come up with to help her parents’ ghosts pass to the other side. That would mean having to tell them the rest of the story, too, and she didn’t want to do that.

But she had told them about going to her old house and about meeting the Dunnings. Her friends were amazed that a famous author was living in her old house. They were also amazed by the fact that Mr. Dunning had taken Annie and her aunt out to dinner on Saturday night. But it was what Annie told them about the rest of the weekend that really had them talking.

On Saturday night, after the ritual, Mr. Dunning had taken Annie, Becka, and Aunt Sarah to a little French restaurant, where they’d had a delicious dinner. Annie still couldn’t quite believe that she was out with one of her favorite authors, or that he’d just helped her do a ritual, but Mr. Dunning had been so charming that she quickly forgot those things and just had a good time. Although Annie would have liked to ask Mr. Dunning about writing and about his books, she and Becka had spent most of the evening talking together, mainly because Mr. Dunning seemed really interested in talking with Aunt Sarah. He and Annie’s aunt had spent all night laughing and having a good time.

Annie wasn’t surprised to see that her aunt and Mr. Dunning hit it off. Aunt Sarah was smart and funny, and she was interested in all kinds of things. And so Annie wasn’t really surprised when, after dinner, Mr. Dunning suggested that they all have brunch together on Sunday before Aunt Sarah and Annie flew home.

But she was surprised when, at brunch, Mr. Dunning gave her a signed copy of the first book in the Changeling series. She’d opened it and looked at what he’d written on the title page: “For Annie. Magic brought us together. Here’s to a new friendship that I hope will continue for a long, long time. All the best, Grayson Dunning.” And she’d been even more surprised when, while saying their good-byes after brunch, Mr. Dunning had kissed her aunt and said, “I hope we get a chance to see each other again very soon,” and her aunt had responded, “I think I can arrange that.”

“What do you think it means?” Cooper asked Annie, bringing her thoughts back to the moment.

Annie shrugged. “I don’t know, really,” she said. “But I do know Aunt Sarah already had an E-mail from him this morning.”

Sasha sighed. “You guys are so dense,” she said. “It’s obvious what’s going on here. The two of them are hot for each other.”

“Your aunt and Grayson Dunning,” Cooper said. “Who would have thought?”

“What’s this Becka chick like?” asked Sasha. “Will she make a good stepsister/cousin-type thing?”

Annie laughed. “I don’t think I have to worry about that any time soon. But she’s great. I really like her.”

She thought about how nice Becka had been to her about the incident with the ghosts. She hadn’t asked a lot of questions, and she hadn’t treated Annie like she was crazy. She’d been really great. And during dinner they’d discovered that they had a lot of things in common.

“She reminds me a little of Cooper,” Annie said, thinking about Becka’s independent spirit. “But also a little of Kate, and a little of Sasha, and a little of me. She’s just kind of herself. I think you guys would like her.”

“You should have her come visit,” Cooper said. “I mean, if her dad is going to marry your aunt and all.”

Annie groaned. “Would you guys stop?” she said. “It was just a good-bye kiss.”

Sasha and Cooper exchanged glances, then laughed meaningfully. Annie rolled her eyes and took a bite of her sandwich. But the more she thought about it, the more she wondered just what was going on between Aunt Sarah and Grayson Dunning. Her aunt had dated a few men since Annie and Meg had moved in. She’d even been pretty serious about one. But she’d never been married, and Annie couldn’t quite imagine it. However, there was no denying that her aunt had been particularly cheery on the flight home, and several times since getting back, she’d mentioned how nice Grayson Dunning was.

How weird would that be? Annie asked herself. Her aunt married to a famous writer? And then Annie and Becka would be—what? Not stepsisters, really, since Aunt Sarah wasn’t Annie’s mother. But what other name would there be for it? And what would it be like having a sister her own age? She was used to being the oldest one. I guess it would be like having Cooper or Kate or Sasha as a sister, she thought.

She looked at her friends, who had moved on to talk about something else. They really were like sisters to her. She loved them the same way she loved Meg. Sometimes they made her crazy, but she didn’t know what she would do without them. They’d shared so many things since the beginning of their friendship. They’d fought, and cried, and laughed. Thinking about everything they’d gone through together, Annie realized that one of the greatest gifts she’d received from being involved in Wicca was the friendships she’d made.

Maybe, she thought, Becka and Grayson Dunning were another gift. After all, they’d come into her life because of her involvement in witchcraft. Sophia was always telling them that nothing happened by accident. She said that even the most random events always had a purpose, whether you recognized it right away or not. Perhaps there was more than one reason she had felt compelled to return to San Francisco and to her old home.

But the main reason, she knew, had been to help her parents. She understood that now. Her parents had been unhappy because they hadn’t been able to pass through the veil. Now, thanks to the ritual, they had. She felt good about that. She also still felt a little guilty, though. After all, if it hadn’t been for her actions, their spirits would never have been trapped in the first place. But at least she’d been able to help them. That was the important thing. Now that they were at rest she wouldn’t hear their voices calling to her anymore.

“Have you guys decided on costumes for the Samhain party?” Sasha asked, interrupting Annie’s musings.

“I was thinking of going as Kali,” Cooper said. “You know, the Hindu goddess of death. She wears a necklace of human skulls. I thought that would be cool.”

“What about you, Sasha?” asked Annie.

“I’m torn between Hecate and Isis,” she answered. “I don’t know which would be creepier.”

“I’ve seen Hecate,” replied Annie, thinking about her encounter with the Greek goddess. “She’s definitely creepy. But it would be hard to pull off the having-three-faces thing.”

“I know,” Sasha said. “Isis is much easier. Plus, she has really cool eye makeup.”

“Sounds like everyone is going the goddess route,” Annie said. “Maybe I should go as Diana, goddess of the hunt.”

“I don’t know,” Cooper remarked. “Given what happened when you messed around with Freya, maybe you should stay away from the goddess thing. How about just sticking a sheet over your head and going as a ghost?”

“Very funny,” said Annie. Cooper was right. But the thought of going as a ghost, especially after what she’d just been through with her parents’ ghosts, freaked her out. She’d have to think of something else.

“I’m going to see Tyler tonight,” Annie suddenly announced. “We’re going to this dance thing at the college. Whirling dervishes from Russia. Do you guys want to come?”

“Dance?” Sasha said. “Sorry, not my thing.”

“I can’t,” answered Cooper. “I’ve got too much homework.”

“I wish Kate could go,” said Annie. “Any word on how things are with her parents?”

“They’re coming to the Samhain ritual,” Cooper said.

Annie practically spit out the water she was drinking. “They’re what?” she said, sure that she hadn’t heard correctly.

“They’re coming to the Samhain ritual,” repeated Cooper.

“How did that happen?” Annie inquired.

Cooper shrugged. “Beats me,” she said. “I guess Kate talked them into it. If they aren’t too freaked out by it, she’s hoping they’ll let her come back to class.”

“That’s a gigantic if,” said Annie.

“It gets worse,” said Sasha. “They’re coming dressed as witches.”

“They are not,” Annie replied.

“They are,” said Sasha. “Kate’s horrified. But she doesn’t want to say anything because she doesn’t want them to back out.”

“Poor Kate,” Annie said, feeling sorry for her friend. She knew that, more than anything, Kate wanted to come back to the weekly Wicca study group. It sounded like this was her one and only chance to make that happen, and it wasn’t getting off to a good start. Annie knew that a lot of people would be upset if Mr. and Mrs. Morgan showed up looking like caricatures of what witches really were like.

“What’s she going to go as?” Annie asked Cooper.

“She says she’s going to go as someone who died of embarrassment,” replied Cooper. “I think she’s a little stressed.”

“I don’t blame her,” Annie said. “I thought she seemed a little bit bummed in class today. Now I know why.”

“Does she know you’re seeing Tyler tonight?” asked Sasha.

Annie nodded. “Sure,” she said. “Why?”

“Just curious,” Sasha answered. “She doesn’t mind you going out with her boyfriend?”

“We’re not going out going out,” said Annie, laughing. “We’re just hanging out. Besides, all he does is talk about her anyway. You know what a drama queen Kate is. She loves hearing about it.”

“Speaking of going out,” Cooper said, “have you heard about Brian?”

“Brian?” Annie said. “What about him?” She hadn’t given much thought to Brian since he’d unceremoniously dumped her a few weeks before.

Cooper looked at Sasha. “Shall we tell her?” she asked.

“Tell me what?” Annie said, wondering what they could be talking about.

“Brian is going out with someone,” Sasha said vaguely.

“Oh,” said Annie. The news was a surprise to her, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. On one hand, she knew that if Brian couldn’t respect her interest in Wicca he wasn’t someone she wanted to date anyway. On the other hand, getting dumped just plain old sucked, no matter how much sense it made. Hearing that the guy who didn’t want to be with her wanted to be with someone else made her feel bad.

She looked at Sasha and Cooper, who were watching her carefully. “Okay,” she said. “I give. Who is it?”

“Sherrie,” Sasha said.

Annie’s eyes went wide. “What?” she exclaimed loudly. “He dumped me for that … that … that—” She didn’t know how to finish the sentence. There were so many choice things to call Sherrie, all of them nasty.

Sasha grinned. “Just kidding,” she said. “I thought if I shocked you you’d get over it faster.”

“I hate you,” Annie said sullenly. “So who is it really?”

“Alissa Coker,” Cooper said.

“Alissa Coker?” Annie said, wrinkling her nose. “Why would he want to go out with her?”

Like Brian, Alissa Coker was a senior. She was sort of pretty, Annie had to admit. But she was such a giggly ditz. Why would Brian, who seemed to be such an intelligent guy, want to spend time with someone who thought reading Seventeen magazine was the same as reading Shakespeare?

“There’s no accounting for taste,” remarked Sasha.

“Thanks a lot,” said Annie defensively. “He liked me once, remember?”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Sasha said.

“I can’t believe he’s dating Alissa Coker,” Annie replied. “Alissa Coker.” She said the girl’s last name as if she were saying the name of some kind of bug she’d just found crawling up her leg.

Lunch ended before they could discuss the horror that was Alissa Coker any further. For the rest of the day Annie was in a foul mood. Before lunch she’d had pretty neutral feelings about Alissa. Now that she knew the girl was dating Brian, she couldn’t stop thinking about her. Why would Brian choose Alissa over her? Just because Annie was into Wicca? That was a ridiculous reason, and thinking about it made Annie even madder.

She was still mad when she met Tyler at the Jasper College performing arts center for the dance recital later that night. He took one look at her face and said, “Who died?”

“No one,” Annie said. “But I’d like to.”

“Sounds serious,” said Tyler as they walked inside and found their seats.

“It’s not, really,” Annie told him. “It’s just this guy.”

Tyler groaned. “Guy trouble,” he said. “Usually I’m on the other end of that. Whatever this guy did, I feel sorry for him if he’s made you this mad.”

“Don’t you dare take his side,” Annie said, not really angry but pretending to be warning Tyler. “You guys are all the same.”

“Hey!” Tyler said.

Annie crossed her arms. “Okay,” she said. “Maybe you’re not. But tell me this—would you dump me to go out with a girl who thinks being environmentally aware means using biodegradable bleach to color her hair?”

Tyler looked at her for a moment. “I don’t know,” he said carefully. “Is she cuter than you?” He grinned.

Annie punched him in the arm. “Oooh,” she said. “You are just like all the rest of them.”

The lights dimmed then, and she sat back in her seat. Music began playing and then the dancers came onstage. They were dressed in flowing white robes. Annie watched, entranced, as they began dancing. Their movements were fluid and hypnotic, and as she watched them she found herself drawn into the story they were telling with their bodies. She knew the whirling dervishes were part of a mystic tradition of Islam and that they saw the spinning dances that gave them their name as a kind of meditation. Watching them spin, their arms held out and their heads back, she felt herself drawn into a place of light and warmth. It was the way she felt when she did her Wiccan meditations, and she wondered about the similarities between the two things.

When the last dance ended and the lights came up, she felt as if she’d been dreaming. She looked around, reminding herself that she was sitting in an auditorium. She felt much calmer and much more peaceful than she had when she’d sat down.

“Can I have my hand back?”

Annie looked over at Tyler, who was smiling at her. Then she looked down and saw that she was holding his hand. She let go of it and drew her own hand back.

“How did that happen?” she asked.

“You reached over halfway through,” Tyler said.

“I’m so sorry,” said Annie, confused. Why had she done such a thing?

“It’s okay,” Tyler said. He got up and pulled on his coat. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah,” Annie answered, still slightly confused.

She drew her own coat on and followed Tyler out of the building. As they walked along the street she kept her hands firmly in the pockets of her coat.

“That was really amazing,” Tyler said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Me either,” said Annie. She wanted to talk about the dervishes and about what she’d been feeling while she watched them dance. But she was still too embarrassed about having grabbed Tyler’s hand. She couldn’t believe she’d done it. What had come over her? You were just feeling really relaxed, she told herself. It didn’t mean anything.

She stole a glance at Tyler. He was walking along beside her as if nothing unusual had happened. Most guys probably would have been all weirded out if a girl had just grabbed their hand. Especially a girl who was the best friend of their girlfriend.

But it didn’t mean anything, Annie reminded herself. It was just some hand-holding, and she hadn’t even known she was doing it. She rubbed her hand against her leg through her coat. It was still a little warm.

Suddenly she wondered what it would be like to go out with Tyler. He’d been right—he wasn’t like other guys. He wouldn’t dump her because she was Wiccan, like Brian had. He would go to museums with her, and to dance performances. He would listen to her talk about her life, and he would tell her about his. She’d shared a lot of things with him since they’d started hanging out, and he felt like a good friend to her. Not the kind of friend that Kate and Cooper were. That was different. Tyler was something else. He was a boy, after all. But he was also her friend. She couldn’t deny that.

He’s a boyfriend, she thought suddenly. I mean a boy friend. But what was the difference? The difference is that he’s Kate’s boyfriend, she told herself.

She sighed. Why did the one guy who really seemed to like her for who she was have to be her best friend’s boyfriend? It wasn’t fair. She didn’t like that many guys. Why did the one she seemed to get along with the best have to be someone else’s?

“Well, here we are,” Tyler said.

They’d reached the bus stop for Annie’s bus. Tyler lived in the other direction.

“This was fun,” Tyler said.

“Yeah,” said Annie stupidly. “It was fun.”

“Tell Kate it was awful, though,” suggested Tyler. “We don’t want her to think she missed something great.”

Kate’s got something great, Annie thought. She’s got you.

The bus approached the stop. Annie looked at Tyler. “This is me,” she said.

She looked into Tyler’s eyes. She wanted to apologize again for holding his hand. She wanted to let him know he was special to her. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she knew what she was doing she had leaned forward and kissed him. She just couldn’t stop herself. She put her arms around him and kissed him, not a friendly kiss good-bye but the kind of kiss she’d seen in the movies.

When she pulled away the bus was waiting with the doors open. Tyler was staring at her, a surprised look on his face. Annie put her hand to her mouth.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

Tyler didn’t say anything. He just looked at her. Was he angry? Annie couldn’t tell. He didn’t seem to be.

“I should go,” said Annie.

She got on the bus. As the doors closed she turned around and looked at Tyler. He was still standing there, looking at her with that strange expression. As the bus doors closed Annie collapsed into a seat on the side of the bus away from the windows. She didn’t want to see Tyler as they pulled away.

Now you’ve done it, she thought as everything fell into place and she understood in one startling, horrible moment why she had taken Tyler’s hand during the show. You’ve fallen in love with your best friend’s boyfriend.

CHAPTER 15

Cooper dialed Jane’s number and listened as the phone rang. As she waited for someone to pick up she couldn’t help but think about the last time she’d called a number written on a scrap of paper. It had been a number dropped by Amanda Barclay, the newspaper reporter who had written about her during the time when Elizabeth Sanger’s ghost had been contacting Cooper. That number had turned out to belong to a pay phone used by the man who had killed Elizabeth and who then tried to kill Cooper when she got too close to the truth. What would calling this new number bring? she wondered. After all, she didn’t really know anything about Jane except that she could play the guitar and sing. What if she turned out to be crazy?

“Hello?”

The sound of a voice speaking to her brought Cooper back to the moment. For a moment she thought about hanging up, but she didn’t. “Hi,” she said instead. “Is this Jane?”

“Could be,” the voice replied. “Who’s this?”

“Cooper Rivers,” answered Cooper. She assumed that it was Jane speaking. “We met last week when you were playing the guitar outside the drugstore on Commercial Street.”

“Oh, yeah,” Jane said, sounding as if she was happy to hear from Cooper. “How are you?”

“Okay,” Cooper said. “I was calling to see if you might want to get together sometime. Maybe play a little or something.”

“Yeah,” Jane said. “That might be cool. Do you want to come over here?”

“Where’s ‘here?’ ” asked Cooper.

“Lansdowne Street,” Jane replied. “Do you know where it is?”

“Sure,” Cooper said. “Behind the post office downtown.”

“Right,” Jane said. “It’s number forty-two.”

“When would be good for you?” Cooper said.

“How about now?” answered Jane. “I’ve checked my appointment book and I believe my schedule is open this evening.”

Cooper laughed at the affected accent Jane had put on to sound like some kind of snobby society lady. “All right, then,” she said. “I’ll come right over.”

She hung up, grabbed her guitar and her notebook of lyrics, and headed out to her car. It was Wednesday evening. Her mother had a meeting at school, so Cooper was on her own. T.J. was practicing with Schroedinger’s Cat, and Cooper was glad to have something to do. She was still sad about no longer being part of the group, and although she really believed that quitting the band had been the right thing to do, she couldn’t deny that she missed playing with them.

As she drove to Jane’s house she looked at all of the Halloween decorations people had put up around town. Plastic skeletons hung from doorways, and pointy-hatted witches adorned many of the windows she passed. Someone had even hung a scarecrow from the branch of a tree in a front yard, a rope tied around its neck. It swung in the October wind, its brightly painted face looking oddly out of place on what was supposed to be a dead body.

Cooper had always loved Halloween. It was her favorite holiday, and as a kid she’d spent hours coming up with different costumes before deciding on one for the big night. But it wasn’t the trick-or-treating she liked; it was that Halloween seemed to be a night when anything could happen. She always hoped she really would meet a ghost or a goblin or some other kind of creature. You were witchy even way back then, she told herself, laughing.

But looking at the Halloween decorations now, she felt a little sad. Now she understood that Samhain was more than just costumes and getting candy. It was a solemn time of year. It was too bad that more people didn’t understand that, she thought. It was like people had to make the holiday into something comical because they didn’t really understand it. But I guess we’ve done the same thing to Christmas, she reminded herself. Now it’s all about presents and Santa Claus.

The Samhain ritual and party were only three days away. She had to get working on her costume. As she turned on to Lansdowne Street and looked for number 42, she wondered what surprises Sophia and the others had come up with for them. Instead of having the ritual at the bookstore or at someone’s house, it was going to be held at an old stone church that had been turned into a community center. Cooper knew that the members of the covens organizing the event had spent all week getting it ready. At class the night before, she and Annie had tried to pry some details out of Sophia, and then Archer, but neither of them would say a word.

Cooper found number 42 and pulled up to the curb. It was a small house, painted white with green trim. There was a small tree with bright red leaves in the front yard, and Cooper saw the dried remains of flowers along the path that led to the front door. The letters on the mailbox spelled out GOLDSTEIN.

Cooper got out of the car and walked to the front door, carrying her guitar and her notebook. She rang the bell, and a moment later the door was opened by an elderly man. He peered out at Cooper for a moment.

“Who are you?” he asked, sounding a little confused.

“I’m a friend of Jane’s,” Cooper said. “Is she here?”

“Jane?” said the man, as if he’d never heard the name before.

“It’s okay, Grandpa,” Jane said, appearing in the doorway. “This is a friend of mine.”

Jane opened the door for Cooper. “Come on in,” she said.

Cooper entered the house. The old man stood beside Jane, staring at Cooper with a mixture of fear and interest.

“Grandpa, this is Cooper,” Jane told him.

Cooper smiled. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said.

Mr. Goldstein didn’t say anything. He continued to look at Cooper, his hands clasped together in front of him. Then he reached out tentatively, his thin arm extending from the sleeve of his blue sweater. Cooper reached out and took his hand. As she did, she noticed what looked like numbers written on his wrist. The old man saw her glance at them and pulled his hand back.

“He’s sort of shy around people he doesn’t know,” Jane said to Cooper. Then she turned back to her grandfather. “Cooper and I are going to go to my room for a while,” she said. “Do you want to watch some TV?”

Mr. Goldstein nodded. Jane took his hand and led him into the living room, where Cooper saw him sit in a big armchair while Jane turned on the television. A cooking show was on, and Cooper saw the perky host showing the audience the best way to dice a chili pepper. Cooper couldn’t imagine Mr. Goldstein’s being all that interested in cooking, but he seemed to be perfectly happy watching the program.

“He doesn’t care what it is as long as it’s cheerful,” Jane said to Cooper as she came out of the room. “Come on. I’ll show you my palace.”

Jane walked down the hall and opened a door at the end of it. Cooper followed her inside, and Jane shut the door behind them.

“This is it,” she said, waving her hand around.

“It’s amazing,” said Cooper, looking at the room. Every wall was painted with a mural. The entire room had been transformed into some kind of magical forest, with trees and flowers everywhere. The ceiling had been painted to look like a bright summer sky, complete with clouds. But the most amazing part was that peering out from behind some of the trees were figures straight out of myth. A faun stood behind a towering oak, while several elfin figures played among the flowers.

“You did all of this?” Cooper asked Jane.

Jane shrugged. “I got tired of plain old white walls,” she said, smiling.

Cooper turned around and around, finding new details everywhere she looked. “It’s amazing,” she said.

“My grandfather taught me to draw and paint when I was little,” Jane said. “He’s also the one who taught me to play the guitar.”

“Is it just the two of you living here?” asked Cooper.

Jane shook her head. “My parents live here, too,” she said. “But they travel a lot for business. My two sisters are both in college. I stay here and look after Grandpa.”

Cooper wanted to ask Jane another question, but she didn’t think it was a polite one.

“You’re wondering about the numbers, right?” Jane asked.

Cooper nodded. “What are they?”

“A tattoo,” said Jane. “My grandfather was in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II.”

Cooper didn’t know what to say. She’d heard all about the Nazi camps, of course, but she’d never met anyone who had actually been in one. The war had always seemed to be something that had happened to people she would never know.

“Most of his family was killed,” said Jane. “He stayed alive because the camp commander found out my grandfather could play music. He had been a violin teacher. The commander had Grandpa put together a string quartet to play at dinners for the Nazi soldiers. He and three other prisoners had to play whenever they were told to.”

“That must have been really horrible,” Cooper said, knowing it sounded trite but also thinking that it must be the truth.

“He doesn’t talk about it very much,” Jane said. “Now that he’s old I think it’s hard for him to think about what happened. Almost everyone he knew was killed in the camps, and now even the ones who lived are mostly dead. He has nightmares about it a lot. I’m just glad I can be here with him. And I’m glad he taught me to play and to paint before he couldn’t do it anymore. No one else in my family was really interested in it, and I think it made him feel good to teach me.”

Cooper looked at Jane as the other girl went and got her guitar from the closet. It was amazing, she thought, how people had so many different stories to tell. Just by looking at Jane, Cooper would never have guessed any of the things she’d just been told.

“So,” Jane said as she came back and sat on the edge of her bed, “tell me about you.”

Cooper pulled out the chair that sat in front of Jane’s desk and sat down on it. “Let’s see,” she said. “Nothing quite as interesting as your grandfather’s story. But I do live in a haunted house.”

Jane raised an eyebrow as she continued to tune her guitar. “Do tell,” she said.

Cooper told her about Welton House and about how the ghost of Frederick Welton supposedly walked its halls. “My mother says that when I was little I used to see his ghost all the time,” she concluded.

“So you live with your parents?” asked Jane.

“For the moment,” said Cooper. “They’re sort of separated while they figure out what’s going on. Right now it’s me and Mom in the house.”

“And the ghost,” Jane added. “Don’t forget about him. They don’t like to be ignored, you know.”

“You believe in ghosts?” asked Cooper.

“Do you?” Jane countered.

The two of them watched each other, each waiting for the other to answer. Cooper had a feeling that they were playing a game of chicken. Was Jane trying to figure out if Cooper was into the supernatural? That’s what she was doing. After all, Jane had written her phone number on a piece of paper torn from a flyer from Crones’ Circle. And her songs had a definitely witchy vibe to them. Cooper suspected there was more to Jane than she was letting on. But Jane wasn’t giving anything away, and Cooper decided that if she was going to find anything out she would have to give in first.

“Yeah,” Cooper said. “I do. I believe in all kinds of things.”

“Like what?” Jane asked.

“No fair,” said Cooper. “You never answered my question about ghosts.”

Jane smiled. “Yeah,” she said. “I believe in them, too.”

“From personal experience?” Cooper pushed.

“Maybe,” Jane said. “Let me ask you something—what’s with all the questions about this stuff?”

Cooper figured it was time to ask the big question. She liked Jane, and she hoped they could remain friends whatever her answer was. But now that the time had come to actually ask, she found herself hoping that Jane hadn’t just had the Crones’ Circle flyer by accident.

“You wrote your number on a piece of paper from a flyer about a Samhain ritual that’s coming up,” Cooper said.

She noticed that Jane didn’t seem confused by her use of the name Samhain. But Jane also didn’t say anything about where she’d gotten the flyer.

“The flyer came from Crones’ Circle,” Cooper continued. “I take a class at that store. I was just wondering if maybe you’d been there.”

Jane paused a moment. “I go in there sometimes, yeah,” she said. “What’s this class you take?”

Cooper grinned. “Now you’re the one asking questions,” she said. “I take a class on Wicca there,” she added after a moment.

Jane looked at her, and Cooper knew that this time it was Jane who was dying to ask a question but was holding back.

“No, I’m not a witch,” Cooper said, answering it for her anyway. “At least not yet. We have to do the class for a year and a day. Then we decide whether we want to be initiated or not. Are you weirded out by that?”

Jane shook her head. “I just didn’t know if you were for real,” she said. “I mean, your lyrics were all Goddessy, but you never know. A lot of people are into the idea of it but don’t really get it, if you know what I mean. There are a lot of posers out there.”

Cooper laughed. “I thought the same thing about you,” she said. “So, are you into Wicca, too?”

“I don’t know a lot about it,” said Jane.

“But you’re into the Goddess,” said Cooper.

Jane nodded. “I’m into religion in general,” she said. “I started reading about Goddess stuff a couple of years ago. I really like it. Plus, it fits into a lot of Jewish mysticism, which I also like. There’s this whole idea of God having both male and female manifestations. That’s what got me started on it.”

Cooper thought about Jace Myers. “I know someone you should talk to about all of that,” she said. “Now, tell me about this experience with ghosts.”

“I’ve seen my grandmother a few times,” Jane said. “Mostly when I was little. That’s about it.”

“Are you coming to the Samhain ritual?” asked Cooper.

“I don’t know,” Jane answered. “Like I said, I’m not sure I’m all that into witchcraft. But it sounds interesting.”

“You should come,” Cooper told her. “You don’t have to be Wiccan to be there. There will be all kinds of people.”

“Maybe I will, then,” said Jane. She paused. “I’m glad you called,” she said. “I don’t have a ton of friends, partly because I have to watch Grandpa a lot but mainly because I don’t find a lot of people I can actually talk to.”

Cooper nodded. “That’s how I felt before I met Kate and Annie,” she said.

“Who are they?” asked Jane.

“My two best friends,” Cooper replied. “We met because Kate did this spell that went haywire. It’s a long story. But I think you’ll like them. That is, if you want to meet them.”

“Yeah,” Jane said. “I think I would. Hey, why don’t we play something? Want to hear this thing I wrote this week?”

“You’re on,” said Cooper.

She listened as Jane began to play her song. It felt good to have someone to play music with. She didn’t know if she and Jane would ever be in a band together, but for now she was content to have someone else to play with. It made not being part of Schroedinger’s Cat a little less painful.

Beyond that, she felt as if she’d made a new friend. That felt even better than finding someone to play music with. Cooper wasn’t big on making new friends, and she was pleased that she’d taken a chance on Jane. Not for the first time in the past months, she thought about the word she’d drawn from the cauldron at her dedication ceremony: connection. It was her primary challenge for the year and a day of her journey, and several times she’d found herself confronted with situations that involved making various kinds of connections. This was another one. She had made a connection with Jane, and she hoped it would grow into a new friendship.

And just think, she told herself. If you hadn’t been going to meet your father for dinner, you never would have met her. Cooper was still worried about what her parents’ separation might mean, and she knew that it might be a long time before she had any answers. But if her father hadn’t moved out, she never would have been walking downtown to meet him. And if she hadn’t done that, she never would have met Jane. So maybe something good would come out of it after all.

Then she thought about Mr. Goldstein and how he must have suffered in the concentration camp. It was almost too terrible to even think about. But when she looked around Jane’s room and saw the beautiful pictures, and when she heard her sing and play the guitar, again she was reminded of how good things could come out of horrible events. Maybe what Jane was doing with her art and her music was another kind of connection, of adding to the web that joined her to her family and to the universe.

Jane continued singing. Cooper liked the song. And she knew that when Jane was done it would be her turn to share a song. This is what it’s all about, she told herself. This is what connecting means. She didn’t know where her new friendship would take her, or what turns still lay along her path, but for the moment she was happy to be sitting right where she was.

CHAPTER 16

Annie was nervous. She knew she was going to see Tyler at the ritual. She hadn’t talked to him since the kiss on Monday night. But she had seen Kate, and that had been almost as bad. Whenever she looked at her friend she remembered how it had felt to kiss Tyler, and that made her feel incredibly guilty. Kate, of course, didn’t know anything about what had occurred. On Tuesday she’d asked Annie how the dance performance was, and Annie told her that it had been fine. But when Kate then asked about Tyler, Annie had suddenly become very nervous and self-conscious. She’d said something about how much Tyler seemed to miss Kate and wanted to see her, but the whole time she was afraid that Kate would be able to tell that something had happened.

The worst part was that Annie wasn’t even entirely sure what had happened. She had never intended to kiss Tyler. In fact, until she’d done it she’d never even thought about kissing him. But the more she went over it in her mind, the more she realized that she’d been falling for him little by little for a long time. He was everything she thought a guy should be: funny, smart, understanding, accepting. And he was really cute, too. If it weren’t for the fact that he just happened to be in love with her best friend, he would be the perfect guy for her.

She knew that she should have called Tyler immediately and apologized for her behavior. But she just couldn’t. She couldn’t possibly tell him that she had a crush on him. But she knew that not saying anything was probably worse. Who knew what he was thinking? She had just run off, leaving him standing there. Probably he just thought she’d lost her mind. At least she hoped that was what he thought. It would be a lot easier to plead temporary insanity than to tell him what was really going on.

She paused as she approached the building where the ritual was being held. She stared at the big wooden doors. Tyler was in there somewhere. She was going to see him in a few moments. She took a deep breath. Don’t do anything stupid, she instructed herself as she pulled open the doors and walked inside.

Kate sat in the backseat of the car, wishing she were dead. Her parents sat in the front, dressed in their costumes. She hadn’t had the courage to tell them that going dressed as a witch and a wizard was probably not the best idea in the world. They actually seemed sort of into going to the ritual, and she didn’t want to make any trouble. At the same time, she couldn’t help but wish that they had dressed as something else.

She herself was dressed as Pandora from the Greek myths. She was wearing a flowing white robe belted around the middle with a length of gold cord, and she was carrying a box she’d spray-painted gold and decorated with fake gems. She wasn’t sure why she’d settled on Pandora, exactly. One night it had just come to her, probably because she figured that, like Pandora, she’d opened up a big box of troubles when she’d asked her parents to come to the ritual with her. Besides, it had been an easy costume to make quickly.

At least you’ll get to see Tyler, she reminded herself. That was one good thing about the night. She hadn’t seen him in what seemed like forever, and she was anxious to be reunited with her boyfriend. She wondered what he was coming as.

“Is this the place?” her father asked, pointing to the community center building.

“That’s it,” said Kate.

Her father pulled into the parking lot and found a space. Then the three of them got out and walked to the entrance. As Kate pulled open the door she thought, Here goes nothing.

*

The old church had been filled with hundreds of white candles. The electric lights were off, and the only illumination came from the candles’ tiny dancing flames. Everyone who had come for the ritual was waiting in the vestibule, crowded together as they waited to see what was going to happen next. There was an air of expectation in the room, and people chatted quietly, as if they really were in church and weren’t supposed to make any noise.

Cooper, Sasha, and Tyler were standing together to one side when Annie appeared.

“Hey,” said Annie, walking over to them. “Great costumes.”

As promised, Cooper had come as the goddess Kali. Her face and arms had been painted black, and around her neck hung a necklace made from the severed heads of a dozen dolls she’d found at a local thrift store. She’d told the salesclerk who’d rung up her purchases that she was buying the dolls for an art project, and she wondered what the woman would think if she could see the heads now, the necks painted red to resemble blood. Cooper was also wearing a red sari-like dress, and she’d painted Kali’s third eye in the middle of her forehead.

Sasha had also made good on her promise, dressing as Isis, complete with a golden headband and Egyptian-inspired outfit. Her eyes had been painted in the familiar catlike black-lined design of the Egyptians, and she had gold bands around her upper arms.

For his part, Tyler had dressed up like an old man with a long gray beard. He was wearing a black cloak with a hood and carrying a long wooden staff.

“What are you supposed to be?” Annie asked him, for a moment forgetting how nervous she was to be seeing him at all.

“I’m Charon, the boatman who rowed people across the river Styx after they died,” he answered. He jingled a small black velvet bag tied around his waist. “These are the pennies that people put on the dead people’s eyes so that they could pay my fare.”

He’s acting like nothing happened, Annie thought. Was it possible that Tyler really had thought the kiss meant nothing? Oddly enough, thinking that made Annie a little bit sad. But at least he wasn’t acting weird around her.

“And what exactly are you?” Sasha asked, looking at Annie’s costume curiously.

“Oh,” Annie said. “I’m a banshee. You know, one of the Irish spirits who supposedly came out on Samhain.”

She had colored her hair silver with some temporary dye, and it hung around her shoulders in tangles. She was wearing a tattered old shawl over a plain gray dress, and she was carrying a stick that had a round paper lantern hanging from the end.

“The banshees were supposed to wander around with lanterns, looking for their old homes,” she explained.

A moment later Kate walked up, accompanied by her parents.

“Hi, guys,” she said. She sounded nervous. “I think you all know my parents.”

The rest of them nodded at Mr. and Mrs. Morgan, who stood awkwardly in their costumes. Kate wanted to give Tyler a kiss, but she didn’t dare do it in front of her mother and father. Then she noticed Cooper looking around.

“Looking for someone?” she asked.

“My friend Jane,” Cooper answered. “You know, the girl I was telling you about. She said she was coming. I think I see her over there.” She waved and called out, “Jane!”

Annie, Sasha, and Kate turned to see Jane. They’d heard a lot about her from Cooper, and they were curious about her and eager to finally meet her. Now, walking toward them, they saw an enormous jack-o’-lantern. Jane had fashioned a pumpkin body out of shimmery orange fabric. Her arms and legs, encased in an orange body stocking, stuck out from the sides and the bottom. On her head was a hat made from green material. A stem curved up from the top, and tendrils of green fabric hung down around her shoulders. A face had been created on the front of the pumpkin using eyes, a nose, and a mouth cut from black material.

“It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” said Cooper as her friend came up to them. “Fabulous!”

“Thank you. Thank you,” Jane said, bowing. “It seemed appropriate, given the occasion.”

Cooper introduced Jane to everyone and they all stood there, talking and waiting for something to happen.

They didn’t have to wait long. A few minutes later they heard a bell sound. This was followed by the sound of cackling. Then a door at one end of the vestibule opened and a figure emerged. It was an old woman. Her long hair was wild and uncombed, and her long nose curved down until it almost touched her chin. She carried a stick in her hand, and she was dressed in a brown dress.

“I am Baba Yaga,” she called out in a screechy voice.

“Sounds more like Sophia to me,” Cooper whispered to Annie, who giggled.

“I am the grandmother of all witches,” Baba Yaga continued. “Tonight is my night, and you have come to my house.”

Baba Yaga was walking among the people gathered there, looking at them with dark eyes. She stopped in front of the girls and their friends.

“Are you ready to see what I have to show you?” she asked Kate.

“I think so,” Kate said, nervously glancing at her parents.

“Then come inside,” Baba Yaga said. “Pass through the doorway and enter my house.”

People began to walk through the door out of which Baba Yaga had come. Annie, Cooper, Kate, and the others joined the line and went through as well. They found themselves in a large room, what had once been the sanctuary of the church. It, too, was filled with candles. There was also an enormous cauldron in the middle of the room.

“Form a circle around my cauldron,” Baba Yaga instructed them as she came in behind them and shut the doors.

The guests assembled around the cauldron. Kate stood between her parents, with Annie and Cooper on either side of them. Jane stood on Cooper’s other side, and Tyler stood beside Annie with Sasha on his other side. When they had formed a large circle Baba Yaga stepped into the center of it and stood beside her cauldron.

“Tonight we celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another,” she said. “This is Samhain. It is a night to celebrate death, and a night to celebrate rebirth.”

Suddenly someone stood up inside the cauldron, causing everyone around it to gasp. It was a hooded figure with the face of a skeleton, and it was holding a large scythe.

“Behold Death,” said Baba Yaga. “He has come tonight to part the veil between the worlds. Who among you is willing to pass through?”

Death stepped from the cauldron and walked slowly around the circle, looking into the faces of those assembled there. He paused from time to time, peering closely at one person or another as they all took in the sight of his eerie visage.

“Death will come for all of us,” Baba Yaga said as the hooded specter made his way around the circle. “But not tonight. Tonight he comes only to open a doorway for us between this world and the next.”

Death walked to one side of the circle and lifted his hands. There was a loud tearing sound and everyone turned to see what had made it. There, at the opposite end of the room from where they’d entered, stood another doorway. This one was covered with a sheet of black material. Now that sheet had been torn down the center, and it hung in two.

“The veil has been rent,” said Baba Yaga. “Will you pass through?”

There were two rows of candles leading up to the doorway, forming a path. Death parted the circle of people and stood at the entrance to the path, looking back at them and waiting for someone to come forward.

One by one the people in the circle filed onto the path, passing beside Death and walking toward the doorway. And one by one they paused at the torn veil before stepping through into the unknown.

*

Kate walked ahead of her parents. As she approached the door she became more and more nervous. So far things had been pretty tame. But what would happen once they passed through the veil? Would her parents encounter something they wouldn’t be able to handle? Would it be so weird that they would forbid her to ever have anything to do with Wicca again?

She stopped in front of the doorway, trying to see what lay beyond it. But there was nothing but darkness. All she could do was trust that everything would be okay. Taking a deep breath, she pushed aside the two pieces of cloth and passed through.

She was in a hallway. It was dark, but a light flickered somewhere ahead of her. She walked toward it, running her hand along the wall to help her find her way. She knew that her father and mother would be coming along behind her, and she was tempted to wait for them. But she had a feeling that this was something they were supposed to do on their own, so she continued on.

She turned a corner and saw that the flickering light came from a candle being held by a woman standing at the end of the hall where it split into two directions. She was wearing a white hooded robe. Her face and hands were covered in makeup that made her appear pale, and there were shadows around her eyes.

“Welcome to the land of the dead,” she said to Kate. “There are two roads you may take through here. Which will you choose?”

Kate looked to the left, where a set of stairs went up to the next floor. Then she looked right, where another hallway stretched away from them.

“I’ll go to the right,” she said.

The woman nodded, and Kate continued down the hall. At the end of it she came to a door. She tried turning the knob but it was locked. Not knowing what else to do, she knocked on it.

The door swung open and Kate found herself looking into a room lit by red candles. There was a small table in the center of the room. It was draped in black velvet, and behind it sat a woman wearing a dark red robe. There was an empty chair across the table from her. When the woman saw Kate she motioned for her to sit down.

Kate moved forward and was surprised to find the door swing shut behind her. She walked to the chair and sat down. She looked into the face of the woman across from her. Kate didn’t recognize her and figured she must be from one of the other covens.

“You are behind the veil,” the woman said mysteriously. “This is the time when the old year dies and the new is born. It is also a night of prophecy.” She took from the folds of her robe a deck of Tarot cards and spread them out on the table in front of Kate. “Would you like to choose a card to see what the new year holds for you?”

Kate looked at the cards in front of her. She knew from experience that they really could reflect what was going on in a person’s life and what could happen to that person in the future. Did she want to choose one and see what it said? She wasn’t sure. So many things in her life were up in the air—her relationship with her parents, her relationship with Tyler, and her involvement in the Wicca study group. Part of her was afraid to choose a card and see what it said. What if it indicated that things weren’t going to get any better for her? What if it showed her that her parents weren’t going to let her continue to study witchcraft? That would be devastating.

But she also knew that the cards showed only what would happen if she continued doing things the way she was currently doing them. They didn’t mean that a particular future was set in stone. If she saw in the card something negative, there were still ways to change the course of events. She decided to look. She reached out and picked a card.

“The Three of Cups,” said the woman. “Do you know its meaning?”

“Oh, yes,” Kate said, a sense of joy building in her. She’d seen the card before. In fact, it was the card that she’d drawn in her very first Tarot reading, with Archer, back when she was debating whether or not to get involved with studying Wicca with Cooper and Annie. It was the card that had brought them together. Looking at it now, she hoped that its meaning was the same this time.

“Take the card,” said the woman. “It is your guarantee of being able to leave the land of the dead. Go through the door behind me and rejoin the living.”

Kate saw another door open. Through this one poured pale light, like the light at the end of a tunnel. She stood up and passed through the door. It shut behind her and she was in another hallway. Somewhere beyond her she heard the sounds of music, and she knew that the Samhain dance must be somewhere at the end of the hall. She walked toward the sound, holding the Tarot card in her hand.

Annie passed through the torn veil and walked down the hallway. When she came to the woman holding the candle, she chose the left-hand path. She walked up the stairs, seeing another flickering light at the top, and came to a door. She pushed it open and found herself in a room lit with black candles. Around the room were many mirrors hanging on the walls, and the light of the candles was reflected in their surfaces. In the middle of the room stood a man in a gray velvet robe.

“Welcome,” the man said. “Enter and close the door.”

Annie did as she was instructed, discovering when she closed the door that it too had mirrors on the back. She stepped into the room and stood in front of the man, seeing herself reflected many times over in the mirrors.

“You have passed through the veil,” the man said. “In this place you may see things you do not see in the realm of earth. If you look into the mirrors you may see reflections of things to come. Do you wish to see these things?”

Annie thought seriously about the question. She’d experienced glimpses of the future before, and she knew that looking too deeply could cause trouble. Besides, there were a lot of questions in her mind at the moment, questions about Tyler, about Kate, and about her aunt and Mr. Dunning. Did she really want to see what might be going on with any of them?

“These mirrors reflect those things you need to address as the year turns,” said the man in gray. “If you look into them you will see your challenge.”

Annie took a deep breath. She knew that refusing a challenge when one was walking the Wiccan path would probably be a mistake. No matter how difficult the ones in her past had been, they’d always taught her something.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll look.”

“Close your eyes,” the man instructed her. “Clear your mind. When you are ready, you may open them again.”

Annie closed her eyes. She heard the man move away from her, then the sound of a door opening and closing softly. Had he left her alone? She tried to not let that thought trouble her. She knew that she was supposed to be clearing her mind and focusing her attention. She tried to do that, emptying her head of random thoughts.

Okay, she thought. Show me what happens next.

Almost immediately she heard the voices. “Annie,” they called.

Her eyes flew open. Not again, she thought, panic gripping her. It was the sound of her parents’ voices. She looked around her. The man was gone. But in the mirrors she saw reflected the ghostly faces of a man and a woman. They were faces she knew. They belonged to her mother and father.

At first she thought it must be a trick. But who would do such a thing? She whirled around. In each mirror she saw a face. They all stared out at her with sad expressions.

“Annie.” The voices came again, and Annie saw the mouths of the reflections moving. Her parents were talking to her.

“But you’re supposed to have passed over,” she cried. “We did the ritual.”

She couldn’t help but look at the faces. Her parents looked exactly the way she remembered them. But why were they there? What did they want? She didn’t have any answers.

Suddenly a door opened on the other side of the room. Light poured in. The faces vanished instantly from the mirrors, and Annie was left staring at her own face in their polished surfaces.

She ran from the room. Beyond it was another set of stairs, this one going down. She heard voices coming from the bottom, happy voices, and the sound of laughter. She knew it was the party.

Looking back, she saw that the door to the room of mirrors was shut. Probably someone else was in there now. What was the new person seeing? she wondered.

She walked down the stairs, anxious to find her friends. It was time she told them the truth about what she’d done.

CHAPTER 17

Two days later, on the actual evening of Samhain, Annie, Cooper, and Kate were seated in Annie’s bedroom. The room was lit by candles, and the three friends were gathered around the cauldron.

“Meg looked really cute as a hobbit,” Kate said as they relaxed before beginning the night’s work.

“She’s been reading Tolkien,” said Annie. “She wanted us to glue fake fur to her feet to make them look realistic. Luckily, she settled for fuzzy slippers.”

Meg and Aunt Sarah were out trick-or-treating with some of Meg’s friends. Aunt Sarah had donned a long beard and a blue robe to be the wizard Gandalf. The girls had said good-bye to them before coming up to Annie’s room, and now they had the house to themselves for a few hours. Annie hoped it would be enough time for them to do what needed to be done.

“So, Mom and Dad are letting you out of the house again?” Cooper asked Kate.

“For now,” Kate answered. “The ritual wasn’t too weird for them. My mother even ended up keeping the Tarot card she drew in that red room. She put it on the refrigerator with a magnet. And they ended up talking to Sophia and Archer quite a bit at the party afterward. I guess they decided that they’re okay.”

“Does this mean you’re coming back to class on Tuesday?” Annie asked her.

Kate nodded. “They said I can go back to class, although I don’t think they’re all that thrilled about it. And Tyler is still off-limits for the moment. I think studying witchcraft and dating a witch are just a little too much for them, or maybe they think I’m only into it because he is and if I don’t see him it will wear off. But that’s okay. You guys can still hang out with him, and I’ll see him at class on Tuesdays. I’m just glad my Tarot card turned out to be true. Here we are, the three of us, back together. And I’ll show them that this isn’t just a passing thing. Then I know they’ll change their minds.”

Annie didn’t say anything at the mention of Tyler. Standing beside him in the ritual circle had been hard, but she’d managed to pretty much avoid him at the party. She still hadn’t said a word to Kate about the kiss, and she still hadn’t decided what to do about it. There was a bigger issue she had to deal with first. That’s why her friends were there. She had asked them to come over and help her do something. She had told them most of her story the previous day over a long walk. It had been difficult, and they had been shocked to hear what she had to say, but they’d been incredibly supportive.

“Did Jane have a good time?” Kate asked Cooper.

Cooper nodded. “Big time,” she said. “I don’t know if she’ll make a visit to class one of these days or not, but she enjoyed herself. Even if she doesn’t, we’ll still hang out. I really like her, and it never hurts to have more friends.”

“If she does turn out to be interested, that would mean Sasha and Jane will be in next year’s class,” Kate said thoughtfully. “If we can get Jess and Tara to come, too, we’ll have the beginnings of our very own little coven.” She laughed. “We can call ourselves the Witch Babies.”

“Right,” said Cooper. “And if Annie’s aunt marries that writer guy we can recruit Becka, too.”

“The way they’ve been talking on the phone every night, you never know,” Annie remarked. “But first things first. Let’s get this ritual started, okay?”

“You’re the boss,” said Cooper. “What are we doing?”

“I want to do a ritual for my parents,” Annie said. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I think that they’ve been trying to contact me for some reason. You both know what happened.” She paused as her friends nodded. “Well, I think they have something to say to me. I’m not sure I want to hear what it is, but I think I need to give them the chance to say it.”

“What do you have in mind?” Kate asked.

“Tonight is the night when the veil between the worlds is thinnest,” Annie said. “I’m just going to see if I can get through to them. Nothing fancy. Just me asking them to show up. I asked you guys to come over because I think it might help to have a stronger circle. And because I’m a little scared, too. It’s not every day you ask your dead parents to come by for a visit.”

“I have enough trouble with my living ones,” remarked Kate. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yeah,” Annie said, nodding. “I’m sure. This has been a long time coming. I need to face it now.”

“Okay, then,” said Cooper. “Let’s do it.”

They all stood up. Annie struck a match and lit some incense she’d picked up at Crones’ Circle that afternoon. It was a special blend made just for Samhain, and when she lit the charcoal it sent out a plume of bluish smoke that filled the air with the smell of roses, sandalwood, and amber. Then Annie held out a hand each to Cooper and Kate. They took them, then joined their other hands to form a circle around the cauldron.

Annie breathed in the heady scent of the incense. She gripped her friends’ hands in hers and felt stronger and safer with them around her. She took several deep breaths, then she spoke the words she’d written earlier for casting the circle.

Once around the wheel turns,

as guided by her magic hand.

Three times ’round we cast our circle,

in its golden light we stand.

She paused, imagining a circle of brilliant light forming around them, creating a safe space in which they could work their magic. She pictured the light as one of the whirling dervishes she’d seen the other night, spinning quickly as it circled them and surrounding her, Kate, and Cooper in its protective glow.

When she felt that the circle was cast, she proceeded to the next part of the ritual. Again she spoke some words she’d written especially for the occasion.

As the year comes to an ending,

in the hour between old and new,

part the veil and let pass

the spirits who would travel through.

She had asked the powers of the universe to pull aside the veil. That had been the easy part. Now came the more difficult one. For this there was no easy invocation. She simply had to speak what was in her heart.

“Mom and Dad,” she said softly. “It’s me. Annie. I know you’ve been trying to talk to me, and I know I’ve been running away. I didn’t understand what you want. I still don’t understand. But I know you want to talk to me. So if you’re still there, please speak to me now.”

She stopped and waited. Had she done everything correctly? She really didn’t know. She stood with her eyes closed, feeling Kate’s and Cooper’s hands in hers. Their touch was reassuring, and she was glad that her fingers were entwined with those of her two best friends, the people with whom she made magic.

She didn’t know what might happen. Would there be a wind, the way there had been at the house in San Francisco? Would she hear her parents speaking to her, the way they had done several times now? She had no idea. Maybe nothing at all will happen, she thought.

“Annie.” The voices were strong and clear.

“Mom?” she said. “Dad?”

“Annie,” the voices came again. “Open your eyes.”

Annie hesitated. The voices had never asked her to do anything before. Was it really her parents, or was she just hearing things because she wanted to? There was only one way to find out.

She opened her eyes slowly and looked around. She saw Kate and Cooper standing on either side of her. Their eyes were still closed. Had they heard the voices, too? Or, as before, was Annie the only one who could hear them?

“Annie.” This time it was just her father speaking. The sound was coming from behind her.

She turned and looked in the direction of the big window at the end of her room. There, standing in the moonlight, was her father. Her mother stood beside him. They looked exactly as Annie always pictured them in her mind when she thought about them, although their bodies seemed to be made of mist. Behind them she could see the window, and the moon shining through it.

“Dad?” she whispered. “Mom?”

She let her hands slip from Cooper’s and Kate’s. As she did they opened their eyes to see what she was doing. When they saw the ghosts of her parents standing near them, they both looked at Annie with expressions of amazement on their faces.

“Annie,” her mother said. “We’ve been waiting a long time.”

Her mother held out her arms. Annie rushed to her, but stopped just in front of her. She longed to feel her mother’s arms around her once again. But it wasn’t her mother she was seeing. It was her ghost. Annie knew she wouldn’t be able to touch her in the same way she could touch someone made of flesh and blood. Cooper had described touching Elizabeth Sanger as passing through an icy mist. Annie knew she wouldn’t be able to bear it if that’s what touching her parents felt like. She remembered their hugs as being warm and comforting. Anything other than that would be awful.

She looked into her mother’s face, then her father’s. “Is it really you?” she asked them, still not sure.

“Yes,” said her father in his warm, comforting voice. “Annie. We’ve been trying to reach you for so long. Why did you keep running away?”

Annie looked away. “I thought you were angry at me,” she said.

“Why would we be angry?” her mother asked.

Annie looked up at her. “Because of what I did,” she said. “Because of the fire. I caused it. I killed—I’m the reason you’re dead,” she explained, unable to say exactly what she meant.

Her father smiled gently. “Annie, the house was old. What happened was an accident.”

“No,” Annie cried out. “It was my fault. You had to save me. And then you saved Meg, and you died trying to get Mom out.” She began to cry. “I couldn’t do anything,” she said, her voice shaking. “All I could do was stand there in the garden, holding Meg while the house burned. I kept waiting for you to come out. I waited and waited.”

“Annie, no one blames you for what happened,” said her mother.

“But you sounded so angry on the beach,” Annie said, still sobbing. “That’s why I ran. And then in the house, when I went back.”

“We’ve been trying to reach you for many years,” her father said. “But we’ve never been able to get through. That day on the beach was the first time you heard us calling. We were anxious, not angry. We were afraid we might not get another chance.”

“You mean you’ve been around me all this time?” asked Annie. “All these years?”

Her parents laughed, and the sound made Annie feel much better. “Yes,” her mother said. “From time to time. We’ve watched you and Meg grow up. But we only get through occasionally, and then only for a short time.”

“Where are you the rest of the time?” Annie asked. It was a question she’d wanted to ask of Elizabeth Sanger, but she’d never had the opportunity.

“There’s no time for that now,” answered her father. “One day you’ll find out. But not now. Now we just want to say good-bye.”

“You’re leaving?” Annie wailed. She felt as if her heart were being torn apart. She was finally getting the chance to talk to her parents, and now they were telling her that they couldn’t stay.

“The magic only lasts so long, Annie,” her mother said. “We can step through only for a few minutes.”

“But I don’t want you to go,” cried Annie. “I’ve missed you so much. It’s been so long. I have so many questions to ask you. Like why did you paint that picture of us?”

She pointed to the picture that hung on the wall opposite her bed—the one of her mother holding her while they looked out at a full moon in which the face of the Goddess seemed to be reflected.

Her mother smiled. “I always knew you were special,” she answered, her voice filled with emotion. “One night after we brought you home from the hospital I woke up and saw a woman standing beside the crib in our room. She was looking down at you. She turned to me and smiled. She said, ‘Tell her to look for me in the moon. I will always be there, waiting for her.’ Then she disappeared. I was waiting until you were older to tell you the story. But I painted that picture as a reminder of it. The face in the moon. That’s her face.”

Annie smiled. “She has always been there for me,” she said.

“Annie,” her father said. “We have to leave in a moment. I can feel the veil closing again. Before it does I want to tell you something. We love you. We love you and Meg very much. Tell her that. Tell Sarah, too.”

Annie began to cry again. She didn’t want her parents to leave her alone again.

“You’re not alone,” said her mother, as if she understood exactly what her daughter was feeling. “We’re always around you, even if you can’t see or hear us. You can always talk to us.”

“Annie, do you remember the word you chose at your dedication ceremony?” her father asked.

“You were there?” Annie asked, astonished.

“We were there,” her father said. “The word. Do you remember it?”

Annie thought. So many emotions were going through her mind at the moment that it was hard to remember anything. “Healing,” she said, suddenly thinking of it.

“That’s right,” said her father. “It’s time for you to heal, Annie. It’s time to let go of the hurt you feel.”

Annie nodded. She knew her father was right. His words were similar to those spoken to her by the Oak King during the Midsummer ritual in which she’d faced some of her feelings about her parents’ deaths. They also reminded her of how she’d had to deal with the death of Ben Rowe over the summer. She did need to heal that wound inside of her. And now, having seen her parents, she thought maybe she could.

“I love you,” she said. “I love you more than anything in the world.”

Her father and mother held out their arms, and this time she did step into them. She closed her eyes, waiting to feel the chill of their ghostly touch. But to her surprise, she felt warmth surround her. She was getting what she’d dreamed about for so long, the chance to feel her parents’ arms around her once more. For that moment she felt completely safe and completely loved.

“We have to go now, Annie,” said her mother.

“No,” Annie said, not wanting the moment to ever end. “Please stay.”

“We love you, Annie,” her father said.

The warmth around her faded. When she opened her eyes, her parents were gone. Seeing the empty space where they had been, Annie began to cry once more. Her chest heaved as she sobbed, the sadness inside of her choking her. She felt so empty, so alone. She wanted her mother and father back.

Then she felt arms around her again. She looked up and saw Kate and Cooper holding her. They hugged her tightly, their hands rubbing her back.

“It’s okay,” Cooper said. “It’s okay.”

“We’re here,” Kate whispered. “And we love you, too.”

Annie continued to cry. But now the sadness in her was changing to joy. Her parents were gone, but she still had her friends. She also had Meg and Aunt Sarah. They all loved her. And there’s always the woman in the moon, she thought. The Goddess. She’s been with you since you were a baby, and she’ll always be there when you need her.

She stood there with Kate and Cooper, just holding them and letting the warmth of their touch reassure her. They had been through a lot together, and she knew there was a lot more in store for them. Like dealing with the whole Tyler thing, she thought. But that would wait. There was time. For now it was enough that she had seen her parents and that she had let the healing really start.

“I love you guys, too,” she told her friends.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17