Authors: Ashlynn Monroe
Simon went running into the shop.
None of the talismans, candles, or funny smelling oils bothered him as he ran up to the flamboyantly beautiful shopkeeper. As Ivory hugged him, her long black hair tangled about her shoulders. Phoebe saw the loving look in her friend’s big brown eyes as she smiled at Simon. She was the closest thing to an aunt he’d ever had.
Ivory glanced over at her looking concerned.
“What happened to you two? You’re never late.”
“I meet my new land
lord and wow is he a piece of work. I thought the old man was bad, but his grandson is much worse.”
Ivory grimaced. “That sucks
, Hun. If you get evicted you can come stay with me.”
“Don’t worry I can handle Mr. Moneybags.” She hugged her son and left.
Parking around back in the employee parking area of Margie’s, she turned off her engine and sighed. She knew a butt chewing awaited her. Jana, her boss, was normally awesome but her biggest pet peeve was lateness.
She’
d been right about her boss not being thrilled with her lateness, but after explaining the situation she found genuine compassion in the woman’s eyes Margie’s Diner and Ivory’s shop were probably the only two businesses in town the Sterling clan didn’t own.
****
When her night was over, she felt tired but happy; the tips had been awesome. She’d be able to pay the rest of her rent and even have twenty dollars for groceries. With tough times, the food bank was usually very empty and she hated having to ask for help. She used her key to get inside the residence portion of Ivory’s house. Simon was sleeping on his little Cars airbed. It was already midnight so she quietly scooped him up and locked the door behind her. Phoebe had no idea what she’d do without Ivory.
As usual, Phoebe
didn’t get to sleep in. Simon’s little eyes loomed over the side of her bed at seven in the morning and he whispered, “Mommy, I’m hungry.”
With a sharp startled gasp
, she sat up. Ruffling his blonde locks, she sighed. Stretching and yawning, she was glad it was Saturday. After a quick trip for groceries, she and Simon would take their bi-weekly visit to the nursing home. One of Phoebe’s abilities was she could ease pain. She couldn’t exactly cure disease, but she was able to alleviate suffering. Having such ability made her feel very obligated to use it, so she had been making her visits since her teens. Going there made her feel a little better about whom she was. Even if she would never just be an ordinary girl, she could make something positive come out of her heritage. She’d missed her last visit because Simon had been ill.
Splurging on Simon’s favorite fruit cereal at the store made her son very happy. With coupons
, she was able to get a great deal of food for her twenty dollars. She suspected Deloris, the grocer’s wife, gave her extra discounts because she liked them so well. When Deloris’s mother was dying, Phoebe had been a regular visitor and she knew she’d made a difference for the entire family. Simon hugged Deloris before they left and she gave him a sucker, which made him hug her again, causing both women to giggle. Phoebe waved to the kind woman as she carried her heavy bag out to the car. She tucked it in the trunk and opened the back door so she could buckle Simon into his booster seat.
A loud squealing
made her jump. Shutting Simon’s door she looked up to see the pickup truck trying to stop, a little girl no older than Simon had gone running out into the street after a cat. It had snowed the previous night making the road slick. She started to run, not thinking of the danger, not thinking about anything but saving the child. A mother’s heart extended to all children and she knew she had to do something.
It was too late
. The truck hit the child. To her horror, she saw the red blood in the white snow. Running to the scene, she heard the man get out of the truck, sobbing. She recognized him, he had a large family himself and she knew he had to feel as sick as she did about the child. When she got to the girl, she knelt down into the snow beside her. She was breathing. There was hope. Phoebe had never attempted what she was going to do, but she had to try. In the background, she heard the child’s grandmother screaming. She heard the driver apologizing to the woman and the woman sobbing.
Phoebe blocked out the rest of the commotion.
Closing her eyes, she thought of the sun, the warmth, and her favorite spot by the water. She thought about her son and about how much she’d loved her parents before they’d died. Calling on all the wonderful joy of those memories, she took a deep breath and put her hands on the little girl’s midsection where she just knew the child bled inside. She was no doctor but she could feel the girl’s life draining away. Phoebe felt something warm, something tingling. Her hands began to burn, but she didn’t move them. Her mouth began to move and she heard foreign sounds coming out of her throat, it was not her voice but the voices of her ancestors. Phoebe felt her father’s presence, he was with her, helping her and giving her his strength. Stirring, the girl cried out for her grandmother.
Phoebe’s
mind was still numb from the healing trance, but it registered the girl’s recovery. Relief filled her just as the cold inky blackness claimed her.
****
Fabian had been heading into his office when he saw the truck careening out of control, then he saw the child, and then he saw the woman. It was a terrible scene and he stopped his Lexus and got out. He rushed over into the growing crowd and he wondered what kind of first aid the woman was doing to the child. Recognizing the little pixie as the tenant who paid for her own repair, he felt shock at what he saw next.
Light seemed to emanate from her hands and he heard her speaking in a very unnatural tone. Gibberish seemed to be coming from her and the light intensified. He saw the girl open her eyes and sit up. Blood had been pooling around her but when she sat up, she seemed uninjured. Watching the beautiful pixie fall over unconscious, he was amazed no one went to her. Screaming and pounded brought his attention across the street and he recognized her solemn little boy pounding on his window and screaming for his mother. A woman rushed to the littl
e girl and held her tenderly; the driver also went to the girl. Many on-lookers just stood looking at the woman who lay sprawled in the snow. Her blonde hair was so silver it was almost as white as the snow. She looked so pale. He worried she might be dead. When her lips started to turn blue, he could stand it no longer and rushed over to her.
Fabian heard the whispers about the woman and to his shock, people were pointing at her with awe-filled and terrified eyes. He knew he heard someone actually say the word witch. Whatever he had seen defied explanation, but whatever the woman was, she was not a witch. Picking her up
, Fabian stood and spoke to the assembled crowd.
“Did anyone call an ambulance? What is wrong with you people? This woman needs help
.” To his amazement, the crowd just began to disperse and no one looked particularly interested in calling for help. Something twisted in his heart as he looked down at the angel in his arms. What was wrong with these people? Whatever she’d done had obviously saved the child. He was about to drive her to the hospital himself when she opened her eyes.
“What happened?” Groggily she muttered the words.
“You lost consciousness. There was an accident and a little girl was hurt, do you remember?”
Gasping she became more alert. “My son, where is my son?”
Fabian responded as reassuringly as he could. “He is in your car, he is alright. May I drive you to the hospital?”
She gazed up into his ey
es. Fabian felt fascinated by the depth and dimension of the unique light color of her eyes. He didn’t even realize he was still holding her until she whispered, “Could you please put me down?”
Clearing his throat Fabian set her on her feet. She wobbled and he quickly steadied her. Taking a few steps, she began to walk away. He grabbed her arm and she looked up at him fearfully.
Backing off, not wanting to scare her, he spoke with authority, “Please, Ms. Penn, let me take you to the hospital. I don’t think you should be driving in your condition.”
“I am going to be fine. Thank you for your concern
, Mr. Sterling. Oh, wait could you please come over here a minute?”
He followed her unsure of what she wanted. In a few steps
, they were at her car, if you could call the hunk of junk a car. She rummaged around for a moment and then stood up. Happily, Phoebe handed him an envelope. With a quick small smile, she answered his confusion.
“Here is the rent, six days early, and thank you for allowing the extension and for not making me pay for the plumber. Also,
thank you for helping me today. Anyone else would have just left me.” She got into her car as if nothing had happened and turned on the ignition. He just stared dumbly as he watched her leave.
What was Phoebe Penn?
Phoebe took her groceries home
, she was still a little wobbly. No matter how wiped out she felt she wanted to go to the nursing home. She just couldn’t let those sweet people go another week without a visit. Re-bundling up her son, they left again.
Guilt twisted at her heart when Simon whined about the cold
, she wished she could afford to fix the heater. She buckled him in and quickly tucked more blankets around him. During the short drive, he was quiet and sulking and it made her smile, three going on thirteen for sure, she decided.
The drive was short and she hurried to get inside out of the cold. As s
he walked inside carrying her son, a chorus of joyful exclamations greeted her. Betty, her favorite resident, came up to them and Simon hugged her happily around the waist. Phoebe warned him to be careful and Betty made a disapproving noise at her and looked at the boy when she spoke.
“You can hug this old lady anytime you like. Y’all been
gone too long, I thought you’d forgotten about us old folks.”
“
We would never forget about you. This little guy had a terrible cold and I didn’t want to bring it to you. I’ve missed you. How are you feeling today?”
Phoebe hugged the spunky eighty-year-old
and she let all the love inside of her heart soothe the aches of the old woman’s joints. Betty sighed and Phoebe knew her healing touch helped. Betty had tears in her eyes when Phoebe pulled back.
“What is it, s
weetie, are you still hurting?” Phoebe couldn’t hide her concern.
“I missed you so much, both of you
. You don’t know what you mean to us around here. I don’t care what folks say about you honey, you’re an angel.”
Phoebe hugged the woman again and they wal
ked down the hall together. People began coming over to touch her and she pushed the warmth of her affection towards them. As they moved through the eager people, Phoebe felt herself weakening, but she refused to deny any of them the slight comfort her magic could offer. Simon squeezed his mother’s hand and she looked down at him. She felt his little heart sending her waves of love and healing and she gave him a small smile, he was so very much her child. He had the gift too, and as much as she wanted a normal life for him, she knew he’d never have it.
Slowly
, she journeyed down the halls, touching the hands reaching out to her, even a brief contact could ease them for hours and they knew it. One of the aids came over to her and handed her a glass of water, the woman had seen her working her magic many times and knew it taxed her physically. The robust aid patted Phoebe on the arm as she gratefully downed the drink.
“Did you know in the years since you have been coming the life expectancy of our residence has increased. We have more residence seeing ninetieth birthdays than any comparable facil
ity in the nation. I know it’s what you do. There is something special about you. After you visit, people sleep more peacefully and ask for less pain medication. I don’t know if it’s true about you being a witch, but I know you’re a beautiful person. Please rest; I don’t know what we would do without you. You look sick, sweetie.” The aid took the glass from her hands. She looked so worried and her words had been genuine.
She just shook her head no. She didn’t want to rest until she’d
touched every patient. Her son never let go of her hand and she knew he was somehow giving her strength, as if he too sensed the necessity of this visit.
****
“Grandfather, please take your medication the doctor has said it’s the only thing that’ll help your pain.” Fabian pleaded.
“No
, I’ll not take that pill boy; I can’t think clearly when I take that retched poison.” Stubborn as a mule the elder Sterling wouldn’t give into his grandson’s demands.
A commotion in the hallway captured Fabian’s attention and he peeked his head out the door of his grandfather’s private room, completely shocked by what he saw.
“What in the hell…” He never finished the thought as he saw the elderly patients reaching for Phoebe Penn as if she was some sort of patron saint of the old and infirm. Even from a distance, he noticed how tight and drawn the skin around her mouth and eyes looked. She’d been through a trauma, why was she walking through the old folk’s home patting the residence. He saw her duck into the room of a woman he knew was isolated due to contagion and then she came right back out. None of the staff chastised her for not washing her hands and he noticed how they looked at her. Reverence. He noticed his grandfather getting agitated and he turned to try to calm him.