Once Upon a Haunted Moon (The Keeper Saga) (19 page)

And so that was the way of it for a very long time. Maria stayed reclusive, and the people continued to lay blame and suspicion upon her, their fear growing stronger and stronger.

And then something horrible came to pass. John fell ill. Days passed, then weeks, and in spite of every remedy the doctor could give him, he only became worse. The man, once bigger than life, lay in a bed, nearly a skeleton. To the people, it was obvious he was cursed by his wife and no modern medicine would cure him.

Then, one terrible day, John died. The people rioted, demanding their justice. They stormed into the house and captured Maria, oblivious to her dark clothes and the sadness in her eyes as she mourned her husband.

They took her to the deepest part of the creek, and crossed her arms, tying her thumbs to her ankles.

Maria would be given a witch’s trial. If she were as evil as they knew her to be, she would surely float as any witch would. After all, everyone knew that evil didn’t sink.

Maria stayed silent until the very end, when she whispered, “May you know I was innocent.”

Afraid they were being cursed, they hastily threw her in as her last words left her lips.

The cold water rushed over Maria’s head. She sank.

The people waited for her to rise. They waited…and waited. And waited some more.

The only part of her that came floating to the surface were the long, black tendrils of her hair, waving in the creek’s current like thin, dark snakes.

Reluctantly, they pulled her up from the murky water and found her dead. They set about burying her and her husband in hallowed ground as she had passed the witch’s test. Still not completely convinced, even though she had not floated, they buried the couple in the farthest section of the cemetery, deep in the ground, sealing their bodies far below the surface in the hope that she would stay truly dead for all time.

Her body did indeed stay below, but her spirit roamed. It was sighted many times at the locked gate at the entrance to their tomb. It was said that you could see her on clear nights, clad in dark garb, her hair hanging in wet strings down her back as she pulled at the chains on the gate, trying to free her body so she could take her revenge on those who murdered her. Chains clink even though there was no wind to move them, and if you listened closely, you would hear Maria moan softly, still claiming her innocence.

The tomb where the St. Claires were buried looked like a fairy mound. Over the years, the earth had grown over the stones, obscuring everything that resembled a grave except for a thick, rusting gate that guarded the entrance, and the crumbling headstone that sat behind the locks and chains. While the rest of the graveyard wasn’t well kept by any means, the mound looked forsaken, sitting on the very edge of the cemetery, barely in hallowed ground, as if the ones who put it there did so begrudgingly.

“Are you totally sure Tori is in St. Claire’s Tomb?” Michael asked me, his voice dropping octaves, as if he wished he could be anywhere else in the world other than where we planned to go.

Dozens of crows stared down at us from their perch on the rusty gate in front of us.

“Yeah, she’s here.”

A single crow flew off. I didn’t think our presence had gone unnoticed. I was sure that crow had just gone to inform its master of our arrival.

“My friend Alex told me he saw Maria once. He got deathly sick the next day and didn’t make it back to school for a whole week!” Tommy hissed under his breath to his cousin.

“Be quiet!” Erik whispered, “Let’s go in.”

He pushed against the gate, and the crows flew off, breaking the silence with their beating wings. The gate groaned as it swung open and we stood, staring at the expanse of tombstones and crypts we would have to navigate through to get to the back of the cemetery.

We hadn’t gotten far when something happened. I was following the others around a vault that had a concrete angel on the roof. I was busy looking up at that angel, when I stepped into a sunken grave to my right.

Tripping, I grabbed the broken headstone just before I landed on it and found myself looking at a head that was leaned against it.

Ed turned, staring at me through bloodshot eyes. I thought at first he had done as the cousins suggested, that he “had gone to the dark side,” but then I realized he had been crying.

He held someone else. Someone not moving, cradled in his lap.

Chapter Twenty-Six
Brian

“Hey! Are you okay?” Erik asked, circling back around to check on me, with the others in tow. He forgot about me when he spotted Ed. “Where have you been?” he demanded, then he spotted the gray head resting in Ed’s lap, “Oh, man. What happened to Evan?” He sunk to his knees beside the old man’s still form.

“I didn’t know it, but he followed me,” Ed’s eyes filled with tears, “I spotted Chase at the edge of the Res and I trailed him here. I was halfway through the cemetery, when I realized Evan had followed me. I guess he was worried about me,” his voice cracked, “But his counter magic worked this time. I’m okay. Really, I am.” He was talking more to himself than to anyone else now, “I turned around and was going back to him and I saw him grab his chest and fall. When I got to him, he was already gone.” The tears spilled over now, running tracks down his cheeks.

“Poor ol’ guy,” Erik said softly, looking at the lined, serene face.

Nikki knelt next to Ed, “There wasn’t anything you could have done, Ed. His heart just gave out.” She patted his arm sympathetically, then noticed something in the old man’s gnarled fist.

She pried open his fingers; white mist edged around her again, stronger than it ever had before. In her palm, lay the Wolf Stone.

***

The Wolf watched them from the edge of the cemetery. The girl reminded him very much of the white-haired creature whose company he had so treasured. He watched as the girl found the stone and the magic came alive in her. He knew her wolf would be a strong one.

Satisfied that he had kept his end of the bargain to help the girl, he turned, leaving them to fulfill their destiny. He only hoped that they were stronger than the evil one that lay waiting for them.

***

“There’s a wolf over at that corner,” I said as quietly as I could manage, “I think he’s watching Nikki.”

“Is it Adam?” Nikki jumped up from the ground, ready to run in the direction I had pointed out.

“No, he isn’t one of us,” I shook my head as the gray wolf turned and started walking away, “I think he’s one of the good guys, though.”

We didn’t get to stare at him long when we heard a low snarl behind us.

Three tawny cats slinked among the headstones, fangs bared.

We changed to wolves and kept a tight circle around Nikki, warding off each cat that tried to spring toward her. They jumped off headstones, flying through the air as if their bodies didn’t weigh anything, and then they’d land on a wolf, take out a chunk of him, and then do the whole attack again. After a while, we got better at defending against them, and it even looked like we might be winning. Slowly, we managed to edge closer to St. Claire’s Tomb.

Erik sent me a clear message to get Nikki inside. He must have sent the same message to Ed, because we both changed directions, leading Nikki to the huge gate in front of the mound just as Erik and the cousins diverted the mountain lions’ attention, all springing on the cats at the same time, before they split up, each taking on a singular cat to keep them busy.

The locks and chains lay broken on the ground in front of the crypt, and the gate stood wide open in invitation as we climbed the hill to the mound. I stared at the opened gate.

It was almost too easy, I thought to myself, as we made it to the gate and switched back from our wolves.

We ducked under the icy strands of ivy that grew over the top of the mound, hanging like a thick curtain in front of us as we inched around the giant headstone. Even though it was covered with moss, I still made out the words
St. Claire
in the deep niches of the rock, but I didn’t see any first names. The tomb wasn’t big enough for me to stand straight up in, so Ed and I both ducked, holding our heads low so as not to bang them on the rocky ceiling. Nikki seemed to have better luck than us, and walked easily in front of us.

There was a solitary vault toward the back. Nikki brushed her hand across the inscription, knocking off several years’ worth of dust and dirt.

“Here lies John St. Claire, gone to be with our Lord in the year 1870,” Nikki read, and then asked, looking around, “I wonder where they buried Maria?”

“I don’t know, but this is interesting,” I mumbled, looking at the old lanterns that hung on a hook on the back wall of the mound.

Ed ran his fingers down the rock wall, “Hey, it opens up down here!” He stooped until he was only a couple feet from the ground. A small, stone staircase spiraled down into the darkness.

“I guess we know what the lanterns are for now,” Nikki smiled wryly.

“They must have really wanted to make sure Maria didn’t come back if they stuck her all the way down there,” I said dryly. I couldn’t see past the fourth step.

“…still innocent…” a whisper came up from the dark steps, echoing louder as it bounced off the walls of the mound.

“I guess she’s telling us she is still down there where they left her,” I shivered, watching Nikki as she fiddled with the lanterns, then bent to look at something in the corner.

“We’ll bring her back up, too, if that’s what she wants,” Nikki promised the unseen ghost, triumphantly holding up the flashlights she had discovered, “If she wants to help us, we’ll help her.”

I grimaced, not so sure that making deals with ghosts was such a good idea.

“We can see better as wolves,” Ed advised against the flashlights, “Whoever is down there can see us coming with those on.”

“I can’t change the way you can,” Nikki reminded him, “Besides, I think Zue expects you to be coming. She thinks you belong to her. It might be better if you pretend you captured us, it could be better for us all that way.”

Ed frowned, looked thoughtful for a moment, and then nodded, “Okay, let’s get started, then.”

The steps spiraled down, completely dark, but for the beams of our flashlights. The only sound came from our footsteps on the stone stairs. The silence was worthy of the crypt it truly was.

I noticed a square hole chiseled into the wall on my right. It was just big enough to stick a body in. Reluctantly, I stopped, though I knew it wasn’t a good idea.

“Oh, man,” I groaned as the smell of old death hit my nostrils, “I’ve found Maria.”

“Wait, let me look,” Nikki came around me, flashing her light in the hole. Bones and small bits of rotten fabric gleamed in the dull light. Then she noticed the carving in the rock below the makeshift grave. “Margaret Bledsoe, witch, condemned, 1884,” Nikki whispered, the bones rattled at the mention of her name.

“Let’s keep going,” I suggested, not wanting to fight with any skeletons along our way.

We went down a few more feet and another opening in the wall appeared.

“Janet Harrington, witch, condemned, 1879,” Ed said in a low voice, passing the makeshift grave quickly as he spoke, “They must have decided it was a good idea to bury all their witches down here.”

“They may have been onto something with that,” I mumbled, hurrying past Janet as a bony hand came to the opening of the wall.

We passed five more openings with the names and bodies of accused witches and one of an accused warlock before we came to the bottom of the stairs. Then the ceiling vaulted, giving us more room and thankfully, the skeletons stayed in the wall.

“We’re in a cavern,” I said looking around at the stalagmites coming up from the ground, “There are caverns all over Bland, I used to explore them. I bet no one has been in this one since they buried their last witch.”

A single lantern was lit and hanging by a circular opening in the farthest wall.

“That looks inviting, it seems we’re expected,” Nikki mumbled under her breath as we started toward it. She stopped just as we reached it, a wide smile spread over her face. “He’s alive! I can hear Adam!’ she said in an excited whisper, smiling at us.

“Let me go in first,” Ed told her, “We must be getting close if you can hear him through rock walls. Start acting like prisoners, it may be the only way we can surprise Zue.”

We followed Ed, eyes downcast, as he led us through the opening illuminated by the lantern, and into a small room.

I knew Tori was there before I spotted her, bound and gagged in the corner. Her eyes grew wide as she saw us, then she glanced over at the doorway near her, obviously expecting something or someone to come out and greet us.

“Are you okay?” I knelt down and hurried to take the gag out of her mouth, then worked on untying her hands.

“Yeah, but she’s in there. She’ll kill you if she finds you here,” Tori’s voice was hoarse and cracked, “You have to go, she’ll…”

“Do I hear a wolf that brings a present?” a musical voice laughed, “Do come and let us have a look at what you’ve brought me.”

Ed took a deep breath, and then motioned for me to get up and join Nikki behind him. Tori, hands free, now worked on untying her legs, watching us in despair as we walked past her, through the door.

“Well now, it seems you have brought more than I had expected,” the fairy with enormous black eyes said, fixing Ed with her dark stare, “You are stronger than I gave you credit for, stronger than even my sister…perhaps.”

She gestured to a coffin set upright against the wall, the top half open to reveal the head and upper torso of Wynter.

The blue-haired fairy looked beaten, blue eyes sunken deep within their sockets. The small books on her dress had wilted, pages falling out and disintegrating, turning to tiny plumes of smoke the instant they hit the ground.

“Why don’t you fight?” I whispered, noticing her eyes had locked onto me.

“She cannot,” Zue answered in a tone that was almost too happy, “The wood that binds her is the same that held me once. Quite fitting, I should think. I spent my time trapped; now she shall do the same.”