The Witchfinder Wars (26 page)

Yellow paper.

Anya's sympathy note; the one I'd hidden in
my trig book.

"Seems you might know her a little better
than that, Tommy." Clay gave me a quick, ugly look and snatched the
paper and photo back. "But that's all to the good. In fact, it'll
come in pretty handy when we go get her. Since she knows you,
trusts you, it'll be easier to find her and bring her where we need
her."

"What are you talking about?"

"We have to have her, Tommy. WFG has to have
her. She's the key, the key to saving your father's life."

"Wait a minute," I said. I grabbed Clay's
arm. "Wait just a minute. What do you mean, my father's life? Dad
is dead, remember? Landslide? Car crash? Hello? Is any of this
coming back to you, Clay, or have you finally lost what little
brains you have?"

Grand appeared beside me; she took my hand.
"Yes, I think Tommy's questions need answering, Clay. Now."

Clay looked at her and I watched him go
pale. All at once, I wondered why he was so afraid of his own
mother.

Then I realized. It wasn't fear.

It was hatred.

He hated Grand, just as he'd hated my
father.

Just as he hated me.

"Let me explain this in words of one or two
syllables," he began, his piggy eyes gleaming. "Spenser is not
dead. He tricked us, tricked us all. I've just found out he's
alive, and here, here in Manning, in the new clinic. But
the...device he's in, the stasis chamber—it's leaking power at an
ever-escalating rate. With any luck—I mean, we need luck to stop
it, or he'll die. And you know exactly, precisely what we need,
Tommy?" Clay grinned at me and shook the folder. Annie's picture
fell out, but I snatched it from the air.

"We need her, Tommy. We've got to find her,
got to get her, because her power is the answer to everything.
Spenser had this planned. He fooled us all, but we can bring him
back. We can make him live again. Then we can show the board, the
world, what WFG can do. But we need that girl. And if we fail to
get her, Tommy, we fail at everything."

Chapter
Seventeen

Anya

I was too afraid to fall asleep in the
trees. Each time I would begin to doze off, one of two things would
jerk me back awake. The first was the terrifying image of losing my
grip on the limbs and falling down to break a leg. Or my neck. The
second was the fear the Witchfinders would find me. The noises they
made filtered up to my ears and worked well to keep my eyes open.
The heavy footsteps on the forest floor below me were amplified as
they tromped through, breaking limbs and crushing pine needles with
each step.

It wasn't until the early light of the
morning came that I heard the voice of my Goddess, telling me it
was safe to move. I had trusted Her guidance with so much already,
and now, She was the only one who could help me. As I slipped down
from the tree, I whispered a prayer She would continue to guide me.
Keep me safe. Save me.

I didn't know much about the Witchfinders
Evie had spoken of with such hatred, but I knew enough to keep
moving. The fire they had used to kill my family was all the proof
needed to ensure me my fears were based on fact. As I made my way
out of the forest and around the pond, the tears of mourning I had
resisted for days now fell down my face.

Stop it, Annie...just stop. It's not going
to change anything. Just go. Get somewhere safe. Think!

The hardest thing to do was to think when my
mind wanted to shut down against the grief of losing my family, my
home, and now, Tommy.

No! Not him. I won't lose him too. Only...I
have to find a way back here. Somehow. And soon.

The sudden sense of determination calmed me
down as I made it to the quiet streets of Manning at dawn. It
looked as if it had been abandoned, discarded to the wayside
despite the signs promising new construction and renovation
projects. I had spent my entire life in this little town, this
place where I had promised myself I would escape as soon as I
could. Yet now that I was forced to run from it, I couldn't bear
the thought of leaving it behind forever. This place was suddenly
Home. I would make it back here when I figured out what I was
doing.

Of that I was certain.

***

The morning had brightened considerably by
the time I reached the bus station at the edge of town. It was
empty, aside from the few homeless people stretching out across the
benches lining the walls. For a moment, I felt a familiar pang of
sympathy run through my heart until it hit me: I had joined their
ranks. A shudder raced through my bones from the fear of the
unknown. Of what I was going to do. Where I was going to go. How I
was going to get back to Manning and to Tommy.

An old man was asleep behind the counter, so
I kept silent as I examined the board behind him showing the times
and places I could go. But I studied it with suspicion. These buses
could take me to many of the cities lining the Eastern Seaboard.
The problem was I didn't know which one to pick. The sudden freedom
to choose my own destination should have been liberating. What
eighteen year old girl wouldn't love the chance to strike out on
her own with no family or friends to worry over where she was going
or who she was with?

But I did have a friend. A boyfriend now,
who I hated to leave behind. The memories of the happiness I'd felt
the night before when he held me brought on a sadness I didn't want
to associate with those images. Instead, I focused on the black
board with white letters overwhelming my senses. Confusing me.
Frightening me.

I walked away from the counter to approach a
bulletin board that advertised everything from
Finding Jesus
to specials at the local liquor store. I snorted at this collage of
holiness and sin before a single white flier caught my attention.
Proof the Goddess Herself was once again answering my prayers to
guide me through this.

Daughters of the Displaced: A Shelter for
the Abused and Disheartened. Come to us. Let us help you create a
new life. Leave it all behind
.

A new life. A new identity. Exactly what I
needed if I were ever going to come back to Manning for a long
period of time.

I snatched the paper off the board,
whispering my thanks to the Goddess as I read the address. Located
in the heart of downtown Raleigh, the state capital, only two hours
away from my hometown. Close enough to Tommy that I could get a
letter to him.. Or call him if I ever got the chance.

A new life. Becoming a new person. Will that
be enough, Great Mother? To hide me from the Witchfinders?

She didn't answer, but She didn't have to. I
had made up my mind the instant I saw the flier. I was walking back
to the counter before I realized it, leaning over to shake the old
man awake.

"Sir? Excuse me..."

He woke up with a start, glaring at me from
beneath white and black eyebrows that reminded me of the board
behind him.

"Sorry. No handouts, girl."

Handouts...what?

Wow. I didn't look
that
rough from my
night in the woods, did I? A glance downward told me I really was a
mess. Pieces of bark and leaves clung to the clothes I had thrown
on in the rush to leave. My jeans were covered with soot from the
fire, my hands scratched and dark with red dirt. A concern for what
Evie would have thought crossed my mind so suddenly I laughed aloud
at how ridiculous it was.

"No, sir. I'm actually here to buy a ticket.
One way. To Raleigh."

Dark, beady eyes examined me with distrust
as the clerk began to collect my ticket and told me the price. As I
was counting out the money, he spoke.

"You ain't running from the law are you,
girl?"

I threw him my most charming smile before
shaking my head. "No sir. I just...well, you know how times are
here in Manning. I don't have a car so I took a shortcut through
the woods. Fell a few times, but I'm all right. No, I'm not running
from anyone. Just ready to start a new life somewhere else."

Even to my own ears the excuse sounded weak.
But it was the best I could come up with. It seemed to work for him
though. His harsh expression softened, then he huffed and began to
proclaim the hard times were over for Manning, now WFG had come to
town. How the good people who worked for the company were
renovating the town, would rebuild it to what it once was.

I nodded as if I cared. As if I didn't know
the real reasons behind the company he praised so highly. But his
praise brought on a new fear when I realized he could identify me
if the Witchfinders came this way. As much admiration as the clerk
held for WFG, it would take nothing for him to turn me over to
them. Tell them where I was going.

When I took the ticket from his hand, I
grabbed hold of his wrist and let the power flow through me once
more. Concentrating to pull the strength of the fire into a charm
to cause him to forget about me. Images filled my mind of him
believing he was still asleep. Of his aging memory failing if the
Witchfinders ever came here. I would not exist to him, much less
have purchased a bus ticket out of town. When I released his arm,
the old man groaned before dropping back down in the chair. His
eyes closed, but I waited for a soft snore before I dared to move
away from him.

Finally, the exhaustion was catching up to
me. The world seemed slow and sluggish but I fought back the
temptation to rest. I forced myself to eat a pack of crackers and
sip on a soda out of the vending machines in order to stay awake.
Alert. Focused.

I was so close to escaping the Witchfinders.
There was no way I was going to ruin everything by sleeping through
my only chance to escape the men who had destroyed my home and
causing me to run away from my love.

But it wouldn't be for long. Each time I
thought about being separated from Tommy, a sharp pain cut through
me. I didn't know if I could stand it. If he could stand it. And if
I was gone for too long, would the binding spell wear off? Would I
come back to someone who loved me? Or someone who had moved on?

I knew it would be better for Tommy if he
just let me go. If I stayed away from him. Let him have the life he
had been meant to live before my selfish actions interfered. But
then the memories of him the night before came flooding back. The
feel of his arms. The happiness in his face. I couldn't let that
go. I
wouldn't
. No matter what it cost me.

At least the Great Mother told him I was
coming back. That I was safe.

It was a small comfort to know he wouldn't
think I had abandoned him. I was leaving only because there was no
other way. If I stayed in Manning, it would have only been a matter
of time before the Witchfinders found me. Captured me like they had
my father or killed me like they had my mother and Evie.

But I would be back here. I had made a
promise. And I was going to make damned sure I was able to keep
it.

***

I reached the Daughters of the Displaced
Women's Shelter just after three that afternoon. The old Victorian
house faced a quiet street overlooking the downtown area and it was
obvious it was being taken care of by women. The small yard was
covered in little patches of flowers; the porch held a swing and
several chairs. I pushed aside a brief flash of worry as I opened
the door.

The inside was just as neat as the exterior.
The warm colors were was welcoming as the woman who approached me.
She smiled and wrapped her arms around me as if I were a long lost
child who had, finally, decided to come home.

"Welcome, my dear girl! Welcome! Get on in
here. You look like you've taken quite the journey."

I stepped out of her embrace as quickly as I
could, shifting the backpack on my shoulders.

"Hello. My name is...Evie. Evie
Blanchett."

The emotions caught up to me faster than I
realized and my voice wavered as I said the name. The woman grabbed
my hands as a look of concern passed over her features.

"You just come right on in, child. Evie...
that's a pretty name! I'm Stephanie. The official welcoming
committee here. Why don't you come in the kitchen and let me feed
you? You can tell me why you are here then."

There is no ritual more important to
Southerners than talking in the kitchen while food was prepared.
She walked me back to the kitchen and showed me where I could wash
up. I was quick to take her up on the offer to get cleaned up
before joining her once more.

A glass of sweet tea sat in wait for me as I
lowered myself down in the chair. She made me a sandwich, her hands
moving quickly and surely as if they'd done those same actions a
thousand times. When she rejoined me, placing the food on the
table, she reached out and patted my hand.

"Now tell me, Evie, what is it we can do for
you? Who are you running from? Is it a man? Did he hurt you?"

I sipped the tea, shaking my head at her
words to think up a quick answer. My Great Mother, my beloved
Goddess, began to take over, speaking lies for me I couldn't think
of in my own exhausted state.

"No, not a man. I...I hope I won't be a
burden on you and your people, Stephanie. But..."

A sob escaped, shaking me as I leaned
forward. The action was meant to draw her in. Play up the
sympathies she already had. It worked. Her arms wrapped around me
once more as I spilled out the story woven by the Goddess
whispering in my ear.

"I'm...I just turned eighteen. My parents
were...they...they hurt me. Hit me. I ran as soon as I could, but I
don't have anywhere to go. No one to turn to. I can't go back
there, Stephanie! I saw the sign for this place, and well, if I
could just get a good start. Maybe...maybe I won't be forced to
live out on the streets and do horrible things."

Another sob and she was nodding, her hands
rubbing my back as she listened. When I finished she pulled back
with a smile, her hands moving to wipe the tears away.