Blood Creek Witch Read online

  “How rude.”

  “I can’t believe he said that in the Lord’s house!”

  “Lyin’ Jack.”

  His jaw dropped. He searched the room. Evelyn continued to stare at Jack, but her smile had dropped. She marched back down the aisle and left the chapel. Nobody but Jack took note of her as she left.

  Botch took the pulpit from Fred, who looked confused. Botch spoke over the growing noise, “Well, folks, I s’pose that’s it. Thanks for coming out and sharing your condolences and concerns. What I love about Maple Bend is how folks here take care of our own. Bless Hattie. Craziness may run in her family, but we still need to do what we can to help her get her trailer fixed up. Thanks for coming, and goodnight.”

  People stood and made their way to the door with looks of confusion. Some glared at Jack. Jack sat down, and turned to Jessabelle, feeling dazed as well. Jessabelle looked as stunned and furious as he did.

  “Can you believe this?”

  She shook her head, looking even angrier. “No, I don’t, Jack Parsons. If I’d have known you’d come in here making up stories about monsters and saying terrible things about Miss Rodriguez, I would have stayed home. Which is where I’m going now. I’m sorry I ever trusted you, Lyin’ Jack!” She stood and left the church without looking back.

  Everyone but the preacher filtered out of the church. Preacher Harris looked at Jack with a pitying expression and said, “I’ll be back later to turn out the lights and close up. Take all the time you need, Jack.”

  Jack sat on the pew inside the empty church as shock turned to tears. Two minutes later, the tears were done, replaced by a cold, pulsing fury.

  Sean sat with Jenny in the tall grass near the dirt road, where they could both keep an eye on the Casto’s barn and watch for the tiny army of citizens due to arrive from the meeting. Jenny looked apprehensive, and why not? Whatever happened next would not be pretty. There was a good chance that some of the locals would be killed, even with Jenny doing her best to protect them. And then there was Evelyn. The locals would want their revenge, and she would be pissed that her tool and prize for her boss had been killed. Sean wasn’t sure if he was more afraid for her or of her.

  Jenny cast a look to the barn, and said, “I guess there’ll be no hiding who I am after this.”

  “Maybe. Evelyn might not even know what happened.”

  “She’ll figure it out.”

  “If she’s stupid and isn’t out of the state before dawn, maybe.”

  “But everyone else will know, too.”

  “So?”

  She didn’t respond. About twenty minutes after seven, a car approached. It drove by at a leisurely pace, and turned into a long driveway just before it reached the Casto farm. It disappeared behind the trees.

  The minutes stretched on. After it became clear no cars followed, Jenny belatedly answered, “I’ve never seen an angry mob before, but I’m pretty sure that wasn’t it.”

  “I guess not.”

  The last of the direct sunlight faded over the mountain, and Sean grew nervous. “Hey Jenny. You didn’t happen to learn any spell to be used against angry ghosts, did you?”

  She shook her head. “No. Jessabelle and I were studying our grandmother’s journal earlier today. We found a spell to remove a witch’s curse, instructions for making a good luck charm and a witch’s bottle, and a recipe for stew that sounds really good once we have a working kitchen again.”

  Sean laughed. “Humor and sarcasm in the face of my grim demise!”

  She shook her head. “I’m not being sarcastic. The stew does sound delicious. It’s rabbit stew, though, so I don’t know if I could handle putting Thumper in a pot. Do supermarkets sell rabbit meat in West Virginia?”

  “I haven’t seen it, no.”

  “So you are worried about an angry ghost showing up. Is it more or less dangerous than the ogre?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I should worry about surviving the ogre first.”

  “Look, if your ghost shows up, I should be able to see him too. I’ll do what I can, I promise. I’ll make myself a target if nothing else.”

  Sean looked into her eyes, and softly said, “Don’t make yourself a target, please. I can’t have that on my conscience.”

  She stared back at him for a moment, and then chortled. “I’m not volunteering to die for you, dummy. Protection spell, remember? It was able to hold off the ogre for a couple of shots, so it should probably hold up against a ghost.”

  Sean wished that it was already dark enough to hide his turning two shades of red. “Yeah. Right. But it’s still pretty dangerous.” After a moment, he asked, “So what’s a witch’s bottle?”

  “I’m not sure. Some kind of ward or protection or something. We found instructions for making one in Grandma Annabelle’s journal.”

  “Is that the one that Evelyn was after?”

  “Yes. She didn’t know…” After a moment, she said, “Evelyn doesn’t know about that one. We were able to hide it because of your ghost-friend’s warning.”

  Debbie had warned them. Maybe his visit to the old house hadn’t been a complete disaster after all. Not only had he finally made a connection to Debbie, but she’d taken action at his request. While his research had uncovered cases of ghostly figures appearing to warn people of danger, those were very specific entities with a single purpose. This was odd. But then, he’d never found documented cases of ghosts killing the living, as Avery had done.

  Maple Bend was a land of monsters and strange ghosts.

  “I’m sorry, again. About Evelyn.”

  Jenny shook her head. “We broke the protection on the house when we went in the first time. If it weren’t for that, she might have never been able to see it. Jack was the only one who could see through the spell in the first place.”

  Then Hattie had fixed it, and Sean had broken it again. He decided against bringing that up. “Maybe that will be over tonight, after Jack and Jessabelle explain what’s been happening. I guess it’s all up to them. I feel kind of useless right now.”

  Jenny half-laughed. “Tell me about it. I took a bunch of self-defense courses and practiced jiu jitsu back in Illinois. I learned all about applying wrist-locks and throws. None of which is good against monsters or ghosts.”

  Down the road, a lone figure emerged, carrying a firearm. Sean tapped Jenny on the arm, and pointed. They waited, but no one else appeared. As the figure drew closer, they recognized Jack, carrying his father’s double-barreled shotgun.

  Sean stood with the feeling of tiny pinpoint explosions down his lower legs. They’d been waiting a while. He and Jenny approached Jack, who scowled as they got closer.

  “Is the meeting over?” Sean asked. “Where’s everyone else?”

  “Ain’t nobody else,” Jack answered in a monotone.

  “What?” Sean shook his head. “No way. Didn’t they talk about the ogre?”

  “Yup,” was all Jack answered, as he fixed his gaze on the barn.

  Jenny looked down at the shotgun, and said, “Jack, you can’t take on that ogre by yourself. It nearly killed all of us last time.”

  Jack frowned, clenching his lower lip in his teeth and breathing heavily. “Ain’t going to shoot the ogre. I’m waiting for Evelyn to show up. Then I’m going to blow her head off.” He resumed his march up the road, but Jenny stopped him with a gentle hand on his arm.

  “Jack, fighting monsters is one thing. Killing Evelyn is something else entirely.”

  “She’s a witch, what’s the difference?”

  Jenny jerked her hand away as if Jack’s arm burned her. She lowered her voice to just above a whisper. “Jack, you don’t mean that.”

  Jack turned to face her, but stared at the ground. “I’m sorry, Jenny. No. It’s just…” He took two quick, ragged breaths. “She was there, at the church. She did something. She turned the whole town against me. Even…” he sucked in his breath. “Even Jessabelle called me a liar.” He dropped the shotgun and covered his face as he
suppressed a sob. Jenny stepped forward to embrace him, and he didn’t turn away.

  “Holy shit,” Sean muttered.

  Jenny leaned her face against Jack’s arm, but looked back at Sean. “Can she do that?”

  Sean shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s kinda what she did to the ogre. She pulled some kind of whammy on me a couple of times. If she knew the meeting was happening and had all day to prepare. Sure, I guess she could do that.”

  Jack regained his composure and stepped away from Jenny. “That’s why we gotta kill her. Fast, before she has the chance to turn us all against each other, like Jessabelle.”

  “You’re still talking murder, Jack,” Jenny said. She turned to Sean for support.

  Sean nodded. “Yes, it’s still murder. I’m trying to think of a better solution here, but it’s not coming. She’s pretty ruthless.”

  “So we need to be ruthless, too?” Jenny shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m the one talking moderation. Look, last night in the ER, I was ready to kill Evelyn. It’s one thing if we’re fighting for our lives. If she brings that ogre out against us again, then, yeah, she and the ogre are both fair game. But we gotta be smart about this. Jack, what if you pull that shotgun out on her, and she pulls her whammy on you, and commands you to shoot one of us? She might be in her rights to do that, if we’re attacking her.”

  “That’s why I do it alone.”

  “No. This is our fight, too.”

  Sean nodded. “Okay, Jenny’s got a good point. This could go bad so many ways, and not just with you getting locked up for life in jail for murder. Evelyn is smart and dangerous. And has magic. We need to be smart and dangerous ourselves, and use some kind of magic to fight magic. If even Jessabelle can be turned, than any of us…” Sean tapered off, thinking.

  “So how long do we wait?” Jack asked. “Until she sends the ogre to kill us all?”

  Jenny shook her head. “Of course not. We need to stop her cold. We just need a plan.”

  Sean asked, “Hey, Jack, how many people were in the church?”

  Jack cocked his head to one side and answered, “More’n half of Maple Bend, I reckon, at least of the adults.”

  Sean asked, “What exactly happened?”

  Jack recounted the event. “When it was over, everyone was hunky-dory. Fred wasn’t looking for what killed Sam anymore. And Jessabelle was mad at me because she said I’d lied about the monsters.”

  “But nothing happened to you?”

  “Why should it? I knew the truth.”

  “So did Jessabelle.”

  Jack looked at him askance. “So what are you saying?”

  “I’m just wondering why you weren’t affected.”

  “Because she was talking about me? I don’t know.”

  Jenny raised a finger. “Hey, Jack, you were the only one could see Annabelle’s house at first. Jessabelle and I were sitting right by it, and the spell prevented us from looking at it. But not you.”

  Jack shrugged. “I hadn’t noticed it for a long time, either. I only found it the day before.”

  “Maybe you are more resistant to witchcraft than most,” Sean said.

  “If that’s the case, I’m the best choice to shoot her in the head!”

  Sean sighed. “That’s a big risk. And, again, murder. You are old enough to be tried as an adult.”

  “It’d be worth it.”

  “Not to me. And not to Hattie or Jessabelle either,” Jenny said, frowning. “Look, I don’t want any part of this whole witchcraft thing. I was happier not knowing about ogres and snallygasters. But now, you guys are the only friends and family I’ve got, and I’m not about to let that witch take that away from me. Besides…” Her frown faded into the glimmer of a smile. “I think I may have an idea. I think we might be able to fight magic with magic.”

  “Really?” Jack and Sean asked in unison.

  “Maybe. Jessabelle and I read some things before the meeting from Annabelle’s journal. I don’t know if resisting Evelyn’s spells counts as resisting evil or temptation or anything, but it’s worth a shot. Maybe I can break Evelyn’s spell.”

  “Then what are we waiting for?” Jack asked.

  Jenny looked seriously at Jack. “The trick is that I need your blood.”

  Later that night, Jenny called the hospital to talk to Hattie. The nurse said she was sleeping, but would give her a message when she awoke. Jenny wasn’t about to leave the nurse a message about witchcraft and curses, so she simply left a message that she’d called, then set about to work. She spent much of the night studying her grandmother’s journal, and the secret meanings Jessabelle had discovered.

  The next morning, Jack came by and helped fix the door with the help of an older, heavyset man with a limp named Walter Norton. Jenny wondered if he was another distant relation. Probably. Jenny helped as best as she could, until Walter found a polite way to suggest that she help elsewhere. She took the hint, and spent some more time trying to put her bedroom back in order.

  Jack and Walter left to scrounge up materials to repair the refrigerator. Jenny hesitated a moment before calling Jessabelle. Because there was no cell coverage, no one had personal phones. That meant a stranger—probably Jessabelle’s mother—might answer. It was a stupid thing to be worried about. If anything, Jenny should meet Jessabelle’s mother, but the uncertainty was still enough to cause anxiety.

  She called anyway, and was a little surprised when Jessabelle answered the phone after all. Her cousin didn’t strike Jenny as the kind of girl who spent much time at home. But then, she probably didn’t spend that much time in human form. Had Evelyn’s spell made her disbelieve her own nature?

  Jenny invited her over, and Jessabelle sounded relieved. “Is Jack going to be there?” she asked.

  “Not for a while. He and an older fellow were looking for parts to repair the refrigerator.”

  “Okay, then.”

  Jessabelle arrived a few minutes later, and the two set to work cleaning up more of the damage. Walter had the air conditioner in the living room working again, and between that and the re-hung door, things were actually comfortable.

  “That was sure a strange storm the other night,” Jessabelle said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The storm that did all this damage and hurt Hattie. How is she, by the way?”

  “Resting. I tried calling her last night and this morning, but the nurse didn’t want to disturb her. But I guess she’s doing alright. Hey, I was about to fix myself an early lunch. Interested?”

  “What are you cooking?”

  “Just peanut butter and honey sandwiches.”

  “Sure, thanks.”

  Jenny began making the sandwiches while Jessabelle vacuumed. She felt guilty, but added the extra ingredient she’d spent the night concocting to Jessabelle’s sandwich. A few minutes later, they sat down together at the table. Jenny took a bite of her sandwich, and then asked, “So what really happened last night?”

  “Didn’t Jack tell you?”

  “His version,” Jenny said.

  Jessabelle sighed. “Yeah. Pay it no mind. They just had a little prayer service, Botch and Fred spoke… oh, Botch is like the richest man in Maple Bend, but I don’t know how rich that is. Fred is Sam’s papa. Anyway, it was just a show of support, and suddenly Jack stands up and starts insisting there are monsters in the woods and accusing Evelyn of causing it. Poor lady seemed ‘bout to tears when she left. Anyway, things were awkward, and they ended the meeting in a hurry.”

  “That sounds strange.”

  “It was! You know, I used to have a crush on Jack. I loved his stories, but I didn’t think he actually believed ‘em. I’m afraid he might have truly gone ‘round the bend.”

  “What does that mean, exactly?”

  “We talked about that yesterday, when we were reading grandma’s hidden messages out of her book, remember? Means going crazy.”

  “Right. No other meaning?”

  “Non
e that I recall. Why?”

  “Just some of the things grandma said in the journal.”

  “Grandma went ‘round the bend herself, too. Hattie’s headin’ that way, I reckon. Maybe it’s a family trait.”

  “Then you and I are doomed.”

  Jessabelle grinned. “Crazy ol’ cat ladies, right? That’ll be us.” She took a bite out of her sandwich. She spoke without swallowing. “Maybe like in Jack’s ol’ stories, I’ll believe I am a cat.”

  Jenny smiled, feeling strangely guilty. “And I’ll think I’m a witch.”

  Jessabelle swallowed and grinned. “Just like Hattie and Grandma.” She took another bite.

  “Don’t you wish you could turn into a cat?”

  “Not really,” Jessabelle said through another mouthful. Then she made a strange face. She swallowed and then took another, smaller bite. She chewed it tentatively, and her expression soured. “Jenny, how old was that peanut butter?”

  “I, uh, spiced it up a bit?”

  Jessabelle choked down the bite in her mouth, and dropped the rest of the sandwich on her plate. “You spiced up a peanut butter sandwich? Why? With what?”

  “Um, some herbs and stuff Hattie still had lying around. And, um, Jack’s blood.”

  Jessabelle’s expression turned to pure disgust. “Why would you say that? That ain’t a funny joke.”

  The guilt wracked Jenny, but she had to follow through with it. “Be clean, o spirit, be pure I now pray. Begone all you curses, I scrub you away!” Jenny felt the words as much as she spoke them. She hoped it would be enough.

  Jessabelle’s expression turned to pure shock. “You weren’t kidding!” She jumped up from her chair, rushed to the sink and turned on the water. Jessabelle stuck her mouth sideways into the running water with her tongue out. “Nyah mblyeah!”

  “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Jenny said.

  Jessabelle turned off the water. “Do you know how much I have to fight off that instinct as a cat, Jenny? Don’t get me started in human f…” Jessabelle stopped, and her mouth opened into a horrified ‘O.’ “Oh. Oh, no. Jack must hate me.”