The Book of Spells (19 page)

Eliza took the jar of pebbles and removed the lid. Holding the jar over the washbasin, she closed her eyes and concentrated. In her mind’s eye she saw Harrison just as he was on that first day, playing out on the quad with his friends. Then she saw him in the basement of Gwendolyn Hall—his open, frank, interested expression as she spoke to him about
The Jungle
. Then at the dance in his formal wear, his hair combed back from his handsome face, his whisper in her ear . . . She felt a thrill go through her, and she overturned the jar. The tiny pebbles raced into the water with several tiny
plop
s.

“What now?” Eliza asked breathlessly, opening her eyes.

“Hold the crystal over the water,” Catherine said, handing the small bundle—ribbon, glove, and pendant—to Eliza.

Letting the crystal drop from her palm, Eliza dangled it above the basin. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and suddenly felt very silly. Here she was, nearly a grown woman, hoping some trinkets and a bowl of water and rocks would lead her to her true love. Catherine, however, wore a look of serious concentration and determination, so Eliza wiped the smile off her face.

“Repeat after me,” Catherine said. “Spirits from the other side, let your wisdom be my guide, show me the place where this person hides.”

Eliza reached out and took Catherine’s hand in her own.

“Say it with me,” she said. “I know it will work better if you do.”

“Okay,” Catherine replied with a smile, as if flattered.

The two girls held hands, closed their eyes, and recited the incantation.

“Spirits from the other side, let your wisdom be my guide, show me the place where this person hides.”

A light breeze blew Eliza’s hair from her face, and her breath caught. She felt suddenly dizzy, and she wrenched her eyes open in an attempt to steady herself. As she watched, the crystal began to spin above the bowl of its own accord. Eliza clung to Catherine to get her bearings. After a moment, she was able to focus on the miraculous things happening before her.

The crystal spun in a wider and wider circle, and the water in the bowl began to ripple.

“Are they . . . are the pebbles moving?” Eliza gasped, leaning closer as the blue stones at the bottom of the bowl began to jiggle and jerk.

Catherine nodded, her lips pressed together giddily as she held tightly to Eliza’s hand. “It’s really working!”

Then, ever so suddenly, the pebbles arranged themselves at the base of the bowl, the water stopped rippling, and the crystal hung straight. Its tip pointed down at the water like an arrow. Eliza’s heart was in her throat. She could scarcely believe what she’d just seen.

“I don’t understand,” Catherine said. “What does this mean?”

Eliza bent closer to the water, narrowing her eyes as she began to detect a shape among the pebbles. An image came to her: three thick, winding limbs attached close to the base of a trunk—heavy branches, laden with leaves, hanging almost to the ground. “Is that . . . ? Yes! It is! It looks just like the old elm!”

Catherine grabbed the sides of the bowl with both hands and stared. “You’re right!”

“Do you think Harrison’s out there right now?” Eliza asked, barely able to believe what she was saying.

Catherine snatched the crystal from Eliza’s hand and tossed it in the long box, then threw the whole thing back under her bed. The two girls clasped hands and ran down the hallway, nearly flattening Lavender, who was on her way to her room. They laughed as they tripped down the stairs and out the front door, then raced around the back of Crenshaw House to the garden that had been the site of one of their first punishments. Eliza sprinted to the tree, expecting to see Harrison’s blond hair gleaming in the sunlight.

But he wasn’t there.

“I suppose it was too good to be true,” Eliza said, her shoulders slumping.

“The spirits would not have led us to the wrong place.” Catherine strode forward, ducking beneath one of the lower-hanging branches. Eliza watched her, amused. Did she think she was going to find Harrison hanging from the limbs?

“Eliza!” Catherine said, her word but a gasp. “Come quickly!”

Startled, Eliza rushed forward and ducked down. Catherine was holding a piece of white parchment in her shaking hand. “I found this tucked into one of the knots in the trunk.”

“Well?” Eliza prompted. “Open it!”

“But it’s for you.” Catherine held the paper out to Eliza.

Holding her breath, Eliza took the parchment. Inside she found a short note, written in familiar, masculine handwriting. She read it out loud to Catherine.

The word
yours
brought a warm blush to Eliza’s cheeks.

“Thank you, Catherine. I never would have found this without
you.” She stepped toward her friend. “There’s something I should tell you. That book? The one I received our second day here? It wasn’t from my father. It was from Harrison. I’m sorry I lied.”

“I understand,” Catherine replied. “How could you have known to trust me back then?” She reached for Eliza’s hand and squeezed it. “But I hope you know you can trust me now.”

Eliza grinned. “I trust you above anyone, Catherine White.”

She was just about to fold the note and tuck it away in the pocket of her skirt when she caught a glimpse through the thick leaves of someone rapidly approaching. She froze.

“Miss Eliza?”

Eliza’s heart dropped. “Helen? Is that you?”

Helen ducked under the low branches and stood next to Eliza, her hands folded in front of her skirt. She glanced at Catherine, then at the piece of parchment trembling in Eliza’s hand. Her face went ashen, and she took a step back.

“Mr. Harrison Knox sent word through one of the Easton servants that he had left something for you at the tree,” Helen said. “I was to give you the message. How did you know it was—”

She stopped abruptly as Eliza and Catherine exchanged a look.

“Oh. I see,” she said, her tone shifting completely.

Eliza felt as if she had been kicked in the chest. What, exactly, did Helen see?

“Aren’t Harrison Knox and Theresa Billings betrothed?” Helen asked.

Eliza’s skin burned. She opened her mouth to speak, but Catherine
stepped up and touched her arm, stopping her. “Our affairs are none of your concern, Helen,” she said. “You’ve delivered your message. Kindly leave us.”

Helen’s face hardened as she dipped into a quick curtsy. “Yes, Miss White.”

Then she ducked under the branches and was gone.

Suddenly Eliza’s breath was coming at an alarming rate. She looked at the ground and fought to calm it, pressing one hand against the comforting strength of a thick tree limb.

“Are you all right, Eliza?” Catherine asked.

“You needn’t have spoken to her that way,” Eliza replied, bringing Harrison’s note to her chest. “I think you’ve upset her.”

“Well, as much as I like the girl, she has no right to judge you,” Catherine replied, supporting Eliza with an arm around her back. “No one does.”

Eliza took a deep breath in through her nose and blew it out through her mouth. “You don’t think she’ll tell Theresa, do you?” Eliza asked, looking off in the direction in which Helen had disappeared.

“I don’t know. She didn’t tell on us before, but who knows if her discretion or her loyalty to the Billings family will win out?”

Eliza nodded and rolled her shoulders back, trying to appear collected, but that look in Helen’s eyes had unnerved her. She had a feeling that Helen Jennings was not a good person to have as an enemy. And she hoped the young maid hadn’t just become one.

Eliza’s hands fidgeted with the folds of the skirt on her favorite navy blue dress, the one with the buttons all up the side of the sleeves and the wide boatneck collar that showed off her gold locket perfectly. Harrison was going to love it. If he ever got a chance to see her in it.

“Here’s a good one!” Theresa announced from behind the podium at the center of the temple. “The Genius Spell.”

It was Theresa who had called this last-minute meeting of the coven, then announced to the others that they were going to go through the book of spells, page by page, and make a list of the next ten spells they would try. The other members of the coven were all gathered around in a circle, seated in rickety wooden chairs they had lugged down from the storage closet. Marilyn yawned, which caused Genevieve to yawn as well. Jane, Bia, and Viola were focused on Theresa, but Clarissa looked bored as she gazed up at the ceiling, and
Lavender and Catherine were both working on literature homework at Eliza’s side.

“It will make you all-knowing for twelve hours,” Theresa continued. “I’d say that’s long enough to take a history exam, no?”

“Oh, I like that one!” Jane announced, raising her hand.

“But that’s cheating!” Clarissa protested, dropping her booted feet to the floor and leaning forward. “We can’t use that.”

“Maybe you can’t, but I will,” Viola said with a sniff, tugging on the lace cuffs of her sleeves. “Just because you’re a genius every day doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have the chance to experience it for ourselves.” She raised her head, sitting up perfectly straight on her chair.

“All in favor of the Genius Spell?” Theresa asked.

Everyone but Catherine, Eliza, and Clarissa raised their hands. Theresa surveyed the room and made a quick note. Eliza glanced quickly at her delicate gold watch, and her heart lurched. It was already eleven forty-five. In fifteen minutes, Harrison would be standing out in the woods, waiting for her. She reached into her pocket for his note, intending to check it again to make sure she was right about the time, but her fingers felt nothing but fabric. Her heart skipped a beat and she dug deeper, but there was nothing there. Her pocket was empty. The note was gone.

Instantly, Eliza looked up at Theresa. Theresa was gazing right at her, a smirk on her face. The entire room seemed to darken as Eliza felt a bull’s-eye form on her chest. Had Theresa found the note? Did she know? Was that why she’d called this impromptu meeting?

Guilt pressed in on Eliza from all sides. She was, after all, planning
a clandestine meeting with another girl’s fiancé. Whatever her bond with Harrison, his engagement to Theresa was a fact. Maybe she shouldn’t be doing this. Maybe she had let herself get caught up in the romance of it too quickly.

“All right, then, the Genius Spell is on our list with a vote of eight yeses and three nos,” Theresa announced.

She made a final tick on her notes, then looked back at Eliza. “I notice you haven’t voted yes once, Eliza,” she said perkily. “What are you waiting for? Are you in the mood for something more creative? Because the next one will apparently make a painting come to life.”

The other girls giggled, and Eliza shifted in her seat. She felt warm all over—conspicuous. “I suppose I just haven’t found any of the spells worthwhile.”

“Oh, really? And here I thought you were being sullen just because this was my idea,” Theresa said, turning fully to face her. “No one likes a spoilsport, Eliza.”

Jane gasped, and Viola whispered something to her behind her hand. All eyes darted between Eliza and Theresa. Eliza sat up straight, her guilt slowly beginning to ebb. “I’m not being a spoilsport. I just think there are better things we could be doing with our time.”

Like meeting Harrison,
she thought. Catherine closed her book and glanced at her two friends warily.

“What is it with you Williams girls?” Theresa said, throwing a hand up and letting it slap down on the podium. “Why do you think the entire world must revolve around what you think?”

Eliza’s face burned as the girls all gaped at her. This was the last straw. She had to get out of this basement and away from this awful
girl, and she had to do it now. Across the room, Bia whispered to Viola, and suddenly a plan came to Eliza.

“I’m sorry, Theresa,” she said, making her voice all breathy, the way Bia’s always sounded just before she went faint. “I don’t believe the world must revolve around me. I’m just . . . I’m having a hard time concentrating tonight.”

“Are you?” Theresa asked, with what seemed to be false surprise.

“Yes. In fact, I’m not feeling very well,” Eliza stated. “I’m feeling a bit . . . dizzy.”

“Oh, no!” Bia jumped up, suddenly wide awake, and crouched down in front of Eliza’s chair, taking her hand. “Don’t faint, Eliza!”

“Take some deep breaths,” Marilyn added helpfully, getting up to stand next to her chair.

“She’s not going to faint,” Theresa said, stepping away from the podium. Her red skirt swished around her ankles, making a gratingly raspy noise.

“Yes, she is! Dizziness always precedes fainting,” Bia said over her shoulder. “I should know.”

“She’s right. Bia faints more than anyone else I know,” Lavender stated.

Suddenly all the girls were on their feet and gathering around Eliza.

“You should get some fresh air, Eliza,” Catherine said, laying her books aside, obviously catching on to Eliza’s plan. “Everyone step back and give her some room to breathe.”

“Yes, I think I’ll just go back to Crenshaw House and lie down,” Eliza said as Catherine pretended to help her to the door. “The walk might do me some good.”

“You shouldn’t go alone,” Theresa said, dipping down to retrieve her leather carryall. “I’ll come with you.”

Eliza’s heart skipped a panicked beat and she looked at Catherine. “I’ll go with her,” Catherine blurted right away. “You have your votes to tend to.”

“Thank you, Catherine,” Eliza said, sounding as weak as she could. Before Theresa could reply, Catherine and Eliza had started up the winding staircase toward the empty pastor’s office up above.

“Let’s talk about this moving painting spell,” Clarissa said down below. “Do the subjects come to life as three-dimensional beings or two-dimensional pictures?”

Eliza and Catherine closed the door behind them at the top of the stairs and laughed. The windows of the chaplain’s office rattled in the strong wind that had been blowing all evening.