Time of the Witch (18 page)

Annabelle looked at me. "I told Charlene she'd be back, didn't I? Didn't I stand right here in this very room and tell her she could come home any time?"

I nodded.

Annabelle sighed and lit a cigarette. "These young people just don't know what they want these days, and that's a fact. I sure hope you two grow up with more sense than Charlene's got."

"Don't worry," Wanda said, "I ain't ever getting married."

"Me either," I said.

Annabelle blew out a cloud of cigarette smoke and chuckled. "Oh, honey, just 'cause some marriages don't work out doesn't mean they're all bad. While Wanda's grandaddy was alive, you couldn't have found a happier woman than me. I been looking for someone like him for twenty years now, and if I ever find him I'll marry him quicker than a cat can drink a bowl of milk." She hugged me again and heaved herself up from the bed. "How about I fix you all a sandwich?"

After lunch, Wanda got a pack of playing cards and we sat out on the front porch playing Spit. A nice breeze was blowing, rustling the leaves and tossing the heads of the Queen Anne's Lace. Down in the field, a mockingbird was singing and in the woods behind the house a jay called.

While Wanda dealt a new hand of cards, I looked out across the valley at the mountains. Clouds high in the sky were casting moving shadows across the trees, changing their color from green to purply blue and back to green again, and all around us everything seemed quiet and peaceful.

"How about the divorce?" Wanda asked quietly. "What are your parents going to do now?"

I looked down at my cards, staring at the double faces of the Queen of Hearts and the King of Clubs. "They're getting it this winter. I asked Daddy."

"You still upset about it?"

I shrugged. "Sort of. I love them both, you know? It would be so much easier if they lived together."

"Not unless they loved each other."

I nodded. "I know." I watched a tear splash down on the Queen's face. "But they don't—they don't love each other anymore. So I guess they're doing the best thing. I wouldn't want them to live the way Maude said, hating each other, always unhappy."

Wanda's hand touched mine, gave it a little squeeze. "It'll be okay," she said.

"Daddy's probably going to marry Carol," I muttered, not daring to look at her for fear she'd say she told me so.

"She's a jerk," Wanda said.

"I know." I grinned at her. "I hope Daddy finds out before he marries her."

Just as I was about to lose the third game in a row, I saw a cab stop at the foot of the driveway. As Charlene opened the door to get out, Annabelle scooted down the steps, waving and smiling. Wanda and I followed after.

"I thought you was going to call me from the depot," Annabelle said. "You didn't have to go wasting your money on a taxicab."

Charlene brushed her hair out of her face and handed Tanya Marie to her grandmother. "I didn't feel like sitting around Blue Hollow waiting for you." She pulled her suitcase and two cardboard boxes out of the cab. Thrusting the suitcase at Wanda, she burst into tears. "Don't give me no lectures, Annabelle," she sobbed. "You were right and I should've listened to you, so just leave me alone."

Annabelle nestled Tanya Marie on her hip and put her arm around Charlene. "Honey, honey, don't worry. I'm glad you're back, that's all. Now come on up to the house and lie down for a while. You must be all worn out."

Without another word, Charlene followed Annabelle up the driveway, leaving us with the suitcase and boxes.

"Well, she could at least have said hello to me," Wanda said, but she carried the suitcase up the hill and set it on the porch next to the door. "Guess she can haul it the rest of the way when she needs it."

Dumping the boxes next to the suitcase, I looked at Wanda. "Maybe Twyla made that spell wear off too."

"Could be." We stared at each other and I could feel little prickles run up and down the back of my neck. Wanda shivered and hugged herself. "Life is awful strange sometimes, isn't it?"

I nodded and we sat down side by side on the porch
railing, watching the shadows drift across the mountains.

"There's your aunt's car," Wanda said.

As the car swung around the curve and dipped down the hill, I got up. "I guess I'd better go home. It must be almost six o'clock."

"You want me to walk part way with you?"

I shook my head. "There's nothing to be scared of now."

Wanda grinned. "Well, then, I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe we can go down the creek where it's deep enough to swim."

"That sounds like a great idea. Come over tomorrow, okay?" I waved good-bye and ran down the steps. As I passed the truck, Chief stuck out his head and barked, but I smiled at him, keeping a safe distance. "You're not as bad as you'd like to think you are," I said.

Chief made a snuffling sound and crawled back under the truck. Turning around, I waved at Wanda again and started down the road.

When I got near the grove, I hesitated, feeling scared in spite of myself. The late afternoon sun had retreated from the woods and it looked dark and spooky under the trees. Looking around for Maude, I walked slowly into the gloom, feeling my heart thump against my ribs.

Suddenly a crow rose from a branch over my head, cawing loudly. Flinching away from him, I saw Maude step out into the road ahead of me. She stopped and stared at me, leaning on her stick and mumbling, but she made no move toward me. For an immeasurable period of time, we both stood still, watching each other, saying nothing. Finally Maude took a step, her feet shuffling, and stopped again within a foot of me, her eyes probing my face.

"Such a pretty girl," she whispered, reaching out a shaking hand to touch my face, but dropping it less than an inch from my cheek. "Don't I know you? Aren't you Margaret?"

She shook her head, her eyes bewildered. "No, no, you can't be Margaret. That was a long time ago, a long, long time ago. Margaret left me, she went away and left me all alone." Maude sighed. "But you look like her—yes, you look like her."

"Don't you remember me?" I whispered.

"Remember you? Should I remember you?" Maude drew her shawl tightly about herself. "No, no, I don't remember you."

As she stared at me, searching my face for clues, Soot dropped down gently on her shoulder and cawed softly. "Yes, yes, it's time to go, my pretty," Maude whispered to the crow. "Time to go."

"Without looking at me again, Maude stepped around me and hobbled away down the road, talking softly to Soot.

For a few seconds I stood still and stared after her. Then I turned and ran toward my aunt's house.