Charlene shrugged. "I used to tell myself that, but six months, shoot. That's a long time, honey." She gazed past Wanda and me at the mountains. "It sure would be nice if he came back, though, it really would. I get so tired of slaving away at the Dairy Queen. If Eddie came back we could go away to someplace like California or Hawaii where it's always sunny and I'd never have to see a Dairy Queen again."
"They got Dairy Queens in California and Hawaii, Charlene. I hate to tell you, but they got Dairy Queens all over the world," Wanda said.
"Well, I wouldn't be working in one, Wanda. I could just look the other way and keep on going whenever I saw one."
"Hey, Charlene," Annabelle called from the living room, dark now except for the television's blue glow. "What are you telling those girls?" Then Annabelle appeared in the doorway.
"Oh, nothing. They just wanted to hear about Maude and that dumb love potion." Charlene yawned and stretched, seeming bored with the whole subject.
Annabelle looked at us. "What do you want to know about Maude for? She hasn't been bothering you, has she?"
"Course not," Wanda said. "She couldn't bother me if she tried."
Annabelle turned to me. "You sure she hasn't pestered you none?"
I shook my head. "She's talked to me a few times. She told me about my grandmother and her, how they were friends and all." I tried to picture Maude and my grandmother as young women, girls like Wanda and me, but I'd never seen my grandmother and I couldn't imagine someone as old as Maude ever being young.
Annabelle frowned. "I've heard they were friends once." Shifting her weight from one hip to the other, she stared at me as if she wanted to tell me something but didn't have the words for it. "You stay away from her, both of you. I don't want either one of you going near that old woman. You hear?"
We nodded to show we heard her, but I knew I had no intention of staying away from Maude. I needed her too badly. After all, what did I have to lose? Even if she couldn't help me, she couldn't make my life any worse than it already was.
"What are you trying to do, Annabelle? Scare the poor kids to death?" Charlene brushed her hair back from her forehead. "You know that old woman's a fake. All she done for me was make me ten dollars poorer."
"Talk to Twyla about Maude someday," Annabelle said. "She'll tell you an earful." Annabelle frowned at Charlene. "You ain't as smart as you think you are, girl. There's lots you don't know about."
Charlene shrugged. "Twyla don't know everything either. She's just as phony as Maude, if you ask me. Sweeping around like some kind of princess in her long skirts, running that dumb little shop with all those expensive things, telling fortunes like a carnival gypsy. You wait, by the time she's Maude's age, Twyla'll be walking around with a crow on her shoulder, talking to herself and casting spells."
Charlene jumped down from the railing, causing it to sway, and tossed her cigarette out into the darkness. "You all want to watch a movie with Annabelle and me? It's the one where this girl gets possessed by the devil and does all these weird things. Her head turns around backwards and she throws up green slime and she floats over the bed. You all want to come in and watch it?"
"I already saw it," Wanda said. "It was all fake. You could tell the fake stuff without half looking."
"You were scared to death and you know it, Wanda Louise Orton. You wouldn't go to sleep without a light on for at least two weeks after you saw it."
"Bull." Wanda hopped down from the railing, glaring at Charlene as if she were about to attack her.
Charlene snorted, swung her hair out of her face and opened the screen door. "Nice meeting you, Laura. Come on over sometime and I'll do your hair. I just love fooling around with hairstyles. I'm thinking of going to beauty school if I can ever save up enough money."
Annabelle lingered by the door, still staring at Wanda and me. "I'm not fooling about Maude. She's a mean old woman, full of spite, and she don't care who she hurts." She looked hard at me, but I just looked down at my feet. I didn't like the worry I saw on Annabelle's face.
"I'm walking Laura part way home, okay?" Wanda slid off the railing and I hopped off too.
"Be careful. That road's got some dark places," Annabelle said.
Charlene looked out the window at us. "Bye, Laura. Wanda, you be sure and run all the way home, so nothing'll grab you in the dark. Course they'd let you go as soon as it got light, but don't take no chances."
Wanda made a face at Charlene, but she'd already turned her attention to the television screen. "Come on." Wanda ran down the steps and I followed her.
The night air was cool and sweet with the smell of honeysuckle, and the sky was dusted all over with stars, more stars than I could ever remember seeing at Stoneleigh. Standing still for a moment, I tipped my head back, staring up at the sky, finding the Big Dipper, the Milky Way, and what I thought might be Orion.
"Come on, Laura." Wanda stood in the middle of the road, her shadow black against the moon-washed dirt. "Quit poking along like a snail."
"It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" I walked slowly, listening to the crickets chirping in the Held and a mockingbird singing in the woods somewhere.
Wanda nodded, looking uneasily at the grove of trees lying in shadow at the foot of the hill. "What do you think Annabelle was trying to do?"
I shrugged. "You mean all that stuff about Maude? Maybe she just doesn't like her." I looked at Wanda, wondering if Annabelle had scared her as much as she'd scared me. Not that I planned to admit it. I was sure that if I told Wanda how afraid I was, she'd never go near Maude.
"Suppose she's right, though?"
"I don't care what Annabelle says. Or Charlene either. I'm going to ask Maude to make my parents stay married." I frowned at Wanda. "And if you won't come with me, I'll go by myself."
"I think I better get on back home. It's late," Wanda said.
"But we're not even halfway to Aunt Grace's house. Aren't you at least going to walk me through the woods?" I stared at her, feeling betrayed.
Wanda shook her head. "If I walk through the woods with you, then I got to walk back by myself."
"How about halfway through the woods? Will you walk that far?" I pleaded, aware that my voice was rising to a Jason-like whine.
But Wanda was already inching backwards up the road. "Just run," she said. "Just run as fast as you can toward your house and I'll run toward mine."
"Please come with me, just a little way?" The more we talked, the darker those woods got.
"I'll come to your house tomorrow, okay?" Wanda called from the top of the hill.
"Don't bother!" I shouted. "If you can't come with me now, don't come tomorrow either! Don't come ever!"
Taking a deep breath, I turned and ran toward home, wincing when my bare feet struck against loose stones. As I plunged into the darkness under the trees, I saw something move in the shadows at the side of the road. Before I could dodge aside, Maude stepped into my path, blocking my way.
"Well, well, Laura Adams, where are you going in such a hurry in the dark? You almost knocked me down, child." Maude smiled at me, but the hand that grasped my arm was cold and strong.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you," I stammered, my lips stiff.
"Well, now, I saw you coming, Laura Adams, and I heard you too, but then these old eyes and ears of mine are sharp as a cat's. They work better in the dark than they do in the daylight." Maude peered at me, her eyes searching my face. "Now I've gone and frightened you, haven't I?"
Turning her eyes to Soot, who was riding her shoulder like a small demon of the night, she said, "We are a frightening pair, aren't we? The two of us roaming the woods day and night, as we have for years, shunning the company of other human beings. But we mean no harm to this child, do we?" Maude chuckled and stared at me, her eyes glittering in the moonlight.
"My aunt is expecting me home. She'll be worrying," I whispered, backing away from Maude.
"Ah, now, I wouldn't want to worry your aunt." She reached out and stroked my hair back fro
m my face. "Such a pretty girl," she crooned, "such a pretty, pretty girl. How proud Margaret would have been of you, Laura."
I stood still, letting her stroke my hair, afraid to move, afraid to ask her to help me.
"Charlene told you all about me, didn't she?" Maude asked softly. "You'd like to ask me to use my power to help you, too, wouldn't you? You needn't be afraid of me, Laura." Maude smiled at me as she bent nearer, her voice soft and low.
"How do you know I need any help?" I whispered.
"I have ways of knowing things, my dear. I have the power to know and help."
"But Eddie hasn't come back to Charlene, he didn't marry her, you didn't help her." I tried again to back away from her, but her grip on my arm was tight.
"He hasn't yet, Laura, but he will, he will. Everything comes in time, everything." Maude continued to stroke my hair, harder and harder, her fingers raking through it like a comb.
"You're hurting me," I whispered, tears stinging my eyes. It felt as if she were actually yanking hairs from my head.
Maude's face softened. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. Your hair was tangled and I wanted to smooth it, that's all." She smiled, splitting her face into millions of crisscrossing wrinkles. "Now, shall I help you? Will you let me?"
"Could you really stop the divorce?" I asked.
Maude nodded and gestured up at the sky, hidden by the dense leaves of the trees. "Yes, I can stop it. Come to me tomorrow night, Laura, if you want my help." She smiled again and Soot shifted restlessly, his strong taloned feet digging into Maude's shoulder. "But don't tell your aunt. Grace Randall doesn't believe in witchcraft. She'd never allow you to seek my help. It must be our secret, Laura, ours alone."
I stared into her eyes, still afraid of her, not sure whether I should trust her or not.
"You will need to bring a few things with you if I'm to help you," Maude said softly. "You must bring something that belongs to your parents; a picture of the two of them together will do. I will also need something that belongs to. Jason and something of Grace's too. One of her brushes would do nicely. To make a binding spell I must have things from the whole family."
"Should I bring something of mine?"
"Yours?" Maude chuckled. "No, no. Just being there will be enough for you, my dear child."
"How much will it cost? I've got thirty dollars left from my summer spending money."
"No, no, Laura. I've known your family for a long time, a very long time. Let's say I'm doing this in memory of my friendship with Margaret." She smiled into the darkness behind me and Soot stirred again, ruffling his wings. "Now go on home, Laura dear. I shall expect you tomorrow night. If you're frightened of walking through the woods in the dark, you may bring Wanda with you, but no one else is to know, not even Annabelle." Maude stepped off the road onto a narrow path I hadn't noticed before and waved her stick at me. "Good night, my dear. I shall look forward to your visit tomorrow night."
As the shadows closed around Maude, I ran up the road toward home, my heart pounding with fear.
Chapter 10
When I got home, Aunt Grace was sitting on the front steps waiting for me.
"Where have you been Laura? I expected you back over an hour ago." She smiled at me. "I was afraid something had snatched you away."
I stood at the bottom of the steps, looking up at her, feeling uncomfortable about the promise I'd made to Maude. "I'm sorry. I forgot all about the time. We were watching TV and talking and stuff, you know." I edged up the steps, wanting to get past her and into the house, then upstairs to the privacy of my room.
Aunt Grace patted the step next to her. "Why don't you sit down and join me for a while? It's such a lovely night. Just smell the honeysuckle, Laura, and look at all those stars." Aunt Grace hugged her knees, her face soft and young in the moonlight.
"I was thinking of going up to bed," I said hesitantly. "I'm kind of tired tonight. But I guess I could sit for a little while." Uneasily I dropped down on the step next to her, wishing I could just run upstairs and pull the covers over my head.
"Did you run all the way home? You're out ot breath." Aunt Grace smoothed my hair, and I flinched, remembering the touch of Maude's bony hand. "You weren't scared, were you?"
I shook my head and we sat quietly for a while, listening to the crickets and gazing across the valley at the mountains, silvery and unreal in the moonlight.
"How's Annabelle?" Aunt Grace asked.
"Oh, she's okay. She and Charlene were getting set to watch a horror film."
"I hate scary movies," Aunt Grace said.
"Some of them aren't so bad. And most of them are too dumb to be scary."
"Real life is scary enough for me."
I stared at her, surprised. "What are you scared of?"
Aunt Grace smiled. "I've got my share of little fears hidden away, Laura. Everybody does."
I knew I did and I knew Jason did. He never even tried to hide his. And Wanda was scared of the dark and Maude and horror movies and who knew what else? But it was hard to imagine Aunt Grace afraid. Unlike Mom, she seemed brave, ready to face anything.
"I thought Mom was the coward of the family," I said, "not you. She was nervous every single night here. She kept locking the doors and closing the curtains and turning on lights. You never even bother with stuff like that."
Aunt Grace got up and I followed her into the house. "Your Mom got married and she had you and Jason," she said as I paused at the foot of the stairs. "That's something."
I stared at her, puzzled. "What's brave about that? The way it turned out, it was just plain stupid, not brave."
Kissing my cheek, Aunt Grace sent me upstairs. "It's more than I ever did," she said softly.
I looked back at her, but she had already turned away. I stood still for a moment, listening to her footsteps, and then I went upstairs quietly, taking care not to wake Jason.
As soon as I was in bed, I curled up into a tight ball under the covers and tried not to think about Maude and my promise to visit her. I was glad she'd said I could bring Wanda with me, but I wasn't sure Wanda would come. She hadn't shown much courage walking me home and it was hard to imagine her actually going to Maude's house.
I fell asleep worrying about Wanda and when I woke up the sun was shining in my eyes, a sure sign that it was after ten o'clock already. As usual, I could hear Jason chattering away in the kitchen, and I smiled, thinking how happy he would be when Mom and Dad came to get us.
Looking at the dresser, I saw the picture I needed. I'd taken it last summer at Ocean City with the little Instamatic camera Daddy had given me for my tenth birthday. In it, Mom and Dad, dressed in bathing suits, smiled at me, a little out of focus, the sun in their eyes, but looking as happy as anyone on a vacation should look. If the truth were known, they'd been quarreling about something before I'd gotten out my camera, but they'd smiled for the picture. Dad had even put his arm around Mom, making them look like a honeymoon couple instead of the parents of two kids, one of whom was pouting in the background, his back turned, his head bent over his sand bucket.
After I got dressed, I went into Jason's room. Although he hadn't been here very long, he'd already duplicated his room at home. Clothes on the floor, toys and books scattered everywhere, Lego pieces cleverly strewn about in places most likely to injure your bare feet, the bed as rumpled as if an elephant had slept in it.
Selecting a Matchbox car from one of many parked in and around a Lego garage, I went back to my room and hid it in my underwear drawer, next to the photograph of Mom and Dad. Now all I needed was one of Aunt Grace's brushes.
Downstairs, Aunt Grace and Jason were washing the dishes. "Laura," Aunt Grace asked, "do you want to go into Blue Hollow with Jason and me? I have to do some grocery shopping."
"No, not today." I sat down at the table to drink a glass of orange jurice. "I promised Wanda I'd come over and help her with Tanya Marie."
"Is that Charlene's baby?" Aunt Grace asked.
I nodded. "S
he's really cute, but she's kind of a pain. Wanda gets stuck with her all the time, which doesn't seem too fair to me."
"Poor Charlene doesn't have much choice. She has to work. Annabelle's got some kind of a pension, but I don't think it amounts to much."
"When Charlene and Eddie get married, things'll be a lot better," I said.
"Is Charlene getting married? I thought the baby's father disappeared." Aunt Grace stared at me, surprised.
"Maude's bringing him back," Jason said.
"Maude?" Aunt Grace said. "Did Charlene go to Maude? I thought she had more sense than that."
"That's what Wanda told us," I said, thinking fast. Taking my glass to the sink, I gave Jason a quick pinch on the arm to remind him to keep his mouth shut. "She says lots of people go to Maude for help with stuff like that."
Aunt Grace shook her head. "I had no idea people still believed in that nonsense. What's the matter, Jason?"
Jason was rubbing his arm and whimpering. "Nothing," he whined, edging away from me.
"Well, you have a nice time at Wanda's, Laura. We'll be back sometime after lunch." After gathering her purse and her car keys, Aunt Grace herded Jason out the door.
As soon as I heard the station wagon pull away from the house, I darted across the room to Aunt Grace's drawing table. Barely glancing at the unfinished painting of a fern lying there, I grabbed a small brush from an earthenware jar and took it upstairs. I shoved it into the drawer with the photograph and the Matchbox car, then went back downstairs.
I ran all the way to the grove of trees where I'd seen Maude last night. Then I stopped, almost afraid to go on. Suppose she was hiding there in the shade, waiting for me? Squinting ahead, I saw no one on the road. A mourning dove called sadly from the green shade, a gentle breeze ruffled the leaves, and sunlight instead of moonlight dappled the road. Of course, she could be on the path or behind a tree and Soot could be anywhere, his yellow eyes watching me. But there was no sound, no sign of either one of them, just the trees and the mourning dove and the sun.
Telling myself I had nothing to fear from Maude, that she wanted to help me out of kindness, that she wasn't about to ask me for my soul or anything like that, I ran through the grove without looking to the right or the left. Out again in the sunlight, I slowed to a walk, trying to get my breath back before I got to Wanda's.