The Captive Page 0,11

think about it now. Put the key back. Or do you want her to wake up while you're standing here holding it?

The journey back to Diana's nightstand seemed to take forever, and her stomach ached as if someone were grinding a boot there. The key clinked as she replaced it on the nightstand and the chain stuck to her sweaty hand. But Diana's breathing remained soft and even.

Now get out, she ordered herself. She needed to be alone, to try and think. In her hurry to get away she forgot to be careful about placing her feet. A board creaked.

Just keep going, never mind, she thought. Then she heard something that stopped her heart.

A rustling from the bed. And then Diana's voice.

"Cassie?"

Chapter Four

"Cassie? Is that you?"

Sick dismay tingled down Cassie's nerves. Then she heard her own voice saying, as she turned, "I-I was scared ... I didn't want to bother you ..."

"Oh, don't be silly. Come lie down," Diana said sleepily, patting the bed beside her and shutting her eyes again.

It had worked. Cassie had gambled that Diana had just woken up that instant, and she'd been right. But Cassie felt as if she were reeling as she went over to the other side of the bed and got in, facing away from Diana.

"No more nightmares," Diana murmured:

"No," Cassie whispered. She could never get up now and call Faye, but she didn't care. She was too tired of stress, of tension, of fear. And something deep inside her was glad that she hadn't been able to go through with it tonight. She shut her eyes and listened to the roaring in her own ears until she fell asleep.

In her dream she was on a ship. The deck was lifting and dropping beneath her, and waves rose up black over the sides. Lost, lost. . . What was lost? The ship? Yes, but something else, too. Lost forever... never find it now...

Then the dream changed. She was sitting in a bright and sunny room. Her chair was low to the ground, its spindly wood back so uncomfortable that she had to sit up straight. Her clothes were uncomfortable too; a bonnet as close-fitting as a swimming cap, and something tight around her waist that scarcely let her breathe. On her lap was a book.

Why, it was Diana's Book of Shadows! But no, the cover was different, red leather instead of brown. As she leafed through it, she saw that the writing in the beginning was very similar, and the titles of some of the spells were the same as in Diana's.

A Charm to Cure a Sickly Child. To Make Hens Lay. For Protection Against Fire and Water. To Hold Evil Harmless.

To Hold Evil Harmless!

Her eyes moved swiftly across the words after it.

Bury the evil object in good moist loam or sand, well covered. The healing power of the Earth will battle with the poison, and if the object be not too corrupt, it will be purified.

Of course, Cassie thought. Of course.

The dream was ebbing. She could feel Diana's bed beneath her. But she could also hear a fading voice, calling a name. "Jacinth! Are you in there? Jacinth!"

Cassie was awake.

Diana's blue curtains were incandescent with the sunlight they held back. There were cheerful pottering noises in the room. But all Cassie could think about was the dream.

She must have read that spell in Diana's Book of Shadows last night, absorbed it unconsciously as she was flipping through. But why remember it in such a weird way?

It didn't matter. The problem was solved, and Cassie was so happy that she felt like hugging her pillow. Of course, of course!

Before the skull ceremony Diana had said the skull should be buried for purification-in moist sand. Adam had found it on the island buried in sand. Right below Diana's back door was a whole beach of sand. Cassie could hear the ocean breaking on it this minute.

The question was, could she find the exact place in the sand the skull was buried?

Faye was in writing class. And she was furious.

"I waited up all night," she hissed, grabbing Cassie by the arm. "What happened?"

"I couldn't get it. It wasn't there."

Faye's golden eyes narrowed and the long red-tipped fingers on Cassie's arm tightened. "You're lying."

"No," Cassie said. She cast an agonized glance around and then whispered, "I think I know where it is, but you have to give me time."

Faye was staring at her, those strange eyes raking hers. Then she relaxed slightly and smiled.