Witching Time (The Wild Hunt #14) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,39
break my word.
“Let’s change the subject. I’m tired and I want to think about something else for a while. I regret agreeing to read cards there. All it did was involve me in something I wouldn’t have chosen to get involved with.”
Kipa laughed, shaking his head. “Nope. I guarantee you, woman, you would have agreed to help if you had just talked to Evie or Rain in passing. You can’t help it. You’re a fixer.”
I glared at him. “No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. Isn’t she?” Kipa turned to Curikan, who snorted.
“Ever since she was a little girl, she tried to tackle problems that were bigger than she was. And I can’t tell you how many stray creatures found their way to our home, courtesy of Raven’s nature. We practically had a woodland sanctuary. We took care of birds with broken wings, stray cats, stray dogs, lizards that she caught, you name it—she brought it home. I finally had to stop her when she brought home a ‘pretty kitty cat.’ She’d wandered into the nearby forest and found herself a bobcat kitten.”
I groaned. “I can’t believe I did that.”
“You were fearless, just like your mother,” Curikan said. “We took care of all of them, except the bobcat. I managed to track down the mother and return the kit to her.”
Kipa was laughing, his eyes dancing with light. “You’re something else, woman.”
“Oh, you haven’t heard half the tales about what this one did,” Curikan said, jabbing his thumb at me.
“Stop! You will not give away any more of my secrets!” But I was laughing by now, too. Truth was, it felt good to focus on anything but the farm.
“Girl, I’m your father. I can tell anybody anything I want to about you.”
I leaned over and gently punched his arm. “I can’t stop you. But I’ve got my own stories about you.”
“Anybody want some more wine?” Kipa asked, refilling our glasses.
We spent the rest of the evening talking over old times. Raj joined us on the sofa when he was done eating, and though he kept quiet, I could tell he loved being part of the group. He snuggled next to me, and I wrapped my arm around him.
For an evening, I was able to let go of the tension and worry that had been continuous since Pandora had caught hold of me. Sometimes, an evening of laughter was all I needed to face the next day.
Morning came and with it, the sun broke through the clouds. The wind was up—it was breezy outside. I yawned, staring out the window, wishing I could just cancel. I had no desire to return to Dream Circle Farm. As I finished dressing, I received a text from Yutani, asking me to call him when I had the chance.
Still in my bra and panties, I placed the call, making sure it wasn’t on Face-Chat. “You have something for me?” I asked.
“Yeah, I do,” he said. “I found out a few things, but I didn’t have time to search in-depth because Herne called shortly after you did, and set me to work on something about the dragons.”
“Okay, well, any information is helpful,” I said.
“The family who originally owned and cleared that farm was, indeed, the Lanchesters. They bought the land in 1965. Jericho was the father, Elzabeth the mother. They had five kids, one of whom was named Aida. She was the only girl, and she was the middle child. In 1978, when she was fourteen, she was reported missing, presumed a runaway. The family—well, the parents—told the cops that she often ran off to stay with friends. Now, there weren’t any other records of her having run away, and cops did interview her friends. Most of them said that, as far as they knew, she had never run off before.”
“So, the parents weren’t worried about someone kidnapping her?”
“The father was, to a degree, but her mother was convinced that she had run off. Anyway, neither one even once hinted at foul play. The cops were busy at that time, and they did search some, but the case just went cold. Let me shoot you a picture of her.” He texted one over.
I glanced at it, then called Kipa in to look at it. “Does this look like the spirit you saw yesterday?”
He nodded. “Right on the nose.”
“It seems we have a match. So she didn’t run away. Or if she did, when she died she returned to the land,” I said, putting Yutani on speaker phone.