Witching Time (The Wild Hunt #14) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,42
causing a physical issue.
I gave Evie a hug and she smiled through her tears. As she wiped her eyes, we entered the fairway.
Chapter Nine
The sky had clouded up again and the jury was still out on whether the sun would break through. The forecast called for showers off and on, and by the way the wind smelled, I suspected we’d have more rain than sun.
Kipa dropped my bag at the booth, then gave me a quick kiss. “I’d best get into that maze and start harvesting corn before Marigold changes her mind. She can’t very well open the maze if there’s no maze for people to get lost in.” He jogged off.
“Hey,” Llew said, arriving just as I started to set up my table. “Evie sure looks glum.”
“She has reason.” I told him what she had told me. “I called Wager Chance this morning and he’s looking into the history of the farm for us. Yutani found out several things for me last night. The farm was bought by the Lanchesters in 1965. In 1978, Aida—their only daughter out of five children—vanished. She was fourteen at the time. While she was listed as a runaway, her photo matches the spirit that Kipa saw yesterday.” I filled him in on the rest of what Yutani had discovered.
“There has to be some problem. Houses don’t sell that often without good cause.” He glanced around. “Did Yutani find out why everybody else left?”
I shook my head. “He had to get back to work. Wager will dig deeper. The house was abandoned and that’s how it sold as a foreclosure to Marigold and Rain. Which means somebody got the hell out of here fast.”
“I have to wonder who’s died on this land. If Aida—that was her name?”
“Right. Aida Lanchester.”
“If her spirit is here, chances are she died here. Which begs the questions, where are her remains and how did she die? Was it accidental or murder? It has to be one or the other. If she died of natural causes, the family wouldn’t have any reason to hide her death and there would be a record.” Llew pointed to my cards. “Why don’t you do a reading about it? We have half an hour before the fair opens. Meanwhile, I’ll go over to Jordan’s booth and get us some coffee and pastries.”
“Does he have any sausage cheese sandwiches? I’d love one if he does. And I want a triple caramel mocha.” I pulled out my cards and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Then, as I shuffled them, I whispered, “Aida, tell us what happened to you? Are you here now? We just want to help.”
A cold breeze swept through me at that moment, and I froze. There was a spirit right next to me—I could sense her and I could see a vague outline of her out of the corner of my eye.
“Hello,” I said, keeping my eyes on the cards. “I know you’re here. I just want to help. Will you talk to me?”
There was another soft gust of wind that blew over me and, very clearly, I heard, He’s after me.
“Are you Aida?” I asked.
Again, the breeze. Yes.
“Who’s after you?” I was beginning to feel her presence grow. It was as though she had latched onto my energy and using it to give her the strength to talk. But just as I asked her what was chasing her, she shrieked and vanished, startling me so abruptly that I scattered my cards all over the table and ground. It was as though the wind had caught her up and snatched her away. My heart racing, I gathered up my cards and took a moment to regain my composure.
When I felt calm again, I very quietly shuffled the cards once more and laid them out in a star-shaped layout. The first card’s position was whether Aida’s remains were still on the land. That came up with the princess of discs. Physicality. A younger woman who was grounded in the earth, which told me that yes, her body was still hidden on the farm somewhere.
The second card’s position was as to whether Aida had been murdered. And that came up the ten of wands—strife, being oppressed, feeling caged in by circumstances. It wasn’t a definite yes, but it led me to think that she hadn’t died by accident or by her own hand.
Third position was underlying energy surrounding the issue, and this card scared me. It was the seven of cups, and