Bone Dry_ A Soul Shamans Novel - Cady Vance Page 0,86
puckered out her lips. “Well, I’m sorry, but Tyler no longer lives here. He’s run off to be in that shaman community you speak of. Joined some cult or something. I haven’t heard from him in weeks.”
"A cult?” I asked, frowning, meeting Nathan’s gaze for a moment before turning back to her. He looked as surprised and concerned as I felt.
“Yes,” she said. “Our family doesn’t practice shamanism, and Tyler wasn’t very happy with me or his dad because of it. He wanted to learn all the voodoo. Someone from that community contacted him a few months ago and said they’d teach him their ways if he’d come away and join them.” Her eyes started watering, making the blue of her irises look like pools. “We tried to talk him out of it, but he just disappeared one day. Anyway, I'm sure you don’t want to hear about this. You say you found his wallet in Boston?” She fingered the leather, face etched in sadness.
“Yeah,” I said. “So, you don't practice the magic?”
“Goodness, no,” she said. “Our family hasn’t for three generations now. It’s just too dangerous, getting involved in the spirit world. And now there are cults!”
“Okay, thanks then.” I shifted on my feet some more and stuffed my hands into my pockets.
“Why are you looking for other shamans?” she asked. “You don’t want to become involved in these cults, do you? And bringing a regular boy into it?” Lines formed around her mouth when she frowned at Nathan. “Do either of your parents know you’re looking into this?”
“No,” I said. “And we don’t know anything about any cults. I was just hoping to talk to someone my age about it.”
Her frown disappeared. “Oh, I understand, honey. I remember feeling confused about all of this,” she said, waving her hands around, “magic stuff. Even though we don’t practice, we still feel it surging through our veins, don’t we?”
I just nodded.
“Well, I have to say that I don’t know any other shaman families since we’ve kept away from all that. Tyler did go to high school with a shaman girl. Her name is Audrey.”
“Do you think she would mind talking to me?”
“I’m not sure, hon.” She rubbed her lips together. “She doesn’t practice shamanism either. But she and Tyler were good friends until he left. I know she tried talking him out of going into that cult.” She spit out the word like it was a rotten piece of meat.
If only she knew how dangerous that cult really was. My heart ached to tell her, but I didn’t know how. I’d call the police….eventually, and give them a tip on the building. It hurt me to think of the look on her face when she found out exactly what had happened to her son. I looked down at the ground and scuffed my shoes on the stoop.
I think she took my expression as disappointment because her voice softened into a cooing only moms can truly do. “Listen, honey. She might be at church, but I can call to see.”
“Okay,” I said. “Thanks.”
She ushered me and Nathan inside and left us sitting on a small loveseat in the entryway of the house. We sat there awkwardly, neither of us feeling at ease even surrounded by the cheerful yellow wallpaper. A pitcher of lemonade was on a table by our side, and I wondered if it sat there only in hopes that Tyler would come back, and when he did, the lemonade would be there ready for him. I opened my mouth a few times to say something to Nathan, but I didn’t want Tyler’s mother to overhear. A few moments later she returned with a kind smile on her face.
“No church today for Audrey. She’s home watching her little brother who has a bit of a cold,” she said. “She said to have you go on over to her house. She’d be happy to talk to you.”
I nodded my thanks, and Nathan murmured polite words of goodbye. Neither of us could get out of there fast enough.
“Oh, and kids?” she called out as we pushed through the screen door. “Thank you for returning my son’s wallet to me.”
“No problem,” I said, and then hurried to Nathan’s car, fighting back tears.
***
Audrey’s house was only a few minutes away from Tyler’s. The whole way I gripped my backpack and leaned forward in the leather seat, like tensing my body could make things okay.