“Thank you, dear. You're not nearly as bitchy as I first thought you were.”
Moira laughed and quickly covered it with a cough.
“Where was I? Oh yes, the Standing Stones. They are a sacred place, but stay away from them. The magic that residence in the stones is very powerful. Too powerful for you four.”
They slid glances at each other.
50
“You know where we're headed, right?” Claire regarded the three of them with a wicked smile.
They'd poured Aunt Justine into bed and now sat huddled around the kitchen table. Evening had seeped silently in.
“Mom died there,” Tierra said. “We were born there. Answers are hidden there in the ground. I can feel them, but we need to know more about these Standing Stones before we go off half-cocked.” There had been too much of that lately. And low and behold, she was the worst offender. Her hand slid to her belly and hovered over what was quickening inside her right now.
More than ever, she needed answers.
“We don't leave the sanctuary of this house without a solid protection plan,” Tierra continued. “Weapons, spells, potions, all of it. You know they're waiting for us to do something like this.”
“Look at Miss Bossy pants takin' over,” Moira said. “I like it, and I agree. No goin' off half-cock—”
“Always full-cocked,” Aerin added. “That's my motto.”
“And loaded.” Claire snickered. “Hell, I need to get out of here and do something.”
“So where do you think these Standing Stones are?” Aerin asked Tierra.
“I don't know. I think—”
“You mean to say you've lived here all your life,” Aerin interrupted, “and you've never found huge magical rocks? The peninsula isn't that big.”
“Apparently it is, because I don't have a clue where they are. I've hiked all over the peninsula, and I've never seen or heard of these Standing Stones. But…I think I can find them.” She didn't know why, but she felt a certain pull and could only assume it was Mother Earth whispering to her. “I need the map.”
Claire produced it and they spread it out over the table. Claire also provided the crystal. “Here, you scry.”
Tierra took the crystal in her hand, feeling the warmth of it against her palm. “How?”
“I'm not sure,” Claire said. “I have no idea how it worked the last time. Maybe just put the thought in your head and see what happens. We have nothing to lose.” She shrugged. “At least on this.”
Tierra closed her eyes and brought into mind the forests, the trees, the meadows. A vision of a place high on the cliffs that overlooked the ocean and butted up against trees came into focus. Stones as tall as she, some taller, stood as sentries in a circle and gleamed like bones in the moonlight. She dropped the crystal and let it hang from the chain that she lightly held between her fingertips. When it thunked on the map, she opened her eyes. “The west side of the peninsula at Siren's Cry.”
“Siren's Cry?” Aerin asked.
“The constant mist shrouding the area appears to weep, and the wind whistles around the cliffs, making this haunting sound as if a woman is crying…”
“Our mother crying?” Claire said. They looked at her horrified. “You were all thinking it too.”
“Damned if that ain't sadder than kickin' a three-legged puppy,” Moira whispered.
“It's supposed to be haunted,” Tierra said. “No one goes there. The last teenagers who attempted came back with horror stories.”
“You've never thought about investigating?” Aerin asked.
“Not until now. I always got this feeling of overwhelming sadness and pain. I-I just couldn't venture up there. But now…”
“We have to go,” Aerin said.
“Yes.” Tierra nodded.
“Tonight?” Claire asked. “Or should we wait until morning?”
“Tonight. Something, no, someone waits for us.” Tierra's eyes widened as the words came out of her mouth.
Claire took her hand. “I feel it, too.”
“It's decided then,” Aerin said. “We go.”
They all nodded.
“Let me get my shoes!” Moira hollered already turning and rushing out of the room.
“And the squirt guns.” Claire left for the formal dining room that she'd turned into a weapons garage.
Aerin glanced down at her velour workout clothes. “I'd better change. Do you have any hiking boots or something without a high heel?”
“Come on.” They went upstairs to Tierra's room.
“Wow, this is a lot of color,” Aerin said as she entered.
“What's wrong with color?”
“Nothing. It's just a lot, that's all.”
Tierra handed Aerin a well-worn pair of hiking boots. “Here. Try these, and maybe wear some jeans. Do you have jeans?”