Wild Country (The World of the Others #2)- Anne Bishop Page 0,89

venomous snakes instead of a scatter of pendants and bracelets.

“You okay?” Barb asked.

“Yeah.” Abby grabbed the shoebox. “Fine.” She bolted out of the room.

Barb found suitcases tucked under the bed. As she filled them with the nicer clothes in the closet, she wondered why a woman who felt such revulsion for jewelry would marry a jeweler.

* * *

* * *

Abigail stared at the items in the medicine cabinet. What were they supposed to do with an open bottle of aspirin or cough syrup? If people threw the things out, would they regret the waste a year from now if the companies that made those things didn’t exist anymore? But who wanted to use aspirin or cough syrup from a stranger’s house?

She reached for a pill bottle. What about prescriptions? The mayor and sheriff had approved this house for the new family, but had whoever vetted it known that the woman who had lived in this house had used pills in order to sleep? She hadn’t found anything besides over-the-counter drugs in her house, but that didn’t mean sleeping pills were uncommon. Prairie Gold had been just as close to the Elder Hills as Bennett, and everyone had a sleepless night on occasion, but the people in Prairie Gold hadn’t felt—and still didn’t feel—threatened by the Others. Maybe the people here had always felt threatened. Maybe that had made it easier for them to side with the HFL.

She opened the bottle of sleeping pills. A quick search in the cabinet that held personal kinds of supplies netted a bag of cotton balls. Stuffing a cotton ball into the pill bottle, she closed it and slipped it into the pocket of her dress, then shimmied a little to make sure nothing rattled.

Hurrying now, she cleaned out the medicine chest and cabinet. She filled one of the larger boxes with towels that looked almost new and just needed a wash.

By the time she returned to the master bedroom, Barb had the bed stripped down, had the suitcases standing near the door, and had filled two boxes with clothes from the dresser. As she stepped into the room, Barb opened one of the top drawers, removed a large jewelry box, and set it on top of the dresser.

“There are two jewelry boxes here,” Barb said. “Maybe one was for costume jewelry and one for good?” She opened the box on the dresser. “Oh, this is so pretty. Maybe I could buy it.” She held up a necklace made of turquoise beads on a gold chain.

Abigail could feel the dissonance between Barb and the stones from where she stood, and anything that brought even a little darkness into Barb’s life would also bring it too close to hers. “Put it back. Don’t touch it.”

Barb looked puzzled and a little hurt. “I don’t think it’s an expensive piece. And it would suit me.”

No, it wouldn’t.

“I’m not going to pocket it,” Barb said. “I’ll just put a note in the jewelry box to say I’m interested and ask Kelley what it’s worth.” She moved her other hand to cup the turquoise beads.

“No!” Abigail screamed. “Don’t touch it. The stones are soured!”

Startled, Barb dropped the necklace.

Abigail started to cry. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. But you’re so … bright … and happy, and those stones have been soured by someone who was neither of those things.”

“But … this house is supposed to be okay for … the kids. Joshua told everyone it didn’t have a stain of darkness.”

“Maybe the place doesn’t. Maybe nothing happened here that he would recognize as a stain.”

“Why do you?”

Abigail pointed at the jewelry box and made her hand shake. “The stones. And these.” She took the pill bottle out of her pocket.

Barb looked at the bottle. “Were you going to take that bottle without telling anyone?”

“Yes.”

Barb wasn’t an Intuit, but she had an older brother who was a cop. “Is this connection you have with stones the reason why there’s friction between you and Kelley?”

“He doesn’t know. No one knows.”

“Don’t you think it’s time you told someone about what you can sense?”

Abigail shook her head. “If people know, something might be said and the wrong person will overhear it—and then I’ll end up dead. I’ve been running since I was seventeen, but there aren’t that many places to run anymore, even if I could get there.”

“You’ve been hiding since you were seventeen?”

“Yes.”

Barb sat on the bed. “Abby, you have to tell someone. The Others aren’t going to care if you can sense whatever you