Page 15 of Witch Moon

"I know that."

"So?"

She drew a breath, nodded as she blew it out again. "Okay. At least I know I'm not crazy."

"No. You just inherited a special gift from your mom. More than one, even." She nodded at the little empty pouch on the table. "That was your mother's power bag. Put the things back inside and keep it with you all the lime. A lot of her energy lingers in those things. I felt it when I touched the pent. When you want to feel her near you, take them out, hold them. Wear the necklace if you want, under your blouse for now. But don't let anyone else handle them. You can add your own special treasures when they turn up, if you want to. Maybe hand it down to your own daughter one day."

Rowan looked at her for a second, then she reached across the table, slid her hand over Bella's, and squeezed it just once. "You don't know how much this talk means to me," she whispered. "Thank you, Miss Saint A."

"I think you may as well call me Bella, outside school, all right?" she said. Inexplicably, she felt tears brimming in her own eyes. "Now, do you need a ride home?"

"I've got the four-wheeler."

"And a helmet. I hope?"

Rowan rolled her eyes. "You sound like my father."

Bella walked her through the house, to the front door, and watched her leave. Then she turned to head back to the kitchen to clean up the tea cups, but when she passed by the antique oval mirror in the hallway, she stopped in her tracks, jerked her head to the side, and stared wide eyed at her own reflection.

A pale skinned, auburn haired woman stood just behind her, but only for an instant. She met Bella's eyes with an intense, unreadable expression, then faded almost at once.

Dad says I look just like her....

Ashley, she thought. That's who the ghost was. She had to be Ashley Hawthorne. Rowan's mother.

Jonathon's wife.

Chapter 5

By five-thirty. Jonathan had resisted calling her a half dozen more times. But the temptation remained, even while he drove the car home. So he postponed the inevitable by calling Rowan first.

She snapped up the phone on ring number two, and her "hello" was so cheerful that he held the phone away from his ear and blinked at it in shock. Then he drew it back again. "Rowan?" he asked.

"Hi. Dad. Are you on your way home?"

"Yeah, I am. You sound in a good mood. Should I take that to mean you're fully recovered from your brush with disaster this morning?"

"Fully," she said. "I'm as good as new. I was a little shaky, but then I talked to Miss Saint A this afternoon, and she-"

"She went to school today?" he asked.

"No. Actually...." She sighed.

"Actually?" he prompted.

"Miss Saint A says I shouldn't get into the habit of keeping things from you, so here goes nothing. I went home early. And I decided to go by her house to see how she was doing."

He was quiet for a moment. "Thank you for that," he said softly.

"You're not mad?"

"No. Are you okay, hon? I thought you said you were feeling better."

"Oh, I am. Now."

"Good. So how was she, when you saw her?"

"She was great, Dad. I mean, she wound up giving me some herbal tea and making me feel better. Even though she's the one who got banged up this morning."

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