Page 5 of Witch Moon

"When did you go see him?" Bella asked, frowning.

"I didn't. He came to see me. Actually, it had nothing to do with business. He asked permission to do some fishing in the stream out back-way back in April, and he's been popping in ever since. Says he's fallen in love with the place."

"But...you're not considering selling?"

Gwen shrugged. "I wasn't. But since all of this—yeah, I'm thinking about taking it."

"That's totally unlike you, Gwen. To give up and run away."

Gwen licked her lips. "I don't like the whole town thinking I'm into butchering innocent house pets and defacing hallowed ground in the cemetery."

"Nobody thinks that!" Mirabella shouted.

Gwen tilted her head to one side, frowning at Bella as if she were sprouting horns. "Honey, of course they think that! Who else are they gonna suspect? I'm the only Witch in town, so far as most people know. Everyone else is pretty much in the broom closet. To the locals, it's the natural conclusion."

The chimes over the door jangled, and both women turned around to see Billy Cantone, a man they'd both gone to high school with, coming toward them. He was wearing his uniform, star pinned to his chest, right over his heart. And he wasn't smiling.

"Well, hello Billy," Gwen said. "Dare I hope you're looking for a love potion or a good luck charm?"

He pursed his lips. "Fraid not. Gwen. This is official business.'' He nodded at Mirabella. "Surprised to see you here, Bella."

"Shoot, Bella and I are old friends, Billy. We see each other quite often," Gwen said before Bella could say a word. Then she turned to Bella again. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of help to you. I know as a teacher you're as concerned as I am about this rash of nastiness hitting our town, but I really don't have a clue who's behind it."

She was giving her an out. Letting her keep her "cover" intact. Mirabella lowered her head and muttered her good-byes. When what she wanted to do was look Billy in the eye and tell him the truth.

"You'd better go. Bella." Gwen said, glancing at her watch. "You hang around here any longer you may just lose your job." Then she tapped the watch. "You know how Sally Hayes hates her teachers showing up late."

"Yeah, well, she might forgive me if I tell her I was at her husband's favorite fishing hole. But you're right." She got the message loud and clear. She risked her job every time she came into this shop and would lose it for sure if she spoke her mind to Billy. Still, she was ashamed of herself as she turned and walked away.

But as it turned out, she didn't get all that far.

Rowan wasdeep in thought as she walked to school, and she shut the world out in her usual way—with her Ipod blasting and her earbuds firmly in place. Her body was changing. Her mind was changing. And things were...happening to her that she didn't understand. Her father didn't want to talk about it. Seemed almost afraid of it. But Rowan knew somehow, way down deep, that her mother would have understood. That she had gone through these very same things. That she'd had...something extra.

Just like Rowan had.

Reaching into her jacket pocket, Rowan fingered the small woven pouch she'd found tucked away in the attic with her mother's things. The things inside it meant something. She just didn't know what.

She heaved a sigh as she turned to cross West Main in the usual place, walking on autopilot, because she knew the way by heart. She'd been walking it for a long time now. As she crossed, she glanced at the shop across the street.Gwenyth's Chamber. She'd been in there a few times, even picked up a couple of books. But when she'd worked up the courage to ask the owner a few, tentative questions, the little blond had given her a sad smile and told her to come back when she was eighteen.

How was she supposed to understand what was happening to her if no one would even discuss it?

As she watched, Officer Cantone walked into the shop, and a second later, a woman walked out. Rowan frowned and looked closer. That was Miss Saint A, her homeroom teacher! Coming out of that kind of a shop? But...did that mean that she....

Before she could complete the thought, Miss Saint A looked right at her, shouted something, and raced toward her. Startled. Rowan yanked off her headphones and glanced to her left. At first, she saw nothing, but in a split second, a truck careened around the sharp curve and was bearing down on her. And for just an instant, she was frozen in panic.

Then Miss Saint A's body crashed into hers, and the impact hurled her out of the way. The two of them hit the pavement together in one big tangle. The landing hurt like hell-and Rowan had landed on top!

Bella wasn'tsure what happened. She came out of Gwen's shop and looked up to see a woman.

And then she froze, because it was the same women she'd glimpsed in her bathroom mirror this morning!

The woman lifted a hand and pointed.

"Who are you? What the hell do you want with me?"

But the woman shook her head harshly and jabbed her finger again and again toward the road. Bella turned to look, she saw the girl in the road, and in a flash, she knew the truck, was coming. Before she saw it, before she heard it, she knew it. She shouted a warning and ran.

The truck came thundering then, and the girl seemed frozen in fear. Bella's body crashed into hers, and her momentum carried them both to the roadside, to the pavement, hitting hard. The girl's breath burst from her lungs with an "unh!" when they landed.

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