Page 30 of The Vanishing Bookstore
‘How do you know?’
‘I just do, I have a gift of reading people deep inside of their souls. Something tells me that you want to know about the person in the bedroom because you heard us, or you’re very astute?’
Dora nodded, unable to find her voice. She pointed to the round table on which sat a Ouija board on a black velvet cloth, next to that a spread of tarot cards.
‘Are you not scared of that thing?’
She shook her head. ‘It’s just a tool, one of the many tools I use. If I’m honest I don’t tend to use it very much, I don’t need to, but it gives the customers a bit of satisfaction to see it sitting there. The damn thing is as reliable as the newspapers,it’s always getting things wrong and sending messages from the wrong people.’
‘What about the bad spirits and demons?’
‘They can only come through if you let them, dear, and I am very strict about it, I chase them away if they start to try and get through. After you’ve been around as long as I have, you realise those needy little pests are just attention seeking.’
‘Oh.’
Sephy laughed. ‘It’s all a matter of perspective, Dora. I have been on this mortal plane more times than I care to remember and over the years I have met some horrid humans far worse than anything that board could conjure. Now, I suspect that Lenny will not want to be the one to tell you this, but there’s somebody else you need to meet.’ Sephy’s tone was light and breezy, but she looked down at the floor, and Dora felt a wash of sadness come over her.
‘Someone else? I have two aunts, one who lives in the most beautiful house and owns the most wonderful apothecary, and I didn’t know about any of this. It’s kind of hard to believe. What about my parents? Would my mother have been a third English sister?’
‘No, dear…’
Dora felt confused. ‘There are more than three?’
‘There’s just the four of us. You, me, Lenny and Lucine…’
For a moment Dora didn’t understand what Sephy was saying. And then it clicked. Her mother was alive.
‘My mother’s alive?’ Dora felt her stomach twist. Everything she knew had been turned upside down. The shop door closed, and Lenny stepped through the curtain, her face aghast.
Sephy looked at her and shrugged. ‘We have to tell her sooner or later; we don’t know how long Lucine has left.’
Lenny sat down heavily on one of the chairs, her head bowed. Dora looked at her, then back to Sephy.
‘Why have I been living with you in London instead of here with my mum?’ Dora exclaimed. ‘What do you mean “has left”? Are you saying she’s dying? I don’t even know her, why would you never tell me about her, this is unfair.’ Her stomach had knotted itself so tightly that she could hardly breathe. ‘Why were we kept apart from each other, and what about my dad, where is he? Is he not dead either?’ She glared at Lenny. ‘Why have you never told me about her? Why have you kept me from Salem? You lied and told me my parents were dead?’ Dora was pacing up and down the small room, the shock and betrayal making it hard to focus.
Lenny sighed as if the weight of Dora’s questions was physically pressing down on her shoulders, her face looking pinched and even paler than it usually did.
‘It’s complicated, Dora. I took you away to keep you safe. As for your father, he was nothing but trouble and I knew it the moment he breezed through the village on that dapple grey horse of his with his bag of tricks. He stole your mom’s heart and her virginity, leaving her pregnant and alone in the most unforgiving place on earth. All he gave her was that blasted grimoire, full of spells that he swore would change her life for the better, only we knew that doing any of them would put all of our lives at risk. It was him who brought the magic into our lives and left us alone to face the wrath of George Corwin’s noose.’
Dora felt as if her mind was about to explode. How was it even possible that she had a whole other life she’d known nothing about?
‘Keep me safe from what?’
Sephy was standing with her hand clamped on Lenny’s shoulder, she spoke directly to Dora.
‘From him. From the witch hunter.’
Dora closed her eyes, this all sounded like some Grimms’ fairy tale.
‘The witch hunter? What does that even mean? Have I just fallen down a black hole and found myself inside “Hansel and Gretel”?’
‘Unfortunately, no, sweet child. That is what George Corwin is and always has been. He chases us. He hunts us. He never gives up; he stalks us no matter where we run to, which is why we decided to keep you away from Salem this time.’ This time? Dora could barely understand what Lenny was saying. ‘But I fear he found you in London anyway. He used to leave sprays of forget-me-nots for me, and when that man gave you some I realised that he might have found you anyway.’
A cold chill settled over Dora’s shoulders that seemed to envelop her in a cloak of ice so cold it made her shiver.
‘What do you mean, he might have found me?’
Lenny looked at her. ‘Those flowers, he gave them to you. The ones that you and I both know are out of season this time of year.’
