Free Gallows Hill by Lois Duncan

The problem came with getting her arms into the sleeves, and the soreness of her right arm and shoulder muscles made her sharply aware of the fact that they had received an unaccustomed workout that morning. Throwing a paper from the passenger seat of a station wagon involved more of an athletic effort than she had anticipated.
     
    Pulling the cloak around her shoulders (there was no way she was going to put on the ridiculous hat), she peered at herself in the mirror over the sink The glass was smudged in places and spattered here and there with toothpaste, as if somebody had rinsed out his mouth and spat too hard. The sink had little hairs in it, the residue from an electric razor. This was Ted Thompson's mirror, his sink, his bathroom, his apartment. No matter how seldom he used the place, she had no business being here. Her mother would have a fit if she knew about it.
     
    For a moment she experienced a twinge of guilt at the memory of Rosemary as she had seen her last, lying on the living-room couch, doped up on pain pills and loaded with antibiotics, while Ted and Kyra sat at a card table and played gin rummy. She ought to be home with her mother when she was feeling miserable, but what good would it do if she were? Rosemary had Ted to look after her and had actually seemed pleased when Sarah announced she was going out with Eric. In Rosemary's eyes, Eric Garrett could do no wrong, and both she and Ted were openly delighted that Sarah was finally starting to "get out and do things."
     
    Well, it was too late to change her mind now, even if she wanted to, which she wasn't sure she did. After all, she rationalized, Ted Thompson had taken over her home, so what was so terrible about spending a few hours in his?
     
    Turning away from the mirror, Sarah unfolded Kyra's notes. The top sheet was on Jennifer Albritton and contained the same sort of information that Kyra had provided for her at the carnival:
     
    Jennifer's dad sells insurance; her mom works in a stationery store. She has a little sister named Amy—you did a reading on her at the carnival, she's the one with the Big Bird night-light. Jennifer pretends to be a vegetarian, but every couple of days she sneaks off and gets a burger. She and Danny have been hot and heavy since Christmas.
     
    Sarah left the bathroom and went back out into the bedroom. During the time she had been gone, Eric had managed to manufacture a mood of mystery. He had brought an end table in from the living room and covered it with a black cloth for the paperweight to rest on. The overhead light was now off, and the room was illuminated by a row of candles lined up on the bureau top.
     
    He turned to give Sarah a critical inspection.
     
    "How about more eye makeup?" he suggested.
     
    "I don't want to look like Vampira," Sarah said.
     
    "Nobody as pretty as you could look like Vampira," Eric said. "I just thought some dark shadows might make you a little more mystical-looking." He reached over to lay a gentle finger against the side of her face. "How about a smile?"
     
    "Witches don't smile," Sarah said.
     
    "Not for your clients—for me. I don't like to see you so solemn, pretty witch lady. This isn't the Inquisition, we're here to have fun!"
     
    The sound of the doorbell shattered the brief moment of intimacy.
     
    "I guess that means there's no time for more makeup," Eric said. "I don't suppose it really matters with the candlelight. I've got the tape player plugged in over there in the corner. I'll give you a couple of minutes, and then I'll bring in your client."
     
    He left, closing the door behind him and leaving Sarah alone in the candlelit bedroom.
     
    Taking one of her collection of meditation tapes out of her purse, she slipped it into the player and turned the volume down almost as far as it would go. Then she took her seat at the table that held the crystal ball. The atmosphere here was quite different from that of the carnival. There she had felt linked to the