Free The Trouble With Witches by Shirley Damsgaard

dark hair shot with gray. He had a goatee, also dark with gray streaks. But I couldn't see his eyes. They were hidden behind mirrored sunglasses. The sandals he wore on his feet made his progress difficult. He slipped, and halfway down slid until he reached Tink and me.
    "Where have you been? We've been looking all over for you," he said, laying a hand on Tink's thin arm. "And where's your necklace?"
    With a repentant look, Tink reached in her pocket and pulled out the necklace. She handed the shiny spider's web to the man.
    Taking it from her, he slipped the chain over her head. "You know you're not supposed to take the necklace off, don't you?" he said as he straightened the web till it hung straight. He stepped back and looked her over. "You're clothes are dirty, too," he remarked in an even tone, eyeing the grass and mud stains on her once pristine top. "You'll have to change as soon as we get back."
    Silently, with her head down, Tink nodded.
    Not wanting to hear this guy continue to ream the kid, I cleared my throat.
    He looked away from Tink to me. "Oh, I'm sorry. How rude of me to ignore you. It's just…" His voice trailed off as he glanced back at Tink . "We were worried about her," he said, his eyes returning to me.
    "I understand," I said, holding up a hand.
    "I'm Jason Finch," he said, taking my upturned hand and shaking it. "And you've already met my niece, Tink ."
    "Ophelia Jensen." So, not a foster child, but a relative, I thought releasing his hand.
    "And this is your dog?"
    As he said it, he reached out toward Lady, but before he could touch her, she backed away from his outstretched hand.
    Embarrassed by Lady's reaction, I gave the leash a small tug and pulled her closer to my side. "Sorry, she acts that way around strangers sometimes," I lied.
    Lifting her head at my lie, I saw Tink raise her eyebrows, but she remained silent.
    "Staying here at the lake?"
    "Yes, just down the lane." I pointed to my left.
    " Ahh , one of the rental cabins." He looked over at Tink . "I apologize for rushing off, but I'd better get this young lady home before her aunt calls the sheriff."
    "I understand. Nice to meet you, Jason, Tink ."
    With her eyes downcast, Tink walked past me to follow her uncle. Her shoulders slumped as she climbed the steep path, and around her seemed to hang a feeling of dejection, of defeat.
    The wood sprite, the singing girl with a cocky attitude, was gone.
     
    When I returned to the cabin, Abby had everything cleaned and arranged to her liking. She listened intently while I told her of my meeting with Jason and Tink .
    "What did you say the necklace looked like?" she asked with a funny expression on her face.
    "A spider's web," I said impatiently. Fives times she'd asked me about the stupid necklace. "Now do you think— "
    "You said the necklace had a stone in the center?" she broke in.
    "Yeah, a red stone. Now what I want to know is, do you think— "
    She interrupted me again. "I'm not so sure the necklace isn't important."
    "Enough about the dumb necklace. It's not that big of a deal," I informed her in an exasperated tone. "I've seen a lot of teenagers at the library with them on. They seem to be popular. I want to know—" I held up my hand, stopping her when she opened her mouth. "—if you think Jason and Juliet Finch could be mistreating the girl?"
    Her mouth closed and she frowned. "I don't know. Did you see any bruises?"
    I thought about Tink's pale arms and legs. Any marks would've definitely shown against her fair skin.
    "No, but there are many ways to mistreat a child. Often the marks don't show."
    Abby nodded sadly. "I wonder if there've been any rumors. Rick would've mentioned them, I think. And wouldn't Brandi have said something to her mother if she'd noticed abuse?"
    I sighed. "Maybe, but what if Brandi didn't know about it?"
    "I don't know." Abby pursed her lips. "I would think living that closely together, it would be hard to keep the mistreatment a secret."
    "Well all I know is