Free The Bracelet by Dorothy Love Page A

challenge, even for an accomplished reader.” Ivy touched Celia’s shoulder as she turned toward the library. “Please don’t worry. I’m sure your fears regarding Sutton’s intentions are ill-founded.”
    “I hope you’re right.” Celia glanced at the mantel clock. “In any case I’ll know soon enough.”
    “Everything will work out just as you wish it. You’ll see.” Ivy hurried up the stairs for her cloak and hat and returned moments later, just as the Brownings’ carriage drew up at the door.
    She peered into the dining room on her way out. “I’m off. Remember me to Sutton.”

6

    C ELIA RETRIEVED HER WRITING BOX FROM HER ROOM AND settled into the library to wait. She rested her feet on a small footstool and began a letter, but her thoughts wouldn’t settle. For weeks she had looked forward to Sutton’s homecoming, but everything had gone wrong.
    First, there was Leo Channing and his nonsense. Was Channing the reason Sutton had changed his mind? The Mackays were one of the best families in Savannah. Perhaps Sutton wouldn’t want a wife whose family was mired in a salacious story even if the events that had precipitated it lay years in the past. Then there was the Mackays’ missing ship and Papa’s worrisome obligation for it.
    She closed her eyes and replayed yesterday’s brief conversation with Sutton, recalling the childhood escapade that had brought them together but nearly ended in tragedy. It had happened on All Hallows’ Eve thirteen years ago. Sutton had just turned fourteen and Celia was barely twelve.
    All of Savannah, eager for diversion after a summer marked by fears of yellow fever, had turned out in costume to promenade through the squares. Celia was with a group of girls from her school, laughing and teasing one another as they ran along Bull Street. It was dark as pitch, save for the flickering torches peoplehad placed at the street corners. Firecrackers popped, scattering a group of smaller children playing in the park.
    A small boy tossed a ball into the air, and it lodged in the tree branches. He began to wail, and nothing would distract him. Setting her basket of goodies on the ground, Celia hiked her skirts and shinnied up the tree to rescue the ball. When she dropped to the ground, a very attractive young boy stood there, grinning down at her. “Bravo.”
    “Brava.” She tossed the ball to its grateful owner as the revelers headed toward the river to watch a fireworks display.
    “Come again?” He braced himself against the tree, one arm outstretched.
    “Bravo is masculine. Brava is feminine. I’m a girl.”
    He laughed. “You don’t say? You sound just like my teacher.”
    “Goodness, I hope I’m not as stuffy as all that. But it’s important to get things right, don’t you think?”
    “I do.” He handed her the basket of chocolates and oranges she’d been carrying. “Going to the fireworks?”
    “Of course.”
    “Want me to walk with you? Keep the haints away?”
    “No such thing.”
    “’Course there is. They’re everywhere.” He fell into step beside her. “The worst of ’em isn’t here in town though. The worst one lives in the woods out by Screven’s Landing. They say she knows how to mix a poison that will turn you into stone if you so much as get it on your skin. And if she catches you messing around her special tree, she ties you up and makes you drink the poison so you can never leave and tell anyone where she lives.”
    A delicious trickle of fear skittered along her spine. “That’s the silliest thing I ever heard.” Celia looked up at him as they passed beneath a flickering torch, the grass brittle beneath their feet. “What’s your name anyway?”
    “Sutton Mackay. I know you. You’re Mr. Browning’s daughter.”
    “Yes. How did you know?”
    “I saw you coming out of church with him on Sunday. And with your sister, I guess.
    “My cousin Ivy. She lives with us because she has no parents anymore.”
    They cut across Reynolds