Free The Witches of Merribay (The Seaforth Chronicles) by B.J. Smash Page A

go in the café, she's gone.”
    “I'm not sure then . My sister has been enjoying her solitude these days.”
    “When you see her, tell her to call me.”
    “I will.”
    Well, oh well . If Zinnia had lied about going to Becky's, then where could she be? Becky turned and walked off, but not before waving and saying hello to my aunt Cora, who waved back and said, “Good morning.”  It wasn't morning anymore. Time flew for Aunt Cora when she browsed books, but I didn't care about that; I just wanted to know why Aunt Cora didn't put two and two together. She saw Becky alone, and she never asked about Zinnia. Was her obsession of books so great that she didn't even care?
    I knew two things had to happen : I had to find out why my sister lied about her presence today, and Aunt Cora needed to find herself a man.

Chapter Ten
     
    “What are you doing here on a Saturday, Miss Seaforth? I didn't expect to see your shiny, happy face until Monday,” Ian said as I was ushered into the sunroom, where he sat for high tea.
    “I'm to go on a run with Drumm . Didn't you hear him ask me to be at the gate around three o'clock?” I asked.
    “No , but a run would be a good thing, I suppose. You have quite the task before you this evening. Grab a muffin. I'll escort you to the gate.”
    So it was, around three o'clock, when Ian went with me to the gate. It wasn't during work hours, and I told him I could walk there on my own. He told me that it was necessary for him to come; he had to open the gate for me.
    “Why must you open the gate for me?” I scratched my head . “I know how to open a gate.”
    “Not this one.” He wheeled himself along, out the back French doors and into the garden. “It has to be opened by a McCallister or a very few select people, otherwise you won't get it to budge an inch.”
    “You're serious?” I was coming to learn that Ian was a kidder . I had to ask for clarification.
    “Yes, seriously . Maybe in time I can have the ward changed to allow you to open the gate, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. You haven't proved yourself worthy yet.”
    “ Humph.” I guess drinking a drop of an old woman's blood and agreeing to steal a rolling pin from another old woman, who just happened to be a witch, hadn't made me worthy yet.
    “What is it with wards?  I saw a creepy old man sitting by the roadside yesterday, about a half a mile from Gran's. He scared the bejeezus out of me. [I had recently picked up the word “bejeezus” from Aunt Clover.]  Drumm was in a tree. He told me to run home, that Gran's house was protected by wards.”
    “Wait a minute , wait a minute. What did you say? You saw an old man sitting on the roadside? No one is allowed to come up this way and just hang out by the side of the road. Just when were you planning to share this piece of info with me?” His face grew red.
    “I just did.”
    “Only because I mentioned wards. Get this imbedded in your brain: you must tell me right away when something of this nature happens.” He took in a deep breath and let it out. “Now tell me, what did he look like?”
    “Well, he was old . He had worn-down shoes, a bowler cap, old clothes, and…silver eyes.”
    Ian stopped wheeling his chair , his face stern and frowning. “That would be”—he lowered his voice to a whisper—“Izaill.” He looked over both shoulders then. “You must tell Izadora this. He is wicked to the core. Bad, bad news. I cannot stress that enough.” He wheeled his chair forward. I continued to walk next to him.
    “Ok ay,” I said.
    I probably should have mentioned that I'd see the old man, Izaill, right away . In my defense, over the course of the day, I had convinced myself that I had been imagining the cold air and the wicked smile of the old man—and the silver eyes. Sometimes we humans have a way of telling ourselves that we didn't really see what we saw, for the fact that it just didn't fit into our tiny little shoe-box worlds. For that reason, I had