Free A Witch's Tale by Maralee Lowder

crystal. “It’s going to be so terrible! But I can’t see what it is!”
    Mac was convinced that the anguish in Mary Beth’s voice was genuine. He became seriously concerned when he saw the throbbing of her pulse at her throat. Her fear was as real as anything he had ever seen. And then her expression turned from fear to dismay.
    “It’s gone! All I see are clouds ... black, swirling clouds.”
    Tears of frustration filled her e yes as she strained to see more b ut the images refused to reveal themselves. Finally, realizing that she could not force the images to return, she covered the ball with the silken cloth.
    Like everyone else in the room, Mac’s mind was filled with questions, but following the lead of the others, he kept his silence. He was the outsider here. What was proper etiquette at mo ments such as this, he wondered.
    “I, I’ve got to get home,” Cassie broke the silence. “It, it’s late, and ...” The expression in her eyes revealed emotions she could not suppress ... fear, worry, confusion.
    “No, don’t leave,” Naomi begged. “I wish all of you would stay here tonight. Please don’t go ! ”
    “If you really feel that way, I’ll be more than happy to stay,” Edith replied, relief obvious in her voice.
    “Well, I’ve got to get on home,” Shelly said. “Joe’s probably already mad as hell at my being so late. If he had to get Brian ready for school in the morning that would really rip it.” She rose to leave.
    “I’ll go with you,” Cassie said. “I’ll feel better after I see you safely inside your house.”
    “And who’s going to see you safely inside yours?” Mac asked.
    Cassie turned her gorgeous golden eyes on him, her expression stating clearly how pleased she was at his obvious concern.
    “Why, I expect you will,” she replied with just a hint of her usual mischievousness playing at the corners of her mouth.
    “You’ve got that right. I’m taking both of you ladies home, and that’s the end of it. If you had good sense, you’d stay right here, like Edith. Though I expe ct you’re safe enough from the spirits , I can’t say the same for your neighbors. But if you insist on going to that remote cabin in the woods of yours, I’ll be damned if I’ll let you go alone.”
    “Do you think someone should warn Myra about Mary Beth’s reading?” Shelly asked as she gathered up her handbag and sweater. “After all, she is all alone.”
    “If I know Alan, the man will be camped out in her living room while she sleeps off her headache. No, I think we ought to let her get a good night’s rest,” Cassie replied.
     
    It was nearly eleven o’clock when the trio left the bed and breakfast. Except for a couple of bars, every business in the small town had closed hours before. A nearly full moon glittered on the empty streets. Under normal circumstances the effect would have been charming, but tonight, after Mary Beth’s sinister predictions, the moon shadows, coupled with the death-like silence, made the skin on the back of Mac’s neck crawl.
    After dropping Shelly off, Mac turned his car up the lane that led to Cassie’s tiny home. Huge trees stood sentinel on each side of the narrow, winding road, shutting out most of the light from the moon.
    His headlights glittered off the windows as he pulled his car to a stop. When he’d been there before he had been st ruck by the warmth of the place, b ut not tonight. An icy shiver ran down his spine at the thought of Cassie sleeping alone in the isolated cabin.
    “You’re not leaving tonight.”
    The manner in which she spoke the words indicated neither a question n or a request, but rather a statement of known fact.
    “I’m not?”
                  Cassie answered him by reaching out for his hand and leading him up the steps. As she pushed the door open, she turned to him with a smile so sweetly seductive he feared he might melt on the spot.
    “Not tonight. Tonight I’m going to have you all to