Free Enchantment by Pati Nagle Page A

of the village maid and the water spirit. He proclaimed his love for her, she fell into his arms. End of chapter.
    The next chapter was about the secret defense project. Holly flipped forward through the rest of the book, then checked the index at the end. There was nothing more about Enchantment Spring.
    Frustrated, she got up and went into the townhouse. The TV was still on; Mad and Shelly were watching. Holly traded the book for her laptop and went back to the patio. The wireless connection reached out there, so she brought up a browser and searched on Amanda’s name. She wanted to find out more about the writer’s relationship with Ohlan.
    If she was lucky, she’d find an email address for Amanda. Even if she could just get Amanda to confirm that she’d met Ohlan, she could show that to Madison. Then Mad would have to admit she wasn’t nuts.
    The search brought up mostly library catalog entries for the memoir. Apparently it was the only book Amanda had written. Holly skimmed the search results, and on the second page she found a link to a newspaper item. She followed it and found herself reading an obituary.
    Amanda had died of cancer in 1992. She’d been seventy-nine.
    Well, crap. So much for confirmation.
    Holly closed her laptop and sat thinking. So, OK—Amanda wasn’t available to confirm Ohlan’s existence. Maybe she didn’t need to prove he existed. What was more important was finding out how to help him regain his strength, and there was someone nearby who might have an answer for that.
    She stood up and set her computer down on her chair, then stepped to the glass door and looked in. Through a gap in the blinds she could see Madison lying on the sofa, apparently absorbed in the TV show.
    Holly went to the back gate, opened it, slipped through, and quietly closed it again. She’d have to make this quick.
    There were lights along the path around the lake, but the grass between was unilluminated. Holly didn’t know the ground well enough to run in the dark, and she didn’t want to trip over a sprinkler or something, so she walked fast until she got to the lakeside path. Then she ran, heading for the cluster of trees and the dock where she’d seen Pam’s mermaid.
    She slowed when she reached the dock, out of breath from the run. The trees blocked most of the light from the nearest lamppost, casting restless dappled shadows onto the dock. Holly hadn’t noticed the breeze before, but now she did. A chill wind blowing down out of the mountains.
    Glad that she’d put on her sweater, she stepped onto the dock and walked out to the end. No moon tonight; the water was pitch black, with only occasional small glints from the lamps dancing on its surface. Holly looked down at it anyway, thinking about seeing into the lake.
    â€œI’d like to talk to you,” she said. “I have a question.”
    She waited, but heard only the water lapping at the pylons that supported the dock. A distant burst of laughter made her look up, but it was from onshore; some kids messing around on the other side of the lake. Holly turned her attention back to the water.
    â€œI know you’re there. I have a friend like you. He’s the guardian of a spring near where I live.”
    She knelt down, hoping that getting closer to the water would help. She remembered that when she’d first seen Ohlan, it had been after she touched the water in the spring.
    She stretched out her arm, but the dock was too high for her reach the surface of the lake. She leaned forward as far as she dared. A gust of wind pushed at her, and she felt herself losing her balance.
    Twisting sideways, she grabbed at the dock and managed to fall on her side on the wood, just short of the edge. At the same time she heard a splash.
    Crap, had she dropped something? Breathing fast, she rolled over, sat up, and peered at the water.
    Someone was there.
    Holly could see her perfectly despite the