Love Song [Instrumental] (Hidden Springs #1)

Prologue

Eighteen years ago

“It’s time.”

The loud whisper dragged Callie out of a deep sleep.

“Go ’way,” she muttered, rolling over and snuggling deeper under the covers. Waking up at midnight, even on their birthday, didn’t seem like such a good idea anymore.

She heard Mel whisper, “I’ll get her,” and tensed instinctively. Sure enough, Mel poked her hard in the back and said, “Happy birthday, dork.”

When Callie still didn’t respond, Mel simply yanked the covers off. Callie tried to hang on, but tumbled out of bed instead and landed on the wood floor with a thud. She crossed her arms and glared up at her sisters.

“I’m not going,” she declared. “You can’t make me.”

“Shut up,” hissed Mel. “You’re going to wake up Mom and Dad.”

Mel made a move, probably to drag her out the door, but Tessa blocked her and crouched down next to Callie.

“We need you to come, Cal,” she whispered. “It has to be all three of us, and it has to be tonight. Three times three, remember? We only turn nine once, and the magic will only work if all three of us are there.”

Callie pressed her lips together. If she spoke, Tessa would talk her into it, and she didn’t want to be talked into it.

“There won’t be another full moon on our birthday for eighteen years,” Tessa pleaded. “I looked it up at the library. Do you want to wait that long?”

Callie looked away. She really didn’t want to wait that long.

“Besides,” whispered Tessa. “You promised.”

Callie felt the guilt slip past her anger and banged her head back against the side of the bed. She hated it when Tessa did the guilt trick.

“Fine. I’ll go,” she grumbled. “But only because I promised. Not,” she bit the word out, turning her angry eyes on Mel, “because you said so.”

Tessa gave a little squeak of delight. Mel rolled her eyes.

“Great,” said Tessa. “Let’s go.”

The three crept slowly downstairs, skipping the squeaky spot on the landing. They huddled in the mudroom, pulling on snow pants and winter gear right over their pajamas. The lake had thawed, but spring had barely started and it was still freezing cold outside. Callie felt a shiver of excitement.

“Do you have the lighter?” Tessa asked Mel.

“In my pocket.”

“Flashlight?” she asked Callie.

Callie nodded.

“And you’ve each got your wish lanterns?”

Both Callie and Mel nodded.

They followed as Tessa led the way out the back door. The full moon glowed so brightly that Callie didn’t even need to turn on the flashlight. She could see their breath on the cold air and was really glad she had pulled on her boots instead of her sneakers. The flagstone steps leading down to the lake had frost on them, making them extra-slippery. Callie held on to Mel’s arm, and Mel held on to Tessa’s. If one went down, they would all go down together.

Once they reached the shore path, they turned right, heading toward the beach. Callie kept a firm grip on Mel’s arm. She hadn’t expected everything to look so…different. During the day, all the empty summer houses felt normal. Callie and her sisters were used to being among the few who stayed all year round. She knew exactly who lived in each of the twenty cottages circling the lakefront commons, even though she could see only five or six of them in the dark. The rest faded into the darkness behind the fat oak trees. But even the familiar houses looked wrong. Dark windows stared down at them like giant empty eyes. Callie could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up, and she didn’t like the prickly shiver that walked down her back.

Finally they made it to the little beach, which was really more rocks than sand. Tessa knelt and tugged off her mittens. She pulled her wish lantern out of her pocket and began to unfold it. Callie and Mel followed suit.

Callie had never seen anything as beautiful as the flying sky lanterns at Annabelle’s birthday party. At the end of the party, each girl had been given a small package about the size of a pancake—not the little pancakes on the kids’ menu at the diner, but the big grown-up pancakes that take up most of a plate. Inside each package they found what looked like tissue-paper and some sticks, but really it was two lanterns, one for now and one for later. Annabelle had showed them how to unfold the delicate paper and attach the tiny candle to the bamboo frame. Then they had all lined up here on the beach so that Annabelle’s dad could light the candles. After Annabelle had closed her eyes and made a wish, her mom had given the signal for everyone to let go of their lanterns. The sight of those fifteen glowing wishes floating up into the sky had imprinted itself on Callie’s heart forever.

Only later had Annabelle explained how the wishing worked. The more special the occasion, the more powerful the wish would be. Annabelle had even shared a secret spell that they could use for wishing by moonlight.

Assembling the lanterns in the dark, with freezing fingers, took a long time. The usual noises of the daytime—squirrels, ducks, people—were replaced by mysterious noises that Callie had never heard before. She began to wonder what kinds of animals came out on dark, not-quite-spring nights, and if any of them might be dangerous. A sudden movement from the commons made Callie’s heart thump hard, until she realized it was just a family of deer. She held herself very still as they wandered through, watching them until they disappeared between Annabelle’s house and the empty house next door. Mel and Tessa had their backs to the commons and they hadn’t even noticed.

Callie began to wonder if the spell would work when it was this cold outside. She didn’t feel special or magical—just cold.

Finally, when all three wish lanterns stood before them on the sand, Tessa pulled the crumpled spell from her pocket and smoothed it out, trying to look important.

“Do you really think it will work?” asked Callie. “I’ve never heard of a Moon Goddess from China.”

“Of course it will,” said Tessa. “I got the spell from Annabelle, and Annabelle’s mom got her from China, and the magic is from China, so it has to work.”

Callie still had her doubts, but she kept them to herself. Tessa wouldn’t listen anyway. Mel winked at her, which made her feel a little better. She wasn’t the only one who wasn’t feeling the magic.

Callie would never forget this night, magic or no magic. This was the first time they had ever snuck out of the house, and the first time they had ever played with fire—not that they were playing, but that’s what Mom and Dad would call it—and it was their birthday.

“Let’s do this,” said Mel, “or I won’t be able to feel my fingers.”

Tessa gave her an annoyed look, then cleared her throat and recited the spell:

O Goddess of the darkest night,

O Goddess of the brightest moon,

Hear us on our night of birth,

We will send our wishes soon.

Catch the fire that floats on air.

Learn our deepest secret wishes.

If they please you, keep them close.

If not, let them swim with fishes.”

“Are we supposed to say Amen or something like that?” asked Mel.

Callie stifled a giggle.

“Just light the lanterns,” said Tessa, shaking her head.

Mel fumbled with the lighter, clicking it until the flame finally sparked and held. She lit Tessa’s wish first, then Callie’s, and finally her own. The girls picked up their lanterns and held them out, waiting for the candles to warm the air inside.

Callie thought about the words she had written so carefully on her lantern. On the first side, she had written her name, so the Moon Goddess would know whose wish was whose. On the second side, she had written ‘music.’ When she grew up, she was going to write songs and play music for her job. On the next side, she had written ‘water.’ Even if she was on the road all the time, she would need a place to come home to, and she wanted it to be here. She wouldn’t be happy away from the lake.

On the last side, she had written the name of the person she wanted to marry. She would definitely need help from a goddess on this one. Adam Reese was already fifteen, and she wasn’t sure he would wait for her to catch up with him. She had decided to marry him the summer after first grade, when she had skinned her knees so badly and he had patched her up. He hadn’t yelled at her for crying or even when she had thrown up on his new gym shoes. He was the only big boy who could tell her apart from her sisters, and she loved him with her whole heart.

Tessa’s lantern rose first, floating into the sky, charting a crooked path toward the full moon. Mel’s rose next, then Callie’s. They watched, silent, as the three wishes drifted apart, carried by competing breezes. Tessa’s bobbled suddenly, jostled by an unseen hand, and then tumbled end-over-end into the frigid lake water. Callie heard her sister’s choked cry of disappointment and put an arm around her. The two remaining wishes rose higher, tilting and bobbing on invisible waves of air. Mel’s tilted so far to one side that the candle flame licked the paper of the lantern and the lantern itself burst into flame. It burned so quickly that only the bamboo frame landed in the water, followed by a few scraps of paper fluttering behind. Tessa reached over and put an arm around Mel.

“Shit,” said Mel, showing off her newest swear word.

“I’m sorry,” Tessa whispered.

“Who cares,” said Mel. “I don’t think Chinese magic can work for us, anyway. We’re not from China.”

The girls fell silent as they watched Callie’s lantern continue to rise, the flame flickering but staying strong. The lantern rose so high and so far that Callie could barely see it against the backdrop of stars. Then it floated across the face of the full moon and disappeared.

The girls gasped in shock. Then they turned to each other.

“Did you see that?” Tessa squeaked. “It worked. The Goddess took it. ”

“It just disappeared,” whispered Callie. “It was there, and then it wasn’t.”

“I don’t know if that was magic,” said Mel, “but it was pretty cool.”

They watched the moon together in silence until a cloud covered it, then turned to head back up to the house. Callie smiled to herself. She knew for certain now that her wish would come true. She just needed to be patient.