Chapter Nineteen #2
Ashley sighed. ‘Both. Neither. It wasn’t an option.
I stood in front of the gate, stared at the damn thing for an hour, but I couldn’t move.
When I didn’t show up, Ellie came looking for me.
She was crying, all upset because her dad had been offered a job back in New York and they were leaving right away.
I couldn’t go to her, couldn’t even open the gate to let her in.
She didn’t wait around long – I guess she thought I was punishing her. ’
She didn’t want my pity, I knew that, but it was impossible not to listen to her story and feel my own heart break, and I wanted her to know that.
I rested my hand on the bench next to her leg, allowing the slightest contact between my pinky finger and her thigh.
Ashley allowed it, tossing the briefest hint of a smile my way.
‘She was almost out of sight by the time I got the gate open,’ Ashley said very softly.
‘At first it was like a headache but with a cramp at the same time. It got worse with every step I took away from the house, pressure building in my ears like I was going deeper and deeper underwater. My lungs burned like they were on fire and I was truly afraid my heart was going to explode. I remember falling to my knees, trying to crawl after Ellie, but somewhere between the corner of the block and the front gate, I blacked out. Can’t have made it more than a few yards before I quit. ’
‘You didn’t quit,’ I told her, actively not noticing when she wiped away an errant tear. ‘You survived.’
She shrugged as though the difference wasn’t much.
‘Slept through the rest of my birthday, woke up two days later to see my sunflower wilting on the windowsill. After Catherine told me what she’d done, told me I was tied to the house for my own good, she took it away and put it in that awful room.
I didn’t see it again until you broke the tether. ’
Oglethorpe Square seemed to honour Ashley’s pain, the oak trees bowing their heads, the Spanish moss swaying. Footpaths that had been swarmed only a moment before were now completely empty and even the sun dimmed itself with a cloud out of respect.
‘All of that is to say, no, I do not think you’re being na?ve,’ Ashley said. ‘I would have happily died for one more moment with Ellie. You and Wyn, you met for a reason. You shouldn’t give up on one another, no matter the obstacles.’
‘Thank you,’ I whispered, surprised when she patted the top of my hand.
‘And I’m glad you went into her craft room yesterday,’ she added on a deep exhale. ‘I didn’t want to say anything but, I guess, I’d been a little worried about what might be lurking inside.’
‘Me too,’ I admitted. ‘But it wasn’t bad at all. Beautiful, actually. Waking up in the dirt aside. Catherine was the darkness, not the room.’
She leaned forwards and flicked her long brown braid over her shoulder. ‘Kind of thought maybe she’d be in there.’
‘Yeah,’ I said gently. ‘I kind of thought it too.’
‘We any closer to working out where she is?’
‘Nope.’
‘And the prophecy?’
I shook my head.
‘Just let me know as soon as you find out,’ she said. ‘I’ll be damned if I’m filing taxes if the end of the world is right around the corner. Ain’t no audits in hell.’ She paused and her ice cream dripped onto the back of her hand. ‘Unless that’s all there is.’
‘Emma Catherine said things would be clearer when the other witches arrive, like they’ll amplify my signal or something.’
‘More witches?’ She groaned before tossing the end of her cone into her mouth, talking while crunching. ‘Exhausting. You do know they’re not staying with us, right? I’m not running some magic-friendly B&B.’
She scowled and I smiled, leaning forward to rest my forearms on my thighs. I watched a pair of squirrels chase each other around a tree, one tagging the other then racing away in the opposite direction, both of them chattering with delight.
‘When I was little, I always wanted a sister,’ I said, turning my head to watch Ashley examining an ice cream stain on her shirt. ‘I hated being an only child. I used to dream of moments like this.’
‘Sitting on a bench, eating ice cream and discussing how your matriarch went mad with power?’ she replied, smirking when I laughed. ‘You must’ve been a weird kid.’
‘Takes one to know one.’
This time her nudge was more of a shove and I had to grab hold of the bench to avoid slipping right off.
When I righted myself, she put her arm around my shoulders and rested her head against mine.
It was a small gesture, but it made my heart swell and all of a sudden I was fighting back tears.
It was nice, having a family. It was something worth fighting for.
‘You know the Powells used to be witches?’
‘I did,’ I confirmed. ‘Catherine told me.’
‘You think Lydia …?’
‘No.’ I tugged on a loose thread on my denim shorts, pulling until it unravelled, adding a millimetre of new light blue fringe to the hem. ‘No way to know for sure, but she did some research and it’s not promising.’
‘Good,’ she said with a puckish grin. ‘Imagine that little monster with magic. Although if she was a witch, at least I could understand why you might consider ending the world.’
Squinting against the setting sun, I wrinkled my nose at my aunt. ‘Do you think Alex Powell knows the truth about our family?’ I asked.
Ashley stood up and dusted off her hands, taking her time before she replied.
‘Only one thing I’m sure of,’ she said, gazing off at the pretty orange-pink sky. ‘All the women in this town are very good at keeping secrets.’