Chapter 22 #2
Taking it, Jenna tipped it several times, and each time some of the water slipped out, just as gravity demanded.
Looking inside, she saw only water. As she did, Annelise’s hand came into view, making another small motion almost as if she were throwing a pebble into the thermos.
Jenna watched as the water reacted—dipping down and popping back up as if something small had been tossed in.
She handed the offending thermos back to her cousin and stood looking between the two of them.
She gripped the metal cylinder Ford had handed her as if she needed something to hold on to and looked back and forth between them.
It was just sleight of hand. Good sleight of hand, mind you, but . . . “You're serious.”
“She’s a water witch,” Ford said and seemed to declare the conversation closed. He turned to Annelise next. “Where did you divert it to?”
“Moved the break about half a mile up, but it doesn't go far. It's just over, and I sent it through that crack in the rocks.”
“Fantastic! They should be able to clear that easily. We should go look though in case it needs more work.”
“Of course,” Annelise said as if this were an ordinary conversation and she hadn't just declared herself a witch.
Given no choice but to follow or be left in the strange woods alone on the mountainside, Jenna brought up the rear of the line, ignored for the next fifteen minutes as they moved to the new location.
Ford inspected the supposedly new place the water was running, and Jenna saw that even she could jump from one rock to another without getting her feet wet.
Then Ford whistled, pinkies at the corners of his mouth, the shrill sound somehow softer than it should be. She watched as deer began to poke their heads out of the woods. Were they going to declare him a deer witch? “You, too?”
Leaning in close, Annelise whispered, “The Velascos think they don't have magic, and they don't practice it per se, but—”
Once again, Jenna looked at her like she was nuts, but it was difficult to deny that multiple deer had walked out of the woods toward the man in his jeans and bright green t-shirt. Jenna blinked, incredulous, as if maybe if she shook her head the illusions would clear. They didn’t.
“Come on, guys.” Ford waved to them, motioning them along and watching as they jumped over the rock and disappeared into the trees behind them back the way the trio had come from.
Maybe she could save herself if she participated in the conversation like the other two crackpots with her were actually sane. “The Lockhearts are witches?”
Annelise nodded as if this were a perfectly normal conversation. “So are the Hales and the Goodmans.”
Jenna had met a few of them. Avery and Delanie Goodman, with the bright red hair and riveting green eyes.
Sisters, co-owners of a yarn and . . . Jenna sighed, crystals, beads, and tarot cards shop.
That was on her for missing that one. Delanie had offered her tea when she was in the shop and wished her luck with what she was looking for.
Jenna had found the offer odd at the time. Who had known what she was here for?
Witches. That’s who. She wasn’t really believing this, was she?
“The Lockhearts are the best known and most powerful,” Ford said. “The family, and Story now are always the ones most people turn to when they need help like this.” He motioned to the crack in the rocks where the diverted water now burbled and the deer crossed freely.
Jenna shook her head. “You'll have to forgive me, but I'm struggling to believe that you're actually a witch.”
“You can struggle all you want,” Annelise said. “It takes some time to get used to it. You can ask me to do something. That way you’ll know we didn’t set it up beforehand.”
“Fine.” Jenna huffed out and blurted, “Make the water come up out of the crack in the rocks.”
The water was low, she could see it. Where the deer wouldn’t have to step in it. She expected—if it was real—the little stream would divert from where she could see it, up the mountainside, before it ducked down into the geological formation. But no.
A slim stream of water danced up between the cracks, moving almost like a snake charmed by Annelise’s hand motions. Ford, on the other side of her, seemed to think this was normal. Jenna froze. What was she supposed to think? If this was a trick, it was a good one.
With a soft, understanding smile on her lips Annelise snapped her fingers and the water burst apart, hitting the rocks and sliding back down into the creek.
Her heart was racing. She wasn’t seeing this. Jenna demanded, “Put it back!” and she tipped her thermos watching as the water poured out. Then it turned and went right back into the container. Right there in her hand.
As she was struggling to integrate what she was seeing with the world as she understood it, Annelise offered a soft reminder. “While you're thinking about this, remember that you're a Lockheart, too.”
The last four words grabbed her by the throat and tugged, cutting off her breathing until she held up her hands, backing away from her cousin and the news that came like a blow to everything she thought she knew.