CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
It took Beryl a while to understand everything that she’d been told about her land, her daughter, and her granddaughter.
“You seem to be handling all of this well enough,” said Cam staring at Hezekiah.
“I always knew she was just trying to do what was best for her daughter, or granddaughter it seems. I think her cursing me inside that mirror was a happy accident for her. She even admitted not remembering all the words. I was fortunate that Trevon and little Smith came by when they did.”
“Many men would be angry,” said Hex.
“My friends, I was inside a mirror for more than two-hundred years. I don’t think I need to be angry at anyone any longer. I’m free of the mirror.”
“Yes, but you didn’t get the opportunity to have a family, children of your own,” said Cam.
“I’m not sure I ever would have done that,” said Hezekiah. “I like children. Other people’s children. I never pictured myself as a father or even a husband. I liked women and enjoyed their company but there was no one that I could see myself being with for, well, eternity.”
“Not every man is made to be married and have a family,” said Eric. “As you can see it’s something we’ve all perfected.” They all laughed, nodding as they boat wound its way through the bayou.
Cressida’s last known residence was near Bayou Gauche, which according to records is where she and her mother were buried. As they neared the sight, Beryl touched her chest, then her throat.
“Beryl? Beryl, are you alright?” asked Hezekiah.
“I’m not sure. Can you feel pain in death?” Luke stared at her, then looked back at his own grandparents for an answer.
“You cannot experience pain as we know it when we’re alive,” said Matthew. “But you may be experiencing emotional pain that you felt in your last moments.”
“My last moments,” she whispered. “My last moments.”
The boat docked at the small landing near the ancient cemetery and everyone stepped off, working their way through the graves. Most were well taken care of, but others were overgrown with weeds and debris.
“Why are those enclosed with a cage?” asked Hex.
“That’s them,” said Hezekiah. “I just know it.”
Sure enough it was the graves of Rosemary and Cressida. If women were suspected of voodoo or witchcraft, they were often enclosed with iron gates to ensure they didn’t attempt escape or rebirth.
Beryl stepped closer and closer, still clutching her chest as she remembered the moment her granddaughter looked down at her.
“Cress-Cressida, get the doctor,” she pleaded.
“I’m sorry grandmother,” she ground out. “You will not be receiving any help.”
She’d called her grandmother. Beryl hadn’t remembered that. She knew as she was dying who she was.
“Cressida, I’m sick.”
“Yes, you are and I will be using the things that made you, and others sick to help me make my way in this world. I have a plan. A great plan and one day I will be a grand lady walking the streets of New Orleans. For now, I will marry the poor fisherman. He’s nice to look at and I suspect will be fun in bed.
I will find someone else when I’m done with him. ”
“She knew,” said Beryl. “She knew it all.”
“Mother,” said a ghostly figure standing inside the gates. She looked like a mix of Cressida and Beryl, thought Hezekiah.
“Rosemary.”
“Hello, grandmother,” said Cressida. “I’m surprised you found us. Are you cursed to this earth as well.”
“I am not cursed,” said Beryl. “I should be but I am not.”
“You cursed the doctor,” said Cressida. “I planned to kill you and seek his sympathies but you cursed him!”
“She did not curse me,” said Hezekiah stepping forward. Cressida’s face dropped seeing the handsome doctor. “She was confused and I spent a great deal of time thinking and contemplating life but I am free now and so is she.”
“You killed your husbands,” said Beryl.
“You lied about being my mother!” yelled Cressida. The once attractive young woman suddenly appeared old and vile. Beside her, Rosemary held her daughters hand.
“Your mother abandoned you, Cressida. She left you with me at only a few days old. What was I to do?”
“Tell me the truth,” spat Cressida.
“You’re right. I should have told you the truth but I did not. I’m sorry for that. But I never murdered anyone. I didn’t try to sell you.”
“No but you were willing to give me to the first man you thought worthy,” she said nodding at Hezekiah.
“He was, is a good man. He had a solid income and was handsome. I thought I was doing the right thing for you. I was getting old and didn’t know how much time I had left. Although it seems you were anxious to shorten my time.”
“Yes. Yes, I was. It was so easy, too. I was the obedient daughter willing to do anything you asked. I listened. I remembered and I took notes of everything. Making that damn tea for you was simple and worked many times after that.”
Beryl was shaking she was so upset by her words. She stared at her daughter who said nothing, just looking off across the land. It was her granddaughter that seemed to spit venom in her direction.
“Whatever you did to those plants had long-term effects on the land,” said Luke staring at the woman.
“Why would I care about that? I’m dead. Stuck between heaven and hell. I have nothing to give you.”
“Yes, you do,” said Matthew stepping closer.
Cressida and Rosemary both took a step backwards, staring at the gold light surrounding the man. Why were there so many ghosts and why were the living humans able to speak to them?
Rosemary stared at Irene and Ruby and whispered something to her daughter. Cressida looked up at the women.
“You have magic. Powerful magic.”
“You have no idea, child,” said Irene. “What did you do to the land?”
At first Cressida said nothing, then she felt a stab of pain in her breast and doubled over, gripping her worn dress.
“Stop! Don’t hurt her,” said Rosemary.
“What did you do to the land?” asked Ruby. “I won’t be askin’ again child. Your little bitty baby magic ain’t nothin’ compared to me. Do what’s right and you might be able to move on from this place.”
“I didn’t do anything!” she cried out.
“Yes, you did,” said Hezekiah. “You did something to those plants that made them poison the soil after the storm hit. The red algae was effected, all of it turned the soil into a danger zone.”
Cressida just stared at her grandmother, then back at the two powerful witches or voodoo priestesses, she wasn’t sure which. But it was the man glowing beside them that frightened her more.
“Alright. Alright, I’ll tell you what I did.”