Chapter Twelve
“Maybe we should have called Alice White,” Colbie said.
“Would you really want her around?” Anna asked.
Anna and Colbie were in Anna’s living room. Anna had set up her altar, her ceramic pentagram, five candles, and spell book/journal on an old microwave cart. Anna arranged the four white candles, the short black one topped the candelabra.
“Alice and Rebecca know the most about Harvester,” Colbie said.
“This isn’t about Harvester, it’s about Josh.”
“Even he couldn’t conjure Harvester.”
“I think he has.”
“How?”
“Blood sacrifice. And Josh is still a virgin.”
Colbie looked down at her swollen belly. “No—“
“Don’t bullshit me. He never touched you.”
“Well, yes, he did. Just not in a way—“
“Enough. Can you light these candles?”
Colbie didn’t move. “If Joshua isn’t my baby’s father, who is?”
“I know all about your deal. I just don’t care. Come on, Colbie, help me.”
Colbie sighed and rose from the couch. Anna handed her the lighter.
“If Harvester favors virgins,” Colbie said,”I guess I’m out of the running.”
“It doesn’t always matter. Liz Hildebrand was a grown woman. So is Alice.”
“So is my grandma. Just now, you’ve told me more than she ever has.”
“Ruth wants to protect you.”
“I guess she failed.”
Colbie lit the candles and Anna went to the kitchen. Colbie saw the living room in candlelight, and noticed the little house was old, a one-room shack with rooms added through the years. The trailer where Colbie lived with her grandparents was more modern. She was looking forward to moving into Joshua’s home.
Colbie looked down at the ceramic plate, the five-sided star carved in the front. Anna was becoming a real practitioner, all of her spells in neat script on the page. A photograph of Joshua was paper-clipped to the corner. A bit of his hair from a brush.
Anna’s gone crazy, she thought. But so has Joshua. Nothing seems to calm him down, he’s always angry. Max and Brenda can’t control him anymore.
Anna entered the living room, dragging a pillowcase, tied with a rope at the end. Colbie heard a low growl.
“What is that, Anna?”
“We need a sacrifice for this spell.”
“A cat?”
“A possum.”
“That’s nasty. What about your blood?”
“What about my blood?”
“You’re still a virgin, right?”
Anna dropped the end of the bag. “Word gets around...”
Colbie found the small dish by the candles, in the shape of a star. “Trust me. Cutting yourself has to be easier than murdering a possum.”
“All right. Help me get this critter outside.”
Alice White could see, as she drove past in her truck, Joshua Hildebrand’s new Jeep almost wrapped around the old oak tree.
Too young to be driving, she thought.
Alice pulled over in her old truck. The night was warm and humid in August, her legs sticking to the vinyl seats. She wore knee-length shorts with a T-shirt, flip-flops on her feet.
Her cat Clovis was in the truck. He liked to go for rides. She found a flashlight, leaving the cat behind in the cab.
She heard a voice as she came closer to the Jeep.
“No, Dad, I can’t drive it home! I’m stuck out at the White place. She wasn’t there. I know, she wouldn’t have anything to say to me. Please, Dad, can you call a tow?”
Alice turned off her flashlight. Did he not notice she was there? His back was to her, yards away. Little fool.
“It’s not about Mom! It’s about me!”
Alice walked over to the Jeep, near the back seat. She saw the wooden box. The front doors would not open, the hinges bent. However, the back door opened, and she retrieved the box.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
She made a dash for her truck, the box in her arms. Later, she would wonder why he didn’t come back for it.
Anna cut deep into her left palm. Colbie held the dish under the cut. They remained silent until the chant, not wanting to break the solemnity of the spell.
Anna made a fist, squeezing more blood from her hand. When she pulled away, Colbie covered the dish with a white cloth, placing it at the altar.
The candles were lit, the electric lights off. Anna and Colbie covered their clothes with white flannel nightgowns. They kneeled at the altar, chanting in unison.
“Great Harvester, hear our prayer.
Protect your loving children
Your faithful, in the harvest and in death
Raise your children
Raise the dust
Raise your children—“
The altar was shaking. The room went cold, the wood stove making a thumping noise.
“What now?” Colbie asked.
“Stay serious. Keep chanting.” Anna dipped the white cloth in the blood, smearing some on her cheeks.
The black candle lit itself in front of them.
“Harvester,” Anna said. “Raise the dust. Raise your children. Come on, Colbie. For Josh.”
Colbie joined in the chant. She and Anna held hands, enjoying themselves in a strange way. When they separated, Colbie started to dance in a circle.
“Raise the dust. Raise your children.”
She didn’t notice that she was rising from the floor, but Anna did. Anna kept chanting, Colbie going higher.
She reached the ceiling of the small house.
Colbie opened her eyes. “I’ve been favored, Anna!”
Anna shook her head. “No, you’re pregnant...”
Colbie’s legs buckled and she flew backwards against the wall, above the couch. She didn’t fall, but the wind was knocked out of her. Anna ran towards the couch, but she felt someone pulling at her hair from the top of her head. She was rising, her body stiff from fear. Her head was at the ceiling when she felt a searing pain between her legs. Underneath the nightgown, she was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. However, the hard thrusting violated her; she could feel the tearing of her hymen. Tears came to her eyes, she sobbed as Harvester’s energy pulled away from her. She was dropped the floor.
The candlelight went out. Anna focused her eyes in the dark and saw Colbie nearby, her legs and feet dangling.
Colbie groaned, her hands on her belly. Anna, too shocked to move, stayed on the floor. Minutes later, Colbie rose and turned on the lights, but Anna did not speak.
“Anna? Come on, we’re okay.”
“Harvester is evil.”
“We need to leave him alone. Joshua does, too.”
Colbie pulled off her white gown. She grabbed a blanket from the couch, covering Anna. She noticed the stain on Anna’s jeans, at the front of the crotch. “Did you get your period?”
Anna gathered up her gown, looking at the stain.
“Harvester hurt you, didn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry, Anna.”
“I’ll be okay.”
“Damn Josh. He needs to grow up. Solve his own problems.”
“He would if he could. But he doesn’t have that kind of control.”
“And look what happens when we try to take control?”
“How do you feel about Halloween?” Anna asked.
“I think I’ll stay home,” Joshua said.
“It’s only two weeks away.”
Anna and Joshua were at her desk, Anna studying Bonnie’s protection spell. “Hecate is a good choice. But you don’t have any candles or stones. I could take you to a store in Falls River. They sell health food and vitamins, but also Wicca supplies. They have a lot of books.”
“When can you take me?”
“Whenever you’re free.”
Over the last few weeks, since Marilyn’s death, Joshua had been l
iving in a depressed haze. His doctor had prescribed an antidepressant, which only made him sleepy. The boredom didn’t help. He had nowhere to go, nothing to do.
Anna sensed his mood. “Any memories coming back?”
“Not much. I don’t dream on the pills.”
“Stop taking them. You know why you’re down.”
“But I can’t do anything about it.”
“I could help you put together a new witch box...”
He shook his head. “What is it with you witches?”
Anna grinned. “We can be helpful. It’s not our fault no one listens. What’s Colbie been doing?”
“Going to school. Keeping her doctor’s appointments. I went with her for an ultrasound. The baby is fine.”
“Do you ever see Brenda teaching Colbie anything?”
“No. And there’s nothing to find at home. Dad and Brenda keep their bedroom door locked. She does Colbie. But there’s no lock on my door. Anybody can come in.”
“I’m sorry, Josh. Maybe a trip to Falls River will help. We’ll go Saturday. That’s only two days away.”
“I’ve been wanting to ask you...”
“Ask me what?”
“On my first day here, after I came home from the hospital, I knew you were my friend. I knew you cared. Before I got sick, how close were we?”
Anna shrugged. “Just friends. Colbie was pregnant—“
“How did I meet Colbie?”
“At school.”
“She doesn’t talk about going to school with me. I can’t find a diploma or a yearbook. I can’t recall any teachers or friends. No football games, prom, or graduation. There are no photos in my house.”
“Has Colbie spoken to Ruth?”
“No. And the cops don’t come around anymore. No one talks about Marilyn.”
“Did you hear about Jay?” Anna asked.
“No.”
“He put in his two weeks notice. He can’t get over someone just coming in here and murdering an employee. No one will use the balers except the guy from Great Lakes.”
“The employee safety videos didn’t help. Dad made us watch every one of them.”
“I had to watch ‘em alone during lunch. Horrible.”
“None touched on how to avoid being thrown like a ragdoll into a baler.”
“We have no security cameras on the floor. Or the parking lot.”
“The power outage was a perfect time—“
“Josh?” Max was standing outside of his office. “Come in here, son.”
Joshua entered the office. Max sat at his desk. “I’m going to need you to start coming in everyday for a while. Bonnie will need the help upstairs. Lois just quit today.”
“What? When?”
“She came in during coffee break this morning. I’ll have to get more of the Great Lakes people to come in. What a pain in the ass. Jay is leaving, too. With his attitude, who else would want to hire him?”
“Yeah. I sort of like him, though.”
“Me, too. I also like Lois. Those Great Lakes guys are a bunch of punks.”
“Don’t any women work there?”
Max shook his head. “Not a plus, in my opinion.”
“I’ll be working a whole shift?”
“Begins at six. Runs until four or five sometimes.”
“I don’t mind.”
“And Saturdays.”
“This Saturday?”
“We’re all coming in.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“Sorry, son. Did you have plans?”
“Not really.”
“I was looking in my closet today, trying to find some of Jay’s paperwork. The cassette tapes I had in there are missing...”
“I took them.”
“I thought so. It’s okay. Did hearing your mother’s voice help?”
“A little. She wanted me to sing for Harvester.”
“Nature Boy. I always liked that song.”
“I’ve been out to the old house.”
“What did you find?”
“A locked-up basement.”
“It’s locked up for a reason.”
“Why did you leave it?”
“I had already bought the farm house. Maybe I’ll clear it out in the spring.”
“Why do you own so much property?”
“I bought the land because I wanted to help people. They could all still live in their homes, as if nothing had changed, and I offered them all jobs at the plant. Most took my offer.”
“What if someone refused?”
“That was fine.”
“What if they owed the bank—“
“I paid off what they owed if they worked for me.”
“Did you get loans?”
“A few. The plant was doing well and I inherited some money and property from my grandparents in the Upper Peninsula. Liz had a little money, too. I like investing.”
“Thanks for being open with me, Dad. I feel like everything I learn might help me remember.”
“I understand. But you’re better now. No more headaches, right?”
Josh nodded. “But I stopped taking the antidepressants.”
“That’s up to you, son. But you’ll be so busy around here you won’t have time to think about being depressed.”
“Sure. I’ll be all right.”
“I’m sorry you can’t go to Falls River on Saturday,” Anna said. “I just found out I have to work, too.”
Anna pulled on her coat, ready to go home. Joshua was staying late with Max. He decided to walk with her out to her car.
Anna, as she approached, noticed that the bumper looked off-balance. On closer inspection, a wide scratch marred the right side.
“I think someone hit your car,” Joshua said.
The trunk was cracked open, the hinges buckled. Anna ran her fingers over the peeling paint. “Someone backed into it.”
Joshua shook his head. “And they just drove off...”
“I don’t have full coverage. My car is almost fifteen years old.”
“Whoever did it probably doesn’t have insurance at all and didn’t want the trouble.”
“Why can’t people be more careful?” Anna asked.
“Do you have another vehicle at home?”
“My dad would let me borrow his pick-up.”
“Sorry, Anna. You need a protection spell for your car.”
Anna grinned, flipping her ponytail off her shoulder. “I should try that.”