A laugh reverberated through my head. He’s in my territory. I have to chase him off periodically, no big deal. If you think I look bad, you should see his eye. I’m surprised I haven’t gouged it out yet.
I wanted to say that I was surprised she hadn’t murdered him, but it felt like a low blow, so I kept my mouth shut.
“Hey Jade, I found an article on WitchNet about Willa’s murder. Do you know what caused her to duel with Chandra?”
She blinked a few times, then turned away. I don’t want to talk about that.
Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to hide my sigh of impatience. “What about Grandpa Alder? I knew he had passed away before I was born, but I had no idea he died so young. He would have only been in his fifties or so.”
She sprawled out on her side, her gaze traveling to the ceiling. Why so many questions?
“It’s only natural to be curious about my family!” I snapped.
He died of heart failure. The stress of the feud, combined with the stress of keeping his family safe, just wore him down.
It wasn’t much information, but it was better than nothing. I still felt frustrated, but it occurred to me just how long Jade’s association with my family stretched back. Those losses must have been hard for her, too.
“Jade…how long have you been a cat?”
She sat bolt upright and stared at me. Why would you ask that?
I shrugged defensively. “Just trying to get a timeline in my head, that’s all.”
With a hissy growl, she settled back on her side. Fifty-seven years ago this month.
In one swift movement, Jade leapt off the counter and streaked across the shop. She scratched at the door, so I let her out. Without a backward glance, she shot out and ran around the building, likely heading for the woods.
With a sigh, I closed the door, unsure what to do. I didn’t have much time to think about it because the bell rang. Tim stepped inside, grinning and waving a greeting when he saw me. I forced myself to smile back at him.
“Maria is busy with a client, but she asked me to drop this by for you.”
It was a burgundy envelope with my name on it. Tearing it open, I pulled out a card with layers of paper flowers glued onto it.
Sage,
Just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your products from the shop. I’ll be in again soon! I hope your first day went well.
Best of luck,
Maria.
I smiled up at Tim, rather wishing Maria had delivered it herself, but it was a sweet sentiment.
“Your wife is the sweetest,” I commented. Tim’s eyes softened.
“She is. I’m a very lucky man.”
I tucked the card away in the space behind the front counter, making a mental note to do something nice for Maria to try to repay her kindness in some way. As I looked up at Tim, it occurred to me that he might be more forthcoming with information than Jade had, at least about the family.
“You know, since you’re in here, have you done much research on this family feud between the Farrows and the Blacks?”
The smile slid from Tim’s face as he ran a hand through his hair. “Genealogies don’t really give information on things like that. I do know a little bit.”
I raised my eyebrows inquiringly. He let out a long, slow breath. “I’m sure a lot of this is hearsay, and stories get distorted as they’re passed down through generations, but there was a murder on the old Black property quite a long time ago, and one of the Farrows tattled to some witch council thing. The Blacks claimed they dealt with it, but the Farrow person and the council didn’t approve, apparently.”
He paused, looking distinctly uncomfortable. I thought back to what Jade had said, that she’d killed a man. Was this the same murder Tim was talking about? A chill crept up the back of my neck.
“It sounds like this Farrow person felt they were the right person for leading a Woods Crossing coven or whatever, even though the Blacks had supposedly led the coven for many generations before. Of course, all this witchy stuff is nonsense. I’ve no interest in it. The real power comes with their town holdings…”
And he was off on another dull explanation of the Black Family’s influence in Woods Crossing from the year 1790 to the present. My eyes glazed over as he continued to drone on, and I wished a customer would come in just so he would shut up. Why wasn’t he at work? Who had this kind of time to sit around and recite ancient history?
The large grandfather clock on the other end of the room chimed five o’ clock, and I let out a silent sigh of relief.
“I’m so sorry, Tim, but I need to close up,” I interrupted him. “Thanks so much for dropping off the card, and please tell Maria I said hi.”
He smiled that dimply smile of his and gave a friendly wave before leaving. I locked the door immediately after it closed, feeling that Jade might have the right idea about him.
An odd sort of heaviness fell over me as I walked home from the shop. I wished Jade were there to walk home with me, but I must have touched a nerve because she hadn’t been back to the shop all day.
The house felt unbearably large and empty. I wondered briefly if this was how Grandma had felt after Grandpa passed away. The thought sent such a wrenching pain through my heart that I closed the door and locked it again, heading for my car instead.
I pulled up to Faith’s house ten minutes later, which looked a little more eerie in the semi-darkness of twilight. After knocking, I called out to let her know it was me. I once more heard the scraping of deadbolts before Faith peered out at me, clad today in dark green pants and an overlarge off-white sweater.
“Sage! Back so soon?”
I tried to stop my lip from trembling with no success. Crossing my arms tightly over my body, I looked down at my feet.
“I read some things about the family on WitchNet and…I just…”
