Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 63214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Those things aren’t flowers. You should be scared. Stop it. You’re not helping me! Fuck! Why am I talking to myself like I am two people?
I let out a long breath and managed several more steps to the bush.
Addie Mae’s voice shifted back to normal. “That’s right. You’ve got it. Now tell me about this snowman. Catch me up. Something felt wrong in my skin. I knew something had happened to my baby.”
When I approached the bush, I started with the beginning—the moment I spotted Faith in the snow and the things she said. My hands shook as I raised them to the first flower. It was smaller than the others, but still the size of my head.
You can do this.
The tongues lapped at the breeze and the petals closed around it. I chose that moment to yank it off the branch and drop it in the barrel.
“Shit. It moved in my hand.” And those few seconds, it was too warm to be comfortable and beating around my fingers. “It’s alive.”
“It’s a garden. Everything is alive in a garden.”
“But they have tongues.”
She dismissed my horror. “What happened after Faith woke up?”
I finished the story and continued to wait until the flowers opened and then closed, plucking the huge things off as quick as I could and piling them into the bucket. I had no idea why Addie Mae couldn’t do this herself or what the hell the flowers would be used for.
“Did you two burn the bags?” she asked.
“No.”
“Good. They’re just filled with roots, plants, minerals, and. . .the powered remains of an animal.”
I dropped another flower into the bucket. “What animal?”
“A cat.”
“A cat.” I tensed. “Like the kitten’s mother? The kittens that somebody happened to leave at a fishing spot everyone knows I sit at?”
She looked away and ignored that question. “The bags provide love, protection, and healing to the wearer. They also serve as a connection to the spirit world. Especially, Faith’s bag.”
My stomach twisted. “Would it have made the snowman come alive?”
She sighed. “Before we leave the house, you grab those bags.”
“Did you kill the cat?”
“That’s the question you ask, after dealing with all of this tonight?”
“Addie Mae, please. Just give me some more answers here so we can help Faith.”
“Yes, I killed the cat, but she volunteered. She was tired of having kittens and being a stray. She damn near followed me around for months, begging me to do it. You know cats don’t have birth control. They’re forced into motherhood over and over.” She took off her black cape and dropped it on the ground. “A black cat’s bone is one of the most potent things you can put into a conjuring bag. I decided that her begging me to die and Brett leaving my baby was a good time to work on getting things right.”
“Getting things right?”
“Fixing the past. A lot of things happened long ago.”
“In May 1995?”
She glared at me. “Why did you say that?”
“This Remy. I looked him up. He committed suicide in May 1995.” I didn’t have to add it, but I did. “The same month Faith broke my heart.”
“Yes. I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry.” She frowned. “That may have been my fault. I should’ve never let Brett take the tea to you. I had no idea he was drinking it until she told me what happened.”
“The tea? Did. . .” I swallowed. “Did the tea have balls in it?”
“Listen. It’s a root. And yes, the root looks like balls and yes it was in your tea.” She gestured to the bucket. “Pick it up. We have to hurry.”
The tea had the root in it that looked like balls. Okay. That’s fine. Brett drank it. Addie Mae thinks that his drinking it was why Faith fell in love with him? Or is she saying that’s what made him fall in love with her? Is that why I’m in love with Faith, because of tea and balls?
“No, you’re in love with Faith because you’ve always been in love with her.” She took out a knife from her pocket.
“You heard my thoughts?”
“This is going to take forever.” She let out an exasperated breath.
Chapter 17
Daniel
A
ddie Mae had clearly lost her patience. “I’m close to slapping you, Daniel.”
“I’m not in shock.”
“No, I was just going to slap you.”
I opened my mouth and closed it.
“I can’t read your thoughts, but I can somewhat hear them in here,” she said. “In this garden, there are no secrets. I’m just good at blocking my thoughts. It’s why I don’t want you asking me too many questions. I can’t lie in here. I couldn’t lie just now. I’m thinking of the lies to say, but my mouth is just saying what I’m supposed to tell you.”
“Then what else is there to say?”
“We have to go.” She pulled off her boots and socks.