3 From the Ashes Read online

  “Okay,” Darcy said slowly, not sure what they wanted. The other two women were looking at her intently and Darcy got the impression this favor, whatever it was, was very important.

  Linda looked relieved. “Well, Sarah’s mother, Angelica, died in a house fire when she was a toddler. You might not remember, because it was years ago but her family lived in that big manor house just outside of town on O’Leary Lane. The fire completely destroyed the house and it took poor Angelica with it.”

  “No, I remember that,” Darcy said. “I don’t remember much about it specifically but people talked about that fire for years after.” She caught the look on Sarah’s face and gave her an apologetic glance. “I’m not sure what you could need from me though?”

  Linda put a hand out to rest on Darcy’s arm. “Everyone in town knows that you’re special, Darcy. You, well, know things. Things about people that are gone.” Darcy raised her eyebrows but didn’t say anything. Linda flushed a little and then quickly added, “Sarah and I have been talking and there’s something that’s bothered her for years. Something she saw that day and she can’t let it go. She’s haunted by it.”

  Haunted. Darcy looked at Sarah. She could see it now, in the girl’s eyes. There was something to a person’s eyes who had seen more than they should have. When they had seen something they couldn’t explain. Ghosts, or spooks, or worse. It was a darkness that defied any light to touch it. Sarah had that in her eyes.

  The world around everyone was supposed to be normal. Plain, simple, normal. There was more to it, though. The other side. The place where the spirits of the departed went. Sometimes, those spirits stayed here with the living. Not everyone could see them. Darcy could. Darcy had gotten used to it and even been able to use her talent to help others from time to time. More often than not it landed her in deep, deep trouble, but that didn’t stop her from trying. She knew what it was like to see ghosts like Aunt Millie who refused to move on.

  She knew what it was like to see the things that were worse, too.

  Darcy tried to do the math in her head. The fire had been about fifteen years ago, just before Darcy had come to live with Aunt Millie permanently, so Sarah would have been about four. What could she have seen? What could a little girl being saved from a devastating house fire have seen to put those shadows in her eyes?

  “Darcy?” Linda was saying. “Sarah really needs the kind of help that you can give. Like I say, I wouldn’t usually ask this because I know how you don’t like to talk about these things, but it’s her mother. I knew Angelica, too. She didn’t deserve what happened to her. She was a good, loving mother.”

  Tears slowly leaked out of the sides of Sarah’s eyes. Darcy had already decided to help, but seeing those wet trails on the girl’s cheeks cemented her decision for her.

  “Do you think you could find out anything about that night for her?” Linda asked.

  Hinting awkwardly around the subject Linda didn’t actually come out and ask Darcy if she would communicate with Angelica’s ghost but Darcy knew that was what Linda wanted her to do.

  Darcy smiled at Sarah. “Of course. Any friend of Linda’s is a friend of mine.”

  Sarah visibly relaxed and even managed a smile. Darcy was glad she had agreed to help. She just wasn’t sure if Sarah would be ready for what came next.

  “I’ll need something that belonged to your mother,” Darcy told her.

  Chapter Three

  Darcy dropped the pen onto the desk and stretched. She had been slaving over the bookstore’s accounts for most of the afternoon in between serving customers. They had done more business than usual today, and she was glad of that fact. There had been a steady stream of customers in and out all afternoon. Losing a lot of her customers to ebooks meant the book stores revenues had steadily declined over the past few years. This place had been Aunt Millie’s dream and then Darcy’s own dream as well. If she didn’t find some way to bring in more cash flow, however, it might end up being just a memory.

  That cold fact sat heavy on her heart but she tried to rationalize that it was just the way of all business. Further back in the store, three books fell off shelves in quick succession, thump, thump, thump. Darcy smiled. Aunt Millie didn’t like the idea of losing the shop either.

  She looked at her watch and was surprised to see it was almost closing time. The bell over the door jangled once more, and when Darcy looked up to see who it was she saw Sarah approaching the counter.

  Cashing out a purchase for a customer, Sue’s face brightened. “Hi Sarah. Wow, I haven’t seen you for ages!”

  Sarah smiled back. Darcy guessed it figured that the two of them would know each other, being so close in age. The two of them exchanged chit chat about their lives for a few minutes.

  “I actually came to see Darcy,” Sarah said after a minute or two. She rocked on her feet uncertainly.

  Sue looked a little confused but took the hint. “It’s good to see you again, Sarah. We should get together and do something some time.”

  Sarah seemed to be more at ease around Sue. “The last time we got together to do something,” she said, “we ended up with that boy, what was his name?”

  Sue rolled her eyes. “Kevin. Yeah, I remember.”

  “Do you remember almost getting arrested?”

  Darcy raised her eyebrows at that. She would have never thought Sue was capable of doing anything to get arrested at all.

  Sue slid a quick look at Darcy and then away again. “Well, we’ll find something that doesn’t involve church steeples, is all. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

  “Okay.” Sarah watched Sue walk away into the stacks of books and then turned to Darcy. “Thank you so much for doing this Darcy, I really appreciate it. I really know so little about by mother, and what happened that day. I have never been able to really get closure. Anything you can tell me would be such a relief.”

  Darcy nodded, reminding herself to ask Sue about churches and getting arrested later. “Can you tell me what you saw? What do you remember?”

  Sarah scrunched her face up. “It was a long time ago. And it was dark. Except for the flames, I mean. But I remember seeing two figures at a window while the house burned. Why would there be two?”

  Just like that, the good mood Sarah had put herself in while talking to Sue evaporated and the shadows were back heavy and dark in her eyes.

  “I’m so sorry about you losing your mother,” Darcy offered. “I’ll try to help in any way I can.”

  Sarah nodded at her. “Linda mentioned you could…learn things that no one else could.”

  Darcy nodded her head. “It’s a lot to accept, I know. I don’t talk about it much so you’ll just have to trust me, okay?”

  The girl nodded at Darcy and then held out her hand. In it was a slim gold chain with little charms hanging off it. “This bracelet belonged to my mother. Will this work?”

  “This will be perfect.” Darcy took the piece of jewelery from Sarah’s hand and held it up. The charms dangled and swung. A cat, a heart, a book. Happy things from a happy life.

  “Great.” Sarah looked at her watch. “I have to go but please, let me know if you, um, find out anything.”

  “Sure. I’ll call you later tonight, probably. Or tomorrow depending on how things go.” Sarah squeezed Darcy’s hands in hers, and then turned quickly and left the store.

  Darcy would try and communicate with Angelica as soon as she got home. Jon was working late, and it would be the perfect time. Hopefully she would be successful in contacting Angelica and then she would be able to give Sarah the information and closure she was seeking.

  ***

  When Darcy arrived home later she locked the door behind her as she didn’t need anyone accidentally walking in and disturbing her.

  Smudge greeted her as she carefully placed her bag with the treasured books in it on the table in the entryway. He was winding his way around her legs rubbing up against her. “Oh really?” she asked. “Forgiven me just like that, have you
?”

  Smudge meowed and purred, as if to say, “Aw, how could I possibly stay mad at you?”

  He stuck to Darcy’s side as she prepared for communicating with Angelica. She placed six incense sticks in her ceramic holder and lit them. Soon a heady Sandalwood fragrance filled the room

  She gathered up nine white candles and placed them in a circle on her living room floor with a little dish under each to catch any wax that might drip down. She lit the candles in order, creating the energy of the circle, and then stepped into it, to the very center.

  She sat down crossed legged on the floor as Smudge paced the circumference of the magic hub she had created.

  She held the bracelet that Sarah had given her in her hand and called out for Angelica.

  Nothing happened.

  Darcy tried again, concentrating some of her own force and will into the calling. She searched out through the circle of energy she had created. She searched in dark places where no one answered her.

  After several failed attempts at connecting with Angelica she looked down at Smudge confused. She couldn’t feel any presence of Angelica. Nothing at all. This had never happened to her before. Even if she hadn’t been able to get any information she had always been able to get a sense of the person.

  There was only one explanation.

  “Smudge,” she said, “I don’t think that Angelica is dead.”

  Chapter Four

  Early the next morning Darcy was lying awake in her bed and was absently running the bracelet through her fingers. Jon had stopped by for something quick to eat the night before, talking endlessly about some case he was working on. The small town of Misty Hollow had become less and less of a small town, and there was always work for him to do. He had tried to turn the conversation to the subject of them a few times before giving up when she hadn’t been very talkative. After a kiss that had turned into two or three more, he had left to go home saying he had an early morning.

  She hadn’t been able to sleep much herself, and now here it was the start of a new day. The failure of last night’s communication still tangled in her mind with the same answer coming up over and over. She hadn’t been able to reach Angelica’s spirit, because Angelica wasn’t dead. Which made no sense because Sarah was so sure her mother was dead. So was Linda. So was the whole town, for that matter.

  Darcy decided not to tell Sarah or Linda yet, not that she would even know what to say to them. Frustrated with the situation she got up and started her morning. After a quick shower in nice hot water she dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a bright yellow T-shirt. With her comfortable sneakers on her feet she was ready to face the day.

  When she finished dressing she put the bracelet in her pocket. Even though it was still early she decided to head into town. She wanted to talk to Jon about Angelica. Maybe he could shed some light on this mystery.

  Darcy arrived at the police station before eight o’clock. She said hello to Sergeant Fitzwallis, the front desk sergeant. He was an older man with thinning gray hair but with a face that was hard as stone. “Jon’s inside,” he told her, hooking a thumb at the wall behind him as if she didn’t already know where the Officer’s desks were in the building.

  She thanked him and he buzzed her through the main door. Four or five other Officers were already at their desks, busily working. Jon saw her from across the room, waving her over with a genuine smile on his face.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked, grabbing her hand and pulling her into him for a quick kiss on her cheek. “I’m sorry, I can’t do breakfast I’ve got a ton of work laid out for me today.”

  “No, that’s fine,” she said as she sat down in the chair opposite his at the desk. He looked really fine this morning in a crisp white shirt and a strong blue tie that brought out the color of his eyes. “I actually came to talk to you about something.”

  “Oh?” he said in a distracted way, reading through a piece of paper he held up off the desk. “What’s up?”

  Darcy gave him the quick version of how Linda and her friend Sarah had asked her for help in contacting Sarah’s mother, the whole story about the fire, and then her failed communication last night. “I’m sorry, I know you’re still a little uneasy with me talking about my, um, abilities.”

  He shrugged. “I’m in love with you. All of you.” Still, he lowered his voice to a whisper. “That means accepting the part of you that deals with ghosts and feelings from beyond, too.”

  She smiled at his characterization of her abilities. She loved this man so much. Her sister, Grace, knew what she could do too, at least a part of it, and there were others like Linda who knew a little, too. But no one had ever made her feel like it was all right to be who she was, ghosts and all, until Jon.

  “So, what?” Jon asked her. “You think Sarah’s mother is still alive? Is that it?”

  Darcy nodded.

  “Is it possible that this Angelica just didn’t want to speak to you?” Jon asked her. “I mean, ghosts don’t have to pick up the phone when you call, do they?”

  Darcy thought about it, her forehead scrunching up. “I don’t know, I guess. I’ve never had trouble contacting the other side before.”

  “Maybe the bracelet wasn’t Angelica’s.”

  Darcy stared at him. She hadn’t even considered that. She’d have to make sure with Sarah that the bracelet was, indeed, her mother’s.

  Jon tilted his head back and forth before finally nodding. “I’ll look into it for you. Even though I’m swamped today.”

  He scratched at his neck and she knew what he was fishing for. “How about I make it worth your while.”

  His eyes lit up. “Tonight?”

  “Tonight,” she promised, feeling her cheeks blush. What was it about him that made her do that? She stood up, and hugged him tightly, knowing he had to keep up his tough guy persona here at the office.

  “Love you, Sweet Baby” he said to her.

  “Love you, too,” she answered.

  ***

  Lunch time rolled around very quickly for Darcy. She knew she had to call Sarah and tell her something, but she had been avoiding it all morning, working hard at rearranging shelves in the bookstore that didn’t really need to be rearranged. When the clock on the wall struck noon with a muted note, she sighed and left the store to get lunch. A new deli had opened in town just last week, and she decided to try it.

  There were a few people in the La Di Da Deli when she walked in. Her friend Helen, now the town’s new mayor, owned the Bean There Bakery and Café on the other side of town, which specialized in delectable pastries and cakes. The new place seemed to sell more sandwiches and that type of thing, which opened up the food choices for the townsfolk. In a town as small as Misty Hollow it didn't make sense to have two businesses offering the same type of fare.

  Darcy ordered a chicken salad sandwich. The owner of the place, Clara Barstow, served her. Wearing a white apron over a blue dress, and with her light brown hair done up in a bun, she reminded Darcy of someone’s kindly old aunt. Darcy guessed that Clara was around fifty, maybe. Her smile made her look younger.

  As the weather was turning a little cold outside Darcy decided to eat her sandwich inside even though there were pretty round tables set up on the sidewalk outside the deli. As she sat eating, her sister Grace walked by the big glass window and saw her. They waved to each other and Grace came inside.

  “How was your trip, sis?” Grace asked as she sat down at the table with Darcy. She was in her work clothes, a dark blue pantsuit with matching jacket. She’d been letting her dark hair grow out and it now hung down past the collar of her crisp white blouse. “How did you like staying in a cabin?”

  “The trip was amazing and we loved the cabin. We went hiking every day and we had such a great time together.” Darcy set her sandwich down. “I took a ton of photos. You want to see?”

  “Maybe later.” Darcy could tell her sister had something she needed to say. “I was going to come over tonight and talk to you.
I wanted to call yesterday, actually, but Jon and I are working on a case that sucks up most of our attention.”

  “Yeah, he told me. What’s up?”

  "Well I hope you got plenty of relaxation on your trip…” Grace sighed and continued, “Because I have some stressful news.”

  Darcy’s breath caught in her throat and she could feel her heart begin to beat faster. “What is it?” she asked with panic in her voice. She had gotten used to horrible things happening in this town and assumed the worst. Darcy began to fiddle with the antique ring she always wore as she always did when she got anxious or upset.

  Grace sighed out a breath. “Our mother is coming to town. She’ll be here tonight.”

  That was bad news but not nearly as bad as Darcy had been imagining. She laughed with relief. “Is that it?”

  “Isn’t that enough?” Grace answered with the corner of her mouth twisting up.

  She and Grace had never had a great relationship with their upper class mother, Eileen. Darcy in particular was just too different for their mom to understand or relate to. Her mother had always been embarrassed by her. But still on the scale of bad things that could happen, their mother visiting was not the worst.

  “Why didn’t I know about this?” Darcy asked. “I didn’t get a call or anything from her.”

  “She called me Sunday. I didn’t want to call you while you and Jon were on vacation and ruin your time away. Apparently she just decided on the spur of the moment to come up. Or, so she said.” Grace was chewing her thumbnail. Their mother was not known for being spontaneous and Grace was clearly nervous about this visit.

  Darcy put a hand over her sister’s hand to calm her. “Remember she likes you better than she likes me. Me, she just thinks I’m weird. And there’s something else that might keep her attention settled on me,” she added with a grimace.

  “Huh? What do you mean?”

  Darcy looked up at the ceiling, tilting her head to one side. “Jon asked to move in with me.”