Autumn, 1784, the Allegheny Mountains of Western Virginia
Instinctively, Karin reached out to trace the glowing stone, warmer now. A blue-green light radiated from it at her touch. She sucked in her breath. Tearing her eyes from the phenomenal gem, she looked at Jack. “Did you see that?”
Giving a nod, he slowly lowered his fingers to the iridescent surface—pulling back as if repelled. “It doesn’t want me to handle it.”
“What do you mean, it doesn’t want? ’Tis a necklace, for God’s sake,” she said, using stronger language than usual at the nameless fear that sprang up inside her.
She looked back down and cautiously extended her hand to the pool of light encompassing the gem. A shape flickered across it in the form of something—an animal. She jerked. “What was that?”
“A bear.” He spoke with the tenor of one trying to conceal his own disbelief. “We must’ve imagined it.”
“Both of us? Jack, what’s going on?”
He shifted his eyes around the room then returned to the necklace. “I’m not sure yet.”
“Maybe not, but you’re keeping something from me. Is this some sort of bear stone?”
“No. Moonstone. Rare, and known for its magical powers, if you believe that nonsense.” He didn’t sound as skeptical as he might have only moments ago. “The stone is also a lover’s amulet and the eye of seers. Wearing it is said to strengthen intuition.”
“If by intuition, you mean the hair standing up on the nape of my neck, I can tell something mighty peculiar is going on and—”
She broke off at a persistent sound carrying above the wind. “Do you hear that scratching noise?”
“Probably just a tree branch.”
He’d lied to shield her from something, she just knew, and clutched his sleeve with one hand. The necklace hung from her other. “Jack—”
He swiveled his head at the room again. “Calm down,” he said, but didn’t seem any easier than she.
The scratching intensified and came nearer to them. She gripped him harder. “’Tis at the door!”~
***The Bearwalker’s Daughter is available in Amazon Kindle for .99!
No comments:
Post a Comment