“Especiallyamong the educated. But magic or not, it’s my belief that mirrors help concentrate one’s energy and thereby assist sensitives to see what others cannot.” She fixed Harper with her intense gaze. “What doyousee when you look into a mirror?”
“What do you mean?”
“You told me you ‘saw’ someone standing at the window in the Reflection room, and you’re being followed by a Nahual.It’s only the beginning, you know. Are you sure you don’t want me to do a reading for you?”
Harper opened her mouth to tell Sigrid what had happened last night with the woman dancing on the lawn, but hesitated. Sigrid’s dark eyes studied her face.
“Tell me, Harper: Did you see something in the mirrors at the mansion? Have you been visited by the spirit of Isabel Perles?”
Twenty
Harper felt herself doing a twisty thing with her mouth as she averted her gaze, studying the beautiful array of plants.
“I take it that’s a ‘yes,’ ” Sigrid said.
“Last night I thought I saw something. Someone.”
“A woman in a long white gown and a rebozo?” When Harper did not respond, Sigrid continued. “You looked into the Perles mirrors, didn’t you? You saw her.”
Harper nodded.
“You were visited.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Harper said. Especially now, in the light of day, with the bright October sun shining down and warming her shoulders.
“I envy you. Not many have that kind of sight or connection with the beyond.”
“I think it must have been my landlady, sleepwalking.”
“Why are you so resistant to the idea of the unknown?” Sigrid said, sounding annoyed. “The intangible? The conceptthat there is more to this world than what our Western science can understand?Why are you so reluctant to believe?”
“I study the history of witchcraft and the belief in the supernatural, Sigrid. Yes, ghost stories fulfill an important role in human culture, as an attempt to explain the unexplainable. But now that we understand the world through logic and science—”
“Do we, though?”
“Yes, I believe we do. These are cultural constructions, and not to put too fine a point on it, such stories have been used through the centuries as excuses to treat outcasts as ‘others,’ to persecute and oppress people, especially women.”
“Please. You’re speaking to a Black woman about persecution and oppression? Not to mention the fact that I’m a witch.”
Harper nodded. “The history is fraught, I realize that.”
“You’re missing the point, Harper. If Isabel Perles is visiting you, she has a message for you.”
“And what might that be?”
“How should I know? You’re the one she’s reaching out to. It’s up to you to figure it out,” Sigrid said with a sigh. “All right, you will come to acceptance when you’re ready, Professor. When you do, give me a call. I may be able to help. And now, are you headed back to Monterey?”
“I thought I might stop in at the Steinbeck Center, check out Salinas’s star author.”
“You should, it’s a great place. And Steinbeck’s childhood home is just over on Central Avenue. His family lived in a lovely Queen Anne–style Victorian that’s now a restaurant. They give tours in the summertime, but if the restaurant’s open, they may let you take a look. Fair warning, though: Steinbeck himself believed there was a ghost living there. You might get more than you bargained for.”
“There’s a lot of that going around.”
“Speaking of old homes, do you have any idea what will be done with the Perles Mansion?”
“No word yet. The police haven’t even released it. When they do, I imagine it’ll be up to Delilah’s brother.”
“That place must be worth a fortune. Especially now.”
