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“He’s got a good aura about him,” Kalina said as she handed Sadie the bags.
“He does,” she agreed. “Let’s hope my sister keeps him.”
After they got back into the truck, Sadie handed Skyler the bags so she could start the engine.
“That’s it?” he asked, incredulous, as he riffled through the plastic. “You didn’t get as much as I thought you would’ve.”
“Only the most important things, and hey, Charlie would be proud because no pentagrams.” She laughed.
“You really got dowsing rods?” he scoffed, rolling them over in his hands. “And you have a planchette but no board?”
“You don’t need one for this beautiful little thing.” She pointed at its tip. “A pen goes through the hole, and if a spirit answers, it will move the planchette.”
Skyler’s lips pursed, his expression turning serious. “You want to see if the handwriting is familiar.”
She didn’t answer.
“I don’t think you’re going to get what you’re searching for,” he said, his voice low.
Sadie sighed. “I might not, but something is out there.” If there was a chance she didn’t find anything and she was slowly losing her mind, then she would let that drive the scenes in her story for River.
Once they got back to the cabin, she grabbed the dowsing rods as she stepped out of the truck. “Will you walk with me into the woods?” she asked Skyler, already heading toward the cluster of trees.
“Of course,” he said, catching up to her.
Sadie glanced at Skyler as he shivered. She frowned, a strange feeling traveling through her veins while she watched him. She wasn’t cold at all...
“Skyler?” Sadie whispered, tugging him by the arm.
“Why are you looking at me like you’re seeing a ghost.” He paused. “Are you?”
“No.” She moistened her lips. “Do you feel the wind?”
He wrinkled his nose. “Yeah? What about it?”
She surveyed the branches above, and nothing rustled, not even an inch, not a brush or lick of wind against her flesh.
“When you look at the branches, are any moving at all?” Her voice rose, her breaths increasing.
“Yes?” He stepped back, the line between his brows becoming deeper. “What’s going on?”
“What do you hear?” She didn’t let go of his arm, her fingers pressing harder.
“At the moment, I hear you asking me a question.”
“Seriously.” She dropped his arm, her patience growing thin. “What else do you hear?”
Skyler tilted his head and listened. “I don’t know? A few insects, some birds. There’s a finch chirping above you.”
Sadie wasn’t hearing that, not any of it. She slowly lifted her head, finding only an empty branch. As she searched the ground, she froze. A dead crow rested there with shadows swirling around its limp feathered form.
Eyes widening, she stumbled back. “I don’t see it. I don’t hear it. I don’t hear anything. I told you the woods have been quiet during the day.”
“You said quiet. Not that it was silent as if you couldn’t hear anything at all.” She could see the fear in Skyler’s eyes, but his face remained neutral, the way he knew how to do when on police duty.
“I hear you, though, and I hear any sounds I make.” Her voice shook. “I see a dead crow on the ground and shadows surrounding it.”
“There’s no bird there, Sadie,” Skyler said slowly as if he might spook her. “The shadows are from the tree branches.”
