Conjuring Sight (Becky Jo Chronicles Book 1) (5 page)

*     *     *

The house has seen better days. The shingles on the roof are warped and badly in need of replacement. Several of the top floor windows are broken. A front balcony is sagging and looks as though it will collapse at any moment. White paint has peeled off the walls, and it’s impossible to determine the original color of the wrap-around porch. The front steps are rotten and groan noisily as I walk up them. I lift a hand to knock on the door.

“Becky Jo!” Sunny excitedly throws the door in a green muumuu. “I had a dream you were coming for a visit!”

I put my hand down. “I hope I’m not intruding.”

“Of course not!” She happily wraps an arm around my body and directs me into the house. “It’s not every day I get visitors! Come in! Come in! I’m just about to pull some cookies out of the oven.”

The inside of the house is in much better condition than the outside. The ceilings, walls, and floors have been painstakingly restored. I rub a hand down the banister of a spectacular staircase. Sunny has put an enormous amount of work into the house.

“It’s beautiful,” I say in awe.

“It will be when I’m finished.” Sunny directs me to the kitchen. “This summer I plan on working on the outside.”

I take a seat at a tiny table. “Marina said you went to a retreat. How was it?”

Her lazy eye looks to the left as she smiles excitedly. “I had a great time. I learned lots of new things. And it’s always nice to spend time with likeminded people.”

“What exactly happens at these conventions?”

“Witches’ conventions are like any other convention. We attend classes and make social connections.” She laughs with delight. “And then there are the parties!”

I’m glad she had fun. Sunny is a nice woman who deserves time to let her hair down.

“Do you have your eyes on any warlocks?” I tease.

She rolls her right eye while the other still stares off into space. “We actually call them wizards, and I have more important things to do with my time than worry about some man.”

The timer goes off, and Sunny pulls a tray of cookies out of the oven. She places a plate in front of me. I’m afraid it’s going to break when she drops one of her cookies on it. It looks like a hockey puck. I cautiously pick it up and try to take a bite out of it. It’s as hard as a hockey puck, too.

Sunny sits across from me. “What can I do for you, Becky Jo? I know this isn’t just some social call.”

I’m grateful to get right to the point so I get a break from the hockey puck. “Actually, I was wondering if you knew a way I could get the ghost in Marina’s house to leave me alone.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Which one?”

This is more complicated than I realized. “I didn’t know there was more than one.”

“There are so many ghosts in Virginia City it will be difficult to determine which ghost is bothering you. And it will be even more difficult to find out why the ghost is bothering you. You have to understand a ghost’s motivations before you can try and reason with them.”

I sigh. “How am I supposed to figure out what they want when they’re haunting me?”

“That’s the problem with ghosts – they’re complicated. They’re just like the living, problems and all, but they don’t have bodies or a way to communicate effectively.”

Great. I’m being haunted, and there’s not much I can do about it.

*     *     *

“You will like the antique store,” Sunny excitedly says from the driver’s seat. “It’s full of amazing things. I just hope Jake has the door knob I need to finish the dining room.”

“You’ve done an amazing job restoring that house,” I say as she parks outside the small building.

“I only have two rooms finished. Well, almost three. I just need the door knob.”

The antique store is a mishmash of decades and centuries past. I walk through the aisles of long-forgotten treasures, looking over old books, dishes, clocks, and even dolls. Sunny goes directly to the clerk with a photo in hand. I disappear into a side room while she describes her door knob to the man.

I’m instantly surrounded by a rainbow of colors. Racks and racks of clothes fill the small room. Most of the clothing is less than fifty years old, but a few articles are at least a hundred. I appreciate these very old items through protective glass doors.

A movement to my right attracts my attention. I look up to find a familiar face.

“Clara, is this where you work?” I ask.

“I’m here so much it feels like a second home,” she replies before smiling. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be studying?”

“I needed a break, so Sunny asked me to come shopping with her. She’s looking for a door knob.”

“I’m glad you came. There’s something I’ve been meaning to show you.”

She directs me to a corner of the small room. I was so busy looking at clothing I didn’t notice the jewelry cabinet.

“These are so cool,” I say. There are numerous pieces of large, gaudy costume jewelry from the fifties and sixties.

Clara opens the cabinet and stretches her arm into the far bottom. She carefully removes a necklace and lifts it for me to see.

“It’s so beautiful,” I say, running my finger across the chain.

“It’s made of platinum, and the diamond pendant is a full karat. Yes, it’s beautiful, but it’s also special. The diamond is a very powerful talisman. It will protect you.” She passes the necklace to me.

“I can’t afford something like this,” I object.

“You can’t afford not to have something like this.” She takes the necklace and clasps it around my neck. “Just tell Jake that we made a deal, and I’m letting you have it for fifty dollars.  That’s what we paid for it at an estate sale.”

I shake my head.

She stops me. “Becky Jo, you have been a true friend to me. Let me do this for you.  Wear this necklace as a token of our friendship.”

I am suddenly grateful I moved to Virginia City. Clara is the best friend I’ve ever had. “That’s very nice of you. I’m really glad you’re my friend.” I know it sounds a little sappy, but I mean every word.

“Believe me when I tell you that I’m even happier I met you.  You can visit me anytime at work. You are always more than welcome.” She smiles at me. “Also, the door knob Sunny is looking for is probably in the windowsill on the west side of the building.”

When I walk into the main part of the store, Jake frowns at me.

“Miss, you’re not supposed to get into the display case without assistance.” He steps forward to take the necklace away from me. “This is a very expensive necklace…”

“Clara said I could have it for fifty dollars,” I repeat what I was told, hoping she won’t get in trouble.  “Do you need to talk to her about it?”

His face pales. “I-I’ll take your word for it,” he stutters.

“Sunny, Clara said the door knob is probably in that windowsill.” I point to the west window.

“Thank heavens!” She heaves herself to her feet and goes to the window, locating the rare doorknob. She shakes her head when she sees the price tag.

Jake sees the gesture. “Any friends of Clara’s are friends of mine,” he quickly interjects. “I’ll let you have it for five bucks.”

*     *     *

Sunny is bubbling with joy as she turns the knob, over and over, in her hands. Finding the treasure was a huge triumph for her.  “I still can’t believe I found one, and that necklace you bought is breathtaking.” She makes a weird gesture with her fingers. “Our friend Clara deserves a little luck.”

“The clerk really acted strange when I brought her up,” I say, turning onto our street.

“She’s probably the owner’s daughter.” Sunny gingerly puts her knob into her purse. She shakes her head at my necklace. “An employee would never give away a diamond like that for fifty dollars.”

“Clara said it was a talisman and would protect me.”

“Really?” Sunny’s eyes go to the necklace around my neck. “Did she say what kind?”

I shake my head. “She just said it’s powerful.”

Sunny touches my necklace and jumps as though she’s been shocked by electricity. She smiles as she rubs her fingertips. “It is very powerful! A talisman and my door knob; next time you walk with Clara, I’m sending her a bag of my special granola.”

*     *     *

Since I moved to Virginia City, the three guys have woken me up each morning at dawn. Because a scary ghost has been keeping me up playing the violin, I’m exhausted. So far, I’ve held my tongue, but my patience has dissolved. I come up with a plan to get the guys to be respectful without hurting their feelings. I need more sleep in the mornings if I’m going to be able to play the violin each and every night. Even fifteen minutes more would be great. The next morning, I’m waiting for them.

When the guys walk by with Mr. Skinny singing Dixie, I say extremely loudly as they pass my window, “If you can hear me, I can hear you!”

I’m confused when the singing doesn’t stop so I yell, “Be quiet!”

The singing continues.

I’m not normally a rude person, but I have to get more sleep and my head on right before I study for the HSAP. I’ve even talked Clara into walking in the evenings with me instead of the mornings. I need these guys to let me sleep.

In frustration, I open my blinds and scream, “Shut up!” I know it’s not lady-like, but I’m tired of being awakened each day by the noisy trio.

They act as if they’re deaf. They just walk by, not noticing my screams and hysterical waving.

“Just go ahead and be a bunch of jerks!” I yell.

They go to their field and begin digging.

“What are you carrying on about in here?” Sunny walks into my room.

“Those stupid guys woke me up, again!” I angrily shut my window.

“For being from the city, you sure are bothered by some singing,” she teases.

“It’s not so much the singing as it is waking up to the same song, over and over, again.” I put on a robe.

“As least one good thing comes out of them waking you each morning,” she muses.

“And what would that be?”

“We can get an early start on the day.

*     *     *

That evening, after a night of little sleep and a strenuous day of studying, I wait in a bush outside the house after my walk with Clara. Since I’m not getting anywhere with the guys singing outside my window, I’ve decided to try to talk to the handsome one on his evening stroll. I definitely need more sleep and this may be the only way to get it. My heart starts beating really quickly when I hear the footsteps in the gravel. I’m suddenly freezing from the nerves of meeting him face-to-face. My body covers with goose-pimples

When the footsteps draw near, I step out of the bush. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” I say, trying to hold my nerves in check.

He simply ignores me, not even breaking his stride.

My nerves turn to anger. I don’t know who this jerk thinks he is, but I’ve had enough! I decide to follow him home so I know whose house to egg.

I have to walk quietly but quickly to keep up with him and remain unseen. This is difficult because his legs are a lot longer than mine.  Fortunately, he doesn’t turn around, even when I trip over a stick.

After several minutes of tailing him, my legs are tired, and I’m questioning my own sanity. I’m following an incredibly handsome guy home so I can enact revenge on him and his friends for singing in the morning. It sounds more than just a little crazy. I guess I’ve really gone off the deep end.

I’m about ready to turn around and go home, when the guy walks up a path and disappears into a large house out in the middle of nowhere. A few moments later, a light turns on in an upstairs bedroom.

“No way,” I say aloud.

I angrily go to the door and knock as loudly as I can.

A silver haired lady in a bright muumuu answers the door.

“Becky Jo, what are you doing here at this hour? Is there something wrong?” Sunny asks with confusion.

“I followed one of those guys who wakes me up and found he lives here – with you! Why didn’t you tell me he lives with you?” I demand.

“Have you hit your head?” She inspects my face. “No one lives here except me and my cat, Homer.”

“Every single morning these three guys walk past my room, one of them belting out
Dixie
as they go, they dig all day in that dry field across the street, the two black guys leave sometime in the afternoon, and then the white guy walks home by himself. I saw him go into your house and the light upstairs turn on!” I say with frustration.

“If it makes you feel better, I will show you no one’s in that room.” Sunny opens the door, inviting me in. “I’ve wanted to show you my latest project anyway.”

I follow her into the house and suck in a deep breath of air. The foyer is even more spectacular.

“I just stained the staircase this week,” Sunny says proudly as she runs her hand along the banister.

“You’ve done a beautiful job,” I reply truthfully.

She smiles before saying, “I assume you want to see the front bedroom?” I nod as she leads me to a closed bedroom. “Go ahead. You’ll see no one but spiders has lived in that bedroom for over a hundred years.”