Time of the Witch (9 page)

"This here is Laura, Wanda's friend," Charlene said.

I smiled and said "hi," but Eddie barely looked at me. I might have been a little bug or something as far as he was concerned.

Without saying anything to either Wanda or me, Eddie sat down on the railing and took a swallow out of a can of beer. He didn't even look when the screen door slammed behind Charlene. Reaching into his back pocket, he took out a pack of cigarettes and lit one.

Wanda sidled up to him, smiled, and said, "Can I have one, Eddie?"

"Hell, no." Eddie gazed off at the mountains and drank some more beer, tipping his head back so that his Adam's apple stuck out and bobbed up and down.

"Aw, come on, Eddie. Charlene lets me," Wanda persisted.

"I said no." Eddie frowned at Wanda. "You ask me one more time, girl, and you won't be eating for a while."

"How come?" Wanda stared at him.

"'Cause I'll knock every one of them pearly little teeth down your throat. Now go play dolls or something and leave me be." He laughed as if he was just teasing her, but I wasn't so sure it was all a joke. His eyes were sort of mean looking.

To my relief, Wanda opened the screen door and started to go inside. "I sure don't play with no dolls!" she said from the doorway, but Eddie was staring off into space as if she didn't exist any more. "Stupid!" she muttered. "Keep your old cigarettes all to yourself and die of lung cancer. See if I care."

If Eddie heard her, he didn't have anything to say, so we went inside.

Annabelle was sitting in front of the television set staring glumly at two people trying to win a trip to Las Vegas. "Fireman!" she shouted. "Football player! Motorcycle cop! Soldier!"

From down the hall, I could hear Tanya Marie fussing. "Hold still!" Charlene shouted. "Don't you want your daddy to be proud of you?"

"Oh, Lord," Annabelle sighed. "Oh, Lord." She swallowed some coffee and added, "I told you to say fireman!" The fat woman on television was crying because she'd just lost the trip to Las Vegas and the quizmaster was trying to cheer her up by telling her she was going to receive a lifetime's supply of dishwasher detergent.

"Where do they get these people?" Annabelle waved at the TV screen. "I swear they find the dumbest people in the whole U. S. of A. to be on this show. Charlene could get on it easy, her and Eddie both."

Ignoring Annabelle, Wanda led me down the hall to Charlene's room. Charlene was sitting on the bed with Tanya Marie in her lap, trying to pull a dress over the struggling baby's head.

"No, no! No dress!" Tanya Marie screamed.

"Sit still, dammit! Don't you ever say no to me!" Charlene shouted, her face red with anger. Then she hit Tanya Marie, slapped her so hard it made a sound like someone cracking a whip.

"Don't you ever hit that baby again!" Annabelle entered the room and snatched the screaming baby out of Charlene's arms and tried to comfort her.

"I didn't mean to hit her!" Charlene cried, tears running down her cheeks. "I just got to get her ready. Suppose Eddie gets tired of waiting and runs off again?"

"It'd be no big loss," Annabelle said, rocking Tanya Marie on her hip.

"What the hell's going on in here?" Eddie stuck his head through the doorway. "What's wrong with the kid?"

"Nothing." Charlene tossed her hair back and smiled at Eddie. "She just didn't want to get her dress on."

"You ready?" Eddie looked around the little room, taking in the dolls and stuffed animals heaped in the middle of the bed, the suitcase bulging with Charlene's clothes, the cardboard cartons full of Tanya Marie's toys, the dresses, skirts, and coats draped over a chair. "You ain't taking all this, are you?"

"It'll fit in the truck, won't it?" Charlene smiled at him.

"I doubt it. And I told you all I got is a one-bedroom apartment in Wheeling. I sure ain't got room for all this junk." He picked up a long-haired doll wearing a red satin dress and tossed it to Wanda. "Give all this stuff to your sister," he said to Charlene.

"I told you I don't play with dolls!" Wanda threw the doll back on the bed and glared at Eddie, but he picked up a box of Tanya Marie's things and walked out of the room.

"Just leave all this stuff for now, Charlene. You can always get it later." Annabelle slipped a dress over Tanya Marie's head and smoothed her curls. "Now don't you look just beautiful?"

Annabelle hugged Tanya Marie. "If things don't work out, Charlene, you can always come back here."

"Things are going to be just fine." Charlene looked at herself in her dresser mirror and fluffed her hair. "He just has to get used to the idea of marriage, that's all. He'll make a fine husband for me and a wonderful daddy for Tanya Marie. I just know he will."

"I hope so." Annabelle left the room, crooning to Tanya Marie.

Charlene bent down to pick up her suitcase, but changed her mind and hugged Wanda instead. "See? Things are working out just fine after all. Didn't I always say they would?" Waving an arm at the pile of dolls and animals, she added, "You really can have them all, Wanda. You take good care of them, though. I don't want to find them all messed up when I come visiting."

Wanda looked embarrassed. "Don't worry, Charlene. They'll be okay."

"Well, you take care of yourself, Wanda. I'll write and tell you all about married life." Charlene laughed, "Well, maybe not all. You're kind of young yet." Charlene kissed Wanda on both cheeks and picked up her suitcase. "Here, help me carry some of this stuff, will you?"

Picking up a box, we followed Charlene outside. When the truck was loaded, Charlene kissed everybody good-bye, even me, and climbed in beside Eddie. Holding Tanya Marie on her lap, she waved and blew kisses, and Eddie nodded glumly at us all. With a grating
sound, he shifted into first gear and drove down the driveway.

Charlene leaned out the window, her hair blowing around her face, and waved again. "Bye-bye, you all! Bye-bye!" she shouted.

Then the truck turned out onto the road and disappeared around a curve, leaving a cloud of dust behind.

Annabelle stared after the truck, shaking her head. "Oh, well," she said to nobody in particular, "I guess I'll go on up to the house and watch some TV."

We stood there in the hot sun, watching Annabelle climb the sagging steps. The door slammed shut behind her and then there was silence.

"Let's go on down to the creek. It's cooler there," Wanda said.

We cut through the woods behind Wanda's house and waded into the water, splashing each other till we were soaked and a little cooler.

"Annabelle didn't seem very happy about Charlene and Eddie," I said after a while. I was kind of puzzled about the whole thing myself. Eddie certainly hadn't acted especially happy about being there; in fact, he'd been downright unpleasant, surly, and unfriendly—not the least bit romantic. I was very disappointed in him and I had a feeling that Charlene was disappointed too. I couldn't believe that she really thought Eddie was going to be a good husband or a wonderful daddy. He just didn't show any signs of it at all.

Wanda skipped a stone across the creek. "Five times." She looked pleased. "I never skipped one more than four times before." She bent down to look for another stone. "Annabelle don't think much of Eddie," she said. "Never has. She was always trying to run him off before he got Charlene pregnant. They used to have some really awful scenes, her and Charlene, about Eddie."

"Does Eddie always act so mean and grumpy?"

Wanda nodded. "I never seen him smile or act nice to nobody. I think Charlene's crazy to go off with him." Wanda sighed and skipped another stone across the water. "Just three this time. Guess that makes it about average."

I waded farther out in the creek, feeling the cool water creep up around my knees. "Poor Tanya Marie," I said, more to myself than to Wanda.

"What do you mean?" Wanda skipped another stone across the water, frowning as it sank after only two hops.

"Well, if Charlene comes back to Annabelle instead of getting married, Tanya Marie won't have a father after all. I kind of wanted her to have a family."

"There's worse things than not having a father." Wanda kicked a spray of water in my direction. "And she'll have a family with Charlene and Annabelle and me, just like she's always had."

"You can't have a family without a father."

"Are you kidding?" Wanda stared at me as if I'd lost my mind. "I never had a father I can remember, but I've had a family all my life. My brothers and my sister and Annabelle. I never even had a mother, but I sure had a family!"

"Maybe it's because you don't remember your father. But as far as I'm concerned, our family ended the day my dad left." I looked at Wanda curiously. "Don't you ever wish your mother and father would come back?"

Wanda shook her head. "When I was little I used to, but I hardly ever think about them now. If they were
to walk in the front door one day and say they were here to take me away to a new home, I wouldn't go. I'd stay right here with Annabelle."

I looked past Wanda, at the sunlight making shiny patches on the water. "I want my mother and father to live together, and I won't feel like a family until they do." I paused and looked at Wanda. "That's why it's so important for me to go to Maude's tonight. Will you come with me, Wanda? Please?"

Now it was Wanda's turn to look away, to bend over the water and look for stones to skip. Finally she stood up straight and smiled kind of unsurely at me. "If you really want me to, I will, but I wish you wouldn't go there at all. I wish you'd just leave things alone."

I grinned at her, relieved that I wouldn't have to go by myself. "Do you think Annabelle would let you spend the night at my house? I know Aunt Grace wouldn't mind."

"Sure she would."

"Go on home and ask her, okay? If she says no, we'll think of something else. But don't tell her about Maude. She might not let you come if she knew we were going to her house."

"If it's okay with Annabelle, I'll come over after supper." Wanda climbed up the bank. At the top, she stopped and looked down at me. "I sure hope we aren't going to be sorry about doing this."

"Why would we be sorry? Having my mother and father together again would be the best thing in the whole world."

Wanda didn't smile. She just stood there, staring at me. "What about Charlene and Eddie? Maybe the kind of spells Maude casts don't bring happiness, Laura."

"That's ridiculous, Wanda. Maude was my grandmother's friend. She wants to help me, I know she does."

Wanda shrugged. "I hope so, Laura." She edged away from me, turned, and ran up the path into the woods. "I'll see you later," she called, and crashed off through the bushes.

As the woods slowly grew quiet, I waded ashore, thinking about what Wanda had said. Suppose she were right? I shook my head. No, that was crazy. Not only was Maude my grandmother's friend, but my mother and father weren't like Charlene and Eddie. They were older and smarter and deep down inside they really loved each other. All they needed was a push in the right direction, and Maude was just the person to give it to them.

"Krrrrk?"

Startled, I looked up. There was a crow perched on a branch, staring down at me.

"Well, well, Laura Adams, our paths cross again." Maude stood in the path, as still as a statue, leaning upon her stick and smiling at me. "My, my, did I scare you again? My step is quiet, isn't it?"

When I didn't say anything, she smiled even more and stepped closer to me. "Am I to expect you tonight? You know now that my spells work, do you not? As I granted Charlene's wish, I can grant yours, Laura. I can give you a family. A mother and a father, a son and a daughter, the way it should be."

"Yes." I stared at Maude, her layers of skirts, dresses, petticoats, shawls, sweaters and scarves fluttering about her, soiled and frayed. "Yes, I'll come." My heart pounded so hard against my ribs I was sure Maude could hear it.

"And Wanda will come with you." Maude nodded,
chuckling to herself, her hands twisting her walking stick. "Tonight at midnight, Laura Adams, in memory of Margaret Randall. I'll be waiting."

Without saying more, Maude turned and made her way back into the woods, her progress slow but barely audible. No swishing branches, no rustlings underfoot. One minute she was there, Soot on her shoulder, and the next she was gone, fading into the greenery as silently as a dream.

From eight o'clock on, I sat out on the front steps waiting for Wanda. The sun was almost level with the mountaintops, sending long shadows across the lawn, and a small crescent moon, no bigger than a thumbnail clipping, was already floating in the pale blue sky.

"When's Wanda coming anyway?" Jason was sitting next to me, trying to finish his Popsicle before it melted and ran down his arm in a sticky orange trickle.

I pointed down the road. Wanda was coming around the curve below the house. The setting sun touched her hair with fire and her shadow stretched so long it looked as if it were cast by someone walking on stilts.

Leaving Jason behind, I vaulted off the porch and ran to meet her. "Where have you been? It's almost nine o'clock!"

Wanda laughed. "Mr. Evans came over to keep Annabelle company, and he had to show me all his little tricks, like pulling quarters out of my ears and stuff like that. He does the same ones every time, and if he let me keep all those quarters, I'd be rich by now!"

"Who's Mr. Evans?"

"Annabelle's boyfriend."

I laughed. "Annabelle's boyfriend? How could Annabelle have a boyfriend? She must be almost sixty years old!"

"That don't make no difference."

"But she's even older than Aunt Grace!"

Wanda looked puzzled. "Don't your aunt have a boyfriend?"

"Are you kidding?" I burst out laughing again, trying to imagine Aunt Grace having a date.

"How about your mother and father? I bet they have plenty of dates."

"They do not!" Suddenly it wasn't funny. I glared at Wanda, furious with her for suggesting such a thing about my parents. If I hadn't needed her to go with me to Maude's, I'd have really told her off, but I bit my tongue and didn't say anything else.