"You weren't worried that I might kill you?" Esther asked.
"I hoped you wouldn't." AnnMarie said. "And if you did, then... oh well."
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Esther LaGrange never stays in one place too long...
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It didn't seem to take long to make it to the island. There was a crumbling, rotten dock that jutted angrily out into the black water where Esther tied the canoe. When they stepped onto the island, Esther clicked off the lantern. The light vanished quickly, leaving them in a thick pool of darkness. After a moment, Esther's eyes started to adjust to the dark.
Beside her, she could see AnnMarie glance around with a measure of fear, her eyes looking but not able to see in the darkness. The girl's hand stretched out, uncertainly catching Esther's fingers and squeezing them tightly.
"It's okay." Esther said.
"I—I'm okay." AnnMarie said, though the shaking in her voice told Esther it was a lie.
"Are you sure?"
"I am a little bit scared of the woods." AnnMarie admitted. "When I was little, I heard about a girl that disappeared in town. She wandered into this small patch of woods— not even a quarter of an acre— and never came out. They looked for days, cut all of the trees down, but she had just... vanished. The woods are dangerous. I don't want them to take me."
"We'll be okay. You've got me." Esther said. "Not to mention, you're pretty tough yourself."
"Do you think so?" AnnMarie asked timidly.
"Of course."
"Alright then." AnnMarie squeezed her fingers. "Let's go then."
Esther largely stumbled through the dark behind AnnMarie. It was strange, bumbling around with her eyes closed, only guided by the warm, gentle tugging of AnnMarie's hand. She was so used to seeing in the darkness— seeing well in the darkness. It was unnerving to be dependent on someone else.
AnnMarie walked with a confidence Esther hadn't been expecting with how scared she had been not long earlier. Maybe it was fear. Esther couldn't see her face, after all. The speed and steadiness with which she strided through the trees could have been from an anxious desire to have it all over and done with.
Suddenly, she heard AnnMarie's quiet, careful steps suddenly come to a stop. Esther paused as well.
"What is it?" Esther asked.
"The trail stopped here. I don't see any more magick." She said, "Should we dig?"
Esther opened her eyes.
"Show me where."
She could see again. AnnMarie was standing just in front of a large cypress tree. Knobby knees reached up from the ground, and Spanish moss hung limply from the scraggly branches. She pointed at the ground just a few inches in front of the tree.
Esther picked up her shovel and pushed it into the dirt. The earth came up easily, damp and dark. She didn't have to dig for long before something white started to peak out from the dirt. Using the tip of her shovel, she carefully dug into the ground around it, and pulled it up further.
