WILLOW MANOR

Chapter Nineteen

Katie had a hard time keeping her mind on her work during the day. She was still a little shaken from the night in the mausoleum. And then, Bill had confirmed her worst suspicions about the mysterious animal that was in the graveyard. But the most startling revelation had come from Ravensong Music.

She felt a strange mix of relief and confirmation that her offer of employment had an earthly origin. It made perfect sense that the housekeeper had been the one to hire her over the phone. After all, ghosts couldn't use phones, could they? But Ravensong had also said her friend had told her to hire Katie. And her friend, Mrs. Barrington, was a ghost. And a witch.

But how could that be? Deidre Barrington, a witch? She was high society, a lady of standing in the town. Was Katie supposed to believe that Deidre, in between fancy company events, was casting spells and whatever else witches do?

But Ravensong had been quite clear. She and Mrs. Barrington were members of a coven. She said they had placed all the protection statues around the house. Walter had even previously confirmed this, without knowing so. The statues were there to protect Deidre's family. And the statues had Grandma's code written on them. And Grandma was not just a member of Deidre's coven. Ravensong said Elizabeth was her High Priestess. Elizabeth, Katie's grandmother.

Was Deidre the one calling to her at night? Save them. Save my babies. Had Deidre engineered Katie's coming to Willow Manor? Did she know about Davicus? Did she know about Arabella? What did she expect Katie to do against such supernatural creatures that she, a ghost witch, could not do?

Deidre's legacy. What did Ravensong mean, Katie must save Deidre's legacy? What did she mean when she said Grandma had passed on her legacy to Katie? What did she mean, Grandma was insistent Katie was ready? Ready for what? What was she supposed to do?

"Earth to Miss Gallagher." Blake waved his hands in the air and she realized she had been staring off.

"I'm sorry. I must have been daydreaming." Katie glanced down at her lesson plan and smiled. "Okay Delia, please spell bacon. Today we had bacon and waffles for breakfast."

Delia did not even pause. "b...a...c...o...n."

Katie nodded. "Excellent!"

Blake slouched in his chair. "Because it was easy."

"I'm littler than you, Blake!" Delia defended herself.

"Pay attention to your own words, Blake." Katie raised her eyebrows at Blake. "And sit up, please."

"Pshhhft." He made a show of struggling to sit up, even though he only shifted his slouch to the right. "Give me a hard one, why don't you?"

"Blake, your word is machine." Katie motioned with her hand for him to sit up straight. "A can opener is a kind of machine."

He sat up. "A stupid kind of machine."

"You shouldn't say stupid." Delia corrected him. "Tell him, Miss Gallagher."

"Why?" Blake laughed. "Will it hurt the can opener's feelings?"

Katie frowned mildly. "No, but it's a rude way to speak, at any rate."

Blake rolled his eyes. "Fine. Can opener. C...a...n..."

Katie was not fooled by Blake's shenanigans. "Your word is machine, Blake."

"Oh. Right." He laughed. "M...a..."

The door opened and Bill motioned to Katie. "Can I have a word with you?"

"We're in the middle of class, Bill." Katie tried to read his expression. He looked stressed. "Can it wait?"

Blake's voice trailed off. "Uuuuuuuuhhhh... c..."

Bill shook his head. "I'm afraid not."

Blake got even softer. "H...?"

"Ok then." Katie nodded and motioned for Bill to follow her to the other side of the room. "Kids, study your spelling words. I'll be right back."

Blake watched her carefully, mumbled a bit, then announced. "Machine."

Katie lowered her voice to speak to Bill. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Blake leaned over the table to his sister and laughed softly. "Miss Gallagher and Bill are boyfriend and girlfriend."

Delia was horrified. "Nuh-uh."

"Walter just called from the hospital." Bill said softly. "The doctor wants to keep Clarissa overnight for observation."

Katie nodded, worried. "Is she okay?"

"Uh-huh." Blake asserted. "Look how he comes in and whispers to her. Oh, Miss Gallagher. I love you and I want to kiss you on the mouth."

"Shut up." Delia shoved him away from her. "That's not funny."

"The doctor was very concerned about the bite marks on Clarissa's body." Bill raised his eyebrows. "So was Officer Jones, once he heard about them."

Blake laughed. He was getting excited and having trouble staying quiet. "It's true. Look at how he looks all lovey-dovey at her."

Delia shook her head. "Gross. Bill is old."

Katie's brows came together. She glanced at the floor. The bites on Clarissa's neck were unmistakable. Anyone looking at them would know they were vampire bites. How would they handle that when Officer Jones came to question them about vampires? "What has she told them?"

"So?" Blake grinned. "Miss Gallagher's old, too."

Delia seemed unsure now. "Yeah, but Miss Gallagher's pretty."

Bill shrugged. "Walter said she was confused and couldn't remember how she got the marks."

"Yeah, she's okay." Blake agreed. "If you like old ladies."

Katie met Bill's gaze again. "Did she say anything about the mausoleum?"

Blake laughed loudly now. "Like, I guess, Bill does."

"Not as far as I know." Bill shook his head.

Delia stood. "Stop, Blake."

Katie nodded. "Well, at least there's that."

"Oh, Miss Gallagher." Blake laughed and made kissing noises. "I love you so much."

"Shut up, Blake!" Delia was loud now, too.

"I don't hear much studying going on." Katie raised her voice and turned to look at them both. "I guess you're done practicing and ready for a written spelling test?"

"No, Miss Gallagher." They both mumbled.

"All right then." Katie pointed to their papers on the table. "Back to studying your words."

Bill waited a moment for the children to calm down. Then he said, "Pretty sure Marcus Jones will be back to ask more questions."

Katie nodded. That was expected, but she wasn't happy at the thought of another interrogation by Officer Jones. "Of course."

"What will we tell him?" Bill said quietly.

"The truth. The same thing we told him last time. That creepy guy Davicus kept coming around. You scared him off. And then he came back on a night he thought you'd be gone and you ran him off again." She shrugged, then a thought occurred to her. "There's no...?"

"Body?" Bill finished. "No."

"Did you..." Katie wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer, but she had to ask. "You know...?"

"Eat him? No. Jeez." Bill looked disgusted. "He turned to dust. Why would you think that? Honestly!"

"I didn't..." Katie blushed at her faux pas. "What will you say about why you were still here?"

"Same as before. Sleeping it off." Bill shrugged. "What will you say about the mausoleum?"

She nodded. "Same as before. I followed Davicus and Clarissa."

Bill sighed. "Good. Okay. See you later then."

Katie turned back to the children as Bill left the room. "Okay. Who's ready for more spelling?"