Grey Zone by Clea Simon Read Free Book Online Page B

trying to reach her, she’d hear the call-waiting tone and cut her mother short.
    â€˜I think of it as assisted dreaming, really. Castaneda wrote quite a bit about it back in the seventies, Dulcie. Don’t you remember any of your early reading? I could send you his books.’
    â€˜Lucy, I’m waiting for a call from Chris.’ Also, she realized as her stomach growled, she was hungry. ‘And this must be costing you a fortune. Was there something you needed to tell me? I can call you back tonight—’
    â€˜No, no, tonight we’ve got our circle. It’s the full moon, you know.’ Dulcie didn’t. In the city, she tended to lose track of the lunar calendar. ‘And now that I have Merlin, I want to make sure I observe the correct ceremonies.’
    â€˜Merlin?’ Dulcie hesitated. Her mother hadn’t had a boyfriend for years. She supposed she ought to be happy for her. ‘Is he new to the community?’
    â€˜Oh, Jane – Moonthrush – couldn’t handle him any more. He hissed and spit at her.’
    â€˜Merlin’s a cat.’ Dulcie found herself smiling. Her mother had a pet!
    â€˜In this life.’ Lucy was back on solid ground. ‘I’m quite sure he’s an old soul, though. He has so much to teach me, you know. I’ve been dreaming, and I’m even thinking of taking out my tarot cards again, which I’m sure came from him. In another century, the authorities would have said he was my familiar. Did you know that as many cats were burned as witches as women were, both in Colonial times and back in England?’
    â€˜Yes, actually I did.’ Lucy’s predilection for books on magic had overlapped with the basic English department curriculum on Puritan New England. ‘Let me guess. Is Merlin a black cat?’
    â€˜I knew you had the gift! I had my first visions at a much younger age, of course. But your father—’
    Dulcie nodded, not really listening. The longer her father was gone, the greater his mythology had grown. Dulcie remembered him as a skinny, nervous man who had left Oregon on a quest, before settling down in an ashram in India. To his ex-wife, Dulcie’s mother, he was alternatively a prophet who would one day return or a wandering spirit who had passed through only to give her Dulcie and to teach them both the importance of a female-centered world. As Lucy rambled on about the latest news – apparently a semi-coherent letter had arrived – Dulcie realized that all these interpretations might have some validity.
    â€˜Merlin came from him, actually.’ Lucy seemed to be winding down. ‘He didn’t spell it out, but for those of us functioning at this level of consciousness, literal communication is no longer necessary.’
    â€˜I’m glad you have a pet, Lucy.’ An adult cat, especially, Dulcie thought, remembering Esmé’s bad behavior. ‘Wait, does Merlin hiss at you?’
    â€˜Not at all. I believe he was simply unable to communicate with Moonthrush, and she didn’t understand why he wouldn’t wear the cute little hat she had made.’
    â€˜Poor cat.’ Dulcie hadn’t meant to speak out loud. She checked her watch; Chris wouldn’t have a shift for several hours yet.
    â€˜It wasn’t only that, dear. He needed to get to me. And last night, he sent me the strangest dream.’
    Finally, Dulcie thought. Lucy’s calls almost always had a message. After, should she drop by Chris’s? Maybe pick up some bagels on the way?
    â€˜You see, it’s all about commitment. Care and commitment, Dulcie.’ Lucy waited, to make sure her daughter had heard her. ‘That big black cat sat right on my chest, and he told me that as a teacher, you have to take your responsibilities seriously. And that you could be a great teacher, Dulcie. You. He practically said your name out loud. But you are facing a great danger from