Revived Spirits by Julia Watts Read Free Book Online Page B

to do otherwise wouldn’t.” She takes my chin and lifts up my face and looks at me. “Hm. Well, you have clothes in your closet we could probably put together for a suitably modest ensemble. But your hair. Your hair is a problem.”
    I pat my springy curls. “What’s wrong with it?”
    “Nothing’s wrong as far as I’m concerned,” Abigail says. “I find it lovely. But your friend’s grandparents wouldn’t. First of all, it’s red, which is far too flashy. They’ll be wanting a girl who looks like a sparrow, not a cardinal. Second, it’s curly. Wildly, freely curly, which is not at all modest. I don’t suppose the color can be helped, but we could iron it straight and maybe pull it back. How does your friend wear her hair?”
    “In a braid.”
    “Then that’s what we’ll do.”
    Adam starts looking at me too, which feels a little weird. “You know what?” he says. “We might be able to fix the hair color, too. I’ve got a movie makeup kit at home that’s got some temporary hair color in it. It washes right out when you’re done.”
    “Oh, that would be excellent!” Abigail says. “It should be brown. A plain, dull brown.”
    “Why do I feel like I’m having the world’s strangest beauty makeover?” I say.
    Abigail laughs. She loves to look at the beauty makeover photo spreads in the fashion magazines I bring her. “It’s not so much a makeover as a make-under, is it?” she says.
    When Caylie sits down across from Adam and me at lunch, I say, “I’ll do it. I’ll go meet your mom. I think we’ve figured out a way your grandparents will let me.”
    “We’re going to dress Miranda in Holiness drag!” Adam says.
    Caylie grins. “Just like me, huh?”
    “Yeah, I figure that way they won’t suspect me of being the Witch Girl.”
    Caylie nods. “This could work. I was thinking, though, it might be kind of weird if you just show up out of the blue wanting to go with us to the jail. Maybe I ought to invite you to the house first.”
    I hadn’t thought about this, but Caylie’s right. I can’t just appear out of nowhere and expect them to take me to see a family member in jail. At the same time, I don’t love the thought of having to act my Holiness girl role, not just once, but twice. “Maybe you should,” I say.
    “And you can’t call yourself Miranda,” Adam says. “Because I’m pretty sure you’re the only Miranda in town.”
    This is getting more complicated by the minute. I never thought I’d need an alias. “That’s tough,” I say. “If I have a fake name, I have to remember to respond when somebody calls me by it.” I sigh. “So what’s my name?”
    “Well, Mamaw and Papaw hate my name ’cause it’s worldly,” Caylie says. “So a Bible name would be good.”
    Adam grins. “How about Hepzibah or Moab?”
    Caylie giggles while I make a face.
    “Jezebel?” Adam says.
    “No Holiness person is gonna name their kid Jezebel,” Caylie says. “It has to be the name of a good person in the Bible.”
    “Esther?” Adam tries.
    “Esther sounds like an old lady,” I say. “Aren’t there any names in the Bible that are pretty?”
    “I think Ruth is pretty,” Caylie says.
    “Well, that’s my granny’s middle name, so it’d be easy to remember,” I say.
    “That’s perfect,” Caylie says. “You can just pretend you’re your granny when people talk to you.”
    I know what she means, but I don’t think this part of the plan will work. For one thing, nobody who talks to Granny calls her by her first name, let alone by her middle name. She’s “Granny” to the world. For another, it’s probably best not to pretend to be Granny when talking to Caylie’s grandparents. I’d start talking about charms and herbal potions, and they’d throw me out of the house faster than you can say “witch.”

Chapter Seven
    “ Ow !” Looking in the mirror, I’m shocked to see that my ear isn’t on fire. I’m using an old curling iron I found in my mom’s