The Witch is Dead by Shirley Damsgaard Read Free Book Online

had their noses pressed to the opening, sniffing the air excitedly as the fields of corn, hay, and soybeans went flying by.

    At least someone was excited, I thought.

    Once we arrived at Roseman, I drove down the quiet lane to the back side of the park, away from the campgrounds. I stopped the car and we let the dogs out. They immediately took off down the path and into the woods. Tink and I followed.

    A light summer breeze ruffled the leaves overhead and helped keep the bugs at bay. I took a deep breath and smelled the scent of newly mown hay as we walked.

    “Ahh,” I sighed. “I love that smell.”

    “What smell?” Tink asked, breaking her silence.

    “Hay,” I replied, taking another deep breath. “It reminds me of when I was a kid and spent the summers with Grandpa and Abby.”

    “You spent a lot of time with them, didn’t you?”

    “Yup, a few weeks every summer until I was eighteen. I think Mother thought it was a good way to keep me out of trouble. It let Abby put me to work in the greenhouse.”

    “And you enjoyed it?” Tink stopped to pick up a broken twig and began to strip off the leaves as we continued walking.

    “Sure did. I don’t have Abby’s knack with plants, so after I killed several, she thought it wise to keep me busy watering and weeding.” I looked at her. “You like working with Abby, too, don’t you?”

    Tink threw the stick into the bush. “Yeah…” Her voice trailed away and she kept her eyes focused ahead. “Ophelia, I’m scared.”

    I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, our steps matching. “Why, Tink?”

    She scuffed at the leaves on the path. “What if the judge decides to put me in a foster home instead?”

    I dropped my arm and stopped in the path. “How did you come up with that idea?”

    “Nell. We talked about it the last time I stayed the night at her house.” She kicked a rock. “A judge took Roger Jones away from his family.”

    “Tink,” I said in an exasperated voice. “Roger Jones’s parents were mistreating him. I may not be the best mom in the world—I don’t bake you cookies, and home-cooked meals are in short supply—but I don’t think a court would call that mistreatment.”

    A small smile played at the corner of her mouth. “I guess you’re right.” She sobered. “But what if the judge says no for some other reason?”

    “I won’t let that happen,” I said with determination.

    “Could you stop it?”

    She had a point. Whatever ruling the court made, I’d be forced to follow it.

    “Look, why would a judge say no? Jason is willing to let me adopt you; Iwant to adopt you; you want to be adopted…” A sudden thought brought back my fear. “You really do want to stay here, don’t you?”

    Tink rolled her eyes and snorted. “Duh!” Her shoulders suddenly drooped. “This is my home now.”

    T.P. came running over to Tink with a stick in his mouth.

    She bent to take it away from him, but not before I saw her eyes fill with tears. She straightened and threw the stick.

    The happy puppy scrambled after it.

    I put my arm around her shoulder again and gave her a squeeze. “You have to have faith it will all work out—”

    “But…” she said, pulling away.

    “But what?” I asked when she didn’t continue.

    “The past three days have been weird,” she said, rushing her words. “First, I had that dream about the shadows in thewoods. Mr. Buchanan at the airport. Sheriff Wilson at lunch. I—I—”

    “Hey, slow down. You think all of this means something?”

    “Yeah.” She looked at me with worry written all over her face. “What if they’re some kind of premonition? It’s left me feeling bad every time it happened. Isn’t that what premonitions do to you?”

    “Tink, first of all—you’re not a psychic, you’re a medium—”

    “But what if a spirit is trying to warn me of impending doom?” she asked, cutting me off.

    If she hadn’t been so concerned, I would have