Once a Gypsy Page 15

  “Thank you, Father,” Graham answered.

  The vicar made his way back up the mezzanine, leaving them alone.

  “Where else do you think she’d be?” Helena asked Graham.

  He ran his hands over his face, as if trying to wipe away the stresses of his day. “I don’t know.”

  The candles on the altar sent up a tendril of smoke, reminding Helena of the incense in Ayre’s havari. “Wait… I know someone that might be able to help, a seer. I could call her.”

  “Do it.”

  She pulled Ayre’s tattered card out of her purse and punched the telephone number into her mobile.

  “Helena, I thought you’d be calling,” Ayre’s thin voice answered. “What happened?”

  “I need to find someone.”

  “Who is it?”

  “A woman, Rose. She’s been possessed.”

  “Aye. I see. There’s not much I can do without bein’ there.” Ayre took a long breath. “But you should be able to use your shaw to find her.”

  Her stomach jerked. “How do I use it?”

  “Harness the power of intention, ground your body, and then concentrate on the woman. If you can, you might be able to see the future.”

  “I don’t know her well.”

  “Oh. Is there someone who does?”

  “Aye, her son’s here with me.”

  Helena glanced over at Graham.

  He mouthed, “Okay?”

  She nodded, but her fear grew. What would happen if she tried to see? She’d never tried to use her forshaw before. What if the attempt didn’t work?

  Graham leaned close to the phone.

  “Good. Good,” Ayre continued. “You’ll need to harness his most powerful memory of Rose. Capture the power and use it as you think of the woman. You may not be able to see where she is, but you might be able to see where she’s going.”

  “I’ll try.” Helena struggled to push down her nerves. “Thank you, Ayre.”

  “You’re welcome, lass. You can always call.”

  The angels at the front of the church stared down at her with golden eyes as she slipped the mobile back in her purse.

  “Did you hear what she said?” she asked.

  Graham nodded solemnly.

  She laced her fingers between Graham’s. “Come on.”

  She led him to the front of the church and sat down on the pew. “Graham, what is the most powerful memory you have of your mam?”

  He exhaled. “It has to be the accident.”

  “Can you tell me about it? What happened?”

  Graham’s shoulders fell. “It all started a few years ago. I had just graduated from university. Mr. Shane had recently bought the manor and was getting things in order. We knew there was a power, but we had underestimated it. He and my mother thought they could control it, use it to their advantage…”

  The sound of the vicar’s footsteps echoed down from the mezzanine. A door clicked shut.

  “Have you ever heard of the Codex Gigas?” Graham asked.

  Helena shook her head. “Nah. What is it?”

  “Some people call it the Devil’s Bible. It’s a collection of prayers, but it also has different books of the Bible—including the Psalms of Solomon. A verse of which is as the manor’s words. You may have seen them on the parapet. “Except The Lord Build The House Their Labour Is But Lost That Build It.”

  “The original codex was written in the thirteenth century by a Benedictine monk, Herman the Recluse, and now it’s safely tucked away in the bowels of a museum in Switzerland. What most people don’t know is that another monk copied the book sometime after Herman’s death, and added in a collection of dark magic and spells.”

  The words echoed dangerously through the church and reverberated through Helena, making her ears ring. “How do you know there’s a copy?”

  “Because—” Graham squeezed her hand—“we found it within the walls of Adare Manor.”

  Helena’s heart rose into her throat. “And what does the book have to do with the accident?”

  “Danny was young when his visions began, about eight, and the strain of seeing things he couldn’t understand… Well, at night he couldn’t sleep, and during the day he was like a ghost. When he did finally fall asleep, he’d whimper and talk about terrible things before they’d happened, things no one—especially a young boy—should ever have to see.” Graham’s hand trembled. “When the visions started, my mother didn’t really understand what was going on, and she tried every therapy and quack cure. I hated every minute of it. I hated that I couldn’t help. And most of all I hated that I couldn’t stop the chaos around and within Danny.”

  Helena squeezed his hand. Shutting her eyes, she mentally grounded her body. She tried to imagine Danny. A deep sadness welled up within her, but she forced herself to focus on the power of Graham’s memories. “Go on.”

  “When we came here and began refurnishing the building, we found the book in a chamber built into one of the walls. It told of clairvoyance and the different kinds of psychic abilities, and how to control different aspects of the different maladies through the use of spells. They started using the book to help Danny with his visions. He started to get better and come out of his shell.

  “Unfortunately, as Danny started to talk about his visions, my mother and Mr. Shane realized they could use him to their advantage, to see things.” Graham sighed.

  “Soon they were making money from investments that Danny had helped them to find, but Mr. Shane wanted more.” His hands tensed and he pulled away slightly, but then stopped, as if forcing himself to continue. “He saw an opportunity in the codex. With the help of the book, they could use other supernaturals, covering their greed with a mask of altruism. They thought they could charge supernaturals to help them with their gifts, but my mother and Mr. Shane didn’t understand what they were doing.”

  Images began flickering in Helena’s mind, fuzzy and slightly out of focus, like a television on the brink of getting reception. “Keep going.”

  “They had me convinced that if we went a little deeper and used more from the book, we could help Danny. We could help him see only the things he wanted, or the things they needed him to see, and nothing else. I should have known better… I should never have gone along with it… I should have known that there is always a price. Anytime there is magic, there is the dark and the light. You can’t have one without the other. But I was so stupid. I bought into their idealism. One night, Rose and Mr. Shane began trying some of the Latin inscriptions from the book on Danny.” Graham sucked in a breath. “The manor has always been an area with a thin veil between the real and paranormal, but something they said that night, something they read, stretched the barrier even thinner.”

  The shadows in Helena’s mind started to twist and curl, forming images of people she didn’t recognize. The shadows moved faster and faster as Graham spoke.

  “One of the incantations they read caused a surge of energy, and the veil broke. Lost souls, phantoms, poltergeists, and demons filled the manor. Luckily, we only had a few guests, and they were relatively unharmed thanks to the vicar’s help. They thought it was all a big hoax—a séance we had created for their entertainment. The fools.”

  An image formed in Helena’s mind, of Mr. Shane standing over a giant, tan-colored book. The man muttered in a language she couldn’t understand. Behind him stood Rose, with long hair and pale, ghostly gray eyes, echoing his every word. Rose looked over at her as if Helena were there, giving her an eerie smile and then turning back to the book.

  Chills rippled down Helena’s body. “I see them; they’re readin’. Keep goin’.”

  “That night, Danny’s visions were out of control. He saw far into the future. He saw something he could never forget and something he couldn’t deal with… his own death. From that moment on, he’s been in the infirmary. At first I hoped that he would get better, but it’s been so long. I just don’t know anymore.”

  The vision flickered and star
ted to fade, and shadows filled her mind. “What happened to your mam?”

  “The spirits took her. She’d never been possessed before. She tried to kill Mr. Shane, but I stopped her.”

  Helena watched as another image of the chestnut-haired Rose formed. Her pale gray eyes had rolled back into her head, and her lips were jagged where she had gnawed through her own flesh. She looked at Mr. Shane with rabid hunger and raised a knife. Sticky blood dripped down her chin.

  Graham jumped between the two of them. Reaching out, he grabbed the demonic woman’s wrist and twisted the knife from her grip. Rose hissed and roared. The sound was deep and raspy, the voice of the long dead.

  It made Helena tremble.

  “Are you okay?” Graham squeezed her hand.

  She tried to control her body. “I’m fine.”

  Her trembling continued.

  “That’s enough.” Graham pulled his fingers from Helena’s grasp, and the vision stopped. “There has to be another way to find Rose. You don’t need to go through this.”

  “No.” Helena reached over and took his hand. “I’m okay. I need to do this. I need to learn how to control the gift. I need to help you.”

  He pulled his hand from hers and lifted it to her cheek. “I can’t put you through any more. We’ll find her another way.”

  In a secret compartment, deep in her soul, Helena was relieved. Seeing the woman go crazy, eyes bugging out, blood dripping from her lips as a demon’s voice escaped her lips—it was too much.

  Helena said a little prayer. Closing her eyes, she tried to envision where they could find Rose, but nothing came to her. A lump rose in her throat as a feeling of icy powerlessness passed through her.

  “What’s wrong?” Graham touched her shoulder, but she shrugged off his hand.

  “Nothin’. I’m grand. Just tired.”

  “Don’t lie to me. Your aura’s dark brown…”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.” Helena tried to force a smile. “But I think I need Ayre’s help.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  A redheaded girl ran across the road in front of them as Graham turned the car into the Traveller campsite outside of Limerick. Following close behind the girl was a young boy carrying a stick. To Graham’s left, a boy in a diaper sucked his thumb while his mother hung laundry.

  Graham glanced over at Helena. Her aura was a brown cloud, and had only grown thicker after they left the church. “Do you know where Ayre is?”

  “Her havari’s in the back. Just follow the path.” She motioned at a dirt trail that twisted between the trailers.

  Graham slowed to a crawl as he drove by more children. Near the back of the camp, he came to a round-topped wagon. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “Aye.” Helena nodded, chewing her nail.

  Graham reached out and stopped her from getting out of the car. “What’s wrong?”

  “I fail at everything I do.” Helena looked at him. “I’ll never be of any use to you. And what happens if I make a mistake? What happens if I hurt Rose, or Danny?”

  He cringed. “It’s worth the risk. Right now, what they’re going through, it’s no life. You’re their only hope.” He took her tight fist in his hands. “We’ll find Rose. She’s a danger, but this isn’t the first time someone has gone missing from the infirmary.”

  Her fist tightened. “If I can’t do this, what makes you think I’ll ever be of any use? What if I end up like Danny?”

  “No matter where you go in life—whether you stay at the manor, or if you choose to marry some Traveller—it won’t change who you are inside.”

  Helena’s face softened. “But Danny changed. What if the visions change me, too?”

  Graham ran his finger down her thumb and a spark flickered between them. “Danny was too young. Too soft. You know how the world works. There will be death. There will be horrors. But there’ll also be things so beautiful we can’t even begin to imagine them. You have to accept the bad, move past it and concentrate on the good.”

  He pressed their palms together.

  “You can’t just start doing something you’ve never done before and expect to be the best. No one can build a house the first time they raise a hammer. You saw my memories, yes?”

  Helena stared at their entwined fingers and nodded.

  “That’s pretty incredible. When I first realized I could read auras I was terrible at it. I didn’t know what the colors meant. It took me years to learn to read people. You’ve only known about your gift for a week. It’ll get better. It’ll get easier.” He leaned across the front seat and ran his hand down her soft cheek. “I’ll always be here for you—no matter what.”

  He glanced around to make sure no one was looking, and then leaned in and took her lips. She was tense and rigid as he swept his tongue over her sweet lips. As he kissed her, she yielded to his touch. A wild excitement shot through him as he thought how much their life could change.

  There was a knock on the car’s window. Helena jerked back, leaving him bent over the front seat. On the other side of the passenger window stood a strange-looking woman with long gray hair, which was matted into thick dreadlocks and adorned with blue and red beads. This must have been the psychic, but if he had seen her anywhere else, he would have thought she was a vagrant.

  “I see the Kenaz bone was right, lass.” Ayre smiled at Helena. “Ya do me proud.”

  Graham didn’t understand what the woman meant, but her aura was golden, the color of enlightenment and divine protection.

  He got out of the car and stepped over to the passenger side. “I didn’t mean for us to be snogging in front of your place.”

  “It’s okay, lad. I know you two are in love. It’s easy enough to see without the snogging,” Ayre whispered.

  “No. No, we aren’t in love. Nothing like that. We just—”

  “Met?” Ayre quietly finished his sentence. “You and I both know better. There are some things in this world that don’t have to be spoken out loud to make them true. I can feel it on you. And it ain’t of no matter whether you’ve known her for ten minutes or ten years. Love is love.”

  The car door clicked open, and Helena stepped out; thankfully she seemed unaware of what Ayre had said. “Did you tell her why we’ve come?” she asked.

  Ayre took Helena’s hand and closed her eyes. “Oh… I see,” the woman whispered, as if some secret message had passed between them.

  “You see what?” Helena jerked her hand back.

  “You didn’t find Rose. And you’re facing great darkness. Your Thurisaz, an inner demon, is busy at work within you.” Ayre turned to the weathered havari as she spoke. “I should’ve known that would be the form your Thurisaz would take. You are young yet, and have so many roads to choose from.”

  “It will get better, right?” Graham asked, as they followed the woman up the stairs to the door of the havari.

  “I could say it’ll get easier. In many ways, it does. So keep your chin up.” Ayre smiled softly. The door creaked as it swung open. Ayre motioned for them to enter as the scent of sage wafted toward them.

  Graham followed Helena and made his way to an overstuffed velvet pillow thrown upon the floor. Beside them was a well-worn table that stood at about knee height.

  “Please sit.” Ayre closed the door. She took a small bowl from the shelf, which sat behind the hanging herbs and next to the various bottles of liquor.

  “The water bowl is a fickle thing.” Ayre set the bowl on the table and looked at Helena. “Just like tapping into memories. That’s a difficult skill to master.”

  “She did it well.” Graham said.

  Helena smiled tiredly. “I tried. I was able to see into his memory, but it was so dark, so foreboding… It… it made me feel so black. I just can’t shake it.”

  Ayre nodded. “Memories are like quicksand. You fall in and sometimes you can’t pull yourself out.” Ayre moved to the far end of the havari and pulled one of the herbs down from the ceiling. “Here, chew
on this.”

  Helena took the dried plant. “Thank you.”

  Ayre took down a small glass and poured a finger of brown liquor. “Drink this when you’re done. It’ll help with the taste.”

  Graham looked over as Helena’s face pinched while she chewed. She gulped down the amber liquid. The scent of alcohol filled the air as she let out a long, harsh exhalation.

  “Are you okay?”

  Helena looked at him and smiled. The dullness in her eyes vanished, and a healthy glow returned to her skin.

  His shoulders relaxed as Helena’s aura changed back to its normal rainbow shades. “What was that you fed her?”

  “It was only a bit of dandelion root.” Ayre broke a sprig off of a dried bough and set it in a dish in the middle of the table. Striking a match, she lit the herb. Smoke curled up and filled the air with the strong, earthy scent of juniper. “Tonight, Helena, I want you to take a bath with elder bark and hawthorn, and by morning you’ll be back to your normal self.”

  Helena nodded. “Is reading memories always like this?”

  “All magic comes at a price. Each person has their own energy, their own pulse, and when you enter their world it can be hard on your body. Going into memories is advanced magic,” Ayre said. “Only time will tell what else you will be able to do, but you are already showing great talent.”

  “But I failed.”

  “Your abilities will grow. In the meantime, I can help.” The air in the havari stilled as Ayre lowered her head and started to speak in tongues. Her aura pulsed as she extended her hands over the black liquid. Gray smoke and glittering light swirled in the bowl. Her eyes closed, and her cheeks pulled in, revealing her narrow cheekbones. “Spirits of the past, let me see the future. Bring to the light the world that is to be for Rose Shane… Let me see what is to be.”

  The gypsy opened her eyes and stared into the bowl. Graham tried to concentrate on the water, to take in what she was seeing, but he could see nothing except the swirling glitter of the unknown.

  Ayre frowned. “The spirits are showin’ Rose to me. It looks like she’s in a cottage. White walls. There are pictures. She’s in someone’s home.”