A Wishing Moon Read Online Free PDF

location—Enchanted Rock. What significance the pink granite mountain had, she did not know.
    Despite the disappointment in her failure to garner his name or anything else about him, she felt absolutely wonderful. Her reaction to this man went beyond anything she had ever considered herself capable of feeling. At his slightest caress, she had been primed for passion. Arabella couldn’t comprehend what an actual physical encounter with him would be like, but she had hopes of one day finding out.
    She went through her morning regime on automatic, considering what step to take next. Could it be her destiny to find him? Were her nighttime visions a precursor to a future meeting? Did he have any knowledge of her or were they just destined to meet in their dreams? Arabella pondered all of these questions in her heart and prayed the answers would bring her the happiness she’d been denied so long.

    * * * *

    After Evangeline had arrived at Nanette’s elegant old home on Constance Street in the Lower Garden District of New Orleans, carefully controlled chaos had been the order of the day. Angelique had insisted time be taken to adequately pack everything she thought would be needed for the trip.
    Her grandmother had allowed Angelique to have her way, but the older woman had done her part to pack items she felt the younger two would overlook. She gathered her spell books, plenty of broken glass, nails, a case of canning jars and a five-gallon bucket of red brick dust. These things would be necessary for the protection ritual she intended to perform upon her arrival.
    Not knowing how long they would be gone, there was no question the cats had to be readied for the trip. A young boy brought the two large, black cats to their house one night. His parents would not allow him to keep them and he knew the Beauregaurde house would be a safe haven for the felines. Both of the cats were boys and Evangeline had named them ’Two-Bits’ and ‘Slim Pickins’ after two rappers she admired. Although Bits was heavier than Pickins’, Pickins’ was certainly not slim. While they were beloved, the cats could not be classified as familiars. However, when a spell or ritual was being carried out the toms were usually close by, so who could say whether they lent power to the workings or not.
    They loaded the black Jaguar sedan quickly and gassed up before leaving New Orleans. Angelique had driven out of the Crescent City about midnight and had headed west on Interstate 10. She hadn’t stayed on the interstate, but cut up north through the middle of the state and crossed the Sabine River as the sun came up.
    Evangeline took over the driving for the last five hours as they headed through the pine forests of East Texas. Nanette had dozed for several hours and Evangeline had rested for a little while, but Angelique remained alert. She constantly watched everything they passed—seeing things no one else could see.
    Angelique had a gift. She knew all gifts had their reasons, but this gift carried with it a great burden. Angelique could see and speak to the spirits of the dead—and the dead were everywhere. New Orleans seemed awash in the dead. The Katrina dead were the most active in New Orleans at the present. Mercifully, Alcee and Aimee had never made an appearance. The hurricane’s victims who lingered behind were angry over what had happened to them and what had happened to their city.
    Even in the home on Constance Avenue, the dead walked besides the living. Nanette’s mother, Patrice, still resided with the family–even though she had died thirty years previously. She and her grandmother were usually unaware of her presence unless she insisted Angelique pass a message to her daughter or her granddaughter.
    Angelique didn’t pretend to understand all there was to know about being dead, but she did know the choice to haunt or go beyond the veil didn’t seem to always be theirs to make. Moving on or going to the light didn’t seem to be an