Forbidden Secrets Read Online Free PDF

bring the wash in, Savannah realized. All I heard were the sheets flapping in the wind.
    The wind howled, blowing harder and harder. Savannah suddenly had the feeling that someone was watching her. She stared up at Victoria’s window. It was dark and empty.
    Savannah heard a loud pop. She froze. “Victoria? Did you follow me out here?”
    Silence.
    She thought she saw someone moving behind the sheets. She grabbed one and whipped it back.
    But no one was there.
    Savannah shivered. Victoria’s ritual made me edgy, she thought. I never should have asked her to begin practicing her dark arts again.
    Snap! A sheet blew free of the clothesline. It enveloped Savannah. It muffled her scream as it wrapped around her. Tight. So tight. It pinned her arms to her sides.
    Savannah fell to the ground.
    I can’t breathe, she realized in a panic. I can’t breathe.
    She choked and gagged. The sheet filled her mouth. Blocked her nose. Suffocating her.

Chapter
    10

    I don’t want to die! Savannah thought. Please, I don’t want to die!
    She fought for breath. Struggling to drag air into her aching lungs.
    Savannah rolled over the ground, fighting to loosen the sheet.
    The sheet snagged on something—and Savannah heard it rip. She yanked it off her.
    Savannah scrambled to her feet, sucking in huge gulps of air. She looked up and saw Victoria. Her sister stood in the window, watching her.
    Victoria! Why didn’t she help me?
    A horrible idea occurred to Savannah. Victoria did this to me, she thought. She used her dark arts to scare me—to convince me to stay away from Tyler.
    The wind blew harder. The remaining sheets flapped wildly on the clothesline.
    You see, Savannah scolded herself. There is a rational explanation for what happened. A storm is coming in. The wind is fierce. Victoria didn’t do anything. The wind blew the sheet around me and I panicked.
    Victoria loves me. She would never harm me, Savannah told herself.
    Would she?

Blackrose Manor
    T he old woman contemplated the roses surrounding her. The black roses. As black as the ashes that remained after Tyler’s letter burned.
    â€œMy story would be so much happier if Tyler’s letter had never arrived,” she whispered in a hoarse voice. “Everything changed after the letter came. Everything changed after it burned.”
    She trailed her gnarled finger over a black flannel pouch. Long ago she had pinned it to her skirt.
    Its contents are supposed to ward away evil, she thought. But only if you believe. Only if you truly believe.
    A pretty little bird landed on the back of her chair.
    The withered woman turned slightly and looked at its bright blue feathers. They were the only thing of color in the garden.
    â€œDo you want to hear the rest of my story?” she asked in a raspy voice.
    The bird chirped.
    The old woman laughed softly. “Very well, then.”
    The war continued. Autumn arrived. The leaves changed color. But the sisters barely noticed. They both thought often of Tyler.
    Winter came. The chill winds circled the plantation. Circled the sisters. A coldness grew between Victoria and Savannah.
    By spring the sisters were drifting apart.
    Victoria no longer crawled into bed with Savannah when she was frightened.
    Savannah often sat on the front porch steps, watching the road—waiting. Waiting for the war to end. Waiting for another letter.
    â€œIf only Tyler had not written at all.” The old woman’s voice caught. She stared vacantly at the roses. Black. As black as Tyler’s hair. As black as—
    The bluebird twittered.
    The old woman grabbed the bird and tore off its tiny head.

Chapter
    11

    Whispering Oaks
Spring 1865
    T he bright sun warmed Savannah as she hoed the small garden.
    By summer we will have fresh corn to eat, she thought as she straightened her back. Corn, beans, and watermelon.
    Yesterday she had found a few seeds in the cellar, hidden beneath dust and old crates. She