Garden of the Moon Read Online Free PDF Page B

imagination.”
    “But I’m ever so happy just being here, and I’m not seeking any answers.” At least she hadn’t been until a few moments ago. “How can you tell me there’s evil in this house, then not tell me what it is?”
    “Your happiness depends on you learning the answers on your own. They’re a part of you, Sara. They always have been.” She stood as if to leave. “Search your heart.”
    “No!” Sara said loudly. “You can’t go. Not yet.” She lunged for her grandmother’s hand, but Gran stepped out of Sara’s reach.
    “Now, now, dear. Just remember what I said. Evil may lurk here, but something special also awaits you here.” She smiled warmly. “Believe me, no matter how harrowing the journey, it will be worth it.”
     
    ***
     
    A million unanswered questions. Would she ever find the answers? Her brain throbbed. She fought to make sense of all her grandmother had said. “But what awaits me? What is so special? How can I find the answers to any of this?”
    “Go to Candlewick Plantation and talk to Clarice Degas.”
    “Clarice Degas? I–”
    The older woman sighed. “I must go, my darling Sara.” She glanced toward the pulsating light. It had begun to grow brighter and throb more insistently. “Ezra is waiting for me, and if you recall, I’ve often told you that your grandfather was never a patient man, and bless his heart, he’s waited a very long time for me to join him.”
    “But, Gran, you can’t leave me. I need you. I need your help.”
    Wordlessly, Gran walked toward the vibrating light, and then stopped and turned back toward Sara. “Be careful, my darling girl, and be happy. Above all else trust in the power of love.” Gran smiled and waved, and then she stepped into the light.
    In the time it took Sara to open her mouth to protest, the light closed in on itself, and Gran was gone, leaving in her absence only the faint, sweet scent of magnolias and a stifling silence.
    Feeling as though she’d lost her grandmother yet again and fighting back tears, Sara collapsed back on the pillows. Bewildered, she lay in the big, moonlight-dappled bed with her grandmother’s warning ringing in her ears and wondered if she’d dreamed the entire bizarre incident. But in her heart, where the fear had taken root, she knew she hadn’t. Levering herself up on one elbow, she glanced toward the portrait above the fireplace.
    Had the woman’s lips turned up in a sinister smile?
     
    ***
     
    Sara played with the golden pancakes and brown sausages that Chloe, one of the best cooks in New Orleans, had prepared for her. Despite her gloomy mood, Sara smiled. Would her mother ever get over the loss of her cook? Would she ever forgive Sara’s father for giving Raina’s mother to Sara?
    Though her mother had protested hotly at losing both Chloe and Samuel, Sara’s father believed strongly in keeping the families of his slaves together. It never would have occurred to him to separate Raina, her sister and their parents. When Sara took Raina from the New Orleans’ house, it followed that her mother and father would go with her. Patricia had thrown her usual temper tantrum, but to no avail. Gran would have approved heartily of how her son had stood his ground.
    Thoughts of her father’s mother nudged Sara’s mind back to the night before. She continued to absently push her breakfast around her plate. In her head, she replayed the visit from her ghostly grandmother.
    Seeing a ghost wasn’t what concerned her. God knows she’d seen here share in her lifetime and had gotten quite accustomed to it. What bothered her was the message her grandmother had imparted. Was there really something special waiting for her here? If so, what? And what was the evil at Harrogate? And how was she to fight something when she had no idea what it was? Then her grandmother’s voice played through her mind.
    Go to Candlewick Plantation and talk to Clarice Degas .
     
    ***
     
    Unlike Harrogate’s austere,