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  Simone had to repress the urge to make a cross of her fingers and tell Darci to get out. The truth was, Simone had seen more about Darci than she had ever seen about anyone else. It had been her grandmother who was the real soothsayer, a woman who saw things many years ahead. Simone regretted not having written down what her grandmother said. But all of the family had dismissed the old woman’s ranting.

  Her gift had been passed to her daughter, Simone’s mother, but it was diluted. Simone’s mother had hated seeing the future and had stayed at home, refusing to meet strangers or to touch them. Simone had inherited only about a quarter of her grandmother’s ability and her daughter Tula, none at all. All Tula had was an old recipe book that Simone’s grandmother, who couldn’t read or write, had paid a man to write for her. There were about a dozen herbal “spells” in there that Tula used to make her living and support her two children after her husband left them. Simone never doubted for a moment that her grandmother had foreseen Tula’s future need and had supplied it.

  Now, this young woman had come to Simone and she wished she could tell her more. As always, based on nearly eighty years of experience, Simone didn’t tell all she knew. She didn’t tell Darci that it wasn’t important whether or not she found her lost husband. However, it was very important she leave this place and go back to her own time.

  Simone also didn’t tell Darci that the beautiful golden light around her was fading fast. In the few minutes since she’d entered Simone’s house, the light had dulled.

  “You need to find out why you’re here, then go back,” Simone said. She wasn’t sure if Darci was from another time, another planet, or the next town over, but she didn’t belong here. Here was killing her rapidly.

  Darci held up the egg and looked at it. It was rusty and pitted, but there was no seam along its side from where it had been manufactured. It looked to be one piece of metal. “Have you tried to open it?”

  Simone smiled. “When I was a little girl I remember my grandmother cursing quietly as she tried to open that thing. She hit it with hammers, threw it in a fire, then into the snow. She took it to a blacksmith and he couldn’t dent it. She boiled it and chanted over it.”

  Simone looked at Darci. “On her deathbed she told me that I would be the one who would find the person who could open it.”

  “Ah,” Darci said as she put the silver box in one pocket and the egg in the other. “One of the twelve, not that that’s any use to me now since I’m stuck here.”

  “Don’t say that!” Simone said. “You must find your way back. I feel that you must.”

  “But how?” Darci asked. “If I could find the key to the box, maybe I could get back. You don’t have a little ceramic man about four inches high, do you? Blue clothes, brown cap, big ears?”

  Simone smiled. “No, but my grandmother used to talk to a rock. We children laughed at her, but she said he was a little man, the oldest object on earth and completely amoral. She used to keep him—”

  “In a cage made of string,” Darci said in a faraway voice, “because nothing else will hold him. And he eats—”

  “The salt from Jerusalem,” Simone said quietly.

  “And one raspberry a year. He likes raspberries.”

  Simone’s face was white. “You know of this creature?”

  “Sitting before you is the stupidest person on earth. I had him. When I was a little girl I found him by a stream and I knew everything about him in an instant. I made him a cage and he stayed with me for years. He’s very funny. And old. He thinks alligators are newcomers.”

  “Where is he?” Simone asked.

  “Either my mother threw him out or he’s in a closet in my hometown. I’ll probably never see that place again.”

  Leaning forward, Simone took Darci’s hands. “You must return. If I know nothing else, I know that you must go back to wherever you came from. You can’t let your body be destroyed tomorrow.”

  “How do I go back?” Darci asked. “And does Jack go with me? He wants to stay here with Lavender.”

  Simone leaned back and thought. “Do you think if you contacted this spirit Devlin or the man Henry you could find out more?”

  “I hope so,” Darci said eagerly. “I’m ready to do anything, try anything.”

  “Not far from here is a town called Drayton Falls. About three years ago a young woman there died. I don’t think it was her time to go, or maybe the grief of her family has kept her on earth. Whatever the cause, her spirit stays here and she haunts the house she loved. Her spirit is such a strong presence that no one can live in her house. If anyone has the strength to contact another world, she can.”

  Darci’s eyes brightened. “I’ll have Tom take me there now.”

  “No!” Simone said. “If you find the way back, you must take the two people you came with.”

  “How did you know that I came here with two people?” Darci asked suspiciously.

  “Their spirits are with you. Behind you. I see them. Their existence is linked to yours. If your spirit returns, they must go with you.”

  Darci smiled up. “I think you’re more like your grandmother than you know.”

  “A high tribute, indeed,” Simone said.

  Darci stood up. “It’s nearly time for tea with Jack and Lavender. I’ll get them to go to Drayton Falls with me.” She turned toward the door, then stopped and looked back at Simone. Pulling the egg from her pocket, she put it on a little table. “I came with the silver box so I think I’ll go back with it, but this egg might disappear. I’ll look around Camwell and see what I remember, then I’ll tell Tom where to hide the egg so I can get it later. All right?”

  “Does Camwell survive the coming war?”

  “War?” Darci asked, then drew in her breath. The War Between the States. That horrible war where more men died from disease than from weapons. Brother against brother.

  Simone watched Darci’s face and it told her more than she wanted to know. “My children are too old for the fight, but my grandchildren aren’t.”

  “Send them west,” Darci said softly. “As far west as possible. And, yes, Camwell survives. The buildings last a long time, but its reputation doesn’t.” She put her hand on the door handle.

  Simone started to stand up, but then sat back down. “I think maybe you’ve aged me today.”

  “If I can, I’ll see you again before I leave.”

  “No, you go back to where you came from. You’re needed there.”

  “If I return and I get my powers back,” Darci said softly, “I’ll find you. Wherever you are, whatever body you’re in, I’ll find you.”

  “I’d like that,” Simone said. “Now go. Go to Drayton Falls with your friends and see what you can find.”

  Smiling, Darci left the house.

  When Simone was alone, she looked at the fire and thought that she should get up and put on a piece of wood, but she couldn’t move. The girl said she had no powers, but the energy around her had drained Simone. What had she said? That some old blind man was probably the most powerful person on earth? He’d have to go some to beat that girl, Simone thought, and closed her eyes.

  She instinctively knew that she had one more thing to do, which was to bury the egg, then she’d leave the earth. She wasn’t sure, but she thought perhaps she’d just done what she was supposed to with her life. Everything else, all the people she’d helped in her long life had been lagniappe, that term from New Orleans that meant “something extra.”

  Smiling, Simone relaxed in the chair and let herself doze.

  On the drive back to Camwell, Darci tried not to allow all that Simone had said to frighten her—but it did. “Must” was a strong word. She must return to her own time, and Lavender and Jack must go with her.

  They were nearly back at Camwell when Darci saw a cemetery and called to Tom to stop. As he helped her down, he gave her a sidelong look that told her he knew everything. Obviously, he’d been eavesdropping again.

  She had no time to think about what