She nodded. “Sure. My first appointment isn’t until eleven.”
“Perfect,” I said. “Stop by after the girls leave for school. The nurse comes at ten, so we’ll have a little time.”
“I’d like that. I have to admit, I’m very curious about this person.”
“You know what they say about curiosity,” I warned.
She frowned, took my hand again. “Ali, can I give you some advice?”
“Of course.”
She gave me that deep, penetrating Penny look I knew so well. “Don’t give her any more power than she already has.”
“What do you—”
“I mean, don’t go thinking she’s got supernatural abilities. She can’t see into your head.”
“I know that.”
“You’re not a defenseless little girl anymore. She can’t hurt you.”
I nodded, told myself that what Penny said was completely true.
So why didn’t I believe her?
SIXTEEN
THE BIRD WAS SCREECHINGagain.
I was there, standing in front of the old circular well, afraid to look down into it. I heard the bird cry out,eee-eee-eee, but it was louder, more ragged, almost like a human voice.
A voice callingAli, Ali, Ali…
Slowly I moved forward, put my hand on the rough cemented stone, willed myself to look down, but I kept my eyes clamped shut, not wanting to see.
Whatever was waiting for me down there was terrible. Too terrible. I couldn’t look. But I had to. I had to see. I heard Penny’s voice:You’re not a defenseless little girl anymore.
I counted to three and opened my eyes wide.
I was in my own bed, Mark beside me.
No well.
No bird.
It was only a dream.
I turned, put an arm around my husband, felt the comforting rise and fall of his chest, the warmth of his body. I looked past him at the clock on his side of the bed: 4:43 a.m.
The baby monitor crackled and hummed, but it wasn’t just static… there was a voice, soft and low:“Eee-eee-eee.”
“Your mother’s calling you,” Mark mumbled, rolling over.
I held still, listening.
“Ali, Ali, Ali,” my mother whispered.
Holding the monitor in my hand, I got up, shuffled across our carpeted bedroom, out into the hall. The monitor hummed. My mother was whispering now, soft and low, saying words I couldn’t make out. It sounded like she was speaking to someone.
