“That’s one of the things you’re going to have to figure out.” Sam’s face was serious. “And quickly. You’re running out of time.”
“That’s just great,” Olivia muttered. “I hate running behind, especially when I haven’t seen the schedule.”
“Is there anything else you can tell us?” Theo asked.
Sam watched them contemplatively. “I’m going to be in so much trouble for this…” He sighed as he turned to Olivia. “The night you were lured out into the woods, where were you when you woke up?”
“In the clearing at...oh.” Her mouth formed the word slowly as the realization set in. “Boothe’s Hollow...Nathaniel Boothe.”
“What you need to ask yourself,” Sam told them both, “is, how did the Hollow get its name?” Sam suddenly tilted his head, his eyes distant as if listening to something they couldn’t hear. “I have to go.” He pushed away from the desk and stepped closer to the pair of them. “There is one more thing I want you to know.” His gaze turned to Olivia his eyes filled with sympathy. “Olivia, if I could spare you the pain that is coming, I would…”
She blinked, and he was gone.
“Well, that just fills me with confidence,” she muttered sourly.
“I suppose we should find out what we can about Boothe’s Hollow,” Theo said.
“There’s only one person to go to if you want to know anything about the town’s history,” Olivia told him.
“Your friend at the museum?” he guessed.
“That’s right.” Olivia pulled her phone from her pocket and glanced at the time.
“Hello,” the older woman’s voice answered on the third ring.
“Renata? It’s Olivia.”
“Oh, hello, dear. Did you find any more on that cleric’s family you were researching the other day?”
“No, I haven’t, but I wanted to ask you something else, if you have a moment?”
“Of course, what did you want to know?”
“It’s about Boothe’s Hollow. Do you know how it got its name?” she asked.
“I do, as a matter of fact, and it goes back to your ancestor, Hester West,” Renata replied.
“It does?”
“Yes,” she began. “According to local legend, when Hester and her sister, Bridget, fled Salem, they settled by the lake. After a while, other survivors of the witch trials drifted in, one by one and in pairs, and not just from Salem but from all over. It was like they were drawn to Mercy. They knew it was a safe haven for their kind.”
“Yes, I know that,” Olivia answered.
“Anyway, from what I understand, the legend says a demon disguised in human form followed the sisters here. Hester lured him into the woods and caught him in a devil’s trap, sealing it with her own blood. Boothe’s Hollow is supposed to be the location of the devil’s trap, so it was named after the demon.”
“I see,” Olivia murmured.
“Do you think it is in some way connected to the Nathaniel Boothe you were researching the other day?”
“Who knows?”
“Oh, well, if you discover anything new, do let me know.”
“I will.” She nodded. “Thanks, Renata.”
Hanging up the phone, she turned back to Theo and repeated what she had just learned.
“You don’t actually think the demon was Nathaniel Boothe?” Theo scowled. “The Nathaniel Boothe I knew was just a man.”
