Enchanted, A Paranormal Romance / Fantasy (Forever Charmed) (15 page)

“Lucas told me she was hung. And that his however many greats grandfather testified as a witness in the trial against her,” Mandy said, feeling her pulse quicken.

“That’s true. And this just happens to be a letter from said gentleman,” Nana said nearly spatting out the last word.

“Well what does it say?” Mandy demanded, realizing that the letter was about to reveal some important truth to her.

“See for yourself, in the words of Daniel O’Leary, the esteemed doctor of yesteryear’s York,” Nana said passing the letter to Mandy.

I write in haste, as this will not be pleasant for either of us. Hence, I will get directly to the business at hand. It appears you mean to drive me out of business, Woman! I have not a steady income but rather a dwindling one as more and more of the good people of York seek out your incompetent hands instead of my own educated ones. I am left scrambling to put food on my table. This cannot be. I know not what you do, but I do know what you be. You use the supernatural to do your evil healing. The devil does your bidding in healing the sick and frail in exchange for souls, yours and the unsuspecting. Whilst so far you have not been caught, you had better sleep lightly, Goodwife Nasson. For if you so much as have one patient whom does not make a recovery from your treatments, I will use that as an opportunity to expose you of your shameful deceits. I will make it known by any means I can secure, that you are indeed a witch and so binded to the devil himself. The town will not have it as I can no longer tolerate you. I swear to you, upon everything that is holy, that if you so much as try to defend yourself, the sparing of your neck will mean that of your sister’s. And if I so much hear that you have even breathed a hint of this letter to anyone, there will be no reckoning with me. Take this in silence and treat your patients wisely, Goodwife, for if there comes a day you do not have a victory, I will be there to celebrate your loss. Hear me now, for I am

Doctor O’Leary

His name was signed with a flourish, highlighting how proud he was of his title. Mandy suddenly realized she was holding her breath and inhaled and exhaled quickly. The words on the page seemed to be getting blurry. “Are you all right, Dear?” Nana asked, searching Mandy’s blank face. “You look rather pale.”

“Yeah, I’m just, I don’t even know what to say. I’m shocked,” Mandy replied looking down at the damning piece of paper. “So when Elias…”

“Oh you know about Elias as well then?” Nana interrupted with raised eyebrows.

“Yeah, Lucas told me. So when he died, that was O’Leary’s opportunity, right? He must have blackened Mary’s reputation by spreading rumors that she was a witch and then by testifying against her?” Mandy questioned the sequence of events out loud, still trying to make sense of it all.

“Yes. As Mary began to earn a reputation as being successful at healing people, more people began to turn to her in their times of trouble or need instead of turning to the only doctor in town. Because Mary was not a doctor, they were often able to pay her in other forms, such as trading chickens or eggs or milk, or even coffee or fabric. If they couldn’t afford a payment of some sort, Mary would often allow them to owe it to her. The doctor, being an educated man with a professional title, would not take anything other than monetary payment, which was always more than what Mary was asking, and would never allow a debt to go unpaid after treatment. Before Mary came to town, the doctor had been quite successful and was becoming wealthier by the day, at the cost of his patients. As the tides turned, he grew anxious, fearful even, of what was to become of him and his precious title. And so, he wrote this little letter,” Nana motioned to the paper now sitting on the bed between them. “He kept his word. As soon as it was apparent that Elias would not pull through, the doctor began whispering about town here and there. He only had to mention, even just barely hint at the thought of witchcraft to a couple of the farmer’s wives he saw about town, and the gossip began to fly. Spread faster even than the smallpox.” Nana shook her head in disgust.

“And Mary wouldn’t stand up for herself for fear of her sister’s life…” Mandy put two and two together.

“The doctor knew that Mary had a sister because his wife worked in the town’s little post office. Mary had been on friendly terms with his wife and no doubt spoke of her sister when she went in to pick up her mail or send some off. Mary was in a no win situation. If she pled guilty at the trial, the town probably would have spared her life in order to “save” her soul. If she pled innocent it wouldn’t have mattered, she knew her fate was sealed. Too many people were against her. She would also have been damning her sister. She knew Dr. O’Leary was a man of his word, especially in this situation. As the rumors flew about town, people who had once trusted Mary with their health were turning on her. They talked of the strange powders they had seen Mary produce and the unorthodox way in which she treated her patients’ ailments. The powders were simply ground herbs, many are commonly used today. Up until Elias’s death, no one had so much as spoken a peep against Mary or her treatments. Now that the town’s doctor was also pointing fingers at Mary on the witness stand, there was no hope for Mary. After all, back then an educated man’s word was as good as God’s. If he said it then it was true by all means. The doctor had a title, and he used it to heal and to kill, in effect. So rather than stake a position, she simply remained mum on her status, knowing all along what the outcome would be. She would never let her sister take her place,” Nana crossed her arms across her chest, a far off look in her eyes as she contemplated the horridness of the story she had just shared. Mandy and her grandmother sat in silence for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts about Mary Nasson.

Mandy couldn’t even begin to fathom the terror of what Nana had said. To work so willingly among a town and then to have it turn against you in such a short amount of time, to know that it was either your life or your sister’s in the hands of a vengeful man. To know that someone innocent must die, either to give the doctor back his rightful place in town or as revenge for not backing down. To have a decision like that looming over you, and yet knowing there was no decision to be made, because there always was only one answer. To know that that answer would be the end of your life and the end of any decency left to your name. To take a secret to the grave. Suddenly Mandy realized she was missing something. “Wait, Nana, how did you know about this letter then?”

“I didn’t know, not for sure, but I had a hunch. This was my hunch,” Nana said motioning to the desk where the ripped page of flowers was lying lifelessly.

“But why?” Mandy asked, still confused.

“Well many of Mary’s things have been passed down through the years. As she was our ancestor, I eventually gained ownership of the items. Mostly it was just correspondence, but there was also a couple of books in which Mary kept track of who she had treated and who had paid and how, or who still owed her for her services. Not once in either of those little books was a fatality mentioned until Elias Donagal. That was the last entry. However, under it was written something that I have always found rather cryptic and out of place in the little books. It was a line in Mary’s handwriting that simply said ‘Beneath the heady blooms a vicious secret looms.’ That line has been haunting me since I first laid eyes on it, which as you can imagine was many years ago now. It’s been permanently burned into my memory. I always wondered what it meant. I had scoured the documents that I had for any clues as to what it could be mean, but always came up empty handed. When you told me you had found letters from her and then a paper with flowers that still smelled, something in me just knew that this had to be the key, and it was,” Nana chuckled in conclusion, obviously pleased with herself.

Mandy’s grandmother stood up and carefully folded the hidden letter they had discovered back into its original square shape. “I’ll keep this one with me, if that’s all right,” Nana said. “And for the time being, let’s just keep this between us.” Mandy nodded at her grandmother and the two of them headed downstairs.

* * *

Chapter 14

The last half of the week flew by. The flower shop seemed to be extra busy for some reason and consequently Mandy had not had any more time to talk to her grandmother over their findings. Mandy couldn’t help seeing the irony in the situation. In the beginning, when she had first found out about all this healing, she had wanted nothing to do with it. It struck her as funny that now all she wanted to do was find out more. Luckily she had her date with Stephen to distract her. On Thursday night she had called him and firmed up plans. They were going to meet at the Surfside restaurant on Shortsands beach at six and go from there.

Already Mandy liked the direction this date was headed better than her date with Lucas. With Lucas, Ally had insisted on dolling Mandy up and stuffing her into an uncomfortable dress. This time around Ally had not interfered more than to throw a “Have fun!” Mandy’s way as she left work that afternoon. Mandy was free to go home and put on whatever she wanted to wear for her outing. Of course she put on jeans, topped off with a vintage looking blue screen print tee from Old Navy. She grabbed one of her standard hoodies and pulled her hair into a ponytail. “Bye Mom. Bye Dad,” Mandy called as she came down the stairs and headed towards the door, hoping to avoid an interrogation.

“I don’t know. We’re just friends Mom. We’re just gonna get burgers or something and go to the arcade for a while,” Mandy said, feeling her face flush.

“Sounds like a date. Well, have a good time!”

“Don’t stay out too late! Do you have your…” Mandy’s dad began.

“Cell phone? Check. All right guys, I really gotta go or I’m going to be late. You don’t want him to think I stood him up do you?” Mandy tried to ease out on a note of humor.

“Ok, see you later,” Mandy’s mom said, smiling.

“Bye!” Mandy pulled the front door closed behind her, breathing a sigh of relief. She headed towards the Boat and hopped in, surprised to realize that she had butterflies in her stomach. She parked in the little lot and plopped some change in the meter and headed towards Surfside.

Surfside was just a little hole in the wall restaurant on the strip of sidewalk next to Shortsands Beach. Next to it sat a bowling alley and the Fun’o’Rama. It was Mandy’s kind of place. Utterly laid back and casual with food to match. As she neared it she recognized Stephen sitting on the curb out front. He waved and she waved back, happy she wasn’t the first one here.

“Yeah, I’m starving actually,” Mandy said, realizing that she felt completely comfortable around Stephen. He grabbed the door and pulled it open, gesturing for Mandy to go in, but unlike Lucas, this didn’t make Mandy feel weird. It seemed genuine, like Stephen was just minding his manners, rather than trying to impress Mandy and/or whoever happened to be watching.

Mandy walked through the doorway and was met with the aroma of baking pizzas and juicy hamburgers. Her stomach was growling. “What are you gonna get?” she asked, looking over towards Stephen.

“Deal,” Stephen said easily. Mandy was glad he was allowing her to pay for at least part of the date. It felt more comfortable to her. After all, it was only fair. “So what have you been up to the last week?” Stephen asked.

“Working mostly. The shop’s been busy. How ‘bout you? Ready for school and everything?” Mandy inwardly grimaced as she thought of the impending first day of school.

“Yeah, I guess. Had a good enough summer. I’m ready to get back into the swing of things. Besides it’s the last year of high school. Supposedly it’s a great time in a teenager’s life,” Stephen laughed. “You ready?”

“For school? Not at all, actually. I’m kind of dreading it. I hate being the new girl and not knowing anybody or my way around. Then there’s always the cafeteria…” Mandy trailed off.