“How far away is the prison?” she asked, wrapping an unruly lock of hair around her index finger.
“A few minutes,” Jonathon replied, still looking at Rowena with concern in his eyes. Rowena frowned, thinking it was pointless riding the carriage to a destination that was only a ten-minute walk from the house but was thankful as she was still tired from having very little sleep.
Chapter Ten
Oakwoods Now
Fork lightning struck the ground outside the office with an earth-shattering jolt. The storm had started suddenly and didn’t look as if it was going to stop anytime soon. Brenna stared out the window at her car and was grateful she had put the top up on her convertible as it was being assaulted by hailstones the size of marbles.
The tinny radio sitting on the windowsill spluttered out some words Brenna couldn’t make out, but she managed to hear the stormy weather was supposed to last for the rest of the week. Great, Brenna thought, she would have to put up with this dismal weather for another four days. Brenna’s ears were being ambushed by what sounded like hundreds of golf balls crashing down above. Even though it had been hailing all morning, Jeff managed to stay asleep, snoring loud enough to compete with the hailstones.
When the hail finally let up, Brenna got dressed in the bathroom, donning a long pair of pants, her black boots, and a warm overcoat. She rummaged through her bags looking for her pink scarf and remembered she had lent it to Maggie. The thought of Maggie braving the ferocious storm made Brenna shiver. With a tatty black umbrella she had found in the wardrobe in hand, Brenna ran out into the pouring rain and sped down the slippery steps clutching the handrail along the way to avoid slipping. She shook her wet hand in the air and dove it into her handbag, wondering why she hadn’t bothered to locate her car keys while she was in the warm, dry hotel room. Rain plummeted down over the top of her, creating a waterfall effect as it dripped off of the black umbrella and onto the ground. She could hardly see more than a few feet in front of her through the drenching rain.
Thunder bellowed in the dark sky followed by a flash of fork lightening as she searched through her black hole of a bag. Hearing a jingling sound gave Brenna hope of finding her keys as she moved her hand towards the sound. She pulled out the keys and unlocked her car door and quickly ducked inside. She shut the umbrella leaving it outside of the car for a minute to let the water drain off then chucked it in the back.
The car started on Brenna’s first turn of the key. Bright headlights lit up the tree she’d parked in front of and showed hard rain pelting down onto the concrete, bouncing water into the air after hitting the ground. She switched the window wipers on full speed but they still weren’t fast enough to keep the rain from covering the windscreen like a blanket. She put the car in reverse and carefully made her way out of the parking lot. It was unusually dark even though it was only ten-thirty in the morning.
Brenna pulled out onto a long desolate street and drove toward the local library. She had decided to see if she could find out anything about her family history. Perhaps if she had a little knowledge from the past, she might have a better chance of helping Maggie and the trapped souls.
Her thoughts drifted to the being haunting them. It must have started as a person. But who? Could there be somebody in her history evil enough to turn into the dark force that roamed her forest? He seemed to have a major grudge against her and woman like her. She had learned in her craft that if a person was truly evil when they died their spirit could become more powerful by sucking the life out people and holding their souls in limbo. Brenna had thought that a bit unrealistic, but after receiving threats from spirit boards, witnessing floating black entities, a snarling shapeshifting-wolf, and floating age-old books containing messages handwritten to her, nothing could surprise her now.
The rain continued to fall as she drove through the small town of Oakwood. It didn’t take long to drive through the Oakwood shopping district. There was one hairdresser on a street corner painted in blue, red, and white with barber polls turning out front. Opposite the hairdresser was a pink and white ice-cream parlor with a giant plastic ice cream cone on the roof. Next to that was a small convenience store, and a bowling alley. She turned a corner and drove past a small medical clinic, a real estate office and the ‘Hot Pot’ restaurant where she’d taken Jeff. She drove past a few more interesting looking shops, making a mental note to return to one called ‘The Herbery.’ They might have some of the ingredients needed to perform the ritual.
She brought the car to a stop outside the library, parking in one of the many free parking spaces. Looking out her window through the curtain of rain, the library struck her as a grand old place dripping in charm. The Victorian two-story stone building with tall French-styled windows was being renovated at the moment but was still open to the public. Scaffolding surrounded the aged walls, but the stormy weather had probably ruined any plans of workmen getting up on high ledges today. From the look of the splash of cream paint against the grey stone, they were giving it a new lease of life. Maybe it was necessary, but Brenna preferred the original look of the stone.
A flood of cold air surrounded her when she opened the door. She shivered, pulling her jacket up around her neck. She left the umbrella in the car and raced for the library entrance. The double wooden doors groaned as she pushed them open, feeling a bout of warm air tease her cool face. She left the comfort of the overhead fan heater and into the library where it was much cooler. Near the entrance was a sturdy grey desk, occupied by a plump woman munching away on a sandwich that looked like it had a whole pig’s worth of ham jammed between two thin pieces of bread. Brown tables with red padded chairs were placed around the place for anybody to use. Some of the tables had stacks of books on them. Considering it was quite early in the morning, the Librarian mustn’t have gotten around to clearing the books from yesterday. Thousands of books lined the high walls in tall wooden shelves. Some of the books looked old and worn while other books looked brand new and untouched.
The librarian took a sip from a steaming cup and eyed Brenna. “Can I help you?” She placed the cup and picked up the heavy sandwich.
“Uh, yes, I hope so. I’m looking for some information regarding the history of Darkwood. I believe it was a village near here in the sixteen-hundreds,” Brenna said.
The woman took another bite of the sandwich. “You’re not one of those reporters looking for a story, are you?” she said with her mouth full, giving Brenna a sight she’d rather not have been privy to. “We’ve been hounded for the past few days and our history section is now out of bounds.”
She swallowed her mouthful and picked up a book and started to read it, pretending Brenna was no longer there.
Brenna stepped closer to the desk and leaned on it. She saw the name on the librarian’s badge was Celestine. Celestine wore a plaid dress that hugged her ample figure. Her curviness, along with clear framed glasses, and chestnut-colored hair that rested on her shoulders, boosted her straight into sexy librarian status in Brenna’s opinion. She had to convince her to let her in. “Why? What harm is it if they see the documents?”
Celestine huffed. “You should see the mess they leave it in! One of them even tore an original deed from the Kettleman place! Can you believe it?”