She had to force herself not to run, to pull her calm around her like a cloak. As the image faded, she left her work behind.
"I have an errand," she told Lulu as she breezed out of the store. "I'll be back when I can. "
"Going and coming," Lulu muttered.
Mia walked straight down to the station house, pausing when she had to exchange a word with an acquaintance. The streets, she noted, were already full of tourists. They strolled and shopped, cruised the island looking for the perfect picnic spot, a new vista. They would crowd into the restaurants at night or go back to their rental houses to cook up fish brought fresh from the docks. Shops were running spring-into-summer sales, and the pizza parlor was offering two free toppings with the purchase of a second large pie. She watched Pete Stubens drive past in his pickup with his beloved dog riding shotgun.
Ripley's young cousin Dennis flashed by on the opposite sidewalk, hanging ten on his skateboard. His Red Sox jersey flapped like a flag.
It was all so normal, she thought. So easy and right and real.
She was going to do everything in her power to keep it that way.
Zack was at his desk when she walked in, and immediately sprang to his feet. "Now, Mia," he began.
"I'm not here to pin your ears back. "
"That's a relief. Nell already took care of that. " To prove it, he rubbed them. "I would like to say we weren't going behind your backs. We were just looking into a situation. It's my job to deal with trouble on the island. "
"We can debate that later. Can you check on Evan Remington?"
"Check on?"
"Make sure he's where he's supposed to be. What the progress of his treatment is, the prognosis, his recent behavioral patterns. "
He started to ask her why, but the look on her face told him to answer first, then ask questions. "First I can tell you he's still locked up and he's going to stay that way. I make it my business to call a couple of contacts of mine every week. " He angled his head. "I assume you don't consider that little chore out of my scope. "
"Don't get snotty. Can you get progress reports?"
"I don't have access to his medical records, if that's what you mean. I'd need a warrant, and cause to request one. What's the problem?"
"He's still part of this, padded cell or not. "
Zack was around the desk in two strides, and had his hand wrapped firm on Mia's arm. "Is he a threat to Nell?"
"No. " What was it like to be loved so utterly? she wondered. Once, she'd thought she knew. "Not directly. Not like before. But he's being used. I wonder if he knows it?"
It was essential to find out.
"Where's Ripley?"
"Out doing her job. " His grip tightened. "Is she in trouble?"
"Zack, both Nell and Ripley have done what they were meant to do. But I need to talk to them. Would you tell them both to come up to the house tonight? By seven if they can. "
Now Zack's grip lightened to a caress and ran up to her shoulder. "You're in trouble. "
"No. " Her voice was clear and calm. "I'm in control. "
She believed it absolutely. Just as she understood the value of that faith, and that sense of self. Doubts, questions, fears would only diminish power when she needed it most. The vision had come unbidden, and with some physical distress. She wouldn't take such a thing lightly. She prepared carefully. It was not a time for rash behavior or showmanship, though she often appreciated the flash and the flare.
It seemed now that much of what had happened that day had been meant to prepare her. Her purging of temper that morning, the fasting, and yes, the sex. Ridding the body of frustration and celebrating one of its more joyful purposes would only aid her in what was to come.
The herbs and oils for her ritual bath were chosen with deliberation. Rose for psychic power and divination. Carnation for protection. Iris for wisdom that she might understand what was shown to her. By the light of candles inscribed for her quest, she immersed herself, washing body and hair, cleansing her mind.
Using creams she'd made herself, she coated her skin before slipping into a long, loose robe of white. She selected her charms and pendant carefully. Dendritic agate for protection in travel, amethyst to sharpen her third eye. She hung malachite from her ears, for vision questing. She gathered her tools, her divination wand with moonstone at the tip. Incense and candles, bowls and sea salt. Knowing that she might need it, she selected a tonic for restorative energy. Then she went into her garden, to gather peace and wait for her sisters. They came together and found her sitting on a stone bench beside a bed of nodding columbine.
"I need your help," she said. "I'll tell you on the way to the clearing. "
They were barely into the forest, the light dimming with dusk, when Ripley stopped. "You shouldn't be the one to do this. A flight leaves you too open, too vulnerable. "
"Which is why I need my circle," Mia countered.
"I should do it. " Nell touched Mia's arm. "Evan's most directly connected to me. "
"Which is exactly why you shouldn't do it," Ripley argued. "The connection's too close. I've already done this once, so I should do it again. "
"You flew without preparation, without protection, and you were harmed. " Reminding herself that there was patience in reason, Mia continued to walk. "The vision came to me, unbidden. This is for me to do, and I'm fully prepared. You don't have enough control as yet," she said to Ripley. "And you, little sister, not enough experience. Even disregarding both those facts, this is for me. We all know it, so let's not waste any more time. "
"I don't like it," Ripley said. "Especially after what happened to Sam last night. "
"Unlike some men, I don't have to prove my heroism. My body stays within the circle. "
She set her bag down in the clearing and began to cast the circle. Nell lit the candles. She was calm because calm was needed. "Tell me what to do if something goes wrong. "
"Nothing will," Mia assured her.
"If. "
"If, then. You pull me back. " She looked up and saw the glow in the trees as the moon began its rise.
"We'll begin. "
She disrobed, standing in the arms of the young night in nothing but crystals. Holding out her hands for her sisters', she began the chant that would free her consciousness from the shell of her body. And let her fly.
"Open window, open door. I seek to see, I seek to soar. Over sea and into sky, my spirit lifts, my senses fly. It is within my gift of power to command this airy hour and to ask that what I see bring no harm to them or me. As I will, so mote it be. "
There was a slow and lovely sense of weightlessness, of lifting out of the shell that held the spirit bound to the earth. She floated free of it, a bird rising on the wing. And, for a moment only, allowed herself to embrace the glory of it.