“You have a boyfriend,” Anna says, more a statement than a question, and as if she doesn’t really like the idea. Or maybe she’s just frowning at the small slug she’s got up close to her eyes.

Either way, I’m not thrilled to have her bring up the one topic I’ve been brooding about forever. No, I don’t have a boyfriend. In fact, I’ve never had a boyfriend. There, the cold hard truth. Not even a date at the mall. I realize this makes me a bit of a freak at age 16. But really, the vast majority of guys at school are idiots, and those that are decent like girls that are… well, not me. Not that I’m going to confess all this to an old lady.

“Not really,” I reply.

“But I’ve seen that brown boy around you,” she argues, her thin eyebrows squeezed as she squints at the slug and then peels him off of her finger.

“You mean Rod?” I ask. It would make sense, since he is part African-American and part Latino. But when would she have seen him with me?

“If that is his name,” she affirms, marveling as she brings up another handful of dirt and moss. “I don’t get names clearly. It’s amazing how much life is outdoors, isn’t it? Just lovely. Thank you, dear Mayden, for bringing me here.

I could correct her about Mayden being my last name, not my first, but I want to stay on topic. “But Rod and I haven’t been together at the Village for a few years, at least. And you’ve been here only 18 months.”

Anna smiles and turns her face to mine. “I didn’t mean I have seen him with you. I mean I have seen him around you.” She waves her hand in the air, like she means something more esoteric than literal.

“Oh,” I say, feeling another wave of creepy wash over me. It’s weird enough she’s talking. Now she wants me to believe she sees things around people? “He’s a friend, not a boyfriend.”

“I see,” she says, as if that changes things. In fact, she seems pretty happy about it. But why would she care? I mean, she’s pretty old. Eighty-eight years old, according to her chart. She could be prejudiced I guess. But that doesn’t seem right. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Scottie does.

“You said there was a plan?” I urge.

“Oh yes, very much so. Your friend Rod will be needed.”

“For what?”

“My dear your cat is ill, very ill,” she says like its news to me.

News or not, I feel a thud land in my gut. It’s one thing to know it, and another to hear it spoken. Especially by someone who claims to ‘see’ things. “But the other day, you said your sister could help.”

“Oh indeed, Bea can help. She will, so long as I’m the one sending you. You know the location already.”

“I know the 200 acre piece of land, if that’s what you mean. But that’s government land, despite what you said, and…”

Anna laughs outright. “It is not government land! That’s our trick, to get people to stay away. Even government people stay away, thinking it is all taken care of by someone else. Bea’s brilliant plan from years ago. I was so delighted you found it with my cryptic instructions. What is google earth, anyway?”

“Nevermind…I mean, I’ll tell you later, but I have to get Scottie to your sister. Is she a vet, or something?”

“Not exactly. But if anyone can help, she can. Be assured of that. So here is our little plan. You’ll go to the pier. Cross from the water. I know you could go through the woods, but she’ll find you right away, and you would be too close to public roads. The water isn’t deep.”

“Okay, and I take Scottie with me?”

“No,” she says, sounding alarmed, “not at first. That is why you’ll need your friend. At first, he will need to keep Scottie. You’ll have to win over my sister, first. Once she understands, she’ll make it safe to have Scottie come near.”

“Safe? Why wouldn’t it be safe?” Suddenly that thud in my stomach is in my throat.

“Things are not what they seem, Mayden.”

No kidding.

“Um, it’s Julie, actually. Mayden is my last name.”

“No,” she says. I wait for her to explain, but she doesn’t. Again her attention wanders to a handful of leaves she’s brought up close to her face.

In the back of my mind, I’m already wondering how I’m going to get Rod to help at short notice, but also keep all this from him. This is not the kind of thing you tell Rod and then expect him to in any way keep a lid on it. It’s too worthy of making fun of me for the next ten thousand years.

“So how will I find your sister? Will she know I’m coming?”

“She’ll smell you,” Anna says matter-of-factly, like that’s as normal as everything else happening out here.

“Okay, Anna, this is getting a little too strange, even for me, and I like strange things. I mean, I can live with ‘things are not what they seem,’ and all that. And I don’t have to know how you can suddenly talk out here in the woods, with your medicine bag on. But this is my cat, my very best friend in the world, and I have to know…”

“I’ve always been able to talk,” she interrupts. “At least on the days I don’t take the medicine they hand out. I’m aware enough to become fully aware when I need to. Like today. And smart enough to know not to give myself away.”

Ah! She’s bouncing around so many topics my head is starting to hurt. “Why would you do that—pretend you’re out of it, when you’re not?”

Anna sighs. “There are things going on you can’t imagine, and wouldn’t want to. If I told you what you would encounter at the water’s edge with my sister, you wouldn’t go. Already you’re thinking you might not. But you’re also thinking you have to, because what other option is there, for your Scottie?”

“How do you know that?” I plead to know. I like to think of myself as a private person, and not so easy to read. But she seems to see right through me.

“I’ve lived a life of magic,” she says, wistful, “and my time is nearing an end. But the magic will live on—must live on—and so we must both prepare and protect those who will come after us. I chose you because you have the markings of one the magic is fond of. The things you see at night, the voices you hear? That is the magic trying to reach you. You’ll go to see my sister today because you love your Scottie, and maybe because of me, but mostly you’ll go for reasons you don’t know. Reasons none of us know. Reasons the magic has in mind.”

I don’t understand, even though somehow, I do. Not only does my pulse race so fast I can feel it surging in my veins, my heart starts to hurt. Like she’s talking about something really, really sad, only I don’t know what it is. I’m not one to cry at all, let alone in front of someone else. But I could imagine it happening without my consent right about now.

“To be honest,” she continues, “I don’t know if my sister will teach you. Probably not, since you are not in the family. But I promise you’ll feel more at home on that bit of land than you have ever felt anywhere. That may seem hard to believe, because I can see that you have made many long journeys in your short life. You have traveled this world, crossed the ocean many times, and you have not felt at home anywhere. But you will find a home, if my sister will let you onto the property. And for that, I must send my signature with you.”

I hardly know what to think, but already I’m fumbling for my pen and paper.

“No, Mayden,” she says, starting to struggle to sit up, “not that kind.”

I help her, bracing her from behind.

“I’m stable,” she says. “Now, come around and give me your hands.”

I move to kneel in front of her and put my hands up close, where she can see them well.

“Shh!’ she says suddenly.

My heart surges yet again, beating what seems a thousand times a minute, as I hear a jogger coming near. We are far enough not to be seen, but we could still be heard. It’s an interminable minute as the jogger comes and goes.

Finally, Anna takes my hands in hers. She cups them, like I’m going to hold something, and brings them close to her face again. Slowly, she takes a deep breath, then blows into my hands.

I brace myself as it gets hot, nearly burning. Finally, I have to jerk back. A red color glows from within my hand, like a hot coal that has gotten a blast of oxygen.

“It’s alright,” she says, pulling my hands back and cupping them again. This time, she blows three short breaths. Each time, the fire in my hands glows bright. It’s so hot, I’m tempted to pull away again. Any hotter, and I would have to. But I can take it.

When she is done, she puts her forehead into my hands and immediately they cool to normal.

“I’ve put my scent into you,” she says, her words sounding like some kind of proclamation.

“What does that mean?”

“It means my sister will catch wind of you long before you see her. Be steady when she approaches, for she is not to be spooked. She won’t trust you at first, but hold out your hands. She will leave you, and then return, though not as herself. You must be still, and you must be unafraid. Once she has confirmed it is actually I who have sent you, she will help you.”

“Okay,” I say. I mean, what else is there to say?

“Now, you’ll need to return me to my room before you get into trouble.”

Again I feel that heavy sadness sit on my chest.

“I am sure you can understand that there can be no mention of this,” she says as I get things set in the right direction. “I’ve trusted you with sacred information. The magic will keep us both safe so long as we keep silent. I’ve chosen you because it is in your nature to be silent. I only speak this now to be sure we understand each other.”

“I understand. I can’t tell Rod. That’s fine. But does it mean I can’t talk to you, I mean really talk, back at the Village?”

“Absolutely not. Lives are at stake if you break this facade.”

I want to ask a thousand questions, a million questions, but I’m not really sure I want to know too much. Like she said, I might not go, and I know I have to. I help her back into her chair, this time a bit more gracefully, and shove her wheels through the mud. It kills me to think she’ll go back in there, pretending to be some old invalid, without her glasses, or anyone to really talk to. It kills me even more to think how long she’s been living like that. I’d go insane.

It starts to sprinkle and thunder rolls in the distance. There will be hell to pay if she comes in wet. I push as fast as I can, wondering about the magic. I can live with this being all mysterious, and not understanding all the things she has said. Still, there’s one thing I really want to know. Maybe it’s selfish, but maybe I’ll never have the chance to ask again.

“Anna?” I say, just before we reach the main path.

“Yes?”

“With your magical abilities, um, do you ever see the future?”

She nods. “It happens.”

“You said you saw Rod around me, but he’s not my boyfriend. So…Do you think…? Do you see…?”

“Love?” she asks. “For you?”

“Yea, I mean, even a really strong ‘like’ would be awesome. I mean…someday.”

“Right around the corner,” she says, “if I have anything to do with it, which I intend to. Now, we must shush.”