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Her head whipped toward him so fast he was surprised she didn t get whiplash.  What do
you mean?
Was that a note of panic in her voice? He glanced at her and frowned, then concentrated
on the narrow road ahead of him.  There s this pack of witches that live near Devil s Peak. Ms.
Butler thinks they re killing her laying hens. He shrugged.  And Mr. Thornton s prize bulls
keep going missing. I was just wondering what you knew about witches. Would they be doing
WITCH HUNT Leanne Karella & Vivienne King 104
this, by any chance?
Lina s hand relaxed in his and she leaned back into the seat. He shook his head. Why had
his question so startled her?
She took a deep breath.  Do you know what kind of witches? What do they call
themselves?
Trent thought for a long moment.  I think I heard the term Wicca mentioned
somewhere.
Lina actually laughed. He turned to look at her. She was laughing so hard there were tears
coming out of her eyes.
 What s so funny? He didn t like being laughed at.
 They re not a pack, they re called a coven. And no, Trent, --she wiped her watering eye
with the back of her hand-- they don t kill chickens or steal cows.
 Well, what do they do then? I know they meet out at Devil s peak on Mondays, and
certain other days, like the equinox and stuff like that. What do they do?
 Well, --she stared off at the pale pink and lavender sky-- I don t know a lot about them.
I really don t know the origin of their religion, but some say it goes back to the ancient Celts. At
his frown she said,  You know, the Druids that built things like Stonehenge.
He nodded.  They sacrificed things, didn t they?
Lina shrugged.  I have no idea. It s ancient history. Not much is known about them. But I
do know that Wiccans don t sacrifice things. The basis of their religion is grounded in the earth.
They think that everything has a spirit; stars, planets, humans, animals, even rocks and trees. A
lot of their rituals deal with bringing harmony and healing to nature. She leaned over and kissed
his shoulder.  They re not going to kill some laying hens or steal cows. They respect life, in all
its forms.
Trent squeezed her hand.  How do you know this? What if you re wrong?
She laid her head on his shoulder.  If your witches are Wiccan, they are harmless.
 What other kind of witches are there?
Lina took a slow, deep breath.  Well ... There are the Satanists.
Trent felt a cold finger run up his spine.  Tell me about those.
Lina shook her head.  I don t know much. I don t believe in dark magic. All I know is
that Religious Satanists believe in Satan as a force of nature, not the red guy in hell with a
pitchfork. She let out a little laugh.
He knew she was trying to lighten the mood, but he needed to know. Not sure why he
needed to know, but he did.  What do they do?
 I really don t know, Trent. All I know is that they have no problems in causing harm to
their enemies. From what I ve read --he heard her swallow hard-- a lot of those kinds of people
are not psychologically well.
 Charles Manson type thing?
Lina nodded against his shoulder. He turned onto a long dirt roadway. At the end sat
Thornton s ranch house.
 Thank you, Lina.
She sat up and looked at him in the fading light.  For what?
 For sharing what you know.
Her smile was pure magic to him. He smiled in return.
* * * *
WITCH HUNT Leanne Karella & Vivienne King 105
They parked beneath the only tree in the pasture, a huge elm. Trent leaned back in his
seat with a heavy sigh.
Lina nibbled on her lip and stared at the vast amounts of land, stretching as far as the eye
could see.
 How much of this does Mr. Thornton own? Lina asked.
Trent raised an obsidian brow and turned to look at her.  Last I heard, bout a thousand
acres or so.
Lina whistled, her eyebrows shooting up her forehead. The large heads of cattle grazed
by a nearby watering hole.  Well hell, he s a pretty rich man. What s he raising?
He laced his fingers together and peered through the window.  Only the best. Angus
beef.
 Jiminy Christmas, Lina said around a sigh.  I m thinking Thornton owns a ton of
cattle. Why s he getting in such a tizzy over a few missing ones?
 If you look at it that way, then sure, --he shrugged-- it doesn t make much sense. But
think about it in terms of price. Good quality cow flesh can go for a hefty sum in those steer
auctions. Now add to the mix that Angus is about the best of the best, and you re looking easily
at a loss of a load of money per head.
 Wow.
 Exactly. He laid his threaded fingers on the steering wheel.  That s why Blake s been
goin nuts at the thought of any more of his cattle being stolen.
Lina sighed and rubbed her nose.  Yeah, I d imagine.
She gazed at the silhouettes of the cattle, the night sky now a deep indigo, and fought the
incessant call of sleep. Her lashes felt heavy and nearly impossible to keep open. Lina rubbed at
the grit in her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat.
If she didn t do something soon, she was going to fall asleep. And that s the last thing she
wanted to do. She had precious few hours with Trent as it was, she really wanted to enjoy this
time together.
 I should have thought to fill a thermos with coffee before we came out here. Trent s [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]