Page 10 of Air Of Mystery
“Ash,” I finished for her.
“At the very least,” she said and turned on the water.
In agreement, I stopped and unbuckled my mucky sandals. I was surprised to see how dirty my feet were. She held out her hand and I passed them over. “I’ll set your sandals aside,” she said. “I have a home-made remedy that will clean all the nasty off them.”
“Thank you,” I said, aiming the stream of the water over my feet. Using the garden hose, I washed away the ash from the remains of the attacking entity. Once I finished, I twisted off the water spigot.
“A ritual bath, dry clothes, and a meal will help you regain some strength,” she said. “As to recouping all the energy you expelled today? Well, that will simply take a little time, rest, and self care.”
“Agreed,” I said, reminding myself to contact Kenna and make sure she did a cleansing for herself and Tyler as well.
In my rain-soaked dress, I followed Amanda up the stairs to a large wooden deck that was crowded with pretty pots of blooming herbs and flowers.
Before she could reach for the door handle, it swung open on its own. “Friend,” she announced clearly.
Maybe I was more wiped out than I realized, because I could have sworn the lights inside pulsed brighter. But before I could say anything else, two small children came barreling out the door and tackled Amanda.
“Mom, you’re back!” A blonde girl who looked around five gave Amanda a big hug.
“Mama!” The second girl, who was maybe two or three, latched herself to Amanda’s side. Her hair was auburn—like her mother’s.
Amanda bent over her daughters to hug them. “I was gone for a whole twenty minutes...”
A tall man stepped into the doorway. Attractive, with broad shoulders and light brown hair that was cut short, he wore a khaki deputy’s uniform that complemented his trim frame. His blue eyes assessed me. “Hello,” he said.
I nodded. “Hello.”
“Skye, this is my husband, Zakary Parker,” Amanda introduced us. “And these are our daughters. Tori and Tabitha.”
“Hi girls,” I said to the kids.
The blonde smiled at me, but the younger of the two narrowed her eyes.
“Zakary,” Amanda said to her husband, “if you could take the girls and keep them busy for a moment, I’m going to take Skye upstairs and give her a hand.”
Amanda reached out, hooked her arm through mine, and escorted me right inside. I stepped from the deck into acharming but messy kitchen. Clearly someone had been baking cookies. Flour was everywhere. It was scattered over the counters, the floor, and across the table.
“What happened in here?” Amanda asked.
“Sorry babe,” Zakary said. “The girls got a bit over-enthusiastic about helping me mix the cookie dough.”
“Sorry!” The youngest grinned at her mother, clearly unrepentant.
“We’ll clean it up,” Zakary promised.
“Yes, you certainly will,” Amanda said.
That comment earned whines from the girls.
“I’ll get the broom,” the eldest girl announced and dashed off to do so.
With a shake of her head, Amanda led me through the house and up a set of wooden stairs to the second floor. “Bathroom’s right here,” she said, opening the door. After reaching into a linen cupboard, Amanda set out clean towels, handed me a bar of handmade soap, and then passed me a container of sea salt. “Hit the shower, use the salt and the soap. The soap’s a custom blend. Good for energetic cleansing.”
Automatically I sniffed it and smelled roses and sandalwood.
“I’ll bring you some clothes of mine to borrow, and we’ll get your dress washed and dried for you.”
“Thank you,” I said.
