Page 8 of Carnal Magic
But my words fell off into silence. I wasn’t sure how old Martha had been when she died, but she would have been an elderly lady. How on earth had she made this climb? Even ten or twenty years ago? It just didn’t make sense. I was young and healthy and wanted to go home for a soak and a nap.
Maybe I was just out of shape. Or maybe…
The dream had been just that. A dream. A figment of my imagination. A strange erotic nightmare brought on by the stress of me traveling so far and all the crazy things I’d learned in such a short amount of time.
As I gingerly started back down the trail, I tried not to think about the distinctive city-scape cliff against the sky. The same as in the dream. Even though I’d never seen that cliff before.
6
As soon as I got back to the cabin, I did in fact take a long bath and nap. Much longer than I intended. By the time I finally got dressed, it was almost three in the afternoon, and I was so ravenous I could have eaten everything onPopeye’smenu.
The Cajun fried chicken fast food joint was on the corner down from my apartment where I turned each day to go to the shop. It was hard to resist their chicken and biscuits, whether morning, noon or night. I hadn’t seen one on the trip up, though, so my craving would have to wait until I got home.
Another reason not to stay in Arkansas, unless the chain had made it this far north. I’d have to Google later and see where the closestPopeye’swas. I grabbed my phone and tried to pull up Maps, but I didn’t have a good signal. I’d check once I got into Sweetbriar—
I opened the door and froze. Another tray of food waited just outside the front door. A thick white ceramic plate with three chicken strips, mashed potatoes, and red beans and rice. Two buttery, fluffy biscuits—because one was never enough. A pitcher of iced sweet tea, glistening with condensation. A clear crystal vase with a single blood-red rose.
I looked down the road as far as I could see, but there were no cars. No dust cloud to indicate anyone was driving away.
How? I bent down and picked up the tray, but my hands were shaking so much I almost knocked the vase over. How was this possible?
I had a craving for Cajun fried chicken and here was exactly what I would have ordered at my localPopeye’s—down to the sweet tea and piping hot, spicy chicken. Perfectly prepared and ready for me. Even though I’d slept longer than I’d intended. It wasn’t anywhere near lunch time.
It didn’t make sense.
I set the tray on the table and sank into the chair, staring numbly at the perfect lunch. Had I sold my soul to whatever was in the hot spring while I was asleep? Did I dare eat it?
I couldn’t resist a snort of disbelief. Damned straight I was going to eat it. Even if it sealed my soul to the Dark Lord forever. It’d be worth it. No one in their right mind would turn away such delicious food. It might not bePopeye’schicken, and even if it was, I had no idea how someone could have dropped it off without me hearing anything, but it sure tasted like home.
Maybe even better thanPopeye’s, though that could have been my hunger talking. I ate everything, even the stray crispies on the plate. I contemplated having some of the peach cobbler for dessert, but I wanted to get my errands done first. Peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream would be my treat when I got home.
As I drove down the bumpy road to Sweetbriar Hollow, I tried to reason my way out of a magical answer. Mama had always said mundane over magic. Look for real life explanations first. I hadn’t seen aPopeye’sin Sweetbriar, the closest town. The food had tasted fresh and piping hot—not reheated from a long distance away. I hadn’t seen anyone delivering the food, either.
Could I have manifested it? That seemed farfetched, even to my witchy self. I’d never seen manifestation happen so quickly, with so much detail. Though I had “found” my car in a sort of similar way.
I lived close enough to the shop that I didn’t need to drive. I walked almost every day, even with a car at my disposal now. There was a corner grocery mart where I could pick up essentials like milk or bread, and then Keneesha and Mama had driven me out to the larger grocery store once a month or so. We’d all done our shopping together, and I’d often eaten dinner with them. Keneesha had a son from a previous relationship, and when he was home from college, he’d often joined us.
Until Mama died.
We tried to keep up with as many family traditions as possible, but she’d been the chef of the family, and with her special kitchen-witch skills, nothing we made ever tasted anywhere close to hers. Isiah stayed longer and longer on campus, and it was just me and Keneesha. More often than not, one of us picked up food. Or we ate sandwiches and soups. Something easy for us to pick up nearby, since Keneesha lived in the apartment above the shop.
I’d needed to drive more, but I didn’t want to drive Mama’s car. It held too many memories.
I had sort of decided to buy my own car, though I hadn’t done any research to even find out where the closest dealer was, or what kind of car I wanted. I walked out over lunch to pick up sandwiches from our favorite deli, and they’d closed off the sidewalk for repair. I ended up going a different way, and even though I’d lived in New Orleans my entire life, I got lost.
Yes, even a few blocks away from the shop and home. I suddenly had no idea where I was. I’d actually pulled out my phone to get an Uber, when I saw a small car lot.
There she sat, prominently displayed in the front corner of the lot. Sally, my red Mustang. Yes, she had a name. I’d known it instantly, as surely as I’d known she was the car I should buy for myself. It just felt… right.
Maybe it was the song subconsciously playing in my head. But I liked to think that maybe I’d gotten lost so I could manifest the perfect car for me, even though I didn’t think manifestation really worked that way.
I hadn’t known what kind of car I’d wanted—until I saw her.
I signed on the dotted line, picked up our deli order, and was back to the shop in minutes. Because once I pulled out of the lot, I’d remembered the street and made it to my destination without issue. That had been just a few months ago. My first somewhat magical, unexplained experience.
Then I’d found the documents in Mama’s things about property in Arkansas, and I’d been quickly prepared to drive up here because I already had my own car.
A coincidence?
