"I'm sorry you heardthat."
He shrugged and gave me a grin. "It isn't often I get to hear things like that from a senior citizen. Although, I do find it disagreeable you find me grumpy, especially about our earlier conversation abouttacos."
I was going to die of embarrassment. I rubbed the space right between my brow. "I'll come out with you when I'm finished. It will be at least an hour. Will you still behere?"
"And miss anymore of Dolores' lusty comments about my manhood? I wouldn't miss it for theworld."
I sighed and left him standing in thekitchen.
"Ms. Dolores?" I called. "We can head outside any time you'reready."
She tottered to the back of the house and I held the door open as she headed to the slab out back. "Don't interrupt me,Hank!"
Margo came flying around the corner and through the door right after Dolores. This was the moment Margo would either choose to stick around or run from me in terror. I grabbed the bag I kept right by the door and headed out afterthem.
Ilovedthe space out back and even though it's where I did most of my raisings, it didn't feel like a place to work. As you headed out the door, you stepped right onto a large wooden deck with a pretty wrought iron table and multiple urns filled with all different kinds of plants. In one, I had two different types of jasmine, one an Arabian and the other a Carolina. In another, I had a Moonflower vine slowly creeping up the post’s porch and scrambling along the roof line. The flower only bloomed at night, but the scent was heavenly. In others I grew tobacco, even though I hadn't been very successful yet. In another I grew 4 o'clocks. If I put them in the ground, they would take over everything, but I still loved how they smelled. I walked down off the patio and into the soft green grass leading to the slab. It wasn't much or even very decorated, but my magic permeated the place. The slab rested about waist high on me and contained slots for the chime candles I used. I normally switched out the cloths I used, so today I spread a mossy green cloth down on the slab. Dolores made herself comfortable underneath the arbor several feet away. I made it so the bench faced away from the slab. I didn't want the families to see how I used my magic or the rituals I performed to resurrect their lovedones.
At the courthouse, the body was already there. The laws were a bit trickier away from the courthouse, so I was forced to use my magic a little bit differently these days. Plus, after the two times the bodies had tried to overpower their families, I tended not to bring their actual formshere.
So today would be a little bit different. Her son, Anthony, would be here, but in spirit form only. I could have gotten the body with a little extra paperwork, and Dolores really wanted me to, but with the age of it, I didn't think it would bewise.
She had reluctantly agreed so I would do my best to ensure Anthony's spirit was as intact as I could make it. The magic was a little bit tougher with this kind of work. To pull a spirit back that had been gone that long, I had to reach deeper inside the veil between the living and dead. It was tedious and meticulous and I had to be very careful nothing else escaped. This was the first time I'd ever performed a spell like this. Normally people visited me within weeks of their loved ones' departure and this meant their spirit was still lingeringhere.
Not so withAnthony.
I set out everything I needed and went to speak to Ms. Dolores. She sat with her hands in her lap and a peaceful expression on her face. I sat down beside her and explained what wouldhappen.
Dolores reached over and patted my hand. "My dear, I'm old. I've missed my son for two decades and you're about to give me the chance to speak with him again. If it meant you had to burp frogs or do cartwheels across the lawn, I would be fine withit."
"I'm terrible at cartwheels," Iadmitted.
She laughed a little but sobered quickly. "I'mafraid."
I squeezed the soft papery skin of her hand. "Don't be. I won't call you over until your son has acclimated. This is the first time I've reached for a soul this long gone so it may take him some time before he realizes where he is. If anything seems off, I will let you know. I hope you're able to talk withhim."
A tear slipped down her cheek. "I hope so, too. I'm so glad you agreed to do this forme."
"I'll try my best," I said and left her sittingthere.
I walked back over to the slab and pulled out the class ring Dolores had given to me. He was wearing it the day he died and it would act as a focus for me to find his soul. I slowly lit the chime candles around the slab, slipped off my shoes so my toes could curl in the grass and pulled out my sage wand. I lit the bundle, gently blew out the flame and repeated the process of purification the same way I had hundreds of times before. But this time, I focused more attention on the inside of the slab where the ring lay and where Anthony's spirit would be secured. Once it was done and I had allowed the sage smoke to slip over me, I took a deep breath and began to slip into the alphastate.
“AnthonyGray,
Awaken andstay,
Your mother is here to meetyou.
AnthonyGray,
Cross through theveil,
And allow your mother to greetyou.”
Again, not my best work, but I was still trying to shake off the sleep that had dragged me under earlier, and the exhaustion from the prior raising. I kept my breath deep, slow, and steady. I repeated the chant over and over in a whisper. A light wind rustled my hair, but I kept my eyes closed as I continued the spell. When I felt the presence of a spirit, I closed the binding with a single word and opened myeyes.
Anthony Gray had been a handsome kid. It was hard to tell what color his eyes were because spirits usually were only one or two colors, usually in the gray or blue palettes. He had long, shaggy hair and a mouth that looked like it had smiled a lot when he wasalive.
He blinked at me in surprise. "Where am I?" he asked in a surprisingly clearvoice.
