“Do we have an agenda for this meeting?” she asked, just to groundherself.
“That’s a very Null thing to expect,” Mariah said cheerfully. “Just watch and listen and you’ll see. It’s very free form and driven by what rocks eachindividual.”
Being treated as an outsider was nothing new, but loneliness haunted her with Mariah’s words. Shewas pretty certain Nulls were interlopers, and she shouldn’t be here. Once more, she was the odd one out in a group she wanted to accepther.
Discouraged, Sam found a flat-topped boulder that had absorbed the sun’s warmth. Now that the sun was setting, the temperatures were dropping, and she almost wished for a fire. She squashed that thought. The stench of smoke and ash still lay acrossthe valley like a heavypall.
Shadows drifted up the path and from down the mountain and through the trees, filling the natural amphitheater around the vortex. She hadn’t realized there were so many ways of accessing this area—or that there were so many people who believed in Mariah’s insanerevolution.
Mariah had apparently had an ugly confrontation with the mayor earlier in theday involving developing the burned out land with condos. Apparently the Kennedys expected the scorched landscape to adversely affect the tourist business and had moved to Plan B. Mariah, and probably all the Lucys, wereopposed.
Sam didn’t see how the vortex would resolve anything. The energy didn’t feel any different from the earth energy she felt everywhere. Perhaps the negative andpositive swirled a bit—she couldn’t quite tell. Resentfully, she crossed her arms under the blanket and refused to indulge in unscientifictheories.
Wrapped in her shedding feather coat, Daisy sat in her own world. Sam almost envied her the coat. Talking animatedly with Tullah and Amber, Dinah evidently sided with the Lucys, whether or not she wassensitive. Sam recognized Harvey and Aaronstanding with several gray-haired men she’d seen in the diner but couldn’t place otherwise. Mariah had a pretty good audience. As the time for the meeting grew closer, all the rock seats had filled and people were standing on the outside, in thewoods.
Luminous globes floated from the empty center rocks, the purported vortex. Chatter died down. That was a neat Las Vegastrick.
Mariahtook a stand on one of the flatter outcroppings. “The Kennedys have chosen to proceed with the condo development and skiresort.”
A groan went up from the audience. Voices of protest rose out of the darkness, but Mariah held up her hand, and they silenced. “They own the land. They have the law on their side. There will be evictions. They could raze the entire town if so inclined. But first,they have to level and terrace the hillside on the north end of thevalley.”
The valley around the lodge, below the Menendez land, Sam now knew, the area partially consumed by the fire. She could almost feel the despair swirling around the circle. Did that many people live up there? She hadn’t thoughtso.
“They need Menendez to agree to access,” Harvey said from outside the circle.“Do they haveit?”
“They seem to think they do,” Mariahsaid.
“Bulldozers on sacred ground,” Daisy said sadly from her seat on the rocks. “The Evil One uncovered. It will seek and destroy us, as it has before, and take away the Earth Mother. We must send her awayagain.”
“It is because she has returned that this is happening,” an older woman shouted from further down the hill.“We sent her away for areason!”
“I brought her back for a reason,” Cass said, striding into the clearing. “The heart of the town is being sucked dry, and we are growing weak. If we don’t turn the tide now, we may as well pack up and leave and let the Nullswin.”
Sam felt an icy chill down her back. Were they talking abouther? Amber had called her anearth goddess. Earthmotherwas only slightly less whacky. She would get up and leave, but she’d have to climb over rows of people to doso.
“She can’t fight city hall,” Harvey said in a scoffing tone. “Better to keep her safe. It’s not as if any of us are making enough of a living here to make it worth a sacrificiallamb.”
“You’re young,” one of the older men said. “You don’t know what we’ve done to keep thisplace safe. We have nowhere else togo.”
Voices clamored from every side. An eerie wail began high above the clearing. Shadows shifted, and the weird luminous balls multiplied, flitting back and forth overhead. Chilled, body and soul, Sam started to rise, but a hand pressed her backagain.
“It’s all right,” Amber whispered behind her. “Theatrics are always a given in this crowd.Now that you have fire out of the way, you have the Magician and the scarecrow on your side. I’ll read your cards again in the morning, if you have time to stopby.”
Amber’s sensible voice settled Sam’s nerves.Theatrics, of course. Magicians had used them for ages to distract from their illusions. She settled in to enjoy theshow.
Cass waved her hand in the air, and the light ballsswirled around Dinah. Apparently taking that as permission, Dinah stood to speak. “I have nowhere else to go. My café is profitable here. Where else would I find better customers? But I rent from the same place everyone else does. If they don’t renew my lease, I have no choice but to packup.”
One by one, the story was repeated—the Kennedy leasing company owned the land the town was builton. If they protested development—who knew what wouldhappen?
A gray-bearded man in flannel shirt and overalls rose slowly when his turn came. “Listen to us! The vampire has sucked our souls, our ability to fight, and made us what we are today. We fought the Evil One once and won—at a cost. Where will we find the strength to do itagain?”
“This sounds like something out of a fantasynovel,” Sam murmured inexasperation.
One of the older women she’d met at the séance patted her knee. “Exciting, isn’t it? The spirits have been demanding action for years now, and we’ve been too comfortable to listen. Finally, we canact.”
Sam wanted to suggest that a lawyer would make more sense than theatrics, but she had no cat in this fight. She’d be gone long before they settledanything. An argument broke out that had the lights circling madly, and she got antsy again. She glanced around and thought she saw Walker in his cowboy hat coming up the path they’d taken earlier in the week, when she’d told him about her memory problem. She longed to go to him, but it would be foolish to doso.
The weirdly liquid banshee wail was coalescing into words, and Sam grimaced,recognizing Valdis. Was this really her aunt—a melodramatic, mentally unhingedaunt?
