FOLLOW YOUR HEART

Chapter 22 - Covered In Pumpkin Guts

Shawn looked with concern at Camila sitting in the passenger seat of the Aston Martin as they drove to the village to visit Pam. Dark smudges beneath her eyes were evidence of her sleepless night after she saw the deer outside the house. He reached out and gently grasped her hand, squeezing it to let her know everything would be alright. She smiled wanly at him in reply but it only worried him more.

They pulled up outside the cottage Pam lived in, a short walk from the village. It was old and had been renovated so that it was very luxe and modern inside, and Shawn was impressed. She was expecting them and opened the sliding gate for them to enter. They found themselves in a courtyard and ahead of them was a small hobby farm with goats, pigs, ducks, chickens, a couple of cows, some sheep and a horse.

"Hello beautiful young people," she said, kissing them both continental style on both cheeks. "Come talk to me, I just need to check if the girls have left any eggs." She wore a black woollen kilt, a vee necked black angora sweater and a pair of sparkly pink rubber boots, some bold jewelry and a pink lipstick, she looked glamorous and quirky, and he could see Camila perk up a bit at her funky style. He watched as the two women discussed the different animals and Camila patted them all and spoke to them in the same baby voice she used for her dogs. By the time they were inside drinking tea, she had perked up quite a bit.

"I liked that tea, what was it?" Camila asked.

"It's just a green tea, which is good for anxiety, with some lemon balm, to make you happy and energetic." Pam said.

Camila smiled. "You know a lot about these things. Are you a witch?"

"Not exactly, no, but I do like to make teas and ointments and tinctures and so on, I am interested in herbology and essential oils. And I'm interested in the history of witchcraft and healing. The old wise woman, or healer, or herb woman was often thought to be a witch."

"Do you know anything about the witches of Unger Hall?" Camila was not afraid to come straight out and ask things.

Pam laughed. "Why do you ask that?"

"We found a secret passage off Garry's room and it looks like it's cleaned regularly and we know that you're responsible for that room so....."

"You're asking if I clean it? Yes, yes I do." She smiled and they were both so surprised they were speechless for a moment. They thought she would deny it.

"I guess now you want to know why? Well that chamber beyond the locked gate is a very special place to the witches around here. I'm not a witch, as I said, but I know a few of them and I keep it clean for them. They perform ceremonies there at certain dates on the Celtic Calendar and I let them in and keep Tally away."

"Is that why you are 'friends' with Tally?" Shawn asked, hoping the old man wasn't being used. He was fond of him.

"Goodness no, I love Tally, I think he's simply wonderful, and I keep him away because I don't want him to get involved."

Shawn didn't ask 'involved with what', although he was wondering about it.

"So, have you seen things?" she asked.

Camila looked at him and he shared a look with her. They had decided to tell Pam if they thought she could help them.

"Yes," he said. "I heard a scream that Camila didn't hear. I thought she was in trouble."

"And I thought I heard the piano being played – Clair de Lune – and thought there was someone in the passageway with me," Camila said. "Shawn and I read up a lot on two of the girls – Anne, whose portrait hangs in the passageway, was hung for being a witch in the sixteenth century, and Clair, who was put in an asylum and died of old age in the dower house."