But the houses on Crowhaven Road remained shuttered and silent. On the way to Melanie's house, Cassie thought she'd seen a light go off in Suzan's house and a curtain whisk back at the Henderson's. If any adults were awake, they weren't getting involved.
We're on our own, Cassie thought. But Diana was beside her, and she could see Adam's tall form silhouetted against the headlights of the coven's parked cars. A sort of strength flowed into Cassie just at their nearness.
"We've got to talk tomorrow," she said. "There's a lot I've got to tell you - all of you. Things my grandmother told me right before . . . before she died."
"We can meet at lunchtime on the beach - " Diana began, but Faye's throaty voice cut her off.
"No, we can't. I'm the one who decides where the meetings are now, or had you forgotten?"
Faye's head was thrown back proudly, the silver crescent-moon diadem gleaming against the midnight-black of her hair. Diana opened her mouth, then shut it again.
"All right," Adam said with deceptive calmness, stepping out of the glare of headlights to stand by Faye. "You're the leader. So lead. Where do we meet?"
Faye's eyes narrowed. "At the old science building. But - "
"Fine." Adam didn't wait for her to finish; he turned his back on her. "I'll drive you home," he said to Diana and Cassie.
Faye looked furious, but the three of them were already moving away. "By the way, Diana - happy birthday," she called spitefully after them.
Diana didn't answer.
Chapter Three
"Jacinth! Are you in there? Jacinth!" Cassie blinked in the bright sunlight. She'd seen this room before. It was her grandmother's kitchen - except that it wasn't. The walls of her grandmother's kitchen were sagging and dingy; these were straight and clean. Her grandmother's hearth was stained with the smoke of centuries; this hearth looked almost new and was a slightly different shape. The iron hook for hanging pots on shone.
It was the room in her dream, the dream she'd had the last time she spent the night at Diana's house. The low chair she was sitting in was the same. But this dream seemed to be picking up where the other had left off.
"Jacinth, have you fallen asleep with your eyes open? Kate is here!"
A feeling of anticipation and excitement filled Cassie. Kate; who was Kate? Without even knowing why, she found herself standing up, and she realized that she was wearing a dress that brushed the tips of her neat brocade shoes. The red leather Book of Shadows fell from her lap to the ground.
She turned toward the voice, toward what would have been the side door of her grandmother's house. In this house it seemed to be the front door. It was filled with sunlight, and there were two figures standing there. One was tall, with a silhouette like the engravings of Puritan women she'd seen in history books. The other was smaller, with shining hair.
Cassie couldn't see either of the figures' faces, but the smaller one was holding out eager hands to her. Cassie reached for them, stepping forward -
- and the dream changed. It was dark and she could hear the tortured scream of wood being ripped asunder. Salt spray stung her face and her eyes struggled vainly to pierce the darkness.
The ship was going down. Lost, all lost. And the Master Tools were lost as well - for now.
But only for now. The savage determination of the thought filled Cassie and she tasted bile at the back of her throat. Even as icy water rushed around her legs she felt the dream lose focus. She tried to hang on to it, but it melted and shifted around her, and the darkness of the turbulent, stormy night became the quiet darkness of Diana's room.
She was awake.
And relieved beyond reason just to be alive.
It wasn't really so dark in here. Dawn was brightening the curtains, turning the room gray. Diana was sleeping peacefully beside her. How could Diana be peaceful after all that had happened? After what Diana had learned about her best friend and her boyfriend, after losing the leadership of the coven, how could Diana sleep at all? But the dark lashes on Diana's cheek were still and serene and there was no bitterness in Diana's face.
She's so good. I could never be that good, Cassie thought. Not if I tried all my life. Still, just being near Diana made her feel better.
Cassie knew she wasn't going to sleep anymore. She sat back against the headboard and thought.
God, she was glad to have things right with Diana again. And with Adam - Cassie was almost afraid to think of Adam, worried about what kind of pain it would bring. But although there was a deep-down ache at the picture of him, it was not unbearable, and the poison of jealousy and anger was truly gone. She honestly wanted him and Diana to be happy. She was a different person from the one who'd burned with the frustration of not being able to have him these last six weeks.
She'd done a lot of strange things in the last six weeks, so many that she hardly knew herself anymore. 1 can't believe it, she thought; I went out and stole pumpkins with Chris and Doug in Salem. I drove that dog off Chris - that wasn't like me at all. 1 played Pizza Man with Faye. I went on that wild motorcycle ride with Deborah ... well, that wasn't so bad.
A lot of things she'd done in the last month weren't all bad. The lying and deception and guilt had been awful, but some of the changes had been good. She'd gotten closer to Deborah and Suzan, and she'd gained some insight into what made the Henderson brothers tick. Even Nick - she thought she understood him better now. And she'd found strength in herself she'd never thought she had. Strength to chase the shadowy thing in the cemetery - Black John? - after Jeffrey's death, strength to ask a boy to a dance, strength, in the end, to stand up to Faye.
She only hoped it was enough strength to stand up to the days ahead.