Tiger's Eye by Barbra Annino Page A

to try to do the same and I did, although the fluttering creature was keeping its distance from me by that time.
    We spent a few more minutes in the garden, me chattering away about school and the friends I was making, and Mrs. Krenshaw simply nodding and smiling. When my mother interrupted to explain that my teacher was ill and she wouldn’t be in class tomorrow, I started to protest. Until I looked back at Mrs. Krenshaw who smiled bravely, waved, and walked right through the gate.
    When I relayed the story, Birdie and the aunts were terribly excited that my gift was gaining power. My mother was torn, I think, although she didn’t dissuade the lessons they taught me at that time.
    Today, I’d learned a new lesson.
    So far, I had not been able to hear the spoken words of the departed. The messages from spirits came in the form of dreams, visions, or objects, but I wasn’t capable ofconversing with them directly. At least not in the traditional sense. Perhaps through a scrying session, I might catch a glimpse of a conversation between a dead person and a living individual.
    At times, I hear Maegan’s voice—or what I perceive to be my great-grandmother’s voice—in my head, but only via words she had written in the Blessed Book.
    What just happened was different. It was desperate. This man—either a suicide or homicide victim—wanted someone to find that watch badly enough that, rather than move on to the Summerland, he waited in that dark abyss until someone came along.
    Until I came along.
    But why? What was so important about it?
    And what—if anything—did it have to do with me?
    I stood. I needed to do two things. The first was to call the police station and somehow report the body at the bottom of Eagle Lake without explaining how I knew it was there.
    The second was to make sure the deceased moved forward on his journey. As the Seeker of Justice, it was my job to ensure that the dead who came to me find their way to their next destination.
    A task I was not looking forward to after my encounter with this particular member of the nonliving.
    I shivered.
    Birdie always said the dead could never hurt you.
    But I learned today that they can touch you.
    If they can touch you, wouldn’t that mean they can hurt you?

Chapter 9

    A new dispatcher answered the call. She sounded a lot younger and much more enthusiastic than the previous woman who had worked there. There was no need to clog up the nine-one-one system since the body wasn’t getting any deader, so I called the station direct.
    “Amethyst Police Department. This is Amy. What can I help you with?”
    “Hi, Amy, my name is Stacy Justice and—”
    “Did you say Stacy Justice?”
    “I did. Listen, I—”
    “Stacy Justice the reporter?”
    “Yes, that’s right. The reason I’m calling—”
    “Hang on.”
    I heard some papers shuffling around.
    “All right, I’m back. Go ahead…oh, damn.”
    “What? What’s wrong?”
    The woman sighed. “I had August in the pool.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “You’re calling about a dead body, right?”
    “How did you know that?”
    “Lucky guess. Damn, Gus won.”
    “Won what? What are you talking about?”
    “Well, they hired me in May after I graduated and there was this pool going on to see when you would find a dead body. I had August. Gus had June.”
    I was speechless. For like a nanosecond. “Isn’t that illegal?”
    “Gee, I don’t know, is it?”
    This wasn’t going well.
    “Amy, please put someone on the phone who has a badge.”
    “Okeydoke.”
    A few seconds later, Leo asked, “You found another one? That has to be a record.”
    “I haven’t found a dead body in months, okay? Cut me some slack.”
    “Are you absolutely sure it’s a dead person? It’s not a mannequin or anything?”
    I sighed. “What month did you have?”
    “October.”
    “Wow, that long. I appreciate your faith.”
    “Where are you?”
    I told him where I was, that I was safe, and that Thor had trudged the body