Dreams of Fire (Maple Hill Chronicles Book 1) by Elizabeth Alix Page A

séance. Since then, there had been a few others, but Sarah left them alone as long as they didn’t fleece too many pockets and disturb too many souls.
    Sarah finished watering the pots of herbs, basil, mint and lemon thyme she kept on a table by the window. They added a subtle fragrance to the room, and she found them soothing.
    There were unpleasant members of the nonliving population as well: bullies and entities that downright scared her. She’d dealt with an angry poltergeist once when she was much younger, and it had taken everything she had not to run screaming like her client. Then, there were the occasional shadow beings who passed through Maple Hill, and all she could do was monitor them and put up wards around the most vulnerable places. She didn’t know what or who they were, but they gave her the willies. She could handle most things by herself, but sometimes she needed help. Kelly was her rock, even if she couldn’t see or hear anything in the spirit world. Sarah also had a few allies on both sides of the veil and drew on them as a last resort.  
    She would definitely try and get to the bottom of the unrest she’d sensed lately when she and Kelly visited the Violent Lane house tomorrow. With any luck, Marianne Singleton would not be an unpleasant skeptic.  
    The breeze billowed through the open window, rattling the blinds. Sarah lowered the old fashioned sash window and settled herself at the desk again. A thunderstorm would be welcome. She turned her attention back to the briefing she’d been writing before Kelly’s call.

    The smoky wisp felt the electric crackle of the coming storm and strained to draw energy from it. The newcomer had to be warned, and dreams weren’t clear enough. She had to be kept out of the basement at all costs.

    Marianne walked quickly down the sidewalk as the breeze picked up, lifting the dust fitfully from the pavement. The café owner outside the co-op was closing the umbrellas over the heavy metal tables, and people were moving purposefully toward cover.
    She felt better than she had in days with a good haircut. Pouring her heart out to the hairdresser had also been cathartic. Kelly had been really nice. Admittedly, it was her job to be nice to her clients, but it felt like she’d been sincere when she’d told her she was brave. Marianne couldn’t remember anyone ever telling her that before. Well, if she was brave maybe she could deal with this haunted house. She hoped that Kelly was worthy of the confidence and didn’t blab Marianne’s troubles all over town. It sounded like the last woman to live in the house had been freaked out by weird occurrences too and left in a big hurry.
    The first huge drops of rain were beginning to fall as she turned the corner to her own street. She started to jog, but before she’d run more than a few yards the heavens opened up with a flash of lightning and a delayed peal of thunder. She was drenched by the time she reached her front door and fumbled with the keys.  
    Once inside she pushed her sneakers off and dripped her way down the hall to the bathroom to towel off. Oscar followed her. When she’d dried herself enough to not leave footprints everywhere, she got new clothes and hung up the wet things over the shower curtain rod. Her beautiful new hairdo was completely plastered to her skull, and she did her best to towel it dry. Oh well, she thought as she looked in the bathroom mirror, so much for looking like a young Karen Allen.
    The lightning and thunder came closer and closer together as the storm approached. The light outside had turned into early twilight grey in spite of it being early afternoon. Marianne flipped on a few lights and turned on the radio, but every time there was a flash of lightning, the static made such a hideous noise that she turned it off almost immediately. Cool, moist air blew in through the western bedroom windows, and she raced in to shut them soundly before the rain could wet the floor any