Goddess of the Night by Lynne Ewing Page B

near Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Waves of
disappointment rolled over Vanessa. She thought she was on the verge
of discovering something earth-shattering. She had at least expected
a dark alley off Melrose and some threatening punker in five-inch
platform boots with silver studs jutting dangerously from leather
clothes.
    Jimena shut off
the engine. The music stopped. Vanessa rubbed her head against the
silence ringing in her ears.
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    Serena opened
the car door. "Come on," she coaxed. "You'll like
Maggie."
    Vanessa climbed
from the car. The sweet scent of night jasmine enveloped her. Jimena
walked over to the security panel and buzzed an apartment. A loud hum
opened the magnetic lock.
    Vanessa
followed Serena and Jimena into a mirrored entrance. She glanced at
the reflection, three girls with nothing in common, an odd
combination.
    "Who am I
going to meet?" she asked.
    "Maggie
Craven," Serena told her.
    "She's a
retired history teacher," Jimena added.
    "How can
she help me find Catty?"
    They smiled and
pulled her onto an elevator. The metal doors closed, and the elevator
trundled up to the fourth floor.
    "Look,
maybe I shouldn't have come," Vanessa hesitated.
    "Too
late," Serena said.
    They each took
one of Vanessa's hands and pulled her off the elevator, then walked
her down a narrow balcony that hung over a courtyard four
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    stories below.
Ivy entwined the iron railing.
    Before Jimena
could knock, the door opened. "Welcome, welcome." A thin,
short woman smiled. She wore flowing white pajamas that looked like a
kimono. Her long gray hair curled into a bun on top of her head. She
hugged Jimena and Serena. Then she touched the moon amulet hanging
from Vanessa's neck.
    "My dear,
dear child, I've been searching for you a long time," she said.
Her warm, caring eyes looked so deeply into Vanessa's that she
thought the woman was inspecting her soul. "You're here now.
That's all that matters."
    Maggie motioned
them to come inside and they continued down a narrow hallway to a
living room and kitchen. Candle flames and oil lamps lit the
apartment. Simple haunting music of four notes played from a stringed
instrument Vanessa couldn't identify.
    "Do you
like tea, my dear?" Maggie said. "Really, I just wanted to
ask about Catty and then go."
    * Maggie pulled
out a chair. "Sit, please."
    Vanessa sat at
the small table. The tablecloth
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    caught the
light from the oil lamps and candles and gave the impression that it
was spun with gold and silver threads.
    Maggie scooped
five teaspoons of loose tea into a white teapot. The round face of
the pot looked like the face of the moon. She added boiling water
from a kettle on the gas stove.
    "Milk?"
Maggie held up a small white pitcher. She didn't wait for anyone to
answer but poured a little into the bottom of each cup.
    "Now we'll
wait a moment for the tea to brew." She looked at Vanessa in a
loving way. "I'm so glad you've finally come to me. I have so
much I need to tell you, but where to start? That's always a
difficult decision."
    "You know
what happened to Catty?" Vanessa said.
    Maggie smiled
at her and set the strainer on top of a cup, poured tea, and handed
the cup to Vanessa. She repeated the same for Serena, Jimena, and
herself.
    Vanessa drank
the tea. It tasted of cloves and honey and something bitter.
    "This is
great tea." Vanessa sipped again. She
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    hadn't realized
how thirsty she had been until she was staring at tea leaves on the
bottom of her empty cup. "Now, what about Catty?" she
asked.
    "More tea,
my dear?"
    "Yes,
please. What kind is it?" She handed her cup to Maggie. Already
her urgency about Catty was melting away. She began to relax.
    "Perfect
tea for the occasion," Maggie said.
    In the candle
glow Maggie's face seemed to transform. She looked young, and her
eyes, something in them looked so familiar. Vanessa blinked. Maggie
looked younger still, and her hands were definitely those of a young
woman. Why hadn't she noticed that before? She wasn't old.
    Maggie