Moonstruck Madness by Laurie McBain Page A

Sabrina asked anxiously.
    "I saw a strange house, and a stranger."
    Sabrina gripped her hands together as she asked, "What did this stranger look like?"
    Mary frowned. "At first he frightened me, you see; he had a scar across his cheek, and I felt very nervous and uneasy."
    Sabrina stared down at her hands in her lap, nervously chewing her lower lip as she listened to Mary's startling information—for she had never spoken of the scar-faced man before.
    "I'm worried about this man, and yet I don't feel the same cold, desolate ache that I did when Grandfather died." Mary laughed nervously. "I know it sounds insane and doesn't really make much sense, but what is going to happen, I feel, is inevitable." She looked to Sabrina for understanding.
    Sabrina returned her stare gravely, nodding her head in acceptance. "Well, as long as you don't see me hanging from the gibbet, then all is well, because I shall be facing that scar-faced man this evening," she confessed reluctantly, "and unless he puts up one hell of a fight, then you can look for me around dawn."
    "So there really is a scar-faced man," Mary breathed in awe.
    "It's not really a disfiguring scar," Sabrina explained, "it just makes him look rakish, and he has a disposition to match. He's the one who fired at John."
    The worried look returned to Mary's face. "I wish I felt certain about this. How can I allow you to go riding off into danger, danger I know exists, and yet I can't really warn you against anything specific," she cried in disgust "Everything is so vague. I always see just enough to tantalize me, but never enough to do any good."
    "Yes, you do, Mary," Sabrina replied. "Remember when you warned us of the dragoons waiting on the hillside to ambush us? And the time Richard was lost and you knew exactly where to find him? Oh, Mary, you've been right so many times, don't despair now, just because you can't tell me everything."
    "But why do I see this scar-faced man? Who is he? And why is he important to us? He's always there, Sabrina. I hadn't told you earlier, but I've seen him before—in other dreams," Mary confessed. "But it doesn't make sense. Is he an enemy, or not?"
    "Of course he is. What else could he be?" Sabrina demanded. "But he won't be troubling us further after tonight"
    Mary clasped her hands together tightly. "I hate it! I hate having the gift," she said tearfully. "I'm cursed. I want to be normal, Rina. I don't want to be different," Mary sobbed. "I think sometimes I'm a witch. Why do you love me? Why do you care about me? I only see evil."
    "Don't Mary. You're not evil. What you have is God-given. It has to be," Sabrina said persuasively, putting her arm around Mary's shaking shoulders.
    "Don't you remember the English ship you warned us of? The French captain still must say prayers to you for saving his skin. And remember the night you warned Will and John and me not to go on the highroad, and the next day two highwaymen who'd been caught by a patrol of dragoons that night were seen hanging from the gibbets. Your gift is good, Mary," Sabrina coaxed. "Now dry your tears and give me a smile. I'm tired of long faces about me. What with Will's woebegone faces, I'm out of all patience with the lot of you."
    Mary gave her a watery smile and got to her feet, smoothing down her skirts. "You're right, Rina. I've been acting like a wretch these last few days, but everything will be all right. It has to be."
    Sabrina smiled in satisfaction. "I know it will. Have I failed yet? We've many more profitable years yet to come, you wait and see."
    Sabrina shook off her uneasiness as she and Will left their familiar countryside of valleys and woodlands, and through the dark of night under a full, yellow moon riding high in the sky they traveled across a desolate expanse of wild heath, then a forest of dense, black fir trees. Gradually the whole atmosphere of the land began to change into a nightmarish quality. The stone villages surrounded by their high, thick,