Page 79 of The Witching Hours

“I’m… not sure?”

“Voice change? Taking showers more than once a day? Heightened interest in girls.”

“No. Not yet. I’m not questioning you, but I just have to ask why you want to know that?”

“Oh. Poltergeist phenomena sometimes accompanies a big hormonal shift in some member of the household. Like puberty. I don’t think that’s the cause here, but I’m leaving no stone unturned. At least not the ones that jump out at me. So, you know I have to ask if you practiced the recommendations made in your first-year training about moving to a new residence?”

“Oh, fuck yes. Sorry.”

“No worry. Go on.”

“I came over by myself. Opened up all the windows and doors. Did a thorough smudging with a chant I’d written about a good life for my family. Used a shoo broom and sealed the entrances with salt. I don’t think I missed anything.”

“No. You’re a good student. If things are getting past that, they’re more powerful than can be handled by a typical new home prep. Did you notice anything unusual while your rituals were in progress?”

“Couple of slamming windows. I figured they were just old and gave way to gravity. I leaned the broom against a door jamb when I was finished with it. It wasn’t there when I went back for it. I searched the whole house. It was a headscratcher. When I went back to the car to leave, it was there. Leaning against my car.”

“Huh. Not exactly subtle. With your training, you’ve probably become more sensitive than average. Do you have the sense that there’s more than one entity causing these things?And do you have the sense that there’s an anger motivation or a misguided attempt at playfulness?”

“I do think there’s more than one spirit or whatever.” There was a brief pause before he said, “I’m not qualified to talk about this really.”

“Why not?”

“Well, because I’m not… em, you or someone like you.”

“Since you live in the house, you’re the most qualified person in the world. Tell me your feelings even if you think they’re silly or wrong.”

“I don’t get the feeling it’s about anger or games. I get the feeling they just want us to leave. And they’re going to keep raising the ante until we do. The problem is we don’t have anywhere to go. Well, I guess it could get bad enough that we’d decide to live in the SUV. But five people in an SUV…”

“With luck it won’t come to that. Just out of curiosity, why were you attracted to the school and undergoing this training?”

“Oh, you know. I’ve always been sure that there’s stuff going on that nobody talks about. It’s like we live in a culture that’s taken a collective oath to be deaf, dumb, and blind to anything different.”

“Well said. What does Molly think about your dabbling?”

“We work at being supportive of what the other one needs. That helps a lot. It’s also a pretty big gift to me that she’s open minded. Well, I guess after all this, it’d be pretty hard for her to be a skeptic.”

“Um-hmm. Well, David, I know you’ve said you’re strapped financially, but if I help you, you have to pay mesomething. That’s how it works. How much can you pay me?”

“Pay you? For the phone call?”

“No. Not for the phone call. For the consultation. I’m coming to pay you a visit.”

“You mean you’re going to help us? Yourself? In person?” He sounded too excited for me to turn back now.

“How much can you pay me?”

“I have a savings bond my grandparents gave me when I turned eighteen. It’s not mature, but I think I could get a couple hundred dollars if I cash it in early. And we can pawn our wedding rings. They weren’t worth a whole lot when we bought them, but whatever we get, you can have it.”

“Alright. Here’s my plan. Today I’m going to get together the things I think I might need to bring, and make arrangements to be gone for a few days. Tomorrow I’ll drive there. Text me your address. I’ll stay at a motel close by. Day after tomorrow I’ll go to work when the five of you leave for work and school.”

“Oh. Wow.”

“Hope so.”

“How are you going to keep your children from talking about this at school?”

“Molly and I have told them that other people won’t believe us, that if we say what’s going on, they’ll laugh at us and call us crazy. We’ve asked them to hang on a little while so we can sort this out. They’re pretty good kids. I can’t be sure they won’t still talk about it, but the school hasn’t called us yet.”