Page 52 of The Secret of Drulea Cottage

After a few minutes of eerie silence, Briony peeked out the door. Her eyes widened at the clear blue sky that looked just the same as it had only ten minutes before, no tempest in sight.

As if it never happened.

But it did happen! I did na imagine it!Briony walked out and caught sight of the blackened dirt where one of the lightning strikes had hit. She touched the place gingerly and gasped at the residual heat.

Heat…

Briony looked down at her hands in bewilderment.They seem perfectly normal now.

But heat like that can’ be normal, can it?

Now that I think about it, that was the same sort o’ heat I felt when that sailor grabbed me… And then he got those red marks on his hand! That can’ be a coincidence, but how could I be responsible fer it? This does na make any sense!

Briony gripped her head as she tried to figure out what was going on.Human beings can’ burn people just by touching them. ’Tis impossible.

And yet…

I have to go see Dr. Sherwin. If anyone can remind me o’ what’s rational, ’tis him.

Briony hurried into town, skirting around everyone with more care than usual. She didn’t care how odd it looked that she was putting ten or more feet between herself and everyone else.

No one seems to have noticed anyway. They’re probably too focused on the fact that Johnsmas will be here morn.

“Dr. Sherwin!” Briony knocked frantically against the door as soon as she arrived.

“What is it?!” The doctor wrenched the door open with a growl. “Oh, ’tis only you. Hurry up, then! The sooner you get yer notes down, the faster yer gone.”

“Um, but, Doctor…,” Briony started, but the man had already turned and gone back inside.

She followed him into the office, unsure of how to explain her problem.

Dr. Sherwin was going through a trunk in the back, completely oblivious that Briony wasn’t already at the desk writing notes.

“Dr. Sherwin, I’m na here fer that…”

He turned to her with a frown. “You realize yer behind, right? I have na gotten any updates on Mr. Mendes’s condition in almost a week. I was just about to go check on him myself when you got here.”

Briony wrung her hands nervously. “Aye, I know I’ve been irresponsible, but I have something else to discuss with you. ’Tis about me.”

The man’s eyes narrowed. “Was it one o’ the foreigners?”

“What? What are you talking abou—” Briony cut off as understanding dawned on her. “How dare you! How could you assume I would do something like that?! I know I have a family history o’ it, but I’ve never done anything promiscuous! I’m na that kind o’ person, no matter what this town thinks!”

Briony clenched her hands into fists, feeling her temper flare up as it had earlier at Santiago. She glared at this arrogant, insensitive, prejudiced man, feeling like he represented all the pain and hardship she had borne over the years.

And, just like earlier, a familiar heat appeared in her fingertips. It began to spread into her palms—

Fear washed over her as she lifted her hands.

“This is why I came to you.” Briony’s voice was a tiny whisper.

Dr. Sherwin looked at her in confusion.

“My hands! Please help me!” She reached out a hand to the doctor’s arm, almost grabbing it, but she stopped herself a few inches away.

“You can feel how warm ’tis, right?”

“What in the world… ’Tis burning up! How is that possible…” He extended a finger and tapped her palm, but as soon as he did, he drew back with a yelp.