“A map.”
7. CIRCLE OF SALT
I recognized the white weather-beaten house immediately. It was the one in the background of the photo I’d found tucked in my mirror, the day Elle and I were packing up my bedroom three months ago. The details of the picture crystallized in my mind—my dad carrying me on his shoulders, the goofy kid-smile plastered across my face.
Faith’s house was nestled in the woods about a mile and a half down an unmarked gravel road, even less noticeable than the one that led to the museum. We had passed a smattering of other homes, but none of them were this deep in the woods.
Lukas parked the Jeep in the snow, leaving enough room for another car to pass, even though we hadn’t seen any tire tracks since we turned off the main road.
On one side of the car there was nothing but a sea of snow-covered trees, which seemed to go on forever. To the left, beyond the narrow strip of road, the forest sloped downward, disappearing over the edges of cliffs and ridges that cut back and forth like a the triangular teeth I used to draw as kid.
We were all standing one of the wider ridges, a few yards away from the Jeep Faith’s house was below us, surrounded by towering pines and evergreens. Without the map, it would’ve been difficult if not impossible to find.
“I’ve been there before,” I said.
Elle sighed dramatically. “Please tell me we didn’t hang out in that disgusting museum full of dead animals to find a map we didn’t need. Those were two hours of my life I’ll never get back.”
Alara pushed past her. “And I bet you’ve wasted more time doing worse things.”
“Ow.” Elle rubbed her elbow. “Would it kill you to be a little nicer?”
“Yes.” Alara walked back toward the middle of the ridge, where the guys were drawing lines in the snow to represent different routes to Faith’s house.
“Kennedy,” Elle whispered. “I have to pee.”
I opened my arms wide and gestured around us. “Choose a spot.”
“Just make sure no comes over here.” She walked away from the edge and trudged through the trees that ran parallel to the slope.
As I stared down at the bits of the house I could see through the branches, I wondered what Faith Waters was like. How long had she been living out here? Did she have a family? And the question that kept resurfacing… did my father live there, too?
“Hey.” Elle waved from between the trees. “I found a crop circle like the ones on Ancient Aliens.”
Priest, Jared, and Lukas exchanged amused looks. Alara shook her head as if she couldn’t imagine what Elle was going to come up with next.
Jared stood up and brushed the snow off his jeans. “There are no crops out here, Elle.”
She put a hand on her hip and gave him her you’re-about-to-get-dumped-after-two-dates look. “I’m in AP Biology. Thanks for enlightening me.”
Lukas caught up to her first. His hands were jammed in his pockets, and he nudged her playfully with elbow. “Come on. Don’t be mad. Let’s see it.”
The rest of us trailed after them.
Lukas followed Elle to a small stretch of rock, which created a platform overlooking the trees below. When Lukas reached the edge, he froze.
“Anything down there?” Alara asked.
“I told you.” Elle stood next to him with her chin raised, and smiled.
When we caught up to them, Lukas pointed at the house, in the center of what resembled a dark gray crop circle. But instead of flattened grass, this circle was made by something else. “Check it out.”
Alara squinted. “What is it?”
Lukas looked over at Jared and Priest, who hadn’t taken their eyes off the house and the strange ring encircling it. “I don’t know.”
Lukas drew a map, using trees and the cliff faces as landmarks. Then Jared drove us back down the road until we reached the base of the hill. We parked the car where the ground began to slope. Alara ended up having the best sense of direction, and she navigated her way between the trees, while the rest of us tried to keep up.
The house was only about a half mile from the road, and the snowfall had let up a little.
“Does anyone else hear that?” Alara stopped walking and closed her eyes, listening.
When I caught up to her, I heard it, too. A delicate, almost musical sound drifted through the woods.
“Think it’s the wind?” I asked.
“No.” Alara headed through the trees, moving faster, with more purpose.
With every step, the sound grew louder, changing from a gentle ringing to a thunderous clatter.
“It sounds like wind chimes,” Jared said.
Ahead of us, Alara nodded. “I think so, too.”
But before we had a chance to find out, bits of white wood became visible like puzzle pieces scattered through the trees. A moment later, the house came into view—and a curved stretch of gray ground.
“It looks like someone carved it into the snow,” I said.
“Or melted into it.” Alara stopped at the edge of a cluster of pines. “It’s a salt line.”
Chunks of rock salt glistened on the ground within the snowy walls of the circle.
Jared stood behind me, with his arms wrapped around my waist. “Ever seen anything like it?”
“Not even close.” Lukas shook his head and turned toward his brother, then looked away when he noticed Jared’s arms around me. Instead of the jealousy I’d seen from Lukas in the past, this seemed like the knee jerk reaction of someone who was uncomfortable and just wanted the feeling to go away.
I wanted it to go away, too—for the awkwardness between us to disappear.
We stayed close to the tree line, working our way around to the front of the house. The porch came into view, revealing the source of the sound. Hundreds of metal wind chimes lined the porch, banging against one another. Some were made from strands of bottle caps, while forks and spoons dangled from others.
Jared covered his ears. “Are they trying to attract every spirit within a twenty mile radius?”
“Some cultures believe wind chimes frighten spirits instead of attracting them,” Alara said.
Priest flipped up the hood of his down jacket, waving his EMF. “It’s clean, paranormally speaking.”
“When will I get an electro-magnified ghost finder?” Elle gestured at Priest’s EMF, from where she stood a few yards away, butchering electromagnetic field meter for the second time today.
Alara walked to the edge of the white circle surrounding the house. She bent down and picked up a handful of rock salt.
“Be careful not to break the salt line,” I whispered to Elle. I didn’t want her to make the same mistake I had.
Priest followed the curve around the back of the house. “Anyone trying this hard to scare away spirits has to be a member of the Legion.”
“Or totally paranoid,” Elle said.
Priest stopped walking a few yards ahead of us. “I’m going with both.”
A headstone rose up through the snow. As we circled around to the front, the ground changed from white to brown, where the earth was freshly turned over. Someone had dug a grave at the base of the headstone.
Elle gasped.
A stone dove perched on top of the marker, above the script looping across the face.
FAITH MADIGAN
1972-
“MAY SHE SLEEP WITH THE DOVES.”
Faith Madigan—the first and middle names from the birth certificate Lukas found. In spite of the morbid scene, relief washed over me. She was real.
My dad’s not the missing Legion member.
Alara bent down next to the headstone. “Think she dropped Waters?”
“It’s the first thing I’d do if I didn’t want anyone to find me.” Jared pulled my hand into his pocket, along with his own.
Elle scrunched up her nose. “Who digs their own grave?”
Priest peered into the hole. “Someone who knows they’re being hunted.”
Branches snapped o
n the other side of the house.
“Is that—?” I glanced behind me.
Alara backed away. “Barking.”