Debbie Herbert - Bayou Shadow Hunter

The murmur of conversation from the living room grew louder. Grandma Tia’s voice was low and calm, in contrast to the other woman’s high-pitched agitation.

“That hussy knew Jeb was my man, and it didn’t make no bit a difference to her.”

Every syllable of the woman’s words buzzed like angry bees in Annie’s ears. She hummed louder to block the buzzing and opened the pantry, which was lined with shelves of different-colored mojo bags, stones, nails, oils, graveyard dirt and hunks of dirt-dauber nests. A few murky jars were filled with liquid the color of swamp water, and she shuddered to think of what unsavory ingredients her grandma used in other kinds of spells.

Tia Henrietta popped her head in the door. “I need that there—”

Annie plucked two items from the shelf and held them out. “Here’s twine and a vial of Stay Me oil. You need to add these to one of the pink bags for a Taking-Back-Yer-Man spell. Right?”

“You a quick learner, child.” Grandma Tia gave a broad wink before closing the door behind her.

Annie shook her head in bemusement. It wasn’t too hard to learn the hoodoo basics. Grandma Tia had explained there were certain common spells: one for getting back a lover (mostly female customers), another for gambling luck (mostly men) and another for revenge or blocking enemies (popular with both sexes). That was in addition to using the all-purpose good-luck charms and cleansing waters she concocted.

The front door slammed shut, and Annie watched the wronged woman march to her sedan, tightly clenching the mojo bag in her right fist. The hapless Jeb didn’t stand a chance against her determination to cure him of his wandering ways. What a relief Grandma hadn’t insisted she join them for the consultation. Lately, Grandma Tia had been making her meet customers, saying she needed to come out of her shell. But she’d given her a break today and let her putter about the kitchen, allowing her to get her bearings after last night.

The teakettle whistled, and Annie poured steaming water into two mugs and carried them on a tray into the living room.

Her grandma was sprawled on the sofa, head in her hands.

“What’s wrong?” Annie hurried forward and set the mugs on the coffee table.

Tia brought her hands down and smiled wanly. “Nothing. I’ll be just fine after tea.”

“It’s your heart, isn’t it?” Annie asked, helping her sit up and placing a pillow behind her back.

“Cain’t expect it to last forever.” Grandma Tia mixed a dollop of honey into the hawthorn-berry tea. “This will revive me right nice.”

But one day it wouldn’t. Annie nervously adjusted the pillow.

As if reading her mind, Tia spoke again. “Don’t you worry ’bout me. I’m ready to meet my maker anytime He calls.”

What would she do without her grandma? Her real home was here in Bayou La Siryna, always had been. Here she wasn’t surrounded by people and their constant cacophony of sound and music. Unwanted sounds she’d never learned to mute or tune out. And if Grandma Tia died, there went all hope of learning to control it.

Annie sat on the couch, legs crossed, and sipped coffee. None of that slimy grass-tasting herbal tea for her. Her right leg jittered in rhythm with the tumbled whirling of her brain.

“Ain’t hard to guess what yer thinkin’.”

Annie cursed the guilty flush that heated her face. No use denying her one-track wish. “I can’t believe there’s nothing you can do to help me. There must be something.”

“Why would you be wantin’ to block a gift?” Tia clicked her tongue in disapproval. “One day you gonna be thanking the blessed saints for that hearing of yers.”

“It’s ruining my life. Why can’t you see that?” Annie set down her drink and stood, pacing the floorboards. This time guilt did more than stain her cheeks; it burned her heart. Grandma Tia probably wasn’t long for this world, and Annie was impatient and snippy with the one person in the world who best understood and accepted her peculiarity.

“I’m going outside to cool off,” she announced, using her last bit of self-control not to slam the door on the way out.

Cool off? What a joke. The humidity slapped her as soon as she stepped onto the porch. Annie sat down and stared at the gigantic live oaks draped with moss. Beautiful in a gothic, eerie kind of way. Burning cement cooked her butt, and she shifted her seating position.

Maybe it had been a mistake to come again this year after all. Still, she couldn’t bear the thought of her grandma living alone. And Mama had wanted no part of traveling down here, saying she’d rather go to hell than come back to Alabama.

So she sent me instead. Dear mom had jumped at the chance to get her weird daughter out of the house and out of her hair.

It certainly was hot as Hades down here. And the gazillion buzzing, stinging insects in the bayou were the devil’s own reward. Annie swiped at a mosquito sucking her forearm.

A whisper of song blew from the treetops and teased her ears. The plaintive, haunting beauty of it was unlike anything she’d ever heard. It was as pure as a dulcimer’s plucking. The notes warbled like a bird’s call and bubbled like water gurgling through rocks.

Annie half rose and then sat back down with a groan. This music was different from the will-o’-the-wisp’s eerily luring tune, but she wasn’t going to be fooled into returning to the woods. Tombi had claimed evil dwelled there. A dangerous place swarming with snakes and spirits. Just the thought of snakes was enough to keep her rooted to the porch.

The screen door creaked open on rusty hinges, and Grandma Tia framed the doorway.

“Somethin’ calling ya to go in them woods again.”

Annie narrowed her eyes. For all her savvy acumen in eking out an existence bartering mojo bags and spells for groceries and other necessities, her grandma really did have an unsettling sixth sense.

“I won’t be drawn into the woods again,” Annie assured her. “Once was bad enough.”

“This time, you should go.”

Annie snorted. “Tombi said there was evil out there. Besides, I hate snakes, and I imagine the woods are full of them.”

“It’s still daylight. Yer Tombi will protect ya.”

“Why do you trust this stranger? You’ve never even met him.”

Again, the fluting notes of music drifted and tempted. They chirruped and whistled like a bird in flight.

“You hear that?” Annie asked, looking toward the woods.

Tia shook her head. “Not a thing.”

Annie stood and lightly brushed the rear of her jeans. Gritty sand and red clay dust permeated every surface outdoors. “You think Tombi’s out there now?”

Tia’s eyes danced. “He been out there most of the day, hoping to see ya.”

She couldn’t stop the delicious shiver that vibrated along her spine. Annie cocked her head to the side, studying Tia. “You sure he’s trustworthy?”

“I have a good feelin’ ’bout him.”

Still, Annie hesitated. Grandma’s sixth sense wasn’t infallible. She often leaned on the side of reckless and trusting.

“You want everyone to come to you. Just like you search for answers to yer problems outside of yerself.” Tia patted her ample chest. “Sometimes you gots to take heart and just rise up to yer problems.”

Even her old grandma thought she was gutless. Annie straightened her shoulders. “Fine. If I don’t make it home tonight, send out a search party.”