Dead to the World

evidence of years of heavy use. There was a living room-dining room-kitchen combo, with a breakfast bar separating the galley kitchen from the rest of the area. There were a few toys in a basket in the corner of the room, and there was a can of Pledge and a rag on the scarred coffee table. Holly had been cleaning.
    “I’m sorry to interrupt,” I said.
    “That’s okay. Coke? Juice?”
    “No, thanks. Where’s Cody?”
    “He went to stay with his dad,” she said, looking down at her hands. “I drove him over the day after Christmas.”
    “Where’s his dad living?”
    “David’s living in Springhill. He just married this girl, Allie. She already had two kids. The little girl is Cody’s age, and he just loves to play with her. It’s always, ‘Shelley this,’ and ‘Shelley that.’ ” Holly looked kind of bleak.
    David Cleary was one of a large clan. His cousin Pharr had been in my grade all through school. For Cody’s genes’ sake, I hoped that David was more intelligent than Pharr, which would be real easy.
    “I need to talk to you about something pretty personal, Holly.”
    Holly looked surprised all over again. “Well, we haven’t exactly been on those terms, have we?” she said. “You ask, and I’ll decide whether to answer.”
    I tried to frame what I was going to say—to keep secret what I needed to keep secret and ask of her what I needed without offending.
    “You’re a witch?” I said, embarrassed at using such a dramatic word.
    “I’m more of a Wiccan.”
    “Would you mind explaining the difference?” I met her eyes briefly, and then decided to focus on the dried flowers in the basket on top of the television. Holly thought I could read her mind only if I was looking into her eyes. (Like physical touching, eye contact does make the reading easier, but it certainly isn’t necessary.)
    “I guess not.” Her voice was slow, as if she were thinking as she spoke. “You’re not one to spread gossip.”
    “Whatever you tell me, I won’t share with anyone.” I met her eyes again, briefly.
    “Okay,” she said. “Well, if you’re a witch, of course, you practice magic rituals.”
    She was using “you” in the general sense, I thought, because saying “I” would mean too bold a confession.
    “You draw from a power that most people never tap into. Being a witch isn’t being wicked, or at least it isn’t supposed to be. If you’re a Wiccan, you follow a religion, a pagan religion. We follow the ways of the Mother, and we have our own calendar of holy days. You can be both a Wiccan and a witch; or more one, or more the other. It’s very individualized. I practice a little witchcraft, but I’m more interested in the Wiccan life. We believe that your actions are okay if you don’t hurt anyone else.”
    Oddly, my first feeling was one of embarrassment, when I heard Holly tell me that she was a non-Christian. I’d never met anyone who didn’t at least pretend to be a Christian or who didn’t give lip service to the basic Christian precepts. I was pretty sure there was a synagogue in Shreveport, but I’d never even met a Jew, to the best of my knowledge. I was certainly on a learning curve.
    “I understand. Do you know lots of witches?”
    “I know a few.” Holly nodded repeatedly, still avoiding my eyes.
    I spotted an old computer on the rickety table in the corner. “Do you have, like, a chat room online, or a bulletin board, or something?”
    “Oh, sure.”
    “Have you heard of a group of witches that’s come into Shreveport lately?”
    Holly’s face became very serious. Her straight dark brows drew together in a frown. “Tell me you’re not involved with them,” she said.
    “Not directly. But I know someone they’ve hurt, and I’m afraid they might’ve taken Jason.”
    “Then he’s in bad trouble,” she said bluntly. “The woman who leads this group is out-and-out ruthless. Her brother is just as bad. That group, they’re not like the rest of us. They’re not trying to find a better way to live, or a path to get in touch with the natural world, or spells to increase their inner peace. They’re Wiccans, but they’re evil.”
    “Can you give me any clues about where I might track them down?” I was doing my best to keep my face in line. I could hear with my other sense that Holly was thinking that if the newly arrived coven had Jason, he’d be hurt badly, if not killed.
    Holly, apparently in deep thought, looked out the front window of her