Drake Sisters 02 - The Twilight Before Christmas

Abigail Drake rushed in, a smal woman with dark eyes and a wealth of red-gold hair spil ing down her back in a thick ponytail. Her face was flushed and her eyes over-bright. The moment she glimpsed her sisters, she burst into tears.
    “Abbey!” Hannah set her teacup down on the highly polished coffee table. “What is it? You never cry.”
    “I humiliated myself in front of the entire Christmas pageant committee,” Abigail said miserably. She threw herself into the overstuffed armchair, curled her feet under her, and covered her face with her hands. “I can never face any of them again.”
    Hannah and Kate rushed to her side, both putting their arms around her. “Don’t cry, Abbey. What happened? Maybe we can fix it. It can’t be that bad.”
    “It was bad,” Abigail muttered from between her fingers. “I accidental y used the voice. I wasn’t paying attention. There was the earthquake, and I was so distracted because I felt something under us, something moving just below the surface seeking a way out. I felt it.” Of al the talents gifted to the sisters, Abigail felt hers was the worst. Her voice could be used to extract the truth from people around her. As a child, before she’d learn to control the tone and the wording of her sentences, she’d been very unpopular with her classmates. They would often blurt out the truth of some escapade to their parents or a teacher whenever they were in her presence. Abigail pul ed her hands down and stared at them with her sad eyes. “It isn’t an excuse. I’m not a teenager. I know I have to be alert al the time.”
    Hannah and Kate exchanged a long, fearful look. “We felt the shadow too, Abbey. It was very disconcerting to both of us. What happened at the meeting?”
    Abbey drew her legs up tighter into her body. “We were al discussing the Christmas pageant.” She rubbed her chin on the top of her knees. “I felt the rift in the earth, a blackness wel ing up, and the next thing I knew I was asking for the truth.” She clapped her hands over her ears. “I got the truth too.
    Everyone did. Bruce Harper is having an affair with Mason Fredrickson’s wife. They were al in the room. Bruce and Mason got in a terrible fistfight, and Letty Harper burst into tears and ran out. She’s six months pregnant. Sylvia Fredrickson slapped me across the face and walked out, leaving me standing there with everyone looking at me.” She burst into tears al over again.
    Kate frowned as she rubbed her sister’s shoulders. She could feel the waves of distress pouring off of Abigail. “It’s al right now, honey. You’re home, and you’re safe.” At once a soothing tranquil ity swept into the room, a sense of peace. The wicks on the unlit candles on the mantel leapt to life with bright orange-red flames. Joley’s voice poured into the room, uplifting and melodic, bringing with it a sense of home and Christmas cheer. Kate leaned into her sister. “Abigail, your talent is a tremendous gift, and you have always used it for good. This was a distortion of your talent, not something any of us could have foreseen. Let it go. Just breathe and let it go.”
    Abbey managed a smal smile, the sobs fading at the sound of her sister’s voice. Kate the peacemaker. Most thought she prevented fights and solved problems, but in truth, she had a magic about her, a tranquil ity and inner peace she shared with others just by the way she spoke. “I wish I had your gift, Kate,” Abbey said. She pressed her hand to her cheek. “I didn’t mind everyone’s finding out about Sylvia—she likes to think she can get any man—
    but poor little Letty, pregnant and loving her stupid unfaithful husband so much. That was heartbreaking. And at Christmas too. What possessed me to be so careless? I’m so ashamed of myself.”
    “What exactly did you say, Abbey?” Kate asked.
    Abbey looked confused. “Everyone had put in a variety of ideas for acting out the play we do every year and someone asked if they real y liked the old script and should we keep it as a tradition or should we modernize it. I think I said, now would be a good time to tel the truth if you want to make any major changes. I meant with the script, not in people’s lives.” She rubbed her temples. “I haven’t made a mistake like that since I was a teenager. I’m so careful to avoid the word truth.” She scrubbed her hand over her face a second time, trying to erase the sting of Sylvia’s hand. “You know if I use that