feelings. I wasn't feeling particularly forgiving at the moment though. I just wanted this conversation to be over.
I was on the verge of going up to my room when Ramona finally appeared. She looked especially regal this afternoon. She swapped the black dress for a lightweight sun dress that showed off her slender waist to great effect. Her hair was pinned in an effortless French knot. It managed to look both dressy and casual. How a fashion noob like me was related to someone as knowledgeable about clothes as she was was a question I'd never managed to answer.
She walked in and sat in one of the two high backed reading chairs in the library. Mom sat in the other and I was lounging on the window seat. Ramona didn't talk at first. She just spent a few minutes staring out the window behind me.
Finally Ramona said, "There's no easy way to tell you something like this. I've tried to come up with a way to ease you into this conversation, but if it exists, I can't think of it."
Intriguing. "Tell me what?"
"Desire isn't a typical town."
"I agree. It has more jerk asses per capita than any other town of equal size in the nation." Clearly I was dealing with people with no sense of humor since my hilarious line failed to elicit even one mercy laugh.
"If you've noticed how odd some of the people here act then you might already understand a little of what I'm about to tell you. Desire has a power structure that nobody outside of the town knows about. As far as the rest of the world knows, we have a mayor and exactly the right number of councilmen that is called for in a town this size. But it's just a cover for the real power in Desire. We do that because we don't want anyone to ever have a reason to look too closely to how we do business here."
I tapped my foot restlessly against the edge of the window seat. "You are starting to go all conspiracy theory on me here."
Ramona nodded, pleased. "Yes! That's exactly what it is."
Oh lord, she's lost her mind from the grief. "I think you should probably lie down for a while, ma'am. You aren't making any sense and I think Marla might seriously try to put you in a home if she hears you."
"Marla hasn't the power or the backbone to do anything of the kind." She snapped. "And I'm making perfect sense if you'll just sit still and listen until I'm done."
I looked helplessly at my mother, but she didn't seem at all uneasy by Ramona's crazy talk of conspiracies and secret leadership. "You need to hear this, Thistle."
"Your mother and I, you, and everyone else in Desire are all witches."
I pasted a smile on my face and hoped it didn't look as sick as I felt. Ramona was clearly losing her mind before my eyes, but at least she wasn't violent or flinging poo. "Uh huh. That's great!"
Ramona glowered at me. "Quit patronizing me, young lady. I'm not crazy and I'd thank you to stop acting like I'm a rabid dog about to attack. Now listen." She folded her hands into her lap and looked for all the world like a librarian about to start story time for a group of preschoolers.
"The women in the town of Desire have always exhibited Talents. Sometimes they can be unpredictable, but usually Talents are similar within Families. Our Family has power over words and communication. My personal Talent is to make a person feel whatever emotions I write down. It's why my books sell so well even though I don't know the first thing about writing a book. I had to switch to fluff books because when people read my first novel they felt so much hopelessness and despair during the dark parts that a lot of people just went out and killed themselves." She laughed as if the idea of dozens of people killing themselves was hilarious.
"You already know that your mother can remember anything she ever reads."
"Regular people can do that. Nothing witchy about it." I interrupted.
"I agree it's a rather weak showing. I should have been more discriminating her father, but I let competitiveness get in the way
I was on the verge of going up to my room when Ramona finally appeared. She looked especially regal this afternoon. She swapped the black dress for a lightweight sun dress that showed off her slender waist to great effect. Her hair was pinned in an effortless French knot. It managed to look both dressy and casual. How a fashion noob like me was related to someone as knowledgeable about clothes as she was was a question I'd never managed to answer.
She walked in and sat in one of the two high backed reading chairs in the library. Mom sat in the other and I was lounging on the window seat. Ramona didn't talk at first. She just spent a few minutes staring out the window behind me.
Finally Ramona said, "There's no easy way to tell you something like this. I've tried to come up with a way to ease you into this conversation, but if it exists, I can't think of it."
Intriguing. "Tell me what?"
"Desire isn't a typical town."
"I agree. It has more jerk asses per capita than any other town of equal size in the nation." Clearly I was dealing with people with no sense of humor since my hilarious line failed to elicit even one mercy laugh.
"If you've noticed how odd some of the people here act then you might already understand a little of what I'm about to tell you. Desire has a power structure that nobody outside of the town knows about. As far as the rest of the world knows, we have a mayor and exactly the right number of councilmen that is called for in a town this size. But it's just a cover for the real power in Desire. We do that because we don't want anyone to ever have a reason to look too closely to how we do business here."
I tapped my foot restlessly against the edge of the window seat. "You are starting to go all conspiracy theory on me here."
Ramona nodded, pleased. "Yes! That's exactly what it is."
Oh lord, she's lost her mind from the grief. "I think you should probably lie down for a while, ma'am. You aren't making any sense and I think Marla might seriously try to put you in a home if she hears you."
"Marla hasn't the power or the backbone to do anything of the kind." She snapped. "And I'm making perfect sense if you'll just sit still and listen until I'm done."
I looked helplessly at my mother, but she didn't seem at all uneasy by Ramona's crazy talk of conspiracies and secret leadership. "You need to hear this, Thistle."
"Your mother and I, you, and everyone else in Desire are all witches."
I pasted a smile on my face and hoped it didn't look as sick as I felt. Ramona was clearly losing her mind before my eyes, but at least she wasn't violent or flinging poo. "Uh huh. That's great!"
Ramona glowered at me. "Quit patronizing me, young lady. I'm not crazy and I'd thank you to stop acting like I'm a rabid dog about to attack. Now listen." She folded her hands into her lap and looked for all the world like a librarian about to start story time for a group of preschoolers.
"The women in the town of Desire have always exhibited Talents. Sometimes they can be unpredictable, but usually Talents are similar within Families. Our Family has power over words and communication. My personal Talent is to make a person feel whatever emotions I write down. It's why my books sell so well even though I don't know the first thing about writing a book. I had to switch to fluff books because when people read my first novel they felt so much hopelessness and despair during the dark parts that a lot of people just went out and killed themselves." She laughed as if the idea of dozens of people killing themselves was hilarious.
"You already know that your mother can remember anything she ever reads."
"Regular people can do that. Nothing witchy about it." I interrupted.
"I agree it's a rather weak showing. I should have been more discriminating her father, but I let competitiveness get in the way
Similar Books
