Read Online The Amulet by Alison Pensy - Free Book Online

in
horror and confusion. There on the paper were two scorch marks
right where her hands had been.
    She scanned the office to see if anyone had
noticed, but everyone had their heads down attempting to look like
they were working industriously. Balling up the paper, she threw it
in the bin and went to the rest room to run her hands under some
cold water. She was getting very concerned about her hands now.
What just happened was definitely not normal; she also knew that
she couldn’t tell anyone; they would think her crazy for sure.
    For the rest of the day Faedra managed to
keep herself under the radar until it was time to go home. An
enormous weight lifted from her shoulders the minute she walked out
the door. She felt as light as a feather, as if she would float
away on even the most delicate of breezes.
    After going home to change and pick up Faen,
and her picnic basket, Faedra pulled into the church car park.
There were no other cars there, which suited her. People often gave
her funny looks as they walked by when she was nattering away to no
one visible. She pulled her blanket and picnic basket from the
trunk, and strolled towards the graveyard.
    It was a beautiful, warm evening with not a
cloud in the sky. There was a slight breeze that ruffled the leaves
on the trees. The graveyard was about an acre or two in size and
framed on three sides by ancient oak trees, with the church
standing proudly on the remaining side. She knew that the vicarage
was behind the trees to her right and believed that there were
fields behind the other trees. It was hard to see through them; not
because they were a thick stand of trees, but because they were
covered with their summer foliage.
    Faedra was in a daze as she meandered her way
through the headstones. She had been here to visit her mum so many
times that she thought she could probably find her headstone
blindfolded by now. It was just as well; she was so tired this
evening she didn’t have her wits about her, and felt like she was
on autopilot navigating her way through them.
    The friendly black and white collie had
spotted them as they came through the gate from the car park and
bounded up to greet her and Faen, giving Faedra her usual toothy
grin. The collie and Faen went through their established routine of
him growling softly at her, while she rubbed her head against his
chin in response. This time though, instead of her running off to
sit in her usual spot after Faedra had petted her, she stayed with
them and followed behind until they made it to Lillith’s grave.
    “Here we are again, boy,” she sighed, her
voice weighted down with sadness.
    Faedra set down the picnic basket, threw out
the blanket on the ground and sat down on it. Leaning up against
her mother’s headstone, she outstretched her legs in front of her.
She patted her hands on the blanket either side of her legs.
    “Come on you two, you can join me, you know,”
she said to the two dogs that were standing either side of the
blanket and looking at her with an understanding she couldn’t quite
figure out. They did as she asked and lay down next to her, putting
a head on each of Faedra’s thighs so that they were nose-to-nose.
The ‘sibling rivalry’ was completely gone, and they both let out a
sad sounding whine.
    “Hey, you two, I’m okay,” Faedra ran her
hands over both of their soft silky heads and they didn’t take
their eyes off her.
    Faedra let out a heavy sigh and leaned her
head back to rest it against the cold hard granite of the headstone
and closed her eyes. It felt nice and cool against the balmy warm
of the evening air. A few minutes passed and she said nothing, but
listened to the sounds of nature surrounding her. She could hear
the dogs breathing and feel their hot breath on her hands that were
now resting on her thighs. The birds chirped in the trees behind
her; in the distance she could hear a horse whinny from the stables
across the road.
    A crunching on the gravel path prompted her
to