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It was a hot May afternoon in the swamps and creeks of Salt Island. Two boys, one black, one copper-skinned, were casting a net in one of the holes of Arn's Creek.

"There, over there," hissed Eddie, the copper-skinned boy. The school of small mullet rippled the water. Eddie threw his arms wide and kicked at the water from his side of the hole. The startled mullet made torpedo waves as they headed toward the other side where Jason stood, quiet as a post, at the water's edge.

When the mullet were close, Jason half-turned like a discus thrower, and then threw the net, low and spreading, just above the swimming fish. The net's lead weights dropped it into the water.

"Nah, you missed. Lower and out more." Eddie wished he had the net. "Bring it in, quick."

"Shut up, Eddie," said Jason, his black skin shiny with sweat. He coiled the braided cord as he pulled it in. Then the cord went taut. "Rats," he mumbled, "it's hung up on oysters."

But it wasn't hung up on oysters. Jason felt the whole net shiver through the cord, and for a second he imagined mud exploding on the creek bottom. "Whoa!" he yelled as he pulled. "Whoa! I got me a fish, man. Whoa!" The net was alive and jerking him into the water. "It's a monster!"

"Get him! Get him! Pull him on in, Jason! Hold on!" Eddie yelled as he raced past the hole to the shallow part of the creek and crossed over to Jason's side. "Maybe it's a gator, or a shark. Pull that sucker in!" He skidded to a stop in the soft mud beside Jason and grabbed at the cord. Just as he pulled back, both legs went out from under him. He fell into Jason and both boys went down into the churning water. Alligators, sharks, or whatever was in the net were seriously on their minds as they pushed back out of the water on their butts.

They got their feet under them, yelling, grunting like hogs, and crabbed out of the water, dragging the net through the shallows. Up it came in the muddy froth. Tangled in the net was a fish, bigger than they'd ever seen, flashing green and white in the net's folds.

On the bank it quieted a little, but still shook the net with its spasms. Jason and Eddie stood beside it, splattered like mud wrestlers.

"It's a tarpon," gasped Eddie, "like in the videos. I'll bet he could tail-walk if we had a hook in his mouth."

"Nah," said Jason, "it's just a big old bull mullet."

"Yeah, right, Jason, a bull mullet." Eddie laughed. "No mullet's that big. Look at it. Must be five feet long!"

Jason poked the net with his foot, near a wild-looking eye of the fish. "I am looking at it. It's a bull mullet, 'bout three feet long. Look at that mullet mouth."

Eddie peered at the fish. For all its bulk, the mouth was just a small round hole. "Wow!" He jumped into the water. "What a mullet! We got a world record. Wanna bet?"

Eddie gave Jason a high five and knelt beside the netted fish. He put a muddy hand to its side and felt it quiver. "We're going to be so famous with this monster! Maybe we can get other stuff and have our own TV show."

Jason sighed. "Why do you get so crazy with the stupidest things? It's just a fish."

From up the bank and across the marsh came Auntie Tel's call. She didn't sound out names but sort of yelled and yodeled at the same time. "Oooodddllleellllldddooooo!"

"Cripes," said Jason, his eyes on the fish, "we forgot to get the clams for Auntie."

"Clams, spams, Jason. We didn't because you brought the cast net. So what about that, huh?" Net-casting was way more fun than digging around for clams, and the boys figured they'd have time to do both.

Jason ignored Eddie and went over to the fish. "Let's roll him up in the net and take him home. Maybe Auntie wants him."

"If she doesn't, let's call the TV station. This baby is a world record!" Eddie paused. "It's a state record at least."

Each boy grabbed an end of the net and suspended the mullet between them, then started sliding and splashing up the creek to Auntie Tel's rickety dock. The tide was coming in but it was still low enough for them to wade along the sand bottom of the creek. When they came to an oyster rake in the channel, they had to go back to slipping and sliding on the bank to avoid cutting their feet.

The mullet lay quietly in the net. Even when they submerged him while crossing from one bank to the other, he did no more than quiver.

Eddie, carrying the rear half of the net, thought maybe the mullet's heart had exploded. He knew his almost did. Jeez, the thing must weigh thirty pounds. It was a shame to think this big thing would end up dead.

They were coming around the last bend before the dock when Eddie pulled back on the net. "Hey Jason, let's surprise her."

Jason pulled up and turned to his mud-splattered best friend. "Man, Auntie will be surprised, don't you worry. She sees the net, the fish, and no clams. Oh yeah, she'll be surprised."

"No, wait. Look, Jason." Eddie yanked at the net again. "This fish is near dead, right? Ok, we get it out of the net; I'll thumb-hook it in the gills and wade up to the dock with it down in the water between my legs. You look real sad, man, going along the bank with the cast net and bucket. Auntie sees that net, she'll start in on you big time. Meanwhile I come out of the water just at the right time with this monster and haul it right up to her. What can she say, huh? What?"

Jason looked at him. "How 'bout you taking the net and doing all the sad walking and stuff? How 'bout I take the fish?"

"Nah, won't work, Jason. You're the one she'll get after 'cause you're her nephew. I'm a guest. Anyway, you get up to the dock while I sneak this baby right behind you." Eddie dropped the end of the net and began to untangle the fish, his white teeth flashing from his muddy face as he thought of the great surprise. "Trust me, Jase. You know I'm right."

Jason rolled his eyes and looked to the sky, but he dropped his end of the net. Eddie straddled the mullet and hooked his thumbs in its gills, with his hands and fingers supporting its belly. He duck-walked it into the water, out to about waist deep. As he moved slowly forward he could feel the water flowing through the gills and past his hands. Ah, good, still alive.

Jason picked up the net and started around the creek bend to face his aunt. Eddie churned along behind, almost riding the fish in the waist-deep water. Auntie Tel, out on the edge of her small dock, saw Jason and started right in on him.

"Hey you, you lazy boy! What you doin' now, huh? You sneak away from the house; you don't finish your work; and you running up and down this creek when you're supposed to be helping me. Get over here, you boy!"

Jason came right up to the dock, looking as sad as he probably felt about this joke. Auntie Tel pointed to the empty bucket still on the dock.

"Where are my oysters and my clams? You go off casting with the Indian and forget what I tell you? What? What? Oysters and clams going to just jump in this bucket for you, and this bucket sittin' high and dry?"

Jason kept his head down, saying, "Yes, ma'am, no, ma'am" at the right times, wondering where that dork Eddie was with the fish.

The truth was, Eddie was almost right behind him, but he had a problem. He'd lost the fish.

The plan had been going perfectly. Jason was acting guilty as sin, Auntie Tel was cutting him to pieces, and Eddie was wading across the channel to the dock, already imagining Auntie's surprised face.

With no warning, without so much as a beginning quiver, the mullet wrenched itself out of Eddie's hands and was gone. The water surface hadn't even swirled.

Eddie couldn't believe it. He sure wasn't coming out of the water without the fish, not until he had time to think of something believable.

Jason figured it was time to end this humiliation. He turned around and waved Eddie in. "Show her, Eddie. Show her what we got." He looked up at his aunt with a smile. "I caught it in the net, Auntie."

Auntie Tel crossed her arms and glared at both boys. Jason looked at Eddie, who stayed in the water.

"Show her the fish, Eddie," he hissed. "Show her the fish!"

Eddie came out of the water like a zombie, one with a sickly grin on its face. A zombie with no fish in its hands. Jason could not believe what he was seeing. "Where's my fish? Where's my fish?" With a howl, he hurtled down the bank and into Eddie.

"No, Jason. It's not my fault. It just disappeared, I swear. It was too big." Bluup! Gluug! Both of them went back into the water in a snarl of arms and legs. Jason came up first with his hands around Eddie's throat and rage in his eyes, but he stopped fighting when the empty shell bucket crashed into the water near his head.

"You lazy things! Quit that playin'. You sure don't want me comin' down there and knocking sense into you. Get out of that water and get those clams and oysters before I switch you like five-year-olds. You hear me?" Auntie the dictator paced the dock, her hands ands arms waving enough to send marsh birds flying from their perches on the long stalks of spartina grass. "Burdened down with the likes of you! Blessed and cursed! Always contrary, and wayward, oh yes, wayward! And I've got to set you right, oh yes. And I shall. Yes, Lord, I shall!"

Auntie's eyes bulged. She paced the dock like an overweight and breathless tigress. Jason and Eddie, coughing and gasping for air, grabbed the sinking bucket and headed for the big oyster bed just downstream from the dock.

"I swear, Jason, he just got away. I didn't let him go. He was just so big. Wow! You should have felt it when he took off!"

"Will you just shut up? Help me get these oysters without cutting your foot off." Jason guessed the fish had just overpowered Eddie, but he was still mad, and embarrassed. Putting up with Auntie's jive, just so Eddie could spring his surprise. Humph!

The boys went cautiously among the oysters, picking a dozen nice medium ones from the water's edge. Eddie took the bucket while Jason waded in to find some small clams along a mud and sand pocket. He felt for them with his feet, reached down and picked them, then rinsed them and tossed them over to Eddie.

When they got back to the dock, Auntie Tel had gone back up to the house, feeling much better after her exercise. The boys followed her path up the old dike, carrying the net and the bucket of shellfish. At the house, Jason took the clams and oysters to the porch while Eddie rinsed the net with fresh water from the yard spigot and then spread it out to dry on the pine-needled ground by the shed. He went over to the porch where Jason was scrubbing the shells with an old laundry brush.

"I'll be back about nine tonight, okay?"

Auntie came out of the porch to check the bucket. "Don't you be late or the door will be locked. Maman is not lettin' you in once she starts. Nossir!"

"Hey, Auntie, lighten up. Maman Lu loves me." Eddie grinned.

"She does that, boy, and I don't know why, 'cept she sees somthin' I don't." Auntie looked over her shoulder at the closed screen door, then looked back quickly and warned, "You just be here tonight, early, or you won't be seein' no conjure. Nossir!" She clopped down the porch steps in her shoes without laces and headed for the garden out back.

"I'll be around, Auntie," he called to her. "I'm not missing a conjure." He turned to Jason. "Check you later, and hey, sorry about the fish."

"Yeah." Jason gave a headshake. He still wasn't ready to talk about it. "Just an old mullet."

Eddie got his bike, an old Sand Cruiser, from beside the house. He ran it down the shell drive, jumped on, and pedaled up toward Front Road. He thought of that fish again, remembering it exploding out of his hands. Wow! Fish warp speed.

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Front Road was an asphalt and gravel road running from the Spring Creek Bridge all the way around the ocean side of Salt Island to the Alton property on the southern end. Auntie Tel's house was near the middle of the island, so when Eddie hit Front Road he turned south toward his house, about a fifteen-minute ride on the asphalt.

Eddie and his dad, Richard Dowd, lived in a small white house near the ruins of the old naval hospital. Richard Dowd was a math teacher at Mungen Middle School on James Island. He also drove the school bus for the sixteen kids from Salt who attended Mungen.

Actually, Eddie and his dad were new to the island. The house belonged to Eddie's mom, Molly Cena Dowd, but she was gunned down in a gang fight two years ago up in Boston. Last year Mr. Dowd, Eddie, and the dog Coot moved down to the place Molly Dowd had loved most.

The clapboard house was set on brick pilings, just off a hard-packed sand road, with an old grove of pecan trees behind it. The five-foot space between the ground and the first floor kept the house cool in the hot weather, but in the winter the icy cold air came right up through the wood grains in the floor.

Eddie rode into the yard and his dog Coot bounded out from under the front steps. Coot was a small wiry terrier who had been a clown's dog in a circus that had gone bankrupt. He couldn't bark, but he made up for noise with action. He came at Eddie with his tail wagging and his hind legs trying to pass his front legs.

"Hi ya, Coot! Come on, Coot." Eddie laughed. "Go!" That was the magic word. The dog went through his circus tricks of handstands, leg walks, and stiff-legged jumps. The final stunt was a run and leap into the boy's arms, or one of his arms. Eddie was guiding the bike under the house with the other.

Eddie leaned the Cruiser against one of the pilings, and with Coot licking away at his face and neck, he walked out to the school bus parked next to the house. He got his book bag and school clothes, and he and Coot went into the house.

"How was the afternoon?" Richard Dowd asked from his desk in the front room.

"Dad, you wouldn't believe what we caught today! A bull mullet, at least three feet long, and we got it with Jase's cast net!"

"Three feet long? That sounds like a trophy fish. Did you put it on ice?"

"No, sir, it got away. I mean we were going to surprise Auntie Tel, and I had the fish underwater, holding its gills, and Jason was catching fire from Auntie for not getting the oysters and stuff, and, and it got away, that's all." Eddie put the book bag on his desk in the room and headed to the shower stall by the kitchen. "I'll tell you the story at dinner," he yelled back.

During the dinner of rice, stewed chicken and butter beans, with banana pudding for dessert, Eddie and his dad talked about the day at school, and fish, and why tsunami waves didn't come ashore on the Georgia-Carolina coastline. After the dishes were done, Eddie did some homework and played a few video games. About eight-thirty, he gave an exaggerated yawn. "Guess I'll head up to bed."

"Pretty early for you," said his dad, looking at his watch.

"Well, maybe I won't go right to sleep." Eddie didn't want to lie to his father, but he knew that going out on a school night would go over like a sack of rocks. "I'll listen to some CDs or something." "Something" was a key word here. He put Coot out and headed upstairs to his room under the gabled roof.

As Eddie pedaled, he thought about this conjure he was going to. Some of the islanders believed in the old magic. Maman Lu was supposed to be a secret princess or something. He couldn't picture the old, wrinkled woman as a princess, but when she asked him to be there, he said sure. She was the nanny when his mother was a kid, and she always had stories to tell about Molly Cena's strange powers.

Besides, he was already interested in what the islanders called juju. They said that Chicken Man Harris, who lived down by the graveyard, was a root doctor who used potions and stuff to hex or cure people. And Auntie Tel told about her friend on Daufuskie (Da-fus-kee) Island who could actually transport herself from one place to another. This lady, one-eyed Mary, could also change herself into a cat or a tree. Man, oh man, would Eddie like to see her in action!

Not that he really believed this stuff. Eddie watched enough TV and movies to figure it was easy to fake strange things so they couldn't be figured out right away. On a dark night when the house was creaking in the wind, Eddie imagined certain things, some of them pretty scary. In the morning, though, with the sun shining, he laughed at his stupid head games. The conjure tonight might be exciting, but with two old ladies running it, he didn't expect it to be all that scary.

He turned off the asphalt road and onto Auntie's rutted sand drive. He hadn't gone far when he saw in front of him two dark forms, weaving back and forth across the ruts. A chill went right up his back and into his neck. Then he recognized the lanky form of Ben Campbell and the slim shape of Ben's niece, Tommie. I bet they have ghosties on the brain, too, he chuckled. Quickly he stood up on the bike, his feet on the seat, his arms spread wide. Almost falling, he gave out an awful moan.

What happened was worth selling tickets to see. Ben turned around and his eyes and mouth opened as wide as a screaming meemie. He stared in horror as the thing moving toward him lost its balance. Then the bicycle ran into him, and he collapsed like a bag of sticks. Tommie, meanwhile, saw the awful thing coming and dove for some blackberry bushes next to the road.

"Ahhhh!" Eddie, of course, lost his balance and pitched sideways when the bike hit Ben. He ended up in the same blackberry patch Tommie was crawling under. Whump!

Tommie turned in panic to scream at the monster, and up close she recognized Eddie, who started laughing. "Hey, girl, did I scare you?"

There was a short silence. Then Tommie erupted through a tangle of blackberry briars and leaves, just as Ben, yelling "Hey, hey now, hey!" started pulling at Eddie's legs.

"You slime!" Tommie screamed, scratching at him. "Ohhh, you bugrot!" She got on top of him as Ben dragged him out of the bushes, and she had enough arm room to start swinging at his face. "You toadhead, I'll kill you!"

Eddie now was fully involved in protecting himself. "Hey, hey, Tommie, it was a joke. Quit, Tommie! Hey, Ben, Tommie, quit it!"

At that moment all three of them were hit by a flying white missile.

"Coot, stop! No, Coot, stop!" yelled Eddie, holding the dog tightly. Ben Campbell, who had crawled away when the dog attacked, came over to pull a furious Tommie away from the tangle of bodies. She was exhausted, but still tried to get to Eddie around Coot's growling muzzle as she was pulled back onto the road.

"Wow, you two sure are sensitive," Eddie mumbled as he struggled to his feet with the dog in his arms. It was not the thing to say. Tommie wrenched free from Ben and charged headfirst into Eddie and Coot, knocking them back into the brambles. Coot squirted free, and looking to fight again, bounced around on his legs, trying to draw the girl away from his boy.

"Ok, ok, I quit. Coot, stop!" yelled Eddie. Tommie ignored the dog and stalked over to Eddie's bike, pulled it up from the road, and sent it crashing into Eddie. This time he kept his mouth shut.

"Take your time, slime," Tommie hissed. "I hope you and your crazy dog get bit by every snake and gator on this island." She turned, grabbed her still silent uncle by the hand, and marched away toward Auntie's house.

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Eddie untangled himself from the briars and his bike. He was scratched and bruised from the fun time he'd had, and now Coot was a problem. "Come on, boy," he said as he rolled the bike along the road, "we're going to have to put you in the shed or somewhere so Auntie doesn't see you." She had expressly warned him about bringing the dog to the conjure, so when Eddie got to the house, he dropped the bike and carried Coot over to the shed and felt around in the dark until he found the pile of burlap sacks they used for roasting oysters. He put Coot on the pile and backed up a step. "Stay." It was pitch black but he knew the dog could see his pointing finger. "Stay." Coot was motionless, a blob of white as Eddie backed out of the shed and latched the old wooden door.

Eddie brushed sand and leaves off and wiped at the blood on his scratches as he headed to the gray hulk of Auntie's house. He couldn't help smiling when he thought of the look on Tommie's face when she saw who the ghost really was. Wow! She wouldn't speak to him for a month.

No lights were on in the house, but flickers from the windows showed that candles were lit inside. Jason opened the door just as Eddie was about to knock. He grinned when in the candlelight he saw Eddie's scratches, but he put his finger to his lips. No talk at the conjure. Eddie trailed him into the room and past old piles and stacks of boxes, clothes, and papers that took up most of the space. They went into the kitchen and took seats at the table. Eddie and Jason sat on one side; Tommie and Ben were on the other side. Tommie glared poison at him while Ben looked off to the ceiling like he was watching for spiders.

Auntie Tel will probably sit at the end of the table by Jason and Ben, Eddie thought. Maman Lu will sit at my end since it's closest to her room. He wondered how the frail old lady would handle the conjure, whether she would dance or sing or something. She wasn't the type to move around much anymore. She left her room only to eat or to sit on the back porch in the rocker. Oh well, he'd soon find out.

Auntie Tel took the bayberry candles from the stove and nervously began to place them on the table. She brought over two platters of the shucked shellfish the boys had gotten that afternoon. The raw oysters and clams were on beds of fresh sea lettuce, with slices of sea rocket and bladderwort root around them.

If I have to eat that stuff, Eddie said to himself, I'm out of here. Just thinking of those raw things slipping and sliding down his throat made him want to gag. The others paid no attention to the food. Jeez, he thought, it's like everybody's in church. A few fidgets, some rustling around, but no one was talking, or even looking at one another. It was beginning to feel weird, sure enough.

Across from him Tommie was staring at her hands. Some traces of blood were on the scratches she'd gotten in the blackberry brambles, but she ignored them, just sitting there, clenching and unclenching her fingers. Next to her, Ben was his usual silent self, gazing at a spot on the opposite wall.

Jason was sitting next to Eddie with his head down and his eyes closed. Even after Maman asked Eddie to the conjure, Jason wouldn't tell him much about it. He kept saying, "You'll see for yourself." and "I can't talk about it." He didn't seem to want Eddie there; neither did Tommie. And for sure, Auntie Tel didn't. Why wouldn't they want him in on this? The possible answers worried Eddie, but some of them excited him. What secrets would he learn? He knew that if his friends could get through a conjure, so could he.

From the corner of his eye Eddie saw a dark shadow leap on the worn couch behind Auntie's chair. It was Lucifer the cat, if that animal could be called a cat. It was the ugliest thing Eddie had ever seen; its huge head was flat and scarred from fighting. Tufts of side hair, like a bobcat's, sprouted over and hid its ears, one of which was shredded from some awful battle. Right behind the head, the cat's coloring changed from dirty yellow to a dirtier grey, like it was dipped to the neck in a ditch. The body resembled a squat bulldog more than anything else, especially since it had no more than a hairy bump for a tail. So far as Eddie could tell, the cat hated the world. It fought anything, anytime, and it obeyed no one. It probably stayed around the house because of the mice and roaches it could catch. That way it had more time to go looking for real fights.

Eddie felt the cat's eyes on him. He got the feeling that if he were smaller or the cat were bigger he'd be running for his life right now. As if reading his thoughts, the creature opened its jaws in a yawn that ended in a silent snarl. Hey, mop face, don't even think about it, Eddie thought as he glared back. Just don't grow any more.

Auntie placed a small wooden cup of steaming liquid before each of the places at the table. Eddie started to reach for it but Jason whispered for him to wait.

"What's in it?" he whispered back. He couldn't see well in the flickering candlelight, but it looked like blood. Wow.

"It's yaupon (yaw-pon)," mumbled Jason. "Don't drink it 'till she tells you to."

"Not to worry," replied Eddie. "Can we have tea instead?" The leaves of the yaupon, or cassina bush, were supposed to make a magical drink for the juju doctors, but Eddie heard that it tasted like good old swamp water. Yuk. Soon the sharp smell from the yaupon made its way among the small group. Eddie began to feel nauseous.

The door to Maman Lu's room creaked open, and the old lady came out, immediately assisted by Auntie Tel. Eddie couldn't believe how small she was, maybe seventy pounds, he guessed, covered in wrinkles, and standing about four feet high. But even in the candlelight her eyes were neither old nor dim. They were the dark, sparkling eyes of an eagle.

The cat squirreled away in a corner of the sofa as Maman took her seat at Eddie's end of the table. She waited while Auntie bustled around to her chair on the far end, and then she smiled and closed her eyes. The house was completely silent in the flickering light. When Maman Lu spoke, it was with a soft, clear voice which, like her eyes, belonged to a much younger person. She held one hand out to Tommie. "Tomasina, you feel well?"

"Yes, ma'am," Tommie answered softly.

"Tomasina, touch my hand." The young girl reached out and took the tiny hand. "Let your anger and jealousy flow away. Let your goodness come forth."

"Yes, ma'am," whispered Tommie, her eyes scrunched shut. Auntie Tel moaned from her end of the table. "Ummm-mmh."

Eddie watched as Tommie held out her other hand for Ben Campbell to grip, and Maman spoke again. "Ben, you are worried about that boat again?" she asked, looking at the lanky man next to Tommie.

"Maman, that boat, she do not belong here," mumbled Ben. Eddie had no idea what this was about.

"You feel it will harm us, Ben, or do you fear a change in your life?"

Auntie moaned again, a little louder this time. Eddie didn't know if it was the moans or the atmosphere in the room, but prickles were running up his scalp.

Ben shook his head. "That boat bad for us. Bad for the island, too." He sounded like he was in poetry class. "She come at night but she never around. Nobody knows her, nobody runs her. She up to the bad."

Auntie was swaying back and forth now, humming lightly as Ben recited. The ugly cat behind her was now poised on the sofa's armrest; its eyes following Auntie's rocking head. Eddie could see the bulging eyes and tensed muscles. He imagined the meltdown if the cat went for Auntie's head.

"Telemon," Maman Lu said to Auntie Tel. "Don't sway, dear. Tell me about The Bluff."

Both Auntie and the cat relaxed a little, and Auntie stopped that weird humming long enough to reply, "Oh, Lord, that river house going to be my death someday." Eddie knew she was talking about the old plantation called The Bluff, down on the southern end of the island next to his house. The Altons, rich folk from Chicago, had built a large island vacation home, and Auntie and one of her church members were trying to hold on to their jobs as the housekeepers and caretaker for the grounds.

"No end to the dirt," said Auntie Tel, "no end to the dust, and Josie she too sick to help out much." She started swaying to the rhythm of her words, and the cat got interested. "The schools be done soon, and I pray the young blood be there to help us out. Hmmm, hmmm, hmmmm." She moaned and swayed.

The cat was tempted beyond its limit. A jolt deep inside its twisted brain caused it to spring at Auntie's head. Just as quickly, its survival instinct screamed Mistake! In midair it wrenched its body away from the head and landed precariously on Auntie's shoulder. Auntie Tel snapped her arm up and backhanded the cat even as it tensed to spring away. Whap!

"Get, you Lucy!" hollered Auntie as the cat sailed past the sofa and crash-landed on a stack of old newspapers. In two seconds, things were quiet. The cat sat on the paper stack, licking a foreleg as if nothing had happened. Auntie Tel, who reached over to take Ben's hand, was about to continue her tale of woe. Maman Lu stopped her with a raised finger.

"Telemon, calm yourself. Every year you worry about losing your job because it is too much for you, and every year, before the owners come, the children and young people work to help you. Our people will be with you; it does not help you to worry about them." She paused. "If there is trouble at The Bluff, tell us your fears, but not your worries."

With a sigh nearly filling the room, Auntie Tel closed her eyes and shook her head. "No troubles, Maman, 'cept Miz Alton always say she got to cut back on the workers," she murmured, reaching for Jason's hand.

Eddie missed some of the conversation because he was still thinking about the backhand Auntie had given Lucifer. That old lady could flat pop a backhand!

Maman looked at Jason. "And you, Jason, you are always here to help Telemon and all of us, no?"

"Yes, ma'am," Jason bowed his head like he was saying grace. The room was growing warm, with the windows closed, the candles lit, and six people in the small kitchen. Eddie could see the sweat shining on the side of Jason's face.

Maman leaned forward and spoke quietly to the boy. "Your goodness grows every day, boy, and you will grow with it and away from your fears. Peace be to your soul and spirit, boy. Give them a chance to help you."

"Yes, ma'am." This time it was Jason who sighed, almost happily. Eddie watched as Jason's hand was held out to him.

What in the world? Eddie didn't mind holding Jason's hand, but he was definitely getting some strange vibrations. It was like being in the woods after a lightning strike, when the air sort of shimmered with electricity. Jason is sweating like he's run a mile, and everybody is taking these little mind trips with Maman. Very weird. And then he felt those sharp eyes on him and immediately forgot what he'd been thinking. She held out her hand, which he took in his.

A live current went through his body. He was sure of it. Whether it was the result of the circle of hands or a mind game, he didn't know, or care. For the first time since his mom had died, he suddenly felt as if he were part of a family or something. What was it?

"Cena, ah, Cena, you wonder why you are here, no?" she asked with a small smile in her seamed and shadowed face. She used his mother's name. Actually it was his middle name, but few except Maman and his father remembered.

"Yeah, I mean yes, ma'am." He had to clear his throat to get the words out. Something strange was happening.

"Your mother had a gift, Cena, the same gift passed down from our ancestors." Her eyes probed his. "If you also possess such a thing, we will ask you to join us to preserve this island and its people."

Eddie had to clear his throat again. It was getting really hot in the room. "Uh, Maman Lu, I don't know about a gift. I can ask my dad." He was not so much embarrassed as sorry that he could not help the old lady. And preserve the island? What was that all about?

Maman smiled as she continued holding his hand. "The gift is within you, Cena. I think it is there, but we will see." She looked around the table as if to check for sleepers. Everyone was awake, and nervous. They knew what was coming next.

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