Part 22 (2/2)
”Oh, then how was your non-date?”
Brianna looked up at a blue jay in a nearby tree and said, ”Really kinda fun, actually. Bud is a cool guy.” She then looked over at Savannah and asked, ”Have you met his family?”
”Um, well, I guess I've met his mom a few times when she has come in to get something for their cattle or dogs. That's all. Why?”
”Then you haven't met the grandma?”
”No, I don't think so.”
”She's a kick,” Brianna said slapping her own thigh.
”So you went to his house?”
”No, we went to his grandmother's house.”
”Why?”
”Bud wanted to talk to her about your German letter and the curse thing.”
”Oh really?” Savannah's interest was definitely piqued. ”What does she know about curses?”
”It seems, Big Sister, that this woman either was or is a witch herself-a German witch.”
”What?”
”You didn't know that?”
Savannah thought for a minute and then said, ”Well, I guess I knew that the family was into some sort of unusual remedies and potions, but I didn't connect it to witchcraft.”
”How's that?” Brianna asked.
”Let's mount up and I'll tell you as we ride.”
”Okay, now which foot do I put in the slot...er, stirrup, first?”
”Left foot from the left side of the horse.”
”Oh, okay.” She looked the situation over and then led the horse to a rock. She climbed up on the rock and mounted from there. ”Ah, much easier.”
”You're funny.” Savannah laughed.
”Yeah, don't you make fun of me, girl-you with those long legs of yours. Not everyone walks on stilts like you do, you know.” She looked around. ”It is so beautiful up here. Is the weather always this nice?”
”Yeah, except when it rains. It can get kinda messy. And it can get cold.”
”Does it rain a lot?”
”More than in LA, I can tell you that.”
”Well, I vote to have weather like this every day of the year.”
”I'm with you. It is a gorgeous day for December.”
”So, what about Bud's family and their potions?” Brianna asked.
”Last year, there was a calf born on one of the ranches and he was having a hard time of it. Bud was there for the birthing and I guess he got kind of attached to the little guy. We treated the calf for what we thought ailed him, but he didn't improve much. He just wasn't keeping pace growth-wise with the others of the same age. He wasn't thriving. One day, Bud asked us if he could bring something from home to use on the calf.” She wrinkled her brow and shook her head a little. ”...a poultice of some sort. We told him it was okay with us. We thought we were going to lose the calf anyway and what Bud had in mind wasn't going to be ingested. We said that if the owner agreed, we were all for anything he thought might work. Well, he brought this poultice. He said his grandmother whipped it up for him out of some rather unusual items, as I recall. And both Michael and I were astonished to see the calf begin to improve.”
”Did you ask Bud what it was?”
”Yes, he just said it was designed to ward off evil spirits or something like that. Didn't resonate with me. I thought it was some sort of woo-woo stuff. I didn't understand it-didn't know if I wanted to.”
”And did the calf live to become someone's steak dinner?”
”Noooo,” Savannah said, frowning. ”The owners weren't all that interested in keeping a calf that wasn't in tip-top health and Bud asked if he could take him. The little steer still lives on Bud's parents' property.” She looked over at Brianna. ”Doesn't Bud live on that property, too? And the grandmother?”
”I haven't been to Bud's family's ranch, but I understand that Bud has a small house on the back forty, so to speak. Oma-the grandma-lives in town in an apartment.” Brianna thought for a minute before saying, ”Well, it may have been that Oma cast a spell on that calf or broke one with her poultice. She knows all about curses and things. She was quite familiar with yours, by the way,” Brianna said.
”Good grief, how many people know about this? I really didn't want it advertised all over town. It's private and kind of weird.”
”Don't worry, Oma and Anika are sworn to a sisterhood or witch-hood oath of some sort,” Brianna explained.
”Anika?”
”She's a friend of Bud's grandmother. Oma sent us to Anika along with the letter.”
Savannah turned to look at her sister, who trailed behind. She rested her right hand on the back of the saddle and asked, ”So what did she say?”
”Well, Bud and I had a good laugh about it afterward, because she kind of talked in riddles. She never came right out and said much of anything that you could hang a hat on.”
”Was she a fortune teller or what?” Savannah asked.
”Uh, I suppose something mysterious like that. I'm not sure. But she was familiar with this curse. She said it was used a lot by gypsies in the old days. She said it is a fairly easy one to break and she...well, she was all flamboyant, you know, putting on a sort of show for us. Not only that,” Brianna said laughing, ”she had this bird that kept coming over and sitting on top of her head. It was hard not to bust out giggling during the session, but Bud and I sure laughed afterward. The people in the diner probably thought we were crazy or something because we couldn't stop laughing.” She looked off into s.p.a.ce for a moment as she recalled the evening.
Savannah reined Peaches in so Brianna and Wilson could catch up. Once her sister was next to her, she asked, ”Sooooo, how do we break it? What did she tell you?”
”She didn't tell us much. She gave us something.”
”What?” Savannah insisted.
”A little piece of honeycomb and a couple of leaves.”
”What? What are we supposed to do with them?”
”Heck if I know. When we took these things back to Oma, she said basically that this is something the one affected by the curse must work out. And then she repeated, 'Bees. Leaves. Bees. Leaves.' That's it,” Brianna said with a shrug. ”Then Bud brought me home.” She twisted her body in the saddle toward Savannah and said, ”He wants me to go to his place for dinner tonight. Savannah, you don't mind, do you?”
”Mind what?” she asked as if suddenly shaken out of a stupor.
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