A Circle of Crows Read Free Page A

athletic bodies and long auburn hair; Rachael's was currently pulled into a clip as strands fell into her face.
    "Good morning, Rachael. What's on the agenda today?"
    "Come sit and wake up with me.” Rachael led the way to the kitchen. The sisters sat at the table and Rachael handed Bella her cuppa. “Well, it was supposed to be Raena's turn for storytime today in the library, but she was up half the night. I could hear her banging around; you know how lightly I sleep."
    Isabella's eyes narrowed and she looked concerned. “Is it the nightmares again?"
    "Yes,” she replied.
    "She didn't come in and try to wake you?” prompted Bella.
    "No, you know how she gets about them."
    "The last time she told me anything about them, we were down at the Watering Hole in town and she was on her way to funkytown. What she did tell me was gruesome; and she laughed the whole time, the way she does when something makes her uncomfortable."
    "Like what, Rachael?” Bella inquired, her blue-green eyes somber and focused.
    "I assume that if she wanted you to know, she would tell you. Yes?"
    Bella's eyes blazed. “It's ridiculous the way the two of you act like I'm still a child. I am twenty-seven years old! Where is she now?"
    "Still in bed, I assume,” Rachael responded, attempting to appear nonplussed by the situation.
    "I'll do her group today, but first, I'm going to check on her."
    "Suit yourself, but she'll be mad as a hatter if we let her miss her group."
    Isabella went to the sitting area closet and donned her “uniform” for the day. The sisters dressed in renaissance style dresses each day when they had guests at the inn. Once appropriately dressed, Isabella walked up the stairs in the ruddy September light, trying to miss each loose floorboard in the stairs to be as stealthy as possible.
    The old house creaked and moaned in protest as fall and winter approached. The sisters had made several renovations to it since the death of their father. Rachael had redone the stained glass which adorned the top of each window upstairs, and Rae and Bella had furnished the inn with antiques they had found at various “fleatiques” in the area. The plaque on the front porch proclaimed it a historical landmark .
    Isabella turned right at the top of the stairs, and tiptoed toward Raena's suite on the second floor. Rae had her bed, bath, and sitting area close to all the guest suites. Quietly, Bella opened the heavy mahogany door and peered into Raena's room. Her older sister was sleeping soundly, and looked very small in her enormous four-poster bed. Her auburn gold hair was being highlighted by a ray of sunlight leaking in through a space in the curtains. Next to her lay an open book and a shot glass. Isabelle frowned that Rae had needed this avenue again to sleep. “That's twice this week,” she murmured to herself.
    She walked over to the window and pulled the drapes completely shut and checked Raena's alarm. It was set for six fifteen. Bella checked her watch, which read six on the hour. She flicked the switch on the alarm to off and smiled to herself at the scolding she was going to receive when Rae finally woke.
    Rae carried on under a facade of bravery, and would not let any of her problems ever affect the family, or the business. Secretly, Isabella believed Rae appreciated any attention given to her, as she was the primary caregiver of the family. Bella turned to go and spied a stack of papers on Raena's nightstand. She quickly recognized the children's lesson plan and activity Rae had planned for the bi-weekly story hour the inn held in their library. “Oh, I am so dead,” she said as she let the door click shut.

Chapter 3
    The Dreams
    Dark, murky water surrounded her as she looked fervently left and right, unable to distinguish anything in the gloom. There was no sign of her anywhere. She could feel the panic rising in her chest and the inability to breathe properly.
    Then she saw her—her little sister, not more than three years