Chapter 5

Todd thought Cinnamon Curl Lambert was the most inimitable girl he had ever known. He’ll never forget the first day she walked into his history class. Her blonde hair shimmered a pale yellow gold, mesmerizing most of the boys in the class. But what got his attention was the gleam in her jade eyes, as if she knew a secret that was hers alone. He found himself longing to talk to her—to hear her voice and maybe somehow enter her thoughts, to find the secrets there.

But the task of getting to know her was more difficult than he anticipated. She shot down all the guys who asked her out with a blast of cold air from her eyes. After a few days it became obvious that she wasn’t the average giggly teenage girl. Cinnamon had an air of maturity at seventeen that many of the adults in town didn’t possess. But Todd wasn’t one to give up; his tenacity eventually won her over. As the school’s athletic star, he had to demonstrate to her that he possessed a brain to go along with his brawn. He was a whiz at history, a subject Cinnamon loved herself. When they were assigned to work on the same team in a debate about the pros of the Lewis-Clark Expedition, they became friends.

Now if only he could get up the nerve to take the friendship a step further! For the last few weeks he had been trying to gather his nerve up and ask her out. He fantasized about ways to ask her out—sending flowers or candy, writing a poem or even leaving a letter on the windshield of her car. But he feared that she would reject his overtures and their friendship would be maimed. He asked his mom for advice, giving her a brief description of Cinnamon. When he mentioned how she smelled of gardenias, his mom smiled and reassured him that she was more approachable than he realized or she wouldn’t be wearing perfume.

When Todd saw the crowd gathered at the McHenry house, he stopped to see if things were okay. His first concern was that it somehow involved Cinnamon or her mom, because their house was directly across from it. He was surprised at the rumors milling around. A warning bell went off in his brain. There was something vaguely familiar about the whole business with the voodoo rituals. But before the thought could take root, something cold brushed against his arm, sending his goose bumps into a tailspin. He turned to look but saw only shadows withdrawing into the streets, as the sun shifted slightly overhead.

With a skipping heart, he watched Cinnamon arrive and suddenly the cold blast was forgotten as he felt a warmth race over him. The contrast in their coloring never failed to amaze him. She was ivory and blonde, while he was olive-skinned with deep black hair. His eyes were shades of sienna and red mingled with black. But they were warm friendly eyes. At the moment that warmth was reserved for Cinnamon, as they bantered.

The moment was interrupted when Roman Ouellette called Cinnamon the witch’s daughter. Todd tensed, ready to defend her but he stayed quiet. One thing he knew about Cinnamon was that she preferred to fight her own battles. He had met her mother once when he went over to their house to study with Cinnamon. She didn’t look old enough to be Cinnamon’s mother and most certainly didn’t look like a witch. If he had to tag her with a label, he would say she was a hippy, a happy one with a schoolgirl giggle.

No one listened to Cinnamon as she tried to explain what an astrologist did. Roman Ouellette’s voice was louder than hers, insisting he had seen rites of witchcraft when he walked his dog at night. In the midst of the accusations about Cinnamon’s mother and witchcraft, Sheriff Eckle appeared.

Word Count= 2977