Page 36 of Dragon Charmed

Tessa leaned forward. “Has anyone else come looking for Lily?”

“Yes. A couple months after Mia left, men came to town and started asking questions about Mia and a little girl. Everyone in town told them I had moved away and they hadn’t seen either Mia or the girl. After that we moved into this house, and I’ve been helping take care of the church.”

“Why are you telling us all this? If you’re worried about Lily’s safety, why tell two strangers what happened? We could be here to hurt you,” Ben said.

Tessa held up her hands in front of her. “We’re not here to hurt you, but he’s right. Why tell us anything?”

“When Mia brought Lily to me, she explained that Lily was special. At first I didn’t understand what she meant since I think every child is special. But Mia said to trust what Lily told me and that our lives might depend on it.”

Ben frowned. “But Lily doesn’t speak.”

“No. I’ve been teaching her letters and also prepping her to read, but she hasn’t started writing yet except for her name. I have also been teaching her some basic ASL words but not enough yet for her to carry on a lengthy conversation. But she can draw.” Evelyn picked up a sketch pad from the coffee table and flipped the pages until she found whatever she was looking for. She turned the pad so that they could see the crayon drawing.

The drawing was a woman with long blond hair and a man with brown hair on the top of his head and the bottom of the head for a beard? Between the two figures was a small girl with two ponytails who was holding their hands. And next to the three of them was a blue pickup truck.

Tessa gasped beside him.

Ben shook his head. “That has to be some sort of coincidence.”

Evelyn set the pad on her lap. “That’s what I thought the first time she drew a picture that came true days later. The first time was when she drew a black dog and three puppies. A week later Mac Robinson found an abandoned pregnant black dog who gave birth to three puppies.”

“Kids love to draw animals, right?” Ben still didn’t see how this meant anything.

Evelyn smiled. “She drew a yellow puppy, a black puppy, and a spotted puppy.”

Tessa’s eyes widened. “And that’s what the dog had?”

“Yes. And there have been other events as well. She drew a little boy by the creek next to the abandoned mill outside of town. Lily has never been to the mill to know about it. A month later, little Billy McKinnon went missing. We all went searching for him and I couldn’t get that drawing out of my mind, so I went to the mill and found him sobbing next to the creek. He’d gotten lost and sprained his ankle.”

Ben couldn’t wrap his brain around what she was saying. It was far-fetched. A freakish coincidence, right? He glanced at Tessa. He’d expected her to be as skeptical as he was, but she didn’t seem to be having trouble believing Evelyn. At all.

“Does she—” Tessa stopped.

Evelyn narrowed her eyes at Tessa. “Does she what?”

“Nothing.” Tessa hesitated. “I believe you’re right. She’s special.”

What the hell was going on? This little girl supposedly could see into the future, and no one was batting an eye about it? And what did Tessa know about Lily that she wasn’t saying?

It must be something important, because for once the spitfire wouldn’t meet his eyes.

Chapter 13

What had they fallen into? Tessa tried to slow her breathing and her racing thoughts as she watched through the window to the enclosed back patio where Lily sat at a table with Ben. The little girl held out crayons and pointed at the paper in front of him, grinning. Apparently she wanted Ben to join in.

“I’ve never seen her take to someone like that before, especially a man,” Evelyn said as she washed up from dinner. They had spent an incredibly awkward meal with Evelyn, Lily, and Pastor Richards, who ate quickly and left to go home soon after as if sensing the awkwardness had something to do with him. As if it could be that easy.

Ben smiled at the little girl, and Tessa’s lady bits tingled. Holy hotcakes. Not again. She didn’t have time for distractions. Not when she’d just found out there might be another oracle. And how was she supposed to handle that? Her first thought was to call Megan, but she wanted to confirm what she suspected and she couldn’t exactly talk to her in front of everyone, right?

“Does he know the truth?” Evelyn asked.

Tessa turned back to Evelyn. “Truth?”

The older woman narrowed her eyes. “I hope we aren’t going to play games. You weren’t surprised about Lily’s gift. What were you going to ask me about her earlier before you stopped yourself?”

Well, crap. “I was going to ask you if Lily has a birthmark.”

Evelyn stopped what she was doing at the sink. “Yes. On her shoulder.”