Wherever She Goes (Psychic Seasons by ReGina Welling (you can read anyone txt) 📕

Zack stood on the porch; the serious expression on his face might have carried more weight if not for the smile twitching around his lips and the twinkle in his eye. Beside him stood a pair of teenage girls who barely looked old enough to drive.

The taller of the two, all knees and elbows, wore a pair of leggings—her concession to the cold weather—under a multi-tiered batik skirt in shades ranging from moss to lime green. The skirt was paired with a predominantly orange tie-dyed tee and topped with a puffy winter coat. Half a dozen beaded necklaces completed the ensemble and her mouse-brown hair was inexpertly braided to mimic one of Gustavia’s more elaborate styles. She stood next to Zack, shoulders rounded, head down in shame.

The other, shorter by about six inches, was dressed similarly—blue patterned skirt with several scarves tied around the waist and topped with a rainbow striped sweater. She attempted a defiant stance; one she might have pulled off if her fear-widened eyes hadn’t given her away.

Trying to sound stern, Zack spoke directly to his sister, “It seems you have a couple of stalkers.”

“Not stalkers,” the shorter girl corrected, her frightened eyes moving frantically between Zack and Gustavia, “fans. Gustavia’s biggest fans. We weren’t stalking anyone,” her voice shook, “we just wanted to see if we could meet her.” She pointed to Gustavia.

Kat heard a masculine snort from somewhere behind her and had to work hard to keep a straight face. From the corner of her eye, she saw Gustavia fighting a smile of her own.

Gustavia stepped forward intending to gently address the red-faced girl who had not yet spoken; she had to lean down to make eye contact. “What’s your name?”

“Beth. I’m Beth. I’m sorry, we didn’t mean any harm…it’s just that we…we had these book, you know? We thought you might sign them. We didn’t think we were doing anything wrong. There’s a museum here so we thought it was okay, you know? Like, it wasn’t trespassing if it is a public place. My parents will kill me if I get arrested.” Tears leaked down her cheeks then she turned on her friend to say hotly, “You told me we wouldn’t get into trouble. You promised and now look. I’ll be grounded until I’m forty.”

Looking at Zack, Kat saw his lips twitch again before he managed to school his face back into stern lines. Catching his eye, she gave him a warning look. The girls were frightened enough without him making it worse.

“No one is getting arrested,” he returned her look with a steady gaze then turned to the second girl and asked her name.

“Meg Wolcott.” Her bravado fading, Meg considered Gustavia. “We didn’t expect you to call the PoPo. We only came here to get your autograph and maybe talk to you for a few minutes.” She looked away and mumbled, “It’s not a federal offense.”

A second snort escaped before Tyler could hold it back. Julie poked an elbow into his ribs but it was only for show. She was shaking so hard with held back laughter she couldn’t put any force behind the attempt.

Zack stepped around the two girls, gave his sister a one armed hug, and said, “I’ll leave these two hardened criminals in your capable hands, Sis. Call me if you need the cuffs.” With a last grin at the others, he walked out the door.

“Sis?” Meg looked at Gustavia, “He’s your brother?”

Before Gustavia could answer, Beth dramatically slapped a hand to her forehead and pinned her friend with a glare. “You called him the PoPo. Right in front of her.” Now it was Meg’s turn to hang her head in shame.

That was when Tyler lost it. Julie had to drag him, still howling, out of the room.

Beth’s face burned with embarrassment as she said quietly to Gustavia, “I’m sorry. We’ll go, now.” She grabbed Meg’s arm and turned toward the door.

“No, wait.” Fritzie nudged past Gustavia to stand by the door. The frantic way he looked at her then at the door said time was of the essence and she had made him wait long enough. When the door opened, Julie’s dog Lola, a large but mostly friendly boxer, bounced out from wherever she had been hiding to join Fritzie in a mad dash for the bushes.

While she waited for the two dogs to finish doing their morning sniffing tour around the yard, Gustavia chatted easily with her two visitors. Before Fritzie pranced back across the porch, Beth and Meg were happily talking about the path that had led them to Hayward House.

Kat busied herself with pulling out breakfast ingredients while listening to Beth talk about the mythological themes present in Gustavia’s latest books.

“…said we had drawn a sophisticated parallel between Ember’s search for his mother and Campbell’s monomyth, the hero’s journey,”

Meg took up the story, “We did a collage and a huge presentation where we also compared Ember to Jason Bourne. It was awesome.”

_,.-'~'-.,_

By the time the two teens left Hayward House, they had enough information to do a paper on Gustavia herself and Kat had come to a decision. It was time to go home. Moving in with Julie and Tyler had seemed sensible after Logan kidnapped Gustavia. Kat had gone along with the plan until now but with her visual impairment no longer a factor, she needed to be back in her own space. She didn’t think Logan would target her and neither did Julius when she asked him privately.

“I have close neighbors, a security system and spirit to watch over me, I’ll be fine,” she explained that night over dinner when Tyler argued that she would be safest by staying put but Kat refused to be swayed. After dinner, she went back to her rooms to begin packing her things.

Gustavia and Julie followed, ostensibly to help but mostly to continue trying to talk her out of leaving.

“I appreciate everything you’ve said. I do. But I’m in no more