Blood to Poison by Mary Watson

Author:Mary Watson [Watson, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781526619167
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2022-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

A 1 BABY O 15 SEASICK

B 2 OLD WOMAN P 16 WAX

C 3 QUEEN Q 17 PRIEST

D 4 SHADOW R 18 HAT

E 5 DEAD MAN S 19 DARK CLOUD

F 6 MASK T 20 EGG

G 7 BOWL U 21 FALLING STAR

H 8 TEETH V 22 BLOODSTAIN

I 9 ORANGE FLOWER W 23 DARK ROAD

J 10 POISON X 24 BLUE EYES

K 11 DRUM Y 25 BEES

L 12 SNAKE Z 26 BLUNT KNIFE

M 13 GOAT 27 GOLD

N 14 BLACK FEATHER 28 BAD MAN

29 BIG FISH 35 WATCHMAN

30 BITE 36 LADDER

31 CAGE 37 COIN

32 FULL MOON 38 THRONE

33 KEY 39 GRAVE

34 DEVIL

It looks familiar. Like the list of Fahfee numbers and dream symbols that Minnie uses to bet on the horses and play the lotto. Dream of an old woman? Place a bet on number two. A code for interpreting dreams.

‘My mom got this years ago when she was travelling, from a village witch.’

I look over at Inez, browsing the rails. She’s wearing another one of those dresses that look more like sculpture. Her cropped hair is swept back, her face is bare of make-up except for a dash of red lipstick. She’s unspeakably elegant. It’s impossible to imagine her consulting village witches or reading dreams.

‘Rosie, did you say village witch? Your mom? Inez?’

‘Uh-huh,’ Rosie laughs. ‘You haven’t spent enough time with my mom, obviously. There is nothing she loves more than a village witch. You’ve seen her herb candles, right? Learned from the village witch.’ Rosie leans in closer. ‘Anyway, this is really old, and eerily accurate. We can use it to find this name in your dreams.’

‘Rosie …’ I hesitate. ‘Has your mom said anything about witches here?’

Rosie frowns. ‘Here? No. Why?’

‘No reason.’ I look down at the page again.

‘Oh my, you look stunning,’ Auntie Dotty says, clapping her hands together. I look up to see Kim step from behind the curtain, wearing an enormous white dress with a lace bodice. ‘Yes. That’s the one.’

‘Savannah,’ Kim says. Her expression is tentative, hopeful. ‘What do you think?’

I think that when you’ve seen one big white wedding dress, you’ve seen them all.

‘It’s … big,’ I say.

Kim’s face falls. The older women close around her in a circle, muting the blow of my lack of interest with a flurry of compliments.

‘How does it work?’ I ask Rosie. ‘This list.’

‘Um. Well, you have to look out for a really striking object or image in your dream. See if it matches a letter and collect the letters to form a word. Has anything stood out?’

I watch Inez undo the tiny pearl buttons with careful concentration. ‘A goat.’ The dreams are mostly the same, what is most striking is where it changes.

She squints at the list. ‘Goat is M. Anything else?’

‘A baby.’

‘That’s A. So M-A. That’s a start.’

‘Savannah.’

Kim is standing before me.

A snake, I’d almost forgotten the snake. I run my eyes over the letters. L.

‘Savannah.’

‘What?’ My head is still in my dreams; the creature, hard earth, the bones, the letters. M-A-L. A shiver runs down my spine. This feels right.

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