The Blanchard Witches of Daihmler County by House

Author:House
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798985607505
Publisher: Micah House
Published: 2022-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Forgiveness

Fable pulled up to the house around 6 o’clock after a hard day at work. Salem was sitting in Olympia’s front porch rocker, picking petals off an orange daisy in her lap. The summer sun was not yet ready to close up shop for the day, but it was showing signs of exhaustion by casting its reds and orange hues all around. Salem looked troubled, Fable thought. Of course, she’s troubled. She’s been through more than anyone else could bear.

“You okay?” Fable asked, taking the seat beside her.

“I called Travis today,” Salem said. “I’m going back to Atlanta. I need to get back to work.”

Fable didn’t understand. “Why? You should just stay here. This is your home. You shouldn’t be alone right now. You just lost your husband and son. The last thing you need is to go back to Atlanta, to the place where you lived with them. The thought of you in that house alone…”

“If I sit around here anymore, I’ll go crazy,” Salem said. “I need to join my life again. It’s too easy to sit back in this chair and sink back into my old life.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Fable asked. “Here with your family. Maybe that’s what you need.”

“It’s the last thing I need,” Salem snapped. “Fable, if I stay here and fall back into the old dynamics of our life here, I will lose myself. I am not Salem Blanchard of Daihmler anymore. That was a whole world ago. I am Salem Lane, art director…widow. I have to go back. Staying here would be like erasing everything I built in Atlanta.”

“But Salem, back there, especially in your house, you’ll be surrounded by memories. The pain of everything you lost will be everywhere. Here, you won’t be reminded at every corner of what is missing.”

“I want to be reminded of what is missing, Fable. I know it will hurt but I’m too numb here. This was another life—a life without David and Michael. Back home was our world. I need to be there, in that world, no matter how hard it will be. If I do not go home, it’s like I am erasing them.”

Fable leaned her head onto Salem’s shoulder and grabbed her hands with her own. They sat quietly for several minutes as a family of squirrels raced back and forth between two of the oak trees by the driveway.

“I guess I just don’t understand,” admitted Fable. “I think you’re leaving behind the very thing that will help you heal right now. But I trust you know what’s best for you.”

“I do,” Salem said. “I can’t heal here. This is a dream world. The mysterious Blanchards. The people in town coming here for help with their problems. Walking through the shops of Daihmler and hearing whispers. People treating us like we are something they are simultaneously afraid of and grateful for. In Atlanta, I am just Salem. No magic, no ghostly parents on the wall. I liked being Salem Lane. I liked who she was.

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