Winter by Jeff Mariotte

Author:Jeff Mariotte
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Published: 2005-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

10

The cabin was, in fact, much more impressive inside than out. That seemed to be a habit with witches, Kerry thought, remembering the way Mother Blessing’s place in the swamp had looked like a falling-down old trapper’s cabin from the outside, but a modern suburban home on the inside.

Witches had other advantages, too. Starting a fire was no problem for Season, who simply laid some logs into a gigantic stone fireplace and ignited them magically. Within minutes the place had already started to warm up, and Kerry was able to shed her coat and look around a little.

The interior reflected the cabin theme from outside, but in a much more luxurious way than Kerry would have guessed from the primitive facade. The walls were knotty pine, but highly polished, warm, and rich looking. The hard-wood floor was dotted with beautiful rugs. Season’s furniture was rustic but comfortable, all wood, well crafted and padded. A counter or breakfast bar separated the huge main room from a kitchen area with cabinets in the same golden pine as the floors. The place had two bedrooms, and Season showed Kerry which one would be hers—a cozy space with a big wooden bed covered by a lush comforter. The room was tucked under the eaves at the back of the house, timbered ceiling slanting away toward what looked, through the one small window, like unlimited, infinite pine forest.

We really are alone up here, Kerry thought, with a sensation of dread. Anything could happen. They’d never find my body.

But if Season had intended to kill her, she could have done so at any time. Why bother bringing her up here, showing her a bedroom, getting towels from a linen closet for her?

No reason that Kerry could determine. Which could only mean that Season hadn’t brought her here to kill her, but to talk, as she had insisted.

Well, that was fine. That’s what Kerry wanted too. She had hoped to do it nearer civilization, where she could get away if she needed to. But she wasn’t the one calling the shots. Since they’d climbed into the Jeep, Season had been, literally as well as figuratively, in the driver’s seat.

Season had suggested that Kerry take a shower, and given how nasty she felt, Kerry had happily agreed. She took her towels into the hall bathroom—her own master suite, Season said, had another—and was delighted to find that it was just as deluxe as the rest of the place. The fixtures were gleaming brass, the tub enclosed in sparkling glass. When Kerry undressed and turned on the shower, the water rushed forth steaming hot. Botdes of shampoo, conditioner, and cleanser were lined up on a shelf inside the tub enclosure. Twenty minutes later, showered, having found a brand new toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste lying next to the sink, she felt like a new person. She wrapped her long black hair up in one of the towels, wrapped the other one around herself, and went back across the hall to the bedroom.

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