Read The Curse of Dark Root: Part Two (Daughters of Dark Root Book 4) for Free Online Page B

to answer your question as to whether or not I believe in ghosts––Duh! Why do you think I'm doing all of this?”
    I rolled down my window. The wind caught my hair, sending a mass of red curls into my face. Even so, the air felt good after being sequestered in the house all day with a teething infant and a headache that required two pots of Merry’s tea to cure. “Do you think spirits watch over us? Maybe even protect us?”
    Ruth Anne scratched her head with both hands, steering with her knees. “Ah, geez Maggie. Don't you ever have an easy question? I don't know. Maybe.” She looked at me out of the corner of her eye as her hands returned to the wheel. “Why? Did something happen?”
    My body stiffened as I considered how much to reveal.
    Yesterday, I was certain Shane had saved us from colliding with that rock. But now, in the light of a new day, things were muddier. Maybe the rock wasn't as close as I thought. Or perhaps we hit a puddle which vaulted us into the air. I believed in spirits, but sometimes things that went bump in the night were just things that went bump in the night.
    Even if I could explain away the sled, I couldn't deny the apparitions at the edge of the forest, and the man running beside me wearing a cowboy hat. That particular vision kept me up all night, and I couldn't shake it.
    I popped an aspirin from my purse, wishing I had brought some of Merry's tea along.
    “It's a nice thought,” Ruth Anne said after several minutes of reflection. “That when your loved ones cross over, they stick around to make sure you're okay.” She turned to face me, her eyes glimmering. “That's why I do what I do, Mags. I want to prove that spirits exist. And not just some spirits. All spirits. That we have souls that transcend bodies and space and time.” She paused, drumming her fingers intently against the wheel, her face resolute. “I need to.”
    I inhaled and nodded. Consumed by my own misfortune, I had forgotten Ruth Anne lost someone too, a woman she once loved. She had her reasons for hoping the dead returned––just as I did.
    “How long will this take?” I asked, my breasts starting to tingle. “Montana will need to eat soon.”
    She waggled her hand in a “don't worry about it” motion. “You pumped before we left. He'll be fine. And Jupiter knows he's got peas for days. I swear, little Monty is going to grow up to be the Jolly Green Giant if you don't feed him something else.”
    “I want him to be healthy. The doctor said to let him have one type of food for several weeks before introducing him to the next.”
    “Yeah? Well, I'll wait till you feed him something clear before I resume my diaper duty.”
    I frowned. “He only wants to nurse when he's starving. I'm worried.”
    Ruth Anne gave me a sympathetic look. “He's just growing, Mags. Trust me, he'll return to the boob one day, just maybe not yours.”
    “Thanks for that image.”
    “You’re welcome.” She tapped my knee repeatedly with the tip of her finger. “Seriously, it's good for you to get out of the house, and most especially Dark Root. A trip abroad will give you new perspective.”
    “Since when did the outskirts of Linsburg become exotic travel?”
    “Oh, this will be exotic, Mags, trust me.”
    She stepped on the gas as she turned onto a back road, driving a few miles without speaking before abruptly veering off our path. We bumped down a neglected dirt road. Ruth Anne smiled as we hit each rut, like a kid on a carnival ride. It worsened my headache so I focused on the landscape instead.
    The trees were different out here. Not the tall aspens and towering firs that claimed Dark Root, but wide pines that grew squatter the further we went.
    Maybe Ruth Anne was right to bring me along. If I'd stayed home, I'd be lying in front of the TV, eating vegan cookies and guzzling Diet Coke while waiting for Montana to wake up from his nap. And I’d be caught up in missing Shane and worrying about the mysterious curse I