August 25, Sunday
I WAS waiting for Muriel when she appeared with her sling bag and her walking stick.
"I see you're still here," the woman said with a cackle.
"That's right," I said, extending a basket of eggs. "I brought these for you."
"Thank you kindly," she said, taking them. She cracked one into her mouth and swallowed it raw. "Good for the eyes."
My own throat constricted, then I extended the bag of seeds. "Do you know what these are?"
The woman peered inside, then stuck in her hand and lifted some of the seeds to fall through her gnarled fingers. "Them's morning glory seeds."
I gave a little laugh. "Is that all? Flower seeds?"
"Not just flower seeds," she said, wagging her finger. "Chew ‘em up and you'll go for a ride."
I squinted. "I'm not following."
"They're like LSD," she said. "Hallucinogens."
I remembered Sawyer said Rose had done recreational drugs. Had she kept the seeds on hand for her own trips?
"Not for the innocent," she said, then took the bag from me and put it in the basket with the eggs.
"Okay," I relented. It wasn't as if I was going to use them. I pulled out the black hand mirror. "Do you know what this is?"
Muriel recoiled. "It's a scrying mirror."
My eyes widened. "What's that?"
"Used to divine the past and present, and the future."
I shook my head. "What does that mean?"
"It's used to talk to the dead." Muriel crossed herself, then turned and hurried away.