"Laurel Clifton lived here before the earthquake of 1906," Penny said as she flipped through the Book of Shadows. "Well, not here exactly, but on the property. She had a little girl named Samantha and I'll bet you anything Laurel hit Samantha."

Patty was trying to follow her mother's train of thought, but she shook her head, giving up. "But why would Laurel hitting Samantha make me want to hurt Prue and Piper?"

Penny smiled triumphantly as she found the page she had been looking for. Pointing down at it, she looked up at her daughter. "Because Laurel was a witch. It says here that she was upset and angry all the time following the death of her husband. I imagine that caused her to dabble in the black arts. When the earthquake destroyed the house, she cursed the property, vowing that since she couldn't be happy here, no one else could, either."

"Okay, but why is the curse just manifesting itself now?" Patty asked. "I mean, I don't remember you acting towards me the way I'm acting towards the girls."

"I don't think it is just manifesting itself now," Penny replied after a moment of thought. "I think it's manifested itself in different ways since our family has lived here, like through deaths and divorces and things like that. Your situation, though, is the closest to hers, so she probably feels more connected to you than to anyone else before." Patty looked up at her, confused. "Think about it, dear. Brian died when Samantha was five. Victor left last year. You both have had to raise kids around the same age with no husband."

Patty nodded thoughtfully. In a way, it made sense. They both had to deal with the anger of losing a husband and the fear of raising children without a father figure. However, she still didn't understand why Laurel wanted to hurt the girls. "But why hit the kids? It's not their fault."

"Laurel was angry, remember, and I bet she had no patience for a five-year- old. She hit Samantha because she didn't know any other way to deal with her." Penny paused a moment to make sure Patty was following. "When she takes you over, she hits the girls because she doesn't know what to do with them and to make them mad at you. No one can be happy here, remember?"

Patty sighed. It sounded like her mother had it all figured out, but there was still something that was bothering her. "Why is she gunning for Piper? I mean, yeah, I've been horrible to both of them, but she's so much worse to Piper."

Penny sighed as well. "I can't say for sure, but I think it's because Prue's stronger. She'd be more likely to fight you. Piper, on the other hand, is more easily upset and more submissive. Plus, Prue likes to protect Piper and if she feels she can't--"

"--it's like killing two birds with one stone," Patty finished. Penny nodded solemnly. Patty shook her head. As much as she wanted to hate Laurel for what she did to her child and what she was doing to Patty's own girls, she couldn't bring herself to hate her. It wasn't exactly her fault she became angry and cruel. If Patty didn't have her mother helping her, she might have turned out the exact same way. There's nothing like sympathizing with the devil, Patty thought bitterly. "So what do we do now?"

"We keep you and the girls apart as much as we can until I can figure out how to break the curse," she answered as she slammed the Book of Shadows closed.

**********

"Prue?" Piper whispered. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah," Prue whispered back as she rolled over to face her sister. "What's the matter?"

"I can't sleep." She got out of bed, crossed the room, and sat down on Prue's bed, rubbing her eyes. "I haven't gone to sleep all night. I'm scared."

Prue sat up and pulled Piper into a hug. "What are you scared of?"

"What if Mama comes in while we're asleep and hurts us?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"She won't," Prue said, a little more strongly than she felt. "Grams is in the next room, remember?"

Piper nodded, then pulled away from Prue and looked up at her with tears in her eyes. "But what if that doesn't matter? What if she comes in anyway?"

"Shh, it's okay," Prue whispered comfortingly as she embraced Piper again. She didn't know what to say to ease her sister's mind because she had been up all night herself worrying about the exact same thing. She was exhausted, but she was afraid to let herself fall asleep. If Patty came in, she wanted to be ready to yell for her grandmother. Looking down at Piper, though, she knew that they both needed to sleep. She wasn't sure how long ago they had been put to bed, but she knew that they should have been sound asleep for a while now. If only she had somewhere safe she could take Piper . . .

Suddenly, her eyes lit up. The treehouse! Andy and his parents had gone to his grandparents' house for the night like they always did on Saturdays, but that didn't mean the two of them couldn't stay in the treehouse just until the morning. "Piper, come on! I have an idea." She climbed out of bed and grabbed her pillow and blanket. "We're going to camp out in the treehouse!"

"In the treehouse?" Piper asked as she got up and took her blanket and pillow as well.

"Mommy will never think to look for us there," Prue assured her. She led Piper out of the room and down the hall. As they reached the stairs, she put her fingers to her lips, telling Piper to keep absolutely silent. Piper nodded and followed Prue down the stairs and out the back door.

They crossed their yard and ducked through the bushes into Andy's. Once they got to the treehouse, Prue took Piper's things and nudged her up the ladder. When Piper was all the way up, Prue threw the pillows and blankets up to her, then climbed up herself. After Prue had made it up, she placed Piper's pillow in the corner, laid Piper down on it, and spread the blanket over her. "Now you can go to sleep and you don't have to worry."

Piper smiled and closed her eyes. "You're so smart, Prue."

"Shh," Prue said with a smile. She set her stuff out right next to Piper, cuddling up to her sister. "Good night, Piper."

"Night, Prue," Piper yawned.

Prue grinned and settled down to sleep. Her sleep was completely uninterrupted until she felt a strong hand grab her arm. She opened her eyes and found herself staring into her mother's angry, cold eyes. "Thought I wouldn't find you, didn't you?"