Chapter 2 [Thirty minutes later—Forsburg Hall, Greenwich State College]
Even as Katherine hustled toward it, activity had already started on the GSC campus that morning. A few students bustled about the Brooklyn school's one story student center for hot java goodness and fresh baked pastries before the lectures began.
And so another day started…..
In her office on Forsburg Hall's third floor, Jennifer munched on a cinnamon bagel and considered her lecture notes. Despite the subject matter being out of her usual European historical expertise, she enjoyed the US History class and students. Consequently she refused to subject them to dry lectures….
…of course having lived in that era herself not to mention being able to draw on a certain colonial captain's expertise added a great deal of spice to the material as well….
Captain Crane does have his eye for detail. I'd certainly give him that! She scribbled a few more notes in the margin. Then she sipped on her French roast coffee and scratched her chin. "Papa's sabotage of the British powder supplies would be worth a mention." She chuckled at the story. Too bad I can't tell them the whole truth of that.
Almost on cue, the phone rang.
"Good morning, Professor Dubois speaking."
"Good morrow, Miss Jennifer, this is Ichabod Crane. My deepest apologies for troubling you," Ichabod announced.
"It's no trouble at all, Captain. I'm just preparing a lecture for my history students concerning the Revolution. Thank you once again for your insights," she expressed.
"You are most welcome. I do regret that I could not travel there at this time to indulge their young minds. I do not want to leave Katrina by herself for even a couple of days," he lamented.
She clearly picked up on the melancholy and anxiety in the usually reserved voice. "What's going on, Captain? Is she all right?"
"Physically she is well. Thank you for asking. Yet I fear she has some sort of depression. While she still laments Jeremy's fate in Purgatory, Katrina deals with something much deeper, I fear. I have duly notified Captain Irving and Leftenant Mills that I shall be spending the day with my wife. I do not wish to linger on if you have a class, Miss Jennifer. I…appreciate the moment of your time," he explained.
"Most certainly. I'll speak to Mama and Papa. Perhaps we might have a gathering this weekend? Meantime you might get to work on some ham and beans perhaps? See what Abbie and Jenny might wish to do. Meantime please remind Katrina that we all care," she proposed.
"Excellent ideas indeed! My thanks. Have a most splendid lecture, Miss Jennifer. Good day," he agreed before hanging up.
Jennifer disconnected the call and set the phone on her desk. She bit from her bagel again and scratched her scalp. "What could be going on with Katrina? I just hope it isn't her son again." She sighed wondering what the cause of the sorceress' malady could be. For several seconds, her mind spun around the reason…..
….then she remembered the long ago standoff in front of the mercantile….
"Of course. How could I have forgotten about that?" For a brief moment, she considered calling Ichabod back with that insight. Then she winced at the implications. "If he's having issues now, imagine what would happen if he found out that they have twins rather than just a son? Break him in easy, Jenny. Wish that Katrina had come clean in the beginning. This just bites." Her teeth tore off a big chunk of bagel and chewed it morosely in her mouth.
Such is the outcomes of failures to duty! Your own sire's sins mirror those of Ichabod Crane and Katrina van Tassel, Foolish Girl! a strong feminine voice telepathically lectured her.
Jennifer looked about the office in confusion. "What now?" She marched across the office's expanse and managed somehow not to tear the door off of its hinges in her haste. She surveyed the hallway carefully.
The passage seemed empty to her eye. However her hair continued to stand on end. "Strange. Get to class and deal with that. Then you can call Papa down here if necessary." She hustled back into the room and collected her materials. Finally she shut the door and headed toward the stairs.
Just seconds after Jennifer had started down the staircase, the light seemed to flicker in the passage. A cloaked feminine figure allowed the concealment spell to dissipate.
Drawing back her hood, Deborah frowned. The Sisterhood of the White Heart managed to survive several troubling fates over the previous two and a half centuries. They'd escaped Rowenshire and the rival coven's malice. They'd penetrated the concealment spells surrounding the missing Katherine….
…after so much time, the girl and her willful parents were within their grasp….
Although usually a white witch, she allowed her hands to glow with dark eldritch energies. She and the surviving coven members would be revenged….
…the goddess' mission would be served albeit centuries after the fact….
Gather the sisterhood and then you can strike as one! She waved her hands and vanished into the early morning light.
[Lecture Hall—Room 127]
Kate huffed as she rushed into the lecture room. After too brief of a shower, a hurried subway ride and an almost desperate sprint across campus, she allowed herself a minute to collect her wits. Her head still pounded from the previous night's scare-fest. Her stomach growled from being empty. Her arms and legs felt like lead from too little restful sleep.
But she really needed this particular class…for some reason, it was her escape from everything else….
Wish I knew why I liked this stuff so much. Don't question it, Kate. Just enjoy. Maybe I can get a bagel afterwards? She spied an open seat down toward the front and made her way there. After squeezing by a few other students on that row, she slumped into the open chair. Pulling her notebook from her bag, she prepared for the lecture ahead.
Then her stomach growled in protest.
"Great." She felt as if she could just sink through the floor. She looked up to see the other students and professor looking at her curiously. "Sorry. I had a rough night."
"Are you all right, Kate?" Jennifer queried. She could clearly see that the girl's skin seemed pale. Besides the rumbling stomach, her enhanced hearing discerned a rabbiting pulse and uneasy breathing pattern.
"I'll be fine, Dr. Dubois. Please start. I can't wait to hear what you have for today," Kate assured her.
Jennifer nodded and walked back over to the lectern. "While I'm doing that, you can eat this. One bagel filled me up this morning. I would like to speak to you after class though." She handed the hungry student the spare bagel and went back to the blackboard.
Kate bowed her head in embarrassment. Her cheeks flushed crimson. She began to shake.
A blonde guy sitting next to her leaned over and whispered. "You didn't do anything. It's okay."
Kate sighed and shook her head. I wish I could believe that! She bit into the gift breakfast reluctantly and prepped to take notes.
[Twenty Minutes Later]
Kate wiped her face off with a tissue as she finished the last bit of bagel. The cinnamon, white sugar and the chewy bread left a pleasant taste in her mouth and satiated her stomach. She scribbled a few more notes on the revolution in that part of New York State. She also enjoyed the professor's anecdotes on localities and various characters from the era on both sides. At least this is more than a dry book!
Slides came and went virtually across the digital projector as Jennifer maneuvered through bits and pieces of local history related to Albany, Eagle Plain and finally, the village of Wabash itself.
Kate's eyes went wide as she saw the images of Wabash's common. She raised her hand tentatively. "Dr. Dubois? Sorry. The mercantile? That was there during the Revolution?"
"It predates the conflict by twenty years or so, Kate. David Dubois, a captain in the Revolutionary army, was its first proprietor dating from the 1750s," Jennifer indicated. She allowed herself a minute to recall helping her stepparents and their friends to construct the building. "Rumor has it that it was the first structure of its kind in that part of the state. The present church wasn't built for another ten years. Log cabins remained the rule according to individual tax records."
"Any relations, Professor?" another girl asked.
"I wish," Jennifer lied without batting an eyebrow. Of course she would've loved to brag about her stepparents. "You've got the wrong Professor Dubois. There's a prof up in Eagle Plain who is related to Captain Dubois and has the same name in fact. He's a friend in fact." She smiled at the other student. "Thanks, Matilda. Good question. Now as for the people involved, I'd like to speak of a nurse whose connections to General Washington and the Continental Army were key." She pressed a button. "Her name was Katrina Van Tassel Crane."
As Katrina's image appeared on the screen, Kate gasped. She lost track of the room….
…she lost track of everything….
She only could see Katrina's frightened face as the latter pushed her through the woods. She could almost feel the latter's fear and love mixed in protection from whoever or whatever scared her….
…protection of her for some reason….
…protection from the scary cloaked women….
…protection from the mists which seemed to eat at her….
Kate screamed in terror.
"Kate? Kate!" Jennifer saw Kate slump forward and spasm pronouncedly. She dropped the projector control on the lectern and rushed over to the suffering student's side. She eyed the clock to see that they had fifteen minutes left. "Sorry but I need to have Candace finish the class. I can get Kate to the infirmary." She turned to the teaching assistant. "Just wrap up with what we talked about. All right? Then can you leave these things in the office with Dr. MacGregor's assistant? I'd appreciate it."
"Of course, Professor. Just get her to the infirmary," Candace agreed.
"I'm on it," Jennifer concurred. She picked up the shaking student and, with a great show than she might have under most circumstances, carried her from the room and down the hall. She sighed wondering what to do now. She knew she really should get Kate to a hospital but that would mean questions, tests and unwanted red tape. Much as she had done with Jenny Mills in Sleepy Hollow, she wanted to avoid such matters. "Mama will know what to do." She took a deep breath and began to sprint down the hall disappearing from the building and the campus within seconds. Within minutes after that, she'd cleared the Five Boroughs and rushed parallel to Interstate 87 heading upstate.
Whatever bugged Kate required answers and not the kind that an ordinary doctor could provide either.
It was in those cases she'd rely on her stepparents and damn the consequences…