“What did you want to do?” Ruby whispered.
I remembered she hadn’t like the way the sage smelt when it burned. “I’ll
do the herbs.”
“Then I’ll take the salt.”
We turned back to face the room. Henry had started the process by
opening the house’s windows, but they wouldn’t budge. I hoped that
wouldn’t stop the cleansing from working. I took up the sage bunch and the
box of matches. Ruby collected the container of salt and opened the top. We
stared at each other for a second. Ruby cleared her throat. “It would be faster
to split up—”
“No. We keep together.”
She nodded. I struck a match and touched it to the bundle of dried herbs.
They caught, and the smoke began to rise as I held them ahead of myself.
Ruby began spreading salt across the floor. Henry seemed to have a pattern
he scattered it in, but I couldn’t remember how he’d done it. I hoped our
inexperience wouldn’t disadvantage us.
“Throw some on the piano,” I suggested.
Ruby collected a handful of salt and tossed it over the instrument. As the
grains touched the wood, an awful, ear-splitting clang burst through theroom, as though someone had pounded on the keys. We both flinched away
from it. The jangled notes hung in the air for what felt like forever, but I
managed a smile as they began to fade. “I think it’s working.”
“I think you’re right.” She was breathing heavily but laughed. “Let’s try
some on a door.”
The kitchen was closest. We hurried into it. I passed the burning sage
around the door’s edges as Ruby threw a handful of salt across it. Then I tried
the handle .
It was still locked.
“Okay.” I tried to control my disappointment. “It’s not helping—yet. But
it must be weakening her, right? If we keep going through the house, we
might be able to loosen her hold.”
Ruby nodded. She was already scattering the salt around the benches and
window.
We worked through the house methodically, spreading sage and salt
everywhere we could reach. The house stayed quiet, as though it had
expended its energy on the piano. The sage’s leaves were blackening and
withering faster than I would have liked. As we passed through the living
room, I nudged Ruby’s arm. “This sage is burning quickly. I don’t have much
left. How’s your salt?”
“Low.” She shook the container.
“How about we go upstairs? Shreya was trapped in that blue room for
who-knows-how-long, and died by throwing herself from the window. If her
energy is going to be concentrated anywhere, it will be there.”
“Right.” She squeezed her hands around the salt container.
I led the way up the stairs. As I passed, I waved the sage around the
watercolour portraits. I don’t think it was my imagination that the puppies
and kittens and foals seemed to shiver away from the smoke.
The upstairs hallway was dark. I tried the light switch, but none of the
lamps turned on. I shot Ruby a questioning look over my shoulder. She
nodded that I should continue on.
As I passed the first room—the master bedroom—the door groaned
closed. I swung towards it. With a click, the latch caught in the doorframe. I
shifted closer to the opposite wall as we circled past. The next door along the
hall creaked as we drew near. I watched as it slowly, lazily turned on its
hinges before finally clicking closed. The bathroom was next. As I passed it,
the tap squeaked, followed by the rush of pouring water.
“She’s trying to distract us,” Ruby said. “Keep going.”
I fixed my attention on the door at the end of the hall. There was a flash
of motion as the grey curtains shifted in a breeze that didn’t exist. Its door
stayed open even while the ones on either side of me shuddered closed. I took
a deep breath, my heart thundering, and held the burning sage ahead of
myself.