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Chapter 36

"Oh, I get it, hon." She nodded. "Not only do you make the Counselor's bells ring, you make his bells ring. I see that very clear, and I ain't seen nothin' in five hundred years."

"What?" I blinked, sorting through her words.

"Here's the hawthorn branch." Tram put it on the desk in front of Mrs. Star and pushed his lips together in a grim line. "I'm going to do some quick research over here, Leigh. You're in safe hands."

He brushed by the back of my chair and let his fingers drift through the ends of my hair. Moth shadows from the overhead light flitted all over his back.

"Mm-hm." Mrs. Star gave me a secret smile then picked up the hawthorn branch. It was small and spindly, just like her. Thorns jutted out in all directions from its bark, about an inch long. Mrs. Star pressed her finger to each one, like she was testing their sharpness.

"Are you going to stab me with one of those?" I asked.

"Yep. And it'll hurt awful bad."