A Grave Mistake by Leighann Dobbs Page A

they were there most of the time.
    “But why would Bly—or whoever—want to smash the gravestone?”
    “Probably so no one else could figure out the clue,” Celeste said.
    “Then it must be really important,” Luke said. “That bottom line could be the key to finding the relic.”
    Jake’s right brow ticked up. “Maybe we could go back and piece it together?”
    Celeste shook her head. “The pieces are too small.”
    Johanna pressed her lips together. “I bet Cal could figure it out if you girls could draw the tops of the letters.”
    Morgan thought about that. Cal, an antique dealer by trade, loved history and one of his specialties was codes and encryption. He’d figured things out for them before. Too bad she couldn’t remember what the bottom of the stone looked like. “I don’t remember exactly what it looked like.”
    “That’s okay. We have a secret weapon that can help us even if the bad guys destroyed the clue.” Jake looked at Jolene. “Put your photographic memory to use and draw out what the top of that line looked like.”
    A look of panic crossed Jolene’s face. “I can’t. I don’t remember.”
    Morgan’s stomach sank. Was Jolene’s memory gone for good? Hopefully not. But right now, they needed it. She glanced at her sisters and she could tell they were all thinking the same thing. What other unique skills had Jolene lost in the accident?
    Jolene noticed everyone looking at her and scrunched up her face. “What?”
    “Nothing,” Morgan answered for them.
    “I know what you’re thinking and you’re wrong. I can still use my paranormal gifts.”
    Jolene thrust her hand out as if to shoot off an energy spark. Nothing happened, and she put it in front of her frowning face. “Well, I think I can.” She thrust it out again, harder this time.
    “Hey, don’t vaporize my favorite crystal lamp over there in the living room. You're pointing right at it,” Johanna warned.
    But she didn’t need to worry about the lamp. Jolene couldn’t muster any energy. No matter how hard she focused, the best she could do was produce a teeny, glowing pink drop which formed at the end of her fingertip then fell off, disappearing into nothing before it hit the floor.
    The forlorn look on Jolene’s face tugged at Morgan’s heart. She put her arm around her little sister. “Don’t worry. I’m sure it’s just the effects of getting knocked out. I’m sure your gifts will come back.”
    She hoped her words were true. Jolene was the most powerful of all the sisters and they’d have a hard time defending themselves without her skills. Morgan made a mental note to try to develop her own defensive paranormal skill.
    “So, what do we do now?” Luke asked. “There’s at least two groups in town looking for the relic and if you guys don’t have any clue at all, how can we possibly hope to find it before they do?”
    “I wouldn’t say we don’t have any clue at all,” Morgan said. “I think the rest of the epitaph might tell us something, even though we won’t know what the bottom says.”
    Luke leaned back against the kitchen island and crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay, tell us what the rest of it was and let’s see if we can figure it out.”
    Morgan repeated the epitaph.

    When two become one, the healing’s begun.
    In my favorite place under the sun
    Look to the west. I can finally rest.

    Jake made a face. “What kind of a poem is that?”
    “You should have seen some of the other ones on the other stones,” Fiona said.
    “It’s not a very good poem. But if it’s a clue, then I guess we should try to figure it out,” Johanna added.
    Luke looked skeptical. “How do we even know if it is a clue?”
    “Ezra’s ghost told me he left a clue before he died in the most important part of the graveyard,” Celeste said.
    “And, by all accounts, he thought he was pretty important,” Fiona added.
    “So, it stands to reason he left it on his gravestone,” Morgan said.
    “But how