The sharp old eyes looked at the handsome profile of the young woman, and she smiled. She knew what she knew!
"So Clarinda's going to call a meetin'?"
The blonde head whipped about, startled, and wide blue eyes looked into the faded gray ones. "How'd you know that, Aunt Minerva?"
The old face wrinkled even more as a broad smile spread over it. "Me and Clarinda's been close as kin for nigh onto a hundred years now. We're about as close – as close as you and Bobby Lee."
Sue Robin looked away hastily, to keep her great aunt from reading the question that sprang into her mind. Did the old lady know about her and her twin brother? Everybody knew how close she and Buz were, but they only thought it was natural for twins to be that way. She was sure of that. But Aunt Minerva. And Aunt Clarinda. Sometimes she was sure they communed with the long-dead, and that they had supernatural power. They saw things nobody else could see.
"Aunt Minerva," she said, looking down at the floor, "ever since I was a little girl, I've heard talk of-of things Aunt Clarinda could do. I know a lot of the blacks go to her when they need – something special. Like when they're having romantic problems."
"He! He! He!" The rusty cackle was full of amusement. "A lot of whites do, too. But they don't talk. They better not talk. She sure 'nough has extra powers, honey. You knew she was a root-worker, didn't you?"
Sue Robin had heard the term among her black playmates, and less frequently "conjure-woman". She knew, of course, they meant something like "witch".
"I guess so."
"Well, don't you worry your pretty head, honey. You're a sweet child and Bobby Lee is a fine young man, though no brighter than the bull-headed Pa of his'n. Everything is going to work out all right. Just leave it to Clarinda and me."
Clarinda and you? Sue Robin curbed the temptation to stare questioningly at her great aunt. What did this little aristocratic old lady, reeking of magnolia and moonlit traditions, have to do with voodoo?
"Now honey, go out into the kitchen and see if Josh is around. I want a mint julep."
"I'll tell him, Auntie. Then I'm going to run down the road to Mary Beth's for a little while. I told her I'd come. I might be late for supper."
She found the old man sitting outside the kitchen door, watching a fresh litter of puppies scrambling about the yard. After delivering Aunt Minerva's message, she hurried upstairs to her room.
She fumbled in the top drawer of the chiffonier and found what she was searching for, a long cardboard carton whose contents rattled as she picked it up. She dropped it into a large shoulder bag, hung the bag over her shoulder, and went back downstairs. She passed through the dining room, one corner of which was boxed in by a small bar. She ducked behind it and got a pint bottle of vodka, and this, too, she dropped in her bag. Then she went outdoors and climbed into her MG.
CHAPTER FOUR
Mary Beth was sitting in front of the living room TV when Sue Robin walked in. Cushions were piled behind her and beside her, and she grimaced as she sat up straighter to greet her sister-in-law.
"Still bothering you, honey?" Sue Robin asked, a wrinkle of concern creasing her smooth forehead.
"A little," the brunette said.
"We'll take care of that right away," Sue Robin promised. "But first, I'm going into your pretty new kitchen and fix me a drink."
"Just make yourself at home," responded the other.
In the kitchen Sue Robin smiled to herself as she got some orange juice and ice cubes out of the refrigerator. She had noticed right away that her voluptuous sister-in-law had switched from shorts and shirt to a mini-length housecoat, and she was willing to bet she didn't have on a bra. Probably panties, but no bra.
Well, maybe Aunt Clarinda could work voodoo, but meanwhile she'd do a little magic herself. Taking the vodka out of her bag, she poured a generous dollop into each of the two glasses or orange juice, stirred them vigorously, then sipped a taste of each. Good! With her bag slung on her shoulder again, she went back out to the living room, carrying the drinks.
"Here, Mary Beth, this'll do you good."
"You didn't put any of Bobby Lee's corn likker in that orange juice, did you, Sue Robin?"
"No corn likker. Here."
The brunette moved some cushions to make room for Sue Robin on the couch, then took one of the glasses and tasted it. She smiled. "That's good."
They sat and watched the TV show while they sipped their drinks. The vodka was virtually tasteless in the orange juice, but Sue Robin soon felt a buzz from hers, and she was sure that Mary Beth would feel hers, too. Meanwhile, take it easy, she told herself. Mary Beth was no dummy, and she surely sensed by now what the massage bit was all about, but like most Southern girls, she was schooled to hide or disguise her feelings. As long as Sue Robin didn't bring everything out into the open, the sky was the limit. The rangy blonde repressed, a smile as the vodka warmed the pit of her stomach.
When they finally finished their drinks and placed the empty glasses on the coffee table, Sue Robin said briskly, "Now, honey, let's get those aches and pains out of your pretty chassis. Aches and pains are for old folks, thrills for young'uns."
Mary Beth giggled, and Sue Robin knew the vodka had gotten to her.
"Want me to lie on my tummy like before?"
"Just like before."
Turning away coyly, the brunette slipped off the housecoat, and Sue Robin saw that her guess had been right. She had on a pair of panties, even sheerer than the burnt-orange pair, but no bra.
Mary Beth stretched out face down on the couch.
Opening her catch-all tag, Sue Robin took out a can of body powder and shook out some of the fragrant dust in the palm of her hand. Then, rubbing her hands together, she sat down as before on the edge of the couch and began rubbing the brunette's back. Knowing what to expect this time, Mary Beth relaxed more quickly. The vodka helped.
In a very few minutes Sue Robin had progressed from the neck and shoulders down to the plump thighs, kneading her fingers deeply into the resilient flesh while Mary Beth sighed and purred contentedly. When Sue Robin's knuckles grazed her pussy, the thighs slid farther apart automatically, and the sighs became groans of pleasure.
"You've sure got a beautiful body, Mary Beth," Sue Robin said softly, stroking and kneading steadily.
"You, too, Sue Robin," came sleepily from the pillowed head. "You're so nice and tall. I wish I was taller."
"I expect you're tall enough," Sue Robin chuckled wickedly.
"You're naughty!" Mary Beth giggled, and wiggled her ass.
She's sharp enough, Sue Robin thought. She just needs to be turned on. And if she does get started, Lordy, but she'll screw poor Buz silly.
After a bit they had progressed to the turn-over part, and Mary Beth's big melon tits jiggled deliciously as she curled her body around and stretched out on her back with a luxurious sigh.
She might as well not have those little skivvies on, Sue Robin thought as she looked through the transparent film of cloth at the rich auburn triangle of hair bulging at the juncture of the lush thighs. Deftly she flicked open her bag and took out a long narrow cardboard box.
Mary Beth's eyes were closed and a contented smile curved her slightly parted lips.
"You sure know how to give a massage, Sue Robin," she murmured.
"This'll be even better," Sue Robin promised rubbing some of the body powder on the smooth round surface of the vibrator she held in her hand. It was eight inches long and nearly two inches in diameter, tapering at the tip. Clicking it on, she rubbed it along the top of Mary Beth's thighs.
"Oooooooooh!" the supine brunette exclaimed. "What in the world is that?" Her eyelashes fluttered, but she didn't open her eyes.