Storm Witch

by Alys West

  “He wants your dreams, of course.” Finn’s frown deepened. “I think he wants me as an extra druid in case things get out of hand.”

  “And are you up for that?”

  “You know me, I’m not one for a fight. I hated the last one.”

  Zoe touched his cheek with her fingers. “This isn’t the same. It’s not Maeve.”

  “I know. At least, I know that with the logical side of my brain. It’s the other side I’m having trouble with. I can’t let him down. He was there for us.”

  “He’ll understand.” Zoe hoped to God he’d understand. Although the way Winston had been reacting recently she wasn’t going to put money on it.

  “I don’t want him to understand.” Finn pulled away from her and walked a couple of steps before turning. “I want to do it. I don’t want to feel like…” Breaking off he shoved his hand through his hair.

  “Like what?”

  “Like I’m scared of what’s going to happen when it’s over. What if it’s like last time?”

  “It’s not going to be like last time. The storm witch doesn’t want to kill you.”

  “Or you.” Two steps brought him back to her. His hand cupped her cheek. “You’re being very patient with me. You could just tell me to man up and get on the ferry.”

  “That’s because I love you, you idiot.” She wrapped her arms around him, holding as tight as she could. “And if you get hurt or the nightmares come back then we’ll cope like we coped last time,” she said, her cheek pressed against his jumper. “Who needs sleep anyway?”

  There was a rumble of laughter deep in Finn’s chest. “So you’re up for it?”

  She leaned back so she could look at him. “I am if you are?”

  “I’ll book the ferries then.” His fingers brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face. “Friday alright for you? That’ll give us time to get the lie of the land before the storm witch kicks off on Sunday.”

  “Sure. Fine by me.” She couldn’t hold back a grin. “I am so looking forward to seeing Winston with Jenna.”

  ***

  “I don’t think much’s changed since you were here before,” Debbie said, opening the door to the bar area.

  Rachel glanced quickly around. She’d been on the other side of the bar plenty of times in the three years since she’d stopped working here, had noted the odd change in the drinks stocked, the type of crisps they sold but there were some things you couldn’t spot as a customer. “The dishwasher’s new,” she said. “You used to have that old one that didn’t dry properly.”

  Debbie laughed. “God, I was glad to see the back of that old thing. You’ll find this one much easier. Till’s the same. I won’t let Robbie update it as I’ll never get the hang of one of those fancy new ones.”

  “Great.” Rachel smiled, trying to look confident and not ninety-percent exhausted. She’d been up at five and had already done her shift on the ferry. “I’ll get started then.”

  “It’s nice to have you back, love.” Debbie dropped a hand on her arm before she turned. At the door, she stopped. “I knew there was something else. Can you work Sunday? Andrew Stewart’s asked us to do the bar for a party he’s having. We’d need you from mid-afternoon through to whatever time everyone goes home.”

  That was seven, possibly eight hours work. She couldn’t turn it down even if Sunday was the only day off she’d get this week. “Yes, alright. No problem.”

  Debbie beamed. “I told Robbie we could rely on you. He was all for turning it down seeing as it was such short notice. Whoever was going to do the bar has let Andrew down which is why he asked us. But I told Robbie we need to keep in with the likes of Andrew Stewart. If these plans go ahead, he’s going to have a big say in the future of Stromness.”

  “I guess.” Frowning, Rachel picked up a tea towel and absently folded it. She tried not to think about the Nethertown development. It made her feel too sad about Nina and too powerless. Those were emotions she had to keep a tight rein on until she’d got a better grip on her magic. “What time do you want me on Sunday?”

  “Come here for three, will you, love? Robbie will drive us over and help unload but then he’s going to have to come back here so I’ll need your help to get everything set up.” Debbie turned away and then stopped. “Oh, and one other thing, we’ve been asked to wear black. Felicity’s idea, Andrew said.”

  “What’s he trying to do? Make us invisible?”

  “Probably. But he’s paying top whack for the drinks, I made sure of that, so if he wanted us dressed as drag queens I wouldn’t say no.”

  Rachel couldn’t help but smile as an image of Robbie, a former player for Orkney Rugby Club, in sparkly dress and heels flashed through her mind.

  “That’s better, love,” Debbie said. “You need to smile a bit or you’ll scare off the customers.”

  ***

  Jenna walked up the path to 15 Scapa Crescent. It was a small, pebbledash semi with an untidy front garden. She brushed past the shrubs encroaching onto the concrete path and pressed the bell next to the bright blue front door. While she waited, she ran through in her mind what she planned to say.

  She’d rung Winston after she’d left Hal’s last night. Once she’d told him she’d got Rachel’s address, he’d been all for getting on his bike and roaring over so they could confront her straightaway. Eventually, as she walked back through the streets and lanes of Stromness to her car, she’d convinced him that her approach was better. She’d wanted to come alone but he’d been adamant that wasn’t going to happen. The compromise was that he stayed in the car while she tried to talk to Rachel.

  It’d seemed like a really good plan when they’d talked about it last night. Only now she felt anxious and exposed and would have welcomed Winston’s presence. She looked over her shoulder. Her car was tucked into one of the parking spaces opposite the houses. Winston gave a quick wave from the passenger seat.

  She pushed the bell again, keeping her finger on it for slightly longer. Rachel must be out. An explosion of yapping made her turn. A Yorkshire Terrier was hurtling across the garden of the house next door. It threw itself at the fence with a snarl that would have been frightening in a dog three times its size.

  “Don’t mind, Jack. He thinks he’s a Rottweiler.” A small, stout woman with rigid curls in her grey hair followed the dog across the garden. “Are you looking for Rachel?”

  “Yes. Do you know if she’s in? There doesn’t seem to be any reply.”

  “You’ve just missed her. Jack! Be quiet.” The woman bent and scooped the little dog up. “She was away about twenty minutes ago.”

  “Do you know where she was going? I wanted to talk to her and if I can catch her…”

  “Was she expecting you? Only it’s not like Rachel to forget if she’s said she’ll do something. Even with all that’s gone on in the past week.”

  “Oh?”

  Jenna hoped the query would do the work for her, that the woman would be so desperate to gossip that she’d simply keep talking, but she raised an eyebrow and stared back, clearly waiting for an answer to her first question.

  “I popped by on the off chance really.” As the woman continued to look sceptical, Jenna found herself doing the talking. “I wanted to speak to her about Mum. I’m Nina Stewart’s daughter and I think Rachel was helping her with some things before she died.”

  “I’m sorry, lass. I didn’t know. It was a terrible sad thing that happened to your mum. You’ll be Jenna then?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Shall I tell Rachel that you popped by?”

  “It’s okay. I don’t want to bother you.” Jenna delved in her bag looking for her notebook. “I’ll leave her a note.”

  “It’s no bother.”

  Undoubtedly the woman was storing every minute of the conversation to discuss and dissect with her friends later. It’d be the talk of Stromness’s next coffee morning that Nina Stewart’s daughter had been looking for Rachel Sinclair. She didn’t need her
reading the note as well.

  “No, it’s okay. You’ve been really kind already, Mrs—? ”

  “Sutherland. Arthur and I look out for Rachel since her dad’s not here anymore. You’ll not know about that, seeing as it happened after your mum died?”

  Mrs Sutherland’s sharp eyes watched her face. “I don’t. I’m sorry, I don’t really know Rachel. What happened to her dad?”

  “Och well, you’d best ask her that. When you see her.” With a crisp nod, Mrs Sutherland turned and walked back across the garden. The dog wriggled in her arms to look at Jenna, getting in another volley of barking before a sharp command from his owner made him subside to a muted growl.

  Jenna let out a long sigh. Mrs Sutherland and Jack were likely to severely cut down their options. She’d be surprised if anything happened on this close that Mrs Sutherland didn’t know about. Balancing her notebook on her arm, she scribbled a note explaining who she was and why she wanted to talk to Rachel. After writing mobile number, landline and email address on the bottom she posted it through the letterbox and walked back up the path.

  “Well?” Winston asked as she got in the car.

  “She’s not in.”

  “No shit, Sherlock!” He shifted his body in the car seat to turn towards her. “What’s with the neighbour?”

  “Mrs Sutherland. She wanted to know what I was doing. She told me she and her husband look out for Rachel now her dad’s not here anymore.”

  “As in dead?”

  “I don’t know. That was my first thought, but I didn’t want to risk bluffing it, she’s way too sharp. She told me I’d have to ask Rachel.”

  “So, we have to wait?”

  “Looks like it.”

  “I hate waiting.”

  “Why does that not surprise me?” She caught his glance and grinned. “I thought druids were supposed to be patient.”

  “Where on earth did you get that idea from?”

  “I don’t know, Mum probably. Doesn’t connecting to awen all the time make you calm and a bit zen?”

  “How long have you known me?”

  She quickly added up in her head. Could it really be eight weeks since he’d first swaggered into the office and flirted his way through their first meeting? “Nearly two months.”

  “And how many times have you seen me calm and a bit zen?”

  “Erm, that’d be never.”

  “I rest my case. Although Finn’s coming on Friday. You can test this theory on him, if you like?”

  “Oh!” Did he think things were so bad they needed reinforcements? “And Zoe?”

  “Of course.” Winston looked at his hands for a moment. “I asked them earlier.”

  “You think we’re not going to get anywhere with Rachel?” Jenna’s voice rose. “That we’re not going to be able to stop her?”

  “I think we’re running out of time.” He looked at her for a second. “And it’s best to prepare for worst-case.”

  She didn’t need to ask what worst-case would look like. She already knew. And no matter how much she tried to shove Zoe’s picture to the back of her mind, whenever she stopped it was front and centre again. “We agreed we’d try it my way first. If we’ve not heard from her by Friday, then we’ll do it your way. That still gives us two days to talk her round.”

  “Aye, alright.” With a creak of leather, he half shrugged. “Now what?”

  Jenna turned the ignition key. “Now we leave before Mrs Sutherland decides to call the police.”

  As she turned the car out of the steep incline of Scapa Crescent onto Back Road, Winston said, “Do you need to get straight back?”

  “Not really. I’ve got a massive pile of ironing to do but that can always wait.”

  “You iron?” Winston sounded astounded. She took her gaze from the road to shoot a quick glance at him. He was looking down, his face shielded by his hair. He murmured, “Of course you do. Should have known.”

  “Why are my ironing habits any interest of yours?”

  “Just trying to figure you out, Miss Henderson. That’s all.” He cleared his throat. “While we’re in Stromness, can we go to the site your uncle wants to build on? I’ve not seen it.”

  “Yes, alright.” Did this mean he continued to suspect Andrew? He’d had a load more questions about him after her uncle had left on Monday evening.

  A little further on, they turned left onto a narrow road bordered with stone field walls on each side. The road ended where the sea began. Pulling into the wide verge, Jenna switched off the engine.

  “Christ!” Winston got out of the car and turned slowly from left to right. “I know everyone said it was beautiful but that’s seriously underselling it. If I believed in heaven I’d want it to look like this.”

  The grass ended where the rocks began; brown layers encrusted with seaweed and dotted with rock pools. Beyond them, waves lapped gently, and the sea spread out, flat calm this evening. Graemsay was to their left, one of its lighthouses on the tip of the island. Behind it was Hoy, its mountains strangely clear in this light, looking almost close enough to touch.

  “It’s one of my favourite places. I came here a lot after Mum died. Jet and I must have walked miles along this path.”

  “It’s so quiet.”

  The air felt heavy with the near silence. Only the waves made a sound. “I know.”

  For a long moment they stood next to each other, staring out across Scapa Flow. Jenna was very aware of his arm, a mere inch or two from hers, his hand close enough to touch. He’d been very tactile recently. She didn’t mind. In fact, she kind of liked it. She’d not realised how much she missed someone touching her until Hal returned. But there’d be no more hugs from him.

  A small fishing boat, its red hull gleaming, came round the arc of the coast, the puttering of its engine sounding loud in the near quiet. Its wash swept out behind it, a perfect sharp line on the calm water and slapped against the shore.

  Winston turned to look at the fields behind them. “And your uncle wants to build here?”

  “Yes.” She pointed to the right where the cemetery rested on the top of a slight incline. “All the way from the cemetery to Warbeth Beach which is around the corner to the left.”

  “It’s going to be massive. I didn’t realise. You can’t tell from the plans. Sixty houses and a hotel don’t sound much on paper. It’s only when you see it here.”

  “I know.” Jenna headed towards the wooden bench next to the path. As she sat, she pulled her knees up to her chest. “Pippa Lloyd asked me last night if I’d say publicly that I’m against the development. I told her I didn’t know. It’s got so confused for me but in the end, it comes down to this, doesn’t it? Should he build on this land? Because once he does we’ve lost it forever and that’d be a tragedy.”

  “I didn’t ask you to bring me here to try to force you to make a decision.” Winston sat down next to her.

  “I know. But I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to tell Pippa and Andrew that I’m against the development.”

  “Good for you.” He held his hand up, palm facing her and for a second, she didn’t know what he was doing. Then she high fived him and it felt great. His eyes met hers and he was smiling at her as if he really cared. Although that couldn’t be right, could it?

  As her hand fell, she glanced down. Telling Andrew was going to be awful. What trick was he going to pull this time? Because he’d been really manipulative on Monday. Once she’d had time to think about it, she’d realised Winston had been right and it was time to stop defending him.

  She risked a quick look at Winston. His gaze was on her face, studying her more intently than she’d ever seen him do before. Heat crept up her cheeks as she said, “Would it be terrible if I waited until after the party to tell him?”

  “No. If Zoe’s drawing’s right then he’ll have bigger things to worry about after Sunday. Like rebuilding his bigsie house.”

  “Do you really think it’s going to be as bad as the drawing?”

>   “Worse. I’ve seen Zoe’s drawings before. Living through the reality was a lot worse.”

  “Then we really need to hope Rachel rings me—”

  “And we somehow manage to talk her out of this.” Winston’s hand brushed hers. “But if she doesn’t or we can’t then you need to be prepared for things to get fairly ugly on Sunday.”

  ***

  Suppressing a huge yawn, Rachel opened the door and flicked on the light. On the doormat was a piece of paper with torn edges. She picked it up and unfolded it. As she read it, her eyebrows rose. Nina’s perfect daughter wanted to talk to her? Unbelievable!

  She couldn’t though. Not with what she knew, what she’d seen. And anyway, she didn’t want to. She’d heard far too much about Jenna from Nina; about her amazing career in Edinburgh, how nice her flat was and what a lovely boyfriend she had. Of course, she’d given up the flat, the career and probably the boyfriend when Mr Henderson got ill but that didn’t change the fact she’d had it all.

  Except spellwork. Nina had never said it in so many words, but she’d got the feeling that Jenna wasn’t much good at it. And now she wanted to talk to her about Nina and magic. Even Nina, with all her skills as a seer, couldn’t have seen this coming.

  Walking through to the kitchen, Rachel dropped the note onto the pile of papers about the repairs and got herself a glass of water to take up to bed.

  PART THREE

  CASTING

  All magic requires energy. For spellworkers there are different sources of energy available: themselves, the world around them, the gods and the goddesses. For druids energy comes from only one source: the Earth.

  The Spiral Path by Nina Stewart (unpublished)

  Chapter 33

  The dream drove her back to consciousness. With the image pulsing through her brain, she slid from beneath the covers and reached for paper and pencil.

  “Zo?” Finn muttered.

  “I’m fine. Go back to sleep.”