Ribbing and Runes

by Nancy Warren

  I nodded. I sat down on the couch, then I sipped my tea. “That makes sense.”

  “And my second theory is that she knew that you and Rafe were close. I wonder if she intended for you to have it.”

  “I think you’re reaching there. She wasn’t a witch who liked to share her secrets.”

  “But if she thought she was in danger, she’d want to know that that book would end up in safe hands.”

  “And you think she saw Rafe’s hands, or mine, as a safe haven?”

  “Well, they are.”

  I knew it was true, but I still appreciated the vote of confidence. “That still doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to hang on to it. She put a strong spell on it for a reason. If that book fell into the wrong hands—” I didn’t even want to finish that sentence.

  “But to destroy that kind of knowledge seems wrong.”

  I didn’t know what to do. So I sipped more tea. She finally sat down, and Nyx very diplomatically curled up between us, her back end resting against Jennifer’s thigh and her head against mine. I stroked her soft fur absently.

  Jennifer said, “Before you make any decisions, we need to break that spell.”

  “You sound pretty confident. Can you do it?” I knew she was a witch, but I didn’t know how good she was.

  She shook her head. “I could tell right away that I wouldn’t be able to break it. Not on my own. You and I together, I suspect, are pretty powerful. But we need a couple more witches. What about your grandmother?”

  I shook my head. “Gran’s a vampire now. Her witch powers weakened the minute she was turned.” I shifted, wishing I could come up with a better idea, but I couldn’t. “My cousin Violet is pretty good. And you should probably meet Margaret Twigg anyway. She’s the head of our coven. She’s very powerful.”

  Jennifer nodded. “Okay. How’s tomorrow night?”

  I startled. “You don’t waste time, do you?”

  She sipped her tea. “I want this whole thing wrapped up before you get married. You want to start with a clean slate, not having old witch business hanging over you.”

  I totally got what she meant. “Okay.”

  And so the next night we found ourselves in the middle of the standing stones at midnight. Jennifer, me, Violet, and Margaret Twigg.

  “This would be better under a full moon,” Margaret said, but I believed our joint magic would be enough to break the spell. At least, I hoped so.

  Jennifer insisted that I be the one to carry the book and set it in the center of our circle. I’d never seen her when she was in full-on witch mode, and she was surprisingly take-charge. Margaret Twigg, who was normally the bossy one, seemed a little put out but didn’t say anything.

  Jen cast the circle and lit the candles with a bit more dramatic flair than I’d seen when she lit them in my flat. I was certain she was showing off for Margaret and Vi.

  I could feel a current, almost like electricity, buzzing between us.

  Jen raised her hands over the book and said,

  “Goddesses of Earth, Fire, Water, and Air, we call on thee

  Release the spell from this book so the message is free

  Keep its secrets we will

  Using it for good not ill

  So we will, so mote it be.”

  At the final words, she brought her hands down toward the book. The electricity I’d felt went pouring out of her fingers, like ten lightning strikes hitting the book. I was afraid it would catch fire, but then the book jumped and flipped open. Streams of colored smoke rose up towards the night sky.

  We were all totally silent for a minute, and then Margaret Twigg said, “Well, I’d say that spell’s been broken.”

  Jennifer and I looked at each other. I was almost too scared to go forward and see what the book said, but she was bolder.

  “I can’t read this book in the candlelight, but it’s definitely old. Like, very old.”

  I came up beside her then and saw exactly what she meant. I’d seen old alchemy texts before. Rafe had quite a few of them, and this looked like those. The pages were faded, the drawings intricate. I reached forward, almost hesitant to touch it, but when my fingers rested on it, I only felt linen paper and calfskin leather binding. I nodded. “The spell is broken.”

  Margaret looked at both of us. “Your friend has great power,” she said. I felt proud, as though I’d had anything to do with Jen’s progress as a witch.

  “Now, if you’ll close the circle, I’ll be getting to bed,” Margaret said. Compliments were clearly over for the night.

  The next day we went back to Rafe’s place. Olivia, her tools restored, was busy outside with a couple of helpers putting up tents on the grounds. It reminded me how close our wedding was.

  Rafe was in his study working. Like me, he was trying to get all his loose ends tied up so that we could actually enjoy a holiday together. When William ushered us into Rafe’s study, he looked up, pleased to see me.

  “Lucy. Jennifer. Did you get caught up on your sleep?”

  Hardly. We’d had another midnight task last night. I felt as jet-lagged as Jen. “Did you get Tilda tidied away?”

  “Yes. By the time I returned to Wallingford, nearly everything was done. Theodore had supervised and I believe his time painting sets for a theater company paid off. He staged her body and surroundings so it looked as though she’d fallen on her way to collect supplies for making creams.”

  “That’s great, but how long before anyone finds her body?”

  “Oh, that’s been done. Seems Karmen’s husband arrived yesterday morning and found her. He alerted the police.”

  “Good.” I walked up and put the book in front of him on his worktable.

  He opened the cover and nodded. “You’ve lifted the spell. Well done.”

  “So far, so good, but it might as well be spellbound for all the sense we can make of it. I need you to translate.”

  He nodded. Taking his time, he turned each page and looked at it. It wasn’t a very big book, and there were a lot of woodcut engravings or whatever you called those things. They featured pictures of suns and moons, snakes wrapped around a person with the face of a woman on one side and a man on the other. I thought that was supposed to be a hermaphrodite. A couple of times he chuckled. Trust Rafe to find an alchemy book funny.

  Finally, he said, “A lot of this is what I would call window dressing. I think the pages that are the most interesting are these two.”

  He read silently and nodded. “What this seems to suggest is that the recipe always needs an existing stone to build on.” He glanced up. “Very clever, really. One would need both the recipe and a little of the existing elixir in order to make more.”

  “You mean like a starter for sourdough bread?” Jen asked.

  He chuckled. “Yes. Something like that.”

  He showed us the page. “And, you see here, the same quotes she had written on her kitchen wall. The cygnet becomes the swan.” I pointed to the inked drawings of runes. “And that’s the same message on the box, isn’t it? As above, so below.”

  “Yes. Well spotted.” I glowed inside with pride.

  And then he turned another page and concentrated on it as though he hadn’t already read it once. He said, “And this, unless I’m very much mistaken, is her recipe.”

  “Her recipe? You mean like her formula for her…” I couldn’t even say the word.

  He finished my sentence. “For the elixir of life. Yes.”

  And then he picked up the book and handed it to me. He didn’t say anything, just handed it to me. But I understood in that moment that he was saying, This is up to you.

  I was being given a chance to stay young with him, never grow old, without having to be a vampire. It was almost too good to be true.

  Jen and I didn’t stay long after that. I claimed we had bride stuff to do, but the truth was, Karmen’s message had come through.

  We waited until we were in the car, driving back towards Oxford, the book clutched in Jennifer’s
hands. She said, “Tilda was looking in the wrong place.”

  I nodded. “I think so too.”

  “But what do we do?”

  I sighed. “We have the key now, but Karmen’s house is going to be overrun with cops now her death’s been discovered.”

  “You don’t think the police will put a guard on the place overnight?”

  I shook my head. “Why would they? I don’t think they have that kind of staff. And it’s not like there’s anyone there in danger. Karmen and Tilda are both dead. No, they’ll move the body, do some forensic investigation. Between them, I bet the vampires even left a few clues to make it obvious that Tilda killed Karmen. Case closed. If we go in late at night, we’ll be okay.”

  “Maybe we should have a nap so we’ll be rested for tonight.”

  When we got back to my flat, Sylvia and my grandmother were sitting in my living room, waiting for us. Jennifer jumped. But I was accustomed to these two showing up in my house whenever they felt like it. So much for our nap.

  “Sylvia. Gran. What can I do for you? We were just about to act like you two and have a daytime sleep.”

  Sylvia looked at me sharply. And then her eyes cut to Jennifer, still holding the alchemy book.

  “I hear from Margaret Twigg that you were successful in lifting the spell from that book.” She didn’t end that statement with a lilt, but the question was implied.

  There was no point in lying to her. “We did,” I said.

  She nodded. “And I can tell from the suppressed excitement you two are trying so hopelessly to hide that you’ve discovered where she keeps her elixir of life.”

  Jennifer looked at me, but I wasn’t going to lie. First of all, Sylvia didn’t need it, and second, she’d paid a fortune for me to have that stuff.

  I said, “Yes.”

  She smiled her wintry smile. “Excellent. When shall we go and retrieve it?”

  “We’re going to go late tonight. But—”

  “Don’t waste your time on buts, young lady. I paid a lot of money for that elixir. I want to make sure you get it.”

  And so, once again, I found myself traveling the road to Wallingford late at night in the company of my best friend and a much smaller selection of vampires. Theodore was driving, and Sylvia and my grandmother sat in the back with us.

  Once more, we walked down the driveway in the dead of night. There were signs of recent police activity, and as we grew closer to the mausoleum, I saw police do-not-cross tape. I could feel that the body of Tilda was gone. It was a relief not to feel that heaviness in the pit of the earth beneath us. The two swans seemed almost to be gliding, weightless in the night. We paused in front. The vampires stayed back so as not to interfere with our magic.

  Jennifer and I moved closer, and she said, “Will you do the honors?”

  She passed me the book and, holding it close to the stone swan on the right of the mausoleum, I read the Latin phrase out loud, as best I could. Then I said, “As above, so below.” I was pretty sure I could have said “Open sesame” and it would have worked. The book was the key.

  At least I hoped so.

  “Come on, Karmen,” I said softly. “You know we’ll keep your secrets safe.”

  There was the sound of stone grinding on stone, and the swan’s wings seemed to open in front of my eyes. I got out my phone and put that flashlight app on again and played it over the stone swan, and sure enough, there was a cleverly hidden alcove beneath its wing.

  Tucked inside was a box exactly like the one I had received as a wedding gift. Just a plain wooden box with runes on the outside. I reached in and picked it up, and then the swan’s wing folded in again.

  Jennifer said, “Tilda was so close. She had the right idea but not the exact location.”

  “Also, not the magic, the book or the right intent,” I reminded her.

  We retraced our steps, and once we were in the Bentley, Sylvia insisted I open the box and make sure that this was the genuine article that she’d paid for this time.

  I opened the box and gasped. This wasn’t like the other box at all. It was lined in gold.

  Sylvia nodded. “Very proper. In alchemy, of course, gold is the purest element.”

  And there nestling in the gold was another lump of what looked like petrified camel dung. I would get Rafe to test it, of course, but every instinct in my witch’s body said that this was the real McCoy. In my hands, I held the secret to eternal youth.

  Even if it was the genuine article, would I take it?

  I didn’t know. And that was okay. I didn’t have to decide right away.

  When we returned to Oxford, I didn’t even take the book up to my flat. I headed to Crosyer Manor. Once there, I bound the book one more time with my own spell, and to be extra safe, I also bound the runic box, and then Rafe put them in the most secure and secret of the several safes he kept in Crosyer Manor.

  Once it was fully locked away, he turned to me. “I don’t mind, you know,” he said, as though answering the question that clamored in my mind. “Whatever you decide.”

  And that was one of the many reasons why I loved him. I didn’t have to explain my hesitation over taking the elixir of life, and he was willing to take me for a mortal term of life if that was my choice. If I decided to remain forever young, that was up to me. All in all, that made him a pretty good groom.

  “I will love you forever,” I said.

  “And I, you.” And he kissed me.

  As the day of my wedding grew closer, I had fewer and fewer things to worry about. Violet seemed to change her attitude and started taking more responsibility in the shop. Maybe not having me to lean on was bringing out the best in her. I hoped so. She’d told me that she’d take over the staffing, which she’d have to do anyway for the two weeks I was away. And very generously she said if I needed a longer honeymoon, that would be okay. She’d managed the shop when I’d been in New Zealand, after all, and done a fine job. I suspected that going forward, I’d spend less time here, especially if we were franchising so Gran could have a shop of her own in Cornwall.

  We picked up the bridesmaid dresses, and the final fitting had me getting misty-eyed again. These three beautiful women that I adored looked stunning in their dresses. We all went out for lunch after the fitting, and I gave them their bracelets.

  Naturally, I had imbued each one with a little special magic.

  I liked to think that Alice would be wearing a special protection amulet for her and her baby without even knowing it. And when the baby was born, I’d make sure the little one had something special too. The witches, of course, knew what I was up to. But who doesn’t need a little extra magic in their lives?

  “What will you do, once Lucy’s married?” Violet asked Jen. “If you want to stay on in Lucy’s flat, I can show you around Oxford. Take you sightseeing.”

  Jen looked pleased. “Thanks, I’d like that. I thought I might do some traveling while I’m here.”

  “Come down to Cornwall before you leave,” I said. “Promise?”

  She looked really pleased to be asked. “I’d love to see Cornwall. I’ll definitely come and see you.”

  My wedding day arrived. After all the times I’d woken up in the night with a pounding heart thinking something would go wrong, nothing did. The sun shone brightly, which wasn’t too terrible for the vampires, as everything was under cover.

  Margaret Twigg was the officiant, after all. She’d outdone herself for the occasion, wearing a beautiful blue embroidered gown with rows of crystal beads. Her corkscrew hair was as untamed as ever.

  My attendants looked beautiful. My dad cleaned up really nicely. His beard was trimmed, his hair was freshly cut, and he was wearing a brand-new suit. We got ready to move forward through a trellis of orange blossoms and up a carpet that led to the veranda where Rafe was waiting.

  My dad said, “Are you ready, Lucy?”

  I took a breath and felt the truth in my heart. “I’ve never been readier for anything.”

&nbs
p; The music changed, and my husband-to-be turned to look at me with my whole future in his eyes.

  And I took my first step forward into that future.

  Thanks for reading Ribbing and Runes. I hope you'll consider leaving a review, it really helps. While you're waiting for the next adventure of the Vampire Knitting Club, have you tried the Vampire Book Club yet? Here's a peek.

  The Vampire Book Club, Chapter One

  Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you’d made one crucial decision differently? What if you hadn’t married that man that everyone said was perfect? If you’d taken the job you wanted instead of that one with the good medical benefits? What if you’d moved to New York after college instead of Seattle?

  I used to imagine what would have happened if I’d taken the other path. Maybe not the road less traveled, just not traveled my me. It was a harmless exercise to pass the time while I toiled at my boring job, safe from any threat of change.

  Until one day I messed with fate.

  And I was punished.

  I got change all right. More than I could have imagined. My staid life was uprooted. My road was forked. Frankly, I was forked.

  At forty-five, I was both divorced and widowed (from the same man), I lost the secure but dull job I’d had for ten years, and the powers that be sent me across the sea to Ireland.

  It all happened so fast, my head was still spinning when my Aer Lingus flight from Seattle landed in Dublin. From there, I took a train to Cork. It was early May, and as I looked out the window, I began to realize why they called Ireland the Emerald Isle. It was so vibrantly green, and between fields of cows and sheep, ruined castles and cottages, we stopped at pretty-sounding towns and cities to let passengers on and off. I smiled when we passed through Limerick and started making up rhymes in my head. They weren’t very good, but they passed the time.

  There once was a misguided witch