by KT Webb
The elderly women whispered to each other, and it was clear they were arguing. In the end, it was unclear which of them won, but they did share some useful information.
“The sons of Carman will not stop. They want their mother to be released. She’s here, in the Otherworld, in a well-guarded prison. The Druids await the arrival of the last coven of true witches.”
“I thought Carman was dead.” Harper didn’t want to sound like she was correcting them, but from her understanding of Irish mythology, Carman had been imprisoned and died of longing for her sons.
“In order for Ireland to move on, the Druids had to tell them she was dead. The living are not supposed to reside in the Otherworld. She is an exception due to her demigoddess status. Somehow, her sons discovered she had not died and are now desperate to save their mommy.”
“So, what’s next? What do I tell these girls?” asked Abigail.
“The journey begins at Tobernalt. There they will find the Order of Druids. That is where the Awakening will commence.”
“How am I supposed to send a bunch of teenage girls to Tobernalt?”
Grams arched an eyebrow, wiggled her fingers and said, “Magic.”
Harper
Chapter Fifteen
Tobernalt
The others woke long before Harper rolled off the couch in the living room. Somehow, after contacting her grandmothers she was completely exhausted. She’d tried to stay awake and drill her mother for answers, but she couldn’t remember anything after the old women faded away.
“Should we wake her?”
“No, I don’t think she slept well last night. That cot can’t have been very comfortable.”
“Sutton, you really need to figure out how to conjure us some bunk beds.”
“Ugh. . .” Harper groaned as she tried to cover her ears. “Could you either shut-up or go somewhere else?”
“Oh, someone’s grouchy in the morning.”
She didn’t know their voices well enough to identify who was still talking. If she did, she’d probably have smacked the offender in the face with a pillow. Since she couldn’t do anything of the like without losing the only thing protecting her ears from their annoying voices, she kept the pillow firmly pressed against her own head. When it became clear that she wouldn’t have the luxury of sleeping in any later, she sat up and gave the quartet of teens a surly scowl.
“Morning, sunshine.” Lucy smiled.
“You talk in your sleep. What’s Tobernalt?” Grace asked as she perched next to Harper on the couch.
“A place we’re supposed to go.” Harper couldn’t even remember if she had discussed it further with her mom.
“Starting to have dreams already? Weird.”
Harper glanced up at Dee. She didn’t trust her. The conversation she’d overheard was enough to make her doubt her innocent bystander story. There had to be a reason for her tagging along with the other girls, and Harper was determined to find out what that reason was. But first, she had to find her mom and get more information on Tobernalt.
Abigail was in the kitchen mixing pancake batter. It didn’t surprise Harper in the least. Her mom was always the caregiver; she had to be in heaven with that many girls in the house. She’d never thought much about it, but her mom never got to experience sleepovers and girly birthday parties with Harper. It was never her thing. In fact, for her second birthday, Harper insisted on a Death Star piñata and a Wookie cake. It was all fandoms and nerdiness from then on.
“Hi, honey. Was the couch better than the cot?”
“Marginally.”
“How many pancakes do you think everyone wants?”
Harper shrugged. “How should I know?”
“Well, why don’t you go ask them?”
“Because I’d rather talk to you about last night.”
Her expression was momentarily clouded over by a look of concern before it settled back into a neutral smile. Of course, she would want to put off the discussion as long as possible, but Harper wasn’t in the mood.
“How about we have some breakfast first, then we can fill everyone in and I’ll help you piece together what comes next.”
Harper scowled at her before turning to shout towards the living room. “Who wants pancakes?”
Mere seconds passed and the kitchen was full of green-eyed witches and one girl with a secret. Once they’d all been served up their breakfast and gathered around the table, it was story time. Abigail and Harper recounted the events of the night before.
“Now, onto the important part. You girls need to travel to an ancient and sacred place. Tobernalt was once the most sought after source of natural magic in the world. It’s a holy well, and a gateway to the Otherworld.”
If it was possible, Harper was even more confused than before. She had no idea what a holy well was, or why someone would want to go to the Otherworld. Dead people went to the Otherworld, if you went there, you were dead. According to her grandmothers, the living had no place in the Otherworld.
“Maybe I’m the only one completely lost, but I have no idea what a holy well is,” Grace spoke before Harper had a chance.
“Holy wells are natural springs that are sources of magic,” Dee said.
Harper eyed her suspiciously; the other girl didn’t know she’d overheard her private conversation. “How do you know that?”
The others were confused by her tone, but she thought it was well deserved. Harper hadn’t decided when she would confront Dee, or if she would share what she knew with the rest of the coven to present a united front. The trouble was, she didn’t really know anything. She overheard a suspicious phone conversation; there was no concrete proof that Dee was up to something.
Dee held up her smart phone. “Uh, Google?”
Great, now Harper looked like a jerk to the girls who were supposed to be like sisters to her. A coven couldn’t be successful if they didn’t trust each other.
“Right, sorry. I’m a little on edge this morning. This was just sort of sprung on me.”
Lucy gave her a small smile. “I think we all know how that feels. It’s hard for us to remember that you haven’t exactly had the same introduction into this mess as we did. Things were kind of off for a while before Sutton and Dee showed up on my doorstep.”
“True, we had dreams and creepy dudes kidnapping us from our birthday parties. . .oh wait, that was just me,” Grace said with more than a hint of snark.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all had an interesting adventure. There’s time to talk about that later. Right now, I want to hear more about Tobernalt.”
Sutton seemed to have settled into a leadership role with the coven. It made sense, she was the oldest and the first to gain her powers. Abigail cleared her throat and continued with her explanation.
“Okay, you have to travel to Tobernalt, but I’m not completely sure how to get you there.”
“You remember Sutton can transport us wherever we want?” Dee asked.
“Unfortunately, that won’t work this time. Tobernalt is protected by strong magic. The Druids couldn’t have just anyone stumbling onto the true magic of the place. The spring was taken over by Christians and used for healing, but the magic is much deeper than that. They just can’t get to it.”
Harper loved how much her mom knew about it all, but she felt a pang of sadness at the idea of leaving her behind. It didn’t seem fair for her to be so close to the true magic but unable to reach it.
“Okay, if we can’t just zap ourselves there, and at least three of us are considered missing teens, how are we supposed to get there?” Lucy asked.
“We hit the books. Regrettably, I don’t have all the answers, but I have a ton of books that might help us find the right ones.”
Hours later, they were spread across the house with piles of books. It was late in the afternoon when the pizza delivery arrived and they were no closer to finding the answers they needed.
“Ugh, I need a break.” Dee stretched as she got up off the floor and left
the room.
Harper watched her retreating form and struggled with whether she should follow. Everyone else was focused on their research, so she made a snap decision and hoisted herself off the floor. Stealth had never been her strong suit, but she managed to avoid every creaky board on the way toward the back door. Dee had stepped into the backyard and sat on the old tire swing tied to the oak tree. There was no way she could sneak up on her without making herself known, so, she either had to let it go or confront her.
“Guys, I think I found something!” Grace called from her spot on the living room floor.
Harper watched Dee for another few seconds before opening the door and calling out to her. If she was going to go on this adventure with them, she deserved to be a part of the discovery. The other girl hopped off the swing and sprinted across the yard. In the shimmering summer sun, Harper caught sight of a pink glittering glow that disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Dee had magic, she was sure of it.
“Whatcha got Grace?” Dee asked, flopping down next to Sutton.
“According to this, any natural spring is like a portal to a holy well.”
“So, we just have to jump in a lake and we’ll magically appear in Ireland? That seems a bit fishy to me.” Harper waited for them to get the joke.
“Oh, brother!” Lucy groaned as she rolled her eyes.
“What? Come on, that was comedy gold.”
“You really had me on the hook,” Dee quipped.
Despite her concerns about the other girl, Harper snorted at her word play. Finally, some other nerds who might understand her. Grace continued to explain what she’d read. There was a spell that accompanied a ritual; both had to be done before they entered the spring. After that, the spring would essentially become a portal that would take them to the holy well they wanted to visit.
“Can this be any natural spring?” Abigail asked.
“Yes, but it has to be done on a full moon. Anyone care to tell me when the next full moon is?”
Leave it to Dee and her love of smart phones and Google. “It’s tomorrow night.”
They had a little more than twenty-four hours to gather the ingredients for the ritual. Harper couldn’t help but be a bit nervous, she’d never been out of the country before. The thought of going on this type of journey with a bunch of girls she just met was more than a little terrifying. If she was going to go with them, she had to make a better effort to get to know them.
“Alright, what do we need for this ritual? I know the perfect store to get our supplies. Mom’s best friend is a practicing wiccan and she owns an apothecary downtown. Most people go there for the touristy items, but she has the good stuff in a different room.”
Grace scribbled a few things on a piece of paper and handed it over.
Willow bark
Jade
Mint leaves
Clover
Five leather satchels
“Oh yeah, we can get all of this there. Who’s ready for our first adventure as a complete coven, plus one?”
“You guys go on without me, I’m going to take a nice hot bath. If that’s okay.” Dee was looking a little uncomfortable.
All four witches readily agreed and bid her farewell as they left the house. Harper wondered if she was really going to take a bath or if she just wanted an excuse to contact that Brennus guy again. She had to put it out of her mind and focus on the girls she was with. They didn’t know her well enough to take her word against their friend, so she would have to wait to confront Dee herself.
They picked up all their ingredients and were sternly warned by Holly, her mom’s friend, that they were messing with some strong magic and needed to practice great caution. Harper wasn’t about to tell her that they were the only true witches alive in the world and that they could handle much stronger magic than she could ever dream of. On the walk to and from the Magic Box, she learned that the girls around her weren’t that different from herself.
Sutton was super smart and funny. She had a dry sense of humor and appreciated other people for their quirks. Lucy was a lot like herself, a bit snarky and interested in many of the same fandoms. Grace was more traditional; she liked a good joke, but she was definitely the most innocent and sheltered of the bunch. They were all a little nervous about their impending journey, but they had faced the enemy and didn’t want to face them again anytime soon.
“What about Dee, is she coming with us?”
“Yes. She’s been immensely helpful and I feel responsible for dragging her into this whole thing.”
“Cool. How many of us are considered ‘missing?’”
“Sutton, Dee, and Grace. My aunt hasn’t reported me missing because she knows where I am. Technically, Grace was kidnapped and we rescued her. We can’t exactly tell her parents what happened.” Lucy glanced at the girl with the black hair and chocolate skin.
“It’s been hard leaving them in limbo, but it’s for the best right now. I doubt they’d believe any of this anyway. Plus, how can I possibly tell them I’m just jumping through portals with a bunch of other girls to escape the sons of an evil sorceress? They’d lock me up like that,” she said, snapping her fingers for emphasis.
“What about your parents, Sutton? And Dee’s?”
“Well, my face has been plastered all over the news, so has hers. But, her parents have yet to make a statement. They were both out of town on business when we left. They’re gone a lot. My parents are blaming themselves because they were always pushing me and I finally told them I’d had enough just days before we were attacked.” Sutton looked a little regretful, but shrugged it off. “Maybe this will do them some good.”
Harper couldn’t imagine just disappearing. Her parents would lose it. They were a pretty tight knit family and did a lot of things together. When they returned to her house, Harper made a beeline for her parents and gave them both a firm hug. She was definitely lucky to have parents who cared and wanted to be a part of her life.
“What was that for kiddo?” Paul, her father, asked with a broad smile.
“Just for you guys being awesome.”
“Hey, anytime.” Paul winked at her and went back to grilling hamburgers and hot dogs for supper.
Later that night, as the girls readied themselves for bed, Lucy volunteered to take the cot so Harper could get a decent night’s sleep. While she was uncomfortable sharing a bed with a girl she just met, she wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to sleep in her own bed. Who knew how long it would be before she would find herself there again? It didn’t take long for her to drift into a deep sleep.
She was running through a forest. The dark trees loomed over her, threatening to claim her for their own. To her right, a winding river shone in the moonlight. To her left, the forest seemed never ending. Whatever was behind her was closing in fast.
Her heart was pounding against her chest, desperate for relief. If she didn’t make it to the mound ahead, all would be lost. The lush green hill was just in front of her, she pressed harder against the burning in her legs. If she could just make it inside, she would be safe.
A sharp claw gripped her hair and pulled her back. She fell to the ground with a thud and a whoosh as the air left her lungs. When she turned to face her attacker, a terrified scream tore from her throat. A wraith-like figure hovered just feet from her. Stringy white hair hung limply around a sallow face. Harper backed away as quickly as she could while lying on her back, resting on her elbows.
A single bony hand reached up to point past Harper. She gulped and turned to look over her shoulder.
She sat bolt-upright in bed. Grace was sound asleep next to her and she could hear the deep breaths coming from the other girls in the room. With her heart still threatening to break free from her chest, Harper swung her feet over the edge of the bed. Were those the dreams the other girls had been talking about? They had described dark figures threatening the coven, but never something like that.
“You okay?” Sutton asked from her spot on the air ma
ttress.
“I don’t know. I had a nightmare. Something was chasing me through the woods.”
“Were any of us there?”
Harper thought back to the dream. “I don’t know. I was being chased by a dark creature that looked like a woman. She had pale skin and nasty white hair. Her hands looked like bones.”
“Sounds like a banshee,” Dee piped up.
“Please don’t tell me you whipped your phone out and looked that up that quickly,” Sutton laughed.
“No. I know things! Trust me. Did she cry?”
“Sort of. It was more like a long, piercing wail. She was pointing behind me, towards the hill I’d been running at.”
“You were running at a hill? What did it look like?”