The Empty Cradle

by Jill Nojack

  Her reverie was disturbed by Nat’s voice grating in her ears. “Are you even listening to me?”

  Oops. Yep. Baby distraction again. She turned back to her friend. “Sorry. Lost in my own thoughts. You have my full attention for as long as I can hang on to it. Which seriously isn’t that long lately.”

  Natalie’s mouth compressed to a thin line, then she released it, saying, “I’ll keep it brief,” as Twink started sweeping up behind her. Her young employee pretended not to be interested in the conversation, but Cassie could tell from her posture—she was leaning in just the slightest, her head cocked toward Natalie almost imperceptibly—that Twink was very interested in what her mentor was going to say. Twink had become an enthusiastic trainee witch despite her sometimes snarky attitude.

  Natalie continued, “I know that you think this Anat business is done, but I’m not convinced. I dowsed the trail of magic that led away from Maureen’s house, and it took me into the woods where I saw something that didn’t belong. Something I think didn’t arrive in Giles Woods naturally. I need the extra power of the triple goddess to draw it out into the open.”

  “You’ll have to be less vague than that Nat. What is it we’d be trying to draw out?”

  Natalie moved a hand to her hip and scowled. “If I knew, would I be here asking for help? It was animal, not vegetable or mineral. Fast. Furry. And bigger than a breadbox.”

  Cassie shrugged. “So, like, somebody’s cat? A possum? A wildebeest?”

  “Were you listening? I trailed its magic from Maureen’s house before I caught up with it. You and your Tom are the only magical cats I know of in this town. No, it was some other creature.” She pulled the jeweled collar out of her pocket and showed it to Cassie. “And this makes me believe that the creature is the reason we’ve had an uptick in the disappearance of local pets. I found it right near where I saw the thing. I’m not saying that it’s definitely a side effect of the spell that created those triplets. But to ignore the role of a demon goddess—particularly one as nasty as Anat—in the birth of those children would be foolish. And while I have been many things in my life, I have never been a fool.”

  “I get it. I just don’t want to get it, you know? It’s bad enough with one of the babies missing, but to have to worry about some evil creature roaming around Giles, too? And with a baby disappearing when my own is on the way…” Cassie’s voice trailed off as her hand moved to her middle protectively.

  Natalie’s face softened. “Yes, that’s even more reason to move quickly. The creature could be preying on children as well as animals.”

  Cassie’s hand moved to her lip, where it tugged gently before she said, “Yep. I hate it. I hate the very idea, but you’re right. If there’s even a chance Anat’s magic had a hand in this and other children are in danger, we have to get involved. I’ll close the shop early and we can go get Gillian right now.”

  “It’s best, I think.”

  “You don’t need to close the shop.” Natalie turned when Twink’s voice sounded from behind them. “I could help. I mean, how many people even come in late on a Saturday?” From her startled look, Cassie realized Natalie had forgotten Twink was in the room. She did her best to hide her grin.

  She replied, “Are you sure you feel comfortable working alone?”

  “I’ve been working here for almost a month. I know the closing duties, and if I forget, the checklist is right where it always is on the clipboard in the hall so that I can remind myself. And I’ve had everyone constantly in my face to do every thing the exact right way, so I know how. It’s only a few more hours. I could use the money.”

  “You’re absolutely sure?” Cassie asked.

  Twink rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I think I can even manage not to set the place on fire while you’re gone.”

  Natalie said, “The girl’s right. She’s ready for a solo turn. She knows what she’s doing.”

  Both Cassie and Twink’s heads snapped to her face like they were controlled by the same set of strings, then they looked at each other, eyes wide.

  “Okay,” said Cassie, surprise still lingering on her face. “Natalie Taylor has spoken. Call me if you need anything.”

  The teen had already ditched the broom and was holding the door open to usher them out. “Whatever. I got this.”

  ***

  A few minutes after Cassie and Natalie left her on her own, the tip of Twink’s pink tongue worried the inside of her cheek as she put all of her concentration into trying to make a dried toad hop. But her progress toward the goal—as in none at all—was interrupted when the shop bell jangled. She grabbed the toad and stuffed it under the counter, then put on a bright smile.

  “Let me know if there’s anything I can help you with,” she called, envying the customer’s even-length bright red nails. She looked down at her own that hadn’t held up under the physical demands of being a shop clerk and wondered if the woman knew where there was a salon nearby. She really didn’t want to trim down the rest of hers to match the two that had broken.

  Before she could ask, the woman waved her off. “I know where things are,” she said, and disappeared between the shelves. She reappeared with a packet of chalk, which she slapped down on the counter, saying, “I don’t know why this shop can’t carry individual colors. It’s ridiculous to have to buy a new packet every time we run out of black and red. It’s barely worth it for a simple binding.”

  “I don’t make the decisions about the stock, I just work here.” Twink was always curious about what the witches of Giles were using the shop’s supplies for, so she continued, “What are you binding?”

  The woman looked her up and down as she replied, “Put it on my mother’s account. Zelda James. And add this…” She grabbed a bag of herbal teas from the counter basket. “She can buy me something nice for making the trip. And you keep your nosy questions to yourself.”

  “Sor-ry,” Twink said, drawing out the syllables to make it clear she wasn’t.

  She dropped her gaze to the woman’s nails when the woman responded with a glare. They were way more pleasant to look at than the woman’s small, mean eyes. There went her chance for a salon recommendation.

  Or maybe not. With the red nails right there snapping shut around the woman’s purchases, she got a good look.

  Really? Stick-ons? Wow. Cheap, cheap, cheap. No wonder she was whining about paying a lousy three dollars more for a couple of extra chalks.

  ***

  “I’m starving. All I can think about is one of Tom’s quiches with fresh baked bread. I don’t know how much good I’m going to be to you in this state.” Cassie sighed.

  Natalie continued stalking ahead, but her voice came back to Cassie, who took up the rear of the procession behind Gillian, with a sharp, “And here I was thinking you would be the first one standing in line to protect a child.”

  “I’m here, aren’t I? I just…I’m tired is all. And that always makes me hungry. I was up late with the babies in the main house while Jenny slept. Plus, I’m eating for two, remember?”

  Natalie stopped, turning back to face her. “You’re eating for one small adult female and a fetus that is currently the size of a kidney bean. I’m sure both of you will survive a while longer on that family size bag of cheese crackers you just made disappear.”

  “Yeah, whatever. Just keep going so that we can get out of here as soon as possible.” She started to walk past Gillian, but Gillian fell in beside her, murmuring something supportive as her hand moved to Cassie’s back to give it a gentle rub.

  They both stopped when Natalie put up a hand to halt them instead of leading them farther into the woods. “This is the place. It’s here.” She headed for a tree that was split into two by a wide V a few feet above the ground and reached up to a knot just above eye level. “Here it is,” she said, pulling a coin from the knot hole. She dropped the silver dollar into her purse, snapped it shut again, then pointed toward a clump of brush that was indistinguishable from every other clump of brush
around them and said, “Whatever the creature was, I saw it right over there. And our job is to find it and figure out what role it had in this awful business.”

  “What do you want us to do?” Cassie asked, thinking of the missing girl now instead of her stomach.

  “Appropriate attire is in order. Did you both came prepared?”

  The other two nodded, and each of them took a black robe from the bags they carried. When they were covered, Natalie told Cassie, “I need you to hold some things for me for a moment.”

  She went closer as Natalie pulled a series of items out of her red bag. A packet of violet candles, small bags of herbs, a stone plate that was marked by the ash of previous rituals, a bottle of cold, yellowish liquid, and a white glove. Just one.

  When she was done rummaging in her purse, Natalie said, “Gillian, you said you have a ground cover? We may be here for a while, and there’s no reason to be uncomfortable.”

  “I have the picnic quilt from the SUV. It should be big enough for all of us to sit on, although there won’t be much space left. It’s small. Made for picnicking with two,” Gillian replied. She sat her large crocheted bag down and pulled out a lightweight folded quilt, which she unfolded, then flapped out into the air so that it settled neatly onto the ground beside her.

  Natalie looked at it approvingly. “Yes, that will be fine. We’ll be joining hands and, if we’re lucky, our minds as well—at least around the edges. It’s quite a deep spell.”

  Cassie, who hadn’t heard that expression before, would have tugged at her lip if she didn’t have her hands full of the spell’s ingredients. She asked, “What’s a deep spell? Is it dangerous?”

  “Of course not. It’s simply…” Natalie stopped and her eyes looked upward to the left as she formulated an answer.

  Gillian came to her rescue. “I think what she means is that this spell will be more intimate emotionally than what you’ve experienced in the ritual circle before. Am I right, Nat?”

  “Yes. That’s correct. It isn’t something I’d undertake if there wasn’t total trust between us when we come together to cast. But if either of you don’t feel comfortable…”

  Cassie shook her head. “Nah. I’m good. If you’re sure it’s not something that’s dangerous for the baby. Gilly?”

  “I knew the first time that Natalie asked us to join in a triple goddess ritual that our work might become deeper over time. The union of Maid, Mother, and Crone has always been a powerful one. Their essence joined can see beyond the surface of this world. That’s what you’re asking us to do today, isn’t it?”

  “It is.” Nat put her hands on her narrow hips and peered between the surrounding trees, moving restlessly. “We’re searching for something that doesn’t belong here. I hope to be able to locate it from its essence when we let our combined consciousness float free. Without our perfect trust, it would be dangerous. In order to properly anchor each other, we mustn’t break the circle once we begin; if we do, one or more of us might not find our way back.”

  Cassie frowned. “Can you explain that again? ‘Cause it doesn’t sound reassuring. In fact, it sounds scary.” She lowered herself to sit cross-legged on the blanket’s edge and motioned for Natalie to sit across from her. “So…elaborate this ‘not find our way back’ thing?”

  “I’ve only heard of it happening one time. My grandmother told a story about someone who used the spell without knowing her ritual partners well enough. The others let loose their hands when she was deeply immersed; planned it, apparently. She ended up in a coma, or “absent” as my grandmother called it. They say her essence still wanders the woods where the spell deserted her, looking for her body. Obviously this couldn’t happen to us—we wouldn’t abandon each other. But there’s still the danger of an external operator breaking the link.”

  Cassie stood up quickly. “Yeah, okay. Suddenly not so interested in participating.” She wrapped her arms around her chest, then one of them went to her lip and tugged so hard it hurt. She dropped her hand. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll find my own way out.”

  “That’s not going to happen to any of us!” Natalie said vehemently. “The worst that will happen is we’ll be sheepish with each other for a while after bumping up against each other’s minds. My grandmother added a protection element to the spell that makes it much less risky. A safe word.”

  Gillian snickered. Cassie couldn’t help but snicker, too, as the women exchanged glances.

  “What’s so funny?”

  Gillian answered, “Oh, just that neither of us was expecting a bondage outing today….”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Cassie laughed. “It doesn’t matter, Nat. Will this safe word make sure that nothing can happen to any of us?”

  “Yes. Absolutely. If one of us says it, it’ll end the spell immediately, pulling each of us back to our bodies, fully alert and in fine health. My grandmother used the spell many times, and she never lost anyone. It should protect us even though we can’t draw the circle. It’s a necessity; we can’t constrain ourselves within its protection and still be free to roam as we need to.”

  Cassie sat back down. “Okay. But only because there’s a missing child out there and I wouldn’t want to have to tell Jenny that I didn’t do everything I could to help her.”

  “Thank you, dear. And if you do end up as a disembodied spirit haunting the woods, we’ll come visit on every birthday. Maybe even leave you a piece of cake.” Natalie’s face split into a macabre grin.

  “Funny,” Cassie said as Natalie reached for a candle, then leaned over the pile of supplies and handed one to each of them.

  “A little levity never hurt,” Natalie said. “But you’re right, it’s time to be serious. I’ll complete the offering, then we make our request and drink the tea. Once we’ve each taken our draft, we’ll join hands and—this is important—don’t let go until the link between our minds has ended. The spell depends on the physical link between our bodies remaining intact. Is that clear?”

  Gillian replied, “As a glass bell.”

  “I suggest our safe word be ‘penumbra’,” Natalie continued. “It’s unlikely any of us would mutter that accidentally. So that’s what you’ll say to break the bond.”

  Gillian nodded and repeated the word. Cassie added, “Penumbra. Got it.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she opened them. “Entering my quiet space now.”

  She continued to breathe deeply as she watched Natalie prepare for the offering. She made a small fire, then added dried mugwort, rose hips, and nettle. When she sprinkled in a brown powder, Cassie quickly identified it as cinnamon from the smell. When she was younger and had visited her grandmother, she’d often wondered why Granny Eunice never shared the baked goods she’d made after Cassie was in bed. Now she knew there had never been cookies and cakes, just lots and lots of magic.

  Natalie was chanting now and Cassie forced herself to focus. She voiced the same line over and over, quietly. Cassie began to chant with her when she’d learned them, and soon Gillian joined in. “Bless this triple goddess in perfect love with perfect trust so that we might see. So mote it be.”

  As Cassie chanted, she felt the power rising within her. She continued the quiet, rhythmic recitation as Natalie took a big glug from the bottle of tea and passed it left. Gillian took her swig, and her eyes lit with a far away and blissed out look as she handed it along. Cassie didn’t know what to expect, but she trusted her friends. Completely. No matter how often they argued.

  She closed her eyes, tipped the bottle to her lips, and drank down the bitter fluid, then set it aside, her eyes still closed. She reached again for Gillian’s hand, and the circle was complete.

  When it hit her bloodstream, she felt woozy and then…oh wow. She was enveloped in warmth from the greenish mist that moved to her from Gillian’s body and the deep red aura that extended toward her from Natalie. She knew her eyes were still closed, but she could see every living thing around her,
lit by their auras, with trails of light around and through. Her own aura was bright pink. Pretty. It reached to the others and their colors combined as their minds touched: just whispers, random thoughts.

  It did feel intimate. Close. Safe. Although sometimes the feeling prickled a little. That had to be Nat.

  “I heard that!” the prickly sensation communicated.

  There was pressure, an urging now, to move outward, to explore. Their intertwined mists spread out, away from their bodies, each of them sensing what the others were seeing. They moved toward the brush where Natalie had spotted the creature earlier in the day, and they touched its lingering essence. Yes. This was the feel of magic, but not the magic of anyone they had known.

  The relief reverberated through them; they had all been touched by the demon’s magic. They would have recognized it.

  There was a trail, a trickle they could follow, and they moved along it, low to the ground, flowing around the brush and stones, clinging like mist to the path to feel for where the feet of the thing had left its mark as it passed. It could have been hours. It could have been minutes. Time was different for the mist. It didn’t matter.

  Four feet. Yes. There were four. A creature of some kind, or a human that moves like one. A shifter, maybe.

  The part of the mist that was Cassie said no. Not a shifter. This magic is whole and not made in parts. One creature, not two. Not like Tom and I with our animals when we ride with them or they ride with us. It does not shift; it is.

  The response wasn’t words, just a vibration, an ommmmmm, but she knew it was agreement. They were all together in this, in the same place. The same heart.

  They moved toward where the magic pooled, not too far away. The pull was enormous. And they were so close.

  And then the hurt.

  And noise.

  Confusion.

  The terrifying feeling of her friend’s hands slipping from her grasp.