by Gemma Jace
“Should we go to my house first?” River asked.
“No. Let’s go to my house and get this over with. The sooner I can possibly leave this place, the better.”
“There’s no ‘possibly’; you’re leaving here with us no matter what,” River demanded.
“Yes, I’m with River. From what he has told me about you and your mom’s relationship, I think it would be wise not to continue living your life here,” Rusty agreed.
Luna said nothing. She didn’t have the energy to spare to argue with her two friends. She needed it to deal with her mother, who was going to be irate with her. Luna nodded and gave them a smile.
They left the train, walking through the drizzle to the orange orchard, stopping under the tree that once housed the spell book. The broken branch laid on the ground in the same spot she had left it. There were over-ripened fruit lying on the ground, rotting. Without her there to pick, can, and sell the oranges, they were going to waste. Mother didn’t even try.
River bent down and picked up a rotting funny-shaped orange from the ground, “What a shame,” he frowned.
“There are plenty more oranges on the trees. I’ll find you some crazy shapes before we leave again.”
River smiled at her and let the orange fall from his hand. He walked toward the cottage. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”
Luna and Rusty agreed and followed right behind him. The cottage came into view. They stopped, standing in the rain, watching the gray smoke rise from the chimney and disappear into the clouds.
Luna closed her eyes and sighed. This would be the last conversation she would have with her mother. This would be the last fight she would have with her mother. This would be the last time she would step foot into the cottage she once called home. She promised herself, even if she stayed in Green Brook, it would not be as a daughter.
With that resolution, she took a step, then another, then another. Soon, she was standing on the porch. River was on her right and Rusty on her left. She didn’t even realize they had walked to the door with her. They gave her a nod, and Luna turned the door handle. The door opened. She wiped the rain from her face and stepped inside.
There she was, sitting at the table drinking tea.
“Hello mother,” Luna said, feeling ice in her throat.
Her mother looked startled. She hadn’t heard them walk in. Her eyes looked wild and bewildered. “Who are...” She stopped. “Luna?” Her eyes widened as she stood.
River stepped forward, readying himself to be a guard between Luna and her mother. Rusty put a shaky hand up and pushed up his glasses. Luna just stared, not wanting to answer to her name.
“Enchanter?” Mother asked, her eyes bulging.
What was she saying? She just said enchanter. Those were the evil wiccans Snowy told them about. Her mother knew about wiccans?
“What did you say?” Luna asked.
“Luna, you’re a wiccan.”
Anger surged inside of Luna. Now she decided to tell her she was a wiccan after so many years?! After she already found out for herself? Her mother was useless. She always was and always would be. She doubted that her mother would tell her anything useful at all.
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?!” She yelled at the top of her voice. She didn’t care if her mother got mad and ran to hit her. She knew this was the last time she would see her, and she finally wasn’t afraid of what she would do. There was no way her mother could hurt her any more than she already had.
Luna braced herself for the hurling of dirty words and the thrashing of fists, but something unexpected happened... nothing. Her mother didn’t yell or even move a muscle. She just stood there for a moment, as if trying to collect herself.
“Sit down by the fire and dry off. I’ll fix you some tea. Then, I’ll tell you a story.” Her mother left the room.
Luna trembled. She wasn’t sure if it was from being wet, angry, or in shock from her mother’s reaction. She went to the fireplace and put a log into the fire. The three of them sat down on the sofa, all huddled together, with Luna in the middle.
Her mother came back with a tray with three steaming white mugs. She handed each of them the tea. It smelled sweetened with honey and orange zest.
Mother sat down in the wooden rocking chair across from them. She crossed her legs and leaned back. She was thinner than the last time Luna saw her. Her collar bone protruded through the white button-down dress she wore. Although she was gaunt, she was still beautiful. When she spoke, her voice was calm and like a song. She hadn’t heard her mother speak that way since before her father died. One could almost be forgiven for not remembering that mother even had such a wonderful sound. This was all so peculiar.
“Please tell me how you came to be this way,” Mother said.
How dare she ask her anything! It was none of her business. At least not until she explained why she never told Luna what she really was.
“It’s a long story. A story I will tell you after you explain to me how you know that I’m a wiccan, and why you called me Enchanter.”
Mother nodded her head. There was no anger in her reaction, “Fair enough. First, tell me who your other friend is.”
Luna had forgotten to introduce Rusty, “Oh yeah. This is Rusty.”
“How do you do ma’am,” Rusty said.
Mother greeted Rusty and apologized to River for what happened the last time they saw each other. “And I also want to apologize to you, Luna. I know things have been bad between us, but I want to make it better. I had a lot of time to think while you were gone, and I know I would do anything to make things right and keep you in my life.” She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward to take Luna’s hand and lightly squeeze it. She smiled.
Mother had never apologized to her for anything. What had happened while she was gone? Did mother miss her so much that she rather change her ways than to lose her? The anger Luna felt faded away, only to be replaced by sadness. Luna said nothing.
Mother leaned back in her chair and rocked a little, “We are part of a wiccan coven called the Enchanters.”
“What do you mean we are a part of the Enchanters? I thought the Enchanters were a coven that split from the Crescent coven.”
“Ahh... I see you have learned some of our history while you were away. I can’t wait to hear about it all.”
“We heard they are evil,” River said.
“Not at all. Every wiccan has a choice of what kind of wiccan they want to be, just like every human being in the world has a choice to do right or to do wrong. That goes for Enchanters and Crescents alike.”
“But we were told that the Crescents and Enchanters were all pale skinned with pale yellow hair. You have neither,” Rusty said.
“I did once.”
Luna sat up straight, “You did? But how?”
“I was born as you are now...as all of our coven is born.”
“But I wasn’t born this way, and you aren’t this way now. I don’t understand.” Luna shook her head.
“I was born in a town named Enchanters Bay in the Riverlands. It’s a grand, beautiful city hidden by magic. Everyone there looked the same—pale blond hair and pale skin. I never even knew there was any other kind of human being. That is, until one day, when I was seventeen years old, a young boy had lost his way traveling through the Riverlands on his way to Hawthorn Hill. I can remember it so vividly. I was out picking wild blueberries in the forest on the edge of our town when I heard someone crying. Thinking it was someone from the village who had gotten hurt, I dropped what I was doing to find who it was so I could help them. But what I found wasn’t an Enchanter sitting under that tree crying. It was a dark-brown boy with brown eyes and shiny black hair. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life.” She paused, looked into the fire, and drifted away into her memories.
“Was it Father?”
“Yes. He was sitting there, cheeks stained with tears, holding his leg. He had fallen and cut himself on a jagged rock.”
“I can’t imagine Mr. Dale crying,” River said.
“He was barely sixteen then. Nothing more than a child, as was I.” She looked back to the three sitting on the couch. “Anyway, I knew I had to help him, but it was against the law to reveal ourselves to any outsider. And this boy was an outsider. So I did a mimicking spell to make myself resemble his dark features, broke the barrier of our village, and went to him.”
“You’ve been using a mimicking spell all this time?” Rusty asked.
“Not exactly. After I helped Luna’s father that day and helped him find his way to Hawthorn Hill, he asked if he could see me again and I said yes. After that, we met in the forest every day until I decided to leave Enchanters Bay and move to Hawthorn Hill to be with him. We got married, bought a house... everything was good.”
“That’s such a great story. Why didn’t you guys ever tell me how you met?” Luna asked.
“Because that’s not the end of the story. When I did the one thing the coven warned me about when I left Enchanters Bay, things went terribly wrong.” She stared into the fire, once again becoming lost in thought.
“Mom, what did you do?”
She turned to look at her daughter. It was then that Luna saw where a single tear had fallen down her mother’s cheek. She had only seen tears from her mother one other time...that was the day father died.
“I allowed myself to become pregnant with you. It is an ultimate sin for an Enchanter to dilute the pure bloodline with a mortal. If you choose to be with one, you must never conceive with them. But I loved your father and wanted a family. I thought the coven wouldn’t find out if I enchanted our home and cast a cloaking spell, but what I didn’t count on were spies living in the city who reported back to the coven. When they found out, they stripped me of my magic, leaving me as I am now. They told me if you ever showed signs of magic, they would come and take you from us. So when your color started changing, we ran to Green Brook to hide you among the cursed.”
“That’s the reason you’ve always hated me?”
“Not hate... resentment.
CHAPTER 14
LUNA, RIVER, AND RUSTY left Luna’s house shortly after their conversation. She just didn’t want to be there any longer. Her mother did little to stop Luna from leaving. She didn’t really care.
The rain stopped, and the sun peaked through the heavy clouds. They made their way back to the train station to catch the train heading back east. Only, they wouldn’t be riding the train the whole line to the coast this time. They would change trains in Castleberry. The train they would catch would be the northbound train, heading to the city of Hawthorn Hill.
“You guys, we’re going to change trains in Castleberry.”
“You want to take the blue train north? Why?” Rusty said.
“Isn’t it obvious? She wants to find the village of the Enchanters,” River said.
“That’s right,” Luna nodded, “We’ll travel to Hawthorn Hill, and from there, we’ll go to the Riverlands to find the coven.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Luna. Snowy said that the Enchanters were evil wiccans. We could be in serious danger if we go there,” Rusty said.
“My mother said they’re not evil.”
“Wow...the most evil woman I know is telling you that someone isn’t evil. Imagine that,” River snorted.
“Yeah...maybe your mom isn’t the best judge of character,” Rusty said.
“Hmm,” Luna tapped her chin. “Maybe you’re right. But what other choice do we have? I have to go find my family. That’s what my father told me in my dream. At first, I thought it was the Crescent coven, but now I know that it’s actually the Enchanters coven. Everything we’ve learned is leading us to find Enchanters Bay.”
The boys reluctantly agreed, and when they reached Castleberry, they left the red train heading east and boarded the blue train on the track heading north.
THE CITY WAS AS GRAND as she had always heard it was. It sat on a hill, buildings made of all white stucco with royal blue doors and trim. One building higher on the hill than the next and at the very top sat a white and gold cathedral with a tall chapel housing an enormous shiny brass bell that rang as soon as they stepped onto the platform.
They strolled through the town for a while, stopping to buy some fried donuts on a stick from a street vendor. Luna enquired about Miss Mary, but the vendor didn’t know who she was. It was no surprise; Miss Mary had only just moved there. They walked the streets of the town for a while more, hoping that Miss Mary’s home would reveal itself to Luna, but it didn’t. She must have cloaked her home so that no one could find it, not even the magic of a wiccan. With that realization, they left the town for the forest that led to the Riverlands.
“WHAT IS THAT AMAZING smell? Blackberries?” Rusty asked.
“I don’t smell anything,” River said.
“No, not blackberries... blueberries,” Luna said.
“But I don’t see any berries,” Rusty said.
They were about an hour outside of town, and all they saw the whole way were trees and occasional grassy clearings like the one they were walking through. Just beyond the clearing was another patch of trees that had a shimmering wave of light in front of them.
“Look at those trees over there,” Luna pointed, “There’s something different about them.”
“Yes, I see it,” Rusty said.
“What do you mean? They look like all the other trees we’ve passed so far,” River said.
“Come on. Let’s take a look,” Luna said, leading the way.
When they got to the wave of light, Luna put her hand through the haze, and it disappeared. She yanked it back with a gasp.
“How did you do that?!” River asked.
“We’ve found the barrier of Enchanters Bay,” Rusty said.
“Yes. We have to go through. River, you better hold our hands just to make sure you go through with us. You’re the only one with no magic in you.”
River nodded, and they all clasped hands. “One, two, three, go.” They took one big step into the middle of a blueberry field.
“Whoa. Where did all this come from?” River said.
“It was hidden behind the barrier,” Rusty said.
“This must be the blueberry field my mother was in when she met my father.”
Beyond the blueberry field stood an apple orchard with green and yellow apples so big, they looked like small melons. Past the orchard was the largest vegetable garden with the largest vegetables that Luna had ever seen. And beyond that was the city of Enchanters Bay.
“This city looks identical to Hawthorn Hill,” Rusty said.
“Yes, it does,” Luna agreed.
“Are you sure it’s not Hawthorn Hill?” River asked.
“I’m sure it’s not,” Luna kneeled down and picked an oversized tomato from its vine. “These vegetables are huge. I wonder how they taste.”
“This ain’t no picnic.” River had the nerve to scold her for a change.
Luna dropped the tomato and jumped to her feet. “Where did that come from?” She pointed at a small white cottage with a bright red door in the middle of the garden. The door opened and out stepped a woman the color of the green that they were standing among. She was a slender, petite woman, not much bigger than a child, with long straight hair that was a lighter green than her skin. Even her dress was a shade of green.
“Why is that lady green?” River said, bucking his eyes.
“The better question is, why is she coming toward us?” Rusty asked, shoving his glasses up on his nose, as if seeing better would change the strange color of the woman.
A bead of sweat trickled down the back of Luna’s neck. Was this woman going to be friend or foe? Were all Enchanter’s evil like Snowy said, or were there good ones too?
The woman closed the distance between them quickly, as if floating just above the ground. Her mouth was curled downward and her brow furrowed.
“What have you done?!” She
demanded of Luna, showing her tiny, pointed opal teeth.
“I came to find the Enchanters. They are my coven. I know I shouldn’t have brought non-coven people here, but these are good people and they are my friends.”
“They are not the problem. You have allowed a great evil into this realm when you opened the barrier. An evil we had extinguished from this land many years ago.”
“What? What do you mean? We were the only ones in the forest when we came through the barrier.”
“No, you weren’t. There was another, and she has followed you in.”
The green woman hastened them to follow her to her cottage, stating that they had to figure out how to stop what was to come.
SITTING AT THE ROUND, knotty pine table in the cottage's kitchen, the tiny lady introduced herself as Salina, the garden gnome. She took a metal water can from the corner and watered the dozens of terracotta potted plants and flowers sitting all around the kitchen.
“I tend to the gardens, orchards, plants, and flowers in this realm.”
“Is that why you’re green? Instead of a green thumb, you have a green body,” River said, chuckling at his own rude joke.
Luna shot a narrowed eyed glare in his direction, which he met with an amused smile.
Salina giggled and her green eyes twinkled. Gone was the stern look she had only moments ago, “Actually, the green in my skin comes from the chlorophyll in the skin, just like plants.”
“You get your power from the sun,” Rusty said.
“It’s a little more complicated than that, but you have the right idea. In fact, this whole place gets its power from the sun. That’s why the sun never sets in Enchanters Bay.”
“Are you sure? Because the sun was higher in the sky when we first arrived,” Rusty said.
Salina jumped, dropping the watering can onto the floor and ran to look out of the small white-paned window above the kitchen sink. “It’s started already. I thought we had more time!” She turned back to them, “We have to leave now.”