by Nora Lee
“Stay still, Fern!” Orianna stood over a little girl, who squirmed as her mother tried to get the bunched fabric over the messy pigtails sticking out from either side of the tiny head. “Just let me get this on you and we can go have some food, okay?”
The child jerked away and sprinted toward the window, eyes bright with the glee of escaping.
When she saw Rowan with a foot over the windowsill, Fern hurried back to her mother and hid behind her legs.
“Hey, Ori,” said Rowan, feeling as though she were intruding on her friend for the first time in her life.
“Oh my pumpkins, Rowan? I heard you were in town! Hang on, give me just a second.” With the child standing stock still, wide eyes staring at Rowan, Orianna managed to force the blouse on over an undershirt decorated with pale pink roses. “What brings you here?”
“I’ve missed you.” Rowan climbed through the window. She tripped over a toy on the floor and tumbled into a pile of twisted limbs on the floor. So graceful. She picked herself up with as much dignity as she could manage. “Just thought I’d stop by to say hi, ya know? I can go if you’re busy.”
“No! Please don’t. I haven’t had visitors in forever,” Orianna said. “I just have to take care of some stuff with Fern. Okay?”
“Of course,” Rowan said. “I heard she keeps you busy.”
“The way hurricane season keeps Florida busy,” Orianna said with a laugh.
Mother and child moved toward the kitchen. Rowan followed, examining her surroundings to find nothing much changed, despite the passage of time and existence of the next generation of Westerlys.
“Sit up there, Fern, and I’ll get your snack.” Orianna settled her daughter in a bar stool and crossed to take juice and vegetables out of the old-fashioned fridge. The exact same fridge that Rowan used to steal snacks out of when she was Fern’s age.
“This is strange…almost like I’m looking at some kind of temporal anomaly.”
“You sure learned some fancy terms at that college,” said Orianna. “You never used to talk that way.” She chopped broccoli into small slices as though taking out her anger on them. “I don’t hear many multiple-syllable words these days. I’m too busy with the little one.” As she set the glass and plate on the chipped tiles of the counter and pushed the stool closer, she nodded toward Rowan. “I guess you two haven’t been introduced. This is my daughter, Fern.” She tousled the girl’s already-messy hair. “Fern, this is an old friend of mine. Her name is Rowan.”
Fern continued to stare at Rowan without speaking.
“Nice to meet you, Fern,” said Rowan. A tiny kitten hopped up onto the counter. Taking the animal up in her arms, Fern slid from the stool and crossed to stand behind her mother again. “Not very chatty, is she?”
“She’s never talked much.” Orianna set Fern back onto the bar stool and took the kitten. “No kitties while eating. Animals and food don’t mix.”
“Tell that to Nana,” Rowan said. “Really. Please tell that to Nana. She’s been letting Sparkles roost in her kitchen.”
Orianna barked a laugh. “Oh, Nana.” She dropped a kiss on her daughter’s head. “We’ll go in the other room while you eat, sweetie.” She took Rowan by the arm and pulled her away. “You haven’t been back for a visit since you left for school. Something’s wrong if you’re climbing up my trellis.”
“Can’t I just want to visit you?”
“You could, but you haven’t,” Orianna said. “Spill!”
They sat on the same lumpy sofa they’d laid on more than a decade earlier. Rowan remembered those long and lazy afternoons when they’d talked about boys, the future, leaving Secret Hallow…all the normal discussion topics for kids stuck in a small town. They’d agreed to leave together to explore the world and find adventure.
Life had other plans for them, though.
“Nana dragged me back to deal with the Elder Tree. The grove is looking pretty awful,” Rowan said.
“I know, I can feel it.” Orianna shivered, and the kitten clawed up her shoulder to drape behind her neck like a scarf. “It’s been getting awful lately.”
“Probably because Caedmon is messing with it.”
Orianna’s cheeks colored. “Caedmon?”
“Yeah, redheaded warlock guy, about a million feet tall, with romance novel shoulders,” Rowan said.
“I know who he is. He’s visited the book shop a few times.” She wouldn’t meet Rowan’s eyes. “Caedmon is memorable.”
“That’s for sure. He’s been all up in the Elder Tree’s business, and he seems to think the only way he’s going to get control of the coven is by dating me.” Or worse, Rowan thought with a shudder.
“Leading the coven is your birthright,” Orianna said. Her nose wrinkled. “The idea that he’d want to date you to control the coven, though…”
“Creepy, right?” Rowan studied her friend for a moment. Orianna only blushed like that when she had a crush. She’d have to get in line behind the likes of Nana, who obviously found him wildly attractive. “You know, you should go out with the guy.”
Orianna reached up to stroke her fingernails under the kitten’s jaw. “I couldn’t do that. Fern doesn’t need to have a strange man hanging around. She’d just be confused.”
“C’mon, Ori. Don’t you want to save me from him? I can’t stand the man.”
“At least you have the option of walking away without worrying about traumatizing your child.”
“I bet Fern’s stronger than you think. She is your daughter, after all,” Rowan said. “Anyway, I’m not in a ‘men’ kind of place right now. I just broke up with my boyfriend. His name was Garrett. We were together for most of the time that I was in college.”
Orianna’s eyes widened. “What happened?”
“Nothing, I guess,” Rowan said. “I always knew our relationship couldn’t be permanent. He’s part of the outside world. He doesn’t know witches and magic exist. Even if I’m not practicing lately, it’s still part of my life, and I couldn’t keep the secret from him.”
“Do you think he would have reacted badly if he found out?”
Rowan contemplated the question, not for the first time. Garrett had been relentlessly kind and supportive, so he probably would have taken the magic thing in stride, just as he did everything else. “The problem is that my magic is dangerous, even for other witches. Garrett isn’t a warlock, so it doesn’t matter how supportive he would have been. He wouldn’t have been safe around me.”
“And it has nothing to do with the fact that you’re embarrassed by your witch family?” Orianna asked, her tone gently cajoling.
Rowan’s cheeks warmed. That was a lot of it, in fact. Secret Hallow and everyone in it was weird.
Garrett was not. He was nice, normal, and just as hunky as Caedmon in his own way.
All the more reason that Rowan and Garrett had to break up.
“It’s over now,” Rowan said firmly. “I won’t let you distract me, though. I know you’re just deflecting so I won’t push about you and Caedmon dating. I’m thinking that your reluctance is less to do with the kiddo and more to do with the fact you haven’t gotten to ride any broomsticks in a while. Feeling performance shy?”
“Rowan! Broomsticks?” Orianna laughed and slapped her arm lightly. “You’re so bad!”
Rowan grinned. That was the playful best friend she remembered. “Or are you getting broomstick action and you just haven’t told me?”
“No, not since I…” Her whole face turned red. “Well, you know Fern came from some, um, broomstick riding.”
“She didn’t come out of the cabbage patch,” Rowan chuckled. Although weirder things had happened in Secret Hallow than babies appearing in gardens, to be fair.
“Nothing since then,” Orianna said. “No.”
“Then why not go out with Caedmon? Is Fern’s dad still around?”
Orianna wouldn’t meet her eyes. She focused really hard on rubbing the kitten’s ears. “No, he’s been gone almost a
s long as you have.”
There was only the smallest touch of hurt in her tone, but Rowan’s protective instincts reared. “Who is he? I can cast a hex on him for disappearing on dad duties.”
“He wasn’t the dad type. It’s okay.” Orianna dismissed the concern with a wave of her hand. “Our relationship wasn’t long term anyway. Or…even more than one night.”
Rowan’s eyes widened. “And you called me the bad one!”
Orianna dissolved into giggles. “I’ve sworn off broomsticks, needless to say—for my benefit and Fern’s.”
“Fair enough,” Rowan said. “I do come here with another ulterior motive, though. Have you checked out the tree? I’d love to know what you think about the problem.”
“I haven’t been out to the grove in years. Can’t get away much with Fern,” Orianna said, smile fading. As if summoned by her name, the child appeared in the doorway, thumb in her mouth. “Did you eat, sweetie?”
Fern shook her head.
Setting the kitten on the ground, Orianna stood. “I’m sorry, I would love to help you. I really would. My hands are full, and I don’t have the time or energy to go poking around the Elder Tree.”
An idea struck Rowan. “How about I watch Fern while you go out there?”
Orianna took her daughter by the hand and headed back to the kitchen. “No way. You couldn’t handle her.”
Rowan followed and leaned against the door jam separating the two rooms. She crossed her arms over her chest. “How do you know? I’m more accomplished than you might think.” She smiled at Fern. “I’m sure we’d get along just fine if you give us the chance.”
“No.” As though realizing how harsh she sounded, Orianna softened her tone. “She’s my responsibility.”
Fern looked from one woman to the other as she continued to suck her thumb. She must have been almost five years old—probably too old for thumb sucking.
“Don’t do that, hon.” Orianna popped her daughter’s finger out of her mouth and offered her a piece of broccoli. “You should eat.”
The child knocked the vegetable out of her mother’s hand and onto the floor.
The kitten sniffed the broccoli on the floor before walking away, tail twitching wildly as though insulted by the offering.
“Girl after my own heart,” Rowan said. “You couldn’t pay me to eat broccoli either. See? Fern and I are best friends waiting to happen.”
“I don’t know,” Orianna said doubtfully.
Placing a gentle hand on Ori’s arm, she spoke to her in as neutral a voice as she could manage. “You don’t have to do this alone, you know. I’m still your friend and I’m more than willing to help wherever I can. All you need to do is trust me.”
Orianna’s eyes glistened with a sheen of unshed tears. She took a deep breath as though coming to a momentous decision. “Okay, you win. I’ll go look at the Elder Tree.” After disposing of the piece of broccoli that had fallen to the floor, she stroked her daughter’s hair and kissed the top of her head. “I’m going to run an errand, sweetie. Rowan will keep you company while you eat. Will that be okay?”
Fern shook her head and grabbed her mother’s hand.
“You’ll be fine. Rowan’s cool. You’ll really like her. I do.” She smiled at her friend while disengaging herself from her daughter’s grip. “Just eat your food like a good girl so you don’t get sick.” Again, Fern shook her head and clamped her lips shut. “You are not to get off that stool until your plate is clean. Do you understand me?”
Eyes wide, Fern nodded.
“Good girl. See you soon.” She planted another kiss on the top of Fern’s head. As she passed Rowan, she motioned for her friend to follow her out of the kitchen.
“Have fun with the Elder Tree,” Rowan said. “I can’t wait to hear your expert opinion.”
“Wait, I need to give you instructions. Fern’s powers drain certain elements from her body. If she doesn’t eat that brine-infused broccoli at least twice a day, she gets very sick, so it’s important that she finish every bit on her plate.” When she noticed Rowan’s look of disbelief, Orianna gave a wry smile. “I’m not being an overprotective mom. The healer has been in a few times when I couldn’t figure out why Fern was so listless and she recommended the broccoli as a means of fueling her powers.”
“I’ll do my absolute best to make sure she eats everything on that plate. Cross my heart.” Rowan made an X motion over her chest. “And hope to fly.”
Orianna’s face brightened for the first time since Rowan’s arrival. “Wouldn’t that be awesome?”
They both laughed at the memory of the times they’d tried to take flight as children and the sometimes-disastrous results. Rowan broke her arm and Orianna an ankle before their parents were able to convince them they needed to learn a lot more before they could try any form of levitation. Neither had quite mastered it to that day.
Grabbing her purse and taking a quick pick in the mirror near the front door to make sure she looked presentable, Orianna’s reflection caught Rowan’s glance. “Do you think Caedmon might be at the Samhain Grove right now?”
“Do you want him to be?” Rowan asked slyly.
“Oh, hush. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any problems with Fern. I have my phone. The number is on the fridge.”
Rowan flapped her hands to shoo Orianna away. “Don’t worry! We’ll be fine.”
“I hope so.” She raised her voice and called out to her daughter. “See you soon, sweetie. You be very good for Auntie Rowan.” With a final glance at her friend, she stepped out the front door, closing it behind her.
The gentle click of the catch caused Rowan’s heart to lurch. She listened as Orianna’s footsteps faded into the distance before heading back to the kitchen. Taking a deep breath, she passed through the doorway…and gasped.
“Fern? Where are you?”
Not even two minutes since her mother’s departure, and the child had disappeared.
Chapter 7
“FERN?” ROWAN LOOKED under the barstool to be sure the child wasn’t hiding in the shadows. No luck.
She rounded the counter and checked all the lower kitchen cabinets. There was no sign of the girl there, either.
Rowan rushed into the small living room and looked under and behind every piece of furniture as she tried to recall where she and Ori had hidden from her parents as kids.
A faint memory popped up, and a sly smile crept across Rowan’s face.
As quiet as possible, she tiptoed across the room and pushed aside the drape to reveal an irregularity in the paneling covering that wall. She slid her hand over the wood, careful to avoid splinters, until she found the right spot. The panel popped open to reveal a small closet and the cowering figure of the little girl.
Jackpot.
“Boo!” Rowan said cheerfully, as though Fern hadn’t scared the living daylights out of her by vanishing. She knelt and reached a hand toward Fern. “Your mama and I used to hide here, too. It’s a nice spot, isn’t it?”
Fern stared at the hand with wide eyes before examining Rowan’s face. The little girl’s eyes looked haunted, older than they should for a child of five, and Rowan sensed a fear behind them. Yet Fern almost seemed to be looking through Rowan, as though she weren’t in the room.
“Can you please come out of there, Fern? I told your mom we’d have lunch before she gets back.” When Fern still didn’t respond she got up and moved back to the kitchen. “Maybe you don’t like your broccoli raw. And I hear you on that! Broccoli is gross when it’s all crunchy. It tastes dirty. Let me see what I can do to make this yummier.”
She took the pre-cut pieces from the plate on the counter and dumped them into a small pot. Putting the pot on the stove to boil, she peered around the corner, only to find Fern still sitting in the hidden cupboard.
She whistled as she worked in the kitchen. Maybe pretending she’d given up on getting Fern to come eat would get the child moving.
Rowan looked into the fridge to lo
ok of something more appetizing. There was little aside from numerous Mason jars filled with broccoli soaking in brine.
No wonder the kid didn’t want to eat.
“What are you thinking, Orianna?” Rowan muttered to herself. Ori hadn’t put anything that grew out of the dirt in her mouth until she became a teenager. It was insane to expect anything else from her daughter.
Rowan searched through the pantry, but the pickings were slim there, too. Lots of green vegetables, probably from the Leif farm, and even more Mason jars. Not a single package of gummy fruit or anything else a typical five year old would enjoy.
Orianna was one of those moms.
A hissing sound caught her attention and she turned to find the pot boiling over.
“Whoa!”
Rowan turned off the gas, using a towel to grab the handle of the pot.
The green mess inside the pot looked even less appealing than what she’d just seen in the fridge.
How would she get the kid to eat now?
The shiny new blender resting on the counter gave her an idea. She peeked into the living room once more to see Fern in the exact same place.
At least the kid was predictable.
Rowan grabbed more broccoli and some other items from the cabinets—sweet things, like bananas, which might overpower the nasty flavor of the broccoli, as well as some vanilla almond milk. Within minutes, she’d come up with a smoothie that she hoped might appeal to the little one.
“Fern, honey? Please come here. I’ve got a surprise for you.”
She carried the concoction she’d created into the living room—only to find the cupboard empty.
Fern had wandered off again.
Rowan set the glass down on the counter and worked her way through the apartment one more time.
She wasn’t under the bed.
Or the bathtub.
Or in that fun spot between the couch and the bookshelf.
“Fern, honey,” Rowan called, her singsong voice strained, “please come out so I can see you.”
She was unsurprised that the girl didn’t respond.
The door was still locked, so it wasn’t as though she could have escaped that way. She must have gone somewhere.