by Les Goodrich
“I feel really good Tanner,” Jordan said. “We helped get a dangerous witch off the street.”
“We did,” Tanner agreed. “And who knows how many kids we saved in the future. You saved Fallon’s life. And I think you made a real friend didn’t you?”
Jordan beamed. “That young girl surprised me. I guess it’s just our instinct to judge people when we first meet them. But so often we’re fully wrong. Fallon is special. I can’t explain it. She’s wise like an old person. But you get the feeling she’s been a kid for a hundred years and will always be a kid. Did you get that from her?”
“I really didn’t spend any time with her. But I watched you and her together. She was drawn to you. She made you feel like a kid I think.”
“Yeah. The hope. Excitement. Awe. I don’t know. Just good feelings. What did you think about Agent Rick?”
“I kind of judged the guy too I guess. Drinking all the time. He’s a bit of a male chauvinist, but deep down he isn’t.”
“I know.”
“He’s a genuine guy though. He might dress like a crazy adventurer, but that’s because he really is a crazy adventurer. He’s got the whole wild long hair thing going, but that’s just because he truly doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him. He only goes to work when there’s a person no one else wants to deal with. He never really knows what he’s getting into, but he goes anyway. He fights the worst of Shadowclan and beyond. I mean in that house, after you left to save Fallon, what did he do? He stayed and fought it out with that guy. He wasn’t leaving without him.
“When I got there they were upstairs slinging spells back and forth like gunslingers. Head to head. Freaking nuts. Even with me in there we really only got the guy after your hex repellant spell knocked him on his ass.”
“I had to leave Rick at that moment. I didn’t want to. I know it pissed him off, but I had no choice. I wasn’t gonna let that asshole walk Fallon off the roof. And he would have.”
“Rick knows that. In the end you leaving saved him too.”
“I’m gonna use the restroom here before we get on the road,” Jordan said and she got up and walked through the crowded cafe. While she was gone Tanner paid the check, bought a pound of Cafe Du Monde ground coffee with chicory, and hid it in his bag.
They walked to the Jeep with one last look across Jackson Square to the Saint Louis Cathedral and the street of row houses and Jordan imagined Fallon working in her room and Tanner thought of Josephine reading by the fire. Jordan started and revved up the Jeep, Tanner said, “Hit it,” and they drove through the late morning back to Saint Augustine.
In the early afternoon they rounded the exit and slid down into the neighborhoods near the Old Jail complex and the Fountain of Youth theme park. Tanner called Carol.
“We made it. Jordan and I are back in town.”
“Outstanding. Are both of you okay?”
“Everyone is fine.”
“And Figment?”
“History.”
“Thank Goddess Diana. I can’t wait to hear all about it. But there’s more to this than ridding the world of him.”
“What is it?” Tanner asked.
“I crossed wands with Gwen while you two were gone, and that little exchange, combined with what Brenna and I have been able to dig up, plus what Josephine Lemort has suspected for some time, adds up to something way bigger than Figment. We think Gwen is organizing generals in strategic locations around the country. Figment was just one of them. We don’t know what she’s up to but it can’t be good. She’s trying to extend her power for some reason. Figuring out why won’t be easy. I just wanted you to know. You two solved a serious problem, but it opened up a bigger mystery. We’ll talk about it later.
“For now at least, we have a fun day to look forward to. Tomorrow is the winter solstice and the store is technically closed, so you don’t have to set an alarm. You two go home and get some sleep in your own beds tonight. Brenna and I are going in for the morning, just in case any witches need last minute things. But in the afternoon the store is having a Yule party. It’s going to be a blast.”
“That sounds wonderful,” Tanner said.
“Yes. The party starts at two p.m. Be sure to tell Jordan the time.”
“Will do. We can’t wait to see you all and thank you Carol. Bye.”
“What?” Jordan asked.
“We’re off tomorrow. Sleep in. Yule party at the store at two p.m. Everyone is invited.”
Jordan smiled. “That sounds perfect.”
“And apparently Figment was just one henchman for Gwen in some giant country-wide scheme. Carol and Brenna are trying to figure out what she’s up to.”
Jordan looked to Tanner but said nothing. She was too tired to speculate. She dropped Tanner off at the docks, hugged him goodbye, drove home, and parked under the roof beside the garage.
“You did good,” she said to the Jeep and she grabbed her bags and bounded up the stairs.
Inside Luna cried and cried and twirled around Jordan’s feet from the door to her bed. “Let me put the bags down crazy cat.” Jordan slung her bags down and picked up the purring ball of fur. She carried Luna around the loft cradled like a baby and scratched her face and head. “I know you were cooped up in here the whole time. I’m back now. You’re my best friend. You’re such a good girl. You’re so pretty.”
She poured the cat from her arms out onto the floor and made a tall glass of ice water with lemon and drank it as if it were the most delicious thing she had ever tasted. She lit a fire in the fireplace and washed her face. She changed into her old grey sweatpants, a thin, long sleeve, cotton shirt with a black pentacle on the front that was so old it had holes in the seams under each arm, and a thick pair of purple cotton crew socks.
She let Luna out, made another glass of lemon water, and added more wood to the fire. She set her iPad to play a dark ambient DJ set mixed by Kelvin Dark, and sent it through her stereo speakers. She lit several candles, sat on the couch nearest the fireplace, drank her water, and curled up under her beyond soft blanket. She was asleep in minutes.
Tanner rowed through the wakes of passing boats and climbed aboard his sailboat in the cold bay. He made hot Earl Grey tea with honey and milk and sipped it as the electric heater hummed and warmed the cabin. He stored his wand, put up a few things, gathered laundry to wash over the next day or so, switched the heater off, and climbed into his bunk. He listened to the water slapping the hull and the cackles of seagulls in the distance, the halyards slapping the mast on high, and the flapping of his flags caught in the afternoon breeze. In minutes, he too was asleep.
***
Carol and Brenna served several early customers and closed the store at noon. They decorated the store with strings of white lights and candles in every corner. Carol set up the music to play pagan Yule songs and Irish faerie music. Brenna arranged extra folding chairs here and there and made low tables from wooden storage crates covered with white towels. Everyone was invited to Avalon Spellshop for the Yule party on the winter solstice. Customers who arrived expecting to shop simply joined the party and by the early afternoon at least forty people were there.
Carol had a selection of cakes and pastries delivered from the bakery across the alley. She had wine brought by Frank from the wine shop across town and as always he stayed for several glasses. And Brenna pulled in a wagon filled with steaming pizza boxes from Excellent Pizza.
Tanner held court in the back with the young witches Jen and Tonic, and the steampunk mechanic kid Jack, and they listened with wide eyes as he told them about the mission to New Orleans.
“New Orleans is much bigger than Saint Augustine, and as old. The French Quarter is right on the banks of the Mississippi River and it also borders what they call Lake Pontchartrain. So because the water levels are so high, all the old graveyards have these above ground crypts. Figment figured out a way to hack into death records, then use Shadowclan magick to build an army of zombies and specter ghosts he set upon us.”
“Did you fight them in the graveyards?” Jen asked.
“Yeah. And we got cornered in an alley with high walls and graveyards on both sides. The zombies and ghosts closed us in. Me, a voodoo priestess named Josephine Lemort who fights with a civil war calvary sword, and her brothers, Grayson and Charles who fight zombies with kung fu.”
“Crazy,” Jack said. Did you guys kick their asses?”
“Eventually. But it was hell the whole way.”
“And the IWM agent. What was he like?” Tonic asked. “We heard Brit talking about him.”
“He was cool. But in the end it was Jordan who saved the day. She reverse hexed Figment and then the IWM agent and I locked spellcuffs on him.”
“Jordan is a bad ass,” Tonic said.
“Yeah, she’s our hero,” Jen said. “But don’t tell her we said so.”
Store friend Dan mingled and flirted with every lady there and Doctor Nicholas Covington called him a rogue but in the most complimentary way. Jordan kept giving Prisma shots of instant espresso and Brit kept giving Thistle sips of wine and by the end of the party both faeries were asleep on the top shelf behind the counter.
Casey and Mims seemed to have grown closer and they hardly left each other’s sides and when one learned a new bit of news she would have to go tell the other.
“You really helped us Brit. We would have never found him without you,” Jordan said.
“And what about Agent Rick? Was he good under pressure?” Brit asked.
“He was great. He grew on me. He’s not a bad guy at all.”
“Cool,” Brit said. “And Figment?”
“Gone,” Jordan said.
Tanner had moved to the front to get pizza and a drink and he pulled Jordan to the side. “I know you get annoyed at those two,” and he nodded toward Jen and Tonic. “But you might want to apply some of our, let’s not judge too soon, resolution to them. They really look up to you.”
“I don’t judge those two,” Jordan said. “They’re a little bit odd, but that makes them just my type.”
In time the customers and store friends faded away and about that time Carmine drifted in. Brenna and Carol tidied up but neither moved to serious cleaning and Tanner, Jordan, and Brit talked with Casey and Mims. Doctor Covington talked with Carmine and they shared stories of history and ghosts they had known.
“England is truly a treasure,” Doctor Covington remarked. “The ghosts of London and Oxford have tales as old as legend itself and many are happy to chat.”
“And in Italy old stories persist,” Carmine said. “Stories of witches live in every family like sacred old myths and as the families grow, so do the tales, until all is entwined and the history there is a living thing.”
“Presents!” Brit said and she moved behind the counter. “Mims, this one’s for you from me,” she said and she handed Mims a long narrow crumpled gift of twisted red paper and tape.
Jordan shared a smile with Brit and Mims took the gift. “Thank you,” she said and she opened it to find Jordan’s old white mangrove wand. She jumped when she saw what it was and her cheeks flushed red. “Thank you so much Brit.”
“You’re welcome.”
“And this is for you Brit,” Jordan said and she slid a box wrapped in silver paper onto the glass counter. Brit opened it carefully. Inside was a black glass bowl with a sigil etched into the bottom. Brit removed it and admired the fine glass and inspected the design. “It’s a voodoo priestess vision bowl. They use it for scrying. Straight from Madam Evangeline’s Voodoo Shop in New Orleans,” Jordan said.
“Thank you Jordan.”
“I don’t imagine you girls could get into any trouble with that,” Carol said and everyone laughed. “Here’s one for Casey,” Carol said and she handed Casey an envelope.
She opened it. “A gift certificate for the Concealed Wands Class!” she said and she hugged Carol.
“You deserve it hon,” Carol said. “We’re all very proud of you.”
From the back Carmine brought out an unwrapped cardboard tube of about three and one-half feet in length and the diameter of a soda can. “For you Tanner,” he said and he stood the tube at Tanner’s side.
“Thank you,” Tanner said and he lifted the tube, removed the white plastic cap, and slid out a fine cherrywood walking stick almost exactly like the one Carmine carried. Except where Carmine’s finial was red crystal, Tanner’s was purple, and around the shaft from top to tip in a slow spiral were carved the Futhark runes in order. “Outstanding,” Tanner said.
“No hugs necessary,” Carmine assured him and the two shook hands to friendly chuckles.
“And I have one for Brenna,” Tanner said and he pulled a bag from under the front desk.
“You do?” Brenna said. “Wow, thank you Tanner.” Brenna took the bag and dug through the green tissue paper inside. She pulled out a glass candle silkscreened in full color with the seated image of a Catholic saint reading a large book on his lap and holding a curved staff.
“Saint Isidore of Seville,” Tanner said. “He is sacred to New Orleans voodoo. Saint Isidore is the patron saint of hidden knowledge and of spreading true information. He spread Aristotle’s works throughout Italy, even in the face of criticism by the church at many turns.”
“You know I love it Tanner,” Brenna said. “Thank you and Blessed Yule.”
“And the Faeries and I have something for you Jordan,” Carol said and she moved to the shelf to wake Thistle and Prisma. “Wake up you two drunks. You’re missing all the fun.”
Thistle rubbed her head and Prisma grumbled and they each sat up and leaned on each other.
“Presents!” Brit said and they sat right up. “I have presents for you two,” she said and she dug in her purse. She pulled out two zipclosed bags each filled with a cup of cinnamon-apple cereal circles.
Thistle bounced when she saw the bags and Prisma just looked and said, “What’s that?”
“Apple-cinnamon O’s!” Thistle said reaching for her bag as Brit handed them up. “You’ve never had apple-cinnamon O’s? Well, get ready sister. These things are freaking delicious.” Thistle dug her hand into the bag and pulled out a single O. She ate it in one bite. “Mmmmmm!” she beamed and Prisma smelled into her bag.
“Hmm,” Prisma said and she ate one of the circles. “Holy crap that’s good!” she said and she ate another. Both faeries munched away with huge smiles. “Thank you Brit!” they both said.
“Can we give Jordan our present now?” Carol asked the faeries.
“Yeah yeah,” Thistle said. “Give it to her.”
Carol handed Jordan an envelope. Jordan opened it and poured out a single pink pearl.
“It’s the mermaid spell pearl,” Carol said.
“Yeah we figured it all out,” Thistle added.
“I helped,” Prisma said.
“Yeah she helped,” Thistle confirmed and the two ate cereal like they were starving.
“We still have a long way to go before figuring out the spell.” Brit said. “But this is a pretty good start.”
“Awesome,” Jordan said. “A blessed Yule to you all. It means so much to me. Does Shay know?”
“She knows,” Brit said. “She helped us too.”
“And I have something for Carol,” Jordan said. “But it’s one of those things that’s kind of for everyone.”
“My favorite kind of present,” Carol said and Jordan handed Carol a box. Carol moved it to the counter and opened it. “Hooligans Inc.,” Carol said when she saw the title on the first cover. Inside were all twelve issues of Fallon Lemort’s comic books.
“I was hoping we could keep them in your garden house,” Jordan suggested. “Then we can all stop by and read them whenever we want and they will stay safe.”
Carol laid the books out in order on the glass. She and the others admired the fine artwork and the masterful panes of the interior pages that looked like full color movie storyboards. The characters leapt from the pages in adventures and thril
ls and magick of all kinds.
“Fallon makes them herself. Every part of them. The stories. The pictures. All of it. She sells them all over the world and everyone thinks its all these people she’s made up creating the books but it’s really all just her. She’s special to me beyond anything I could explain. She wouldn’t care if I told you she makes the books herself, but she would be embarrassed of she visited and someone made a big deal out of it. So keep it to yourself unless she talks to you about it. Okay.”
Everyone agreed and Carol flipped through the books. “Amazing,” she said and she put them carefully back into the box.
“That reminds me,” Tanner said. I have a few more little presents. He pulled out a paper bag from his spot under the front desk. He moved to Brit, Casey, and Mims gave each of them one of Fallon’s necklaces. Each took the simple leather strings with a small white silk bag at the end about the size of a quarter. Jordan pulled hers out from her shirt as did Tanner. “It’s a protective charm necklace, also made by Fallon,” Tanner said.
“What’s in it?” Brit asked.
“We expect it has agrimony in it,” Tanner said. “But we’re unsure of what else.”
“Do they work?” Brit asked.
“We wouldn’t be standing here now without them,” Jordan said.
Brit, Casey, and Mims said, “Thank you.”
“And one last thing for you Jordan,” Tanner said and he handed her a small gift bag. Jordan pulled out the can of ground Cafe Du Monde coffee with chicory.
“Sneaky,” Jordan said. “Thank you so much Tanner you know I love it. I’ll make you some and we can talk about New Orleans again someday.”
“Awesome,” Tanner said and everyone clapped and agreed that the party had been a grand time.
“I want to wish you all the most blessed of Yules,” Carol said and she raised her champagne glass as did the others. “All of you have given selflessly to help others that you didn’t even know. That’s what true witchcraft is about. We understand the deeper energies. We believe in magick because it’s simply a part of our everyday lives. As such, we often find ourselves to be the guardians of peace and protectors of the innocent. We do this even as so many imagine us to be evil.