by M.E. Timmons
Chapter 21
Selene was thoroughly exhausted that night after being up most of the night before, so when she got back home she went straight to her couch and fell into a deep and, thankfully, dreamless sleep.
She felt refreshed when she opened her eyes the next morning. She could smell eggs cooking in the kitchen, which made her stomach growl. Then she saw something yellow out of the corner of her eye, and she smiled.
“I guess you made it without any difficulties,” Selene said, looking at Andy. He was sitting in the chair that Jenson usually slept in, since he was already gone to work, and he had a plate of food on his lap.
Andy nodded; his mouth full. He swallowed loudly. “Yeah, Dad came to get me at around midnight, like he promised. Amber accidently dropped the chain that was on the door and it made this big noise, and I thought someone was gonna wake up and come investigate, but they didn’t. Mrs and Mr Rosehill must be very sound sleepers.”
“Andy, would you like some more eggs?” Frieda called from the kitchen. Then she stuck her head through the door and saw Selene sitting up. “Oh, honey, I guess I should make you up a plate too. I’m afraid we have another busy day ahead of us, so it’s a good thing you got your rest.”
Selene groaned inwardly. She rubbed her eyes with her knuckles and then yawned. She wasn’t tired, but she still wasn’t fully alert yet either, and she felt stiff from lying down for so long.
“What are you going to do today, Andy?” she asked, stretching her feet.
He frowned and took his last bite as he thought up an answer. He chewed for a while before he spoke. “There’s not much I can do, since I’m stuck inside all day. I wish I could help with something, but I’m not used to living in a house like this, and I’m not very good at anything.”
“You’ve got plenty of time to find out what you’re good at,” Selene reasoned. “You’re still young, and there are many things you haven’t tried yet.”
“I wish I could do magic. It isn’t fair that beasts can’t have magical powers. By the time I become human I’ll probably be too old to learn anything even if I have powers.”
Selene smiled. “You don’t need to study your whole life to be good at it. There have been several powerful male witches over the last couple of centuries, and they started after they were eighteen.” An idea came to Selene. “You know, I may have something for you to do, if you’re willing. It won’t be fun and you’ll have to be careful, but it will be very helpful to me. It’s kind of a secret though, so don’t tell anyone.” She was careful to whisper that last part.
Andy nodded enthusiastically. “I’m glad to help, no matter what it is,” he said.
They paused their conversation as Frieda walked in with two steaming plates of food. She handed one to each of them and took away the plate Andy had been using before. He licked his lips and then dove in; devouring a quarter of the food in a matter of seconds, before Selene even took one bite. She looked at him suspiciously.
“I thought you said Amber was feeding you,” she said.
“She was,” Andy replied, shrugging. “I’m just not really used to this type of food. It’s so good. In the forest we mostly ate berries, nuts, and whatever the hunters could get. There weren’t a lot of fruits and vegetables, and there were rarely any baked goods. I read about them in a book once, and always wondered what they’d be like. I never imagined that bread would be so soft and fluffy.” He took a bite of the fresh slice of bread on his plate, and sighed in contentment, which made Selene laugh.
She took a few bites from her own plate, and then she peered through the door to the kitchen. Her mother was busy, and she was humming. There was little chance of being overheard.
Before Selene told Andy what she wanted his help for, she quickly set down her plate and ran upstairs and then back down, carrying a book in her hands as she sat back on the couch. It was leather-bound and well-worn, and there was an outline of a violet in black ink on the cover. It was faded from years of exposure to sunlight, but it was still clearly visible.
“This is a spell book,” she said quietly to Andy. “Don’t let Mom see you with it. It’s very old, so you need to be very careful when handling it. I’d like you to try to find a spell in here.”
“Why do you need me to do that?” Andy asked, looking at the book with interest.
“I just found out about the spell yesterday, so I haven’t had a chance to look for it yet. It should be in here, but there are some pages that are missing or decaying, so you might not find it. I’d appreciate it if you look, because it saves me some time.”
Andy shrugged. “I don’t mind. What spell are you looking for?”
“I don’t know what it’s called exactly, but it’s a spell to take the powers away from a witch, permanently.”
Andy’s eyes went wide with shock. “Why would you be looking for a spell like that?!
“It’s kind of a long story, but it has to do with the curse, oddly enough. Don’t worry; I’m not going to harm anyone. The only person I want to use the spell on is Wicesla.”
“Ohhh,” Andy said, nodding. He didn’t look nearly as surprised. “That makes sense. It would be great if she didn’t have any powers. It might make things easier. I’ll definitely look for the spell for you.”
“Thanks Andy,” Selene said, smiling at him. It really would save her a lot of time if he could find it, and then she would be one step closer to freeing the beasts. At least, she hoped that’s how things would go.
The day ended up being a long one. Frieda hadn’t been kidding when she said they would be busy. Selene almost had to run to keep up with her mother’s demands, which seemed to never end. There was just so much to do. Selene sincerely hoped that all their work would be worth it. In fact, she asked her father at supper if they were any closer to getting a new addition on the house.
“Yes, it should happen soon,” he answered her.
“Your father talked to Anna Bluestone yesterday, and she agreed to help with the building and getting the supplies. She’s coming over in a few days to take a look and start making the plans. With any luck, the new addition will be built this summer,” Frieda said, filling in the details. Velkan nodded in acknowledgement.
Anna Bluestone was the village’s builder. She was one of the oldest people in the village, but at 72 she still knew what she was doing. She had been planning and building houses and other structures for many years, and she had learned the skill from her father. She was good at what she did, and no one in the village ever built anything without consulting her.
“I can’t wait,” Dahlia said, picking at her boiled potatoes.
“Neither can I,” Selene agreed. “I miss sleeping on a bed.”
“I’ve never slept on a bed,” Andy said, and everyone turned to look at him. He shrugged. “I slept on the ground in the forest, usually on some leaves. I had a pillow, though. It was made from rabbit fur, so it was nice and soft.”
“Yeah, I didn’t have one either,” Jenson said, and Henry nodded as well.
“I have to admit, it’s way nicer to sleep on a bed. They’re actually quite soft and comfortable. I think I’d have a hard time going back to sleeping on the ground, and I haven’t been using a bed for long,” he said.
After supper, when most of the family was busy, Andy approached Selene. She was outdoors, just putting the finishing touches on a potion. Andy was wearing a cloak in an attempt to hide his beastly appearance in case anyone saw him from a distance, but there was no one nearby but family.
“I think I found the spell you were looking for,” Andy said quietly, pulling the book from under his shirt, where he’d had it hidden.
Selene grew excited. “Can you show me?” she asked, giving the potion one last stir.
Andy handed her the book, which he had bookmarked with a feather. Selene opened it to the right page, and as soon as she saw it she knew it was the right spell. She carefully r
eplaced the feather, and then she got up and gave Andy a kiss on the cheek.
“Thank you so much,” she said. “I really appreciate it.”
He looked like his skin might have taken on a pinkish hew beneath his yellow fur. “No problem,” he said. “Let me know if you need help with anything else.” He went back inside, glancing around to make sure no one was there to see him.
Selene put the fire under the cauldron out and poured its contents into some bottles for her mother to sell. When that was done, she brought the bottles inside and placed them on her mother’s work table in the kitchen, and then she went into the living room, which was empty. She pulled out the spell book. There it was, right on page 73. It was a power-destroying spell, said to take away all of a witch’s powers without using up much of the caster’s energy. It was perfect.
The only problem with the plan was that Selene had no idea where to find Wicesla. She didn’t exactly spend her time wandering around the village. Selene figured she’d just have to wait until she showed up again, and if that didn’t work she’d have to try something more drastic that would get her attention.
Selene slid the spell book under the couch so that it sat beside the box containing the amulet, just in case she ever needed to grab it in a hurry. Her mother rarely ever used the book, so Selene hoped she wouldn’t notice that it was missing from its usual location.
When Jenson came in from helping her father patch some holes in the roof, Selene told him about the spell. He was as excited as she was.
“I really hope it works,” he said.
“So do I. More than that, I hope she helps us. I’m tired of trying everything and nothing working. It’s frustrating, and then I lose hope.”
“But not all hope,” Jenson pointed out. “Not yet, anyway.”
Selene rolled her eyes. “Hopefully not ever.”
“Stop using up all your hope,” Jenson teased. “It’s precious, and shouldn’t be wasted on hoping you won’t lose your hope.”
Selene laughed. “Sure, whatever you say.”
She had no trouble falling asleep that night, even though she spent a few minutes just thinking about Tornado. She was going through some of her favourite memories of him in her mind, which she liked to do because she was worried that she would lose them. She never wanted to forget the best friend she ever had.
With the busy couple of days she’d had, she’d forgotten about the dreams. As soon as she fell asleep, she entered another one. Her unconscious mind recognized it as one that wasn’t her own, but there was nothing she could do to stop it.
She was in the clearing in the forest; the one she shared with Tornado. It was dark, and yet Selene had no trouble seeing. There was no one else around, so she simply sat on her usual rock and waited hopefully for Tornado to show up.
There was a nearby rustling, and Selene looked over expectantly. To her disappointment, it was only a rabbit that hopped out of the woods. It tentatively entered the clearing, as if weary of Selene’s presence.
An arrow suddenly appeared in its side, and Selene was struck by a wave of déjà vu. She remembered the same thing happening not long ago. This time, however, the arrow was black with green feathers, instead of the simple wooden arrow that Tornado used.
Selene looked up, expecting to see Wicesla with her enchanted bow, but she was nowhere in sight. It was hard to see outside of the clearing anyway, since it was darker out there under the trees.
A figure suddenly approached. When it stepped into the clearing, Selene saw that it was Tornado, but not in beast form. He looked like he did in her last dream, before he had burned alive in front of her. The memory wasn’t pleasant. This time, he was carrying Wicesla’s bow, which he still had out and ready. He plucked the arrow out of the rabbit, and then he left the animal lying there, right in the middle of the clearing. That wasn’t like him at all, since he knew how Selene felt about killing. It bothered her.
“Where did you get that?” Selene asked, gesturing to the bow. Seeing him holding it was more than unsettling, since it was the weapon that had killed him.
He shrugged. “I found it in the woods. It works strangely well. It’s like I hardly have to aim at all.” His voice sounded a little different than it had as a beast; probably because he used to have two noses. They must have affected the resonance of his voice.
“You don’t recognize it at all?” Selene asked, worried.
“No, I don’t think I’ve seen it before. Why do you ask?”
A strange whistle penetrated the air. It was low-pitched and wavering; not really like any bird call Selene had ever heard before, and it was loud and yet seemed to come from far away. Tornado lifted his head at the sound.
“I’ve gotta go,” he said.
“But you just got here!”
“Yeah, but that call was for me. I’ll see you again some other time.” With that he turned and ran off into the forest before Selene could react. She wondered where the sound had come from.
When he was gone the sound stopped. Selene looked around again, but so no one. The rabbit was still lying dead in the middle of the clearing, and the sight bothered her. She stood up, wanting to get away from it, but it twitched suddenly. Selene moved toward it to see if she could help, but then it jumped up and ran away into the bushes. She didn’t follow.
Selene turned to go back to her rock, but jumped when she saw someone already sitting there. She wasn’t at all surprised to see Wicesla, looking as lovely as usual in flowing burgundy robes. There was a white rose stitched over her left breast.
“Perhaps I should burn your friend alive again,” she said, smiling in a way that churned Selene’s stomach. “I rather enjoyed it last time.”
Selene set that comment aside, trying not to let it affect her. In a way she was glad to see Wicesla, since she realized it was a good opportunity to make a deal. She actually hoped that it was really her in her dream, and not a figment of her imagination.
“I can end your curse,” she said, evenly meeting Wicesla’s gaze.
Suddenly the whole dream erupted into fire, causing Selene to wake with a start. She had an even bigger shock, however, when she realized that Wicesla was standing over her, right there in her living room.
She screamed.