Ghostbird
Page 29
From the table where she sat with Pomona and Sylvia, Lili said, ‘Cucumber sandwiches.’ She shook her head at Owen in amusement. ‘I still can’t decide if you’re for real or not.’
‘His mother’s refined,’ Cadi said. She and Cerys lay on a rug on the other side of the tree, eating chocolates. Mr Furry stretched between them feigning sleep.
Owen winked. ‘Watch it, bird girl.’
‘Cowboy.’
Smiling, her silver earrings sparkling, Sylvia tipped her glass at Owen. ‘Welcome to the coven.’
He grinned and raised an imaginary one.
‘Listen,’ Lili said. The wind chimes tinkled and an unexpected blackbird started singing for all he was worth. From across the village, the church bell struck nine. ‘Listen to the blackbird and make a wish.’
‘I haven’t got any wishes left,’ Pomona said.
Cadi rolled onto her back and called to her mother. ‘I have, I wish I had a puppy.’
‘Is that a fact?’ Violet sat down at the table and poured herself a glass of wine.
Closing the door on the last lantern, Owen winked at Cadi. In the fading light he looked as tall as a tree.
‘Have you decided on a name?’ Cerys whispered.
Cadi thought about freedom. It was a big word, needing space to settle. The blackbird’s song fell across the garden.
‘Bird,’ she said. ‘I’m going to call her Bird.’ A gust of wind curled across the grass, caught in the daisies as they closed against the dusk. Cadi moved a plate to anchor the rug. ‘When I was little, Lili told me, when the wind blew, the birds tied the tops of the trees to the clouds so they wouldn’t blow away.’
‘That is so lush.’
From the shadows, Cadi heard a rustle. An owl called and she held her breath until it coasted into view, and down into her grandmother’s garden.
‘I won’t be a minute,’ she said, getting to her feet.
Cerys rescued scattered chocolates. ‘Careful.’
She sat on her grandmother’s bench. The scent of the earth rose, rich and moist. How many years must it have taken to create these gardens? And how quickly nature made the most of neglect; turning it into another kind of magic.
Whoever came to live in the big cottage, the gardens would be safe. Lili’s a guardian, she’ll keep watch.
Cadi hadn’t come looking for ghosts; she’d had her fill of them. If there were any left they must find someone else to haunt. Lili will take care of the ghosts too.
With her eyes closed, she listened. Save for the blackbird it was as silent as sleep. No ghosts, no whispers, only shadows in her mind, her father and her sister, finding their places.
‘You’re in my memory now,’ she said. ‘Where you’re supposed to be.’ Picking a sprig of meadowsweet, she tucked it into her hair.
She slid onto the rug, took the last chocolate.
‘Cheeky,’ Cerys said. In the light from the lanterns her hair shone like copper.
‘You saved it for me, you know you did.’
‘I thought the witches had got you.’ Cerys grinned.
‘Witches, my eye,’ Cadi said. ‘Anyone can be a witch; it’s magic that’s cool.’
‘If you say so.’ Cerys leaned over and kissed her on the lips.
‘What did you do that for?’
‘Because I can?’
It is almost done.
Listen…
Lili sits at her bedroom window looking out over the garden.
She knows gardens have night eyes and keep watch. The wind has drifted off with the birds. She runs her fingers across the jasmine flowers. They look like the last stars of summer. The grass is deep blue and Lili sees meadowsweet, oak leaves and silver feathers floating on the air.
Every night for days to come she will find them, walk out into her garden and catch them and gather them into bundles. She will tie them with strands of her hair, and hang them in the cherry tree.
Spells are Lili’s business.
Lilwen Hopkins, daughter of a witch woman, feels the one that has held them in thrall for so long lifting, as if the wind has mistaken it for old leaves.
She strokes the jasmine flowers and conjures a new spell, for remembering, and forgiving and for love.
Her cottage curls around her and she cannot imagine being anywhere else. Her parents whisper, the voices of her brother and his flower-faced child break into laughter. She gathers Teilo’s spirit to her and wraps it in peace.
On the outbreath of the night, she hears the whispered song of the rainmaker singing herself to sleep. Lili wonders if she has been all kinds of a fool who wasn’t supposed to go looking for love in August.
And remembers – she hadn’t been looking.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
A writer doesn’t just write a book. She has help.
The Team
Caroline, Helena, Lesley, Ali
The Teacher
Janet
First Readers
Ivy, Jenny, Terri-Lynne
Cheerleaders
Yolanda, Janey, Ceredwin
Allies
Jay and Lin, Molly, Deborah-Rose, Kat
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carol Lovekin has Irish blood and a Welsh heart. She was born in Warwickshire and was educated at a downmarket version of St Trinian’s. She continues to be homeschooled. During her life she has worked as a cleaner, a freelance journalist, a counsellor, a legal secretary and a shop assistant. She has lived in Wales since 1979, settling in Lampeter ten years ago.
Her stories reflect her love of the landscape and mythology of Wales. Carol is a committed feminist and has always found fiction the perfect vehicle for telling women’s collective stories. She began writing with a view to publication in her late fifties, having ‘suffered from arrested development for far too long.’ She now writes to keep up.
Other than reading – and when she isn’t writing – Carol’s interests include swimming, walking, collecting books and honing her considerable skills as a lady who lunches.
Ghostbird is her first traditionally published novel.
ABOUT HONNO
Honno Welsh Women’s Press was set up in 1986 by a group of women who felt strongly that women in Wales needed wider opportunities to see their writing in print and to become involved in the publishing process. Our aim is to develop the writing talents of women in Wales, give them new and exciting opportunities to see their work published and often to give them their first ‘break’ as a writer. Honno is registered as a community co-operative. Any profit that Honno makes is invested in the publishing programme. Women from Wales and around the world have expressed their support for Honno. Each supporter has a vote at the Annual General Meeting. For more information and to buy our publications, please write to Honno at the address below, or visit our website: www.honno.co.uk
Honno, 14 Creative Units, Aberystwyth Arts Centre Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 3GL
Honno Friends
We are very grateful for the support of the Honno Friends: Jane Aaron, Annette Ecuyere, Audrey Jones, Gwyneth Tyson Roberts, Beryl Roberts, Jenny Sabine.
For more information on how you can become a Honno Friend, see: http://www.honno.co.uk/friends.php
First published by Honno Press
‘Ailsa Craig’, Heol y Cawl, Dinas Powys, Wales, CF64 4AH
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© Carol Lovekin, 2016
The right of Carol Lovekin to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without clearance from the Publishers.
ISBN 978-1-909983-39-7 paperback
ISBN 978-1-909983-43-4 ebook
Published with the financial support of the Welsh Books Council.
Cover image: © Christoffer Relander/www.christofferrelander.com
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bsp; Cover design: Graham Preston