Fiery Gemstones (A Heston Witch Novella)

by Cassandra DeBrown

  While Elvira knew her spell casting was getting better, she also knew there was simply no way she could manipulate the family members standing in front of her. They were packing a lot more firepower than she could even dream of having, and that was individually. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She would just have to grin and bear the lecture that she knew was coming. She gave Edna and Evie dark looks as she rightly supposed they had been the ones to tattle on them.

  Correctly interpreting the look, Edna defended herself.

  “Nuh huh, don’t give me that look. I didn’t say anything about any spells.”

  That earned her a glare from both her sisters but she ignored them.

  “Besides what’s it for anyway?” she asked curiously.

  She was more than a little in awe of the magical skills her nieces wielded and she knew it would have to be a classic for the girls to risk leaving Red Rock Haven and the collective wrath of the senior generation just to try it out.

  Both girls kept quiet, part apprehensive, part defensive.

  Evie held out her hand.

  “Let’s have it then.”

  Catching Esther’s eye, Elvira gave a subtle nod.

  “Gramps, why don’t I just read it to you instead?” She asked.

  “Nice try, young lady. But I wasn’t born yesterday and I have much more experience at handling magic than you do. Read it to me indeed. Huh!” She snorted.

  With a sigh, Elvira handed over her spell.

  “It was worth a try,” she said.

  She watched her grandmother closely as she read through the spell and noticed her eyes widening as she got the gist of what they had been attempting to do.

  “Girls…, Girls, this is …” Both girls held their breath afraid of what was coming next.

  “This is truly amazing.”

  Evie could not help the proud smile that spread across her face. She tried to rein it in as she could see the girls’ mothers did not approve of her encouraging them instead of scolding them.

  That’s why they have you.

  Still she believed hard work should be recognised and the skill and patience that had gone into the spell gave her hope that the next set of Heston Witches would be truly formidable in their own right. Passing on the spell to her daughters for their inspection, she faced her granddaughters once again.

  “It really is a spectacular spell. And if it worked, if it worked,” she stressed, “it would be amazing.”

  Elvira preened a little at the praise.

  “But.” She looked both of them in the eye as she spoke. “It was foolhardy and irresponsible for you to have attempted this on your own, not to mention dangerous. And sneaking out at midnight. I expected better from you. Especially now, when we are under threat from things we do not fully understand.”

  Esther caught Elvira’s eye and shrugged. It was news to her too. No one had told them about any threats. Edna caught the puzzled thoughts with her gift and hastened to fill the girls in on what had happened despite the objections of their parents.

  “They are not children,” she told them. “They deserve to know. Besides we are going to need all the help we can get, especially if we end up running an E.” She smiled at Elvira. “I for one will appreciate having the next master speller by my side.”

  Evie yawned loudly, diverting attention from the not so subtle argument that was going on among the sisters. “Well, if you all are sure that nothing more exciting than this is happening tonight, I suppose it is time I found my way to bed. I’m not a spring chicken anymore.”

  A chorus of ‘Goodnight Evie’s’ and ‘Goodnight Gramps’ followed her as she left the room.

  “As for you, young ladies…,” Eden started.

  “We know, we know, they answered wearily.

  Social Etiquette for Heston Witches, again.

  “This time you get to read it four times over,” Ethos chipped in. “By sunset tomorrow.”

  “And I hate to break it to you girls, but you are grounded. Indefinitely. And no spell writing, casting or using magic of any kind.” Eden’s voice was firm. “This is not the time for such high jinks. Now get to bed, it’s late enough as it is.”

  As the cousins turned to leave the room, Eden called after them.

  “One last thing girls,”

  They turned back towards them, their mums and aunts, the three eerily similar yet different women who had loved and nurtured them throughout their lives. A pair of blue, black and green eyes looked back at them.

  “For what it’s worth,” Ethos spoke for all of them. “That was a damn good spell.”

  ******

  After leaving her cousin at her door, Elvira crossed over to her own room. Its pale blue and black tones calmed her spirits and gave her a sense of familiarity and rightness. This was her own space at Red Rock Haven and she had made it up to suit her own eclectic tastes. She wasn’t one for feminine frills and trimmings and she loathed pink.

  The walls were covered with posters of her favourite musicians and she had a full bookcase of leather bound books that she considered among her most prized possessions. She had some knickknacks and framed pictures of herself with her mum and the rest of the family scattered around the room.

  Her bed was a large queen-sized one, covered with loads of pillows and mounds of paper covered with her scribbling. Right now it was the only thing she could focus on. The only thing she wanted to focus on. She made her way over to it, walking slowly as she pulled off her tee shirt but left on her black slacks and light purple vest.

  She was feeling equal parts mortified and exhilarated. Mortified at the way she and Esther had been caught sneaking about like amateur cat burglars and chuffed to bits at the way first Evie and then the rest of the adults had complimented her wicked spell writing skills. She had a gift, she knew it. She just didn’t understand why they would not let her practice. How was she ever going to become the master spell writer she knew she could be if they never let her write any spells? How long were they going to cuddle her?

  She kicked off her slippers and collapsed onto the bed, letting her legs flop into the air before coming to rest gently on the floor. Her brunette hair flopped around her face as her head bounced off the mattress.

  Social Etiquette for Heston Witches Round 5.

  She huffed out a disgruntled breath and grumbled under her breath even though there was no one around to hear her. This time she had no doubt that the tome was going to get etched on each and every last brain cell that presently occupied her skull. No that it would stop her from doing what she felt had to be done. She just needed to improve her application of the one rule that wasn’t included in the long and boring book: thou shalt not get caught!

  Hmm. At least they didn’t confiscate the spell.

  Together, her and Esther had planned to sneak off and do their spell way from prying eyes and just do something magical and wonderful on their own for once. Something to make the rest of the clan proud of them. She shuddered at her own naivety. Of course they were bound to be caught. Keeping their spell casting a secret from the rest of the clan was almost impossible. Especially once Evie knew they were up to something. And with Aunt Edna around.

  “Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead and the other is not a Heston witch.”

  She tweaked the old song for her own amusement as she fluffed her pillows out just the way she liked them.

  She got up and made her way to the old dresser that had seen more teenage Hestons than she could imagine. Her mum had offered to buy her a new one or to have one made but she liked this one. It was old but it had character and running her hands over it now she felt a sense of connection to the many teenage Hestons who had used this dresser before her. She knew what she was going through was not unique to her and Esther.

  Looking into the mirror she straightened her back and pushed her hair behind her ears.

  “I am going to write another spell.” She announced to her reflection. “And this time I am going to do
it alone.”

  The risks of getting caught were way higher when she planned with her cousin. Besides no one would believe she’d do anything without Esther’s knowledge so that would help to hide her plotting and planning. She could hardly believe it herself.

  “At least this way Esther will get none of the blame if I’m caught.”

  She gave herself an impish wink.

  But I won’t get caught. Not this time

  #8

  If Hindsight’s 20/20, Foresight’s MUCH Worse.

  What do we do? What do I do?

  The thought kept ringing in Edna’s head. She had to sit down and do some serious planning and plotting. The POW wow she’d had with her sisters had left her eyes wide open and staring right at problem at hand. She’d had no idea just how dire their situation was and she had no idea what to do next.

  Preston Williams was becoming a bigger threat than she’d initially thought and she still didn’t know what his endgame was. Why was he so determined to buy their ancestral home from them? Why was he so focused on antagonising them all? Smart people didn’t usually take on the Hestons just for the fun of it. She shook her head. What was she missing?

  Edna closed her eyes and let her subconscious rise to the forefront. Her gift of prescience was a strong one, one of the strongest the clan had ever seen and she’d practiced long and hard to perfect her control over it. She willed herself to calm down and focus. She let herself travel through the layers of time and distance and tried to see what the future held for her and her family.

  She pictured the room where she had seen Preston and Burt discussing earlier and willed her astral self to eavesdrop on their meeting. Hovering near the ceiling, she saw the two of them talking in the same room. She couldn’t help the slight softening on her insides when she saw Burt. He was really cute. She couldn’t understand how he could bear to work for a slimy fellow like Preston but apart from that singular lapse in judgement, he struck her as being a good guy.

  Pay attention here, Edna, she told herself sternly.

  Focusing closer on the scene in front of her, it appeared that the two men were arguing. Preston seemed to be giving Burt instructions to so something and Burt didn’t appear to be going along with it. Seeing that Preston so angry and agitated made her grin fiercely.

  Good.

  It perked her up to see that he definitely had some bad days coming up in his immediate future and Edna could only hope she’d have some way to make it worse. She noticed Burt looking up at her again as if he could see her (What was up with that?) then he turned, said something sharply to his boss and left the room.

  She hovered there for a few minutes then saw one of Preston’s other employees, Lester entering the room.

  “Lester,” Preston said without preamble, “I’ve had enough of this Heston witch,” he spat.

  Goodie, I did have something to do with it, Edna gloated silently. At least that’s something to look forward too. I wish I could tape this for the girls to share.

  His next words wiped the smile off her face and sent a chord of fear thrilling through her insides.

  “This has gone on long enough. I am going to put an end to this insanity and make a statement for the whole of Silverline City to see. We will get rid of this Edna woman and then the rest of the family will cave like the frightened little girls they are.”

  Lester stood silently like a well-trained lap dog, waiting for the rest of the instructions from Preston. In sickening detail, he outlined a time and date for the very public spectacle that he had planned.

  Edna shook her head, feeling like cobwebs were clouding her mentally. She pushed forward to the date and time Preston had mentioned. It was like trying to run through a pool of thick sludge. Centring herself, she invoked a strengthening spell and muttered under her breath “We are many, we are one. I am…”

  She gritted her teeth as she felt her grasp on the future slipping away. The date Preston had named was just a couple of days away. If she saw it, the chances of it happening were more than ninety per cent. She squinted, trying to find Lester and herself in the many frames that were flickering past her eyes in quick succession as she frantically tried to determine if Preston’s plan would work.

  Suddenly she found them, together at Red Rock Haven. The house was decked up as if for a party and she could see herself with her family, poised and calm as usual, wearing her favourite red dress with a black lacy trim at the neckline. She watched the scene in mute terror for a couple of minutes and then she could hold on no longer. There was a swirl of grey across her visual field and she could hear screams and buzzing in her ears.

  Edna felt sick. It took all her concentration and effort to pull herself back to her physical body and let her consciousness rise to the fore. There would be nothing to be gained by panicking. She sat quietly for a few minutes, trying to grasp the gravity of the situation. She got up and walked to her bathroom, taking a good look in the mirror. Her startled blue eyes stared back at her, disbelief written all over her face.

  She had just seen herself get shot in the head and there was nothing she could do to stop it from happening. Her visions always came true.

  #9

  Our destiny lies in our heritage.

  The day had been mostly uneventful. There were no more overtures from the man the whole clan had come to dread. But his silence only left them uneasy. It seemed like he was content to bide his time after scaring the bejesus out of them all.

  The Hestons were doing their best to keep calm and carry on in the face of danger. Their way of life was being threatened but they were confident they would pull through it.

  This evening, a soft snow had started falling over the grounds. There were small mounds of snow piling up on the eaves and Red Rock Haven was looking most picturesque.

  After dinner the family of witches gathered in the sitting room and settled down around the flaming fire that Evie had insisted on. They could manipulate the weather if they really needed to but always tried to interfere with nature as little as they could. The consequence of using magic was a lesson drummed into each of them since childhood.

  Eden was braiding Elvira's hair where she sat quietly on the carpet, resting her head on her lap. Esther was reading a book while the others were just sitting around enjoying the fire and each other’s company.

  “Gramps,” Esther called from her seat by the window. She tossed her book aside and went to kneel beside her grandmother.

  “Won’t you please tell us a story?”

  It was an old tradition and was the way family lore was passed down from one generation of Hestons to the other from the earliest of times.

  “Aren’t you girls getting a little too old for a granny’s stories?” Evie asked affectionately, running her hand over her granddaughter’s hair.

  “Isn’t it time you girls started telling me stories, modern tales and all that?”

  “We’ll never be too old for your stories,” Elvira chipped in from her Eden’s lap.

  Please, Edna added silently, reaching out to touch her mother’s mind. It would help to take our minds off things.

  “Ok then,” Evie agreed. “Just this once.”

  She took a swig of her hot chocolate and settled back to make herself as comfortable as possible. She glanced over at Ethos and Edna and smiled to see even Eden and Elvira had paused to hear the start of the story. She took a moment to decide what tale to tell them and decided to start at the beginning. She had always believed that the past held the answers to the present. It was knowing where in history to start looking that complicated things.

  “Long ago, in the ages before the worlds began…”

  In her strong yet soothing voice she told the story of how the first Hestons had settled in and around Silverline City. How they had discovered the silver ore and traced the threads of silver to the base of the two trees. The two trees that were said to guard the entrance to the path that led to the east side of Eden. The two trees that had played a part in the co
ming of age ceremonies of Heston witches for thousands of years and the River Pishon that kept them flourishing year after year. She told them how they had been blessed to be descended from the Earth Mother herself, Eve, the wife of Adam.

  “We are Heston witches my darlings. We are many…” She concluded.

  “We are one,” the rest of the family chorused.

  “Now, the tale is done, you girls need to get to bed and I need to talk to you ladies,” she pointed at her daughters. “I think I know what your property developer is after.”

  She could tell Esther and Elvira wanted to stay and hear the big secret but she wasn’t sure they were ready to hear what she had to stay. Esther would be going through her change anytime soon, getting her gemstone and coming into her full powers. Elvira still had a year to go. It wasn’t fair to burden them with stuff they couldn’t hope to avoid anyway. She couldn’t change their heritage. She couldn’t turn their destinies in any given direction, either good or bad. But she could give them a few more days of childhood.

  “Girls,” she said firmly, refusing to be swayed. “Good night.”

  After they left following hugs and kisses all around, the other ladies gathered round.

  “It isn’t necessarily Red Rock Haven he’s after,” she told her daughters. “He’s after something else.”

  “Evie, no offense but we had kind of gathered that already.” Eden was in no mood for dramatics.

  “Eden,” Edna scolded. “Give her a minute.”

  “It’s alright lovely; I can hold my own if one of my offspring is getting feisty with me. You don’t have to fight everyone’s battles you know,” she ended sagely. “Telling that story reminded me of something. This has happened before, centuries ago. From what you described Preston as doing at the dinner you had, it occurs to me that he might belong to the same order. Periodically over the ages, the children of Seth try to take over Silverline City and Red Rock Haven for one reason and one reason only. They are not after the property itself at all.”

  The sisters were quiet for a moment, absorbing Evie’s words, trying to decipher what she was on about. Eden got it first. She was the one on point when it came to dealing with the magical community anyhow.