by Laura Sibson
Tess holds a hush puppy in one hand and a chicken wing in the other. She dips the hush puppy in the sauce first. “Yum.” Then she dips the wing in the hot sauce and eats that. “Mmm. Sweet and spicy heaven.”
Although fixing Rhia’s eyebrows and sharing all this junk food is helping to bond us again, I can’t help but consider what Rhia said about us not knowing one another that well. I wipe my hands clean. “Listen, I’ve been thinking,” I say.
“Sounds serious. What’s up?” Rhia asks as she grabs a hush puppy.
“So, I’ve told you each that I get why you took those items from me. That you were right about how they were affecting me. But”—I take in a breath and let it out—“it hurt that you made me think you were helping me just to take them.”
Rhia and Tess stop eating. They look at one another and have one of those unspoken conversations. Rhia speaks.
“We were helping you. We were worried,” she says. “What would you have done in our place?”
“I don’t know. Maybe tell the person that they are in danger, that the items were having a bad effect on them?”
“Do you think you would have listened though?” Tess asks. “You were basically obsessed with that watch and picture.” She sets down her chicken wing.
They aren’t wrong. I smush my mouth to the side. “Yeah, I’m not sure I would’ve listened.”
Rhia speaks up. “Besides, we didn’t know what to expect. We weren’t sure how much those things were affecting you—what they may have caused you to do.”
I wipe my mouth with a napkin. “Well, because of that—maybe you both should have some sort of protection. I don’t want either of you to ever feel afraid of me.” I look from one to the other.
“We don’t—” Tess starts to protest, but I level a look at her.
“You were. You basically told me you were,” I say.
“What do you have in mind?” Rhia asks, licking hush puppy sauce from her fingers.
“I found this.” I pull out a protection spell I’d jotted down and hand it over. “What do you think?”
Rhia reads it carefully. “With these ingredients and the right words, this spell should protect against possession, related mind control attempts, and unwanted magical influence in general. I’m willing to try it. Tess?” Rhia asks.
“I am definitely down with locking out any mind control attempts,” Tess says, as she starts to gather up the trash from our meal. “But is it necessary?”
“If you two are serious about continuing this search with me, let’s be as prepared as possible,” I say. I pile up our paper plates and toss them in the trash.
“Speaking of being prepared, this might help you, too, Edie,” Rhia says, as she rereads the spell.
“Really? How?”
“I’m not totally sure, but it sounds like it could protect you from the corrupted magic in those items. So you’re safe to find the rest of them.”
“Let’s do it,” I say.
“Mind if I take the lead?” Rhia asks.
“Lead away,” I say.
“Magical protection bags coming up!” Rhia says.
“After we get the rest of this mess cleaned up,” Tess adds.
“Sure thing, Mom,” Rhia says. Tess throws a balled-up napkin at her. I down the rest of my root beer and let out a big burp.
“Nice one!” Rhia says.
“Root beer burps are the most impressive of all burps,” I say.
“Cheers to that.” Rhia tips her bottle to me, drinks it, and lets out her own big burp. We both start giggling.
“You’re both gross,” Tess says.
After we clean everything up, Rhia gets started on the protection bags. “First, I need three hairs from a witch. Edie, would you do the honors?”
I tilt my head toward Rhia so that she can pull out three hairs. I feel her hands in my hair and I wish that it was for a different reason.
“Got it,” Rhia says.
“Ow!” I say, rubbing my head. “That was more than three!”
“I needed three for each bag. And stop complaining. You’ve got plenty more.”
Rhia separates the hair and adds some to each bag. Tess has donned a paper flower crown from one of the baskets in the shop and she’s admiring the look in a mirror. “Tess, can you grab three pieces of obsidian?”
“What can I do?” I ask.
“The hawk feathers are near the checkout counter. I need three of those as well.”
Tess brings the obsidian and I hand over the feathers.
“What’s next?” Tess says.
“Are there any robin’s eggs? Maybe on top of the tincture display?”
“They’re blue, right?” Tess calls from across the store.
“Pale blue, yeah,” Rhia answers.
“You have one here.”
“That’ll be enough.”
I drift around tables and wander by bookshelves and wall hangings. I see this store and everything in it so differently than the first time I stepped foot inside, wearing the armor of a skeptic. Rhia, it seems, has disarmed me in more ways than one. I look at her. Her head is bent in concentration, her beautiful curls a cloud, just like the first time I saw her. I think of the close moments we’ve had. Could there be more between us? I’m scared to hope.
“Okay,” she says, looking up. Her eyes catch mine. “What?” she says, smiling. “Do I have something on my face?”
I shake my head, embarrassed to have been caught looking.
“I need nail clippings from each person,” Rhia announces.
“Ew, really?” I ask.
Rhia shrugs. “Unless you’d rather contribute a tooth or some bone.”
“I second Edie’s ew. How did I end up with you two weirdos?” Tess says.
“Well, you were my first friend when I moved here when I was eight, so I’d say it was Fate,” Rhia says.
“And I found you on the bike trail. Again, Fate,” I say to Tess.
She holds out her hand to allow Rhia to clip her nails. “I need to talk to this Fate person.”
Rhia catches the nail clippings and places them in each bag. She then ties the bags three times with a white silk string and then does the same thing again with a black silk string.
“For increased protection,” she says. “It’s perfect that the moon is basically still full tonight because this will be stronger.”
“It’s a full moon?” I had lost track of the lunar cycle.
“Technically, it was full last night. Hey, didn’t you say that getting to the magical place in the woods is best on a full moon?” Rhia asks.
“I can only take people with me on a full moon.”
“Oh, well, too bad it was technically full last night,” Tess says.
Rhia narrows her eyes at Tess. “That didn’t sound sincere. What’s up?”
“The party at the barn!” Tess says. “Plus, I thought you wanted to get the dog tags next.”
“Let’s wait on the dog tags. GG said not to be in the cemetery at night right now.”
“Also because of the full moon?”
“Yeah.” I frown. “Who knew that magic is so connected to the moon cycle?”
Rhia stops what she’s doing to give me a look. “Um, only everyone everywhere.”
Tess starts laughing. “Yeah, E, even I know that the moon is like the feminine power center.”
“Does that make it a witch thing though?” I ask. “Seems like just a female thing.”
“Witches are like next-level humans, so yeah,” Rhia says.
For so long I’d resisted what I am. After what had happened with fire back in middle school, I decided it would be best if I were like everyone else. But the thing is, I’m starting to see there is no everyone else. Every person is an individual with some attributes that they like about t
hemselves and others that they struggle with. Maybe my attributes and struggles are pretty different from other people’s, but that didn’t mean that I need to be alone with them.
Rhia hands the spell bags to me. I look at her blankly.
“Say something,” Rhia says.
I stare at the bags in my hands like they are going to sprout teeth and bite me. To be honest, I’m not sure that they won’t. “Like what?”
“Words for protection.” Rhia pushes a stray curl away from her face.
“Seriously? Just make up a spell?”
Tess slides into the chair next me and starts shuffling a deck of tarot cards that sits nearby.
“Why not?” Rhia says.
“I don’t know, I thought that maybe there’s some Supreme Court of Witches who makes them up or approves them or something.”
“Remember about intention?” Rhia lights a stick of incense, blows out the flame, and waves the smoke toward her face. “Breathe in. Center yourself. Hold your intention in your mind and let the spell come out.”
Rhia’s supportive guidance brings to mind Mom’s calming technique. Despite that, I’m not feeling encouraged. “But I haven’t been able to do any real magic at all since the tree.”
“What about these?” Rhia points to her eyebrows.
“That was basic magic.”
“Says the witch who couldn’t perform any spells only a few weeks ago.”
“Fair,” I say.
I hold the bags in one hand for a moment. I center my mind and consider my intention and then find the words that match it best. When I’m ready, I place my other hand over the bags. “May these bags extend protection to me, Rhia, and Tess, so that we may be immune from unwanted magical duress.”
The bags glow with golden light.
“There,” Rhia says. “You did it.”
“I did it?”
She takes two of the bags from my hands, but I’m still stunned. “Didn’t you see the glow?” she asks.
“Yeah, but I didn’t believe that I could.”
“I never doubted,” Rhia says. “Duress, though?”
“Yeah,” I say. “Making someone do something against their will.”
“I know what duress means. Way to work an SAT word into a spell.” She rolls her eyes.
I stick my tongue out and she laughs.
She hands one bag to Tess. “Make sure to keep this on you at all times.”
“Even when I’m with Jorge?” Tess cocks her head and stares at the bag, no doubt trying to figure out how to keep it on her when she has nothing else on her.
“No, not when you’re with Jorge, I guess.” Rhia sighs out her exasperation. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“Oh my gods, seriously? We are going to your magical woods to find the key. Keep up!” Rhia says.
“I should have been more specific. The full moon needs to be in the sky. It needs to be dark,” I say.
“Guess I can’t convince you to go to the barn instead?” Tess asks. “Jorge says the party is already bumping.”
“Bumping, really?” Rhia says.
“Guess that’s a no, then,” Tess says.
While we wait for the moon to rise, Rhia reads our tarot with a simple three-card spread. After reading Tess’s, Rhia shuffles and reads mine. “This first card, the Eight of Swords, suggests that you’ve been standing in your own way.”
I wobble my head back and forth. “Probably.”
She points to the card in the center position. “The Moon is about anxiety or wariness. Like you know something bad is coming and you can’t do much about it.”
All I can do is laugh nervously.
When she gets to the final card, she laughs. I smile in response. “What is it?”
“Well, the Three of Wands is sort of like a group project card. Like you’ve got a plan and then you need to pull in some people to help.”
“Tarot for the win!” Tess says.
The discomfort I had from hearing about the first two cards dissolves. Maybe I was stubborn in the past, getting in my own way. But now, no matter what’s coming my way, I’ve got people. That simple truth glows in me like the spell I just performed.
“There was something I wanted to ask about your mom’s journal,” Rhia says to me as she’s putting her deck away.
“What’s that?”
“It was about the titles of the charms. Do you have the journal with you?”
“Always.” I pull it from my bag.
Rhia flips through the pages until she reached the first spell. “See this?” She points to the title of the spell. The first letter is bigger than the others and it’s in green ink, not like the rest of the purple ink in the book. “And then look here and here.” Rhia shows me the next two spells. “Did it seem strange to you that the titles didn’t follow a pattern?”
“Didn’t give it a thought. Figured Mom made up the titles as she went along.”
“It’s awkward, though, right? Like the first one says ‘A Charm for Stubborn Locks’ but the next one says ‘Charm to Keep Dry.’ Then the third one is ‘Old Bind-Breaking Ritual’ but the fourth one says ‘Retrieval Charms’ and then ‘No Unwanted Marks Charm.’ ”
Tess leans over to look as Rhia flips from one to the next to the next.
“That last one did stop me,” I admit. “Like why didn’t she just call it Erasure Charm or something else more straightforward?”
“Acorn!” Tess says.
“What?” Rhia and I both turn to look at Tess like she’s on another planet altogether.
Tess points to the first letter of each spell. “When you put them all together, the first letters spell acorn. Does that mean anything to you?”
A shiver runs through me. “You, Tess Sullivan, are a genius,” I say.
“Ooooh, no one’s ever called me that before!”
I pull the necklace from beneath my shirt. “My mother made this for me. It came with a note that said ‘For when you need me with you.’ She could infuse jewelry with emotion. And I swear that sometimes when I’m feeling most alone, this acorn gives me comfort.”
“No way!” Tess says, her eyes growing big.
Rhia raises an eyebrow. “Maybe your mom infused this one with something stronger than just emotion.”
I pull the necklace from over my head so that we can look at it more closely.
“Hang on a minute,” I say, getting an idea. I take the acorn in my hand and give a little twist to the cap. It comes off like a lid.
“What’s in there?” Tess asks, leaning in.
Using my fingernails, I tug out a tiny vial sealed with a rubber stopper. I hold it up to the light.
“I’m not one hundred percent sure, but this might be my mother’s—”
“Blood,” Rhia finishes.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
EDIE
“I’m missing a great party for this,” Tess says as Rhia locks up the shop.
“First—we’re all missing the party,” Rhia says. “Second, I doubt it’ll be better than visiting magical woods. And third, there’s always another party.”
“But Jorge is leaving for boot camp soon, and I want to spend every possible minute with him.”
“If you all don’t want to come, I can find the key alone,” I say, though I’m not 100 percent sure that’s true. Tess and Rhia helped me find the first two items—plus the map. I haven’t done any of this on my own. And if the key is corrupted like the photo and the watch, I hate to admit it, but I’ll probably need backup.
“She can be with Jorge anytime,” Rhia says. “It’s a nearly full moon tonight. And besides, don’t fall for it. This isn’t about Jorge. It’s about fear.”
“Fine,” Tess says, as she unlocks the Jeep. “It’s about fear. Healthy fear.”<
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“Speaking of which, do you two have your protection bags?” Rhia asks.
“Right here,” I say, patting my backpack.
“Yup,” Tess says, patting her front pocket.
“Let’s go.”
We pile into Tess’s Jeep and head for the entrance to the woods. From there, I lead the way, and it feels even more natural than it did last time, like we’re living that Three of Wands card, in this together as it should be.
“This is the spot,” I say when we reach the old hawthorn tree.
“This is the magical woods?” Rhia looks around. I can tell that she’s disappointed, though she’s not saying so.
“No, this is the magical spot where we need to be to enter the magical woods.”
“Like a portal?” Tess asks.
“Yes, like a portal. We need to hold hands and close our eyes.”
Rhia, Tess, and I join hands. I chant the words that I remember from the night of solstice, when I confronted GG. “With secrets deep, woods wise and tall, keep our garden hidden from all. Know me as a Daughter in this place; reveal to me now our sacred space.”
I feel the rippling sensation and the brightness on the other side of my closed eyelids. I squeeze the girls’ hands and we open our eyes.
“Whoa,” Tess says.
“It’s beautiful.” Rhia breathes out the words as she turns in a big circle.
Seeing it through their eyes, as though for the first time, I’m reminded of the beauty of magic and the power of this place. The cherry blossoms fall like blessings while the hawthorn shows off her magical perpetual cycling through seasons.
“All we need to do is find a single key hidden somewhere here,” I say. “How hard could that be?”
“Yeah, piece of cake,” Rhia adds.
“I mean, what could go wrong?” Tess asks.
We all laugh at our own string of clichés, but I hear the nervousness in my own laugh. Last time I touched an item, I passed out in a public place.
“Seriously, though, how could you leave all this behind?” Rhia says. “I mean, I get what happened and everything. I do. But still.”