The large doors weren’t locked, so I pulled one open and we headed out. I freed Toby to go do his thing, thinking I needed to find a bathroom soon myself. Strolling around the top terrace as I waited, I didn’t hear the door behind me.
“You do know she doesn’t have a penny to her name, don’t you?” Paulette’s voice behind me made me jump and wish I had taken my own potty break first.
Toby, hearing someone who wasn’t me speaking, ran back toward me, giving a short warning bark. I saw Jake appear on the other side of the ward, pacing. I snapped my fingers at Toby and he came around and sat at my side, looking up at me expectantly.
“Really? She hasn’t said a thing to me about that. Nor has she asked for any help.” I wasn’t rich or even well off, but Paulette didn’t know that. “How far behind is she? I’m happy to get her caught up.”
She eyed Toby warily. “Her health and her memory are failing and she’s confused most days. There are days she barely leaves her room. She has huge medical bills, which she’s fallen behind on.”
I pretended to be shocked. “What? Doesn’t she have Medicare? I can help her get signed up. She should have been on it ages ago!”
With a livid look, Paulette decided to switch tactics. “Listen, who are you? She’s never mentioned having a niece, not once!”
“Ouch! We’ve never really been close, but that hurts! Well, if she’s that bad off financially, I can help her sell a few things, if it comes to that. That car, maybe a couple acres . . . we’ll get it figured out. I’m so glad we had this talk and that you all take such good care of her.” With that I turned and went back into the house, not looking back. I would have bantered longer to try to find out what her angle was but my bladder was sending out distress signals now and I really needed a bathroom. Maybe I should have asked her for directions.
***
Zara, where’s the bathroom? I’ve got to pee something fierce! Hoping the cat could and would direct me without announcing it to everybody, I waited, dancing a bit. Toby thought I wanted to play and started hopping around, tail wagging. Jake disappeared as soon as we were out of the dining room.
It’s to your left, down two doors. And we call it a water closet here.
Thank you! You’re awesome! I left Toby just outside the little room and dashed in, shutting the door to the water closet quietly as possible.
Of course I am. Can that dog give you directions when you need them? Hmm?
No, but he is an awesome protector. I’ve never felt so safe in my life. Which was absolutely true. Between Rand, Toby, and Jake, I had never felt so protected.
I think you might be in for a surprise, she said with amusement. Are you finished yet? The tension in this room is pretty thick.
My bladder is old, give me a break! I’m washing my hands now. Be right there! Hey, did you overhear that conversation with Paulette outside just a minute ago?
Bits of it. I can only monitor so much at once.
Hurrying back to the parlor, I walked into what felt like a battle of wills. Stella’s demeanor was relaxed, Zara on her lap, but her gaze was steely. Grandmam sat across from her, chin jutted out determinedly, her narrowed eyes locked on my aunt. Rosemary stood off to the side, watching, while Rand and Jake waited for me next to the entryway.
“Everything okay? Jake disappeared suddenly and seemed agitated when he reappeared.” Rand whispered, as he turned away from whatever drama was happening in the room.
“Yeah, I’ll tell you about it later, okay?” He nodded. “What’s going on here?”
“Your aunt and Elmer’s grandma have been trading insults, for the most part, though some of it’s been interesting. You really haven’t missed too much. Popcorn would be nice right about now, though.”
Leaving Toby next to Rand and Jake, I sat next to my aunt.
“Okay, then, where were we? The Turned, right?” I looked from my aunt to Grandmam, but neither were willing to break their stares. Oh for . . . standing up I stepped between them. “There. You both lost. Now can we get back to what we were discussing in the dining room, please?”
Nicely done, witchling! Zara's voice was even more smug, if that was possible.
Witchling? What the heck? Ignoring her, I returned to my seat. Stella had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. Grandmam, not so much. Who knew two old ladies could rival kindergartners for childish behavior?
“Your aunt,” Grandmam spat the word like it tasted bad, “has been trying to convince us there’s such a thing as good witches and bad. She also said my people and hers used to be allies. I think my Council would know if this were true. I say she’s full of it!”
“I thought I asked you all to wait for me before you started! How about we listen, and decide who’s full of what, after she’s done. That’s not a question, by the way.” I wondered if Harris could bring us wine. I had a feeling I would need a glass or three before this day was over.
If you’re serious, I can have Stella ring for Harris. Stella rarely imbibes but she does keep a nice selection of excellent vintages on hand. The fact that I paused to consider Zara’s offer was a good indication of my stress level. Zara’s offer must have been private, because Stella looked at me questioningly.
“Sorry, just thinking. Anyway, what did I miss?”
“I was trying to explain the difference between a normal witch and a Turned witch to Gertrude and Rosemary. Gertrude became quite perturbed.”
“What exactly is a Turned witch?” My curiosity over this was greater than worrying about what Grandmam thought.
“Let me start at the beginning. Originally, witches were overseers of all of the magickal communities, or Others, as I believe you called them earlier.”
“Jeremy’s people call them paranormals, or paras, for short,” Rand supplied helpfully.
“Hey, peanut gallery, let her talk!” I gave Rand a half-grin to soften my words and got an eye roll in response.
“Yes, well, whatever you want to call them, we were originally overseers, or caretakers. We handled grievances, Made Items—”
“Now wait just a minute!” Grandmam interrupted. “Now you’re trying to say that our Items of Power came from witches? That’s preposterous!”
“Grandmam, please! Let her speak! If you can’t listen and be civil I will send you back. Then you’ll have to get everything from Rosemary secondhand.” Raising my brows at her, I waited.
She harrumphed, sitting back into the loveseat with her arms crossed petulantly.
Stella resumed what she was saying, as if there hadn’t been any interruption. “We Made Items for the Sighted and Others of the magickal community, and we policed those communities when needed. This was not what we chose, it’s what we were elected to by all.” She reached over and rang a small bell on the table. “I’m sorry, but I haven’t spoken at length like this in a long while. I’m afraid I need something to drink, would anyone else like anything?”
Rosemary declined and Grandmam just sat there sullenly.
“I could use either ice water or another sweet tea, please.” Now that I knew where the water closet was, I felt more comfortable hydrating.
Harris appeared within seconds. “You rang?”
I tried not to snicker, as the Addams Family butler’s voice flitted through my head. Harris’s voice was too nasally to pull it off, but maybe I could ask him to try later.
“Please bring us a pitcher of ice water and another of sweet tea, if you would, Harris.”
With a bow, the man turned and headed for the kitchen.
“Zara, would you be a dear and fetch those two Maker histories from my private library, please? You know the ones I refer to, yes?” Zara sat up at my aunt’s request and closed her eyes. Two small leather bound books appeared on the table in front of Stella.
I think all of our jaws dropped at that. Stella was kind enough not to say anything about our mouths hanging open catching flies, as Rosemary would say. That memory made me snap my mouth shut quickly.
What w
ere you saying earlier about the usefulness of dogs versus cats? Zara’s furry face was as smug as her tone.
“Thank you, Zara, dear. Roxanne, may I see your ring again, please?”
I knew which one she referred to and I also knew Grandmam was going to raise a fuss as soon as I handed it to Stella. Even as I pulled the Protection Ring out of my pocket, Grandmam’s eyes narrowed. Before handing it to Stella, I pointed at Grandmam. “One word and you go back. I mean it!”
Rosemary covered her mouth, whether in shock that I spoke to her grandmother that way, or to smother a laugh, I didn’t know. All that mattered was that Grandmam remained tight lipped as I dropped the ring into my aunt’s waiting hand.
She started flipping through one book, mumbling to herself as she searched for whatever it was she was looking for. Not finding it, she started on the other book.
“Here it is!” She turned the book around, setting it on the table between herself and Grandmam. Pointing to the page, she set the ring next to it. “This is the witch who Made your family’s Items of Power. Roxanne, do you have the journal?”
Sighing, knowing I would get an earful about all of this eventually, I pulled it out of my bag. As I opened it to the page showing the ring that now sat on the table, I looked at the name of the Maker before turning the journal around and setting it next to Stella’s book and the ring.
Grandmam’s curiosity must have been greater than her animosity, because she leaned forward to read. Rosemary walked over and did the same, her eyes widening.
“Well, I’ll be!” Rosemary looked at me, eyes wide. “Your aunt has the history of our Items. The names, they match! It has our family’s name in here, too. But, look at this, it lists more Items than what we have.” She looked at her Grandmam questioningly as she sat down beside her.
“This could still be a trick, you know.” Grandmam sounded resigned now and less convinced that Stella was somehow making this up. She sat back heavily, closing her eyes.
“Grandmam?” Rosemary's concern must have affected the older woman, because she seemed to pull herself together.
“I remember a couple of those other Items. My mother was wearing one of the pendants on that list the day she disappeared. And this ring here,” she pointed at one of the descriptions in Stella’s book, “I’ve seen it, but it was a long time ago. I don’t know what happened to it.” She met Stella’s gaze, less sure of herself now. “I don’t understand how you could have this information.”
“It seems there has been too much knowledge lost over the past several centuries about both our kinds and what we used to be to one another. Out of curiosity, where did you think your Items of Power came from?”
Grandmam thought about it, then shook her head. “I thought they were made by the Elders in my family, long ago. We were told the knowledge on how to charm them had been lost.”
“I see. Wouldn’t the name of the Maker listed in the journal be one of your family, then?” Grandmam’s brow wrinkled—well, wrinkled more—at my aunt’s question. “When the Turned started stealing power from other magickal beings in the community, it created fear and division among all. As I said earlier, it’s been a very long time since one of the Sighted have visited my home. The last was your father, I believe, Roxanne. And that was long before you were even conceived.”
“So about forty-some years?” That was quite a long time.
“Er, no, it was a bit longer than that,” she said evasively.
Harris walked in at that moment, carrying a heavy tray with the water, sweet tea, and glasses. Rosemary and Grandmam both sat up and looked around, startled, as they felt the spell Stella had on the room disperse or whatever happened to it. As the butler sat the tray on the coffee table, he spied the books and the ring that still sat on it and immediately angled to try to see them better. Zara jumped over onto the table and laid down, her big body covering all of it. He glared at her, eliciting a toothy yawn from the feline.
“Will that be all, Madam?” he asked, ignoring me.
“Yes, thank you. We will serve ourselves. Please let us know when dinner is ready.” Stella turned to me, signaling his dismissal. He turned to leave, noticed Toby sitting to one side of the entryway, watching him, and cautiously edged his way around. Rand said something to Toby, who woofed in response, and Harris nearly ran out of the room.
As soon as he left the room, Zara jumped back over to Stella’s lap. Stella graciously poured two glasses of sweet tea, handing me a glass as she took a long drink of her own.
Taking a quick sip, I asked, “I still don’t understand who or what the Turned are? Can we get back to that?”
“Yes, I suppose we do need to address them. To put it simply, the Turned were once normal witches, just like myself. They gave up their duties and their positions as caretakers to pursue power and an extended lifespan. By absorbing the energies of other magickal beings they can live twice as long, possibly more, than what we normally do. And their magick is corrupted because of what they are doing. This started happening before I was born, I don’t know exactly when. Some have said it started with one witch who didn’t want to admit it was her time, and was experimenting with ways to cheat death.”
Rosemary huffed. “Well, that’s stupid! If I would’ve known sooner what it was like on the Other side, I would’ve—oomph!” She rubbed her ribs where Grandmam had elbowed her.
“You know better than to break the rules, girl!” Grandmam’s voice shook with anger. “Our family would lose esteem with the Council and you would be punished!”
“Pshaw! Those blowhards don’t know their heads from their overpadded behinds!” Rosemary turned back to us. “What I’m wondering now, is why the Council doesn’t know anything about any of this. Turned witches and . . . what do you call non-Turned witches? Normal witches? Just witches?” At Stella’s nod, she continued. “Regardless, I wanna know why they either don’t know or haven’t told us any of this! Why wasn’t any of this in our journals?”
“Do not speak of the Council that way, Rosemary!” There was more than anger in the older woman’s voice now, there was also fear. She continued, sounding uncertain. “Our journals only go back a few generations. I don’t know why none of this was ever mentioned.”
Stella watched the two women’s exchange with interest, sitting back as she stroked Zara’s back.
“Your existence on the Other side sounds very . . . interesting. I would like to meet this Council you speak of, Gertrude.” Grandmam’s attention snapped to Stella, her expression affronted. Stella wisely changed the subject. “If I may, ladies, you are both from Michigan?” she asked. Grandmam nodded curtly. “As far as I know, that territory only had two witches to oversee it originally, and they both Turned early on. I don’t think there was ever a very large magickal community there to begin with, so there hasn’t been anyone sent to do anything about the situation. That might have had some bearing on your family’s records. As it is, I’m the last non-Turned witch in this territory and it’s all I can do to keep the other two that have Turned at bay.”
I jumped on my chance to ask her about extorting money from Jeremy’s place. “What about the protection spells you’ve done for some of the Others in this area? Jeremy says he has to pay you.”
She blushed. “That wasn’t exactly my idea but it’s worked out for all. As a Maker, I am often called upon to craft and imbue various objects for the communities. That was well and good when there were three witches to call upon. Now that I am the last to hold the fort here, so to speak, it’s put quite a strain on my magick. I’m not as young as I used to be and protection spells are not my specialty—they take a lot of energy to maintain, and they all wanted them. When I was initially asked to do this, I had to refuse. They approached me a second time and offered a solution, of sorts. They pay me partly in money and partly in . . . energy. It’s allowed me to be completely financially independent, though I’m hardly a pauper.” That answered that question, I guess. “And with the small sips of energy they gi
ve me, I’m able to keep the magick up and maintain the protection spells. Please realize that, in the past, many of the magickal folk came to me for Items that bordered on ridiculous. Since this agreement was reached rumors started to circulate that dissuaded those types of requests. I decided to let them.”
This made me feel so much better. I already felt a bond with my aunt and I hadn’t wanted to believe that she was some kind of magickal mob boss. Even Rosemary and Grandmam were nodding sympathetically now, which amused Rand, still standing by the entryway.
“Do any of you have any more questions? If not, I may need a nap before dinner. I’m afraid I tire more easily these days.” Paulette hadn’t been exaggerating that, apparently.
“Go ahead and lay down if you need to, Aunt Stella. I can come back tomorrow, if it would be easier on you.” She hesitated at my offer, looking torn. Zara patted her with her paw and Stella looked down at her, clearly sharing a private conversation. Turning back to Rosemary and Grandmam, only to find them watching us with interest, I faltered a bit. “Um, are you guys ready to go back?”
“Sure. We don’t want to miss out on all the good stuff at the smorgasbord, anyway.” Rosemary stood, pulling her grandmother up with her. “You sure know how to keep life interesting, don’t you, Roxie?” Her laugh took the edge off her words.
“I wouldn’t mind my life being way less interesting,” I said dryly.
Grandmam gestured at the ring and the journal still on the table. “You take care of those, don’t go leaving them here.”
Dutifully, I picked the ring up and slipped the journal back in my bag. “Yes, ma’am.” She gave me a hard look as if expecting sass.
Stella and Zara finished their conversation and Stella stood, still holding the cat. She held her hand out to Grandmam. “It really was a pleasure to meet you, Gertrude. You, as well, Rosemary. I hope we can do this again very soon.”
Grandmam stared at the proffered hand for a moment before reaching out and giving it a short shake, releasing it quickly. I think my aunt was as surprised as I was. “I can’t say this was a pleasure, by any means, but I thank you for your hospitality, Stella.” She paused, then stood a little straighter. “And you can call me Gertie, everyone else does. We’ll talk again soon, I’m sure. I’m going to be asking some questions on my side. There’s too much information that’s been lost, it seems, and I find that mighty suspicious.”
Seeing Witchy Things Page 17