by Tamsin Baker
“So, you’re part of a religious cult?”
Cassie laughed. “Have you seen any cults around here?” This is hard. I wish I’d planned in advance what to say. “We have a set of beliefs based on respect for nature, and are guided by the seasons of the Earth in making choices in how we live our lives. We are also known as Wiccans.”
“And everyone in Harrow is a Wiccan?”
“Not necessarily everyone, but most people are.”
Daniel was quiet for a moment, and Cassie waited for the next question she was sure was coming.
“And do you hold ceremonies at different times of the year, and call upon the Goddess when you want something?”
Now it was her turn to be surprised. She hadn’t expected him to know anything about the practices of the clan. Perhaps he’d done research for a film script, or something like that. “Yes, we do. We don’t ask for unreasonable things, but seek her support for the seasonal crops, and rain when we need it—things like that.”
“And some your ceremonies might take place at night, even alone?”
There was a strange tone to his voice which puzzled her. “Some do. It depends on the circumstances.”
“And you mentioned a gift. What did you mean by that?”
“It is a gift that was passed down by my mother, and her mother before that. When I ask the Goddess for help, she always answers my prayers. The people of Harrow regard me as essential in guaranteeing agricultural success in the region.”
Daniel rubbed the side of his nose, frowning slightly as he absorbed this information. “Does everyone have a gift, as you put it?”
“It varies. Some people are intuitive, bordering on telepathic. Others foretell the future. I believe you’ve met Marnie. Her gift comes from the first people in this country, from whom she’s descended.” Cassie halted a moment, not sure how he would take what she next had to say. “Some people have the ability to transition to other forms—animals, for instance or birds.”
“Do you supply one of your potions for that?”
Cassie looked at him sharply “Of course not. My potions, as you call them, are for therapeutic purposes. The gifts people have are handed down through families and are bestowed by the Goddess.”
He reached out and took hold of her hand, rubbing the back of it with his thumb. “You’ll understand when I say I need some time to absorb this. If I wrote this into a film script, it would be perfectly acceptable, but to tell me that people transition into animals is stretching the bounds of credibility. I’m not saying I disbelieve you, but until I see it for myself, it sounds fantastical.”
“You probably won’t see anything like that. You’re an outsider and people will be careful what they say and do when you’re around. Nobody would want to threaten our way of life.”
“After the experience with the Muscal, nothing should surprise me, but you have.”
“Does that mean you don’t want further involvement with me?”
“Of course, I do. I need time to digest what you’ve told me, that’s all. I rather like having my own witch. There could be distinct advantages. I think you’ve already cast a spell on me.” He looked into her eyes and in an old-fashioned gesture, lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Perhaps I can deliver a little magic of my own.”
“You already have,” she whispered. “More than you’ll ever know.”
“Speaking of animals,” Daniel said, “I had an unusual experience at the beginning of week. I found a deer in my garden. I know feral deer roamed these hills, but hadn’t expected to find one in the garden. This animal wasn’t scared at all, and came quite close to the deck. It was a beautiful creature.”
An ice-cold dread seized Cassie’s heart. Amber. It had to be. “Daniel, listen to me. I know the picture I’ve just painted to you of life in Harrow and the people who follow the beliefs was quite benign—and it is—but be careful of the deer. Don’t let it near you and don’t touch it.”
“What are you saying, Cassie? What’s the harm in a beautiful animal like that? It was a doe, not a buck. They aren’t as aggressive, are they?”
“Trust me when I say, some things aren’t as they seem. The deer isn’t either.”
“Will the deer put a spell on me?” Daniel was clearly bemused. “This really does sound like a film script. I had better start taking notes.”
“I know, it sounds crazy. Do me a favor. Keep away from the deer. Okay?” It was time to change the subject. “By the smell that’s coming out of the kitchen, our dinner’s ready. It’s time to eat.”
Daniel didn’t stay that night. For one thing, the medication Cassie was on made her drowsy and for another, she wanted to give him some space.
“Daniel, I don’t want you to rush into a relationship with me when you might regret it later. Like you said, you need to digest what I’ve told you tonight and I want to allow you time to do that.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling a different heat to that she’d felt all week. It took all her strength to send him away.
“Cassie, I’m sure I can consider everything you’ve told me from here. We don’t even have to make love. I can just hold you while you sleep.”
“You wonderful man. I’ll miss you terribly the moment you step out that door, but I don’t want in any way to influence you while you think about what I’ve told you and what it means for any future we have together.”
By the time she shut the door behind him, she could feel sleep claiming her. She just managed to clean her teeth and give Monty a rub between the ears before falling into bed. Blissful sleep. She would contact Daniel again soon to see how he felt after having time to think, but for now, she could think no more. Sleep.
Chapter 11
As soon as he moved out of the reach of the sensor light at Cassie’s front door, the dark night surrounded Daniel like a possessive blanket. Not for the first time, he was reminded of the difference between country roads and illuminated city streets. It didn’t help that drifting clouds obscured the moon, but he knew the way home.
As he walked, everything Cassie had told him spun through his head. Some of it was fantastical. What was he getting himself into? People transitioning into animals? He snorted in disbelief, noting the way his breath frosted in the cold night air. Perhaps he was transitioning himself. Dragon, anyone? Maybe her floral concoctions caused delusional ideas. He’d already seen for himself how powerful they could be. Not that it changed his feelings for her.
She’s one amazing woman. As for her gift, if that’s what she believes, so be it. She must be embracing the power of positive thought and affirmations. Lots of people do that, some more successfully than others.
He could hear the call of different night birds, and was reminded of that first night, stumbling along the path that led to the clearing. This night was darker though, and he’d left his bush nymph behind him, probably by now tucked up in bed. Pity he wasn’t there with her.
A rustle in the bushes to his right startled him. He wheeled around, staring into the darkness, listening intently. Nothing. Probably just a rabbit. You’ll be jumping at your own shadow next. He had the creepy feeling that someone—something—was watching him. Telling himself he was only reacting to what Cassie had told him, he resumed his walk, slightly faster than before. High in a tree, he heard the sound of a mopoke. They were unusual birds. He never heard them in the city. Perhaps it was the same one. Somehow it was reassuring. The clouds cleared the moon again, and that was reassuring too.
The centre of town was quiet when he reached the main street. Street light cast pools of light along the sidewalk, and the roadside shrubbery was replaced by shopfront windows. Glancing in one reflective surface, Daniel could see that he was on his own. Nobody was following him. Not surprising, as the town streets appeared to be deserted. He could smell the pungent aroma of wood fires, and plumes of smoke could faintly be seen emerging from cottage chimneys. Curtains were drawn across the windows, permitting occasional slivers of light to
emerge at the edges.
The contrast was the Harrow Arms. Light spilled out from the windows, allowing Daniel to see the patrons inside. Some were recognisable. He’d gotten to know a few people on nodding basis. The door to the front bar was thrown open, and a figure filled the doorway, visible only in silhouette against the light behind him. It definitely was a male. That much Daniel could see, and the person seemed to be looking in his direction, focused on him. He shielded the streetlight from his eyes with a hand, straining to see who it could be.
Raff—it looks like Raff. Of course it might be, given it’s his local watering hole.
He waved, but there was no response. Perhaps it wasn’t Raff. The stare was intense. A shiver of unease rippled over him, and Daniel realised he was clenching his jaw. Dropping his hand, he turned towards the route home. He didn’t quite know why, but he now walked in the shadowed parts of the street. It was less exposed.
Just relax, mate. You’ve an over-active imagination tonight. Save it for the writing.
The figure in the doorway stepped out and began walking in the same direction as Daniel. That was a coincidence. Could he possibly be following? Odd thought. Why would he do that? Footsteps echoed behind him, ringing out against the hard road surface. Whoever it was had no interest in being stealthy. Daniel stopped and looked back. The figure, buried deep in the shadows, also stopped. The follower stood close to the fence, hidden from the light falling on the road.
The night sky clouded over again. Daniel started walking once more, and so did the stranger, the footsteps echoing his own. It was a relief to reach the turn-off to his own street, Russell Lane. Almost home.
Why should I be perturbed, for chrissake? This is a quiet country town.
As he approached Lane’s End Cottage, he heard the footsteps behind him quicken, breaking into a run. He turned around, and as the clouds cleared the moon, he saw the figure was bearing down on him. It was definitely Raff.
“Hey, mate” Daniel called. “I thought it was you. Bit late for a run, isn’t it?”
It was Raff but didn’t look like him. His normally full lips were drawn back in a rictus-like grimace, and his face had a greenish sheen. Was he ill? As he watched, Raff’s head appeared to elongate, with his hair slicked back over his head and his eyes, now glowing red, sliding around to a side position.
I must be hallucinating. What did Cassie give me this time?
Stumbling backwards, Daniel watched in horror as it appeared Raff was growing a tail. Then he couldn’t see. The air began to shimmer around him, so that everything looked distorted and out of focus. A low, humming noise echoed through his head, reminding him of the high pitch of a Buddhist singing bowl. Underlying that was a deep groan that burst from Raff’s throat, before morphing into a sibilant hissing.
His vision cleared and simultaneously, the humming subsided. Raff was no longer standing in front of him. In his place slithered a serpent—large, with shiny black scales streaked with emerald green. The snake reared up, it’s head level with Daniel’s.
“I warned you,” the creature hissed. “You don’t belong here. What makes you think you can steal my woman? Any Harrow woman, for that matter?”
The snake reared back in attack mode, its tongue making menacing flicking movements.
“I haven’t stolen anyone,” Daniel protested, his voice a strangled croak. He took a further step back, nearly tripping on the loose surface. He was about to turn and run, when movement at the corner of his eye caught his attention. It was the deer. Bloody hell, what next? She pranced around in circles, darting close to the snake and then pulling away again to a position of safety.
“Run!” Daniel called. “Get away while you can!”
The distraction was the brief moment the snake needed. As it lunged forward, Daniel heard a scream.
“Raphael, stop! You mustn’t do this!”
Who was that? The deer? It sounded like Amber’s voice. That was all he registered before the snake struck, sinking its fangs into his leg.
Red-hot pain radiated from the site. As he clutched his thigh, already numb, it crumpled beneath him, making it impossible to run. The serpent struck again, this time wrapping its body around him. The pain was indescribable, now white-hot. The last thing of which he was aware was the deer rearing up and trampling on the snake’s body, accompanied by a high-pitched screaming. Was it his voice or someone else’s? He didn’t know.
☐
It was a weird dream. Focussed on Daniel and the deer, and then a jumble of disconnected scenarios, and a drumming ceremony back by the stone in the clearing. The drumming got progressively louder. Her eyes flew open, taking a while to focus in the darkened room. It was disorientating, but she could still hear the drumming. No, it was knocking, and it was on her bedroom window.
Cassie slid hesitantly out of bed and reached for her dressing gown. Where was Monty when she needed him? What sort of guard cat was he? Padding softly to the window, she cracked the curtains apart a sliver and peered out into the night. Someone stood there, rapping on the glass. He wore a shaggy cloak, and his long hair was streaked with grey. It was the Boobook Man. She was shocked. He had never approached her before. She’d never even seen him this close up.
Nodding to him to indicate she had seen him, Cassie ran to the front door. He was waiting there by the time she opened it. Under the glare of the porch light she could see his cloak was made of feathers—speckled grey, brown and white feathers—falling from his shoulders almost to the ground.
“Come quickly.” He spoke urgently in a deep, gravelly voice. “The man needs your help. He is dying. He drew the wrath of the serpent. If you are not quick, it will be too late.”
“The man?”
“The one sent by the Goddess. Follow me.”
He didn’t wait for further response, but whirled around, changing as he did into the Boobook Owl. Taking flight, he flew into the nearby gum tree, his body blending with the colour of the bark so that she only knew where he was when he blinked his round yellow eyes.
Cassie ran to her workroom and threw a series of vials into her work bag, plus a flask of water. She dragged on jeans and jumper and jammed her feet into a pair of sneakers. No time for socks. The bird still sat in the tree when she ran outside, car keys in hand. It launched itself from the tree, flying whooshing circles overhead while she reversed out of the driveway and pointed the car in the direction of the town and Daniel’s house. The bird flew ahead, and Cassie followed his lead.
Turning into Russell Lane, she was met by a distressing scene. She could see Daniel on the ground, and not far away was Raff. A deer ran between the two men. Skidding to a halt, she jumped from the car and ran to where Daniel was lying. He was unresponsive and deathly pale. Touching his neck, she could faintly feel a pulse but it was incredibly slow. Too slow. Lifting one of his eyelids, she could see his eyes were dilated. He was barely hanging on. She couldn’t sense any of the vibrations she had come to expect.
The bird settled on a branch of an adjacent tree, softly hooting his haunting mopoke call. Cassie didn’t feel so alone, knowing her was there and watching out for her.
She glanced at Raff, but could see the faint movement of his chest. He was bleeding but would have to wait for now. She grabbed her bag from the car and sliced away the leg of Daniel’s jeans with a pair of scissors. His leg was red and swollen, with the site of the bite already turning a frightening shade of black, starting at the site of the bite and radiating outwards.
Mother Brigid, hear my prayer—save this man. Please don’t let him die. Blessed Be. Muttering repeated versions of her prayer, poured some water over the affected area and swabbed it to wash away any surface venom. Cassie opened one of her vials and allowed undiluted drops to fall directly onto the wound. The pale yellow liquid hit the area of the bites with an immediate effervescent action. She waiting a moment for the frothing to settle and then repeated the action.
At that point, Amber appeared, her eyes wide and tears coursing dow
n her face. “Is he going to die?” She wailed. “I tried to stop Raff, but his magic was too strong. I didn’t know what to do.”
Looking up, Cassie nodded in the direction of Raff. “If you did that to him, you didn’t do a bad job.”
“Can you save Daniel?”
“I don’t know. If you’ve been working on developing your powers, you’d better start praying to the Goddess now.”
Clasping her arms around herself, Amber began rocking and muttering, her voice ascending to a high-pitched keening. Cassie winced. That wasn’t helping. Raff appeared to be unconscious and was on his back, making a rattling, snoring noise.
“Make yourself useful,” she said curtly. “I suggest you look to Raff. Help me to roll him on his side and then keep an eye on him. I’ll examine him in a while.”
The two women combined efforts to roll the man into the coma position, then Cassie turned back to Daniel. She selected a different vial from her bag and soaked a gauze pad with the contents. She then bound it tightly to the wound site with a length of bandage. With that done, she checked Daniel’s pulse again. It seemed stronger, and certainly wasn’t any worse. His skin was still clammy, but it would take a while for that to change.
Rising, she crossed to where Amber was kneeling beside Raff. He was stirring and moaning. His eyes fluttered but didn’t appear to be registering what was happening around him. He had a graze to his head, and blood seeped through the sleeve of his shirt. Cassie probed his scalp for damage, but surmised his skull was still in one piece. She delivered drops of another vial to the obvious wounds, but from what Amber had indicated, he might have some bruises elsewhere.
“I didn’t think he would do anything like this,” Amber whispered. She sounded sad. “I didn’t want to hurt him, but I had to stop him somehow.”
Cassie filled a beaker with water and added a few drops to it. “I’m sure he’ll recover. When we get him to sit up, make him drink this.” She gave Amber an additional vial. “When you get him home, give him a drop of this, in water if you like. Make sure it is only one drop. It will control anxiety and the stresses on the body from transitioning. You had better take one too. Treat it with respect.”