by Isobel Bird
Jane shook her head. “I just didn’t know if you were for real,” she said. “I mean, your lyrics were all Goddessy, but you never know. A lot of people are into the idea of it but don’t really get it, if you know what I mean. There are a lot of posers out there.”
Cooper laughed. “I thought the same thing about you,” she said. “So, are you into Wicca, too?”
“I don’t know a lot about it,” said Jane.
“But you’re into the Goddess,” said Cooper.
Jane nodded. “I’m into religion in general,” she said. “I started reading about Goddess stuff a couple of years ago. I really like it. Plus, it fits into a lot of Jewish mysticism, which I also like. There’s this whole idea of God having both male and female manifestations. That’s what got me started on it.”
Cooper thought about Jace Myers. “I know someone you should talk to about all of that,” she said. “Now, tell me about this experience with ghosts.”
“I’ve seen my grandmother a few times,” Jane said. “Mostly when I was little. That’s about it.”
“Are you coming to the Samhain ritual?” asked Cooper.
“I don’t know,” Jane answered. “Like I said, I’m not sure I’m all that into witchcraft. But it sounds interesting.”
“You should come,” Cooper told her. “You don’t have to be Wiccan to be there. There will be all kinds of people.”
“Maybe I will, then,” said Jane. She paused. “I’m glad you called,” she said. “I don’t have a ton of friends, partly because I have to watch Grandpa a lot but mainly because I don’t find a lot of people I can actually talk to.”
Cooper nodded. “That’s how I felt before I met Kate and Annie,” she said.
“Who are they?” asked Jane.
“My two best friends,” Cooper replied. “We met because Kate did this spell that went haywire. It’s a long story. But I think you’ll like them. That is, if you want to meet them.”
“Yeah,” Jane said. “I think I would. Hey, why don’t we play something? Want to hear this thing I wrote this week?”
“You’re on,” said Cooper.
She listened as Jane began to play her song. It felt good to have someone to play music with. She didn’t know if she and Jane would ever be in a band together, but for now she was content to have someone else to play with. It made not being part of Schroedinger’s Cat a little less painful.
Beyond that, she felt as if she’d made a new friend. That felt even better than finding someone to play music with. Cooper wasn’t big on making new friends, and she was pleased that she’d taken a chance on Jane. Not for the first time in the past months, she thought about the word she’d drawn from the cauldron at her dedication ceremony: connection. It was her primary challenge for the year and a day of her journey, and several times she’d found herself confronted with situations that involved making various kinds of connections. This was another one. She had made a connection with Jane, and she hoped it would grow into a new friendship.
And just think, she told herself. If you hadn’t been going to meet your father for dinner, you never would have met her. Cooper was still worried about what her parents’ separation might mean, and she knew that it might be a long time before she had any answers. But if her father hadn’t moved out, she never would have been walking downtown to meet him. And if she hadn’t done that, she never would have met Jane. So maybe something good would come out of it after all.
Then she thought about Mr. Goldstein and how he must have suffered in the concentration camp. It was almost too terrible to even think about. But when she looked around Jane’s room and saw the beautiful pictures, and when she heard her sing and play the guitar, again she was reminded of how good things could come out of horrible events. Maybe what Jane was doing with her art and her music was another kind of connection, of adding to the web that joined her to her family and to the universe.
Jane continued singing. Cooper liked the song. And she knew that when Jane was done it would be her turn to share a song. This is what it’s all about, she told herself. This is what connecting means. She didn’t know where her new friendship would take her, or what turns still lay along her path, but for the moment she was happy to be sitting right where she was.
CHAPTER 16
Annie was nervous. She knew she was going to see Tyler at the ritual. She hadn’t talked to him since the kiss on Monday night. But she had seen Kate, and that had been almost as bad. Whenever she looked at her friend she remembered how it had felt to kiss Tyler, and that made her feel incredibly guilty. Kate, of course, didn’t know anything about what had occurred. On Tuesday she’d asked Annie how the dance performance was, and Annie told her that it had been fine. But when Kate then asked about Tyler, Annie had suddenly become very nervous and self-conscious. She’d said something about how much Tyler seemed to miss Kate and wanted to see her, but the whole time she was afraid that Kate would be able to tell that something had happened.
The worst part was that Annie wasn’t even entirely sure what had happened. She had never intended to kiss Tyler. In fact, until she’d done it she’d never even thought about kissing him. But the more she went over it in her mind, the more she realized that she’d been falling for him little by little for a long time. He was everything she thought a guy should be: funny, smart, understanding, accepting. And he was really cute, too. If it weren’t for the fact that he just happened to be in love with her best friend, he would be the perfect guy for her.
She knew that she should have called Tyler immediately and apologized for her behavior. But she just couldn’t. She couldn’t possibly tell him that she had a crush on him. But she knew that not saying anything was probably worse. Who knew what he was thinking? She had just run off, leaving him standing there. Probably he just thought she’d lost her mind. At least she hoped that was what he thought. It would be a lot easier to plead temporary insanity than to tell him what was really going on.
She paused as she approached the building where the ritual was being held. She stared at the big wooden doors. Tyler was in there somewhere. She was going to see him in a few moments. She took a deep breath. Don’t do anything stupid, she instructed herself as she pulled open the doors and walked inside.
Kate sat in the backseat of the car, wishing she were dead. Her parents sat in the front, dressed in their costumes. She hadn’t had the courage to tell them that going dressed as a witch and a wizard was probably not the best idea in the world. They actually seemed sort of into going to the ritual, and she didn’t want to make any trouble. At the same time, she couldn’t help but wish that they had dressed as something else.
She herself was dressed as Pandora from the Greek myths. She was wearing a flowing white robe belted around the middle with a length of gold cord, and she was carrying a box she’d spray-painted gold and decorated with fake gems. She wasn’t sure why she’d settled on Pandora, exactly. One night it had just come to her, probably because she figured that, like Pandora, she’d opened up a big box of troubles when she’d asked her parents to come to the ritual with her. Besides, it had been an easy costume to make quickly.
At least you’ll get to see Tyler, she reminded herself. That was one good thing about the night. She hadn’t seen him in what seemed like forever, and she was anxious to be reunited with her boyfriend. She wondered what he was coming as.
“Is this the place?” her father asked, pointing to the community center building.
“That’s it,” said Kate.
Her father pulled into the parking lot and found a space. Then the three of them got out and walked to the entrance. As Kate pulled open the door she thought, Here goes nothing.
* * *
The old church had been filled with hundreds of white candles. The electric lights were off, and the only illumination came from the candles’ tiny dancing flames. Everyone who had come for the ritual was waiting in the vestibule, crowded together as they waited to see what was going to happen next. There was an air of expecta
tion in the room, and people chatted quietly, as if they really were in church and weren’t supposed to make any noise.
Cooper, Sasha, and Tyler were standing together to one side when Annie appeared.
“Hey,” said Annie, walking over to them. “Great costumes.”
As promised, Cooper had come as the goddess Kali. Her face and arms had been painted black, and around her neck hung a necklace made from the severed heads of a dozen dolls she’d found at a local thrift store. She’d told the salesclerk who’d rung up her purchases that she was buying the dolls for an art project, and she wondered what the woman would think if she could see the heads now, the necks painted red to resemble blood. Cooper was also wearing a red sari-like dress, and she’d painted Kali’s third eye in the middle of her forehead.
Sasha had also made good on her promise, dressing as Isis, complete with a golden headband and Egyptian-inspired outfit. Her eyes had been painted in the familiar catlike black-lined design of the Egyptians, and she had gold bands around her upper arms.
For his part, Tyler had dressed up like an old man with a long gray beard. He was wearing a black cloak with a hood and carrying a long wooden staff.
“What are you supposed to be?” Annie asked him, for a moment forgetting how nervous she was to be seeing him at all.
“I’m Charon, the boatman who rowed people across the river Styx after they died,” he answered. He jingled a small black velvet bag tied around his waist. “These are the pennies that people put on the dead people’s eyes so that they could pay my fare.”
He’s acting like nothing happened, Annie thought. Was it possible that Tyler really had thought the kiss meant nothing? Oddly enough, thinking that made Annie a little bit sad. But at least he wasn’t acting weird around her.
“And what exactly are you?” Sasha asked, looking at Annie’s costume curiously.
“Oh,” Annie said. “I’m a banshee. You know, one of the Irish spirits who supposedly came out on Samhain.”
She had colored her hair silver with some temporary dye, and it hung around her shoulders in tangles. She was wearing a tattered old shawl over a plain gray dress, and she was carrying a stick that had a round paper lantern hanging from the end.
“The banshees were supposed to wander around with lanterns, looking for their old homes,” she explained.
A moment later Kate walked up, accompanied by her parents.
“Hi, guys,” she said. She sounded nervous. “I think you all know my parents.”
The rest of them nodded at Mr. and Mrs. Morgan, who stood awkwardly in their costumes. Kate wanted to give Tyler a kiss, but she didn’t dare do it in front of her mother and father. Then she noticed Cooper looking around.
“Looking for someone?” she asked.
“My friend Jane,” Cooper answered. “You know, the girl I was telling you about. She said she was coming. I think I see her over there.” She waved and called out, “Jane!”
Annie, Sasha, and Kate turned to see Jane. They’d heard a lot about her from Cooper, and they were curious about her and eager to finally meet her. Now, walking toward them, they saw an enormous jack-o’-lantern. Jane had fashioned a pumpkin body out of shimmery orange fabric. Her arms and legs, encased in an orange body stocking, stuck out from the sides and the bottom. On her head was a hat made from green material. A stem curved up from the top, and tendrils of green fabric hung down around her shoulders. A face had been created on the front of the pumpkin using eyes, a nose, and a mouth cut from black material.
“It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” said Cooper as her friend came up to them. “Fabulous!”
“Thank you. Thank you,” Jane said, bowing. “It seemed appropriate, given the occasion.”
Cooper introduced Jane to everyone and they all stood there, talking and waiting for something to happen.
They didn’t have to wait long. A few minutes later they heard a bell sound. This was followed by the sound of cackling. Then a door at one end of the vestibule opened and a figure emerged. It was an old woman. Her long hair was wild and uncombed, and her long nose curved down until it almost touched her chin. She carried a stick in her hand, and she was dressed in a brown dress.
“I am Baba Yaga,” she called out in a screechy voice.
“Sounds more like Sophia to me,” Cooper whispered to Annie, who giggled.
“I am the grandmother of all witches,” Baba Yaga continued. “Tonight is my night, and you have come to my house.”
Baba Yaga was walking among the people gathered there, looking at them with dark eyes. She stopped in front of the girls and their friends.
“Are you ready to see what I have to show you?” she asked Kate.
“I think so,” Kate said, nervously glancing at her parents.
“Then come inside,” Baba Yaga said. “Pass through the doorway and enter my house.”
People began to walk through the door out of which Baba Yaga had come. Annie, Cooper, Kate, and the others joined the line and went through as well. They found themselves in a large room, what had once been the sanctuary of the church. It, too, was filled with candles. There was also an enormous cauldron in the middle of the room.
“Form a circle around my cauldron,” Baba Yaga instructed them as she came in behind them and shut the doors.
The guests assembled around the cauldron. Kate stood between her parents, with Annie and Cooper on either side of them. Jane stood on Cooper’s other side, and Tyler stood beside Annie with Sasha on his other side. When they had formed a large circle Baba Yaga stepped into the center of it and stood beside her cauldron.
“Tonight we celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another,” she said. “This is Samhain. It is a night to celebrate death, and a night to celebrate rebirth.”
Suddenly someone stood up inside the cauldron, causing everyone around it to gasp. It was a hooded figure with the face of a skeleton, and it was holding a large scythe.
“Behold Death,” said Baba Yaga. “He has come tonight to part the veil between the worlds. Who among you is willing to pass through?”
Death stepped from the cauldron and walked slowly around the circle, looking into the faces of those assembled there. He paused from time to time, peering closely at one person or another as they all took in the sight of his eerie visage.
“Death will come for all of us,” Baba Yaga said as the hooded specter made his way around the circle. “But not tonight. Tonight he comes only to open a doorway for us between this world and the next.”
Death walked to one side of the circle and lifted his hands. There was a loud tearing sound and everyone turned to see what had made it. There, at the opposite end of the room from where they’d entered, stood another doorway. This one was covered with a sheet of black material. Now that sheet had been torn down the center, and it hung in two.
“The veil has been rent,” said Baba Yaga. “Will you pass through?”
There were two rows of candles leading up to the doorway, forming a path. Death parted the circle of people and stood at the entrance to the path, looking back at them and waiting for someone to come forward.
One by one the people in the circle filed onto the path, passing beside Death and walking toward the doorway. And one by one they paused at the torn veil before stepping through into the unknown.
* * *
Kate walked ahead of her parents. As she approached the door she became more and more nervous. So far things had been pretty tame. But what would happen once they passed through the veil? Would her parents encounter something they wouldn’t be able to handle? Would it be so weird that they would forbid her to ever have anything to do with Wicca again?
She stopped in front of the doorway, trying to see what lay beyond it. But there was nothing but darkness. All she could do was trust that everything would be okay. Taking a deep breath, she pushed aside the two pieces of cloth and passed through.
She was in a hallway. It was dark, but a light flickered somewhere ahead of her
. She walked toward it, running her hand along the wall to help her find her way. She knew that her father and mother would be coming along behind her, and she was tempted to wait for them. But she had a feeling that this was something they were supposed to do on their own, so she continued on.
She turned a corner and saw that the flickering light came from a candle being held by a woman standing at the end of the hall where it split into two directions. She was wearing a white hooded robe. Her face and hands were covered in makeup that made her appear pale, and there were shadows around her eyes.
“Welcome to the land of the dead,” she said to Kate. “There are two roads you may take through here. Which will you choose?”
Kate looked to the left, where a set of stairs went up to the next floor. Then she looked right, where another hallway stretched away from them.
“I’ll go to the right,” she said.
The woman nodded, and Kate continued down the hall. At the end of it she came to a door. She tried turning the knob but it was locked. Not knowing what else to do, she knocked on it.
The door swung open and Kate found herself looking into a room lit by red candles. There was a small table in the center of the room. It was draped in black velvet, and behind it sat a woman wearing a dark red robe. There was an empty chair across the table from her. When the woman saw Kate she motioned for her to sit down.
Kate moved forward and was surprised to find the door swing shut behind her. She walked to the chair and sat down. She looked into the face of the woman across from her. Kate didn’t recognize her and figured she must be from one of the other covens.
“You are behind the veil,” the woman said mysteriously. “This is the time when the old year dies and the new is born. It is also a night of prophecy.” She took from the folds of her robe a deck of Tarot cards and spread them out on the table in front of Kate. “Would you like to choose a card to see what the new year holds for you?”