Witch

by Fiona Horne

  ‘All those unjust deaths, it’s so horrible!’ I said softly, my stomach churned uncomfortably; it was awful to think about. ‘It’s hard to imagine how it could have ever happened.’

  Brenda patted my shoulder comfortingly but continued, ‘Let’s remember that the victims were mostly women, at a time when being a woman meant being a second-class citizen. Many of the people who instigated the murders – the judges, inquisitors, bishops and the like – did it for personal gain. It was very easy to point the finger at your neighbour and say, “She’s a witch!” Then when they were locked up or murdered, you could just take over their land or steal their belongings. It was criminal.’

  ‘What were the criteria for being accused of witchcraft?’ Dean asked.

  ‘There was a crazy book called Malleus Maleficarum – Latin for Hammer of the Witches. For two hundred and fifty years it was used as a guide for identifying witches and giving the church licence to kill people for supposedly cavorting with the devil by doing magic.’ Brenda shook her head.

  ‘Gosh, I hope that book’s not around now!’ I said.

  ‘No, it was revoked a long time ago. But the damage was already done, and the misconceptions are still around today. About devil-worshipping and all that rubbish.’ Brenda snorted.

  ‘Our magic has got nothing to do with the devil!’ I said.

  ‘This is a majorly depressing conversation,’ Alyssa said. ‘And given that we’re in a coven and all, it’s starting to freak me out. I definitely don’t want to draw attention to what we’re doing by putting in our report that we think the woman was a witch.’

  ‘There is a witches’ saying,’ Brenda said wisely. ‘“To know, to will, to dare and to be silent.” For now, why don’t you do some more research to get a clearer idea of what you’re dealing with.’

  Sunday morning I spent poring over the magic books that I’d started to amass, which I hid under the loose floorboard in my bedroom. It would have been easier to do my research on the internet, but my parents still hadn’t agreed to get a connection at home and there was no way I was going to look up spells on the computers in the school library.

  I liked the simplicity of having no internet anyway, I thought as I stuffed a couple of books deep into my backpack. Shouldering it, I headed to the kitchen to grab an apple from the fruit bowl. My mother was preparing lunch.

  ‘I’m going for a walk along the beach,’ I said.

  ‘You don’t want to stay and have lunch with us, honey?’

  ‘Thanks anyway, but I need some fresh air.’

  ‘All right, well don’t be too late. I want to have a chat with you later about the plans for your sixteenth.’

  My sixteenth birthday – how could I have forgotten? It was only a week away, but with all the magic and mystery I’d been swept up in recently I’d pretty much forgotten about it. I hadn’t even told my coven.

  ‘Thanks, Mum. I’ll be back in a couple of hours; we can talk about it then. Later, Dad,’ I called, before taking a huge bite of apple.

  ‘Bye,’ he called back, without looking up from the paper he was reading. He spent every Sunday sprawled out on the lounge chair.

  As I wandered down the hill I again considered asking my father about the woman of Queen’s Cross, but decided against it. My relationship with Dad was sketchy at best. Even though we’d been getting on okay since my positive-thinking kick, I knew that if I pushed any buttons he would still ground me in an instant.

  I sometimes wondered if my parents missed the old, argumentative me. Our placid mealtimes were mainly punctuated by sounds of chewing now, rather than spirited arguments. I couldn’t tell them what was going on in my life – about the spells and the coven and the mystery.

  The wind caught my hair as I wound my way down the steep path towards the beach. I reached the sand and inhaled deeply. I loved the salty smell, and the kelp that grew in giant forests just offshore. One day I wanted to scuba dive out there. When I moved out of home. My parents had told me I would not be allowed to do something so dangerous as long as I lived under their roof. I didn’t think it was that dangerous. True, Matt had told me that when he was surfing he often saw sharks, but he said they stayed out of his way. He saw a lot of dolphins, too. I could see some surfers up the far end of the beach, where the waves were breaking. It was another grey, misty afternoon and I pulled my jacket closer around my waist, folding my arms to keep it there as I gazed out to sea.

  Thinking about Matt made me think about Bryce, of course. I still didn’t believe Dean’s theory that Bryce had joined our group because he liked me. He had magic in him, that was certain, and I thought our group’s combined love of magic was the glue that held us all together. I wondered if there were any other groups of kids in the world who had magic in common.

  I sat on a large piece of driftwood near the shore and kicked off my Converses, nestling my feet in the sand and watching the water’s edge ebb and flow, tendrils of foam lazily reaching out towards my toes but not touching them.

  I reached into my backpack and pulled out one of the books. Rather than reading my magic books from start to finish, lately I’d been letting chance play a hand by opening them at random places. I flicked through the pages, looking out to sea, and then let the book fall open in my lap. A chapter called ‘Divination: Finding Out What You Need to Know’ presented itself.

  Too appropriate, I thought, and began to read.

  The elements of nature can be used as divinatory tools.

  Ask your question and look to the air. If it blows west,

  your answer is yes. If it blows east, your answer is no.

  I raised my head, but the wind was whipping around so much I decided that the element of air wouldn’t be a reliable tool. I read on.

  The element of earth will reveal its knowledge in stones.

  Cast your eye around – a round stone means yes and a

  jagged stone, no.

  I cast my eye around and all I could see was sand – I’d need to walk further up the beach, and I couldn’t be bothered doing that right now.

  The element of water is mutable and can be dictated

  as you desire.

  I looked at the edge of the tide lapping away in front of me – this could work.

  ‘If the water touches my toes the next time, it will mean I have met the person who knows the secret of the woman of Queen’s Cross,’ I said aloud.

  Immediately an extra thrust of water surged up and completely covered my feet.

  I jumped – and not just because the water was freezing.

  I decided to ask another question. ‘Is it a woman?’

  I waited as the next wave surged forwards . . . but the water stopped short of my toes.

  My next question was obvious, but I asked it anyway. ‘Is it a man?’

  A wave raced up with enough force to soak my rolled-up jeans to my calves.

  I stood up. My feet were freezing and my head was spinning. I knew the man. A dark presence around you, I could hear Mrs Torre whisper in my ear. Prickles ran up my spine and I shivered. I jumped to my feet – I’d had enough of sitting out here all alone. I grabbed my stuff and hurried along the sand back towards town and safety.

  ‘Call me crazy, but I know the murderer . . . But I don’t know who he is.’

  ‘Huh? What does that mean?’ Bryce asked.

  We were standing in his front yard. I’d headed straight to his house from the beach and blurted it out.

  ‘I did a divination and the ocean revealed to me that I know the murderer – and that it’s a man. But not who.’ I’d cast wet socks and shoes aside. I spread my toes out in a ray of sunshine that had managed to break through the mist waiting for Bryce’s reaction.

  There were a few moments of silence before he said, ‘Maybe the twins can use their psychic prowess to help work out who this guy is.’ He nudged my toe with his foot. ‘You have pretty feet,’ he said.

  Ummm, what?!, How was I supposed to respond? An awkward silence between us grew
. My mind raced. I was not going to be defensive and say something stupid! He was paying me a compliment – all I had to do was say . . .

  ‘Thanks, Bryce.’

  Still, sometimes he said the weirdest things.

  I noticed the sun was getting low in the sky. ‘Bryce, I have to go. I promised my mother I wouldn’t be home late.’ I gathered my things. ‘See you at school tomorrow – and you’re right, it would be good to talk to the twins.’

  I left him sitting there on the grass and made my way home, feeling rather proud of myself. I hadn’t bitten off his head when he’d paid me a compliment. We were friends, and now we were both behaving like it.

  That night at dinner my mother and I discussed what I wanted to do for my sweet sixteenth.

  ‘Mum, I don’t want to do anything full-on,’ I said.

  ‘But wouldn’t you like to have a party with your friends, Vania? It’s a special day.’

  ‘I’m happy not to have a houseful of teenagers,’ my father snorted.

  ‘Oh, Keith,’ my mother said, patting him on the shoulder.

  ‘Thanks, Mum, but I really don’t want to do anything big – it’s just another birthday.’

  ‘What about a family brunch at the Big Yellow House? Would you like that at least, honey? We could go on Saturday morning. I know the big day is Friday, but it doesn’t hurt to celebrate your sixteenth all weekend,’ my mother said.

  In that moment I realised just how much I really did love her. Just the three of us at my favourite local restaurant sounded really appealing, actually. The best thing about the Big Yellow House was the huge patio with sweeping views of the sea. In good weather it offered the best view in town. And its three-egg omelette with goat’s cheese and basil was pretty great, too. To top it off, there were rumours that the place was haunted.

  ‘That sounds great, Mum.’

  I thought about what could make my birthday possibly even better. ‘Maybe I can invite a couple of friends? Bryce and—’

  ‘Absolutely!’ my mother jumped in.

  I was about to add and Amelia, Alyssa and Dean, but my dad stopped me in my tracks.

  ‘Is he your boyfriend?’ he asked, looking at me sternly.

  ‘No! We’re just good friends.’

  My father gave me another penetrating stare and then shrugged, going back to his steak. ‘You could do worse than him – his parents own half of Summerland,’ he said. I didn’t reply; instead I smiled at my mother, who nodded and smiled back. I supposed it wasn’t surprising to hear that Bryce’s family owned half the town – he’d told me that time in school that he was descended from one of the original families who’d come here back in the eighteen hundreds, after all. But I’d never thought about this, and he obviously didn’t make a big deal about it. We’d only ever talked about his ghostly Spiritualist heritage, which I was sure my father wouldn’t enjoy hearing about.

  I decided to drop the whole idea of inviting Bryce or any of my friends to brunch – I would see my coven on my actual birthday at school anyway. I didn’t want my dad saying anything embarrassing as we all sat around a table together.

  On Monday morning I was at the drinking fountain when Cassidy Walters skipped up to me.

  ‘Hey, Vania, is it your birthday this Friday?’ she said.

  I blinked hard and nearly choked on my mouthful of water. I was still getting used to being considered cool by people like Cassidy, who suddenly wanted to be friends with me. But I was keeping my distance – just like enchanted love, I didn’t quite trust enchanted friendship.

  ‘Are you having a party?’ Cassidy asked.

  ‘I’m not sure. I don’t want to make a big deal about it,’ I said.

  ‘We could have a fire down on the beach for you.’

  Was she suggesting that she would organise a party for me? This was truly more surreal than any magic spell. And actually it sounded like a fun idea.

  ‘Okay, that sounds cool.’ Magical friendship or not, a chance to go to a real party? This was not something I wanted to turn down.

  ‘Leave it to me.’ She smiled and squeezed my arm, hard, before turning away, her short skirt swishing over her perfect legs. In that moment envy crept up in me, but I shrugged it off – envying her was pointless, and I wasn’t going to let myself do it.

  I felt a surge of confidence as Amelia and Alyssa came over to me. ‘What did she say?’

  ‘She’s putting on a party for me for my birthday.’

  ‘Well, we’re putting on a séance for you.’ Alyssa squeezed my arm right where Cassidy had, but this time it didn’t hurt.

  Twelve

  Friday, my actual birthday, was a good day at school. There were no horrible run-ins with Mr Barrow – in fact, I didn’t see him at all – and I got a good grade on an English lit paper that I hadn’t been expecting to do so well on. But all day I couldn’t wait for night to come.

  Now it had arrived and the Purple Raven glowed with the light of a hundred scented candles. It looked like an enchanted fairy realm, and I stood in the centre of it, dressed in decidedly un-fairylike black jeans, red Converses and a black T-shirt. Well, there was a silver-glitter unicorn on the T-shirt, but that was supposed to be ironic.

  Brenda was dressed entirely in silver, her hair tied up in a shimmering scarf and her caftan made of diaphanous chiffon. She looked majestic as she swanned around, her hands fluttering as she lit a candle here and adjusted a velvet tablecloth there. The twins, with their long red hair and matching green-and-black-striped, long-sleeved T-shirts and black miniskirts, looked for all the world like archetypal witches – all they needed were pointed hats to seal the deal. Dean looked good, dressed up in a black shirt and blue jeans. Then in walked Bryce, hot as always, in jeans and a black T-shirt with a black vest over the top, the flickering candlelight making his green eyes sparkle.

  ‘Cool T-shirt, Vania,’ Bryce said, laughing.

  I curbed my urge to take this the wrong way and snap at him. All I had to do was say . . .

  ‘Thanks, Bryce.’ And smile.

  ‘This is sweet – a Sweet Sixteen Séance! My great-grandmother told me she would come along tonight as long as her bridge game finished in time.’

  ‘She plays bridge between the worlds?’ Brenda asked incredulously.

  ‘Yes, and she gambles on it, too.’ He chuckled and walked over to me handing me, the bag he’d been carrying. ‘Happy Birthday, Vania.’

  ‘Thanks.’ I put the bag on a table with my other gifts. I felt really special. This was actually the first birthday I could remember that I had spent with proper friends. And it was my sixteenth. And it was a séance – I was overflowing with anticipation.

  As her gift to me, Brenda had made a magnificent three-tiered concoction of chocolate and vanilla covered in frothy lemon icing, with sixteen silver candles on top. We all gathered around the table and Brenda handed me a long black velvet pouch with something heavy inside – another present! I loosened the drawstring and withdrew a silver candle snuffer with a beautiful mother-of-pearl-handle.

  ‘It’s amazing. Thank you, Brenda!’ I said.

  ‘Birthday candles should never be blown out,’ she informed me.

  There were packets of matches on the table, and Brenda and my coven set about lighting the candles together.

  ‘Everyone join hands,’ Brenda commanded.

  I placed the snuffer in front of me on the table as we stood in a circle. I could feel that familiar magical buzz starting.

  ‘May birthday blessings be bestowed upon you, Vania,’ said the twins.

  ‘And may this year of your life be even better than the last,’ said Dean. I smiled. The past year had already been the best of my life, thanks to coming here and making my new friends.

  ‘And may all your wishes come true,’ said Bryce, looking at me intensely.

  ‘Blessed be, Vania,’ said Brenda. ‘You can now make your wishes and seal them by capturing the flame.’

  ‘Can I make a wish per candle?’ I asked Brenda.r />
  ‘Certainly!’

  As I snuffed each candle I tried to focus on a specific wish. I resisted the urge to wish for Bryce – I didn’t want enchanted love, I had learned that didn’t work. So I wished for world peace, an end to hunger, and an end to global warming. And then I ran out of ideas. Spell-casting rules included not interfering with another’s free will, so I couldn’t wish that everyone in the world was vegetarian. And I couldn’t even wish that Mr Barrow would stop being mean to me.

  I stood there holding the snuffer.

  ‘Any more wishes?’ Alyssa was already eyeing off the cake.

  Yes, there was one: I wished to be strong enough to stand up to Mr Barrow, or anyone who would do me harm. I carefully snuffed out the central candle with the brightest flame. And then I rapidly snuffed the rest of the candles, without wishing for anything else. I was satisfied.

  Brenda and the twins sliced enormous pieces of cake onto plates and presented them to Dean, Bryce and me, the birthday girl. Now it was time for presents, and I scored. The twins had bought me a deck of tarot cards, which I was super excited about. You couldn’t buy tarot cards yourself, you have to be given them, and I’d been hoping someone would get me a deck.

  ‘Don’t hate us, but we read your mind so we’d know what to get you,’ Alyssa said. ‘Definitely one of the perks of being psychic – no risk of re-gifting.’

  The cards were beautiful. The backs had intricate patterns of leaves and flowers in a kaleidoscope of colours. They were so new and shiny that when I attempted to shuffle them they flew everywhere.

  ‘Gosh! How many cards are there?’ I said as I attempted to slide them all back towards me across the floor.

  ‘Seventy-two,’ Amelia informed me.

  No one else helped me to gather the cards because apparently, as the twins informed me, until I had consecrated them in my name it was bad luck for anyone else to touch them. Once I’d collected them all, I counted them carefully to be sure.