by Joyce
Creating and sealing a witch’s spell book was a difficult process. It required layers of protection and spells to keep the magic. That was one reason why witches passed their spell books on to people who came after them. Some witches had spell books that were thousands of years old.
Our spell book was only about a hundred and fifty years old. The spells weren’t particularly powerful, but they had been left to us by the many witches in our families. They were more than just a repository of magic. They were also memories of our past.
Thinking about the new spell book, I waved to Dorothy and got into my car. I dropped the keys on the floor and bent to retrieve them. When I looked up, the Bone Man was riding shotgun.
CHAPTER 16
Secrets dark and secrets light,
Reveal yourself on this night.
“What are you doing here?” I tried to catch my breath as I put my hand to my chest to still my rapidly beating heart.
“Why didn’t you take her last night? The rune told me you were near her.”
“Is that what it does? Because I thought it was supposed to guide me to her. If you’re going to pop in and out of Wilmington, maybe you should get her yourself.”
It was audacious to speak to him that way, but he’d scared me. Again. I could only take so much.
“If that were possible, I should not have made the deal with you, Molly.” There was no expression in his voice or bony face. “That would adversely affect our trade, would it not? If that were the case, the council would certainly have come for you and your husband today.”
“Are you listening in on my conversations? I didn’t agree to that.”
“You are fortunate that I heard and blocked your ghostly friend’s remark. She would be wise to move on through this world. You would be wise to stop telling others of your mistake in enlightening your husband.”
“I know I agreed to help you find your wife in exchange for your protection. That doesn’t mean you can tell me how to live my life.”
“I understand your distress. Do not think to blame it on me or our trade. Fulfill your part of our bargain. Find my wife and return her to me.”
“You could tell me how to use the rune to do that.”
“You knew you were close last night. Don’t act the fool with me. When the rune bleeds, you will know you have found her.”
“Bleeds? But—”
It didn’t matter. He was gone.
Dorothy had stopped in the alley and come back to knock on my window. “Are you okay, Molly? You looked like you were having a stroke or something.”
“It was the Bone Man again. I guess, since I made the deal with him, that gives him the opportunity to stop by whenever he feels like it.” I took a deep breath and tried to center myself. Being angry with him wouldn’t help.
“Oh my goodness! This is exactly what I was afraid of,” Olivia said. “He’s going to be in your life forever now. You’ll never get rid of him.”
“He’ll go away when this is over,” I told her with absolutely no idea if I was right. “Let’s go on to the shop. I’ll get Elsie and meet you there. What sounds good for lunch?”
When I got there, Elsie was ready to go, dressed in royal purple with matching hat, gloves and shoes. She got in the car and I helped her fasten her seat belt. I told her about my visit from the Bone Man.
“I have a bad feeling about this, Molly. He’s taking too much for granted, and there’s still a lot you don’t understand.”
“I know. But it’s too late. I can’t get out of the trade with him now that I’ve made it. I’ll just have to use the rune to find his wife and find a way to get her out there.”
“A bleeding rune sounds really nasty.” She shuddered as she adjusted her hat, which had been thrown off-kilter when she got into the car. “I know you’re right. Maybe we could do a spell to find her. With Brian and Dorothy’s help that sounds possible, doesn’t it?”
“Maybe. We don’t know who we’re looking for—no clue at all. We could talk about it. Maybe Brian has some ideas.”
We stopped and got Chinese food from a small place close to the river. It was another beautiful day. Dozens of colorful sailboats were on the water. Gulls swooped around them. Tourists watching the water traffic littered the docks. At Smuggler’s Arcane, we decided to eat outside to take advantage of the weather.
“A spell might be possible to locate the Bone Man’s wife.” Olivia sat above her chair on the tiny porch. She had a small plate containing sweet and sour chicken on the table before her. She liked looking at the food even though she couldn’t eat it.
“We’d need help.” Elsie drank her tea. “Where’s Brian today?”
“I haven’t heard from him,” Dorothy admitted. She hadn’t even tasted her vegetables and noodles. “Maybe his grandfather really had the final say in what he’s going to do.”
“Brian doesn’t strike me as that kind of young man,” Olivia said. “He’s been on his own for a long time. His parents and his grandfather haven’t paid any attention to him. I’d hardly call them a family.”
“That might be all the more reason for him to want to be with them now.” Elsie said. “I’m sorry, Dorothy. I hope that isn’t the case.”
“Let’s talk about creating a new spell book.” I finished my egg roll and changed the subject. “I really think we should do this to preserve any new spells that we create. We could also add any old spells that we can remember. I know it wouldn’t be the same, but I think it’s important to the coven.”
Elsie clapped her hands, the sound muted because of her elbow-length purple gloves. “I adore the idea, Molly. A new spell book. Like a new chapter in our lives.”
Olivia wasn’t so sure. “I won’t have any new spells in this one. I want our old spell book back. It’s not just our spells, but the combined knowledge of our mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers in that book. It’s our heritage. We can’t just give it up.”
“I’m not suggesting we give up the old one.” I tried to calm her. “We should find the old one, but so far our efforts haven’t been fruitful in that direction.”
“What do you think, Dorothy?” Olivia asked her. “Do you think we should forget about my important spells that I created over fifty years of my life?”
“Of course I don’t think we should forget the old spells, Mom. But I agree with Molly and Elsie that we shouldn’t lose the new ones while we’re looking for the old spell book. And I’d like to see a new book created. How often does that happen in a witch’s lifetime?”
Elsie and I exchanged glances.
“It’s never happened in our lifetimes,” I told her. “The spell book that was stolen was created before we were born.”
Dorothy smiled. “Then I definitely vote to do a new spell book. Is that right? Is it a vote?”
“It’s good enough,” I told her.
We pored through catalogues from Elder Magics, a company in Germany from which we purchased most of our important magic items. They had been in business for hundreds of years.
“Oh, I like that one.” Olivia pointed to a heavily runed book with a leather cover.
“Of course you do,” Elsie remarked. “It has runes on it.”
“Could we look for one that doesn’t have a leather cover?” Dorothy winced. “They had to kill something to get that leather.”
“There are some very nice cloth spell books,” I said.
“But you know our spell book wouldn’t have lasted so many years if it had been made of cloth,” Elsie added. “That’s why the best ones are made of leather.”
“I’m sorry, Dorothy.” Olivia smiled at her. “I have to go with Elsie on this. It should be leather.”
“Maybe they have some kind of space-age material that will be good for hundreds of years but nothing died to make it.” Dorothy bent her head over one of the catalogues.
The door to the shop opened with a little chime, and Brian staggered in.
“Brian!” Dorothy got to her feet and ran to him.
“He looks awful,” Elsie muttered as the couple embraced.
“He’s probably had a bad night, poor darling,” Olivia sympathized. “I wish I could take him in my arms and hold him tight.”
“That might be awkward in more than one way right now,” I added.
Elsie chuckled. “Like TV-talk-show awkward. I don’t think Dorothy would like her mother holding her boyfriend in her arms to comfort him.”
“Oh, you have such a dirty mind for such an old woman,” Olivia retorted. “I only meant to hold him as one would a child.”
“Sure you did.” Elsie finished her tea and sat back to watch.
“Would you like some tea?” Dorothy asked Brian. “Or some Chinese food? I can run out and get something else if that doesn’t sound good.”
“Dorothy.” Brian put his hands on her shoulders. His eyes were brighter than they should have been, burning in his face as though he had a fever. There were dark circles around them and his lips were white. “I’ve met the most wonderful woman.”
CHAPTER 17
A little spell to ease my pain.
Start over.
Begin again.
“What?” Dorothy faltered like a young doe before a hunter. “What do you mean? I thought we had something—something important.”
He grinned like a mad man and swung her around. “We did have something. We had something—but nothing like this. She’s amazing. You wouldn’t believe the pleasure she gives me.”
“I know a little about pleasure.” Olivia smiled. “But you look like death. I think this particular pleasure may be bad for you.”
Elsie and I locked eyes across the table.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Molly?” she whispered.
“The witch that’s killing young male witches.” I nodded. “This may be a break for us. The chances are good that the witch would ensnare her victim before killing him. It makes sense. You can’t sneak up on most witches, but you can spell them when they aren’t looking.”
“What are you two mumbling about?” Olivia asked. “Say something to Brian. He’s making a terrible mistake.”
Dorothy managed to get him to the table. “Do you think a vampire bit him or something?”
“He’s pale enough,” Elsie said. “But I can’t smell any blood on him, can you?”
“No.” Dorothy had a keen sense of smell, as one would expect with an earth witch. “What else could it be? Look at him.”
“I know you’re disappointed that I can’t be here with you,” Brian explained. His whole body was jerking and shaking like he was an addict. “If you could just meet her, you’d understand.”
“We’d like to meet her.” I took him up on his offer. “Why don’t you bring her around? We could have tea and cakes this afternoon.”
“That’s a great idea. I’m sure she’d love to meet you too.” He jumped to his feet. “Let’s do that.”
Before we could do or say anything else, he was gone again. Dorothy was sniffling and Olivia was outraged.
“Don’t cry, Dorothy.” Elsie took her hand. “The boy is bewitched. He can’t help himself. It has nothing to do with you.”
“You mean someone can just put a spell on him and take him away from me?”
“I’m afraid so.” I thought it was best for her to understand what she was up against. “He needs our help. Brian is very strong. To do this to him means the witch who cast the spell was at least as strong or stronger.”
Dorothy wiped her eyes. “What can we do? Is there a spell that can free him?”
“It might be more complicated than that,” Elsie told her. “Molly and I both think it could be the witch killer.”
“Oh no!” Olivia came closer to the table. “We can’t let her kill Brian too. We have to do something, girls. Maybe we should contact Cassandra.”
None of us liked that idea, but for Brian’s sake, we were willing to give it a try.
We went into the cave under Smuggler’s Arcane. The flame under the cauldron got hotter and brighter with Elsie’s presence.
“Did you see that?” she asked proudly. “I’ve still got it.”
“Do we need a spell to call Cassandra?” Dorothy asked.
“No. It’s usually easier than that.” I closed my eyes and gripped the amulet as I called the herald’s name. “Cassandra! We have need of you.”
There was no immediate response. We waited in the cave for thirty minutes and nothing happened. Elsie was snoring when I decided we should give up. Cassandra would come when she was ready.
“Let’s get those books out of the cars,” I suggested. “She can contact us just as well outside.”
“All right,” Dorothy agreed. “But I wish she’d hurry. What if he dies before we can save him?”
“A cheerful thought,” Elsie said.
“You shouldn’t be so attached to him anyway,” Olivia scolded. “You’re too young to be serious about Brian. You should take this opportunity to go out and live. Go places. See things. Meet other men. Take me with you, of course. I can be a big help when it comes to choosing good men.”
Elsie cleared her throat. “Says the ghost woman who chose to have a baby with a thousand-year-old evil witch.”
“Oh, hush about that.” Olivia stuck out her chin.
“Let’s get the books,” I said again. “It doesn’t matter if Dorothy is in love with Brian or not. Brian is still our friend, and we should help him.”
“Not to mention that he’s another possible replacement for one of us,” Elsie said.
“We can’t just get the books, Molly!” Olivia said. Brian may be in serious trouble. We have to do something!”
I agreed as I opened the front door. “The sooner we get the books out of the cars, the sooner we can figure out what to do.”
Dorothy sighed. “All right! I learned a spell for displacement. That should make it faster.”
“It’s a spell from our old spell book that I remembered,” Olivia said. “She’s very good at it. A natural—just like her mother.”
Elsie rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything. “What do you need us to do?”
“Just hold the door and stand back.” Dorothy put her hand on the emerald cull around her neck. She closed her eyes and muttered her spell.
“Holy Hannah!” Elsie cried out as the car trunks opened and all the boxes of books began flying in from the parking lot.
“Mom explained that it’s all about displacing the air around the boxes. They aren’t really moving at all. It’s the air and molecules around them.”
I was standing on the small porch, which was enclosed by an iron railing, as the books began their journey into the shop.
The woman next door ran a small bookstore called Two Sisters. She watched in horror as the boxes rushed past me, and looked around to see if anyone else had noticed. When she didn’t see anyone, she ducked quickly into her shop.
“You have to be careful when using magic out in the open,” I cautioned. “The council could strip that woman of her memories if they’d seen you.”
“Sorry.” Dorothy shrugged. “I thought of that at the library. That’s why I didn’t use the spell there. I didn’t see her.”
“We’d better come up with a plausible excuse in case she comes to see us. I’d hate to be responsible for the council removing her memories,” Elsie said. “Maybe we could say we have a conveyer belt.”
“I don’t understand why the council doesn’t want anyone to know,” Dorothy said as the last box of books came up the stairs. “Why not let everyone know that magic is real? I think it would be great.”
“It comes from the past,” Elsie explained. “I’m not saying I
agree with taking people’s memories away. But there were too many witches hanged and burned right here in Wilmington. Keeping those memories out of the mainstream probably saved lives.”
None of us could argue with that. While I knew Joe would keep my secret, what about the woman at Two Sisters? Would she understand, or would she be the person who posted on Facebook that she saw boxes magically moving into our shop?
Dorothy closed the door. The boxes had stacked themselves in a corner.
“Thank you,” I said to her. “Well done. Let’s make sure we put that spell into the new spell book.”
“With an addendum to use it after dark.” Elsie smiled at her.
As I’d thought, there weren’t many customers at the shop that day. Many of the witches who’d attended the celebration were still at home sleeping it off. The few that straggled in for supplies were filled with fear that they might know the next witches killed.
When it was quiet, we selected a new spell book and ordered it from Elder Magics. It wasn’t leather, but it had runes on it. That made everyone happy.
“Maybe we should do a finding spell for the old spell book while the moon energy is still strong,” Dorothy suggested.
“Good idea,” Elsie agreed. “We’ve tried all the finding spells I knew. Can anyone think of another one?”
“There was one that Drago taught me,” Olivia said. “It’s very strong and takes a lot of magic to do it. I was terrified that he’d use it to find me. Maybe, with combined magic, we could get it to work. It would’ve been better with Brian helping us, but who knows if that will happen?”
I wasn’t sure about using a spell from an evil witch who could have taken Dorothy from Olivia. “If Drago has any enchantment attached to the spell or if it’s something he created, we could be drawing him here by using it.”
“Molly’s right,” Elsie agreed with me. “We certainly don’t want that to happen.”
“Why doesn’t anyone ever agree with me?” Olivia asked. “It’s because I’m a ghost now, isn’t it? I understand. I’m not a witch anymore. No one cares what I have to say.”