by Jen McConnel
“But if I’m so powerful, why can’t I seem to make anything work?”
“What is it you feel you cannot do?”
Frustrated, I pulled my long hair into my fist and started twisting it. “I can’t work against the Queen alone! That’s why I came here; if another Red Witch stands with me, we won’t be vulnerable. Alone, I’m an easy target. I need to win, I need to beat the Queen, or more people will die.”
“Power isn’t about always winning. It’s about wise use, weighing the costs and values of action before acting.”
“I don’t know enough about Red magic to do that.” It was hard to admit that to her, but it was the truth.
Her eyes bored into me again. “You know a great deal more than you think.”
I didn’t know what she meant. It was clear that I knew nothing; every time I used Red magic, it ended with disaster. The room fell silent as I thought back on all the destruction I’d caused. I fiddled with my tea bag. It split, the leaves pooling quickly in the bottom of my cup. “Dang it!”
The director smiled slightly. “Give it here.”
I looked at her. “What are you going to do?”
“Watch. Maybe learn.”
I handed her my cup with the clump of tea in the bottom, and she cupped it with both hands, her long fingers encircling it. Her gray head bent over the tea, her eyes staring intently into the bottom of the cup. I watched, fascinated.
“I didn’t know tea reading was still considered a magical art.”
Her face was grim when she looked at me. “I realize now that there is much that you don’t know. Even the small arts may prove necessary to you in your coming struggle.” She set my cup down and frowned at me intently.
I stared back at her, twitching my fingers nervously. I wanted to ask what she’d seen in my cup, but part of me didn’t want to know.
Finally, she nodded once. “I will not hinder your quest, although I don’t agree with your reasons for using Isadora.” She waved her hand to silence me, and I swallowed back my angry retort as she continued. “Just know that if you do anything to put Isadora or any of my students in danger, you will have to answer to me.”
I glared at her, and she shrugged.
“It’s the most I can offer. Take it or leave it.”
I thought for a moment, and then I nodded. It wasn’t like I had a choice. “I’ll take it.”
Even though I was still on the school campus, I called my mom once I left Dr. Farren’s office. She picked up on the first ring. Her voice made my heart clench, and I had to fight back tears.
“How’s the weather?” I asked, trying not to let on how affected I was to hear her voice.
“Lena? It’s good to hear from you. The weather is cold. It’s a bad winter.” Her tone was serious, and I felt a twinge of worry.
“Have the pipes frozen yet?”
“Not yet, thankfully. But your dad and I haven’t gone to work all week; the roads are iced over, and just about everything is closed.”
North Carolina usually closed down at the first sign of bad winter weather, but a whole week was ridiculous, even in the South. “It’s that bad?”
“It’s worse. Something about this winter isn’t natural.”
I shuddered, remembering the hurricane Rochelle had created to kill me last fall. It hadn’t worked, of course, but the storm had done a lot of damage. “Is there anything I can do?”
She paused. “I don’t like the idea of you fooling with the weather.”
“I know, Mom, but if there’s something strange about the storm … ”
“You might just concentrate on sending good vibes to us. As long as the roads thaw soon, we’ll be fine. Right now, it’s too dangerous to go out.”
I took a deep breath. “I guess that works out then.”
“What do you mean?”
“I called to let you know when I’m coming home.”
There was a pause. “When?”
“I’m not sure yet, but I know it won’t be this week.”
The silence that filled the phone was frigid, and I swore softly to myself.
I started to explain. “I found the other Red.”
“Lena, that’s great. It’s just that I worry about you.”
“I’m fine, Mom.”
“I’m sure you are. But I’ve been having bad dreams lately.”
Interested, I pressed the phone closer to my ear. “What sort of dreams?” Loki’s offer flitted through my mind, and I forced myself to focus on Mom’s voice.
She laughed, but it sounded flat. “Oh, apocalyptic things, fire and ice. Maybe I’ve just been reading too much poetry.”
I knew the Robert Frost poem she was referring to—it had always given me the heebie jeebies. “Anything else?”
“No word from any goddesses on the home front, if that’s what you mean.”
I didn’t want to ask, but I needed to know. “Not even Demeter?”
Mom sighed, and I felt a twinge of guilt. “I keep trying, but she doesn’t seem interested in communicating with me right now.”
Demeter was my mother’s patron, but my deception last fall had damaged their relationship. I’d hoped it would be repaired by now, but that hadn’t happened. Guilt gnawed at my stomach. “I’m sorry, Mom.”
“You’re doing what you think is right.”
Her words made me bristle. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Darlena, we support you. That’s all that means.”
I looked at the phone and tried to get my temper back in check. “Sorry. I’m on edge today.” Meeting with Dr. Farren had left me feeling defensive, but there was no reason to tell Mom about that.
“Oh, sweetie. Can I do anything?”
I felt another twinge of guilt at her sympathetic tone. “I miss you guys.”
“We miss you, too.”
For a minute, we were both silent, and I brushed away the tears that prickled in my eyes.
When Mom spoke again, she sounded like she was trying to cheer me up. “Do you still have the herbs I sent?”
I smiled. “I do. I’ve used them for a few baths, too.”
“That’s what I was going to suggest. A nice hot bath with peppermint. Maybe you’ll think more clearly when you’re done.”
“Why do you think I’m not thinking clearly?”
She paused. “Maybe it’s the dreams I’ve been having. Either way, I’m worried about you.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Promise me.”
I sucked in air between my teeth. Choosing my words carefully, I said, “As far as I can control, I promise I will avoid harm.”
There was a pause. “We love you.”
“Love you, too. Give Xerxes some tuna for me.”
Mom chuckled. “That cat is already spoiled enough.” She doted on him as much as I did, and we both knew it.
“Still. I’ll be home as soon as I figure some things out here.”
“I know.”
When I hung up the phone, I was puzzled and tense. I had the feeling she wasn’t telling me everything. Add that to the fact that Justin had mentioned dreams the last time we talked, and I was starting to feel uneasy. I felt the looming shape of Lady on the Lake behind me, but the building didn’t offer me any comfort. I was on my own.
“Why are you standing here looking glum?”
I turned around, startled. “What are you doing here?”
Izzy shrugged. “Dr. Farren said she met with you, and I wanted to chat.”
“What about?”
“The weather. What do you think? More about magic.”
I sighed. “I’m tired of talking about magic.”
“Did you just call your mum?”
I nodded. “She’s worried about me.”
Izzy thought for a moment. “Your mum’s a Witch too, right?”
“Both my parents are Greens.”
“Then maybe you should listen to her.”
“But I think she wants me to come home right aw
ay, and I can’t do that now!” As the words left my mouth, I inhaled sharply. I hadn’t told Izzy what I was really doing in Scotland, and I was afraid that she was about to ask.
Instead, she fixed me with a wide smile. “So if you’re here for a bit longer, come sightseeing with me.”
“How?”
“Marcus borrowed a car. We’re driving out to Clava.”
Part of me felt like a sightseeing trip would just be a waste of time, but I was intrigued. “What’s Clava?”
She laughed. “And you call yourself a Witch! You better come, just so you won’t sound so dumb the next time you meet another Scottish Witch.”
I eyed her, wanting to feel suspicious, but I was curious. “Won’t Marcus mind?”
“Not at all.”
***
An hour later, I was waiting in front of my hotel. I’d packed my camera and notebook in a small shoulder bag, and at the last minute, I’d stuck my athame and mirror in the pockets of my coat. I didn’t usually take my tools with me everywhere, but then again, I didn’t usually go sightseeing with a Witch who had made it clear he hated me.
When Marcus pulled up in a rusted black pile of metal, I grimaced.
“What is that?”
Izzy popped her head out the window. “It’s a Rover. Marcus borrowed it from a friend. Isn’t it something?”
“It’s something, all right,” I said, as I slid onto the torn upholstery in the back seat. Stuffing was everywhere, and the brown fabric on the ceiling had come unglued in places.
“It runs.” Marcus’s voice was gruff, and I looked up to see him staring intently at me in the rearview mirror.
This was the second time my relationship with Izzy had brought him back into contact with me, and I decided to make the most of it. “Thanks for taking me along today.”
He grunted wordlessly.
Izzy punched him playfully. “Now, be nice! We can’t send her back to America thinking all Scottish boys are pricks.”
“Where are we going?”
Izzy turned around, oblivious of the swaying car. I felt nauseous for her. “Clava Cairn. It’s an old site from prehistoric Scotland.”
“But what’s there?”
“Don’t you know what a cairn is?” Izzy looked surprised when I shook my head.
“A burial mound.” Marcus’s words were clipped, his eyes focused on the road.
“So we’re going to an ancient burial mound?” I began to wonder why I’d let Izzy talk me into this. In the past few days, I’d had more than enough of haunted places and death.
“Oh, it’s so much more than that! There are three mounds, each circled by standing stones. It’s a really powerful place. Have you been to Stonehenge?”
I shook my head, and she smiled.
“Good! Then you won’t try to compare this. Clava Cairn is different.”
Absently, I fiddled with the stuffing seeping out of the back seat. “Why are we going there?”
Izzy glanced at Marcus and turned around in her seat. “You’ll see.”
I wanted to press her for answers, but I was walking a tricky line. Because of Izzy, I had another opportunity to convince her brother to help me, but I didn’t think he’d be any more willing than before if I was a jerk to his little sister. I shrugged and leaned back against the seat, staring out the window as the misty Scottish landscape whirred by.
We wove through the countryside in relative silence for the next two hours. I was trying to figure out how to talk to Marcus alone; Izzy didn’t need to know about my plans, but maybe he’d be more willing to listen now. I studied the back of his orangey-red head while we drove. If I shifted slightly, I could see pieces of his face in the rearview mirror. He met my eyes in the mirror briefly, and I shivered, looking away. True, I’d come to Scotland to find him, but something about Marcus frightened me. Maybe it was just because he was a Red; I seemed to scare people from time to time.
When he turned the car into a dirt driveway beside an old barn, I thought he was asking for directions. But Izzy opened her door before the car was even parked.
“Come on, it’s this way!”
She set off, walking away from the barn into a wooded field. Marcus gestured to me, and I followed Izzy, trying not to glance behind me at Marcus. His long legs covered the terrain quickly, and he was practically breathing down my neck. I hurried after Izzy, but I felt a prickle of anticipation go down my spine. As we cut a path through the deserted field, I heard an odd buzzing in my ears. I shook my head to clear it, but the dull sound remained, like a machine running in another room.
Suddenly, we came upon the stones. Izzy was right: I wasn’t expecting anything like this. Three mounds of stone rose out of the field. Each was surrounded by a ring of standing stones. The scale of the space was nowhere near what I had expected; when Izzy mentioned Stonehenge, I had been thinking of a massive monument, but the cairns and standing stones weren’t much taller than my head. There was something familiar about the place, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
“It’s a Bronze Age site,” Marcus remarked quietly at my side. “No one is sure of the purpose, but they do know the doorway of that cairn,” he gestured to the left, “lines up with the sunrise on the Winter Solstice.”
“We’re a few days late, but it’ll still work.” Izzy grabbed my hand, tugging me toward the cairn.
“What will work?”
“Why, contacting our patrons! The stones are a passageway to death, so the rules of geography don’t apply.”
Her face fell when I stared at her in fear.
“I thought you’d be excited! You said you felt cut off from Persephone here.”
I nodded. “I do. But it’s just, um … ” I trailed off, uncertain.
Marcus glared at me. “Hecate must know you’re here. She’s choosing not to act for reasons of her own. Talking to your god won’t hurt you.”
I glanced at Izzy. “You said our patrons?”
She nodded vigorously. “Isis was everywhere in the ancient world, so I can talk to her easier than some, but she’s like your Persephone: she’s married to the lord of the dead, so this is one way I know I can reach her. Sort of like a hotline.”
I turned to Marcus. “And who’s your patron?”
“You can see me for yourself, Witch.” The voice spoke from within the cairn to the left, and chills ran down my spine. Marcus hurried ahead, dropping to his knees in the passageway that led to the center of the cairn. Izzy hung back, but curiosity compelled me, and I stepped into the cairn. Frozen, I stood behind Marcus, staring at a face I’d seen before.
It was the woman from my cauldron dream. She was swathed in black robes like the Queen wore, but her eyes burned like emeralds and her wild hair looked more like vines and roots than cobwebs. However, the similarities were startling, and the goddess before me put me on edge.
“Who are you?”
Marcus, still kneeling, spoke in a powerful voice. “Hail to my lady, Cerridwen, keeper of the cauldron of life.”
I racked my brain, looking at the goddess in front of me. “I’ve met you, I think.”
She raised one eyebrow and said nothing.
Marcus glowered up at me. “Would you leave? I need to speak to my patron.”
“She can stay, Marcus.” Her voice was like a bell, but it held no warmth.
We both looked at the goddess in surprise, and he clenched his jaw. “Whatever my lady wishes.”
“So, another Red Witch. What brings you so far from your realm?”
I backed up involuntarily. “I was seeking help.”
“And have you found it?”
I glared at Marcus as he rose to stand beside me. “I’m not sure.”
“A word of caution, then, Witch. The Red gods are rising. The help you seek may already be worthless.”
“But I can’t stop.”
“Are you afraid?”
I paused, sensing some kind of trap in her words. “Not exactly. But I know that I’m not ready to do wha
t I must. So I still need help, and I’ll stay until I find it.”
Her black eyes bored into mine for a moment, but then she waved her hand in dismissal. “I would speak to my Witch alone.”
Angry, I bowed stiffly and walked out of the cairn. What was wrong with that goddess? She’d said she wanted to talk to me, but then after two minutes, she was done? Cranky, I started walking back toward Izzy. The buzzing in my ears became an unbearable roar, and I sank to the ground outside the circle of standing stones, clutching my head. Izzy came over to me and sat down glumly.
“At least you got to meet her.”
“What?” My head hurt too much to listen. I closed my eyes, willing the strange pain to stop.
“I’ve never met his patron.”
My eyes opened slightly. “Why not?”
She folded her arms around herself and shivered. “He says it’s too dangerous for me. I’ve never come here with him before.”
Despite the pain, I opened my eyes wide and stared at her. “Then why did he let you come today?”
She shrugged. “I guess I begged enough this time.”
I felt a chill, and my head started to clear. “Who thought of inviting me?”
I knew the answer before she even spoke. “He did.”
Despite the fact that I might be able to contact Persephone, despite my desire to meet Izzy’s patron, I rushed back to the car. It offered little protection; Marcus had locked it, and the keys were in his pocket.
“How could I have been so stupid? I walked into this trap.” I slammed my fist against the roof of the car, frantically thinking of some way to protect myself. If Marcus had brought me here, I was sure he had a reason, and after meeting his patron, I didn’t want to wait around and find out what it was.
Something touched my shoulder, and I shot into the air. Izzy looked at me, startled.
“What’s the matter with you?”
I drew a deep breath, trying to calm down. Izzy wasn’t a threat … was she? I looked at her intently, choosing my words with care. “Izzy, I don’t think it was a good idea for me to come here.”