A Girl Beyond (War of the Witches Book 2)

by Marjorie Weismantel

  Tonya shouted down at me over the storm, “All this terrible weather, and snow in October; haven’t you wondered about it? I’m disappointed in you, Tess.” By that time, the wind was screaming and the swirling air around us was completely white, white with blowing snow.

  Fortunately, Tonya finally lifted her boot off my throat and I took that opportunity to shift over and bend my neck toward the hill. I saw Doug speeding down in that ridiculous chairski. He was actually veering toward us. I concentrated all my thoughts on Doug, “look at me Doug, look at me Doug”. He turned his head, and for a split second I thought I heard a “What …. ?”

  WHAM!!!!! A blanket of white fell over me, snow up my nose and in my mouth. So heavy and cold. Tried to move my limbs but couldn’t. “Turn your head here, Tess,” Will whispered hoarsely. I moved toward Will. There was a small space to breathe.

  “Whaaaa …. ?” I tried to ask, but snow filled my mouth.

  “Snow wind,” he whispered. “Could smother us. Not much air. I moved the sled over us. Just Wait.” I bent my head closer to Will and rested my forehead against his chin. I closed my eyes and tried not to panic. Other than my head, I couldn’t move any other part of my body. Breathe in, breathe out. I was shaking uncontrollably.

  “Shhhh, it’s OK. I know. Just wait.” I felt Will’s slight smile against my forehead. I closed my eyes and tried to zone out. It was impossible.

  “Tess, I can hear.”

  “Hmm …. ?”

  “Listen.”

  There was a faint scraping sound.

  Next, muffled voices, scraping noises.

  “Tess, Will, you there?” Shoveling, banging, scraping.

  Suddenly, light, air and voices.

  “Tess, Will, you all right? Hey, let’s get ‘em out before something else happens. This thing could cave any minute.” Sam appeared through the snow and grabbed my arm, pulling me out. Will scrambled after me. We had to crawl on our hands and knees through a tunnel of cold whiteness. As soon as we emerged I quickly brushed myself off. I wanted that snow off me.

  Mercy grabbed and hugged me, tears streaming down her face. “Tess, you scared me. Don’t ever do that to me again!”

  “Don’t do that to YOU again,” I retorted, hugging her back.

  I felt such relief flow through me, until I turned around to find Will. That’s when I saw it. I just stood there, dumbfounded, staring at the huge mountain of snow that Will and I had been UNDER. It was a miracle we got out. That’s when I noticed all the people that had been digging, some with snow shovels, some with saucers. You could see where they had been digging frantically, trying to get us out in time.

  “Where’d all that snow come from?” Nathan asked.

  Doug answered, “It came from the evil ones, the diaboles. I just caught sight of you, Tess. I saw your face and in the blink of an eye, it was gone. Then I caught a glimpse of several people running out of the woods. I knew something was up when I saw them.” He shook his head. “That’s when I came running over here. Then I saw that huge mountain of show appear outta nowhere.”

  “How’d you know it was the diaboles?” Sam inquired.

  “That’s the only explanation for the snow wind. Snow wind isn’t what I would call a natural phenomenon around here. It’s something that might happen in a place like Colorado, but not here,” responded Doug, shaking his head.

  Will said grimly, “Snow wind typically occurs in very particular circumstances, such as sudden extreme snowfall of light, dry snow and an open landscape with tunnel-like conditions that enable high winds. The only condition this met was the sudden extreme snow fall. I think the diaboles definitely brought this on.”

  “What is snow wind?” I asked, looking between Doug and Will.

  “It’s when very strong winds take snow from the air and the ground and deposit it elsewhere. It’s not what’s referred to as common snow drifts. It’s way beyond that. Snow wind has been known to deposit up to 25 feet of snow in one area.”

  Nathan added, “We were darn lucky there was a snow plow across the street with extra shovels.”

  Will put his arm around me. “Tess, are you OK? You’re shaking. I should get you home.”

  “No, Will. I have to find out what’s going on. Did you hear what Tonya said about the bad weather and snow in October?” I was shaking my head. “There’s some kind of connection and I can’t figure it out.”

  Will quietly responded in my ear, “I know who we can talk to about this.” Then he turned to everyone else. “Thanks for your help, guys. I’d hate to think what would’ve happened if you didn’t dig us out in time.”

  “No problem, Will.” “I do have a favor to ask of you,” Sam said as he was watching the snow falling around us.

  “What’s that?” Will asked.

  “Do you think we can all squeeze into your jeep? There’s no way my car can get through all this snow.”

  54. Negative Polarity

  Between the blinding snow storm and the unlit roads, it took us forever to get the guys home. Will’s eyes were constantly focused on the narrow tunnel of the headlights through the swirling snow. It was unnerving to be riding around in this weather.

  After the last drop off, Will turned to Mercy and I. “Tess, I think I know who can answer at least some of your questions.”

  “Who would that be?”

  Will smiled, “Why, our wonderful Mr. Kenney.”

  “Mr. Kenney? You mean that geeky robotics teacher?” asked Mercy, raising her eyebrows.

  “That’s exactly who I mean. Mr. Kenney knows his stuff. He’s also a crazy guy when it comes to weather. I’m sure he knows more than many professional weather forecasters.”

  I added, “And I can verify that he knows about witches.”

  Will glanced at Mercy before adding, “He’s one of us, you know.”

  “He’s a luminar?” Mercy asked, her voice rising.

  I nodded, “Yes, and he’s been around for a long time.”

  “Is it OK for us to show up at his house out of the blue?” Mercy asked Will.

  Will grimly stared at the road. “Stop thinking of him as a teacher. Mr. Kenney’s one of us. He’ll be OK about it. I also think our situation qualifies as an emergency.”

  Eventually, we pulled up to a large old house that was overpowered by trees and bushes drooping with snow. It had a forbidden look about it due to the eerie darkness and the obstruction of the front walk from hanging tree branches. “It doesn’t appear that anyone’s home,” I remarked, peering through the swirling snow.

  “He’s gotta be there,” Will maintained. “Where else would he be? There aren’t any lights on because of the power outage. I’ll go check it out.” Will climbed out of the jeep and made his way to the front. Due to the howling wind, we couldn’t hear him pounding on the front door but he finally emerged, pushing through the snow laden bushes.

  “Yeah, Mr. Kenney’s here. He’s in the kitchen in the back side of his house where he has a fireplace. He said he lost power two days ago.”

  I asked, “He doesn’t mind us coming in the middle of a storm?”

  Will shook his head. “Not at all. I know it sounds weird but he didn’t act surprised to see me. You’d almost think he was expecting us.”

  Mr. Kenney was standing at his front door, holding it open with a big smile across his face. “Well, hello, hello, so nice to see you all. I’ve been holed up in this house alone for two whole days. It’s been just me and, uh, Miss America, my cat.” As we stepped into the front hall, Mr. Kenney’s eyes widened as he took us in. “My goodness! You look frozen. What were you kids doing today?”

  “Believe it or not, Mr. Kenney, we went sliding,” Will answered.

  “Sliding, today? No wonder you look like Frosty the Snow Man. Come on in and make yourselves comfortable. Since I don’t have electricity, I’ve been using my kitchen fireplace. This house was built in 1688, so it adapts to the old ways quite well. You can sit yourselves down on the cushions by the hearth and d
efrost.”

  We made our way through the dark living room which led to a dimly lit, narrow hallway. As we entered the kitchen, we experienced a blast of delicious warmth that was coming from a huge fireplace on the opposite wall. An appetizing smell triggered an involuntary growl from my stomach which made me realize that I hadn’t eaten for hours. That was when I noticed a large iron kettle hanging near the roaring fire.

  Mr. Kenney reminded me a bit of my great uncle Jimmy, a cheerful type of guy that always wore suspenders over those knit V-neck sweaters and a round belly. He walked over to stir the contents of the pot. “Are any of you hungry? I have a big pot of beef stew and some hot chocolate brewing. The beef stew is delicious, a recipe that my late wife, Gladys, used to make. Please, just help yourself.”

  “Oh, God, this is heaven,” moaned Mercy as she settled by the fire with the stew.

  After I scooped some up, I sat as close to the warmth as I could. I took a few bites before I turned to him. “Sorry to come barging in on you like this, Mr. Kenney, but we have to ask you some questions.”

  “Oh, here comes Miss America. Here Missy …..,” Mr. Kenney called out in a singsongy voice while stretching his hand toward a large cat with turquoise eyes and pure white fur. Missy strolled into the room and completely ignored Mr. Kenney. Instead, she strutted right over to me and proceeded to purr loudly and rub against my leg.

  “She’s so beautiful!” cried Mercy. “I’ve never seen such a white cat.”

  “Her mother was a Siamese and I don’t know what her father was,” explained Mr. Kenney. She was very attached to Mrs. Kenney when she was alive. Sometimes I wonder if she even likes me.”

  Will cleared his throat. “Mr. Kenney, as we were saying earlier, we’d like to ask you some questions, if you don’t mind.”

  “Sure, Will, of course. I’d be happy to answer whatever I can.”

  Will glanced at Mercy and Tess before asking him, “Do you have any idea why we’re having such crazy weather here in October?”

  “Hummmmm . . . . I have my suspicions.” Mr. Kenney looked thoughtful as if he knew something that we didn’t, but he wasn’t quite sure how to say it. He turned it back to us. “What do you think?”

  Will shrugged. “I was thinking it has something to do with a change in the atmospheric conditions around here. It’s been stormy for a number of days and it keeps on getting worse. Before the power went out, I saw the weather radar on TV. It looked like all the clouds were circulating around New England and New York, staying in one area. The weather reporter said it couldn’t be explained because it wasn’t part of any other weather system like a hurricane would be. Something was creating those conditions, with all the wind and the precipitation. Now it’s coming down as snow because the temperatures have dropped so much”.

  “That’s very good, Will, very astute,” said Mr. Kenney, “but let me say that I think it’s a bit more than that.” Mr. Kenney scratched his head. “OK, let’s see if I can shed some other light on a rather complicated subject, but before I go on, I would like to bring something out in the open. I’m not sure if you’re aware of what I am.”

  I spoke up, “Actually, Mr. Kenney, we know that you’re a luminar, and that you’ve been one for a very long time.”

  “We also presume that you know about the imminent trouble brewing between the luminars and the diaboles,” Will added.

  Mr. Kenney was taken aback. “Well, I won’t ask you how you figured all that out. I’ve always made an effort to keep my identity a secret due to my responsibilities as a member of the teaching profession. I have to say, I’m truly impressed by your intuitive abilities.” Mr. Kenney looked deliberatively at us before asserting, “Of course, I am also fully aware of each one of your true identities as luminars.” In response, we simply smiled at him. What else was there to say?

  Mr. Kenney finally cleared his throat and continued, “Well, I’m glad we’ve gotten that issue off of the table. As it turns out, I’ve been studying this weather phenomenon for a very long time. I suspect that this weather is, in fact, associated with the arrival of the diaboles. It has to do with the makeup of their inner being. I’ll try to explain it as best as I can.

  “You see, over many centuries and lifetimes of their evil thoughts and negative actions, the energy levels of the diaboles have become negatively polarized, and to a very high degree, at that. Under normal conditions, this polarization wouldn’t be noticed, other than the sense of a negative vibration they convey. However, when large numbers of diaboles congregate in one area, the effect can magnify, exponentially; that is, nonlinearly at an ever increasing rate.”

  I quickly jumped in with a question. I was getting lost. “Mr. Kenney, before you continue, you have to explain something to me. What is ‘negative polarity’?”

  “Well, let me see how I can explain this. There are some rather abstract scientific principles involved.” Mr. Kenney frowned for a moment before continuing. “To put it in simple terms, all substances are made out of atoms, which are built out of electrons and protons. The electrons have a negative charge, spinning around the atom’s nucleus, which is made up of positively charged protons. When there are more electrons than protons, the atom is out of balance - making it more unstable - and it becomes negatively charged, creating a ‘negative polarity’.

  “That negative polarity is an unstable characteristic that diaboles have acquired, and is the reason you may experience uneasiness when diaboles are in the vicinity. Some people may refer to that feeling as ‘negative vibrations’. These negative vibes - the negative polarity – are what make diaboles nasty and evil minded. On the other hand, luminars are very stable because they have an abundance of protons. Their resulting ‘positive polarity’ is why they have acquired a very positive nature and outlook. In fact, their healing abilities come from this positive polarity.”

  Mr. Kenney continued, “Now, as I was explaining before, the negative polarity becomes an issue when it is highly concentrated in one area. That has been happening around here. Have any of you noticed?”

  Will exclaimed, “Yeah, I’ve noticed all these new kids showing up at school.”

  Mr. Kenney nodded at Will. “Yes, not only has there been a large influx of new students at Woodley High, but also in the surrounding schools. Furthermore, I’ve been making phone calls and discovered there’ve been new kids arriving at schools throughout the whole state and even in western Massachusetts and parts of New York over the last few weeks. Their families, plus those who don’t have families but have recently come into the area, have resulted in large numbers that have really been unbelievable.”

  “Aren’t ANY of the newcomers luminars?” Mercy asked in a panicky voice.

  “Yes, some of them are luminars, but it’s also apparent that the vast majority of the newcomers are diaboles. Have you noticed who’s been showing up at Woodley?” Mr. Kenney asked me, his eyebrows raised.

  “Yes, most of them have definitely been diaboles,” I grimaced.

  Mercy added, rolling her eyes, “That’s for sure!”

  Will asked, “Can’t you also tell by the strange turn of the weather?”

  Mr. Kenney nodded. “Yes, I would agree. There are so many diaboles gathering that I believe a zone of concentrated negative polarity has built up. The result is more negative electrons creating a great instability in the atmosphere which translates into more unstable weather conditions.”

  “How bad do you think the weather can get?” Will asked.

  “Well, I’ve done many detailed calculations, and determined that with enough concentrated negative polarity, the earth’s magnetic poles can actually become destabilized. Look at this.”

  Mr. Kenney pulled out a compass and placed it on the floor. We all stood around and watched the needle, but it didn’t settle on the expected position pointing to the north. Instead, it went around one way, then the other, and kept at it erratically, round and round, as if it were searching but couldn’t find north. “What the . . ? Wow!”
shouted Will, “What’s going on?”

  “Well, as you can see, the compass doesn’t know where north is”, explained Mr. Kenney. “That’s because there’s so much negative polarity that has collected in our region, and as a result, the compass doesn’t automatically go directly to the North Pole. It’s as if it doesn’t know where to go.”

  “Are you saying the earth’s magnetic pole has actually shifted?” asked Will.

  “I wouldn’t exactly say that it’s shifted, but I would say that it is in the process of shifting. I have been keeping an eye on the changing dynamics of the magnetic pole over the last few weeks and it has been steadily moving in this direction. I would go so far as saying that we are in the center of where the negative polarity is building. That is why the needle is going round and round right here where we stand, in Woodley, Connecticut.

  Mr. Kenney went on. “As small as our state of Connecticut is compared to the United States, not to mention the globe we call earth, it’s still a large enough area to become an influence due to the large number of diaboles and all of their negative polarity.

  Mr. Kenney continued, “This shift in the poles is a sign that the earth’s magnetic field has weakened. This is important to understand, because the magnetic field is, effectively, a shield that protects the earth from the bombardment of cosmic radiation that rains on our planet from outer space. When that shield weakens, more cosmic rays, which are really very tiny subatomic particles, make it into the earth’s atmosphere. These particles then become the catalyst for cloud formation. Basically, cosmic rays are a fundamental ingredient for clouds to form.”

  Will scratched his head, “I never thought about it in that way”.

  “Well, it’s an emerging science we are just beginning to understand. However, there’s more,” Mr. Kenney said. “This phenomenon of cosmic rays creating clouds goes on all the time. The sun goes through cycles of magnetic storms that vary in strength. These so-called ‘solar storms’ send out particles, called the solar wind, that also protects the earth from cosmic rays, in a similar way that the earth’s magnetic field protects the earth.