by Les Goodrich
“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” said Brit.
“Impressive,” said Carol.
“Amazing,” said Tanner.
“Thug life,” said Jordan and she snapped a picture with her phone but it hardly did the costume justice.
Duncan’s Bistro was situated in an old two story clapboard inn that looked across the back alleys and lanes of old town. A raised deck stood at the entrance between the building and a large brick patio. The patio was covered with an extensive but somewhat rustic wooden arbor that had been added to several times over the years and was strung with dim light bulbs of mostly white but a red or orange or blue bulb had found a way in here and there. The food was good, the drinks were generous, and the craft beer and boutique wine selections were extensive. It was a local hangout in a town that had no local hangouts. Everyone just went to Duncan’s. Their Halloween parties were legendary.
The Avalon crew snagged a table when a group of girls left to dance. A DJ on the deck spun CDs and delivered a party-moving mixture of hip-hop and old Halloween favorites. Jordan and Brit went to get drinks. When they got back Tanner went to get beers and wine for Carol. Tanner also placed the stack of The Last Dragon papers at the end of the bar, and saved one to show Dan his article. Dan joined them looking like the last long-haired blonde samurai.
With drinks in hand they watched the crowd and commented on a few costumes. One tall blonde girl wore jeans cut completely away except for the half-inch strands of seam that ran down her long blonde legs and held up the remaining ten inches of jean leg bottoms to ride just below the tops of her muscled calves and cuff in folded breaks atop her white high heels. The seams reached up to join the last of the low waistband where only pockets and a few strands of shredded denim fringed her white bikini bottoms below her white sports bra and denim jacket that had been hemmed with the same ragged tear to just below her shoulder blades.
“I don’t know what the hell she’s supposed to be dressed as,” Jordan said. “But she gets my vote for the hottest bitch I’ve ever seen on Halloween.”
“I hadn’t noticed her,” Tanner said with a smirk and everyone laughed with him.
“So Dan. Can you be trusted to keep your mouth shut if we talk some serious witch business here, or do you need to go mingle?” Carol was often blunt but loved for it more than not.
“The samurai never betrays a trust,” Dan said and bowed with folded hands.
“Guys?” Carol said and looked to the others.
“Dan’s a pagan. He’s cool,” Jordan said and the other two nodded and everyone leaned in close.
“Good. Now about that coin Gwen planted in the store,” Carol said and sipped her wine and looked to be sure no one was close enough to hear. “The good doctor found out that Gwen actually put a charm on it for our success. In this case, for us to successfully find the painting before she does.”
“What?” asked Brit. “That’s crazy. Why would she do that?”
“From what Doctor Covington described, I think Gwen used an old Light Tribe spell for success in a specific endeavor. Then she soaked it in her dark intentions so I would find it and assume it was a hex (which I did). Then in the process of destroying it I’d curse ourselves out of finding the Aradia painting before she gets her hands on it. That’s why she came herself. It was pure posturing.”
“Now that is some sneaky beeswax,” Brit said.
“Freaking Shadowclan,” Jordan shook her head.
“Sneaky all right,” Carol continued. “But more importantly it was risky as hell. It just lets me know how desperate she is. I was heating the cauldron over a fire in my back yard and was just seconds away from melting that damn thing when Doctor Covington came strolling up out of the shadows near the back bench. While spying he heard Gwen herself explain the whole plan to Datura.”
Dan stood up. “I have no clue who or what you guys are talking about so no worries about me saying anything.”
“I’ll fill in the details for you later,” Jordan said.
“Sure and I’ll go get everyone another round,” Dan asked about each drink then slipped off to the bar. Carol went on.
“So Gwen and her posse don’t seem to know much. Maybe less than us. They’re dealing with these Fomorians and Gwen is beyond frustrated with their lies and their general unreliability. They use old names for locations or maybe names of their own or they just make up names. She mistrusts them. And Brit, your guy. Marshal. Is he your boyfriend?”
“Getting there,” Brit said.
“Have you mentioned any of this to him?”
“No.”
“Good. They hexed him to get him to spy on you. I found that out too. You have got to keep him away from there especially if your counter-spell has really worked.”
“Oh it worked,” Jordan said. “Blue plasma arcs and everything.”
“Really?” Carol asked with raised eyebrows.
“Really,” Jordan assured her.
Carol clasped Brit by the shoulder and shook her gently. “Good going hon.”
“Thank you.”
“Well where is he? Your almost boyfriend?”
“He’s on his way here.”
“Can we tell him all of this? He needs to know how serious this is. He’s in real danger.”
“He doesn’t believe in witches or magick.”
“Oh for goddess sake. Can’t you girls ever find witch guys to date?”
“Well,” Brit started.
“I found a witch,” Jordan said.
“Oh never mind. We’ll sort Brit’s guy out. Now we’re gonna have to meet with Carmine right away and see if he can help us.”
“Bloody hell,” Jordan said and she drained her cosmo.
“I’d like to meet with him on my own at first if that’s okay with you guys,” Tanner said.
“Fine with me,” Jordan said and she shivered slightly as the unstirred straight vodka that had collected at the bottom of her drink warmed her throat. She looked to see if Dan was on his way back with more drinks yet.
“You can if you want to I guess,” Carol said and Tanner nodded.
“Yeah. I have a rapport with him and I want to talk to him about the island I think we may be looking for before we all bombard him with questions about Aradia.”
Carol agreed, “Sounds like a good idea. Work it out, but do it as soon as possible. Now is everyone doing a ritual tonight I take it?”
“I’m doing magick on the boat tonight and casting the runes at midnight. Or whenever I get back out there,” Tanner said.
“Good,” Carol smiled.
“I’m casting a circle on the roof and Brit’s going to dedicate with me for her year and a day of witchcraft training. We’re using your old book of shadows and the solitary dedication ritual you wrote. A few spells for the new year. It’s gonna be awesome.”
“I’m so proud of you all,” Carol said.
“Skyclad if it’s not too cold up there, right Brit?” Jordan added with a crafty twinkle in her eye.
“Maybe if Dan brings enough drinks back,” Brit giggled.
“Can I come?” Tanner asked.
“If you really want to you can,” Jordan said calling him out a bit.
“Maybe in the summer,” Tanner said and Dan reappeared.
“What’d I miss?” he asked putting down the filled drink tray.
“Oh nothing,” Jordan said and the girls and Tanner laughed and Carol shook her head.
“I don’t want to know,” Dan said and he took up his beer.
They told Dan about the lost painting and the mermaid spell and the bad witches at The Poison Apple whom he did know a little about. Brit texted Marshal because she kept thinking he should be there already.
On my way, he texted back, then Tanner picked up the conversation.
“But if we ever find this island and the painting is still there, we’re gonna need a way to actually go get it. Where ever it is I’m sure it’s remote.”
“I thought we could just
go on your boat,” Brit said.
“No,” Tanner explained. “My boat’s too slow. This is a long way and we’re talking about sketchy waters and reef and God-knows-who will be trying to stop us.”
Dan took a long sip of beer. “I might be able to help you guys. A friend of mine has been bugging me for a favor and until now I’ve avoided it but this seems like too much of a coincidence. I think the Universe might be bringing this all together.”
“What?” Tanner asked and Dan had the group’s attention.
“Well it isn’t pretty and it might be dangerous but it doesn’t seem like that’s ever stopped you. And if you’re really gonna go traipsing around in the islands you might not have much of a choice.”
“Tell us,” Carol said and Dan went on.
“About a year ago a friend of mine went in on a deal to buy a house in the Bahamas, on Andros, with another guy. The plan was to split the house and take turns using it where each guy would have it for one month of the year. Then they’d rent it out for the other ten months. My buddy put up half the money for the house. They decided they’d want a boat to keep there too so they also put in the cash to buy a boat. Not brand new but as good as new. A thirty-one foot Contender with basically new Yamaha outboards. A capable boat. Fast. Seaworthy for as rough a sea as you’d ever want to be out in.”
“So we can use the boat?” Tanner asked hopefully.
“It’s not that simple,” Dan said.
“I knew it,” Tanner said, his hope diminished.
“It turns out that the guy my buddy went in with was a total con man. He’d just rented a house to show my friend. Fake real estate ads. A fake realtor chick from Lauderdale. The guy split with my friend’s money and he basically stole the boat too. He has the boat in Miami somewhere.
“My friend’s been trying to get me to go fetch the boat back ever since because I grew up running boats in the keys and the islands and he didn’t. It’s the kind of boat no one would report stolen. So far I’ve said no way. But if I had a few witches on my side, we might just be able to pull it off. Then we dash over and find your treasure and run it back up here. I doubt the crook would think to look in Saint Augustine, at least not right away, and once we’re done my buddy gets his boat back. Then he can just sell it and the con man never even knows what hit him, or who. All he knows is his boat got stolen. In Miami that’s nothing new.”
“That entire thing sounds preposterous,” Carol said. Dan looked her way.
“Oh but good and bad witches fighting to steal from ghost pirates to snag a thousand year old painting of a goddess witch queen doing some spell that turns witches into mermaids and doubles their lifespan. That, you’re perfectly fine with.”
“You have a point,” Carol admitted and the girls raised eyebrows and nodded in agreement.
Jordan stood up with her cosmo tilting in her hand and she caught the wide glass edge before any spilled and sipped it down a bit more. “This all sounds insane enough for me. Hi Marshal,” Jordan said as Marshal walked up. “Take my seat. I’m going to talk to that blondie in what’s left of her jeans.”
“I’m meeting you at your place at midnight,” Brit said to Jordan. “Don’t forget and bring that girl home.”
“Don’t you forget,” Jordan said and she vanished into the crowd.
Marshal kissed Brit on the cheek and introduced himself to Dan and Carol and said hi to Tanner. Carol excused herself and called a cab. Dan and Tanner got up to walk among the crowd and watch the costume contest that was being very informally conducted by the DJ on the microphone.
“Was it something I said?” Marshal said only partly joking.
“Oh no,” Brit assured him. “It’s been kind of a heavy night so far and it’s also Samhain so people have things to do later. They just want to have some fun before they go.”
“Things to do?”
Brit laughed. “Yeah. Halloween is the witch’s new year. It’s the pagan holiday of Samhain. We all do magick and cast spells for the coming year. Honor those who have passed.”
“You guys really believe it don’t you,” Marshal said. “I’ve done tons of article research into wicca and neopaganism and it seems like such a trend sometimes.”
Brit straightened and she felt a blend of pride in herself and annoyance at Marshal. Something inside her felt broken and she knew immediately that whatever that broken thing was, she had already chosen to walk away from it. It was not her heart but it was near to her heart and she put her hands on the table edge and spoke with directness.
“A trend,” she said and shook her head. “My family’s witchcraft tradition goes back to England in the sixteen-hundreds and before. Thirteen generations of witches stand behind me. My mother is the head of one of the most powerful Light Tribe covens in the world.”
“When can I meet your mom?” Marshal asked.
“That’s a bad idea. Maybe if you ever open your eyes to the world around you. I think you’ve had enough trouble with getting hexed lately.”
“Yeah but I don’t believe in witches, remember?”
“If you meet my mother you will.”
“Man, you’re so serious all the time.”
“Maybe I am but this is a serious thing. Whether you believe it or not you were hexed by the witches at a store I told you not to go to in the first place. I had to change my entire outlook on life and the way I think of myself and potentially risk my relationship with my parents in order to help you out of it. I’ve changed who I am to help you and you just scoff at the whole thing like it’s a joke. Don’t get me wrong, I love who I am. I did the right thing for myself but it was still the most difficult decision in my life. And I’m about to make another difficult decision right now.
“You’re a great guy in a lot of ways. But you refuse to believe in who I fundamentally am. I’m dealing with school, work, Shadowclan, conmen, and two crazy divorced witch parents. I’m about to dedicate my life for a year and a day to study magick and witchcraft that you don’t even believe in. I wish you the best, I really do, but this is just not gonna work.”
Brit pushed her chair back and stood.
“Are you breaking up with me?”
“If that’s what you call it. As much as I like you, I can’t have a serious relationship with someone who can look right at me and say, I don’t believe in who you are. I think the most important part your your life is some imaginary trend. Maybe you can write an article about that time you dated a girl who thought she was a witch.”
Brit turned to go find Jordan but Jordan had been standing just a few feet away at the edge of an empty table and she had heard the entire thing. Brit took three steps and came face to face with her.
“Can we go now?” Brit asked and Jordan put her arm around her friend and they walked out.
Chapter 14
Clues and Connecting
James texted Jordan Sunday afternoon and she called him and they talked. They met for lunch on Monday and they went to dinner on Tuesday night and after dinner they had drinks at the martini bar. They sat outside in the cool breeze under white string lights and talked for two hours. James told Jordan about working at Paper Tales Books and he talked some about the music he loved and about DJing acid jazz at Duncan’s. She thought he did so every Sunday but he said that it was only the first Sunday each month.
Jordan told him about working at Avalon Spellshop and about everyone she worked with and about a few customers and crazy times in the store. She did not mention the painting or The Poison Apple but they talked about witchcraft and magick and how astounding the experience of life was. They agreed with some enthusiasm that it was a miracle that anything was happening at all.
“If you aren’t in awe and overwhelmed with gratitude just from walking outside and looking around, then you aren’t aware. You’re just lost in your mind I guess.”
Jordan felt a rush of energy flood through her and she could hardly believe that a guy felt that way, because she had thought exactly that for her entir
e life. And she considered how handsome he was and how humble and casual and calm.
“You aren’t trying to be anyone different are you?” Jordan said to him.
“I just do my best,” James said.
“Tell me about you last girlfriend. I know you had one. Who is she?”
“I’d rather listen to you than talk about her.”
“Just tell me what she was like,” Jordan said. Then Jordan completely broke her own rule and let him know how she felt way sooner than she normally would, and she knew she might regret it one day but in that moment she didn’t care. “I can’t imagine why any girl would let you get away. Just tell me what happened then I swear I won’t bring it up again.”
“Alright. Her name’s Karen. She’s a nurse. We dated for two years and it was honestly awesome. We met in the book shop when she was at the end of nursing school. She finished school and worked at the hospital and we had so many fun times and we really liked being around each other. We just clicked. It was easy. I guess it was love. I mean I loved her and she said she loved me and I believed her. But she moved to Colorado and I’m just not moving to Colorado.
“We kind of always knew she might have to move, so it was in the back of our minds the whole time. It was a fully mutual thing. Not that it was easy. It wasn’t. But it was the right thing for her and staying here was the right thing for me. There’s no hard feelings between us. I’d do it again.”
“How long ago did she move?” Jordan asked and as she heard herself say it she felt that the question held within it the weight of whatever potential there was for the two of them.
“Eight months ago,” James said.
“Do you guys still talk?”
“For two months we did. She met a guy out there and she says he’s a good guy. I bet he is. I haven’t talked or texted her in six months.”
“So if you guys were so good together, why didn’t you move with her? I mean she’s a nurse and you work at a bookshop. No offense.”
“A few reasons. Mainly because I love it here. I love Florida. I love Saint Augustine. I like what I do. I love working at the bookshop because I love books. I’m going to write a book someday. I also love DJing at Duncan’s. Karen was really cool but she was one of those girls who was always talking about moving. I bet she talks nonstop about moving from where she is now. California next I bet. Then from there, Hawaii.