Mark of the Witch (Boston Witches)

by Jessica Gibson

  “I think we should call it a night right here, don’t you?”

  Lost for words, Jilly just nodded and opened the door to her room. With a last look behind her, she closed the door and sat on her bed. She felt like fire itself, she was so keyed up; she doubted that she could sleep now. So, she changed into her pajamas, tied her hair into a ponytail, and quietly went into the den across the hall. Grabbing a book at random, she sat down on the big leather sofa to read. Opening the book, she saw that it was Liza’s diary, and she settled in and began to read.

  February 3, 1693

  Mary and I were in the forest today, collecting herbs and flowers for Mama, when we saw a strange man by the river. I wanted to talk to him, but Mary said we mustn’t. She never lets me do anything fun. When I told Mama about it, she looked worried, but she didn’t say anything else about it. William came calling again today; I can’t help but feel lucky to have found one such as him to love. I only wish Mary the same, for I cannot be truly happy while she is not.

  February 6

  I saw the man again today. He was wearing the same ratty clothes as before, but he was standing at the gate in front of the house. Papa says I must not engage him in any way, but he looks so lonely. William says he’s inclined to agree with Papa on the matter, so I guess I must listen to them. Mary and I learned a new spell from Mama today. It was really difficult, but I managed to change my eyes from green to blue! Mary didn’t get it right away and Mama told her she must practice harder at her spells.

  February 14

  Mary and I went into Salem to the market today with Papa. We met some sisters of the craft in front of the apothecary shop we normally go to. Mary recognized them from the last meeting in the woods Mama brought us to. I asked them if they had seen the man too. One of them hadn’t, but two of them had. They described him the same as I remembered. Every time I saw him, something about him was familiar, but I’m sure I’ve not met him before. When I bring him up to Mary, she gets a queer look on her face, says nothing until I give up, and talks of something else.

  February 16

  Mary left the house very early in the morning; I woke just as she was closing our door. I followed her at a distance into the woods, and I was shocked to see that she was meeting a man. It was the strange man I had been seeing around the house for weeks. I watched from behind a tree as she walked toward him and they sat down on the leaves. She had brought him food and a blanket, and one of Papa’s old shirts to keep him warm. As he was eating, he spoke to her in a low voice, and I couldn’t hear what was said. When Mary got up to leave I ran ahead back to the house and waited for her in our room. I confronted her about what I saw, and she burst into tears. She told me his name was Patrick, and he was William’s brother.

  Jilly closed the book, surprised at what she had read. William had never mentioned having a brother in any of their conversations.

  She got up, looking over at the clock on the desk. The digital readout said that it was 1:30 A.M. already. She picked up the diary and brought it with her to her room. She climbed into bed, wanting to go to sleep, but she was too wound up about what she had read. She had wanted to continue reading, but there were pages missing after that entry. Someone had torn out three weeks of entries; the next entry in the diary had nothing at all to do with Patrick, or William.

  Feeling frustrated, Jilly tossed and turned in bed for an hour until she finally drifted off to sleep. Her dreams were erratic; they kept shifting from Liza’s time to her own. Liza was telling her to trust in William, that he was the key to her safety. She also dreamt of a strange man with dark hair, but she never saw his face.

  Chapter 5

  Jilly woke up at 9:30, not feeling very rested, and headed straight into the shower. Standing under the hot spray, she went over everything she learned last night. Liza clearly believed William was trustworthy, and she wanted to believe her, but she didn’t like that he hadn’t told her about his brother. She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt; it wasn’t like she had asked him point blank if he had a brother and he lied.

  While she toweled off, she decided she would just ask him and be done with it. She tied her hair up in a knot and quickly got dressed and headed down to the kitchen. She found both her sister and William seated at the table, eating breakfast. Grabbing a cup of coffee and a muffin, she joined them. She wanted to ask William about his brother, but she didn’t want to do it in front of Caroline.

  “So, Jill, when are we going to start my training?” Caroline asked.

  “I guess whenever you want; we have nothing but time right now.” She finished her muffin and pushed her plate away. “Do you want to start right now?”

  Caroline looked both nervous and excited as she said, “Sure.”

  Jilly started Caroline off easy; they worked on simple conjuring spells for about an hour.

  “You did really well, Car; you conjured the water into the cup one out of three tries. Next time we’ll try a quick change spell. Until then, I want you to practice what you learned today until you can conjure the water on the first try.”

  Looking tired but thoroughly pleased with herself, Caroline nodded and went upstairs to rest.

  William, who had been sitting by the fire watching the lesson, came over and sat at the table with Jilly. “You’re so patient with her. I’m not sure I could be as patient if I were teaching.”

  “I’m just trying to be how my mom was when she taught me. It’s a lot harder then you’d think to control your power when you’re first learning. It can be really maddening.” She trailed off at the end, looking down at her hands.

  Sensing that something was amiss, William asked, “What is on your mind, Jilly?”

  “Well,” she said tentatively, suddenly feeling very nervous, “last night I couldn’t sleep. So I went into the den and grabbed a random book to read. It turned out to be Liza’s diary.” She stopped there, trying to gauge his expression.

  “I see,” he said in a flat voice. “So I gather you’ve found out about Patrick then, hmm?”

  “Well yeah, I did. Why didn’t you tell me about him when we talked before?”

  “Some things are too painful to talk about.”

  “What happened to him, where is he now? Is he like you?”

  William’s eyes darkened in anger as he looked at her. “You should know what happened if you read Liza’s diary.” He turned his face away from her and looked into the fire.

  She had never seen him angry in the short time she had known him and it made her feel a bit uneasy.

  “There were pages ripped out. Someone obviously didn’t want people to see what Liza wrote. I only know that his name is Patrick and that he is your brother.”

  He was still for a while, looking into the fire. Finally he spoke in measured tones. “I do not wish to speak of Patrick; his memory is too painful even after so much time has passed. Give me some time to think.” He pushed his chair back and walked quickly outside to the back porch.

  Jilly watched him pace back and forth on the small deck through the window. Seeing the pain in his eyes when he said his brother’s name made her feel guilty for even bringing it up. As he stopped in front of the railing and looked out into the forest, the small bench that sat against the wall raced toward him and he sat down.

  After a few more minutes of watching him, Jilly got up and went upstairs to her room. Grabbing the diary, she went into the den and curled up on the couch to read more of Liza’s thoughts.

  May 17

  Mary has been distant. I do not know how to change her feelings toward me. Her silence is like a knife through my heart; I feel as though I am half a person without her. Papa is talking of sending her to North Carolina to stay with Mama’s sister Prudence. I feel I will die if we are separated. William has also changed; he is short tempered and often melancholy. He is growing impatient with our long engagement; he wants to be married and away from here. I love him now more than ever, but Papa’s feelings toward him have changed and I fear the w
orst.

  More pages were missing after that entry, and the rest of what was left was useless to Jilly. Sighing in frustration, she threw the book at the wall and laid her head back against the armrest.

  Hearing the thump from her room, Caroline quickly came in to see what had happened. “Everything ok in here?”

  “Yeah, sorry,” Jilly said sheepishly. “I want information and there’s none readily available. I’m just being sulky, don’t mind me.” Wanting to change the subject, she quickly asked, “Have you talked to Jack at all today?”

  Caroline frowned. “Yeah, briefly; he left me like thirty voicemails, so I finally called him back. He keeps asking when I’m coming home, but I don’t know what to tell him yet. I told him to just give me the space I need while I try and figure this out. He told me they never did anything; they just talked and listened to each other’s problems. It almost makes it worse for me, that he could share his life with this woman, but he wouldn’t let me in. Was I that horrible of a wife that I drove him to someone else?” She put her face in her hands.

  “It was nothing you did; don’t do that to yourself. It was lousy what he did, but if you can find it in you to forgive him, I think you should. And if you do forgive him, you need to move past it and get on with your lives. This could be a good thing for you guys; it can open up the lines of communication between you that he had closed off. I’m not trying to push you either way, I’ll support you in whatever you choose, and you’ll always have a place here.”

  Wiping a tear from her face, Caroline hugged Jilly before sitting down. “Thanks, Jill. You know, I keep picturing him with her, imagining them on dates or whatever it was they did together, and it makes me want to throw up. I don’t know if I can believe him when he says they never went past talking. How can you let it go on for a year and only talk? As much as I hate what he’s done, I’m glad it brought me back home to you.”

  Both of them smiled and Jilly squeezed her sister’s hand.

  The sound of the back door slamming snapped both girls to attention. Jilly cringed at the sound.

  “That would be William. We had a conversation he wasn’t exactly thrilled with earlier and he went outside to brood.”

  “Let him come to you, Jill; he’ll talk when he’s ready. On a lighter note, I’ve been practicing for the last thirty minutes or so and I think I’m getting the hang of it. Watch this.”

  Caroline got up and stood in front of the desk. A few seconds later, a glass of water with a lemon wedge appeared in front of her.

  “Ok, now you’re just showing off,” Jilly said, laughing. “No, but really, that’s very good. You’re doing much better than I did at this stage; it took me days to get it right. If you want we can move on to quick-change spells now. You seem to have mastered conjuring pretty well. You should be able to conjure most anything now; you just need to picture the item you’re conjuring in your mind as you say the spell.”

  Caroline made a face and closed her eyes in concentration, her lips moving silently. Two bowls of ice cream appeared in front of her on the desk. “This magic stuff is actually kind of fun,” she said with a grin as she brought a bowl over to Jilly and sat down.

  The girls ate their ice cream while Jilly described the basics of the new spell. “This is a great spell for women; you can change your eye and hair color. Also, you can change the overall appearance of your face and body. It usually lasts about ten hours, so if you need it for longer, you just need to recast before the original wears off. Does that make sense to you?”

  Caroline nodded her head while concentrating. By the end of an hour, she had managed to change the color of one eye, and put a black streak on one side of her hair.

  “Well, I’m certainly glad this is only temporary,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m going to take a nap. I’ll see you at dinner.”

  “Great work today. Go and enjoy your nap; you’ve earned it.”

  Caroline left, and Jilly grabbed the phone off the desk and punched in Emily’s number.

  Emily answered on the first ring. “Jilly? Is everything ok? I’ve been so worried.”

  Jilly assured her that everything was fine. “I just wanted to fill you in on what’s been going on since yesterday.” She told her about Caroline finally accepting what she was and learning to harness her power, and about the kiss she shared with William.

  “I knew it! I knew you two would end up hooking up,” Emily said triumphantly.

  “We didn’t hook up. It was just a kiss; it didn’t go any further,” Jilly said defensively.

  “I didn’t mean anything by it; I just knew you would be good together. Plus I saw the way he looked at you during lunch yesterday. He looked like he’d like nothing better than to carry you around in his pocket and protect you. That mixed with a strong desire to rip your clothes off.” Both girls laughed at the last part.

  “He’s staying here for the time being, so we’ll see what does or doesn’t happen between us.”

  Jilly wanted to tell Emily about the diary, and Patrick, but that felt like it would be a betrayal to William, so she just asked how the baby was doing.

  “Oh, we’re both great. We had an appointment yesterday.” Her voice thick with excitement, Emily blurted out, “We’re having a girl! I broke down and asked the doctor yesterday, I couldn’t wait to find out.”

  “Em, that’s wonderful! I bet Adam is over the moon.”

  “Yeah, he was so excited when we found out. As much as he’d like a boy, this little girl has already got him wrapped around her little finger.”

  “Well, I’m really excited for you guys. I can’t wait to buy all sorts of pink.” There was a soft knock at the door and William’s face appeared in the crack as he opened it. Jilly held up a finger and told Emily she had to go, and she would call her tomorrow. She put the phone down, feeling nervous about talking to him. “I’m sorry I brought up Patrick. I didn’t realize…”

  “No, its ok, you didn’t know, how could you?” William came and sat down next to her on the couch. He reached for her hand and brushed her knuckles lightly with his lips. Butterflies zoomed around in Jilly’s stomach. “I’m sorry I reacted that way. It wasn’t your fault and I behaved appallingly. Will you forgive me?” He looked at her hopefully, his eyebrows raised in question.

  “There’s nothing to forgive. You had every right to react to that. I took you by surprise.”

  They both leaned back into the cushions and William pulled Jilly close to him. He inhaled her scent, losing himself in her magic.

  “I do want to tell you about Patrick; I just don’t know if I’m ready yet. Will you give me time?”

  “As much as you need, when you’re ready, I’m here.”

  They shifted down on the couch until William was lying on his back, with his head on the armrest, and Jilly was lying with her head on his chest. She fell asleep listening to the sound of him breathing. She slept a dreamless sleep.

  They woke up three hours later, feeling refreshed.

  “I love naps; I think there should be a law saying naps are mandatory every afternoon,” Jilly said, stretching.

  “I agree. That was exactly what I needed today.” Looking at his watch, William discovered it was getting close to dinner time. “What do you want to do for dinner? I was thinking I could make steak and maybe baked potatoes and a salad. I’ll probably run to the store and grab what I need; do you need anything while I’m out?”

  “Um yeah, pick up some Coke, and some ice cream; I was thinking of making milkshakes for dessert.”

  “I should probably go now. I will be back soon. If you have any problems at all, call my cell and I’ll come right back.”

  Jilly wanted to make a smart remark, but she bit her tongue when she saw the look of concern on William’s face. She knew he was worried about leaving her by herself, but she was sure she would be fine. “Ok, see you when you get back then.” He leaned in and kissed her before walking downstairs.

  Smiling to herself, she wandered into her ro
om lazily and flopped down on her bed. She was happy. For the first time in at least a year, she felt content with where her life was. Sabine not considered. She felt like something could really be happening with William, and she was excited to find out where it went. She lay on the bed, imagining what it would be like to date him when things got normal again. She thought about holding hands at the movies, and goodnight kisses at the front door. She wanted all of that, and with someone who understood her the way he did. She was smiling when Caroline came in and sat down next to her on the bed.

  “You look like the cat that ate the canary, Jill. What is that face about?”

  “I’m just happy I guess.”

  “How on earth are you happy with everything that’s happening right now? First you have me, your crazy twin sister, breaking into your life with crazy drama, and then you have Sabine, who may or may not want to hurt or kill you.”

  “I’m happy you’re home, and I’m happy we’re getting close like we used to be. This is what I’ve wanted since we were thirteen, Car. And then there’s William…”

  Caroline smiled. “Ah, there is William, isn’t there? I should have guessed. So what’s happened between you two to make you feel so giddy?”

  “Nothing really; we’ve kissed a few times. There’s just this connection we have. I feel like I’ve known him my whole life, like my life is complete. It’s like nothing can happen as long as he’s here. Which is silly, I know, not to mention old fashioned, but it’s a nice feeling. I get the warm fuzzies when I’m with him,” Jilly said, laughing.

  “Where is he, anyway?”

  “He ran to the store to get some groceries. If you need anything, you can text him from my phone.” She grabbed her phone off the nightstand. Caroline shook her head.