Word must have spread fast in Shevington. The people of the community stood clustered on the periphery of the square. They remained far enough back to give us our privacy, but they still wanted to be present to honor the aos si.
Above, us the spreading branches of the Mother Tree sighed softly in the morning breeze. Opening my thoughts just slightly to her presence, I heard the Tree’s stately voice in my head, “All will be well, child.”
I didn’t believe her.
Myrtle spoke to us as a group. “My beloved family,” she said, “as you know, I have decided, in counsel with the Mother Tree, to merge my energy with hers and heal the damage I suffered from the Orb of Thoth. This is not so much a leaving or an end as a transition; I will be here with you still, joined with Her wisdom.”
“Can we talk to you?” I asked.
“Any time you like,” Myrtle said. “You need only sit here and open your mind.”
Then, one at a time, Myrtle spoke with everyone present. Taking my mother’s hand, she said, “Have faith, Kelly. What seems impossible may yet come to pass.”
“Thank you,” mom said, embracing Myrtle. “Fare thee well, aos si.”
When Myrtle came to Beau, she said, “How do you find Shevington, Colonel Longworth?”
“It is a place of great wonders, dear lady,” he said, “but I am pained that the occasion of my first visit here is coincidental with your departure.”
“As am I,” Myrtle said. “I am trusting you to care for Jinx as I would, and to be for her a sounding board and friend.”
Beau took Myrtle’s hand, bowed low, and kissed it.
“I give you my word,” he said. “No harm will come to Jinx under my care.”
Rodney, who was sitting on Beau’s shoulder, squeaked mournfully.
“Do not be sad, my little friend,” Myrtle said. “You may be small of body, but your heart is brave and immense. You, too, must look after Jinx. Can you do that for me?”
Rodney nodded and put his hand over his heart. When Myrtle moved past them, he dove inside the collar of Beau’s shirt, seeking the comfort of a human connection.
To Festus, Myrtle said, “You old rascal. I did not expect you to appear in human form, and wearing a suit, and looking so handsome.”
“It’s the least I could do, aos si,” Festus said, and then he spoke to her in Gaelic.
Myrtle smiled. “Thank you, Festus McGregor,” she said. “You are a good man, as is your son.”
Chase took her hand. “If I am a good man,” he said, “you have had much to do with it. May we meet again.”
“May we meet again,” Myrtle said.
Tori didn’t wait for Myrtle to speak. She just threw her arms around her neck and held on, sobbing.
“Hush now,” Myrtle comforted her. “This is not a day for sadness. Your destiny is as great as Jinx’s. Lean on Moira. She will guide you well.”
Tori nodded, but she couldn’t speak.
And then there was just me.
“I can’t do this,” I whispered.
“Dear child,” Myrtle said, “I have trained all the daughters of Knasgowa, but only you are the true child of my heart. You can do this and ever so much more.”
“I’d rather do it with you,” I said.
“I will always be with you,” Myrtle said, “but right now I cannot be with you here in this place. Will you help me, my friend?”
“Of course,” I said even though my heart was about to shatter in my chest, “what do I need to do?”
Myrtle held out her hand, and I walked with her to the base of the Mother Tree.
“Search your feelings,” she directed. “Join your energy with mine.”
There were plenty of emotions to pick from. Sadness. Anger. Confusion. Fear. But it was only when I settled on hope that the familiar blue light began to spread from my hands up through my arms until the azure glow bled into my eyes.
“Good,” Myrtle said, as her golden energy coalesced around her. “Hope is the greatest energy of them all.”
As our magics blended, the field around us took on the same vibrant green of the Mother Tree. I felt the ground beneath us shift. Large cracks opened, revealing the massive roots under our feet.
Myrtle’s form began to fade, but the pressure of her hand remained strong on mine until the last possible second. Then her essence dissipated into a sparkling fog that slowly sank into the earth as the cracks drew closed. As I watched, the blades of grass knitted over the lines until the lawn appeared whole and unbroken once again.
As my magic morphed back to blue and receded into my body, I heard the voices of both Myrtle and the Mother Tree in my mind rejoicing in their reunion.
All around us, the town folk stood silent, though many of them were weeping. I looked up and saw the dragonlets hovering above us in perfect formation with heads bowed.
“People of Shevington,” Barnaby said, “the aos si and the Mother Tree are now one. Gus am bi sinn a 'coinneachadh a-rithist.”
“Gus am bi sinn a 'coinneachadh a-rithist,” they repeated as if in one voice.
Until we meet again.
Epilogue
The first hint of fall cooled the night air in the cemetery and made me draw the light sweater I wore closer around my shoulders. I don’t know if the shiver that moved through me came from the temperature or the sense of emptiness I felt inside.
At the far end of the graveyard, Beau stood talking with three female ghosts in gingham dresses. All the spirits still saw him as the arbiter of their problems. His visits were equal parts social call and court session.
When he finished with them, Beau joined me. I handed him the Amulet of the Phoenix. His form solidified, and I moved over to make room for him on the granite bench.
“Would you like my coat?” he asked. “There is a chill in the air.”
I shook my head. “It’s going to take more than a coat to warm me up,” I said.
We all felt Myrtle’s absence keenly. The store seemed empty without her. That’s not to say we weren’t soldiering on. Beau asked Moira to train him alongside Tori and Mom, arguing that his experience of the afterlife gave him a unique perspective. Moira agreed, and now when I went down into the lair, I almost felt like I was entering a library reading room occupied by mad scientists.
Tori and Gemma’s work tables sagged under bubbling beakers suspended over Bunsen burners, and Beau sat amid piles of books, his shirt sleeves rolled up past his elbows and ink staining his fingers.
More times than not they worked to a constant soundtrack of Elvis hits streaming from the dollhouse Glory referred to grandly as “Graceland East.” We’d learned the hard way that asking Glory to put on something else could mean anything from George Jones and Tammy Wynette to the Pistol Annies. Tori was quietly looking into soundproofing techniques.
Technically Barnaby was now in charge of my training, but for the most part, I worked alone with the occasional suggestion or correction from Moira. The target range proved to be good therapy. I could nail a match head with an energy bolt at 25 yards every time, and my telekinesis was approaching weightlifting standards. One evening when I was feeling particularly low and wasn’t paying attention, I levitated Beau’s work table. He was gracious about it, but I promised to be more careful.
Chase and I managed cordial awkwardness in our encounters. I expected merciless sarcasm from Festus, but instead he was supportive and solicitous. With Myrtle gone, Tori had lost her chess partner, so Festus filled in, proving to be a crafty and unpredictable opponent.
Any time Tori can get immersed in competition, she bounces back fast. It wasn’t quite so easy for me. I put on a good face during the day, but at night if I wasn’t crying for Myrtle, I cried for Chase and me.
Mom expressed her worry in typical Southern fashion, appearing with mountains of baked goods. At first, Darby appeared to be a little miffed, since feeding us was his department, but once they started trading recipes he and Mom became fast friends. They redoubled their efforts
when I lost weight anyway, but I just wasn’t interested in food.
Rodney worked himself half to death trying to give us all enough attention to make us feel better. He also went out of his way to make amends with Glory. When she lamented to us that she had no one to dance with, Rodney promptly offered his paw and put her through a credible jitterbug, promptly initiating a strange but wonderful friendship.
Beau, who was already my stalwart confidante, was even more fatherly in the wake of Myrtle’s departure. “May I offer you a piece of advice?” he asked as we sat together in the graveyard.
“Just as long as you’re not going to tell me there’s no crying in baseball,” I said.
He laughed. “I quite enjoyed that film,” he said, “but I disagree with the contention regarding weeping. Anyone who has listened to Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech surely could not remain dry-eyed.”
“That’s true,” I conceded. “So what’s your advice?”
“My advice,” he said, “does come from a baseball-themed motion picture. ‘If you build it they will come.’”
“You want me to build a baseball diamond in the cornfield so Shoeless Joe Jackson will show up and say wise things?” I asked sarcastically.
Beau looked and me and actually cocked an eyebrow. Tori was teaching him things.
“No,” he said, “I want you to pick up the pieces of your life and act as if they all have meaning until you believe they do again. This lassitude that has overtaken you must not be allowed to suppress your natural warmth and enthusiasm. You cannot afford to luxuriate in your unhappiness.”
“Meaning?” I said.
“You still face one and perhaps two adversaries,” he said. “Without Myrtle here, there is no one else to step up to the plate. Barnaby and Moira are training you to be a leader, so, whether you are ready or not, you must lead.”
Gazing out over the tombstones, I said, “I think I’d rather there be crying in baseball.”
“You may cry,” Beau said, “so long as you go on playing.”
I guess that was fair enough.
Chase sat at his cobbler’s bench re-soling a pair of boots. He didn’t notice Festus until the old cat jumped up beside him. “You’re working late, boy,” Festus said.
“Keeps my mind off things, Dad,” Chase said. “It’s not like I can sleep anyway.”
Festus picked up his hind leg and gave his ear a hearty scratch. “If that’s the case,” Festus said, “I might as well tell you what Malcolm Ferguson said to me that night in the clearing.”
Chase looked up sharply. “I thought you said he couldn’t speak.”
“I said that,” Festus replied mildly, “because I didn’t want Jinx to know what he said.”
“Okay,” Chase said, “what was it.”
“A name,” Festus replied. “Ionescu.”
About the Author
Juliette Harper is the pen name used by the writing team of Patricia Pauletti and Rana K. Williamson. As a writer, Juliette's goal is to create strong female characters facing interesting, challenging, painful, and at times comical situations. Refusing to be bound by genre, her primary interest lies in telling good stories.
Six of Juliette's series are currently available. The Jinx Hamilton Mysteries opens with Witch at Heart, a lighter paranormal tale featuring a heroine who possesses powers she never dreamed existed. Jinx has been minding her own business working as a waitress at Tom’s Cafe and keeping up with her four cats. Then she inherits her Aunt Fiona’s store in neighboring Briar Hollow, North Carolina and learns that her aunt has willed her special “powers” to Jinx as well. They say admitting you have a problem is the first step and Jinx has a major problem. She’s a new witch and she has no earthly clue what that means — until she’s given the opportunity to use her magic to do a good thing.
In Book 2, Witch at Odds, Jinx accepts her new life as a witch and is determined to make a success of both that and her new business. However, she has a great deal to learn. As the story unfolds, Jinx sets out to both study her craft and to get a real direction for her aunt’s haphazard approach to inventory. Although Jinx can call on Aunt Fiona’s ghost for help, the old lady is far too busy living a jet set afterlife to be worried about her niece’s learning curve. That sets Jinx up to make a major mistake and to figure out how to set things right again.
By Book 3, Witch at Last, A lot has changed for Jinx in just a few months. After the mishaps that befell her in Witch At Odds, she just wants to enjoy the rest of the summer, but she’s not going to be that lucky. As she’s poised to tell her friends she’s a witch, secrets start popping out all over the place. Between old foes and new locations, Jinx isn’t going to get her peaceful summer, but she may just get an entirely different world.
Book 4, Witch on First, has Jinx walk out the front door of her store in Briar Hollow on a Sunday morning only to find her werecat neighbor and boyfriend, Chase McGregor, staring at a dead man. Under the best of circumstances, a corpse complicates things, but Jinx has other problems. Is her trusted mentor lying to her? Have dangerous magical artifacts been placed inside the shop? Join Jinx and Tori as they race to catch a killer and find out what's going on literally under their noses.
Book 5, Witch on Second, opens just a week before Halloween. Jinx and Tori have their hands full helping to organize Briar Hollow’s first ever paranormal festival. Beau and the ghosts at the cemetery are eager to help make the event a success, but tensions remain high after the recent killings. Without a mentor to lean on, Jinx must become a stronger, more independent leader. Is she up to the task in the face of ongoing threats? Still mourning the loss of Myrtle and her breakup with Chase, Jinx finds herself confronting new and unexpected foes.
In Book 6, Witch on Third, Jinx and crew have just survived Briar Hollow's first annual paranormal festival — SpookCon1 as Tori calls it, but on the last night, they get a nasty surprise. The Strigoi Sisters are alive, and they're working with Creavit wizard Irenaeus Chesterfield! With Chase still stinging from the breakup and Lucas Grayson more than a little interested, Jinx has plenty on her plate without a new evil trio in town. As the team works to discover Chesterfield's motive, something happens in the Valley that changes everything for the Hamilton family.
Six volumes of the best-selling Lockwood Legacy are currently available. The story chronicles the lives of three sisters who inherit a ranch in Central Texas following their father's suicide. The titles include: Langston's Daughters, Baxter's Draw, Alice's Portrait, Mandy's Father, Irene’s Gift, and Jenny’s Choice. The seventh, Kate’s Journey, will appear in 2017.
Descendants of the Rose is the first installment of the Selby Jensen Paranormal Mysteries. The second book, Lost in Room 636, will also be available in 2017. Selby's business card reads "Private Investigator," but to say the least, that downplays her real occupation where business as usual is anything but normal.
And don't miss the hilariously funny "cozy" Study Club Mysteries, a light-hearted spin off of The Lockwood Legacy. Set in the 1960s, this series takes on the often-absurd eccentricities of small town life with good-natured, droll humor. The first book, You Can't Get Blood Out of Shag Carpet, is already listed in the Amazon store with You Can't Put a Corpse in a Parade will be coming in 2017.
Juliette has also made forays into the arena of short fiction arena with Before Marriage, a light, sweet romance and Langston’s Ghost, a short-story companion to The Lockwood Legacy books.
Fermata: The Winter is the first in a four-novella post-apocalyptic survival series. Five years after an unknown virus divided the world into the living and the dead, four survivors stumble into a winter sanctuary. Brought together by circumstance, but bound by the will to stay alive, a concert pianist and a girl from South Boston forge a friendship and a purpose to cope with their new reality.
For more information
@jharperbooks
www.julietteharper.com
[email protected]
Also by Juliette Harper
; Therre are currently six books
in The Jinx Hamilton Mystery Series.
Witch at Heart - Jinx Hamilton Book 1
Witch at Odds - Jinx Hamilton Book 2
Witch at Last - Jinx Hamilton Book 3
Witch on First - Jinx Hamilton Book 4
Witch on Second - Jinx Hamilton Book 5
Witch on Third - Jinx Hamilton Book 6
plus the first Jinx Hamilton / Shevington novella
Christmas in the Valley
Juliette Harper is also the author of The Lockwood Legacy.
Six full-length books are currently available in that series including:
Langston’s Daughters
Baxter’s Draw
Alice’s Portrait
Mandy’s Father
Irene’s Gift
Jenny’s Choice
These books may also be purchased
in two specially priced collections:
The Lockwood Legacy Books 1-3
The Lockwood Legacy Books 4-6
The Lockwood Legacy includes
a companion set of short stories.
The first two installments are:
Langston’s Ghost: Aftermath
Langston’s Ghost: From Limbo to Lust
Other works in Juliette Harper’s catalog include
the Selby Jensen Paranormal Mysteries,
the Study Club Mysteries,
the Fermata Post-Apocalyptic Series,
and the Before Series of short-story romances.
Selby Jensen Paranormal Mysteries
Descendants of the Rose
The Study Club Mysteries
You Can’t Get Blood Out of Shag Carpet
The Before Series
Witch on First: A Jinx Hamilton Mystery Book 4 (The Jinx Hamilton Novels) Page 23