The Witchfinder Wars

by K. G. McAbee

  It is done, child. He has been told.

  Relief flooded through me like nothing I had ever felt before. I leaned back and rested against the branches as I relaxed to watch the spectacle below.

  Thank you, Great Mother. For everything.

  I would find my way back to Manning. Very, very soon. I couldn't bear to be away from Tommy any longer than I had to be.

  Not while I had a choice.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Tommy

  As I drove home, I could feel the weight of the blue stone lying against my heart. I could taste Anya's last kiss on my lips.

  I should have been worried, scared, concerned, but nothing seemed to matter to me.

  Anya was alive.

  As long as that one fact was true, was real, then I could handle everything else that came at me.

  But it seemed like the further I got away from Anya—from Annie—the more the worries came, piling up, one on top of the other. They marched through my mind line a line of soldiers, threatening, persistent: Ivy, Annie's mom; Grand and my sisters; Clay and Kinsey; WFG and my position as Matthew Hopkins.

  And one single, burning question rose above it all.

  Did Annie even know her mom was still alive, a prisoner of Clay and his Dark Side of WFG? WFG Limited—my family's company? Did she even suspect I'd been there when her Aunt Evie had been struck down, when her mother had been taken?

  I'd been so happy to see her, we hadn't even discussed the role I'd played in the fire.

  If she knew I'd been there, if she knew my connection, would she still love me? Still trust me?

  Still want me?

  I pulled into the drive. The whole house was lit up from top to bottom, and there were three Hummers parked in the driveway.

  I groaned.

  This was not going to be good.

  Then a funny thing happened.

  The moonstone around my neck gave off a kind of tingle, almost like a tiny electric spark. And I heard a voice, far away and yet deep inside me, all at once. It was the most beautiful voice I'd ever heard, soft yet strong, deep but feminine, full of the most potent care and concern.

  Your Annie must leave this place. There is no safety for her here. You must let her go so you will find her again. She will be back, and she will love you always.

  I jumped. I couldn't help it. But the voice went on: Do not doubt, my son. Do not fear. Stay strong, and you will hold her in your arms again. My love enfolds you both.

  Okay. That proved it. I was crazy, definitely crazy, and hearing voices.

  But I felt better all at once. Even though I was insane, I wanted to believe, I had to believe what that distant, lovely voice told me. I had to trust the words. I had to; I had no other choice. Because if I didn't believe, I might as well die right then and there. Without Annie, I had no future. Without Annie, I was nothing.

  So I decided, against all reason, to believe.

  Whatever came in the future, Annie would be back with me, and she and I would meet it all together.

  I parked in the street; there wasn't room in the drive for even my small sports car, and I couldn't get it around the huge vehicles to the garage in back. I got out and headed inside.

  People, way too many men and women I'd never seen in my life, all dressed in black, seemed to fill even our huge house.

  Sally appeared in the hallway, holding a tray with a coffee pot and cups, and started up the stairs. She didn't even notice me until I called out to her as I dodged three guys and walked toward her.

  "Sally!"

  She turned, her face pale and drawn. "Tommy! We've all been worried about you. Your Grand is upstairs calling hospitals right now."

  Uh oh. "Tell her—no, never mind. Give me that tray."

  I grabbed it and ran up the stairs to Grand's room. It was hard to open the door with my hands full but I managed it.

  "Grand! I'm home, I'm okay!" I yelled.

  Grand sat at her desk, her back to me, the phone to her ear. She dropped the phone and turned, relief and joy and anger and all sorts of emotions racing across her face. "Tommy!" she said. "We've been worried sick!"

  "Well," I said as I set the tray down on her desk, "I'm okay. Who are all these people?"

  She reached up and patted my arm. "Clay's back. He's had reports another powerful witch has been detected in the area. Oh, Tommy, honey, is it...is she...?"

  But before I could do more than grin down at her, someone said

  , "Tommy?" Clay was standing in Grand's doorway. "Good to see you. Your grandmother was worried, but I told her you could take care of yourself."

  "Yes," I said, facing him. "I can. And I can take care of everyone I love, too. Clay, there are some things we need to discuss."

  "Yes," he interrupted me, "there are." He came inside and shut the door behind him. "Something has happened, Tommy. The most amazing thing." He grinned at me, looking like some predatory animal on the search for prey. "And it's really funny, Tommy, but you're involved in it. Involved for a while, looks like."

  Clay came toward us, and I noticed for the first time he had a folder in his hand, one of the grey ones with WFG Ltd. on the front. He opened it and pulled out a photograph and some other papers. "Recognize this girl, Tommy?"

  I took the photo. Of course I recognized it. The girl it captured was Anya.

  "Never seen her in my life," I said, and I was amazed at how calm and breezy my voice sounded. Then I looked again. "No, wait. I think I've seen her at school. What are you doing now, Clay, stalking schoolgirls?"

  He didn't say a word, just handed me a sheet of paper.

  Yellow paper.

  Anya's sympathy note; the one I'd hidden in my trig book.

  "Seems you might know her a little better than that, Tommy." Clay gave me a quick, ugly look and snatched the paper and photo back. "But that's all to the good. In fact, it'll come in pretty handy when we go get her. Since she knows you, trusts you, it'll be easier to find her and bring her where we need her."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "We have to have her, Tommy. WFG has to have her. She's the key, the key to saving your father's life."

  "Wait a minute," I said. I grabbed Clay's arm. "Wait just a minute. What do you mean, my father's life? Dad is dead, remember? Landslide? Car crash? Hello? Is any of this coming back to you, Clay, or have you finally lost what little brains you have?"

  Grand appeared beside me; she took my hand. "Yes, I think Tommy's questions need answering, Clay. Now."

  Clay looked at her and I watched him go pale. All at once, I wondered why he was so afraid of his own mother.

  Then I realized. It wasn't fear.

  It was hatred.

  He hated Grand, just as he'd hated my father.

  Just as he hated me.

  "Let me explain this in words of one or two syllables," he began, his piggy eyes gleaming. "Spenser is not dead. He tricked us, tricked us all. I've just found out he's alive, and here, here in Manning, in the new clinic. But the...device he's in, the stasis chamber—it's leaking power at an ever-escalating rate. With any luck—I mean, we need luck to stop it, or he'll die. And you know exactly, precisely what we need, Tommy?" Clay grinned at me and shook the folder. Annie's picture fell out, but I snatched it from the air.

  "We need her, Tommy. We've got to find her, got to get her, because her power is the answer to everything. Spenser had this planned. He fooled us all, but we can bring him back. We can make him live again. Then we can show the board, the world, what WFG can do. But we need that girl. And if we fail to get her, Tommy, we fail at everything."

  Chapter Seventeen

  Anya

  I was too afraid to fall asleep in the trees. Each time I would begin to doze off, one of two things would jerk me back awake. The first was the terrifying image of losing my grip on the limbs and falling down to break a leg. Or my neck. The second was the fear the Witchfinders would find me. The noises they made filtered up to my ears and worked well to keep my eyes open. T
he heavy footsteps on the forest floor below me were amplified as they tromped through, breaking limbs and crushing pine needles with each step.

  It wasn't until the early light of the morning came that I heard the voice of my Goddess, telling me it was safe to move. I had trusted Her guidance with so much already, and now, She was the only one who could help me. As I slipped down from the tree, I whispered a prayer She would continue to guide me. Keep me safe. Save me.

  I didn't know much about the Witchfinders Evie had spoken of with such hatred, but I knew enough to keep moving. The fire they had used to kill my family was all the proof needed to ensure me my fears were based on fact. As I made my way out of the forest and around the pond, the tears of mourning I had resisted for days now fell down my face.

  Stop it, Annie...just stop. It's not going to change anything. Just go. Get somewhere safe. Think!

  The hardest thing to do was to think when my mind wanted to shut down against the grief of losing my family, my home, and now, Tommy.

  No! Not him. I won't lose him too. Only...I have to find a way back here. Somehow. And soon.

  The sudden sense of determination calmed me down as I made it to the quiet streets of Manning at dawn. It looked as if it had been abandoned, discarded to the wayside despite the signs promising new construction and renovation projects. I had spent my entire life in this little town, this place where I had promised myself I would escape as soon as I could. Yet now that I was forced to run from it, I couldn't bear the thought of leaving it behind forever. This place was suddenly Home. I would make it back here when I figured out what I was doing.

  Of that I was certain.

  ***

  The morning had brightened considerably by the time I reached the bus station at the edge of town. It was empty, aside from the few homeless people stretching out across the benches lining the walls. For a moment, I felt a familiar pang of sympathy run through my heart until it hit me: I had joined their ranks. A shudder raced through my bones from the fear of the unknown. Of what I was going to do. Where I was going to go. How I was going to get back to Manning and to Tommy.

  An old man was asleep behind the counter, so I kept silent as I examined the board behind him showing the times and places I could go. But I studied it with suspicion. These buses could take me to many of the cities lining the Eastern Seaboard. The problem was I didn't know which one to pick. The sudden freedom to choose my own destination should have been liberating. What eighteen year old girl wouldn't love the chance to strike out on her own with no family or friends to worry over where she was going or who she was with?

  But I did have a friend. A boyfriend now, who I hated to leave behind. The memories of the happiness I'd felt the night before when he held me brought on a sadness I didn't want to associate with those images. Instead, I focused on the black board with white letters overwhelming my senses. Confusing me. Frightening me.

  I walked away from the counter to approach a bulletin board that advertised everything from Finding Jesus to specials at the local liquor store. I snorted at this collage of holiness and sin before a single white flier caught my attention. Proof the Goddess Herself was once again answering my prayers to guide me through this.

  Daughters of the Displaced: A Shelter for the Abused and Disheartened. Come to us. Let us help you create a new life. Leave it all behind.

  A new life. A new identity. Exactly what I needed if I were ever going to come back to Manning for a long period of time.

  I snatched the paper off the board, whispering my thanks to the Goddess as I read the address. Located in the heart of downtown Raleigh, the state capital, only two hours away from my hometown. Close enough to Tommy that I could get a letter to him.. Or call him if I ever got the chance.

  A new life. Becoming a new person. Will that be enough, Great Mother? To hide me from the Witchfinders?

  She didn't answer, but She didn't have to. I had made up my mind the instant I saw the flier. I was walking back to the counter before I realized it, leaning over to shake the old man awake.

  "Sir? Excuse me..."

  He woke up with a start, glaring at me from beneath white and black eyebrows that reminded me of the board behind him.

  "Sorry. No handouts, girl."

  Handouts...what?

  Wow. I didn't look that rough from my night in the woods, did I? A glance downward told me I really was a mess. Pieces of bark and leaves clung to the clothes I had thrown on in the rush to leave. My jeans were covered with soot from the fire, my hands scratched and dark with red dirt. A concern for what Evie would have thought crossed my mind so suddenly I laughed aloud at how ridiculous it was.

  "No, sir. I'm actually here to buy a ticket. One way. To Raleigh."

  Dark, beady eyes examined me with distrust as the clerk began to collect my ticket and told me the price. As I was counting out the money, he spoke.

  "You ain't running from the law are you, girl?"

  I threw him my most charming smile before shaking my head. "No sir. I just...well, you know how times are here in Manning. I don't have a car so I took a shortcut through the woods. Fell a few times, but I'm all right. No, I'm not running from anyone. Just ready to start a new life somewhere else."

  Even to my own ears the excuse sounded weak. But it was the best I could come up with. It seemed to work for him though. His harsh expression softened, then he huffed and began to proclaim the hard times were over for Manning, now WFG had come to town. How the good people who worked for the company were renovating the town, would rebuild it to what it once was.

  I nodded as if I cared. As if I didn't know the real reasons behind the company he praised so highly. But his praise brought on a new fear when I realized he could identify me if the Witchfinders came this way. As much admiration as the clerk held for WFG, it would take nothing for him to turn me over to them. Tell them where I was going.

  When I took the ticket from his hand, I grabbed hold of his wrist and let the power flow through me once more. Concentrating to pull the strength of the fire into a charm to cause him to forget about me. Images filled my mind of him believing he was still asleep. Of his aging memory failing if the Witchfinders ever came here. I would not exist to him, much less have purchased a bus ticket out of town. When I released his arm, the old man groaned before dropping back down in the chair. His eyes closed, but I waited for a soft snore before I dared to move away from him.

  Finally, the exhaustion was catching up to me. The world seemed slow and sluggish but I fought back the temptation to rest. I forced myself to eat a pack of crackers and sip on a soda out of the vending machines in order to stay awake. Alert. Focused.

  I was so close to escaping the Witchfinders. There was no way I was going to ruin everything by sleeping through my only chance to escape the men who had destroyed my home and causing me to run away from my love.

  But it wouldn't be for long. Each time I thought about being separated from Tommy, a sharp pain cut through me. I didn't know if I could stand it. If he could stand it. And if I was gone for too long, would the binding spell wear off? Would I come back to someone who loved me? Or someone who had moved on?

  I knew it would be better for Tommy if he just let me go. If I stayed away from him. Let him have the life he had been meant to live before my selfish actions interfered. But then the memories of him the night before came flooding back. The feel of his arms. The happiness in his face. I couldn't let that go. I wouldn't. No matter what it cost me.

  At least the Great Mother told him I was coming back. That I was safe.

  It was a small comfort to know he wouldn't think I had abandoned him. I was leaving only because there was no other way. If I stayed in Manning, it would have only been a matter of time before the Witchfinders found me. Captured me like they had my father or killed me like they had my mother and Evie.

  But I would be back here. I had made a promise. And I was going to make damned sure I was able to keep it.

  ***

  I reached the
Daughters of the Displaced Women's Shelter just after three that afternoon. The old Victorian house faced a quiet street overlooking the downtown area and it was obvious it was being taken care of by women. The small yard was covered in little patches of flowers; the porch held a swing and several chairs. I pushed aside a brief flash of worry as I opened the door.

  The inside was just as neat as the exterior. The warm colors were was welcoming as the woman who approached me. She smiled and wrapped her arms around me as if I were a long lost child who had, finally, decided to come home.

  "Welcome, my dear girl! Welcome! Get on in here. You look like you've taken quite the journey."

  I stepped out of her embrace as quickly as I could, shifting the backpack on my shoulders.

  "Hello. My name is...Evie. Evie Blanchett."

  The emotions caught up to me faster than I realized and my voice wavered as I said the name. The woman grabbed my hands as a look of concern passed over her features.

  "You just come right on in, child. Evie... that's a pretty name! I'm Stephanie. The official welcoming committee here. Why don't you come in the kitchen and let me feed you? You can tell me why you are here then."

  There is no ritual more important to Southerners than talking in the kitchen while food was prepared. She walked me back to the kitchen and showed me where I could wash up. I was quick to take her up on the offer to get cleaned up before joining her once more.

  A glass of sweet tea sat in wait for me as I lowered myself down in the chair. She made me a sandwich, her hands moving quickly and surely as if they'd done those same actions a thousand times. When she rejoined me, placing the food on the table, she reached out and patted my hand.

  "Now tell me, Evie, what is it we can do for you? Who are you running from? Is it a man? Did he hurt you?"

  I sipped the tea, shaking my head at her words to think up a quick answer. My Great Mother, my beloved Goddess, began to take over, speaking lies for me I couldn't think of in my own exhausted state.

  "No, not a man. I...I hope I won't be a burden on you and your people, Stephanie. But..."