by Isobel Bird
Book
2
Merry Meet
Isobel Bird
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.
MERRY MEET Copyright © 2001 by Isobel Bird. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
AN INTERVIEW WITH ISOBEL BIRD, PART TWO © 2001 by Isobel Bird.
ePub edition June 2001 ISBN 9780061756467
Print edition first published in 2001 HarperCollins Publishers
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Chapter 1
“I can’t believe we’re finally here,” said Kate Morgan. . . .
Chapter 2
“Not that one,” Sherrie said the instant Jessica emerged. . . .
Chapter 3
The girl stepped into the yard. . . .
Chapter 4
On Monday morning Kate walked into Beecher Falls High School. . . .
Chapter 5
The back room at Crones’ Circle was filled with people. . . .
Chapter 6
On Wednesday, Kate arrived at Annie’s house. . . .
Chapter 7
The wind coming off of the ocean made Kate shiver. . . .
Chapter 8
The weekend was terrible.
Chapter 9
Kate had been reading the same paragraph for fifteen minutes.
Chapter 10
The library was almost empty when Kate arrived.
Chapter 11
“She did what?” Cooper exploded.
Chapter 12
Kate was really looking forward to lunch the next day.
Chapter 13
“I thought maybe you wouldn’t talk to me,” Scott said.
Chapter 14
The Summer House, where Sasha had said she worked. . . .
Chapter 15
The rain wasn’t helping things.
Chapter 16
“You did the right thing,” Sophia said. . . .
Chapter 17
Kate wondered how long she had been standing in the darkness,
Chapter 18
It was not a date.
Appendix: An Interview with Isobel Bird, Part Two
About the Author
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher
Chapter 1
“I can’t believe we’re finally here,” said Kate Morgan, looking around the room and smiling at the handsome guy seated across from her. Their table was in the corner, next to a window. Outside a fine, gray March mist floated across the pier on which the restaurant was built, but from time to time it parted and Kate could see the reflection of the moon on the ocean. The small candle on the table in front of her flickered cheerfully inside its glass holder and made her forget the chill that had wrapped around the town only a few days before the official start of spring.
“Hey, I told you—I always keep my promises,” Scott Coogan said, his lips parting in the carefree smile that was one of the things Kate found so appealing about her boyfriend.
Her boyfriend. The very words sent a tingle of excitement flowing through her skin like electricity. As she looked into Scott’s blue eyes, Kate couldn’t believe that only six weeks earlier she and Scott had never even spoken to one another. If it hadn’t been for the spell I cast, she thought to herself.
The spell. Kate still felt terrible about the spell. When she had found the book of spells in among the other books she’d checked out of the library for her report on the witchcraft persecutions for history class, she’d thought it was all ridiculous. The rituals and chants were fun to read, but she didn’t think they would really do anything.
Not until she tried one. The “Come to Me Love Spell” had seemed harmless when she’d read it in the book. It had even seemed harmless when she’d tried using it to get Scott to notice her. And when he had noticed her, she was as surprised as anyone else. Surprised and happy. At least until all the bad things started happening afterward.
But she didn’t want to think about that anymore. It had been awful. If it hadn’t been for Cooper and Annie, she didn’t know where she’d be right now. Probably still trying to figure out how to reverse the spell that had gone so out of control. If she could have done it at all.
In the end she and her friends had stopped the spell. And best of all, Scott was still with her, even without the use of magic. Still, sometimes Kate found herself wondering if he really liked her or if he was still a little bit enchanted by the ritual she’d performed using a doll that resembled him. She still wasn’t entirely sure what she thought about magic and witchcraft, even though she’d seen for herself what it could do.
“What are you thinking about?” Scott’s voice jerked Kate out of her daydream.
“Nothing,” she said quickly. “Just about how nice it is to be here with you.”
“I’m sorry it’s taken so long,” Scott said, picking a roll from the basket in front of him and spreading butter on it. “What with school and work, and your basketball games and this whole scouting thing, I didn’t think we’d ever be free on the same night.”
That was something else Kate didn’t want to think about—the scouting thing. Scott, a senior, was the captain of the Beecher Falls High School football team. He was a great player, and several colleges had been interested in him because of his football skills. For the past month they’d been taking him on tours of various campuses and trying to get him to agree to come to their schools. At first it had been just one school, one not too far from Beecher Falls. But then three other schools had come calling—schools that were far away—and now Scott was trying to decide which one he wanted to go to.
Kate was trying to be supportive, but she was terrified that Scott was going to end up at a school somewhere across the country. She wished she were a senior too, instead of just a sophomore. Then maybe she and Scott could go to school together. But she wasn’t, and as the end of the year came closer and closer, the more she found herself wondering what was going to happen to them after graduation.
“You’re worrying about the school thing, aren’t you?” Scott asked, chewing on the bread.
Kate nodded, trying to not look sad. She didn’t want to ruin what was supposed to be their most romantic date yet—a belated Valentine’s Day dinner. They’d had to skip the real thing because Scott had gone on the first of his school visits that weekend. He’d promised to take her out later, and now they were sitting across from one another at a great restaurant and Kate was holding the beautiful red rose Scott had presented her with when he picked her up.
“I told you before,” Scott said, taking her other hand in his. “It doesn’t matter where I go. Whether it’s here or somewhere else, we’ll still be together.”
“I know,” Kate said. “It just seems like the year is flying by too quickly. I wish we had more time.”
“We have all the time in the world,” Scott said as the waitress arrived with their food and Kate was forced to let go of his hand.
They ate happily, each taking bites from the other’s plate. Then, when they were finished, the waitress appeared with two bowls of chocolate mousse covered in whipped cream and strawberries.
“Be careful,” she said as she set one of the bowls in front of Kate. “The chef put some of his secret ingredients in here tonight. Make sure you don’t bite down too hard.”
“What does she mean by that?” Kate asked as she dipped her spoon into the chocolate.
“Got me,” Scott replied. “Maybe there are nuts in here or something.”
Kate took a tentative bite of the mousse, savoring the sweetness. There didn’t seem to be anything unusual in it, and she took another bite. Again there was nothing. But on her third bite she felt something hard beneath her tongue, something sharp and metallic. That’s no nut, she thought as she reached up and took whatever it was out of her mouth.
It was a ring. Kate held it in her hand, staring at it and wondering how it might have gotten into her mousse.
“Surprise!” Scott said, grinning.
Kate looked at him in confusion. “You knew about this?” she asked.
“How do you think it got in there?” Scott said, taking the ring from her and wiping it off with his napkin. “Don’t you recognize it?”
He handed the ring back to Kate and she looked at it. It was a silver ring with a small purple stone.
“It’s the ring from the antiques store!” she said. A couple of weeks before, while she and Scott had been walking around town after seeing a movie, they had gone into a little antiques store to look around. Kate had seen the ring and commented on how pretty she thought it was.
“I went back and got it,” Scott said. “I thought I should get you something. You know, to make up for missing the real Valentine’s Day and all. Try it on.”
Kate slipped the ring over her finger. “It’s perfect,” she said, holding her hand up so Scott could see.
“That seemed better than wearing my class ring with ten miles of yarn wrapped around it,” Scott said. “Do you like it?”
“I love it,” said Kate enthusiastically.
“Now you’ll have something to remember me by when I’m—“ Scott paused and looked down at his nearly empty dessert bowl.
The happiness inside Kate flowed out as quickly as it had come. “You have decided where you’re going, haven’t you?” she said.
Scott sighed. “Not entirely,” he answered. “But New York is looking better and better.”
New York. Three thousand miles away. He might as well be going to school on the moon, thought Kate. She looked at the beautiful ring on her finger and tried to will the sinking feeling in her stomach to go away.
“You’re right,” she said, trying to sound more hopeful than she felt. “It won’t matter where you go. We’ll still be together. And this will always remind me of you. I can’t wait to show it to the girls.”
“You and your friends,” Scott said, laughing. “I’m surprised I could get you away from them for the night.”
“A girl’s friends are very important,” said Kate. “You’re a boy. You wouldn’t understand.”
“Probably not,” Scott admitted. “But can I have another half hour or so of your time before you check in?”
“I think I can manage that,” Kate said. “Maybe I’ll even let you take me home.”
After the last of the dessert was gone and the bill was paid, Scott stood up and helped Kate on with her coat. They left the restaurant and walked down the pier to the parking area. Scott put his arm around Kate, holding her close as they walked, and she let herself enjoy the way their bodies moved so comfortably together, as if they’d been going out for much longer than just six weeks. It was amazing how much her life had changed in that time, and not just because of Scott.
But those things were far from her mind as they reached Scott’s car and got inside. They made the drive home through the downtown area and past the campus of Jasper College, around which Kate’s neighborhood was based, in silence, still holding hands. Kate tried not to think about the future. Scott was right; they still had three months of school left, and then the whole summer. That was a lot of time. Besides, Kate thought, a lot can happen in three months.
Scott pulled up in front of a house and stopped. “Here we are,” he said. “Door-to-door service.”
“It’s just like having my own chauffeur,” Kate said.
“Except most chauffeurs wouldn’t do this,” said Scott, leaning over and kissing her.
Kate felt as if she’d stopped breathing. When his lips touched hers, she didn’t want him to ever pull away. It was as if they could stop time as long as their mouths didn’t part and break the spell.
But eventually Scott did pull away. “I had a great time tonight,” he said. “I hope it was worth the wait.”
“It was most definitely worth the wait,” said Kate. “This was the best Valentine’s Day date I’ve ever had.”
“I thought you told me it was the only one you’ve ever had,” Scott teased.
“It’s still the best,” said Kate, reaching into the backseat and pulling out a backpack. “Now I’d better get inside, or those girls are going to think we’ve gotten engaged.”
Scott leaned over and kissed her again. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said. “Have fun tonight.”
“I already have,” Kate said, opening the door and getting out.
Kate walked to the front door of the house. She rang the bell, and almost immediately the door flew open and two expectant faces peered out at her.
“Well?” said Annie, pushing up her glasses in a familiar gesture. “What happened?”
“You’re fifteen minutes late, young lady,” added Cooper, her arms across her chest in mock annoyance.
“Sorry, moms,” Kate said, pushing past her two friends and walking straight into the kitchen, where she knew there would be some hot chocolate waiting for her. Annie’s rambling old house had become her second home, and Kate even had her own mug that she used whenever she came over.
“I can’t believe you’re not giving us the deets,” Annie said plaintively, coming in right behind her.
“Deets?” said Kate, putting her backpack down and taking off her coat.
“You know, details,” Annie explained.
“Since when did you get all streetwise?” Kate asked, pulling out a chair and sitting down at the kitchen table.
“She learned it from Meg,” Cooper explained, sitting across from Kate.
Annie blushed. Meg was her nine-year-old sister. Where Annie was shy and reserved around other people, especially the other kids at school, Meg was a regular social butterfly, talking easily to anyone and everyone who would listen. Like Annie, she was always reading, but she’d learned to get along better in the larger world than her big sister had.
“Where is Meg, anyway?” Kate asked. Normally the little girl was at her side the minute she entered the house, anxious to tell Kate the plot of the latest book she was devouring.
“Aunt Sarah took her with her,” Annie explained.
Sarah was Annie’s aunt, and Annie and Meg had come to live with her after the death of their parents a number of years before. Kate still didn’t know exactly what had happened to the Crandalls. Annie didn’t like to talk about it, and although Kate had always wondered, she’d never felt comfortable asking. In many ways their friendship was still new, and although she, Cooper, and Annie had shared a lot, they all still had some secrets.
“Took her with her?” Kate asked, noticing a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the table and taking one.
“To visit a friend out of town,” Annie said. “They’ll be back on Sunday.”
“You mean we have the house to ourselves?” Kate asked, giving her friends a wicked look. “In that case, I say an all-night pajama party is in order.”
“First things first,” said Cooper. “We have something to show you.”
Kate looked from Cooper to Annie. Sometimes she couldn’t believe that the t
hree of them were really friends. Kate was as outgoing as Annie was shy. And Cooper, with her ever-changing hair color (it had recently gone from bright pink to bright blue) and loner attitude, was the last person Kate would have ever thought she’d be spending a Friday night with. But that too, was before the whole spell thing. Now here she was, waiting for Cooper and Annie to spill the beans.
“While you were out with lover boy, Annie and I made a trip down to Crones’ Circle,” Cooper said, referring to the funky bookstore where the three of them had been spending a lot of time since their experience with the spell book the month before. The store specialized in books about Wicca and other esoteric topics, and they had learned a lot since first walking through the door in search of some much-needed help.
“And?” Kate said with exaggerated effect.
“And we found this,” Cooper said, handing Kate a flyer printed on grass-green paper.
Kate took the flyer and looked at it, reading it out loud as she munched on a cookie. “’The Coven of the Green Wood invites you to a celebration of the Spring Equinox. Saturday, March 19. Ritual begins at five, with potluck after. Bring food to share.’”
“Doesn’t it sound great?” Annie asked excitedly. “It’s an open ritual. Anyone can go.”
“Sophia said it would be okay if we came,” Cooper added. Sophia was one of the women who owned Crones’ Circle, and she had answered many of their questions about Wicca.
“I don’t know,” said Kate, staring at the flyer.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Cooper said irritably. “It’s our first ritual.”
“First one with real witches,” Annie corrected.
Kate looked from one to the other. They both seemed so excited. She wished she was as sure as they seemed to be. Getting together with real witches made everything feel a lot more serious, at least to Kate, who still wasn’t entirely sure what she thought about the whole subject of Wicca. She didn’t know if she was ready for it.