Dusk had painted over the sun and night had fallen. The tinge of midnight blue that colored everything made me feel all the more nervous about what was to come.
Several other witches were walking ahead of us. I thought Bethel might catch up with them, but instead she stopped and pulled me aside. She looked deep into my eyes, and as usual I was struck by the fact that hers were the same color as mine.
“Follow my lead,” she said out of the side of her mouth. “Each family has expectations set on us. We are going to light our torches in a certain order, and when each family has a torch burning, we will all turn around and light the flames for each member of our family. Once those are burning brightly, the ritual can begin. We cannot start the ritual until all the flames have been lit.”
Mutely, I nodded my head. My grandmother squared her shoulders and turned around, and we resumed our walk up the long street. We didn’t catch up with the witches in front of us, and I could see nothing but their capes and hats. They looked just as finely dressed as we were.
In the distance I could see two hills. Once we got closer, the road we were on curved to the right and led to a path that headed straight between the two hills.
The passage between the two hills was very narrow. As I glanced back I noticed that none of the houses on either side of the road we had just walked on had lights on. Either the families were joining us tonight, or they had left Crown altogether. Either way, the air felt sinister.
My grandmother and I were silent, as were the other witches walking near to us. None of them made a sound. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I wished it would be quiet. I forced myself to stay behind my grandmother.
Night had fallen, and now the stars were obscured by a bank of clouds. The dark evening seemed fitting for a night like this. My first ritual—and the last night the Trophis would ever be in the coven.
We moved slowly around the side of the hill and came upon other witches who were waiting to climb to the stone circle. A stone passage led up the hill, with orange flames to light the way.
The climb was slow. The hill was bare of trees, but it also didn’t have a real road. We had to follow a simple stone path. Instead of climbing all the way up to the circle on our own, my grandmother had us get in the line of witches who had already assembled. I found myself looking at the other hill, the one we had just walked past. I couldn’t quite see the top, but there was a light up there. When my grandmother saw me looking she glared, and I quickly dropped my gaze. Then she motioned for me to follow her as she led us upward.
In the gloom, other witches moved out of our way. We didn’t get back into the line until we were close to the top, at which point Bethel turned around and said, in a low voice, “We are one of the founding families. We always start near the top. Don’t ever forget that and don’t ever let anybody tell you otherwise.”
I had the distinct impression that I was not in some nice, fluffy coven. We had to fight fiercely, and never-endingly, to keep the places we deserved.
Part of me wanted to see who else was there. Surely there would be other faces I’d recognize, either from knowing the witches personally or from the ball. I might have missed them, but so far there was no sign of Jackie or Kelly. In any case, after Bethel’s lectures and glaring looks, I didn’t dare raise my eyes again.
We stood there in the cool evening air for what felt like forever. I was lucky that my clothing didn’t itch or feel uncomfortable in any way. I wondered if my stylists had performed a spell and thought gratefully of Kyra and Kayla, the brilliant twins who had helped me get ready for the debutant weekend. They had assured me that they would help me for many more events in the future, and that was a comfort in these dark times.
Lights shimmered in front of us as my grandmother reached the top of the hill. Over her shoulder I could see the stone circle, but we paused without entering it. Bethel picked up a jade scepter from a stack set near a fire pit. Then she dipped the scepter into the fire until a flame sparked.
Six witches were already standing inside the stone circle, which was bigger than I had imagined it would be. Its stone walls had little square chunks missing at regular intervals, in each of which was what appeared to be a grate. I felt like we were at the top of a castle.
The very middle stones were an earthen color, the others gray. My grandmother moved slowly to keep pace with the witches in front of us as we made our way around the circle filling in the empty spots. We finally stopped in front of one of the grates, and I stood off to Bethel’s right, trying desperately to be invisible.
Because the Rhinestones’ place in the circle was directly across from the path we had just come up, I had a perfect view of the other witches as they joined us.
Each of them was dressed splendidly. Each kept her head down. It was incredible to see generations of witches gathering. All the ones that held the flames were around Bethel’s age except for two, suggesting that a couple of matriarchs had recently been lost. I noticed that the Carlisle witch was holding the flame for her family. She was older than my mother would have been had she lived, but nowhere near my grandmother’s age.
Strong gusts of wind drew across the hill as I gazed around. Now that we were up so high, it was easy to see the summit of the other hill.
What I saw there took my breath away.
The other hill also appeared to have a circle, about as big as the one we were standing inside. But instead of stone, that one was made entirely of green and blue glass. There was no one there. The only light was coming from one large fire, which had been lit in a grate on the far side.
My grandmother hadn’t mentioned that there was a glass circle. I knew I’d have to wait until later to find out what it was used for, so I turned my attention back to the stone circle and the gathering of the coven.
It appeared that there were no more witches on the path; we were all here. The six witches who had started in the middle remained there, except that now that everyone else had arrived, they formed a single line and headed back toward the stone path we had all just come up.
No one moved and no one spoke. Even the wind had ceased its blowing. The six witches weren’t gone for long, and when they returned, they were leading five women. I recognized Glory immediately, and the other four were easily recognizable as her family. I saw her mother, looking tight-lipped and grim. They all looked upset and as if they had been crying.
My heart wrenched. I didn’t like this one little bit. I desperately wished that there was something that I could do about it.
I glanced at my grandmother’s back and knew that I could do nothing.
All five Trophi family members shuffled to the center of the circle. They knew what was expected of them.
Tears pricked my eyes and I was filled with an overwhelming sense of frustration. This was what we had all been avoiding. Somehow, after all her success at sports, this time Glory hadn’t kicked the ball straight enough. I told myself that at a time like this, she probably wouldn’t appreciate my lame attempt at a soccer reference.
The conflagration was stunning. I squinted. The flames raged higher. As the fire grew, Glory’s family shrank, shrank, shrank.
All of Glory’s family’s possessions were now burning, until my entire view of the gathering was consumed by flame. A imprint of the firelight covered my eyes. The other witches around me were all staring forward as intently as I was.
As the flames reached higher, my grandmother stepped back. She took my hand and bowed her head. Her fingers were icy, even though they were so close to the fire. This cold deed had turned her very body cold.
I bowed my head and closed my eyes. With my right hand, which was still free, I performed the crackle motion that I had so recently learned. I closed my eyes and willed it to work, and finally it did. My fingers warmed like they barely had before. This coven ritual was too powerful an event.
The cold and the black evening surrounded me, but I saw none of it. On the inside of my closed eyelids there was only flame.
<
br /> A hum and a chant went up around the circle of witches. We cast out one of our own. Together. It was the most sacred of duties: to protect ourselves.
The family was gone from our ranks.
Back home, my grandmother muttered goodnight and tried to walk away from me. All the way home I’d followed her silently, the heavy cape flapping at the ankles of my witch shoes. Now I lifted my eyes before she left. I had a question for her that couldn’t wait.
“Bethel, is there any way for someone to rejoin the coven once she’s kicked out?” I asked.
Bethel stopped to glare at me through the thick darkness of the quiet house. “I need a drink,” she declared, and then she was gone.
The house reminded me of the Twinkleford witch I still was. My journey was only just beginning.
Chapter Five
We didn’t talk much the next morning. I was still mulling over my question from the night before. Oddly enough, the fact that my grandmother hadn’t actually answered it gave me hope. I knew that wouldn’t thrill her if she knew, but I couldn’t help it.
It was a gray day, the smell of smoke giving a clinging feel to the air. When I first came downstairs to get tea, Bethel was puttering around the kitchen. All she expected of me at that point was a murmured good morning. She was like a storm cloud until she’d been productive on any given day. The rule was: get in her way at your peril. I had learned that rule quickly. Instead of lingering, I went back upstairs to shower.
When I came down a second time, she had disappeared outside.
Relieved, I grabbed a quick breakfast of toast and jam and headed out into the day. I wanted to get to the hospital and speak with Henry as early as possible.
There were no sign of Lucky and Lisa, our neighbors, when I left the house. Bethel had said that they liked to make themselves scarce during the expulsion ritual. Apparently they still hadn’t returned. I also had to wait longer than usual for the trolley. I must have just missed one before I got to the landing.
A couple of other people joined me as I waited. We didn’t speak, but they gave me curious looks. I knew they must know I was a Rhinestone. Since we had just ejected Glory’s whole family from the coven, I couldn’t really blame townsfolk for not wanting to speak with me.
The trolley today was gray and blue. Given that I was going somewhere I had never gone before, I tried to pay more attention to my whereabouts. The Twinkleford Memorial Hospital was within the Merigold Borough, which was a more industrial neighborhood than some of the others, and driven by small kitschy markets. There were a few homes near the hospital, but as far as I could tell they were all inhabited by medical staff.
Twinkleford had five boroughs in all; ours was Mountain Misdirect. Crown was the one where the rich kept away from the riffraff. Cobalt Midnight and Greely rounded out the list.
I didn’t think I had met anyone who worked at the hospital, and I was nervous as I made my way there. If Quinn was visiting Henry, I knew he’d be angry with me for butting in.
We had yet to run into each other since the kerfuffle at the dance. If I got lucky I’d never have to see the man again. But Twinkleford wasn’t that big a city. I had never been one to have a close relationship with luck, and anyhow, if I was going to dip my tiptoe back into the realm of snooping, that hope seemed a bit like pie in the sky.
Lowe had described the hospital as being not very big, but unmistakable. I hadn’t believed her on the latter point; I could get lost in my own house if I wasn’t careful.
When I disembarked at the Merigold stop, though, I saw what she was talking about. The hospital was easy to pick out. It was made of brick, but the bricks were painted a rainbow array of colors. Gold, silver, blue, green, and red, not to mention purple and pink—they were all there. I couldn’t believe anybody had gone to so much trouble. Maybe they’d been drinking Fermented Fairy Flame while they designed the building, and the effect of the potions had lasted long enough for them to carry it out to the fullest.
In any event, it was perfectly easy to find my way after I got out of the trolley. I passed a few other townsfolk on the way, but none of them took any notice of me.
As I was nearing the entrance to the hospital, I paused as a familiar figure caught my eye from about twenty feet away. It was Lowe, shifting from foot to foot and looking unsure of herself. The wind had picked up and was blowing her blue-streaked hair in every direction.
We spotted each other at the same time and I started walking again. When I came to a halt next to Lowe, she frowned.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I could ask you the same thing,” I responded.
She sighed and we stared at each other.
“Let’s each say it on three,” she suggested suddenly.
“Okay. Let’s do that,” I agreed.
“One . . . Two . . . Three,” said Lowe.
Then, at the same time and in a jumble, we both said that we were visiting Henry.
“Oh, why are you visiting him?” she asked, just as I wondered the same thing in reverse. She frowned at me again. I explained that I was visiting because Kelly had asked me to do it as a favor to her.
“I’m surprised Bethel let you out of the house,” she said.
“She was preoccupied,” I said.
Lowe nodded. “That’s true. I didn’t think I’d get away with it either, but she didn’t notice when I left this morning.”
“You know Henry?” I asked.
Lowe nodded. “We went to school together. He’s a good guy, but I think he’s fallen in with a bad crowd lately.”
That was almost the exact same thing Kelly had said. I wondered who this bad crowd consisted of.
“What about Kyle? Did you know him?” I said.
“Everyone knows Kyle. He’s that kind of guy,” said Lowe. “He was also really nice. He and Henry are best friends.”
“So it’s not surprising that they went missing together. Do you have any idea where Kyle might be?”
“Definitely not. He probably punched Henry and Henry doesn’t want to admit it, or something stupid like that,” suggested Lowe.
Several hospital staff people and visitors were walking past us. Not wanting to linger in such a public spot any longer, we looked at the doors at the same moment.
“Shall we go in together?” I said.
Lowe brightened. “Yes. I’d like a chance to introduce you to Henry. He’ll like you,” she assured me.
With that we headed inside. The nurse at the front desk informed us that Henry’s room was on the third floor, and we headed for the stairs.
The hospital was a warm and pleasant place, with pastel walls and friendly people. I found myself relaxing in spite of myself.
“I think I can help with the interview, too,” said Lowe in a quiet voice.
“How so?” I asked as we passed the second floor.
“Quinn doesn’t think you should be here, right?” she mused.
“Right,” I said.
“So, I’ll go in first and scope it out. If he doesn’t see you, then he can’t be mad that you’re investigating. He won’t be as suspicious of me,” she explained.
This was the first time she had mentioned Quinn’s name since the incident at the dance. Since then we had been careful to pretend that Quinn was dead, but that was about to change as I threw myself into another snooping expedition. Hopefully everyone was right and this adventure of Henry and Kyle’s was just something silly that would get cleared up and forgotten.
I wasn’t so sure, myself.
Really, though, I wanted something—anything!—to take my mind off of the coven ritual from the night before. If I thought about it too much I’d get upset all over again, so I was glad to have something a little mysterious to dig into. Maybe I wasn’t a real investigator, but I sure was nosy, and as far as I was concerned that was half the battle. If I could just look into this and help Kelly, maybe I wouldn’t have to keep on feeling so sad about Glory.
We rounded the c
orner into another hallway. The next instant, I went stumbling backwards into the safety of the previous corridor.
Lowe took a moment to notice that I was no longer next to her. Meanwhile, I pressed my back to the wall and tried to make myself invisible. Quinn had been standing at the nurse’s station, in effect guarding Henry’s door.
With a fake smile on her face, Lowe came back around the corner to where I was waiting.
“You saw the sheriff?” she asked, her lips barely moving.
I nodded.
“I’ll go say hi to him and explain that I’m a friend of Henry’s. Maybe wait for me down there?” She pointed toward the far end of the hall, to an empty lounge we had just passed. It was big enough so that even if Quinn walked by, he probably wouldn’t see me in the corner.
“Okay. Don’t let Quinn push you around,” I whispered. “See what you can find out from Henry and let me know if Quinn leaves.”
“I really wonder what you would do without me,” said Lowe with a grin. She went back around the corner. She looked so smug she was nearly floating. I hurried to the lounge to hide myself as best I could.
Waiting was going to be agony. Try as I might, I was too far away to hear what Lowe was saying, so I composed myself to wait with as much patience as I could muster.
Maybe ten minutes later I heard footsteps and quickly pressed myself into a corner. Then I heard a noise, a sort of hissing sound like a pierced pipe letting out steam. It was strange, but I didn’t dare move into the open to see what it was. I kept my back pressed against the lone chair in the corner, sure that if Quinn walked by he wouldn’t see me, nor would anyone else.
The footsteps were quick at first, then slower. They didn’t sound very heavy, so I had to think it was a woman coming near. Meanwhile, the hissing seemed to come complete with a smell, kind of like rotting vegetables. The hospital looked to be in good shape, but maybe it was older and more broken down than I had thought.
The Rhinestone Witches Omnibus: Books 1-3 Page 26