The Witch's Will

by Raven Snow

“I trust my sister.”

  “But did you see anything?”

  “She ran to my room, but by the time I looked out, it was gone. I was the one who answered the home phone, though!” Adora added that last part hastily. “Something really weird was going on last night. Fabia can vouch for me. She heard the phone ring too.”

  “I did,” Fabia agreed with a nod. “I didn’t even know what the sound was at first. I can’t remember the last time I heard a home phone ring.”

  “And who was on the other end?” asked Al.

  Adora and Fabia exchanged looks. It was Adora who spoke up. “It was a man’s voice. He sounded really polite. I would have thought he was, like, one of Dad’s friends or something if he wasn’t calling on a phone that wasn’t hooked into anything.”

  “Just tell us what he said.” Dom hadn’t touched his drink. He was probably too impatient for that. Lady should probably have been the most impatient. She undoubtedly had Ms. Poole waiting for her back at the inn.

  Fabia swallowed. She shivered again, but this time it didn’t seem to be for show. Whatever she was about to say, it really had unnerved her. “He asked if he could come in. He said… he said we should make a deal. He knew what we needed, so we should invite him in and make a deal.”

  “And do you know what he meant by that?” asked Al. “What is it that you need?”

  “I can’t say for sure.” Despite those words, Adora sounded like she had a decent idea of what their mystery caller had meant. “But I think he’s implying that our lives might be in danger.”

  Fabia was quick to add to that. “I think he means that Grandma was murdered and that we could be next.”

  Chapter Ten

  It was Al who dropped Lady off at the Fisherman’s Inn. Dom stayed after so that Shannon could show him the spots where the cameras were. Ostensibly, he was going to place his eyes in the places they weren’t.

  Lady would have preferred it if Dom had driven her back. She wanted to talk to him about what they had learned. What did he think? Surely he had some insight into what was going on. Were Shannon’s daughters lying?

  Al was quiet and thoughtful while she drove. Lady wasn’t sure how. Her old car sputtered and bounced. It was slow to brake and occasionally experienced an odd burst of speed. She didn’t say anything, and Lady wasn’t sure what to ask. Finally, she pulled up outside of the inn.

  “Are you coming inside?” asked Lady. She knew that Al and Ms. Poole were close. It was a long shot, but maybe Al being there would soften whatever blow Ms. Poole was about to deliver.

  “Hmm?” Al snapped to attention. Though her eyes had been aimed at Lady, they had been focused somewhere far off. “Oh, no. You go on. I have… I have to think on this.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “No, thank you.” Al smiled one of her warm smiles. At the very least this had removed that chilly distance between them. Al was back to being a kindly old woman again. “You go on.”

  Lady shut the door and stepped away from the car. She barely had a chance to get clear of it before Al was pulling back onto the road. Whatever she had to think about, it really was taking its toll on her. Oh, well. Lady had her own problems to deal with. She headed inside to face the music.

  The Fisherman’s Inn was as relatively empty as it normally was in the early afternoon. “Hello?” Lady called softly. Part of her didn’t want to hear a response. Not that that would do her any good in the long run.

  It was Lion that responded to Lady first. He came around the corner of the dining room door at a trot. His tail was held high, and he was soon rubbing around Lady’s ankles, purring.

  “Hey, boy.” Lady leaned down and scratched him between the ears. “Is Ms. Poole mad at me?”

  “I don’t get mad,” said Ms. Poole suddenly, making Lady jump. She had appeared in the archway to the dining room, her arms folded over her chest. Despite claims to the contrary, she certainly looked plenty mad. Her mouth was pursed and her eyes were narrowed slits. “I’m your employer. Why would I get mad? Either you do the work you’re supposed to when you’re supposed to do it or you do not.”

  “I did my work,” Lady said quickly. “I took Ms. Comfrey her rain water. It’s just that she needed to go somewhere right after, and she asked me to come with her.

  “Asked you to go with her?” Ms. Poole uncrossed her arms. “Where did she take you?”

  Lady’s nerves settled a bit. Maybe going along with Al had been a fine plan after all. “We went to the Antonie’s place. Apparently some weird stuff happened there last night and—”

  Ms. Poole raised a hand to silence her. “They called me about that. Of course, I had the common sense to stay out of it.” She didn’t order Lady to elaborate on what had happened. If she was at all interested in what Shannon had had to say, she didn’t let it show. “It didn’t occur to you to call and tell me you might be late?”

  “Sorry.”

  “You thought I would have told you not to go, to come straight back here.”

  Lady nodded. “Something like that.”

  “You were right.” Ms. Poole heaved a great sigh. “Well, there isn’t anything to be done about it now. Come on, let’s get started. I’d rather not put this off anymore.” Ms. Poole turned her back to Lady and walked through the dining room. Lady followed her into the sitting room and then down the narrow hall where the storage room was.

  “Where’s the stuff I’m moving back in there?” asked Lady, recalling what she had been told that morning.

  “I already moved it for you.” Ms. Poole unlocked the door and then stood to one side of it. “Go on in. The room is yours now.”

  “What?” The words bludgeoned Lady in the face. Her first thought was that she was being moved to the small storage room as a punishment. “There’s hardly any room for my bed in there!”

  “What?” Ms. Poole rolled her eyes. “Good gracious girl, no. This isn’t your new bedroom. Hurry up. Go on in.”

  Lady’s heart was still up somewhere around her throat. She could feel her pulse pounding as she opened the door. Why would Ms. Poole give her a second room? What was in it?

  As it turned out, some of the things Lady had moved out had indeed been moved back in. She recognized some of the herbs and books and bottles. It was all arranged in a more aesthetically pleasing way than it had been. Ms. Poole had really outdone herself in the handful of hours Lady had been gone. Worse than the feeling that she would get in trouble was the sudden onset of guilt. Not that she knew why she was being given a second room. That was still a mystery.

  At least the mystery was one Ms. Poole saw fit to answer. “As you already well know, I want to pass down some of my knowledge to you. For that you’ll need supplies and a space to yourself. I decided this room would do nicely.”

  Lady noticed a large leather-bound book on a wooden table. It was the only book not on a shelf. “I know this book.”

  “I thought you might.” There was a smile in Ms. Poole’s voice. Had Lady not glanced back when she did, she might not have believed it was there. Pleased with herself. If Lady had to put a name to the way Ms. Poole looked, that was what she would call it.

  Lady turned back to the book on the small table. It had been there the very first time she had entered the room. It had called to her. That was the only way Lady could interpret what had happened. It had willed her to touch it, and then suddenly the light had been turned on. She had picked up the book only to discover that it was empty inside. Lady opened the book now and leafed through the pages. She fanned through them, faster and faster before coming to the end. “There’s not anything in this.”

  “Of course there isn’t.” Ms. Poole’s voice had taken on a more usual quality, like Lady had asked a stupid question. “It’s a book of shadows. What good would your book of shadows be if it was already filled in?”

  “A book of shadows?” Lady knew what that meant vaguely. She had heard the term in horror movies before. “Like a book of spells.”

&nbs
p; “A book of anything really.” Ms. Poole came closer, until she stood side by side with Lady. “It’s meant to hold all of your experiences, all you learn, all I teach you.” She sighed softly. “I remember when I was gifted my first book of shadows.”

  Lady had closed the book, but her fingers were still on the soft leather of the cover. There was definitely something special about the object. It was like it hummed beneath her touch. “Was that back when you were in… boarding school?” Lady couldn’t think of anything else to call it.

  Ms. Poole hesitated but nodded. “It was. They gave one to all the girls. On graduation, they gave us all a second. You’ll fill up that book yourself one day.”

  One day. Those words sounded abstract in Lady’s mind. Would she still be here “one day?” How long was she intending on staying in Dark Lake?

  “The rest is standard fare.” Ms. Poole waved an arm to indicate their surroundings. “Use this room for your studies. Don’t be afraid to light candles or incense or the like. I realize there aren’t any windows, but the space is well ventilated.”

  Lady turned in a slow circle, taking in the room. It was insane. Never in her life had she imagined she would be given a room for practicing spell work of all things.

  “Well?” Ms. Poole prompted when Lady remained silent.

  Lady realized she was probably expected to say something. “Thank you.” It didn’t sound entirely sincere. It wasn’t that she was ungrateful. She was just overwhelmed. “W-what should I do first?”

  Ms. Poole’s shoulders sagged a bit, like perhaps her feelings were hurt. Had she expected Lady to be more excited, more grateful? A pang of guilt hit Lady, but she wasn’t sure how to convincingly react in a way Ms. Poole would approve of. “Meditate,” said Ms. Poole. “That’s what I would do. Sit yourself down in here. Get a feel for the place, make it your own.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Why? Do you want some chores to do on top of that?”

  “No,” Lady said quickly. “It’s just that I don’t really know how to meditate. What am I supposed to do?”

  That actually got a chuckle from Ms. Poole. “Sit yourself down and do whatever feels right. Close your eyes, clear your head. Try not to fall asleep.”

  Lady was almost certain she was about to fall asleep. “All right.” She didn’t prod for further instructions for fear Ms. Poole really would give her other chores to do. Sitting down in a dark room with her eyes closed didn’t sound deplorable.

  “I’ll send for you when it’s dinner time.” Ms. Poole backed out the door.

  Lady nodded and then, before Ms. Poole could shut the door, “Um. Ms. Poole?”

  “Yes?”

  “Thanks for all this. I’m sorry I wasn’t back sooner to help you put it all together.”

  Ms. Poole just nodded. “I’m sure we’ll find a way for you to make it up to me,” she said before closing the door and plunging Lady into darkness.

  ***

  Lady didn’t fall asleep. She was probably more surprised than anyone by that. She sat cross legged on the floor in the dark room and was silent in every sense of the word. Normally, her mind went a mile a minute. For the moment, it was quiet. She could feel the flow of air and, curiously, the hum of energy from her new book of shadows. There was a lot of humming, actually. Lady wasn’t sure how she had never noticed it before. It felt so obvious. Fisherman’s Inn had all kinds of energy coursing through it, travelling beneath the foundations and then up like roots nourishing a tree. If Lady really focused on herself, she could feel her spine lengthening, becoming one with those roots.

  Maybe there really was something to all this witchcraft stuff Ms. Poole was going on about. For the first time, it felt less like a decision Lady would have to make. It felt like the craft was a part of her whether she chose for it to be or not.

  ***

  A door banging open startled Lady from her meditating. “Dinner is ready,” announced Otsuya with a yawn. Lady had to hold a hand between her face and the open door. Otsuya was little more than a dark blob. “What are you doing sitting here in the dark?”

  “Ms. Poole told me to meditate.” Lady unfolded her legs. They ached and protested with shooting pains, having been crossed for who even knew how long? “I was… meditating, I guess.”

  “Oh,” said Otsuya. She was silent for another second. “So, why didn’t you, like, light a candle or something?”

  That hadn’t occurred to Lady, but she didn’t want to say as much. “I just wanted to sit in the dark for a while.”

  The shape of Otsuya raised her shoulders in the doorway. “Whatever. Come on.” She turned and headed down the hallway.

  “Hey. Wait.” Lady scrambled onto her feet, nearly trampling Lion’s tail in the process. “Sorry, boy,” she blurted as she stumbled around the door frame and into the hallway. Otsuya had already disappeared from view. What the heck was with her lately? She had been all on board with figuring out who had murdered Lucette. Now she was being distant. Sure, Otsuya had showed signs of having mood swings before but that didn’t make it any less annoying. Lady wanted to tell her what had happened that morning, but it was going to be difficult if she couldn’t get her alone. It wasn’t exactly dinner table conversation.

  Dinner smelled delicious, at least. Lady felt a sort of warmth deep inside herself. It was a homey kind of feeling, a sense of belonging. Lady wasn’t sure when it had come over her. It hadn’t been there before meditating, had it? Lady had heard good things about meditation, but she found it difficult to believe it had changed her worldview so suddenly and drastically.

  It was the room, Lady decided. It was the room Ms. Poole had prepared for her. Sure, she had known in theory that Ms. Poole planned on teaching Lady her traditions. It had, more or less, been one of the conditions under which she had moved into the inn. Somehow, the reality of things hadn’t really sunk in until today. Lady was living in the town of Dark Lake, a place where magic existed and strange things happened. She was living under the tutelage of a witch and would, presumably, be a witch herself someday. That Ms. Poole had put the room together for her, even after she hadn’t shown up like she said she would was a kindness Lady hadn’t been prepared for. Maybe it had been unkind to judge the old lady so harshly. Ms. Poole wasn’t entirely, for lack of a better phrase to call it, a mean old witch.

  ***

  There was roast chicken on the table. Lady could see the steam rising up from it. There were sides as well, mashed potatoes, peas, rolls. Doyle and Ms. Poole were already seated. Doyle was carving a slice of chicken for himself and didn’t look up when Lady entered the room. Ms. Poole, it seemed, had held off on putting food onto her own plate until Lady arrived. “Well?” prompted Ms. Poole. “How did it go?”

  Lady took her usual seat at the table. “Well,” she said after a moment’s consideration. “I think. I’m not really sure how I would know one way or the other, but I think it went well. I feel really… energized.”

  Ms. Poole nodded like that was an acceptable answer. She reached and took the bowl of mashed potatoes to add some to her plate. “Make sure you do that at least once a day. It’ll help make the room yours. You want an imprint of your power there. It’ll give a little more umph to your workings, if you catch my meaning.”

  “I don’t, but I guess I’ll learn.”

  For the second time that afternoon, Ms. Poole smiled. “Indeed, you will.”

  Lady took the bowl of mashed potatoes as they were handed to her. She looked around the table. Doyle was already eating, showing no interest in the conversation going on between the other two. He held his fork in one hand and a newspaper in the other. It looked to be a local paper. Lady could make out a headline about all the bizarre business with Lucette Antonie. “Where’s Otsuya?” asked Lady. The question was open for anyone to answer, but she directed it at Doyle specifically. She still wasn’t sure how the two of them were connected, but she knew they were.

  Doyle glanced up from his newspapers, a forkful of peas stop
ping halfway to his mouth. “Pardon?”

  “Otsuya,” Lady repeated. “She came and got me for dinner, but…” She trailed off and motioned around them, at the obvious fact that Otsuya was nowhere to be found.

  “Ah.” Doyle ate his peas and returned his gaze to his newspaper. It didn’t sound like he was in any hurry to answer Lady’s question. She felt her muscles tense as she waited for him to finish chewing. “She’s not feeling well,” he answered finally. “She took a plate up to her room.”

  “Is she sick?” Not feeling well could mean a number of things as far as Lady knew. When it came to herself, it usually meant that she wasn’t in an emotional state fit for dealing with the public.

  “She’s just not feeling well,” Doyle said again.

  “Lady, don’t bother our guests.” Ms. Poole reprimanded Lady gently.

  Lady didn’t much want to disappoint Ms. Poole after making so much progress with her. She lapsed into silence and finished her meal. Doyle finished first and then Ms. Poole. Lady was the last one to take her empty plate to the kitchen.

  “Don’t go up there and bother Otsuya,” Ms. Poole warned, like she could read Lady’s mind. Granted, it had probably been a pretty safe guess as to what she had planned to do next.

  “Why not?” Lady couldn’t help herself. She didn’t want to stand there and openly question Ms. Poole, but she had to ask. “It’s not like Otsuya herself told me she was feeling bad. I go up to her room all the time.”

  “And did she invite you up there this evening?” asked Ms. Poole.

  “No,” Lady admitted. “But—”

  “I imagine you wouldn’t like it if she intruded on your privacy when you weren’t feeling well.”

  “What are you talking about? She does that all the time.”

  That gave Ms. Poole pause. “Fair enough. Still, if Doyle says give her space, give her space.”

  “Why? What’s the deal with her and Doyle anyway?” Lady had never bothered asking Ms. Poole about Doyle. She figured she wouldn’t get any answers. She was right.

  “The affairs of our guests aren’t any of our business.” Ms. Poole finished washing one of the dishes and held it out for Lady to take and dry.