The Water Witch

by L E Gordon

  Perhaps it was time to let go of my own negative feelings of resentment, anger, and bitterness. We could both do with wiping the slate clean, and the coven would benefit from my sister being part of it again.

  “I need to ask you something first. Will you forgive me? I have only had half the story to base my thoughts on, with no idea what had driven you to leave. I’m sorry for holding it against you. You’ve been through some tough times Kira.”

  She looked at me, tears finally flowing down her face. “Of course I forgive you.”

  “Then let’s start fresh. Welcome home, sister. You have my forgiveness and my love. Blessed Be.”

  We both stood and embraced each other, both of us crying now, barriers that had lasted years suddenly crashing down and bringing raw emotion with it. It was the closest we had been since her return and it felt right.

  Chapter four

  We sat down at the table with a pot of tea, Kira smiling, happier than I had seen her in a long time. I wasn’t sure if it was the relief of clearing the air with me or her doing magic again, but she looked transformed.

  Thinking about her doing magic, I remembered the pull on my own magic last night at the start of the working.

  “What time did you start your working last night, Kira?” I asked casually, wanting to see if the times were in synch or if it could have been something else.

  “At midnight, or there about. I did a simple working casting to the four elements. It didn’t last long, but I was gifted with a strong connection with the Goddess. She gave me a blast of energy, it was like no working I’ve done in a long time.” She looked a bit embarrassed, and it occurred to me that the release of power could have caused a sexual response, as sometimes it does if you are unprepared for it. If that was the case it would explain her ‘glow’.

  “No need to be shy about that, we all get an extra blessing from time to time.” I smiled and winked, letting her know I also had this experience now and then. “That’s what makes being a witch fun, and Mother Earth must have realised you needed the boost. Accept it for the gift it was.”

  She simply smiled and looked at her cup, not willing to share any more than she already had. I decided to leave any further conversation about the pull on my energy until I had spoken to the other Keepers. It didn’t seem as if Kira had deliberately connected with me, so something else must have caused it.

  “The other day in the shop you said you will be here when I need you, what were you meaning?” I asked, remembering her odd comment from a few days before.

  “Just that, I’m here for you. You might need me in the days to come, I have no idea what is going to happen, but my gut tells me you will need my help. I get flashes of the future and dreams sometimes. This one stuck with me and I felt I had to tell you,” she replied, as vague with her answer as she had been with the statement.

  It seemed that was all she was going to say on the matter so I left it at that and enjoyed sitting in her company. Our peace and quiet didn’t last long as Michael, Aaron, and Ailsa came through to the kitchen looking sleepy-eyed and ready for food. Kira helped me make breakfast for all of them before excusing herself to go and get some sleep. I needed to do the same and took a quick shower before falling into bed for a few hours.

  We were meeting at Flora’s house at midday to finish tidying up and go over the ceremony. While we were clearing things away we would work out if anything needed to change next year and seeing what had worked well. In all I felt it had gone really well, but it was always interesting to see how the others saw it.

  Waking up at eleven o’clock, I put on black jeans, a silver lightweight jumper and my biker boots for trudging about in the clearing. I went through to the cosy kitchen to see everyone busy; the kids were doing a jigsaw puzzle and barely registered I was there. Michael looked up from his book and smiled at me.

  “Managed to get some sleep?”

  “Yes, thanks. Last night was so much fun, but I’m still tired. I have to head to Flora’s soon to help tidy up. Will you guys be okay here? I need the car to bring things home.”

  “We’ll be fine love. It’s a sunny day, I think we might need to have a walk along the shore and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts.”

  Michael was as bad as the kids for his desire to be outside. They would walk for miles and be exhausted by the time they came home. Not having the energy to think about our evening meal I took a large container of pumpkin soup out of the freezer to thaw out, thanking my past self for making large batches of soup to be enjoyed at times like this.

  Food taken care of, I gave them all a kiss goodbye, picked up my heavy cardigan and grabbed an apple to eat on the way over to Flora’s.

  Flora’s house was the old laird’s house, which, like the tower, had been well maintained. It was big and had been renovated over the years to keep it up to date. It suited Flora down to the ground, a sprawling house with hidey holes all over that was perfect for her four children, or her brood as she called them. I’m pretty sure she wanted more but Eric, her husband, has said they were already out numbered enough.

  I let myself into the kitchen and was met with the chaos that went with feeding six people at once. Putting down my bag I stepped in to help get all the children to the table and stay there while Flora brought over plates of sandwiches, veggies and fruit to fill their bellies.

  “Thanks for helping out, do you want anything to keep you going? There is plenty to go round, if you are quick that is,” Flora asked, pointing to the table. To the untrained eye you would think half of it would go to waste, but with two teenage boys to feed I knew better and grabbed a couple of sandwiches before they were all gone.

  Flora put sandwiches on a plate for herself and we sat at the end of the huge table together, listening to the banter back and forth between the children. Evan was the oldest at fourteen and Sassy was only six but all of them got on and loved each other which was obvious with the noise and teasing that was happening.

  Cait had picked Kenna up on the way over to save bringing an extra car and they arrived as the last sandwich was being devoured.

  “Did we miss lunch?” asked Kenna, disappointed at the idea of working on an empty stomach.

  “Of course not, no guest comes to my house and leaves hungry,” Flora laughed, producing one more platter of sandwiches from under a clean tea towel and offered them to Cait and Kenna before the children swooped in like hungry seagulls fighting over a chip.

  They took their food and sat across from us, guarding their sandwiches from tiny creeping hands that could easily steal them away.

  “Eat up, ladies. Evan put the hot water urn for us so there will be tea and coffee up at the tower to keep us going.”

  Flora took our plates to the sink and left strict instructions that the kitchen was to be spotless when we came back. While she was a relaxed mother, she expected her kids to chip in and do their share. They knew better than to cross their mother and it would let Eric sit down and relax while they cleared up.

  We picked up our bags and headed up to the tower; I was glad I had put my long cardigan in the car to wear over my jumper or I would have been frozen stiff on the walk up. It was as if nature knew we were on the downward slope to winter and had turned the wind up a notch from yesterday.

  Walking into the clearing, we were all pleasantly surprised. Most of the hard work outside had been done, the remains of the bonfire had been cleared away and the gifts on the altar split up to feed the wildlife. All that was left was cleaning inside the tower and putting away the tables and decorations.

  True to her word, the hot water was happily bubbling away inside the urn and the first thing we all did was make hot drinks. Cait pulled a box of cakes out of her bag and put them on the table in front of us.

  “I thought we might need some sustenance to keep us going through the afternoon.” She smiled. Her sweet tooth always got the better of her and we were happy to join in her indulgence.

  “Blessed Be, Cait,” said Flora, diving in t
o retrieve a custard slice, “these are my favourite, but I never get a chance to eat them.” The groan that came from her after the first bite told us it was a taste of heaven.

  “So, ladies, will we go over the night first, then we can tidy up?” Kenna asked, taking control of the work.

  We all agreed that the ceremony had worked really well and we would keep it the same next year. To keep the merriment to an acceptable level while we worked through the ceremony, we decided the cider wouldn’t be made available until after the circle was opened.

  “How are you after last night, Tarn?” Kenna asked.

  “Pretty good actually. Kira came to my house this morning and I asked about the magic pull, but she said she didn’t notice anything strange with her. So I’m back to square one with what it was. Mabon is a magical night, I’m not sure that I should ignore it.”

  “One other thing that happened with Kira, she asked me to forgive her and we talked about her leaving. We really cleared the air and it made me appreciate how hard it was for her to make the decision to go. We have a lot of work to do but I’m looking forward to having my sister back in my life fully.”

  Cait spoke first, “Tarn, that’s great. I could tell something was on her mind, I’m glad you are starting to figure it out. Family are too important to have a wedge driven between you.”

  Flora and Kenna agreed about the reconciliation and I was happy that we had taken the first steps to becoming close again.

  “I’m so happy for you, Tarn. Maybe Kira will start to open up to me again; I’d love my friend back. Thinking about the tug on your power, maybe we should ask the Grannies,” Kenna offered. “I’ve not heard of anything like this before, but that’s not to say it hasn’t happened. They meet on a Tuesday for scones at the Community Centre, you should drop in and speak to them.”

  “And speaking of weird things, I bumped into Joe this morning.” We all laughed, Joe was Kenna’s friend with benefits. “He asked if we had been together last night. He’d been out with the guys, had a few beers and couldn’t remember getting home. He had a love bite on his neck, not that I would do such a thing, and felt pretty tired like he had been up half the night.”

  “Two mysteries in one night. Mabon has been a strange one this year. Do you think he took someone home and they bailed on him before he woke up? Most people know you guys have a thing going on,” I wondered, but Joe wanted more from their relationship than Kenna did so it would be odd for him to be with another woman.

  “I have no idea. Who he goes home with is none of my business, you guys know what our relationship is even if he won’t accept it. I’m more concerned that he has no idea what happened and is missing time. Joe can handle his beer and never has that much to drink.”

  Flora looked deep in thought; “It was a magical night, maybe we should look into it? We could check Kira’s circle to see if any energies are lingering, because all the other witches were at the feast. Could you look at Joe’s aura to see if there is any damage or if he over indulged and simply can’t remember hooking up with someone? He’s a good-looking guy Kenna, some girl might have their eye on him and you could lose out.”

  Kenna shrugged, “What will be will be. I’m not interested in a permanent thing so he is welcome to go his own way if he chooses.”

  “Even so, I think you should look into it,” I said, “Last night was fun, but there was a strange energy. I’d rest easier knowing it was nothing more than a drunken night for Joe and that Kira had cast a typical circle. I don’t want to dismiss strange coincidences on a sacred festival.”

  We all agreed it was wiser to check it out, Kenna would go to Joe’s once we were finished and Cait would come with me to investigate Kira’s circle. Flora had her hands full with the kids so would only be called in if we needed earth energy to help.

  Putting the last of the ritual items in the cupboard we locked it up. After checking the room over we were satisfied that everything was in its place and made our way down to Flora’s place to get in our cars.

  Cait dropped Kenna back at her house then drove back to meet me. Michael and the kids were still out wandering when I got home, so I filled up a couple of water bottles for us to take on our walk and waited for Cait.

  I was sitting in the garden in a sheltered spot out of the wind when Cait arrived. Seeing me, she walked over and we made our way out of the garden onto the path that ran along the shoreline.

  “The occurrences last night seem strange to me. I have been trying to pick things up from the air, but as far as she is concerned everything is normal. I’m not sure I’ll be much help,” Cait explained.

  “Your magic might pick up something at the circle, and besides, it’s better for two of us to be there in case we run into trouble. Kira’s house is a ten minute walk so she would have cast her circle nearby. Let’s stop and I’ll try to locate it.”

  We walked along the shore line, the sea breeze pulling at our hair. Cait looked in her happy place with the wind swirling around her and I smiled. It didn’t take long to get to Kira’s house; once we got there I stood quietly with my eyes closed and called to my magic, letting the energy fill me up, which was easy for me being this close to the sea. Opening my eyes, I looked round to see if there was a tell-tale shimmer left behind by a magic user. Spotting a bright white sparkle on the grass, I closed off my magic and turned to Cait.

  “It’s over there. Watch your step, there are hidden holes round here. You don’t want a sprained ankle.”

  I led the way with Cait following carefully behind me, stopping once we reached the place Kira had summoned her energies the previous night.

  “Do you notice anything strange, Cait?” I asked my sister witch who had her head to the side, the wind blowing secrets past her sending her pale blonde hair streaming out behind.

  “The wind has no news, and I don’t sense anything. I’ll bring up my magic and look, you do the same.”

  Again I drew on my magic. Looking round I could see where the circle had been cast but nothing else stood out from where we were.

  “I’m going to walk the circle and see if anything is unusual.” I made my way to the edge of the circle which backed onto the land and started walking it, careful not to disturb the energies or draw too much magic into me.

  Halfway there I was beginning to think we were wasting our time, when I saw a faint shimmer of blue leading off, or perhaps to, the circle.

  “Cait, look at this,” I called her over and pointed at the ground. “Can you see that? I’ve never known a circle to break off like this or to have a different colour. It’s like there was a secondary magic involved.”

  She looked closely where I was pointing. “Let’s follow it. It looks like it’s going to the sea.”

  We carefully walked beside the magical trail until it disappeared into the sand. The tide had gone out and took with it any chance of seeing where the magic had come from. Bending down, I reached out to touch the magic, feeling a slight tickle on my hand, the energy seemed friendly enough to me, but what had caused it?

  We sat down on the grass and drank some water, wondering what the new trail meant. Had Kira summoned a creature, or was her magic backfiring giving the perception of someone else being here?

  Cait was as confused as I was. We checked the magical trail and decided the left over magic was fairly harmless, but couldn’t figure out if whatever had caused it had pulled on my magic. Leaving the circle intact, we agreed it was best to talk to the Grannies about it on Tuesday.

  The sun was starting to make its decent so we picked our way back to the path and walked back to my house for a cup of tea to warm us up and to debrief about what we saw. After making tea and thawing out in front of the fire, we called Flora and Kenna on Skype and I explained what we had found.

  “It looked like a normal circle at first, but on closer inspection there was a blue track attached to it leading towards the sea. It was a bit strange but neither of us felt any residual magic that needed to be dispelled and there
was no malevolence around it.”

  Cait took the explanation further, “The wind wasn’t bringing me any information apart from its usual chatter so there was nothing in the vicinity that could be harmful. Have either of you heard or seen anything like this before?”

  Both Flora and Kenna were as confused as we were and agreed that a meeting with the Grannies was the next step in investigating this unusual occurrence.

  “Kenna, how was Joe?” I asked the fire witch.

  “He was about to see a client so I’m going over in an hour. I’ll know better after I get to look at the mark.” she explained

  “Well, it seems like it’s a case of wait and see,” said Flora. “Tarn, can you and Cait write down what you saw and anything you felt while you were at the circle? You know what the Grannies are like, they’ll want every detail. Kenna, let us know how Joe is tomorrow, we don’t want that handsome hunk running away with some random woman even if you are apathetic about your relationship!”

  Flora had a soft spot for Joe, she could see what a good match Kenna and Joe were and was hoping that Kenna would wake up and smell the hot man under her nose one of these days.

  “Will do, Flora. How about we all do a bit of digging through our spell books tonight and see if we can turn anything up that sounds like our circle mystery? Are you all free to meet up tomorrow to go through anything we find?” asked Kenna.

  We all agreed we would do that and meet at Cait’s house at 10am the next day. Flora and Kenna hung up and Cait picked up her coat to go to her car.

  “I’ll see you in the morning, Cait, thanks for coming with me. I wish we knew what that trail of magic was. Maybe there will be something in the books to explain it.

  “I’ll see you in the morning. Blessed Be.” I stood and waved Cait goodbye as she drove off in her car, then turned back inside to the warmth of the kitchen, scratching my head about what had made the blue energy and if it was connected to the pull on my energy last night.