The Phoenix and the Witch

by H. M. Gooden

  Zahara tilted her head in confusion briefly, then her eyes opened wide in comprehension and she blushed.

  "Oh, goodness! No, here it means to wake someone up. I didn't intend any offence!"

  Cat laughed at her discomfort, feeling another twinge of guilt at her reaction to Evelyn's teasing just as her friend exited the bathroom, clean and dressed and looking much more awake.

  "Evelyn, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I was being much too sensitive. I'm going to blame jetlag for now, otherwise you may get the opportunity to deal with a phoenix with PMS shortly. I'll try to behave." Cat gritted her teeth with exaggerated fear at the mention of PMS, but Evelyn just shook her head.

  "No need to apologize. It's going to be a challenge for both of us to live together for the next month and a half, so we need to respect each other's feelings and boundaries. As much as I love you girl, I'm pretty sure you'll tick me off from time to time too. As long as we can communicate, I think we'll be just fine."

  Cat smiled gratefully. "Shake on it? I'll tell you and you tell me if there's a problem?"

  Cat held out her hand and Evelyn shook it.

  "Deal. Hey, Zahara, you want in on this? I have a feeling you're going to be spending more time with us than you may be comfortable with in the near future."

  Evelyn held her hand out, eyebrow raised and Zahara smiled, shaking each of their hands in turn.

  "Deal. I like you guys, but I think you're right. It's not an accident that Mr. Grayson contacted my family for this job. Will Mai and Vanessa be joining you? Just curious, but it's crossed my mind that's probably been the plan all along, what with everything you told me in the van yesterday."

  Cat looked at Evelyn, reading the pensive expression that crossed her friend's face. If Vanessa and Mai came over to Scotland and joined them, it meant that they'd have the full complement of the elements together for the first time. Earth, air, water, and fire. With Evelyn, that also included spirit. Interestingly, that was the full complement of the five elements, depending on which mythology you read.

  "Well, if I know anything about Robin, I'm sure it isn't an accident. He schemes behind the scenes and gives cryptic answers, but he's smart. And he's always given us the tools we need to succeed in the past." Cat said, with conviction. "Yeah, I think they'll be joining us soon. Things will probably start happening after they get here. That seems to be how it worked the last time."

  Zahara stepped back to the door and opened it. "Well, if you guys are ready, I'd like to show you around the city today, so that you're familiar with the area before your classes start."

  Cat groaned, remembering that they were expected to actually do schoolwork during their stay in Edinburgh. Evelyn grabbed her backpack and went over to stand beside Zahara.

  "Well, I just hope that our new teacher isn't as crazy as Mr. Grayson and doesn't give us tons of homework. I'm going to have a hard time focusing when there's so much to see before we leave," said Evelyn, looking at Cat with a grin. "Are you ready to explore?"

  Cat nodded, making sure that her money belt was in place before she grabbed her own bag and followed the other two out of the room, shaking her head as she answered under her breath, "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

  THE WEATHER WAS PRETTY much what Cat had expected and was strangely similar to San Francisco's weather at that time of the year. It was grey, cool, and misty, and she was glad she'd worn a wool sweater under her thermal jacket. The weather forecasts for March in Scotland she'd studied before leaving home had said to expect rain and temperatures between five to ten degrees Celsius. Consequently, that was what she'd packed for, with lots of layers, since she tended to be cold anyway. She turned up her collar with a shiver as she followed Zahara down the narrow cobblestone streets.

  Once again, Zahara was an amazing guide. She deftly weaved through the side streets of the old town, taking the girls on a winding path to many very old and beautiful sites, including Holyrood Palace, Arthur's Seat, and finally ending the day at Greyfriars Abbey. By the time they arrived, Cat was exhausted and her feet were aching.

  "This town is amazing." Cat rubbed her right foot as she leaned on a mausoleum. "It looks like it was built by a million different people.

  Zahara smiled and tilted her head.

  "Funny you should say that. Actually, Edinburgh has had people living here for over ten thousand years. It's always been a hub of trade and after it was remodelled in the 1600s, it soon became known as the Athens of the North."

  "Everything has been so amazing, but I think that I love this cemetery the most. The graves and the ages on the plaques are insane. Tombstones at home from the 1800s are ancient, but those are the most modern ones I'm seeing here. Look."

  Cat pointed to the building she was leaning on and the plaque beside her.

  "This one even looks familiar!"

  Zahara peered at the stone that Cat was looking at.

  "Yep. He was the famous architect, William Adam, and this was built by his son, John Adam. A lot of the buildings in New town were designed by them in the 1700s.".

  "So cool."

  Cat loved looking at the graves and seeing the history come alive right next to her. She glanced at Evelyn to see if she shared her fascination, but Evelyn seemed to be distracted. Shrugging, Cat continued to ask Zahara questions about the graves and the people within them. After a few minutes, she looked back at Evelyn.

  "Yoo-hoo! Earth to E! What's going on in your head? Zahara's telling me some super cool stuff and I kind of get the impression you haven't heard anything.

  Evelyn looked up, startled by Cat's accompanying tap on her shoulder.

  "Oh, sorry. I'm just kind of surrounded right now."

  She shrugged in dismissal, but Cat noticed suddenly that Evelyn looked tired.

  "Wait, are you okay? What's going on right now? What do you mean, surrounded?"

  Evelyn grimaced. "Well, you know that I can see and feel people's emotions and stuff? I'm a little overwhelmed by dead people right now."

  Seeing Cat and Zahara's horrified expressions, Evelyn rushed to reassure them. "I'm not scared, but I've never spent time in a graveyard before. I don't swing that way." Evelyn joked weakly, then dropped her shoulders. "I'm not really sure how to block them out. It would be nice if Mr. Grayson was around to tell me what I should do, but I don't have that option."

  "Oh, no! I didn't realize. Would you like to leave?" Zahara looked so apologetic that Evelyn patted her arm to reassure her.

  "No, don't worry about it. I'm just a little distracted, it's no problem. On the upside, I've gotten a chance to see the cutest little Scottie dog right over there."

  Evelyn pointed at a nearby grave and Zahara sighed.

  "Oh, you're so lucky! I've never seen Greyfriars Bobby. Sad and beautiful story, really. He was said to visit the grave of his owner every day until he died. Other people have been said to have seen the dog's ghost continue his visits, but I've never been so fortunate."

  "Some of the other ghosts I'm seeing are less pleasant though, so that makes up for it. Mostly old men in a variety of old fashioned clothing, discussing topics I can't understand, but one guy was super grotesque."

  Evelyn pointed out the mausoleum where she'd seen the mangled ghost and Zahara took a step back in alarm.

  "We should keep moving. That's the Black Mausoleum. It's super haunted and not in a good way. People have been injured there on busy ghost tours during the day. I shudder to think what you'd see if we stuck around."

  Cat shared a look of concern with Evelyn before they quickly followed Zahara's direction change to avoid the area. But it wasn't long until a grave finally and firmly grabbed Evelyn's attention along the southern wall of the abbey, tucked away inside a vault. She walked toward it as though she compelled and when she reached the grave, she read the inscription. It was the mausoleum of a Sir Robert Sibbald, who'd lived from 1641 to 1722. The door swung open and Evelyn walked into the darkness, then the door slowly closed behind her.

  CAT LO
OKED AROUND, alarmed at the sound of a door closing when she realized she hadn't seen Evelyn for several minutes.

  "Did you hear that? Do you know where Evelyn went?"

  She looked at Zahara, who shrugged.

  "She was just here a minute ago. I saw her looking at some of the tombstones. She must have wandered off. We can circle around back over by the vault area. She may have gone into one out of curiosity and that could've been the noise we heard."

  Cat followed her, but was dubious. Evelyn wasn't usually an overly curious person, so for her to go missing in a graveyard was pretty suspicious. Considering Evelyn's abilities and what she'd just shared with them, Cat was worried that Evelyn may have been overwhelmed dealing with spirits, or potentially something more dangerous. Cat followed Zahara in the direction she'd recommended, noticing that she kept stopping to sniff the air every few minutes.

  When Cat realized what she was doing, she asked her about it.

  "Are you able to track her by smell? Is that a fox thing?"

  Zahara smiled sheepishly, looking down.

  "I'm not as good at it as my brothers, but it's probably because I can't stand the smell of the city, so I've practiced trying to ignore all the scents. They live rurally, so it's easier for them, as well as more pleasant there. There are usually too many competing smells for me in the city, but it's not as busy in the cemetery so it's alright here."

  Cat nodded, thinking how useful it would be to be able to track by scent if you were trying to follow someone. However, she also acknowledged that it would probably be awful with all of the nasty smells produced by people and their toys of city living. When they arrived at a small square building bearing a plaque for Sir Robert Sibbald, Zahara stopped walking.

  "This is where her scent ends. It stays here, at the door."

  Cat looked around, not noticing any signs of a disturbance. She tried the door, but it was solidly stuck shut. She flipped into aura vision and looked around. No aura resembling Evelyn's was anywhere that she could see, but she thought she saw a faint glow of light emanating from inside the tomb.

  "Zahara, can you help me with the door? This area's glowing. I think something's happening inside."

  Zahara went over and added her strength, but they soon gave up. The door seemed welded, it was so stuck. The girls walked around the tomb, looking for another way in. Only a small window with bars was visible and Cat slumped beside the wall in defeat.

  "There's something in there, I can feel it. How are we going to get in?"

  Zahara was still sizing up the window, which only measured about two feet by two feet wide and was crisscrossed with solid metal bars. She tried to wiggle one loose, but it held fast.

  "Hey, Cat, can you melt these? You said that you can sometimes make fire from your hands? If you could melt a bar, I may be able to wiggle inside."

  Cat looked at what Zahara was showing her and considered the possibilities.

  "I'd feel bad destroying something so old, but I can try, I guess."

  Zahara waved away her objection. "It's just one little bar, I'm sure no one will notice. I'd do it myself, but my powers aren't as good with metal," she said, then shrugged. "I can do it, but it takes me a lot longer to work with and I may ruin the whole thing."

  Cat nodded, taking a deep breath, then focused on the feeling of heat that came when she tried to heal or fight. Channeling it from her chest into her hands, she placed both of them on the bar on the lower right section of the crypt, melting an area about three inches across, before she stopped.

  "Is that enough? It looks innocent, like maybe it just broke."

  Zahara looked closely at the gap, estimating the size before looking back at Cat.

  "It should do. Can you make sure you watch out for anyone coming? I'm going to enter in my fox form. I'm really small that way. "

  Cat nodded, intrigued. She wasn't disappointed either, as Zahara turned into a cute little desert fox with the big ears and pointy nose that she'd only seen in a National Geographic magazine. Cat had to restrain the sudden urge to pat her new friend, confident that was a liberty that wouldn't go over well.

  As Cat watched, Zahara nimbly hopped up on the small window ledge and squeezed through the narrow hole that Cat had made, disappearing into the darkness inside the crypt. Cat waited for what seemed like an hour, but according to her watch was less than a minute, before she heard the snick of a door sliding on rocks and saw Zahara pushing at it from the inside. Cat moved quickly to help her. This time, the door opened easily. She entered the tomb and saw Evelyn standing near the back wall in what appeared to be some kind of trance, looking into the corner in a way that sent chills down Cat's spine.

  Evelyn appeared unharmed. Cat couldn't sense any change in her aura except that her usual beautiful opalescent red, gold, and white aura seemed to have flares shooting out every few seconds. Cat wondered if this meant that Evelyn was in the midst of a psychic experience. Gently, Cat touched her friend on the arm, but Evelyn didn't respond.

  "What's happening to her? She looks blank."

  Zahara poked Evelyn's shoulder, looking for a reaction but getting none.

  Cat stepped back, shaking her head. "I'm not sure what's happening, but I think she might be communicating with something or someone right now. Her aura looks healthy, but I'm seeing extra activity, like she's busy somewhere else."

  "So what do we do?"

  Cat shrugged. "I guess we wait until she snaps out of it."

  Zahara sighed and they both sat down to wait. It was chilly and dark in the vault, but not overly scary except for the occasional spider. It helped that they'd left the door open, since they'd been worried about the chances of it sticking again, so they were still getting fresh air. After about fifteen minutes, Evelyn blinked out of her trance and looked at the two girls sitting at her feet in confusion.

  "When did you get here?" Evelyn asked.

  Cat smiled, relieved to see Evelyn looking like her usual self.

  "We've been here for a while, but couldn't wake you up out of wherever you were, so we were just waiting. Anything to tell us?"

  Evelyn stretched her arms over her head and did a few trunk twists and deep bends, then looked at her watch.

  "Oh, wow! I had no idea that I'd been gone that long. Well, I met with Sir Sibbald here. It's his tomb we're in right now. He was a physician and botanist in Scotland back in the 1700s and responsible for most of the impressive reputation of the University of Edinburgh in the 18th century." Evelyn took a deep breath, then looked sombrely at Cat. "He had a message. He warned us to be careful. He was the founder of the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh and he said that he saw many things while searching for specimens. One of those is related to that awful dream we've been having Cat, the one we've been sharing about the tree."

  Cat raised her eyebrows. "But how? Does that mean that the tree's real?"

  Evelyn slowly nodded. "Yes. He described a place along the coast of East Lothian, by Ayrshire. There had been stories coming from that area about a family of cannibals headed by someone named Sawney Bean back in the 1300s. Sir Sibbald had been curious to visit the area, to see if there was any unique flora and of course, to see if there had been any truth to the rumours. He hadn't seen anything suggestive of cannibals, being in the area 300 years after the story was supposed to have happened, but he hadn't expected to. He explained to me that the story was more along the lines of a legend, most likely created by the superstitious Scots in the Highlands. Regardless, he was interested in fully exploring the area for scientific research."

  Evelyn rubbed the back of her neck, as if it was stiff from being in one position for so long.

  "But I don't get where the tree comes in." Cat said.

  "Okay, so he'd been disappointed not to find any unique plants, until his final day, when he came across this old gnarled tree that seemed to hang almost off the cliffs near the cave of the legends, spiteful of the water and the laws of gravity, newly discovered in that era."

  Ev
elyn paused long enough in her retelling of the story to take a breath and Cat noticed her shudder, as though a cold breeze had crossed her back.

  "The tree filled him with fear, although he could identify no logical reason for it. He wasn't superstitious himself, although he'd been raised from good Scottish stock and was aware of the stories. He approached the tree from above but as he did, he became filled with such a sense of dread to the depths of his soul that he found himself unable to continue. He made a note of the location, but throughout his entire life he was unable to return to the place or get the tree out of his mind. For some reason, he really tried to impress on me how important this tree was and how important it was for him to tell me the entire story. The last thing he said was that our journey would end there, then he faded away."

  Evelyn looked shaky and tired so Cat stood up, grabbing her by the arm when she swayed. "Come on, I noticed earlier that there's a Starbucks around just the corner from here. Let's go get something to eat and something warm to drink. You look exhausted."

  Evelyn let out a shaky laugh as she leaned on Cat. "Thanks, that sounds good."

  The girls slowly exited the vault, the door closing easily now. Cat gave Evelyn a little boost with her healing power, removing just enough of her fatigue so that they were able to walk to the coffee shop without Cat and Zahara needing to carry her. When they arrived at Starbucks, the girls were comforted by the familiar surroundings. In a country so similar and yet so alien, Starbucks was a haven of sameness. They ordered their favourite lattes and fresh banana bread before sitting at some comfy couches around a coffee table to continue their discussion.

  Zahara was the most interested in Evelyn's contact with Sir Sibbald. She'd previously heard the story of the cannibal family, which she shared with the others with ghoulish glee.

  "The legend goes to back to a man named Sawney Bean. He was supposed to have been from Lothian originally and was a tanner by trade. He married a woman and made a home in Bennane Cave. The cave was large, said to have many deep tunnels that were hidden and extended far into the rock, some locals say even as far back as the town itself. The cave often flooded at high tide and was difficult to access during most of the day. As it was out of the way, the story says that Sawney Bean decided to support his wife by becoming a highwayman."