Sunny searched his face and realized he knew what she’d just done. He wasn’t afraid. He accepted it as part of her, and that was so important. “We’ll take a photo when we get home, I’ll show you how.”
Still he looked at her. “Will you vanish into the wilds,” he whispered, “like a fey creature?”
She shook her head, reached out and cupped his chiseled jaw. “I’m part of your world as you’re part of mine.”
He nodded, then glanced beyond her at the horizon. “The clouds are coming in. We better get back.”
Sunny didn’t comment.
Instead she walked quickly by his side and turned her face away, looking instead at the clouds scuttling on the horizon, and for the first time she saw them for what they were—not only an incoming storm, but a powerful forewarning from nature, signaling trouble ahead.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
When Willow’s bright yellow Mini parked in front of the cottage the following morning, Sunny did a double take.
“What is the meaning of this?” Cullen asked, standing by her side, his eyebrows lowered as he took in the sight. “There are three of them riding in the horseless carriage today. Why three?”
Sunny was wondering exactly the same thing.
Willow sat in the driving seat. Aveline and Rowena were squeezed into the back of the car. After she switched off the engine, Willow beckoned Sunny over, winding down the window on the passenger side. “I hope you’re ready to get stuck in, we have lots to do today.”
Sunny stepped over. “I take it you’re not getting out and I’m getting in?”
“Yes,” Aveline replied from the back seat, “exciting stuff today.”
Exciting, or challenging? Sunny was finding it hard keeping track of everything she was supposed to be learning. The fact it required three of them made her wonder what on earth they had in store.
“No boys allowed,” Willow added, for Cullen’s benefit.
Cullen grumbled, then kissed Sunny goodbye as if it was their last ever kiss.
Whooping and cheering emanated from the women in the car.
Rowena managed to do a wolf whistle.
Blushing, Sunny extracted herself from Cullen’s arms and climbed into the passenger seat.
Willow started the car and they hurtled off a moment later. All four women waved to Cullen, who stood by the gate with his arms folded across his chest glowering, clearly unhappy to be left behind.
“Oh dear, I think he wanted to come with us,” Willow commented, with a chuckle.
“Yeah, he’s turned into a total guard dog,” Sunny replied, looking back at him.
“Oh, how lovely,” Rowena said in a dizzy voice, from the back seat. “I wish I had a guard dog like Cullen.”
“Its lovely, but be careful what you wish for while these two are listening.” Sunny gave a slightly hysterical laugh. “Make sure it’s something you really want.”
“You got what you wanted though, didn’t you, Sunny?” Willow quizzed.
“I did, and I wouldn’t change Cullen for the world.” Of that fact she was sure. The rest, not so much. She was still reeling from Eben’s tutorial the day before. What would today bring?
At first it had been theoretical learning, but as the days went by they were throwing her in at the deep end with tasks beyond her wildest imagination, challenging her repeatedly. They told her, rather euphemistically, they were building up her repertoire. That almost made it sound normal.
She’d finally accepted her gift, but she felt as if she were in shock. In one sense her life was in tatters, the web design start-up business on hold, and the house brimming with unfinished renovations and unpacked boxes—and to top it all her parents were due soon. Nevertheless, priorities had taken over and she’d vowed to concentrate hard on every lesson they presented her with.
A few minutes later they traveled up the steep and narrow lane leading to the cliff tops. Sunny peered out the window, remembering how mere days ago she and Cullen had hidden in the caves below these cliffs. But that was really long ago, back in time, back in 1820. The caves and the cliffs were still here though. It raised so many questions about the nature of time, and place, and the endurance of nature.
When they got out of the car, Sunny looked around the beautiful cliff top and breathed in the air.
Willow joined her. “It’s such a special place. Here you feel the eternity of nature, and know we’re servants of it.”
Aveline nodded. “That we are,” she agreed, “our responsibility is to care.”
“It’s good to know your place in Mother Nature’s world,” Willow added, and put her hand on Sunny’s shoulder, giving her a gentle squeeze. “Now, I hope you’re feeling brave this morning.”
Sunny mustered a smile. “Not really, do I have to be brave today?”
The three women gathered around her.
“Eben tells us you’ve mastered the gift of levitating an object,” Willow said, ignoring her question.
“Apparently so, and I did as he said, I tried to communicate with nature.”
“I bet you got a response,” Rowena rushed in.
“Rowena,” Willow chastised, “let Sunny tell us.”
“Yes, I felt something, I saw something. I felt kind of...magical.” She felt her cheeks warming and hoped she hadn’t overstepped the mark.
Willow clapped her hands together in glee. “Oh, you’re coming along nicely, well done.”
Sunny smiled. They were so easy to be around. Could she really be one of them, in every way?
As usual, Willow was dressed in ethnic garb. She had baggy harem pants buttoned at the ankles, and flat sandals. She wore them with a long, multicolored tunic and a bright orange scarf round her hair extensions.
Aveline, on the other hand, looked ready to scoop top prize for the best 1940s costume at a convention. She wore an impeccable mustard-colored suit with wide-leg trousers and broad shoulders on the jacket, beneath it a red pin-tucked blouse. Her hair was swept up in a chignon at the back of her head, and her court shoes were the exact shade of mustard as her outfit. She always had a look of Grace Kelly about her, and Sunny wondered if Eben’s passion would ever melt Aveline’s heart. She hoped it would.
Rowena’s appearance was the most normal. She was a pretty blonde girl who blushed at the slightest thing and had a starry-eyed look about her. She appeared to be about nineteen, but Sunny had now learned not to judge members of the coven by the age they looked. Rowena wore a T-shirt and jeans, much like Sunny herself.
As Sunny took in their appearance, she remembered what Eben had said about their humanity drawing them together, not just the gift. They were good people, and she felt lucky to know them.
They led her closer to the edge of the cliff, where the tufts of grass were at their hardiest, and the ragged edge of the land soon dropped away into nothing. Sunny could hear the waves crashing against the rocks far below, and the smell of sea hung heavy in the air all around. They were so high, it was as if they could reach out and touch the clouds. To the right, nestled in the bay below, was the town of Raven’s Landing. “Our town looks tiny from up here.”
“I always think that too,” Rowena said. “It makes you realize how small we really are.”
“We have to think big, to get the task done.” Willow’s voice was firm and instructive.
“Think big?” Sunny sighed. “I must admit I’m struggling with it all, it’s just so much to take on board. And what if I....what if I just can’t manage it?”
“You’ll manage,” Aveline replied. “The doubts will fall away soon.”
“I appreciate your faith in me, but does everyone who has inherited the gift accept it?”
The three of them stood in silence for a moment and then Willow and Aveline looked at Rowena.
Rowena shook her head. “I have a twin, my sister Morwena. She learned of her magical gift at the same time as I did, but she rejected it. She said she just can’t handle it. It makes things very awkward between us, sadly, but sh
e encourages me to move forward with my magical ability, and I still hope to bring her on board, one day.”
Sunny looked at Rowena and imagined another version of her, someone who felt as much confusion and trepidation as she did, perhaps. “I can understand how she feels. I sometimes have the urge to run away. I hope it doesn’t make me sound weak. I guess it’s my biggest fear, because I struggle with accepting the gift. I mean, Cullen is relying on me.”
“You two are so good together,” Rowena said, reassuringly.
“We are, that’s why it’s so important. I don’t want to lose him, and even if he did want to go back to his time, I’d want him to have a good life there, a happy life. He simply cannot go down the path Nathaniel Fox has made for him.”
“You won’t let it happen,” Aveline replied.
“But it comes down to me, doesn’t it?”
Willow nodded. “We can help you, but you did the deal with him.”
“I could kick myself, really I could. I wish I’d asked for longer.”
“Perhaps its best you didn’t get longer,” Willow replied. “We often learn about our magic when we’re put in desperate situations and our emotional response comes to the surface. You were drawn to Cullen, so you fought to keep him close. When you win this battle, you’ll be able to relax and enjoy your lives together.”
They sounded so sure of her. Sunny found herself unable to reply, and she swallowed down her instinctive reaction, blinking away the tears, unable to imagine rising to such an unknown challenge. The breeze lifted, pulling free strands of her hair. She tied it tighter at her nape and tried to focus on the moment.
“Okay, enough gossip,” Willow said. “Let’s get started.” She led the way to the very edge of the cliff. Aveline and Rowena linked hands with her. Willow offered Sunny her free hand. “We would like to invite you to ride the day sky with us.”
Ride the what? Sunny stared at them, aghast. “Wait, you don’t mean ride as in ride broom sticks?”
Rowena giggled.
Aveline rolled her eyes.
Willow smiled. “Broomsticks aren’t necessary for levitation, unless of course it’s your thing.” She shrugged lightly, as if it had been the most natural question in the world.
Sunny peered over the edge of the cliff with some trepidation. “Why do I need to learn to levitate?”
“It’s a useful skill,” Rowena said, conspiratorially. “It can get you out of a heap of trouble.”
“Such as...?”
“If Fox,” Rowena paused, “or anyone...sent a bolt of lightning at your feet, you could rise above it.”
The mention of Fox made Sunny’s tummy knot. They were trying to teach her to defend herself against him, not ride the sky for fun. Right. The thought leveled her somewhat.
Aveline moved closer. “Allow me to put it in context. When we look back at the history of the witch trials, we read the stories about ducking stools.” She spoke in a matter of fact tone, as was her way. “Those poor women and men who died,” she shook her head, sadly, “they were innocents, in every way. But there were magical folk on trial too, the ones who didn’t escape as the net closed over them. They were often the bodies they didn’t find in the water, the ones we hear least about. Those who had the power to levitate would untie themselves, swim away and disappear by magic from the clutches of the witch finders.”
“Okay,” Sunny replied, “I see your point.” She couldn’t help wondering were they any magical ones who nevertheless didn’t escape the ducking. Presumably there were. It was a sobering thought, either way.
“Perhaps we should demonstrate,” Rowena offered, with a look of understanding. “Before you joined us, I was the newbie in the group, so I do understand.”
Sunny nodded. Surely if she saw them doing it she could begin to imagine doing it herself. Or maybe not. Maybe it would make it even harder.
Without hesitation the three of them held hands and stepped off the edge of the cliff, stepping around mid air, turning back in a semicircle to smile at Sunny and beckon to her.
Instinctively, Sunny took a step back, moving away from the edge of the cliff.
Willow’s face fell. She came back onto the cliff, leaving the other two wandering about in the middle of the sky. “It is hard, the first time,” she reassured, taking Sunny’s hand. “But remember, this is the natural world surrounding you. You’ve embraced it and it responded. The natural world will take care of you because you take care of it.”
“I can’t.” Sunny shook her head, panicking. “I’m not very good with heights. I got dizzy when I had to clear the gutters at the cottage...and the ladder’s only five feet tall.”
“The trick is not to think about your doubts,” Willow said, “but your strengths. When I first learned, Celeste told me to imagine my life depended on it, so perhaps you should think about the Viscount and Cullen. If you had to walk across a bridge of air to reach Cullen, and you believe that in theory you could, would you do it for him?”
“Without a doubt,” she replied. “But that’s because I already can’t quite imagine life without him.”
Willow squeezed her hand, but kept hold of it. “Use Cullen as your focal point. From there it’ll click into place, and you’ll be able to call upon the skill should you need it. Rowena is right, it’s really good for escaping situations that threaten us.” Willow chuckled, as if remembering something. Sunny was curious, but didn’t ask, because they were right on the edge of the cliff again and she could feel the currents of air buffeting her body.
“Take as long as you like,” Willow said, “just let me know when you’re ready and I’ll guide you.”
“That’s why there are three of you,” Sunny said, looking across at Rowena and Aveline standing hand in hand, treading the air, waiting to be joined.
“Exactly. I wasn’t going to point it out,” Willow replied, “but we all three came because we can rescue you when you fall.”
“When?” Sunny gulped. “You’re...you’re expecting me to fall?”
“We all stumble when we learn to walk, Sunny. This is no different. I have a friend, and not a magical friend, who is in a wheelchair. She once said to me you have to fall out of your wheelchair twice, before you truly accept the wheelchair is part of you. A wheelchair enables her to live and be independent. Abilities like levitation have to be learned and accepted into your life the same way. Find a parallel you can understand, and learn through that.”
Sunny stared out at the other two women.
She let her mind go back to school days, when she was often bullied. Whenever she was told she wouldn’t be able to do something because of who she was, she would prove them wrong. That’s all you could do with people who judged and despised you. Would it work for her, here?
These three magical women wanted her to embrace what she’d inherited, and they believed she could do this. Could she bring her old headstrong, stubborn ways into play here, turn them inside out, and join her friends?
“You’ll catch me if...”
“We will.” Willow squeezed her hand again.
Sunny took a deep breath, and then nodded.
“Cullen is out there.” She pointed at the horizon. “Viscount Fox has him, but you can draw him back, you can save him.”
Sunny recalled the emotion she’d felt when they were in the caves below her very feet, and let it well up. It built, from the sandy bed, through the ancient rock, magnifying all the way, until she felt its power inside her, bubbling over. She pictured Cullen on the horizon looking back at her, ready to be her hero whenever she needed him, and in that space she opened her eyes and moved.
Without allowing her time to change her mind, Willow stepped off the edge of the cliff, drawing her along behind.
Imagining a bridge between her and Cullen, she walked, unsteadily at first, clutching at Willow’s hand. Gulls wheeled across the sky close by. The breeze hit her, and she swayed. Willow gripped her hand tight as she staggered forward.
Aveline and Row
ena moved swiftly to her side, levitating, their feet not moving as they joined her in creating a circle.
“I feel sick,” Sunny blurted, trying not to look down.
Her companions pulled her closer, their arms slid around her and they came together in a huddle.
“It’s like parachuting but without.....” She looked around. Big mistake. Whatever it was beneath her feet, it disappeared in a heartbeat. She felt herself falling down, her stomach bolting up inside her.
She screamed out, then hit a ledge, but it wasn’t a ledge, it was Aveline’s shoulders beneath her feet.
Swaying wildly, Sunny’s hands clutched the forearms of the other two women.
Willow locked her gaze. “You can do this, don’t doubt yourself. It’s the doubts that make you wobble.”
“Step up,” Rowena encouraged. “Rejoin us.”
Determination set in, gritty determination. Sunny put her foot in the air and levered herself using her emotions as steps, calling on long buried feelings about love and loss and her unusual upbringing. As she did she remembered something her grandmother had said. Everything you experience is special, even the bad times. Remember them, so they can make you stronger if you need them. Each piece is essential to who you are now, and be proud of it, all of it. You are a survivor, and Mother Nature knows this and recognizes you as one of her own.
She’d never truly understood it before now. But yes, even the bad times counted.
She was level with Willow and Rowena again and she let go of their hands, and wrapped her arms around their shoulders instead. She nodded, and felt Aveline whisked away from beneath them.
Willow grinned. “There, you have it. You want to try it alone, and we’ll stand beneath you?”
Sunny looked back at the horizon, imagining Cullen standing there, perhaps locked in an eternity upon that hell bound vessel she’d seen so clearly. It was her gift that made her see it, her gift saved him. I have to do this, she told herself.
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