The Magical Tarot Deck

by Marieke Lexmond

  ‘Don’t you trust me by now?’ For some very long seconds, she looks at him. He’s right. He knows she’s a witch and has stuck with her. Endured her crazy family and seems totally comfortable with them. Probably more comfortable than she is herself. It’s time she lets him in.

  ‘I don’t know what it is.’ This is as far as the truth goes.

  ‘It just showed up?’

  Bridget shrugs ‘Sort of.’

  Curiously, he reaches out. ‘Can I touch it?’

  ‘Sure…’

  When he touches the vine, it starts to bloom red roses.

  ‘Wow!’ He leans closer. ‘That is so cool.’

  ‘I find it a bit scary actually.’

  ‘Did you try to get it off?’

  ‘I did. Nothing seems to work.’ Her troubled voice makes Wes feel protective, and he pulls her close.

  ‘You can always ask Tara.’ He offers.

  Bridget turns toward him. ‘I would feel better if we kept this between us for now, until I know more about it.’

  ‘I always think it’s better to share. Maybe they know something.’

  Bridget moves her hand down his chest. ‘Please. Don’t tell them yet. Let’s just be cool about it. Hopefully, nobody notices.’ Her hand moves further down.

  Totally distracted by now, he mumbles. ‘Sure, if that’s what you want.’

  Bridget knows perfectly well what she wants right now, when her hand hits home.

  Tara wakes up and feels a pang of disappointment that Seamus is still missing from his painting. He has been gone before but never this long. She had hoped he would be there as she needs someone to share her story with, someone on her side. Last night had been disturbing on so many levels. She lies back and stares at the ceiling, thinking back to last night. That clinical room with all those disturbing shackles and drains in the floor. No windows to give her any clue of where she was. The power of the house was exceptional; the location must have been carefully chosen. It was definitely different. She quiets her thoughts and tries to think back to the moment she had thrown out her witch sense around her. What had she felt exactly? The crossing of ley lines! She jerks back upright. Not many places will generate that much power. Without further delay, she jumps out of bed and her knees almost buckle under her. Shit, she’s old. Her hand shoots out and finds the bedpost. A little more cautious now, she gets dressed. Before she leaves the room, she takes the ten of pentacles from her altar. Always good to get a small hint of what lies ahead. Efficiently, she shuffles her favorite regular tarot deck and draws another card. Excited, she turns the card around, fully expecting to see the victory card, as she knows she must be able to locate Lucy now. Her heart sinks when she sees the five of cups, not very encouraging at all. Despair is not something they need right now. A cock sits on a bare branch just above the water. Five cups float around him. Even though he’s in a precarious situation, he calls to signal the sunrise. Ah, well, you make your own future, better get started.

  It promises to be another ninety-something-degree day. Bridget walks back into the kitchen with her dogs, soaked in sweat already, just from being outside for half an hour. The dogs are panting, and they’re ready for their breakfast. Maeve, of course, is baking. The dogs greet her enthusiastically. Bridget freezes, her thoughts spinning back to the flashes she got from Maeve’s feelings while they had tried to make the card work. There is something dark, deep inside her twin that had scared her shitless. That something has made her into this kitchen witch she pretends to be now. Bridget itches to get to the bottom of this. But now that Lucy has the cards, they have to put everything aside if they want to bring the Dagger to safety. They have to make this walking between the cards work.

  Maeve feels Bridget’s attention on her and warily looks behind her. The air in the room thickens—a reaction to the sisters’ moods. Moon gives Bridget a little nudge. Come on, he projects in her head. It’s up to her to make the first step now; she had hurt her sister by leaving and she must try to mend that. Determined not to get cold feet again, she steps toward Maeve, who hesitantly takes a step back but hits the kitchen counter. Awkwardly Bridget grabs Maeve’s hand. Quickly, she realizes that her new tattoo is visible, so she takes Maeve’s hand and holds it between both her own hands to conceal it. Maeve stares at Bridget, doubt coming off her in waves.

  Bridget sighs and looks up into her sister’s eyes. ‘Maeve, I’m sorry.’ Maeve stays quiet. ‘I know that’s not enough. I know I hurt you and I want to talk to you about it; I don’t know where to begin and one conversation is probably not going to cut it.’ Bridget looks down at their hands. ‘I’ve been stupid, and I felt your anger. I wish I could go back in time and change it…I can only promise to make it better going forward.’

  It’s difficult to breathe with all these heavy emotions. ‘But we have to get this card thing to work before it’s too late, if Lucy draws my card…So please. Can we try to make this work?’ Maeve doesn’t answer so Bridget slowly looks up.

  Maeve is staring at her, her eyes brimming with tears.

  ‘Please…’ urges Bridget.

  Maeve only nods. Pulls her hand free and turns back to the kitchen counter so Bridget can’t see her tears falling.

  Tara enters the kitchen followed by Luna and Tom. Both witches sense the heavy air and know something is up. Bridget slides in front of Maeve as if she’s protecting her from the others. Tara’s eyes narrow on her, but it’s of course her lovely mother who has to comment on it. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Nothing!’ replies Bridget.

  ‘Did you have a fight? Do you want to talk about it?’

  ‘NO!’ say Maeve and Bridget in unison. Maeve quickly wipes away the remnants of her tears and flows past Bridget to unceremoniously plop some muffins down on the table.

  ‘Help yourself,’ and she leaves the kitchen. Now all eyes are on Bridget. When her eyes lock with Tara’s, she struggles to keep a straight face. Ceri’s image flashes before her eyes—her Fairy looks and growth in power—the consequences of yet another of Tara’s secrets. She’d made a promise though. So instead of confronting her grandmother, she shrugs and follows Maeve out with her train of dogs. Only Moon lies down under the table with a heavy sigh.

  Luna turns to follow but Tara grabs her arm. ‘We need to talk. I realized something about last night that might help us to find Lucy. Let them go; they can sort things out themselves.’

  With a last doubtful look, Luna quashes her motherly feelings and sits down at the table. The muffins smell delicious and without thinking she starts on one. Tom had followed the exchange between all the women with interest and quietly sits down as well.

  ‘The house is built on a crossing of ley lines.’ blurts Tara.

  ‘That really narrows down our search.’ replies Luna enthusiastically.

  ‘Wait a minute. What?!’ Tom looks puzzled.

  ‘Ley lines.’ answers Tara as if he should know what that means.

  ‘Ley lines are in a grid or matrix and are composed of the earth’s natural energy. Sort of like power lines. When they cross, there is a special energy there that witches can tap into.’ helps Luna.

  ‘Right…’ Tom is still not sure what that means. ‘And Lucy’s house is on one of these crossings? How is that going to help us?’

  Tara smiles, ‘Yes. And as the house felt vibrant with energy, my guess is it’s on one of the major crossings. It should help us narrow down the places we need to go look even further.’

  ‘How will we do that?’ wonders Tom. Luna jumps up.

  ‘I’ll get a map.’ And she quickly runs up and down to the study to get a ley line map of America.

  ‘Here.’ She spreads out the map. ‘This is the area we’ve narrowed down from all the clues we’ve had so far.’ She circles the southwest with a shimmering line, like a magical marker. All three bend over the map.

  ‘There seem to be quite a few options still,’ concludes Tom.

  ‘I think we can rule out the single crossings. It need
s to be at least several lines. I felt a hum.’

  Tom swallows a smart remark. It’s still hard to comprehend them; these women live in a different world, where this stuff seems to be real. His logical mind still has trouble with it, even though he has gone through some weird shit with them.

  ‘That still leaves some twenty odd places.’ muses Luna.

  ‘Yes, and that’s where it gets tricky. You really need to be there to be able to follow and find the right spots,’ adds Tara.

  Mother and daughter look at each other.

  ‘Can you and Tom go and search these places. I only trust you to do this. There’s one more thing. I think Lucy is spellbound.’

  ‘What?! How?’ Luna can’t believe it.

  ‘I know, I have no idea, but the access to her magic is cut off. That doesn’t mean she’s not dangerous, and her situation might change before you reach her. Please, be careful. You have the best chance of all of us.’

  Luna looks at Tom. ‘What do you think?’

  ‘I’m up for it. This waiting around is not for me. And I can’t wait to see you in action.’ Tom gives her a wink. Luna’s heart melts, he’s so adorable. She quickly plants a kiss on his lips.

  ‘Ahem,’ Tara brings them back to reality.

  ‘We’ll pack up and hit the road. Since we have to drive, it will take us a day to get to the first crossing. Better get going.’

  ‘I knew I could count on you.’ Tara hugs Luna. ‘Stay in touch, and if you think you’ve found the house, wait for us. Don’t go in alone.’

  Luna shudders remembering the struggle with the ghosts on the square in Boston, the trouble they had keeping Lucy contained. ‘I’ll be careful.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Luna can’t hide her surprise. This is the first time she can ever recall that her mother thanked her for anything.

  UTAH

  Lucy sits on top of the roof exactly where the ley lines cross. She can feel the ebb and flow of the power; it resonates with the power inside her. After she’d seen her sister, there was no chance of sleeping. To hug Tara had been such a disturbing experience, feelings she hadn’t felt in decades found their way to the surface. Grief and longing, hell, even love! What is wrong with her! It must be that stupid ring around her neck that’s blocking her access to her magic. It makes her vulnerable and weak. Two things that she’s absolutely not! It’s not acceptable. In the dark hours, she had let her emotions take over, remembering the days long past. Now that the sun is rising, it brings her back to her senses. All that nonsense of dealing with her emotions has never brought her anything.

  After she was banned, she traveled the world, trying to outrun her problems. At some point, she had actually sought help and found a therapist. The only thing that she got from that was that she had to take care of him, as she couldn’t leave someone alive that knew so much about her. The only one she could ever rely on was herself. Stop whining. The cards could be a useful tool, and it was time to take the Deck for a spin and see what it’s capable off. Seamus was a formidable witch; it will be fun to experiment with the Deck. The most important thing is to get this thing off her neck. She could draw Ceri’s card and see if she could persuade her to help, but after long deliberation, she decides to ask the cards where the Dagger is. The Madigans have it, and they will have to tell her where it is. It’s not in Fairy, and it’s not in this world. Where did her sister hide it? Lucy is confident that if she gets her hand on the Dagger, it will give her enough power to get rid of the spell. When she tries to get up, her legs are numb.

  ‘I hate this!’ She lets out her frustration. Tara was not the only one who had gotten older, it seemed. When she had looked into her sister’s face, shock had washed through her. Although she looks in the mirror every day, how could she have missed how old they had gotten?

  For now, she lies on her back, and the tingling in her legs lets her know they are slowly coming back to life. A murder of ravens circle above her—that makes her smile. A good omen. Her hand reaches out to them and although her magic doesn’t whisper to them, they fly lower and lower, her fingers brushing their wings. A warm wave of contentment fills her up.

  ‘Thank you.’ She whispers.

  Cal carefully opens his eyes. He had a terrible night. Seamus had kept on rambling, and even with his earplugs and his noise cancelation headset, he could still hear the old man. What a nightmare. It is not over yet though; Seamus is floating right above him, and his nose is almost touching Cal’s face.

  Reflexively, he tries to push him away, only to have his hand float through him. Depressed, he closes his eyes again. The buzzing of Seamus’ voice still in his head. Doesn’t that ghost need to sleep or something? How is he going to stop this? He can’t face Lucy or Mara with Seamus tagging along. They will think he’s crazy, talking to himself. He can’t possibly tell them the truth. So far Lucy hadn’t noticed that there was a card missing from the Deck. Well, he can’t stay in bed all day. Trying to ignore Seamus, he gets up, takes off his pajamas, and at last removes his headset and earplugs.

  ‘Come on. We need to get the cards back from Lucy. You can’t let her keep them! She’s evil!’ shouts Seamus.

  ‘Hey! Grandma is not evil.’ There goes his intention of ignoring Seamus.

  ‘She is! I know she wants to destroy my family. I’ve got to warn them. This is so bad. What have I done?!’ Seamus bounces erratically around the room. Cal takes this opportunity to quickly disappear into the shower. The hot water calms him down, and it drowns out Seamus’ rant in the room. Blissfully, he lets the water cascade on his head.

  ‘I have a plan.’ Seamus shouts in his ear.

  ‘Ahhhhhh!’ screams Cal. Seamus is squeezed in with him in the shower stall. This is too disturbing for words. Cal swats and yells at him. ‘Get out! Give me some privacy.’

  Seamus is unimpressed. ‘A little insecure?’ He replies glancing down.

  ‘What the hell! Get out. Get out!’ Cal tries to take up the space he stands in. Very slowly Seamus is floating through the glass door, thoroughly enjoying this moment. Refusing to disappear, he keeps staring at Cal. This makes him so uncomfortable. ‘Damnit!’ He turns off the shower and wraps a towel around himself as quick as he can. He’s back to his earplugs and headphones—what is he going to do?

  NEW ORLEANS

  Lisa is playing on her iPad, while Selma and Ron go through the books at the bar of Under the Witches Hat. It’s a weekly ritual, and they love this quiet time together.

  ‘We’re short of staff,’ complains Ron. ‘With all that is going on, my sisters are neglecting their duties. Especially Luna. I haven’t seen her in weeks.’

  ‘The boys cover a lot.’ comforts Selma.

  ‘They do, but it’s not enough.’

  ‘What do you think of Gwen?’

  Ron is surprised. For a minute, he flashes back to last night and Gwen’s easy smile.

  ‘You don’t mind?’

  ‘Why would I mind? She’s a nice woman. I feel sorry for her. She looks lost. It must be so hard for her to have just lost a sister and be away from home. As if that’s not enough, to be locked up in that house.’ It makes Selma shudder. The Madigan’s family home always makes her a touch uncomfortable.

  Ron shrugs. ‘Okay, I’ll ask her.’

  ‘I sort of already did. Last night.’

  ‘You’re a crafty woman.’ Ron kisses her affectionately.

  ‘Gwen will be here at nine. You can show her around and she will do the morning shift.’

  ‘It will be a relief to have someone else to help out. She can also do readings and stuff. It’s perfect.’ He gives Selma a big smile.

  In the Madigan’s home Maeve, Bridget, and Wes are standing once again before the extra card they’ve made.

  ‘Let’s talk this through for a minute before we start.’ suggests Bridget.

  Maeve eyes the card with dread, and Wes has a hard time hiding his excitement.

  ‘Grandpa said to feel your way to the other cards. Any suggestions what he meant
by that?’

  ‘Maybe it’s like when you’re out in nature and you cast your magic out, you can feel all living things around you?’ speculates Maeve.

  ‘That sounds plausible. What are you suggesting?’ Bridget let her take the lead on this.

  ‘Once we’re…we’re…out of the cards. We throw out our witch sense and follow it.’

  ‘I don’t have a witch sense.’ Wes can’t hide his disappointment. Bridget put her hand on his arm to comfort him. ‘Sorry, honey, you will have to wait and keep this room safe.’

  This perks him up. ‘Okay, ready?’ He holds out his arms to the sisters.

  Bridget slides under his left arm and Maeve under the right one. Almost mirroring the card, only they’re facing the card with Wes in the middle, not intertwined as on the card.

  ‘Wait. Wait.’ Maeve quickly weaves a little spell for shielding. Bridget follows suit. They both want to avoid having the same disturbing emotions as last time.

  ‘Okay. I’m ready.’ says Maeve.

  All three stare at the card; it doesn’t take long before they start to become transparent, and the card in front of them bulges and stretches. They morph together and find themselves intertwined in the middle of the room. Being better prepared, they quietly untangle each other. Maeve can’t hide her relief that her protection spell is working. When they’re now facing the empty card, Bridget finally speaks. ‘Everyone okay? That went better, right?’

  ‘Yeah, much. Let’s try it.’ Maeve glances at Bridget and when their eyes meet, they both send their witch sense out. Maybe it’s the card or maybe it’s their twin connection, but somehow, their senses connect. Surprised, Maeve wants to pull back, but Bridget reaches past Wes and grabs her hand. ‘Please.’ She projects in Maeve’s head.

  ‘Okay.’ follows her answer.

  Together, they reach out and their witch sense encompasses the whole house. They can feel Tara, Luna, and Tom in the kitchen; the dogs, Bert, Emily, and Liam, and finally Gwen shutting the front door behind her as she leaves the house. Bridget tries to think of her card, the huntress and the lion. Nothing happens. She tries again; something inside the house seems to be pulling on her. When she opens her eyes, she’s in the woods. Maeve stands next to her.