An Obstinate Witch

by E M Graham

  AN OBSTINATE WITCH

  Witch Kin Chronicles 4

  E M GRAHAM

  OneEar Press

  An Obstinate Witch

  Copyright © 2021 by E M Graham

  All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN: 978-1-7773212-4-6

  Cover design by James at Go-On Write

  First Edition: September 2021

  1

  TOMORROW WOULD BE MY BIRTHDAY, my twenty-first. Despised by my peers and far from the comforts of home, there would be no special cake in my honour. It might be the worst birthday ever, except that I didn’t care about any of that.

  Maybe because I was now officially an adult, or maybe it was because the power of the almost-full moon was entrancing me, calling to me, running crystal clear through my veins and I felt fabulous and full of life and ready to take on the world. I was invincible, or near enough.

  Through the window of my dorm room that evening, I watched it rise over the hills of Scarp, the silver light reflecting in the calm sea surrounding the island. Was it just under a month ago that I’d been tricked into carrying the magical lode stone of the Kin through the tunnel? It felt like longer, yet the moon was only now coming into full again. Another two nights and it would be a perfect circle hanging in the dark blue sky. I breathed deeply through the open window, soaking up the energy of this strange Scottish moonlight that surged through me like a tide.

  Hugh had promised to return before the moon was completely full, so he should be back tomorrow. I close my eyes and let myself dream a little, of Hugh and me, and of rescuing my mother from the Ice King’s grasp.

  MY FIRST INKLING THAT THINGS WERE NOT OKAY was the next morning when Fergie left the island. She wasn’t at breakfast, but I thought nothing of it because she’d been mopey and sleeping in a lot lately. I wouldn’t have even found out till later except I went to our shared room to get a book I’d forgotten and found her bundled up in her too-tight lilac puffy coat with her battered old suitcase in hand. Her normally bouncy curls were lank as if she hadn’t bothered to wash that day. Her side of the room was empty, our small table was bare of her makeup and hair products.

  ‘Hey, what’s going on?’ I blocked the doorway instinctively as my mind tried to catch up with the shock of the evidence before my eyes. ‘You’re all packed up? Where you going?’

  Even as I said It, I realized, guiltily and a little too late, that she hadn’t been herself for a while. Since the incident of the Crystal Charm Stone, if I was truly honest with myself. She’d been quiet, withdrawn, and I’d been so wrapped up in my own head that I hadn’t really wondered about it.

  A lot of things had changed since the night that Willem had escaped across the channel. On the surface, everyone pretended things were normal on Scarp, except that they weren’t and we all knew it. Sandy wasn’t with us, for one. I missed him and his calming presence, even though he’d turned out to be such a shite at the end of it, conspiring with Willem as he had to steal the magical lodestone of the Kin.

  All the other students no longer taunted me, or sneered at me. In fact, they only acknowledged my presence by avoiding me. If they couldn’t pretend I wasn’t there, they averted their eyes and refused to sit by me or talk to me. I’d known at the time that my proximity to the Crystal Charm Stone had done something odd to me that night, made me glow as I was infused with its magical energy, but that had only been a temporary thing. I couldn’t understand why I was suddenly the social pariah, and no one was talking to me to explain it. Even Fergie had simply shrugged when I asked her, only telling me that she regretted her part in the whole thing, and that she didn’t want to talk about it and it was all my fault. I put her touchiness down to her starting her period, and left it alone for I figured she’d come round.

  Now I really, really wished I’d revisited the matter with her, because it sure looked like she was preparing to leave the island and walk out of my life.

  ‘What’s going on, Fergie?’ I asked again as I grabbed her arm and forced her back into our shared room. She winced and quickly stepped away from me as I let go. I hadn’t realized my grasp was so strong.

  ‘Sorry, Dara,’ she began, then stopped and shrugged.

  ‘Sorry for what?’ I wanted to shake her but didn’t dare. Besides, I wasn’t angry at her, I was angry at myself for not picking up on the clues. She was my only friend here on the island, the only one who would even speak to me after the incident of the Stone. All the other students shunned my presence like I was a plague dog or something.

  And looking back, I know there were other things that should have been waving red flags to me. Not about Fergie, but about me. The seasons of the moon were slowly shifting by then, and I could feel something rising in my blood, like ripples of energy, like the inexorable ocean tide.

  The good energies inside me grew slowly so I didn’t notice the change until suddenly one day, I was feeling on the top of the world, in a wonderful good mood with loads of vitality to spare all the time. I could have gone hiking in the mountains from morning till night and not broken a sweat. In class, all my spells were spot on and my ideas were absolutely brilliant; I had confidence to spare and felt no fear and I always had the right answer. If I noticed that the others were looking at me suspiciously, I just put it down to professional jealousy, for the Kin kids were a competitive bunch.

  The strangest thing, which is why I didn’t realize it at the time, was that these good feelings felt entirely normal and right, like I was simply becoming the witch I was supposed to be, as if my potential had finally blossomed overnight. To me, there nothing amiss about the state of affairs so I didn’t dwell on the whys or hows, I just soaked up this good energy and assumed it was naturally me.

  Over the past couple of days, I’d found that I could see the shimmerings of auras surrounding other people. This talent had crept up on me, and made itself known as I sat alone in the back of the classroom, looking at the other student’s heads. I was bored that day for I’d already picked up the more intricate points of aiming ice balls towards a target, the subject of the day. It was simple – I formed the idea of ice in my mind, the knowledge of how the crystal structure would not release the energy, thus giving the quality of coldness – and with a flick of my finger to help propel the missile in the right direction, hit the target every time. I didn’t see why these Kin kids, all of them trained from a young age, could not master this easy action spell.

  As I sat there, I realized the auras of my classmates were visible to me, and I could instinctively interpret the rainbows of colors. The green and yellow burning lights of Win and her competitiveness, the drawling blue that was Timothy’s.

  I smiled kindly at Pauline when she darted a hate-filled glance at me, feeling sorry for her and the dreary brown that surrounded her, it was a grasping, fearful subdued aura no doubt stemming from her nasty father, Elder Cromwell. It was obvious to me that her rottenness was a result of her upbringing, that if she’d been given a bit of love and kindness, she too could have been a likeable person. Perhaps even as fabulous as me.

  I’d never felt so full or sure of myself before. I was riding high.

  Not just the aura perception, but, all my senses were heightened. Without the use of binoculars, I could see the Scottish flag f
lown by the little fishing vessel two miles out at sea, and could make out the tiny figures of the crew in their yellow oilskins. A raven landed twenty feet away from me one day, each black feather glistening with iridescence, and I watched my reflection in his obsidian eye. And the smells which now assailed me – well, that wasn’t so great. I could hardly bear to go to the dining room, for it smelled like every meal ever eaten there had lingered, imprinting itself on the air, centuries of mutton stew and days-old oatmeal were adhered to the very walls. Even the butter had a rancid miasma hovering about it. I existed on bread and cheese and water snatched from the sideboard as I quickly ran in and out, holding my breath.

  And today Fergie’s aura was tarnished; what should have been lovely russet and forest green tones had dulled except for the hint of deep blue and purple around the edges like day-old bruises. When had this happened? And more to the point, why hadn’t I noticed it happening?

  ‘Fergie, is there anything I can do to help?’ Too little too late, perhaps, but I had to say something.

  She gave a deep sigh and looked me in the eye. ‘I just can’t handle this anymore. I feel like I’m in over my head, and this is not what I want,’ she said, then gestured with her hand. ‘All this – Scarp, the Kin hierarchy – all this isn’t for me. It’s not for my life.’

  ‘But you worked to get here – you worked your ass off! How can you just throw it away?’ It was a mystery to me, especially full of the moon’s rising energy as I was. I couldn’t think of a better place to be than on Scarp with its fresh air and salt water and green hills. The educational environment was exactly what I needed, and I intended to go through every last book in the extensive library before I left.

  ‘And what – Johanna’s just letting you leave?’ I found that hard to believe. Johanna, the Master of Scarp, had picked Fergie out especially from her small local Hedge Witchery afterschool program in Glasgow. She’d seen my friend’s potential – there was no way she’d let the young woman leave without a struggle.

  ‘She can’t keep me here, not if I decide to go.’ I saw a flash of the old Fergie as she lifted her chin defiantly in the air, even if it was quivering a little.

  ‘But what about me? What am I going to do? You’re my only friend here...’

  She laughed bitterly. ‘You don’t need me, Dara. You’ve changed since that night.’ She looked like she wanted to say more, but instead she set her lips firmly together and looked away.

  ‘What? No, I’m me, just a better me.’ A fantastic me, actually, I felt like I was really coming into my own. How could she not want to stick around to watch? ‘Can’t you see?’

  Fergie shook her head and looked up at me again. ‘You’re not you, not anymore. You... you scare me. It’s too much like the stories of Auld Meg.’ She paused and gave me a significant look. ‘I have a bad feeling about this, and I don’t want to be a part of it.’

  ‘What are you going to do with yourself? Don’t tell me you’ll just go back to Glasgow and be a plain old Hedge Witch!’ I couldn’t believe it. She’d had such big plans when we’d arrived on Scarp. The first of her family to have a proper magic education.

  And who the hell was Auld Meg?

  ‘No,’ she replied. She looked out the window to the ocean in the distance. ‘Not Glasgow for me. I can’t go back there. I’m going to try something different. Something completely different and not related to the Kin at all.’

  She stared at me intently, and spoke slowly with emphasis, the only bit of life I’d seen in her for ages. ‘I advise you to leave now, too. Quit while you’re ahead. It’s not too late to go back to your old life, Dara. There are bad things coming your way, and it’s all because of the Stone and that night. I’m afraid for you.’

  And that was that. No further explanation as to her visions and precognitions about me, and she was hell-bent on running away to wherever it was she was headed, to the future that didn’t include me. She gave a half-hearted promise to email me, but only after I pressed her. I didn’t expect to hear from her ever again.

  I was the only one to see Fergie off the island that chill spring day. Down by the water, the mist covered everything like a wet blanket, muffling all sound except for the endless susurration of the waves on the stones of the shore. I sat down heavily on the rocky beach as the ferryman silently rowed his boat to the other side, and she didn’t wave good-bye to me. She hadn’t even hugged me before climbing onto the boat. My friend just abandoned me to this terrible future she’d predicted for me.

  Long after she’d disappeared into the swirling mist, I sat staring after her, never minding the sea damp of the pebbles soaking into my jeans. I was truly on my own now here on this island so far from home. I told myself that this bothered me less than it might have just mere months ago, for today I felt strong and confident and unbeatable, my future was now, I had potentiated my potential, and I was coming into the power that was rightfully mine.

  A solitary gull swept across the seascape, its mournful cry echoing off the stone walls of the castle and the cliffs and I knew if I let myself, I could so easily have gotten inside its head, seen what it saw, felt what it felt, I could leave behind this whole lonely island and just soar through the gull’s mind, enjoying the freedom of flight. The only thing on his mind was the search for his next meal before his rivals found it.

  Fergie didn’t even know it was my birthday that day.

  YET STRANGELY, THE SADNESS DIDN’T LAST with me, as if the hours that passed created a buffer for the loss, and her leaving became a mere fact in my memory. The energies in my body called to me, I was flying on top of the world and could do no wrong, and I felt like I would live forever. I was untouchable.

  The mania had almost fully sprung in my blood that evening when the elders appeared on Scarp, brought in by the Kin private ‘copter late in the evening just as the moon was rising over the hill, one day from full.

  My head and body were buzzing, I couldn’t sleep and from my bedroom window I watched the black robed figures walking over the hill from the helipad, talking amongst themselves. Elder Cromwell was with them, and all the others who had stood at my judgement in Inverness.

  And Hugh. I could have picked him out a mile away, the tall figure with his broad shoulders and oh yes, his aura of the purest clarity I’d ever seen. Not perfectly white, for there were all sorts of interesting flickers of the rainbow woven within, with a lot of gold and equal amounts of darkness, but it burned a pretty steady clear light all the same. He was easy on my eyes.

  I couldn’t wait to see him, to talk with him, to tell him how good I was feeling, and there was no doubt in my mind he’d be ecstatic for me too. I lurked in the shadows of the Great Hall as they were all ushered into Johanna’s office. At the top of the stairs across from the room, I waited and lurked some more, sure that Hugh would find some excuse to come out in search for me. And I was right! Not a half hour they’d arrived, the office door opened again and he stepped out.

  He’d barely shut the door behind him when I lightly skipped out of the shadows and jumped into his arms, my arms around his neck.

  His whole body tensed at the impact and went into defensive mode, flinging me away against the stone wall of the corridor. Fortunately, I hit one of the wool tapestries hung at regular intervals. It softened the blow but I still needed a moment to regroup as I sat coughing amid the clouds of dust stirred up from the ancient material.

  ‘What the...?’ He stepped forward to get a closer look at his assailant. ‘Dara? What’s going on?’

  ‘I thought I’d surprise you,’ I said and shook my head clear. ‘Not such a great idea, perhaps, I forgot who I was sneaking up on.’ I looked back up at him. ‘Aren’t you happy to see me?’

  ‘Yes, but...’ He reached down his hand to help me up. I didn’t need assistance but I took it anyway, letting my hand linger in the warmth of his grasp.

  ‘But what?’ I grinned as I looked up at him. My five and a half feet were a perfect matc
h for his six feet plus, I’d always thought.

  He looked at the air around my head before his eyes settled on mine. ‘Wow, you’re... you’re practically glowing.’

  ‘You can see auras too? I’ve just begun to see them. Scarp is doing my powers the world of good.’ I was babbling – there was so much I wanted to tell him.

  He shifted away from me. ‘I have to ask, were you listening through the door?’ He nodded his head toward Johanna’s office.

  ‘That solid oak? Believe me, you can’t hear a thing through that, I know from experience,’ I said before the meaning of his words hit me and stemmed my flow. I looked across the distance between us. ‘What are you saying?’

  He glanced over his shoulder at the door before turning his gaze back on me.

  ‘I’m not a snoop, you know,’ I told him, looking at him uncertainly.

  His face cleared and he laughed, but he kept his voice low. ‘I would never think you would pry,’ he said, that familiar smile returning to his eyes. I could see the small glints of gold in the green even in the dark, my eyes had become so super sharp. ‘But we’re discussing you.’

  Hugh tried to suppress the excitement in his voice so I stayed quiet and let him speak. ‘You’re going to Edinburgh,’ he continued. ‘This may be the best thing to ever happen to you. And me.’

  Edinburgh, where Hugh was based most of the time. Off this island where no one would speak to me now that Fergie had left. To be in in the big city where life happened, and to get away from the sour pusses who were presently on Scarp? Oh yeah, I was onboard.

  ‘Will I get to see you there?’

  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘You’ll see me every day. If we can get Cromwell to agree, that is.’

  I opened my mouth – I don’t know if I was going to squeal with excitement or what, but he laid his finger lightly on my lips and brought his mouth closer to my ear.