09 - Return Of The Witch

by Dana E. Donovan

  Several times, she tried breaking handhold with Carlos and Dominic, but they wouldn’t have it. It made me glad that they held her hands and not I, for surely my grip would not have held as firmly.

  After a minute or two, though it seemed much longer, the worst of it ceased. Ursula closed her eyes and dropped her head in a slouch. Her breathing slowed. The twitching continued, but to a lesser degree.

  I looked at the guardians. Their faces had changed as well. Their shock and awe expressions faded with the flow of abstract energy through Ursula. It seemed the four had become one with their human host. Their pain diluted through shared connectivity.

  We watched the fire slowly die, taking with it all formations in the mud resembling the four guardians. I let go of Carlos and Dominic’s hands. They let go of Ursula’s. She opened her eyes, raised her chin and yawned. Then she drew her arms up over her head and splayed her fingers wide, unfurling like a flower awakening in misty dawn.

  “Are you all right?” Dominic asked her.

  Carlos poked at the mud mound with his finger.

  Ursula smiled at that, but said nothing.

  I came around Dominic and pressed the back of my hand to Ursula’s forehead. It felt warm. “Ursula? Did you hear what Dominic asked you?”

  “Aye.”

  I touched her cheek and neck in a similar manner and concluded her temperature seemed higher than normal. “You didn’t answer him.”

  “Did I not?”

  “No.”

  “I thought it.”

  I reached down and brushed the bangs from her eyes. “But we can’t read your thoughts, Ursula, not the way the guardians can.”

  I came back around the table and reclaimed my seat. Carlos and Dominic seemed anxious. I didn’t know what to tell them. I wasn’t terribly worried about Ursula, but I wasn’t exactly comfortable with her condition, either.

  “Well?” Dominic asked.

  I gave him an uneasy shrug. “The girl’s burning up. I’m not sure what it means.”

  “Fire?”

  I knew he meant the essence. “Maybe.”

  “Is she going to be all right?”

  The three of us looked at her. To be honest, she seemed fine, smiling, bright-eyed, drumming her fingers on the table to some silent tune playing in her head. In all probability, she felt better than she’d felt in years, certainly better than the rest of us.

  “Yeah,” I said, nodding confidently. “I think so, assuming she’s collected all the essentials and they agree with each other.”

  “All the essentials? So you think she—I mean, you think the guardians, ahm….”

  “Delivered?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I don’t know. I’m hoping.” I tried looking into her eyes, but saw nothing indicating a new depth to her inner metaphysical forces. “Ursula, do you feel any different?”

  She shook her head.

  “No tingles? No sense of extra energy?”

  Her expression lightened as if a thought of importance came to mind. “I feel….”

  “Yes?”

  “I feel like….”

  “Yes?”

  “I could eat. Doth thou have cookies?”

  “Cookies?”

  Carlos said, “I could go for some cookies.”

  “No. I don’t have cookies. What do you think this is, daycare?”

  “So, what now?” Dominic asked.

  “Well….” I looked up at the clock on the wall. It was going on six. “We don’t have time to call the guardians back. Gypsy will be waiting for us at the old bridge in less than thirty minutes.”

  “So we put Ursula through all that for nothing?”

  “Dominic, we had to try. I’m just glad we have a contingency plan.”

  “What contingency plan?”

  “Well, I’m not sure it will work. That’s why I’ve been reluctant to mention it, but I’m afraid it’s all we’ve got now.”

  “So, what is it?”

  “It’s a potion of sorts, designed to mitigate Gypsy’s magick.”

  “Mitigate?”

  “Take it away.”

  Carlos asked, “Is that possible?”

  “It better be. Without overwhelming superiority, then the next best way to defeat Gypsy is to reduce her to the lowest common denominator. In other words make her impotent.”

  “How do we do that?”

  “Well, what’s the one thing that witches hate more than anything else on earth? I’ll give you a hint. It’s a mineral.”

  Ursula shouted, “Dolomite!” Though I think Carlos and Dominic were about to offer up the same answer.

  “Wrong. It’s lilite.”

  Dominic laughed. “That’s not a mineral. You made that up.”

  I smiled teasingly. “You’re right. I did.”

  “So, what is it?”

  “Simply speaking, lilite is a combination of crystal dolomite, azurite, malachite, essential oils, catalytic agents and other whatnots, crushed and blended in perfect balance to create the most awesome witchcraft neutralizing powder ever known.”

  “Does it work?”

  “I hope so.”

  “You hope so?”

  “Well, it’s not as if I could try it out on myself.”

  “Why not?” asked Carlos, “if all it does is neutralize a witch’s powers temporarily, then—”

  “Ah, but that’s the thing. Unlike dolomite, lilite doesn’t just hinder one’s powers temporarily. Its effects are permanent. I think.”

  Dominic remarked, “I don’t like the I think part. How’s it supposed to work?”

  “It’s basic abstract conversion at the quantum level.”

  “Oh geez, here we go.”

  “It’s no secret that a witch knows when simple dolomite is present within her reach of magick. A powerful witch like Gypsy can usually detect and compensate for the loss of energy she’s likely to experience in its presence. With lilite, a witch won’t know that her powers are compromised until it’s too late. That’s because the passive ingredients in my compound remain inactive until its molecules become excited in the presence of energy manipulation.”

  “You mean when she’s conducting magick.”

  “Precisely. Once excited, the molecules absorb and convert that energy into a state of suspended modulation. I found that introducing a second sensitive element induces a systemic relaxation in the quantum saturation levels, thereby suspending matter transfer through spontaneous cross-quenching reaction.”

  “Wait a minute.” I could see Dominic wracking his brain over that explanation, but I wanted it to sound complicated in order to dilute his apprehensions over my compound’s possibilities. “Are you saying that if this thing works, it will permanently rob Gypsy of all her powers?”

  “It will, so long as she uses her powers to try and break free of its grip. That’s the beauty of lilite. It only works when she exerts the powers of witchcraft upon it. The more she uses, the more she loses.”

  “I see. So that’s why you couldn’t test the compound on yourself. To prove it works would mean that you would lose some of your own powers permanently.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Then we’re back where we started. You have a plan that relies solely on a secret weapon, which we don’t know for sure will work, and without it, there’s no back-up plan.”

  “Sure, when you put it like that it sounds amateurish, but have you got a better idea?”

  Carlos said, “Can’t we just toss a big net over her head or something?”

  “Really, Carlos, a net?”

  “Yeah, a big one.”

  “Okay. I suppose. Do you have one that will hold fire, water or wind, because that’s the kind of net you’ll need to hold Gypsy.”

  He laughed at that. “You just described a giant fish tank. That would hold all of those things.”

  “We don’t have a fish tank, Carlos. We have lilite. We have to hope that works.”

  “Okay,” said Dominic. “So h
ow does your plan go down?”

  “It’s simple. All we have to do is stage someone on the overpass with the compound, and since it’s my compound, that someone should be me.”

  “No argument there.”

  “Once I’m in place, we’ll lure Gypsy under the bridge and then, BAM! I dump the lilite over her head. Naturally, she’ll think it’s dolomite and immediately begin rifling through her repertoire of magick. The more magick she throws at it, the weaker she’ll become and the easier she’ll be to neutralize.”

  “Then we can throw the big net over her head.”

  “Carlos, forget the net!”

  Dominick asked, “How do you plan on luring Gypsy under the bridge?”

  “With bait, of course.”

  “Bait?”

  “Yeah.” I looked at Ursula.

  Dominic stepped between us. “Oh, no you don’t. You’re not using Ursula as bait.”

  “Dominic, whether you like it or not, Ursula is the bait. No matter what the plan, Gypsy will be looking for her. She won’t be looking for you. She won’t be looking for Carlos or me. She’ll be looking for Ursula.”

  “No deal. I don’t want Gypsy getting within fifty feet of Ursula.”

  “I don’t think she’ll have to. I think we can fool Gypsy with another projection spell.”

  “A projection…. Oh, come on Lilith. Gypsy won’t fall for that. You used it at the cannery already and she used it on you.”

  “Exactly my point. I know how my mother’s mind works. She’ll expect me to try something new. That’s why a projection spell is perfect.”

  “But what if—”

  “Dominic, I’m telling you. Look, the sun’s already low. It’ll be dark under the bridge by the time we get there. All Ursula has to do is cast her image long enough to lure Gypsy to the mouth of the underpass. Once she’s directly below me, I’ll open the container of lilite, dump it over her head and voila! It’s as simple as that. I promise.”

  “You sure?”

  “I swear.”

  “You have enough lilite?”

  “I have two pounds of the stuff out back in a mason jar.”

  “You keep it out back?”

  “Yeah, buried in the yard. A girl can’t be too careful, you know.”

  I watched Dominic’s eyes find Ursula’s. “Are you okay with that? It sounds dangerous.”

  “Okay?” She turned a coy smile to him. “Dominic, my love. `Twas my idea.”

  Chapter 26

  Before the Army Corp of Engineers diverted the creek as part of a broader Massachusetts flood control project, the waters under the old stone bridge off John Adams Parkway used to be clean enough to drink. I should know. I drank it myself as a kid. Of course, that was many, many years ago.

  Now, only a dry and dusty bed of weeds flows under the bridge, and that’s only if the wind blows just right. The structure itself sees no traffic, auto, pedestrian or otherwise. Since the overpass on Jefferson went up, the bridge has fallen into such disrepair that its use is now prohibited. Except for the winos that bed down under it after dark, the area usually remains completely deserted.

  “There,” I said to Carlos and Dominic. “I want you two to find a good hiding spot up on the ridge.”

  “No. Too far,” Dominic complained. “I need to be closer to Ursula.”

  “You can’t. Gypsy will see you if you’re any closer. She’ll cast another check-bind spell on you, and then where will you be?”

  “S.O.L,” he said.

  “Exactly.”

  “All right, but I want you both to take these.” He handed me and Ursula a surveillance earpiece and transmitter kit. “Those are two-way radios. We can all keep in touch this way.”

  “No, we can’t,” I said. “Gypsy might sense the transmissions.” I gave them back to him. “Radio waves travel through the air. We can’t take the chance.”

  “Lilith, this is non-negotiable. We have to have two way communications.”

  “Yeah? How do you feel about no-way?”

  He turned his complaint over to Carlos. “Will you please explain to her how important it is to have two-way communications?”

  “He’s right, Lilith. It’s important.”

  Dominic backhanded his bicep. “That it? That’s your explanation?”

  “What do you want me to say?”

  “Tell her how it could save her life. How it could save Ursula’s life, and maybe yours and mine, as well.”

  “Oh, yeah, it could do that, and besides,” he seemed more enthusiastic about this next part, “you get to pick a cool moniker. Mine’s Havana Joe. Dominic’s is Dickweed.”

  “It is not!”

  Carlos laughed. “Tony had a great one. Bulldog.”

  “That was his hobo moniker.”

  “Yeah, but it worked for stakeouts, too. Lilith, yours can be Witchinator.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Yeah, like terminator, only you’re a witch. Get it?”

  Dominic said, “Lilith, forget him. Please take the two-ways. I’ll feel a lot better if you do.”

  “Okay, fine. We’ll take them, but only in case of emergencies.” I took them back and gave Ursula hers. “We’re only transmitting if we have to. Don’t expect—”

  His hands went up to stop me. “I won’t expect idle chatter. It’s best we don’t have that anyway.”

  “All right now, go. Wait for me to give the signal. After I dump the powder, you guys come in and finish her off.”

  Dominic got real serious-looking then. “You’re sure this will work, right?”

  “Can you think of another way?”

  “Yeah,” said Carlos. “I can. How `bout we just open fire on her as soon as we see her? We can set up on either side of the old creek bed and pick her off in the crossfire.”

  “Carlos, Gypsy will expect that. The second you pop up from wherever you’re hiding, she’ll zap you like a bug. I’m telling you. This will work. She’ll expect an ambush. What we have to give her is the unexpected.” I tapped on the lid of my jar. “This is unexpected. Okay?”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  “Dominic?”

  “Yes, yes. Fine. You just better be right about this. If anything happens to Ursula—”

  “Nothing’s going to happen to her. She’ll be over there, out of sight, casting her image under the bridge. Ursula, you still remember how to image cast, don’t you?”

  “What,” said Dominic. “You’re just now asking her?”

  “I’m making sure.”

  “That’s my point. You’re just now making sure.”

  “Dominic, that part of the plan was her idea. I’m only—”

  “I remember!” Ursula shouted. We all snapped to attention at her sudden outburst. “`Tis a level three spell, is all. Child’s play. With eyes closed I can perform it.”

  “Yes, but don’t close your eyes,” I said, remembering how she thought she had transported herself in my back yard with eyes closed.

  She nodded. “As thee wish.” She held her hand out and touched her palm with her finger. A long shadow fell across her wrist and up her arm. She looked at the boys. “`Tis nearing six. We must make haste.”

  “Wow.” said Carlos. “Did she just make a sun dial with her hands?”

  “Go,” I said. “Move it, you two. Gypsy will be here any minute.” Carlos and Dominic scurried up the banks to the ridge top and took shelter behind the boulders there. I turned to Ursula and shook my head. “Gets them every time, doesn’t it?”

  “Aye. Did they not know `twas nearly six?”

  We laughed at that. It was good to see her smile, just in case…. Well, just in case.

  “Okay.” I gestured behind her. “You know what to do. Good luck.”

  We hugged, and then Ursula disappeared under the bridge. She came out the other side and slipped into a blind spot with a backdrop of stone. I climbed the ten-foot embankment up to the road on the north end. Once there, I worked my way to the center of the bridge and ducked
behind the three-foot high pedestrian wall.

  We waited.

  About five minutes later, I heard Dominic’s voice crackling in my ear. “Bogie, eastbound, down on the creek bed.”

  Until then I had forgotten all about the surveillance radios. I pressed the piece to my ear and replied. “Geezus, you scared the shit out of me.”

  “Sorry, but do you see her coming? I think it’s Gypsy.”

  “I see something. The sun’s in my eyes, though. I can’t be sure. Ursula, you see anything?”

  “Aye, `tis a woman methinks.”

  “Okay, better start casting your projection spell, and make it count.”

  Dominic came back, “Projection looks good. I see Ursula standing in the tunnel, her back toward me.”

  “Okay, how’s our bogie?”

  “Still coming.”

  “Carlos, you have a visual?”

  Carlos didn’t answer. Dominic returned, “Try Havana Joe.”

  “What?”

  “He prefers Havana Joe.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s it. Headset’s coming off. Lilith out.”

  “No wait! I’m here,” said Carlos. “I have visual. Looks like a woman.”

  “Is it Gypsy?”

  “Negative. Looks like some old bag lady.”

  “No!” said Dominic. “I don’t believe it.”

  “You don’t believe it’s a bag lady?”

  “It’s Paige Turner.”

  “Paige Turner? What’s she doing out here?”

  I said, “She might be acting as a scout for Gypsy.”

  Dominic replied, “Doesn’t matter. Lilith, you have to get rid of her. We can’t have some old lady getting caught up in the crossfire.”

  Ursula came back, “You want I should stop projecting?”

  “No! Definitely don’t stop. If Paige is here then Gypsy’s here, too. Lilith, you have to get Paige to leave the area now!”

  “Okay, I will,” I said. “Cover me. I’m coming out.”

  Paige was still thirty feet from the bridge when I stood up to show myself. She had already spotted Ursula, or rather her projection, and had stopped her approach.