Rowan's Responsibility

by Terri Reid

  “Yes, that’s me,” Henry replied.

  “I’m Officer Abbott, and this is my partner, Officer Wildes,” he said as a second policeman entered behind the first, a clipboard in his hand. “We understand that you want to report an alleged gunshot wound.”

  Agnes moved forward. “There’s nothing alleged about it,” Agnes said. “The x-rays show that Henry has a gunshot wound to his shoulder.”

  The officer smiled at Agnes and nodded, then turned back to Henry. “And when did this take place?” he asked.

  “This evening, at about three o’clock,” Henry said. “I was standing in front of the window in front of my apartment, and a bullet came through the window and struck me in the shoulder.”

  “How did you know the bullet came through the window?” the officer asked.

  “Because, just after I felt the bullet hit me, I saw the window break,” he said.

  “We have an eyewitness who testified that he saw you shoot yourself,” Officer Abbott said.

  “Wait,” Rowan said. “Officer Abbott. Are you, by any chance, related to Buck Abbott?”

  “He’s my nephew, ma’am,” the officer said, meeting her eyes directly.

  Henry glanced over to the other officer. “And I believe I met a relative of yours the other day. Wanda?”

  “My daughter,” the officer replied with a sneer.

  “Lovely girl,” Henry replied. “One more question. Is it usual for officers from Whitewater to come to Fort Atkinson to take reports?”

  Officer Abbott shrugged. “We were sent special,” he said.

  “And who sent you to take Henry’s report?” Agnes asked.

  “The Chief of Police, Chief Stoughton,” he said.

  “I remember Bill Stoughton,” Agnes said. “We grew up together. I hadn’t realized that he was now the Chief of Police.”

  The officer nodded smugly.

  Agnes sighed. “Thank you for your time, officers,” she said. “It seems that we won’t be filing a report tonight after all.”

  “Wise choice,” Officer Abbott said. “Have a nice night.”

  Chapter Forty-five

  “We need to get out of here, immediately,” Agnes said urgently.

  “Don’t you think that if they wanted to take us, they would have taken us now?” Henry asked, slipping on his shirt.

  “They wouldn’t want police officers to be seen taking us out of the hospital,” Agnes said. “It’s much better if members of the coven do it. Then there’s no trail to follow.”

  Agnes closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A moment later, she opened them. “At the back of this hallway is an emergency ambulance entrance,” she said. “Cat and Hazel will be waiting for us.”

  Henry slid off the examination table and winced when he hit the ground.

  “Are you…” Rowan began.

  “I’m good,” he said, smiling at her. “Let’s go.”

  They slipped out of the room and headed down the hall, away from the waiting room. Rowan turned and waved her hand, and a room partition rolled into the middle of the hallway, blocking the view from the double doors.

  “Good thinking,” Agnes said.

  They found the door, and Agnes opened it with a wave of her hand, bypassing the security measures. Outside, an ambulance stood before them, its emergency lights flashing.

  Hazel, dressed as a paramedic, climbed out of the back. “Ready for a ride, kids?” she asked.

  “You stole an ambulance?” Henry asked, dumbfounded.

  Hazel grinned. “Oh, aren’t you cute,” she said. “Why steal one when you can turn your own car into one?”

  “Why indeed?” Henry asked.

  They climbed into the back of the ambulance and sat on the benches that lined each side.

  “Hold on.”

  Hazel’s voice was there, but the face that it was coming out of was now a black man with a short afro. Henry moved over to look in the rearview mirror to see the driver. Cat, he assumed was a middle-aged Hispanic man with a receding hairline.

  “I see it, but I don’t believe it,” Henry said.

  The ambulance pulled out of the driveway and down onto the street. Cat kept her face forward as they drove past the front of the hospital where they could see a bunch of men, dressed in black, waiting beside their vehicles.

  “Not too subtle, are they?” Hazel asked.

  “They really must be feeling emboldened if they are willing to drive up here and try to kidnap us,” Cat replied.

  “I think I saw Buck in the crowd,” Hazel said. “Someone healed him.”

  “They have a healer?” Rowan asked.

  “Or he has enough power surging through him to do his own healing,” Cat suggested.

  “Did you see Donovan in the group?” Agnes asked sadly.

  “No, Mom, I didn’t,” Cat said. “He wasn’t part of this.”

  Agnes sighed. “Well, it looks like we’re not only facing the deadline of the incantation,” she said. “But we are also ending up in a coven war.”

  “Seems like the odds are against us,” Henry said. “Can you call for reinforcements?”

  Agnes reached over and patted Henry’s hand. “We are safe on our own property,” she said. “There are enough wards and charms to keep anyone who wants to do us harm off our land.”

  “That worked really well in the 1900s,” Hazel said. “But now that someone can stand on the road and shoot a high-powered rifle into the yard, we need to add a few more weapons to our arsenal.”

  “Buck was able to enter our property as a wolf,” Rowan reminded them. “Somehow, he got past the wards and charms. We need to reinforce them.”

  “And we need to figure out how I’m the key,” Henry said.

  “When we get home, let’s cast a circle,” Agnes said. “I think we need a little divine intervention.”

  Chapter Forty-six

  “Rowan and Hazel, I want you to move the rug,” Agnes ordered as they all walked into the house.

  “I can help,” Henry volunteered.

  “No, you can’t,” Rowan said. “Not until I get the chance to heal you.”

  Agnes shook her head at Henry. “You’re going to need your strength, Henry. So, I agree with Rowan.”

  “Hazel,” Cat called. “The table first.”

  Hazel stared at the large oak table for a moment and then slowly moved her head. The table raised into the air and followed her head’s movements until it was off the large, braided rug and pushed against the wall.

  Then Rowan and Hazel stood on each side of the rug, and, with a swish of their hands, they slowly rolled it into a tight tube. As they exposed the floor beneath, Henry could see there was a design carved into the floor. Eagerly, he waited for their actions to expose the design completely. “It’s a Celtic knot,” he said, impressed by the large, inlaid design. He ran his hand over the polished wood. “It’s beautiful.”

  Agnes smiled at him. “Thank you, Henry,” she replied. “It is beautiful and a special work of art. The four circles of the knot represent each one of us.”

  “The Willoughby Witches,” Henry replied, still looking at the intricate pattern. “Each an individual, but all entwined.”

  “Exactly,” Agnes said.

  The rug drifted across the room and settled down next to the table.

  “Okay,” Hazel said. “Time to get naked.”

  “What?” Henry asked.

  “We’re casting a circle,” she said. “We really need to be sky-clad.”

  “Sky-clad,” Henry repeated, then caught the glimmer of humor in Hazel’s eyes.

  Henry studied Hazel for a moment, then shrugged and started to unbutton his shirt. “Well, since I would hate to put a damper on things, I’m in. Sky-clad it is.”

  “No, wait!” Hazel exclaimed. “No, that’s okay.”

  Henry turned to her and started pulling the tails of his shirt out from beneath his pants. “I’ve done research on this,” he said. “And I’ve read studies that state clothing int
erferes with the natural energies of magic. And being sky-clad actually gives you a better connection.”

  He waved toward Hazel. “Well, get on with it,” he said as he gently shrugged out of his shirt, making sure he didn’t disturb the bandage.

  Hazel put her hands on her hips and stared at him. “It’s dangerous to tease a witch,” she said.

  “An harm it none,” he replied easily, imitating her stance.

  She grinned. “You think you’re pretty smart.”

  He grinned back. “Two doctorates and working on a third,” he replied.

  “You got me this time, professor,” she said.

  “If you’re all done with this jocularity, I do think we ought to get down to business,” Agnes scolded mildly.

  Rowan walked over to Henry and paused while he slipped his shirt back on. “How did you know?” she asked.

  “That Hazel was hoaxing me?” he replied. “I’ve been teaching for several years now. I’ve developed a sixth sense for when my students are dishonest.”

  “But what if she had taken you up on your bluff?” she asked. “And we all went sky-clad?”

  He stared at her for a long moment and then shook his head. “Either way,” he said softly so only she could hear. “I would have won.”

  Chapter Forty-seven

  The Celtic knot on the floor, a quaternary knot made up of four ovals that intersected with each other and a circle that threaded its way through all of them, was about nine feet in diameter. Each of the women stood on one of the outer points of an oval, and Henry stood in the middle of the circle.

  “Are you ready, Henry?” Agnes asked, her voice low and steady.

  Henry glanced around the circle. These were no longer the women who had laughed and teased only minutes earlier. These were now sorceresses focused on their duty and their future. He could tell that they were very serious about the ritual they were going to perform. He nodded. “Yes, thank you, I’m ready.”

  Agnes lifted a smudge stick up high above her head, a wisping, gray trail of smoke in the air behind it, and then drew a straight line down. “I cleanse the space to the east.”

  Catalpa, standing in the next clockwise space, lifted her smudge stick as her mother had and said, “I cleanse the space to the south.”

  Hazel, in the next space, also lifted her smudge stick in the same manner. “I cleanse the space to the west,” she said softly.

  Then Rowan repeated the same actions and said, “I cleanse my space to the north.”

  When Rowan was done, all the women turned and walked clockwise around the edge of the circle, waving their smudge sticks and chanting, “We cleanse all spaces in between.”

  The aroma of white sage was powerful, and as Henry breathed in the cleansing herb, he was aware of a change in the air around him. It was as if it had been charged with electricity, like the air after a thunderstorm, supercharged with nitrogen.

  The women stopped at the places where they began and raised their arms, so the distance between them from fingertip to fingertip was about a foot long. The energy in the middle of the circle seemed to spark and Henry could feel the hairs on his arm standing up.

  “We cast this circle, as is our right,” Agnes chanted with her eyes closed. “To protect us with thy holy light. Nothing can harm or corrupt our plea. As we ask, so mote it be.”

  Suddenly, a beam of ultraviolet light appeared above Agnes and then traveled down from the top of her head and through her arms. The light traveled through her to Rowan and Catalpa on either side of her, through them and then finally to Hazel. The light was warm and bright and lit the inside of the circle with a golden glow.

  Agnes opened her eyes and smiled at her daughters. “Well done,” she said softly. “Now, let’s talk.”

  They all stepped forward into the circle, but the barrier of light stayed on the edges of the knot, bright and glowing.

  “How are you doing, Henry?” Agnes asked.

  “I think I’m a little overwhelmed,” he said. “That was amazing.”

  Agnes’s smile widened. “It is pretty amazing, isn’t it,” she agreed. “Now, please, have a seat. Now we can speak freely without worrying about who can hear.”

  They all sat on the ground in the circle on brightly colored pillows. Agnes turned to Henry and looked into his eyes. “Henry,” she asked, her voice low and melodious. “Why are you here?”

  Henry shrugged. “I already told you…” Then he stopped because he felt lightheaded and a little unfocused. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, but it was as if he was fighting to bring forth a memory. Finally, his eyes opened wide in astonishment, and he began to speak. “I’m here because I was sent to you to help with the final fight,” he said slowly. “My ancestor was part of the Whitewater coven, but she chose to return to England rather than escape with the Willoughbys. My mother was of the blood and she passed not only the blood, but also the promise my ancestor made to your ancestors before they gave their lives for us all.”

  “Did you know this before you came?” Rowan asked.

  Henry shook his head. “No,” he said slowly. “Or maybe I did. It’s like this knowledge has been inside me for a very long time. How could I not know?”

  “Genetic inherited knowledge,” Cat said. “Passed down through our DNA. It has been with you for a very long time. You just hadn’t needed it yet.”

  Henry took a deep breath and released it slowly. “I’m part of this,” he breathed. Then he looked at Agnes. “But what I am supposed to do?”

  “That’s a very good question,” she replied. “Perhaps it’s one you should ask yourself.”

  Chapter Forty-eight

  Henry turned to Cat. “How do I access this genetic information?” he asked.

  “Genetic inherited knowledge,” Cat replied with a gentle smile, but then she shook her head. “But I don’t have any good, practical advice to give you. Everything I’ve read was purely academic.”

  “How did you access the information you just shared with us?” Rowan asked.

  “Agnes asked me a question, and the knowledge just seemed to pour out of me,” he replied.

  “Maybe we need to ask you some questions and help pull the information out of you,” she suggested.

  Henry shrugged. “I’m game,” he said. “What do we need to know?”

  “What part do you play in the spell?” Rowan asked.

  Henry closed his eyes and tried to find a memory that would answer Rowan’s question.

  “Nothing,” he finally said.

  “Try not thinking of the question,” Rowan suggested.

  He opened one eye. “Not thinking?” he questioned.

  Rowan huffed. “You know, don’t concentrate so much on the words,” she explained. “Think of a…I don’t know…a walk in the forest and let my question drift by like a breeze.”

  He grinned. “That was quite lyrical,” he said, and then he shrugged. “And I’ll give it a try.”

  He closed his eyes and pictured himself walking down a path, listening to the birds. He even added the sound of a bubbling brook nearby. He could feel the sun on his face, and he even tilted his head to let it soak into his skin. He sighed with happiness.

  “Henry…”

  “Henry!”

  Henry opened his eyes in confusion. For a moment he didn’t know where he was. “I’m sorry, what?” he asked.

  “My question,” Rowan said.

  “Oh, sorry. I guess I didn’t hear it,” he said with chagrin. “The babbling brook was awfully loud.”

  “Really?” Rowan asked with skepticism.

  He sighed. “I’ve always been really good at imagination,” he said. “Perhaps the circle intensifies my abilities.”

  “You should picture a white wall,” Hazel suggested. “Just a big, blank wall.”

  “Does it have outlets in it?” Henry asked. “You know, for electricity.”

  Hazel pondered that for a moment and then shook her head. “No, I don’t think you’d w
ant outlets. That could be distracting.”

  Henry nodded and closed his eyes. Then he opened them again. “A wall switch?” he asked.

  Hazel shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

  Henry closed his eyes once more, then opened them. “A window…”

  “Oh, good grief!” Cat exclaimed. “We are going to be here all night.”

  She crawled off her pillow and knelt in front of Henry. “Can I look inside you?” she asked.

  “I beg your pardon?” Henry replied, a little shocked.

  “Mindwalk, Henry,” Cat said. “I can walk through your mind and access some of those inherited memories.”

  He studied her for a long moment. “Is that all you’re going to access?” he asked, feeling a little uncomfortable with the idea that Rowan’s sister was going to go traipsing through his thoughts and memories.

  She smiled slowly and lowered her voice. “Do you have secrets, Henry?” she whispered.

  “Who doesn’t?” he replied.

  She nodded and accepted the answer. Of course, he was right. She had some thoughts and memories that she would not want to share with anyone else. “Fair enough,” she replied softly. “I will look for only the knowledge in the far reaches of your mind. But, I have to be honest. I will be traveling through recent memories in order to get there.”

  Henry thought of his recent encounters with Rowan and started to shake his head.

  “But any of those memories stay strictly between you and I,” Cat added, placing her hand on his shoulder. “I promise.”

  Risks and benefits, he pondered. If I say no, there’s a chance we are probably missing out on some vital information. If I say yes, she will see my feelings for Rowan.

  Cat met his eyes, and suddenly he could hear her voice in his mind. “I already know your feelings for Rowan,” her voice said. “Without even touching your thoughts.”

  She lifted her hand from his shoulder, and her voice went away. “Your choice, Henry,” she said softly.

  He nodded. “Be gentle,” he said lightheartedly, trying to push beyond his reservations.

  She grinned. “I always am.”