Rowan's Responsibility

by Terri Reid

  “I can make him forget,” his mother cried desperately. “I can lock his memories away, so he won’t remember what I taught him.”

  “You swear to me that you will do this?” he asked.

  She nodded, and the little boy could feel her tears on his skin. “Yes. Yes, I swear it,” she said.

  “No more witchcraft in this house,” his father said. “I want my son to be raised my way, not yours.”

  “Yes, of course,” she whispered. “Of course.”

  Chapter Fifty-three

  Hazel sat on the couch, her feet on the coffee table, eating from a bag of potato chips. “So, where’s the line between an harm it none and kick some coven ass?” she asked her mother and Cat.

  She’d just finished milking and feeding the goats and was taking a few minutes to recharge before going out and mucking out the stalls.

  “In my opinion, that line is getting thinner and thinner all the time,” Cat said, sipping a protein shake, already dressed for a day at the store. “And the first one to go down is Donovan. How could he let this happen?”

  Agnes, laying on the other couch, looked down at the bowl of Bridge Mix resting next to her and decided on a chocolate-covered peanut. She popped it into her mouth and then replied, “I don’t think we should jump to conclusions, dear. I really can’t believe that Donovan was a part of this.”

  “Well, even if he wasn’t part, he sure didn’t stop them,” Hazel said. “What do you think, Cat?”

  After a moment of no response, she looked over at her sister. “Cat? Cat, are you okay?”

  Cat was sitting up, her eyes wide and staring out into space.

  Hazel rolled her eyes. “Next time you want to have a vision, warn people,” she muttered. “So you don’t creep the crap out of us.”

  “Shhhh,” Agnes said. “Don’t disturb her.”

  “He’s tied up,” Cat said, fear in her voice. “He’s tied up. Iron shackles so he can’t use magic. He’s in the dark. He’s hurting. But he’s alive.”

  Hazel slipped over to her sister. “Look around you,” she said softly. “Look out the window. What do you see?”

  “There are no windows,” Cat said. “Just stone all around me.”

  “Look up,” Hazel said. “Do you see anything up high?”

  “We’re in a round room,” Cat said. “Very tall. There’s windows up about twenty feet high.”

  “It’s the Witches Tower,” Hazel said. “It’s got to be the Witches Tower.”

  Cat blinked and looked over at her mother. “I have to go,” she said.

  “What’s going on?” Rowan asked, coming down the stairs.

  “Cat just had a vision about Donovan,” Agnes said. “He’s locked in the Witches Tower in Whitewater, and we’re all going to rescue him.”

  “Oh, no,” Hazel said. “Someone has to be here when Henry wakes up. And someone has to open the store.”

  “Wait! I am your mother…” Agnes began.

  Rowan turned to Cat and Hazel. “Can you guys handle this?” she asked.

  Cat nodded. “I didn’t see any danger there,” she said. “I think between the two of us, if we’re careful…”

  “Okay,” Rowan replied and turned to her mother. “We really should stay here. Besides, there are mice and spiders inside the tower.”

  Agnes paused. “A lot of them?”

  Hazel shrugged and bit back a grin. “Well, actually, the bats have taken care of quite a few of them,” she added.

  Agnes sighed. “Fine, I’ll stay,” she said. “And I’ll open the store, but promise me you won’t do anything foolish.”

  “Pot calling the kettle,” Hazel sang as she got up, walked away and snagged the keys from the board next to the door. “Let’s take the Jeep. I’m driving!”

  Chapter Fifty-four

  Rowan dropped an eyedropper filled with newly distilled rosemary essential oil into a glass tube to test the concentration. Then she also placed a drop on a piece of paper and hung it from a small rack, to allow the oil to evaporate and in order to test the scent.

  She turned and was about to start the mass spectrometry test when she heard a knock on the Still Room door.

  Henry, she thought immediately and hurried across the room to open the door. She opened the door, and, to her surprise, Donovan stood on the other side.

  “Donovan?” she asked. “What are you doing here? Cat had a vision where you were in trouble. She and Hazel are on their way to help you.”

  “Really?” Donovan asked. “I just came from Whitewater. I didn’t pass them on the road. Which car were they driving?”

  “Mom’s Jeep,” Rowan said. “Let me call them.”

  “I really didn’t mean to bother you. May I come in?” he asked.

  “Oh, of course,” she replied. “Please come in.”

  He stepped inside and slowly looked around the building. “I started at the house, and no one was there,” he explained.

  She nodded. “Yeah, Mom’s at the store,” she said.

  “And, the professor?” he asked. “Where’s the professor?”

  She sighed. “Well, after what happened last night and this morning, I wouldn’t be surprised to find that Henry’s packed up and on his way back to England,” she said sadly.

  “Really?” Donovan asked, surprised. “I thought he was some kind of key to this whole thing.”

  “Well, I don’t know if he wants to be the key,” she said.

  She led him into her office and picked up the phone. “Let me just call them,” she said.

  Donovan reached out and grabbed her wrist, forcing her hand down onto the counter top. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

  Chapter Fifty-five

  Hazel and Cat parked in the lot near the Witches Tower. Because it was in the middle of a work day, the park was nearly empty. They ran up the hill and through a small copse of trees to reach the tall, stone tower.

  The first obstacle was a chain link fence that was locked with a padlock. Hazel studied it and smiled. “I love when they use aluminum instead of iron,” she said, waving her hand over the lock and opening it with ease.

  “I doubt they even considered the idea that witches can’t work with iron,” Cat said as she waited for Hazel to slip the lock from its moorings. “It was probably just economics.”

  “Well, okay, I love when they’re cheap,” Hazel revised, opening the gate. “After you, my dear.”

  The tower had thick stone steps that led to an old, wooden door and a wrought iron lock.

  “Well damn,” Hazel said. “I should have known.”

  “Do you know anything about picking a lock?” Cat asked.

  Hazel shook her head and then studied the door. “But they did replace the old hinges,” she replied. Suddenly the door shook and slid to one side. “With aluminum ones.”

  The inside was dark and musty, and it took a few moments for their eyes to adjust. The first floor was empty, with just an old, scarred wooden floor and a few empty chairs.

  “Let’s check downstairs first,” Cat suggested.

  They headed down the wooden stairs that ran along the inside of the round tower, keeping their hands on the rough stone wall. At the bottom of the stairs, Hazel waved her arm and filled the room with light. In the far corner, Donovan was seated in the corner, his wrists and ankles attached to leg shackles that were embedded in the wall.

  He looked up, saw them and shook his head.

  “No,” he exclaimed, his voice weak and raw. “It was a trick.”

  Cat rushed forward. “What? What was a trick?” she asked.

  “They’re going after Henry.”

  Chapter Fifty-six

  “Henry! Henry! You need to wake up now!”

  Henry tossed in his sleep, fighting the effects of the pain pills and total exhaustion. Somewhere in his muddled mind, he could hear his mother calling for him.

  “Henry! You need to wake up! Rowan is in danger.”

  He sat up instantly, a sharp pain in his shoul
der causing him to wince, and he shook his head. “Rowan?” he murmured, pushing himself off the couch.

  He stumbled to the door, more asleep than awake, and reached forward to grasp the handle.

  “Henry, they are outside, waiting for you.”

  “Mom?” he whispered, shaking his head.

  Patience appeared before him, and his eyes widened with recognition. “I know you,” he whispered.

  She nodded. “Yes, you do,” she replied. “I’m Patience Goodfellow, your great-great-great-grandmother. And now I need you to listen. There are men outside, from the other coven. One is holding Rowan in the Still Room; the others are outside the barn waiting for you.”

  “Why are they waiting?” he asked. “Why haven’t they broken in?”

  “The wards around the building must be stronger than the ones around the property,” she explained. “Unless they are given permission, they can’t enter.”

  “How many?” he asked.

  “Four,” she replied. “Two in front and two in back.”

  “Where are the others?”

  “Cat and Hazel are gone,” she said. “And Agnes is in the store.”

  He nodded. “Keep Agnes safe,” he said. “I’m going to Rowan.”

  He slowly opened the door and peered down the stairs. From his angle he could see two of the men through the opening of the large barn door. They were both standing outside the perimeter of the fence that housed the goats. He couldn’t see the others but figured they were on the other side, near the smaller door.

  He carefully slipped down the stairs and glanced around. On one wall were an assortment of farm tools Hazel used. Henry pulled down a pitchfork and a rake. Then he saw the sprayer filled with disinfectant and swapped that out for the rake.

  The ATV was just inside the barn door. He checked it, and the key was in the ignition. “Thank you, Hazel,” he breathed quietly.

  He reached over, turned the key, and put the vehicle in first gear. Without any pressure on the gas, the vehicle slowly moved forward out of the barn. Henry slipped into one of the stalls and then out into the shelter of the overhang in the goat yard. Large crates had been stacked together to create a climbing course for the goats, and Henry slid against that for cover.

  He looked around the corner of the crate and saw the two men in front were stepping toward the ATV. Moving quickly, he slipped through the farm gate behind the men and closed it behind him. He carefully rushed up behind them.

  “Excuse me,” he whispered and both men turned around in surprise.

  Henry shot powerful disinfectant into their eyes. They screamed in pain and grabbed their faces. Henry turned the pitchfork sideways and slammed it up against each of the sides of their heads. They dropped to the ground in a heap.

  Grabbing both the spray and the pitchfork, Henry jumped onto the ATV and accelerated across the field toward the Still Room. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the two other men running around the side of the barn. He turned forward again, speeding ahead, bracing for some kind of spell to be used against him.

  When nothing happened, he glanced over his shoulder once again. The two men were out cold, and Agnes was running down the back steps in his direction.

  Henry stopped the vehicle outside the building and darted toward the opened door. He paused for just a moment to peer inside, and when he saw that no one was at the door, he crept forward.

  Using the machinery for cover, he looked around the room. In the reflection of the office windows, he saw Rowan tied to a chair with a man in the office with her. Suddenly the man lifted his hand and slapped Rowan’s face.

  Suddenly the image of his father slapping his mother appeared in his mind. “No!” he screamed, lunging forward. Without thought, he raised his hand, concentrated on the man in the room and flung his arm to the side.

  The sound of shattered glass echoed in the building as the man flew through the office window and landed several feet in front of Henry. Before his eyes, the man changed from Donovan into Buck. Buck looked up at Henry, a feral gleam in his eyes. “You!” he shouted, and his body began to transform once again.

  Henry pointed his hand at Buck and moved it once again, lifting Buck off the floor and slamming him into a concrete wall. Buck hit and slid to the floor. Henry rushed forward and pointed at him again, lifting him as high as the twenty-foot ceiling and crashing his body against the steel roof.

  Henry’s breathing was deep and determined. His eyes were focused on Buck, and his face filled was with fury. “You hurt her,” he whispered, pure rage in his voice.

  “Henry,” Agnes said softly. “You need to put Buck down.”

  “He slapped Rowan,” he said, his jaw set. “He hurt her. He has to pay.”

  Agnes put her hand on Henry’s shoulder. “An harm it none, Henry. He will pay,” she said with a gentle but firm voice. “But you have to put him down.”

  Henry stared at the unconscious man hanging in the air twenty feet above him, blood trickling from his nose. “You promise?” he asked, his breathing slowing and his eyes calming.

  “I do, Henry,” she said. “You put him down, and then we can check on Rowan.”

  Henry lowered the man to the floor and stepped back, in shock. “What did I just do?” he asked.

  “I think you just figured out who you are,” Agnes replied.

  Chapter Fifty-seven

  Henry and Agnes found Rowan unconscious and slumped in her chair. Henry leaned forward and felt for a pulse on her neck, then looked over at Agnes in relief. “Still breathing,” he said, relief coursing through his veins. “Are you a healer?”

  She shook her head. “Not like this,” she said, tears in her eyes. “Not like she needs.”

  Henry unwrapped the cords that had been placed around Rowan’s wrists and then lifted her in his arms. “Let’s get her…” he paused as he felt a strange feeling come over him.

  He had a brief flashback, he and his mother walking in the garden and finding a baby bunny caught in a snare. The poor thing was near death and lay panting on its side. “Fix it, Henry,” his mother had directed him. “Take him into your hands and fix what’s broken.”

  A few moments later, the bunny hopped away into the brush.

  Henry looked over at Agnes. “I think I can heal her,” he whispered.

  He held her close against him and closed his eyes. He could feel his power enter her body, could feel his energy move around, like a warm burst of internal light flowing through her systems. He felt her sigh, then moan softly, but continued to hold her, concentrating on taking away the pain, on fixing the bruises and contusions. As his energy made its path through her, he was able to also concentrate on her memories. He watched, trying not to tighten his grip, as he witnessed the violence Buck put her through as he tried to get answers from Rowan. Even when she had been unable to speak, he’d hit her for the sheer joy of it.

  He took those memories from her and brought them into his own mind—a living nightmare of what she’d done to protect him from Buck.

  Finally, he felt his energy returning back to him and he opened his eyes and looked down to see Rowan looking up at him.

  “Henry,” she whispered softly, amazed. “You healed me.”

  He kissed her gently on the forehead. “I figured it was my turn,” he said, placing her back in the chair.

  He turned away and started moving toward the open door.

  Agnes stopped him and eyed him warily. “Where are you going?” she asked.

  “I saw,” Henry said. The rage had returned to his eyes. “I saw what he did to her. I saw the enjoyment he had while he did it.” He took a deep, calming breath. “I’m going to kill him.”

  Agnes placed her hand on his chest, and he looked down at it in confusion. Did she really think that she could stop him?

  “If you use your magic in anger,” she whispered, “if you use your magic to kill, we will have lost you to the other coven.”

  He shook his head. “I’m not going over to them,”
he said. “I would never go over to them.”

  “Once you allow anger or hate to rule your abilities, you will have no choice,” she said. “Once you kill with magic, it controls you.”

  “No, I’m stronger—” he began.

  “Henry,” Rowan called softly.

  He immediately turned back and knelt next to her. Cradling her hand in his, he tenderly kissed it. She lifted her other hand and stroked it along the side of his face. “What do you need?” he asked, searching her eyes. “Do you still hurt?”

  She shook her head. “I’m tired,” she said. “But I don’t hurt at all. I just…would you mind…”

  “What?” he asked. “Anything.”

  “Carry me into the house,” she asked. “I want to be away from here for now.”

  He glanced over his shoulder at the inert form of Buck on the floor and then back at Rowan. “I…” he began.

  “I’ll just wait outside,” Agnes said as she stepped out of the office and closed the door behind her.

  Rowan placed her hand over his heart, and he felt an overwhelming sense of peace. “Please?” she asked.

  With a sigh, he nodded. “I know what you did,” he said softly.

  “What?” she asked with a tender smile.

  “You healed my anger,” he replied.

  She shook her head. “No, I didn’t,” she whispered. “I just showed you how much I love you.”

  He stared down at her and saw that love reflected in her eyes. He kissed her softly, absorbing her love. “I love you, Rowan,” he replied. “I’ve loved you forever.”

  Then he experienced another quick flashback. He and his mother sat next to a small pool in a forested glen with Patience sitting beside them. Patience placed a finger in the pool and it shimmered with blue light. Suddenly, he could see a young girl with red hair and a bright smile. “Henry!” she called out. “I’ve missed you so much.”

  Henry knelt at the edge of the pool. “I missed you too Rowan,” he called back.

  “Will you come and visit me someday, for real?” she asked him.

  He nodded. “I’ll visit you, and then I’ll marry you,” he had promised with all the fervor of a six-year-old.