by Isobel Bird
“You’re tired of guys because they say hi to you?” Annie asked, confused, as they took their seats.
“No,” Kate said. “Not just that. It’s that they always manage to cause trouble. You think they’re all sweet and nice and whatever—and some of them are. But pretty soon you’re turning your life upside down for them. You wait for them to call. You try to make yourself look good for them. You go on bad dates to movies they like. Why? Because you want them to like you.”
“Have you been reading Cosmo Girl again?” Annie asked her.
“I’ve just been doing some thinking,” Kate answered. “I want to do something with my life. Look at my Aunt Netty. She’s going around the world taking these cool photographs and putting a book together. My mom runs her own business. Your aunt has her own business, too. And what have I spent most of my life doing? Trying to get guys to like me.”
“That’s not true!” objected Annie. “You’ve done way more than that. You play basketball. You study Wicca. You do a lot of things.”
“And why did I start studying Wicca?” Kate asked. “To get Scott Coogan to go out with me. And why did I stay in Wicca? Because I wanted Tyler to like me.”
“That’s not why you stayed,” Annie said vehemently. “It might have been one of the reasons at first, but it wasn’t the real reason.” She turned to look at her friend. “Is this about Tyler?” she asked.
Kate didn’t say anything for a minute. Then she sighed. “Maybe a little,” she admitted.
“You mean maybe a lot,” said Annie.
“I know it isn’t fair to say this,” said Kate. “But I’m mad at him. I feel like once again some guy is taking something I want to be really excited about and making it hard to do that.”
“Why is he making it hard?” pressed Annie. “Do you really want to join the Coven of the Green Wood? Is that it?”
“No,” answered Kate. “I mean, I don’t know. Maybe I would. It’s just that I don’t like that he’s a factor in my decision.”
Annie didn’t say anything for a moment. For one thing, she wasn’t sure what to say. For another, she couldn’t help but feel a little bit responsible for Kate’s situation. After all, if she hadn’t gotten close to Tyler, he might never have broken things off with Kate in the first place. Although Kate had told her time and again that that wasn’t true, it still crept into Annie’s thoughts at moments like this one.
“Do you remember when Ben Rowe died?” she asked Kate, referring to an old man Annie had befriended while working at a nursing home the year before. He and Annie had become very close, and then he had died unexpectedly.
Kate nodded. “Yes,” she said. “It was really hard for you.”
“Right,” Annie said. “I was really angry at him for dying, and at myself for getting close to him. I thought that if I had just kept my distance it wouldn’t have hurt so much when he died. But I was wrong. You don’t learn anything from your life by wishing certain things hadn’t happened. Even the hard things can be really wonderful.”
“I don’t wish Tyler hadn’t happened,” said Kate. “What I wish is that I could stop letting other people become more important to me than I am to me. I’m just not sure how to do that.”
“Well,” Annie said carefully, “I think you could start by choosing the coven you want to be in based on what you want instead of what other people might want. If you worry about what someone else might think, you’re not going to choose the right one anyway.”
Kate was silent, looking out the window as the bus pulled to their stop in town. As the girls got up to leave she said, “This would be a lot easier if they just assigned you to a coven, like it was your homeroom or something.”
They walked to the bookstore and went inside, where the rest of the class was already gathered in the back room. Annie and Kate said their hellos and then settled onto their cushions to wait for class to begin. A few minutes later Sophia came in.
“Merry meet,” she said cheerfully. “We have quite a bit to do tonight, so I’m just going to launch into it. Tonight you’re going to hear from two coven representatives. One will be familiar to you, while the other will not. We’ll start with the one you know.”
Annie was pleased to see Thatcher Morris walk to the front of the room. Thatcher was one of the older members of the Coven of the Green Wood. A carpenter, he had a long gray beard and sparkling, mischievous eyes. Annie always thought of him as a kind of Wiccan Santa Claus, an image that was made even more real when Thatcher broke into his unmistakable deep laugh.
“Greetings,” Thatcher said merrily. “As all of you know, I’m one of the members of the Coven of the Green Wood. So are many of the teachers you’ve had throughout this past year. And that’s no coincidence. The Coven of the Green Wood was designed as a teaching coven. In other words, we prepare people to go out and teach Wicca to others. Our members are frequently asked to participate in classes such as this one. We also teach at numerous weekend and week-long retreats. Some of us have also been known to teach the odd course or two at Jasper College and other local institutes of higher learning. And I do mean the odd course,” he emphasized, laughing at his own joke.
Annie laughed along with Thatcher. She hadn’t realized that the Coven of the Green Wood had an emphasis on preparing teachers. Now that she knew that, she was intrigued. How did it work? What did the coven do? She raised her hand.
“What exactly does a teaching coven do?” she asked.
“Teach,” Thatcher answered with a deadpan expression. Then his face broke into a broad smile. “Just teasing. We are similar to the Daughters of the Cauldron in that we are an eclectic coven,” Thatcher said. “We think it’s important for those teaching Wicca to others to have a broad working knowledge of how other traditions function. So we draw from a variety of sources for our rituals. But the most important aspect of our coven’s work is that more experienced members share their experiences and their teaching methods with less experienced members. And I’m not talking about older and younger, necessarily. Some of our younger members are more experienced than some of our older ones. Everyone works together, and over the years we’ve designed a training course that prepares our members to teach others what Wicca is and how it can change their lives.”
“Do you have to have teaching experience to join?” asked Emma.
Thatcher shook his head. “No,” he said. “But you do have to want to teach, and you have to have some aptitude for sharing Wicca with others.” He looked at the seven initiates seated before him. “Teaching is definitely not for everyone,” he said. “And there’s nothing wrong with not wanting to teach. We all have our individual skills in Wicca. But if you do think that you’d like to eventually teach witchcraft to others, the Coven of the Green Wood might be a good place for you.”
There were no additional questions for Thatcher, so he thanked everyone for listening and moved to the back of the room. Then Sophia returned.
“You’ve now heard from the two covens you’ve spent the most time with,” she said. “But you’ve also been in rituals with members of other covens, particularly at the Midsummer and Yule rituals that some of you attended. One of those covens is run by my friend Polly. She’s now going to tell you something about her coven.”
A tall, heavyset woman with long blond hair came forward. She and Sophia embraced, and then Polly turned and looked at the class. She had soft blue eyes, and when she spoke her voice was quiet.
“My coven is called Freya’s Circle,” she said. “As you might be able to tell from the name, we’re a coven whose primary interest is in the Norse gods and goddesses. We love ritual, and we design our sabbats around the legends of Norse mythology. We also study the shamanistic practices of the Norse peoples, and we spend quite a bit of time working with drumming, runes, and meditation. We’re pretty evenly mixed between men and women, and although we consider Freya to be the principal deity of our coven we also work quite a bit with the gods Odin and Balder.”
“Better watc
h out,” Kate whispered to Annie. “Remember what happened last time you played around with Freya.”
Annie had been thinking the exact same thing. When she had invoked the Norse goddess during a full moon ritual, her life had been turned upside down. She tried to imagine what it would be like being in a coven where the feisty goddess was invoked on a regular basis. It might be a lot of fun, she thought.
“Do you celebrate the same eight sabbats as other witches?” Ezra asked Polly.
Polly nodded. “Yes, we do,” she said. “We also add several important days from the Norse calendar, particularly the birthdays of Freya and some of the other deities.”
“And what about being part of a larger clan?” Laura inquired. “I know some of the people who practice the Norse religion are very into the idea of clans and kinship.”
“Many are,” Polly said. “The Norse religion, also called Asatru, was very much based on the concept of clans and brotherhood. We’ve moved away from that. Our coven does work with other covens, like when we took part in the Midsummer and Midwinter rituals. But we don’t belong to a larger network of Norse covens. We formed primarily because a lot of us related to the Norse legends and found them to be wonderful ways to express our own spirituality.”
Laura nodded, her question answered. When no one else had questions for Polly, she smiled and joined Thatcher in the back, letting Sophia take over once more.
“So tonight you heard about two very different types of covens,” Sophia told the class. “Remember, no one is asking you to decide right now what you think might be right for you. We’re just presenting you with information. Next week we’ll hear from two more covens. That will be it. The week after, all the representatives will be here and you will all be asked to make your choices. But for tonight we’re done. If you want to talk to Polly and Thatcher, they’ll be around.”
After helping put the room back together, Annie went to speak to Polly. No one else had approached her, and she was standing shyly to one side. When Annie came up to her, she smiled.
“I was starting to feel like the girl no one asks to dance,” she said.
Annie laughed. “Been there,” she said.
“Are you interested in Norse magic?” Polly inquired.
Annie shook her head. “I really don’t know all that much about it,” she said. “I read up on Asatru for an assignment we had in class, and I did some work with Freya. It didn’t exactly turn out the way I thought it would,” she added.
Polly smiled. “She can be a tricky one sometimes,” she said.
“Tell me about it,” said Annie. “I still have the miniskirt to prove it.”
Polly raised her eyebrow in a questioning look.
“Long story,” Annie said. “What I really wanted to ask you about was how the coven is set up. Do you have a high priestess or what?”
“We have a priest and a priestess,” Polly answered. “I’m the high priestess. My husband, Bern, is the high priest. We run the coven together. We’re a little more formal than the Coven of the Green Wood or the Daughters of the Cauldron. But we’re not too rigid. We do like creativity in our members.”
“But you stick to the Norse deities,” said Annie.
“Right,” Polly answered. “We find that it strengthens our circle and makes it easier to raise and focus energy when we concentrate on one or two main deities.”
“Okay,” Annie said. “That’s really what I wanted to ask. Thanks.”
“It’s my pleasure,” said Polly. “I hope you’ll consider joining us.”
Annie smiled and walked over to Kate, who had just finished talking to Thatcher.
“Well?” Kate asked. “Will you be donning reindeer robes and learning runes?”
“I doubt it,” said Annie. “I like all the Norse stuff, but I don’t think it’s quite what I’m looking for. How about you? Did Thatcher make you feel any better about joining the Coven of the Green Wood?”
“Hard to say,” replied Kate. “I kind of like the idea of the teaching focus. I know it’s not really like me, but something about it is appealing. Like I said earlier, I want to do something with myself. That might be a good path to take.”
“What about Tyler?” inquired Annie.
“That’s still an issue,” Kate told her. “I really have to think about it some more.”
“Well, we have two weeks to decide,” Annie told her.
Kate looked at her. “This isn’t easy, is it?” she said.
Annie smiled. “No,” she said. “But like I told you, sometimes the most rewarding things are the hardest.”
CHAPTER 9
“You did what?” Cooper asked Kate the next morning as they stood at their lockers.
“I asked Tyler to go out with me tonight,” said Kate, looking slightly embarrassed.
“Why?” asked Sasha, who was leaning up against the lockers.
“Yeah,” Annie echoed. “Why?”
Kate clutched her books to her chest. “I think we need to talk some things out,” she answered.
“I thought all you guys did was talk things out,” remarked Sasha. “Not that that’s bad or anything,” she added when Kate shot her an annoyed look.
“Yes,” Kate said. “We have talked a lot. But there’s just some stuff I need to say to him, so I asked him to get something to eat tonight.”
“Want us to come?” Cooper asked. “We can hide in a booth nearby and pretend we just happened to be there. That way, if you need to ditch him you have an out.”
“Thanks, but no,” said Kate. “I’m going to be very adult about this.”
The bell rang and the four of them scattered to their respective classes. Kate and Sasha both had English, so they walked together.
“Are you talking to Tyler because you’re thinking of joining the Coven of the Green Wood?” asked Sasha.
“Partly,” Kate answered. “But mostly it’s for me. Before I decide which coven I want to be part of, I want to say good-bye to some parts of myself.”
Sasha nodded. “Letting go of the past,” she said. “Good plan. You should do a ritual around that.”
Kate looked at her. “You know, that’s not a bad idea,” she said. “I might just do that.”
“And to think that you guys are the ones being initiated and I’m just a lowly dedicant,” Sasha said dramatically.
“Give me a break,” Kate said, laughing. “This time next year you’ll be making the same decision. Then we’ll see how easy you think it is.”
“You need one of those Sorting Hats, like in the Harry Potter books,” Sasha suggested. “Then it could make the decisions for you.”
“You’ve been reading Harry Potter?” Kate asked, surprised.
“Hey, inside this tough girl is a little kid,” said Sasha as they entered their classroom. “Besides, who can resist a guy with a scar?”
* * *
Later that day, while she was getting ready to go meet Tyler, Kate thought about what Sasha had said. Although she hadn’t wanted to admit it, she too had read the Harry Potter books. Sasha was right, she thought as she got dressed. This would all be a lot easier if the Sorting Hat just assigned us to covens. But she knew that it was important for a witch to choose her own coven, not join one based on what someone else thought.
“I guess I’ll just have to do it the old-fashioned way,” she told her reflection in the mirror.
She finished getting ready and then took the bus downtown. She had asked Tyler to meet her at a sandwich shop. She hadn’t wanted to go to the hamburger place they’d used to go to when they were together, and she didn’t want to meet him somewhere fancy, in case he thought that maybe they were on a date. The sandwich shop was a neutral choice, not romantic and not fancy. We’ll just get a sandwich, I’ll say what I have to say, and I’ll leave, Kate thought as she entered the restaurant.
Tyler was already there, seated at a booth in the back. When Kate joined him he smiled at her. “Hey,” he said. “It’s good to see you.”
&nbs
p; “Thanks,” Kate said, deliberately not adding that it was good to see him, too. She picked up the menu handed to her by the waitress and opened it. Looking at the list of offerings allowed her to not look at Tyler.
Tyler lasted about a minute and a half before asking, “So, why did you ask me to meet you tonight?”
Well, he sure gets to the point, thought Kate. She closed her menu and laid it down.
“I wanted to tell you that I’m considering joining the Coven of the Green Wood,” she said.
Tyler’s face lit up. “That’s great,” he said.
“But not because you’re in it,” Kate added quickly.
Tyler’s face fell. “Well, no,” he said. “I didn’t think that was why.”
“I like the idea of learning how to teach,” Kate told him, trying to keep her voice calm and neutral. “I think that might be good for me.”
Tyler nodded but didn’t say anything.
“What?” Kate said, seeing the look on his face. “You don’t think I’d make a good teacher?”
“I hadn’t really thought about it before,” Tyler answered.
“But now that you’re thinking about it, you don’t think I would, do you?” Kate demanded.
Tyler looked uncomfortable. “I think you could learn a lot from being in the coven,” he said. “And not everyone ends up teaching the way Thatcher does.”
“Oh,” Kate said. “So what you’re saying is that you think I couldn’t do what you do. I see.”
“Kate,” Tyler said, “I didn’t say that.”
“No, but it’s what you were thinking,” Kate retorted.
Tyler put up his hands. “Whatever you say,” he said.
“Don’t you dare whatever me,” snapped Kate. She was getting angry now, and she felt her temper flaring up. “Admit it—you don’t think I’d make a good teacher.”
“I told you, I think the coven would be a good place for you.”
“Why?” asked Kate. “So you can keep an eye on me? So you can feel like I’ve forgiven you for cheating on me with my best friend?” She hadn’t meant to make that last remark, but it had slipped out.
