Initiation

by Isobel Bird

  “And the class,” Becka said.

  “Class?” Juliet said. “What class?”

  “Becka is joining the dedication class at Crones’ Circle,” Annie explained. “It starts up again right after she moves here.”

  Juliet shook her head and laughed. “Am I going to be the only person in this family who isn’t a witch?” she said.

  “Well, there’s Meg,” said Annie.

  “So far,” remarked Becka. “I heard her asking Sophia what a coven was at the reception.”

  “Goddess help us if she gets any ideas,” said Annie.

  “This is going to be a busy summer,” Becka commented. “Class, going to see Cooper and Jane play, hanging out. I can’t wait.”

  “And of course you’ll have to make at least one trip to New Orleans,” Juliet said. “You haven’t lived until you’ve experienced one of our summers.”

  “My birthday is in August,” said Becka. “Maybe I can convince Dad to let me come then.”

  “Perfect,” said Juliet. “Just in time for the heat wave.”

  They arrived at the airport and parked the car. Grayson pulled in beside them and everyone piled out. After pulling the bags from the trunks, they walked inside and located the departure gates they needed by looking at the monitors located near the ticket counters.

  “We’re only a few gates apart,” said Juliet.

  “Great,” Grayson replied. “We can all wait together.”

  After checking their luggage and getting their boarding passes, they made their way through the security area to the gates. A kind of awkward silence descended as they stood in a little group, waiting for the two flights to be called. For Annie, it was a moment that was both sad and happy. She was sorry to see Juliet, Grayson, and Becka go, but she kept reminding herself that she would see them all again soon.

  “It seems strange marrying you one day and sending you off on a plane the next,” Annie’s aunt said to Grayson, making him laugh.

  “This way you get some time to adjust to the idea of having a husband,” he told her.

  “Husband,” said Aunt Sarah. “It sounds so odd saying the word now—my husband.” She gave a bemused look.

  “Does that mean I can call you Uncle Grayson?” Meg asked.

  It was Grayson’s turn to look amused. “How about you just call me Grayson?” he suggested. “Uncle makes me feel a little old.”

  “Hey!” Aunt Sarah said. “What does that make me?”

  “Uh-oh,” Grayson said. “Is this our first fight?”

  Aunt Sarah eyed him. “If it is, who won?”

  “Flight 1762 departing for San Francisco is now boarding at Gate B12,” came the announcement over the loudspeaker.

  “That’s us,” Grayson said. “Everyone say good-bye.” He gave hugs to Meg, Juliet, and Annie. He gave a particularly long hug and kiss to Aunt Sarah. “I’ll call you tonight,” he said. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too,” Aunt Sarah told him.

  Becka hugged Meg, Aunt Sarah, and Juliet. Then she hugged Annie, clasping her tightly. “It’s only a few more months,” she said. “Then the real fun starts. Good luck at your initiation, and call me immediately afterward. I want all the details.”

  “I will,” Annie said. “Say hello to the house for me.”

  The two girls separated, and Grayson and Becka walked to their gate. Annie and the others watched as they disappeared into the tunnel leading to the plane.

  “I’m next,” Juliet said.

  They walked to her departure gate, where people were lining up. The flight wouldn’t board for a few minutes, so the four of them had a little more time to talk.

  “It was so nice having you here,” Aunt Sarah told her. “I still can’t quite believe the baby I held all those years ago is standing in front of me.”

  “Well, it’s all thanks to Annie,” Juliet told her. She put her arm around her sister. “If she hadn’t written to me, I never would have known all of you even existed. But now that I do, I’m looking forward to getting to know all of you better.”

  “Next time there’s a trip to New Orleans, I want to go,” Meg said forcefully.

  “I think we can manage that,” Aunt Sarah told her.

  The boarding for Juliet’s flight began, and she gave final hugs to Aunt Sarah and Meg. Then she took Annie’s hands. “Good-bye, little sister,” she said.

  “Good-bye, big sister,” replied Annie.

  They embraced. “You made a good Caterpillar,” Juliet whispered to her. “I bet you’ll make an even better witch.”

  “I should have had you make me a costume,” said Annie, her voice shaking.

  “Tell you what, I’ll send you one,” Juliet joked as they let go, each of them wiping her eyes. “Will basic black be okay?”

  Annie laughed. “Get on your plane,” she said. “I’ll send you those wedding pictures as soon as we get them.”

  Juliet waved one more time as she walked through the gateway, and Annie was alone with her aunt and sister. They waited a moment and then began the walk back to the car.

  “The house is going to seem so quiet,” remarked Aunt Sarah. “I’ve gotten used to there being people everywhere.”

  “I can always invite a bunch of my friends over for a slumber party if you want,” suggested Meg.

  “Maybe later,” said Aunt Sarah. “I could use a few days off. Getting married is exhausting.”

  They left the terminal and got into Aunt Sarah’s car, having dropped the rental car keys off at the counter inside the airport. Driving home, Annie listened as her sister and her aunt talked. Her own thoughts were focused on Thursday, and the upcoming initiation ceremony. She, Cooper, and Kate had all talked with Archer on Sunday evening after the wedding festivities. Archer had explained more about the coven she wanted to start, telling them that it was going to be similar to the Daughters of the Cauldron but with more emphasis on teaching young witches and preparing them for leadership roles in covens of their own someday. She was forming it with a friend of hers who was currently part of another coven as well, and the two of them would be the main leaders, while the other members would all help to design rituals and run circles. The members were primarily going to be witches who had been practicing for only a few years, so that they would all learn together. Archer’s hope was that they would create a new and vibrant coven that would grow into something different. The new faces of the old religion, she had called it, and Annie liked the description. It combined something ancient with something fresh and modern, and she was sure it was a place where she would feel right at home.

  Now that she knew she was going to be joining a coven where she really felt she belonged, she was able to think more about exactly what might happen at the initiation. Because it was a new coven, Archer said, they would be both initiating new witches and doing a kind of initiation for the coven as a whole. She hadn’t given them any details, but Annie was sure it was going to be something she would never forget.

  “Since it’s only eleven, I’m going to drop you guys off at school,” Aunt Sarah said. “That way you can have the rest of the day there.”

  “Gee, thanks,” said Meg sarcastically. “Like I really wanted that.”

  Aunt Sarah ignored her, humming happily to herself. Annie could see that already there was a change taking place in her aunt, a change for the better. She’s in love, Annie thought happily as Aunt Sarah pulled up in front of Beecher Falls High School. Meg’s school was farther down the road, so she would be dropped off second.

  “See you later,” Annie said as she got out of the car.

  When she went inside, fourth period was just ending. Students were pouring from the classrooms, filling the halls with their conversations and the sounds of lockers opening and closing. For Annie, fifth period was a library period, so she didn’t have to hurry. She knew her friends would all be heading to their various classes, and she would see them later at lunch. She’d brought her backpack with her, and the books and notebooks she need
ed were in it, making a trip to her locker unnecessary. For the moment all she had to do was walk leisurely to the library.

  When she got there she pushed the doors open and went inside. A few other students were there, studying or talking quietly with friends as they pretended to work. Annie saw an empty table in the back and headed for it. She’d done most of her homework already, but she had some chemistry problems she’d saved to do later, and she thought she’d pass the period working on those. Chem was one of her favorite subjects, and she found working out the problems relaxing.

  She sat down, took out her books, and began working on the first problem. She became engrossed in it almost immediately, and soon she blocked out everything but the formulas she scribbled in her notebook. But then she had the strange feeling that someone was watching her, and she looked up.

  Sitting a few tables away from her was Brian Stoors. He was the guy Annie had dated for a while—until she’d written an editorial for the school paper about being into Wicca and he’d dropped her suddenly. Brian was sitting with some of his friends. He was looking at Annie and saying something to them. Annie saw one of the boys laugh.

  The way Brian had broken up with her had always bothered Annie. He’d seemed like such a nice guy. They’d had some wonderful times, and he’d treated her well. At least until the editorial. Ever since then, he’d barely said two words to her.

  Brian said something else, and the whole table laughed and looked at Annie. What was Brian saying? Annie had a feeling that whatever it was, it wasn’t flattering.

  She looked at the people Brian was hanging with. He was older than she was, a senior. All of his friends were seniors as well. Normally, Annie would have been afraid of guys like that, intimidated by them because they were older, bigger, and louder.

  Now, though, she was just angry. How dare they make fun of her? How dare Brian say anything about her that would make people laugh at her? Who does he think he is? she thought angrily.

  At the time she’d met Brian, Annie had been under the influence of the goddess Freya. Freya’s presence had made her bolder than she would normally be, and she had flirted with Brian until he’d asked her out. Part of Annie was embarrassed about that. But another part of her remembered how good it had felt to be so in control, so confident. She wished she could be that way now. She wished she could tell Brian just what she thought about the way he’d treated her because of her interest in the Craft.

  Wait a minute, she thought. You are confident. Haven’t you learned anything this year?

  She thought about that. She was about to be initiated as a witch. She was a strong, powerful, young woman. She wasn’t the shy little Annie who had hidden behind her glasses and her good grades before meeting Kate and Cooper. She wasn’t the timid Annie who had worried about not being liked by the popular kids. She was a different Annie, a girl who stood up for herself—and for Wicca.

  It’s time to graduate, she told herself.

  Standing up, she shut her chemistry book, picked up her backpack, and strode over to the table where Brian and his friends were sitting.

  “Is something funny?” she asked, standing in front of them with her hands on her hips.

  Brian looked up and gave her a goofy smile. “No,” he said. “Why?”

  “Because it seems to me that you and your little buddies here are laughing at me,” Annie said. “So I just thought I’d stop by to see if maybe you would let me in on the joke.”

  Brian’s expression changed. He seemed less confident than he had a moment before. “No,” he said. “Everything’s fine.”

  “Ooh,” one of his friends said. “Brian’s afraid of the little witch.”

  “Yeah,” said another. “What’s the matter, you afraid Sabrina here is going to turn you into a toad?”

  The guys laughed. Brian turned red.

  “Nice friends you have,” Annie told him. “I thought you were a better person than that.” Then she looked at the guys seated around the table. “As for you morons, here’s a clue—ten years from now, when you’re all sitting around thinking about how high school was the best time of your lives, me and my friends will be the ones laughing at you. Because it’s people like you who have to cling to their memories of their touchdowns and their cheerleader girlfriends and their prom dates when real life catches up with them and they figure out that all along they were the ones who were the real losers.”

  She turned and walked away, leaving the group of guys staring at her retreating back. None of them said a word, and as Annie walked toward the library doors and threw them open, she started laughing. She ran down the hall, laughing harder and harder, and at the end of it she pumped her fist in the air.

  “Girl, you have arrived!” she told herself.

  CHAPTER 22

  “This was an interesting choice for a meeting place,” Tyler said as he climbed onto the enormous rock and sat down beside Kate.

  Kate looked out over the ocean. It was twilight, and the sea was painted purple, red, and gold as the sun melted into the horizon and the world moved from day to night. She loved this particular time of the day. Everything seemed bathed in magic. And sitting on the big rock that lay half on the beach and half in the water, she felt as if she were someplace truly special.

  “I like it here,” she told Tyler. “A lot of important things in my life have happened on this rock.”

  She thought about all of those things. She’d broken up with Scott there. She’d first kissed Tyler there. And just beyond the rock was the cove where she, Cooper, and Annie had done their first real ritual. It seemed that all of the paths she followed led back there, to the place where the sea met the earth. Like a drop of rain, she sang to herself, flowing to the ocean. She was that drop of rain, returning again and again to the ocean, to the Goddess.

  “I guess you heard that I’m not joining the coven,” Kate said, turning her head to look at Tyler.

  “Thatcher mentioned it,” he said simply. Kate could tell he was upset but didn’t want to say anything.

  “It just wouldn’t work,” Kate told him.

  “What wouldn’t?” asked Tyler.

  Kate smiled to herself. She knew that Tyler was really asking if she meant her being in the coven or her being with him.

  “Neither,” said Kate. “The coven nor us.”

  Tyler nodded. “I figured you were going to say that,” he replied darkly.

  Kate was silent for a minute, watching the gulls swoop and dip over the waves, catching the tiny fish that rose to the surface to feed. Watching the big, noisy birds eat the fish in great, greedy mouthfuls had bothered her when she was a little girl. She’d resented them for what she saw as their picking on the smaller creatures. Now she saw it differently. It’s all part of the cycle, she thought. Everything dies and is reborn. Her relationship with Tyler was sort of like that, she realized. She’d met him as her relationship with Scott was dying. Then, being with Tyler, she’d felt alive. But that relationship, too, had died. Maybe now, she thought, was the time for it to be born again in a new form.

  “You know, when I met you I thought you were the answer to everything,” she said to Tyler. Then she laughed.

  “What?” Tyler said, hurt.

  Kate put her hand on his arm. “I’m not laughing at you,” she said kindly. “I’m laughing at me. I can’t believe I ever let myself believe that someone—anyone—could make my life perfect.”

  “No one can make your life perfect,” Tyler remarked. “But people can make your life better.”

  Kate nodded. “And you do,” she said. “You do.”

  “Then can I ask why—once again—you’ve decided that you can’t go out with me?” Tyler asked her.

  Kate sighed deeply. “Part of it is the Annie thing,” she said.

  “I thought we were beyond that,” Tyler said, pulling away from her hand.

  Kate shrugged. “I am over it intellectually,” she said. “I know neither of you meant to do anything hurtful. But sometimes understand
ing something in your head doesn’t do anything to change how you feel in your heart.”

  “In other words, you’re still angry.”

  “No,” Kate said. “Not anymore. But something broke when you did what you did, something that tied me to you. And that can’t be repaired.”

  “And that’s why you decided not to be in the coven,” said Tyler.

  “Actually, no,” Kate answered. “It’s a part of the reason, but a really small part. I admit that the idea of getting back together with you made me feel a little safer. It was like a familiar face in a roomful of strangers. Part of me thought that having what we used to have would make it easier for me to feel like I was home in the coven.” She paused, putting her thoughts into words. “But sometimes you need to leave home,” she continued. “Sometimes you need to look for something that will test who you are and what you can do.”

  “Meaning a new coven,” Tyler said.

  “Yeah,” replied Kate. “What Archer is starting is exciting. It’s a chance for me to be part of creating something new instead of trying to fit into something that already exists. I think I need that.”

  “Plus you get to stay with Annie and Cooper,” said Tyler.

  “I think we’re meant to be together,” Kate said dreamily. She was watching the clouds darken as night fell. “We came together because of magic, and I don’t think that magic is finished yet. We still have work to do together.”

  Tyler took a deep breath and let it out. “Well, I’m going to miss you,” he said.

  Kate reached out and took his hand, holding it in hers. “No,” she said. “You won’t miss me, because now you can really get to know me. I don’t think you and I ever really did that. Besides, I’m a different person now, not the one you met at that Ostara ritual.”

  “That I’ll agree with,” Tyler said.

  “Friends?” Kate asked him.

  “Friends,” Tyler said. “Just promise me one thing?”

  “What’s that?” asked Kate.

  “Don’t become too many different people,” said Tyler. “I don’t think I can keep up.”