by Joyce
We sank into the three chairs around the fire. Olivia was safe.
“Thank goodness you’re back.” Elsie used her sword to scratch her head. “I wouldn’t know what to do without all that whining.”
“Well, thank you too!” Olivia said.
“I’m so glad you’re okay, Mom.” Dorothy stopped crying. “I’m sorry. I thought I could do it.”
“That’s okay, baby. At least you tried.” Olivia circled down like smoke from a chimney and pressed herself against Dorothy.
“I love you, Mom.” Dorothy sniffled.
“There’s a lesson to be learned here,” I reminded them.
“How did I know you’d say that, Molly?” Olivia asked.
“You know what I mean. I can’t believe you encouraged a new witch to try a transformation spell alone. What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that I’m tired of people acting like I’m either not here or something that should have gone out with the garbage. I’d almost rather be trapped in that stone than go on this way.”
Elsie chuckled. “You notice she said ‘almost.’”
“I think we should break out a bottle of dandelion wine after all that,” I said. “Let’s go upstairs. I have brownies too, as Elsie mentioned.”
We sat around the table eating brownies and drinking the potent dandelion wine we’d made a few years before. It was sweet and smelled of summer and flowers.
I related everything that had happened with Georgia, and with Joe. I could see everyone taking it in, even Olivia, who hovered above the table, refusing even to pretend to eat or drink.
“You think that story is real?” Dorothy asked. “Can you trust a Selkie? Not that I’ve ever met one or even knew they were real. She’s not like the Bone Man?”
“No one is like the Bone Man,” Elsie said. “You have to develop an instinct for what is true and what isn’t. It’s an important part of a witch’s education. Can I have another brownie?”
“May I have another brownie?” I reminded her. It was hard to let go of being a teacher after so many years.
“You can have one too,” Elsie replied. “It looks like there are three or four left.”
“What are you going to do with the amulet now that you think you know where it came from?” Dorothy wondered. “Are you going to keep it?”
My hand automatically went to it in a protective gesture. “Of course I’m going to keep it. It’s part of my birthright. I’m going to find out who in my family got it from the Bone Man. It would be good to know.”
Olivia was still above us, not moving, not joining in as she usually did. There was a wistful expression on her face as it blurred.
I thought about how hard it must have been for her to give up everything that went with a corporeal form. I wasn’t sure if she could make it the hundred years ghosts had allotted to them unless we could keep her connected. “What do you think, Olivia?” I asked her.
“I don’t know, Molly.” Her voice was weak and fragile.
“Dorothy, Elsie—would you excuse us for a moment?”
“Sure.” Elsie’s mouth was full of brownie.
Dorothy didn’t look so sure. “What are you doing?”
“Olivia and I are going to step outside on the porch for a moment. We’ll be right back.” I smiled at her and touched her arm. She was still such a child in many ways.
“Why are we going outside, Molly?” Olivia asked as she followed me.
I closed the door behind us. The river was a large, black, glittering swath, except for a few lights on boats and barges. It was quiet too, as it never was during the day.
“Olivia, you can’t go on this way. If you’re serious about being here for Dorothy, you’re going to have to overlook how people feel about you.”
“That’s easy for you to say. You know appearance is very important to me. I took care of myself and made sure everything I owned was either the best or at least very interesting. I was shallow in life, Molly. How can you expect more from me in death?”
“I thought you were here for Dorothy.”
“I am, but—”
“You didn’t even know where she was when she was growing up. You never got to play with her when she was a child. No teacher’s conferences. No sniffles or skinned knees. I know you wanted all that, but you managed to hold on to your secret until you thought she was safe. She needs you now too. You can’t give up yet.”
“I don’t want to, Molly. I really don’t. I never thought it would be so hard not to be able to change clothes or put on perfume. Being in a cat wouldn’t be any better, but I just don’t know what to do.”
“Maybe you need to live through Dorothy right now. I know she doesn’t want to lose you. Neither do I. Find some way to make this work. We’re depending on you.”
She smiled. “I’ll try it. But you have to promise me something too.”
“What?”
“You have to promise to put that amulet back in the bottom of your jewelry box where it belongs.”
CHAPTER 22
Witches fly
When the moon is high,
Across the trees,
Across the sky.
“I think your mother knew it wasn’t a good thing. That’s why she never wore it.” Olivia made her case.
“I don’t think that’s true. Why would she give it to me?”
“If the Selkie’s story is true and the amulet came from the Bone Man—or some Irish sea god—either way, it sounds like bad news to me.”
“I’m not putting it back, Olivia,” I said. “I’m going to do more research on it and learn how to use it.”
“You’re being stubborn about this. You know nothing good can come of it.”
“What about the amulet renewing my magic? That seems good to me. How do we know all those older witches who have lived a thousand years don’t possess something like it? And just because it came from the Bone Man doesn’t make it bad. He’s helped us with spells before. We didn’t turn down what he’d given us then.”
Olivia came right down in my face. “Think about it. I’m worried about you. Don’t let the amulet or the Bone Man own you.”
She disappeared through the door after her dire warning. I took a deep breath of night air, fragrant with spring flowers and the scent of the river. I had no plans to set aside the amulet because of a story. My magic was stronger. I was making fewer mistakes. I couldn’t see how that was a bad thing after the amulet had been in my family for so many years.
When I went inside, Dorothy and Elsie were comfortably sleeping with their heads on the table. It was almost two A.M. I decided the incantation for finding our spell book would have to wait.
“I can see me in her,” Olivia whispered, studying Dorothy’s sleeping face. “I think you’re right, Molly. I have to refind myself in her. There are plenty of stories about ghosts becoming more human. I’ve met some of them too. If they can do it, I can do it. I just have to figure out how. It’s not easy without magic.”
“I know. I’ll be glad to do anything I can to help.”
“You know what I had to say on that matter.”
“I’m not putting the amulet away, Olivia. Not without something more to prove that it’s not a good thing.”
We were at an impasse. It wasn’t the first time, but our friendship had always seen us through. I knew it would this time too.
I woke Elsie and Dorothy. Dorothy awakened instantly and agreed that we should do the enchantment for the spell book later. Elsie was groggy, but agreed to postpone what we had intended for that night.
“Just don’t forget about it,” Olivia said as I locked and spelled the door to the shop behind us. “I don’t like that someone else might be benefiting from all our hard work.”
“Don’t worry. We all want it back,” I told her.
I w
aved to Dorothy, waiting to be sure her car started before I left the parking lot. Then I drove Elsie home and helped her inside. She’d slept all the way back.
After she was safely inside, I went home. I was tired and a little dispirited that Olivia thought the amulet was bad for me. I could take it off and put it away, but why would I? I couldn’t imagine another witch who would after feeling its magic.
Except my mother.
Why had she chosen never to wear it? Why hadn’t she told me about its history except as a passing thought?
I thought about my grandmother, Daisy. She and I had been very close. I loved her free spirit and curiosity. But I’d never seen her wear the amulet either.
I couldn’t remember my great-grandmother well enough to know if she’d worn it.
Was there something to what Olivia had said about it? I didn’t want to think so. I was enjoying my renewed magical energy. I wanted it to continue and grow.
Shedding my special clothes for the spell, I put on my lilac pajamas and sat in a comfy chair, reading everything I could find about Manannan MacLir. From what I could gather, he wasn’t evil and hadn’t done things to hurt people—except for the village he’d wiped away on Oak Island. I didn’t know what I would’ve done in the same circumstances.
Isabelle heard Joe return before I did. She’d been asleep on my lap as I read but lifted her head to let me know we weren’t alone.
“You’re still up?” Joe yawned as he came in and locked the door behind him. “How was your club meeting?”
“A little unexpected, but good.” I smiled and put my book away. “How did it go with the case tonight?”
“I think every branch of law enforcement was there to question and observe our witness. I would’ve been freaked out and run away if I were him. They’re keeping him in a safe house with multiple guards. I was glad they didn’t want me or Suzanne to watch him so I could come home. I might not have any choice later, though, if we can’t get rid of this case.”
“Did he give you a description of the killer?”
“Sure. He even helped a sketch artist with it. We’ve sent out the information to law enforcement up and down the Eastern seaboard. We don’t know if the killer is finished in Wilmington and moving on or what. We can’t take any chances.”
“I’d like to see the sketch.”
He produced a folded version of it from his pocket.
It could have been anyone. There was nothing unusual or distinctive about the killer. “And your witness is sure the killer is a man?”
“No doubt about it.” Joe took the sketch back and put it in his pocket. “Do you have information to the contrary?”
“No. Not really. Members of my club can be male or female. But the killer could also be wearing a disguise.”
He yawned. “Let’s go to bed. Can I be a member of your club too?”
I turned out the lights as we walked to the bedroom. “I’m afraid not. You have to be born into it. I’m sorry.”
He kissed me. “Probably better that only one of us is in this particular club anyway.”
There were no bad dreams that night, even though I hadn’t done anything about finding the Bone Man’s wife. Joe and I had breakfast together the next morning. He went to meet Suzanne at the station, and let me know later that there had been no attempts to kill their witness during the night. There were also no reports of other murders.
But a witch would have known that he or she was being observed. Had the witch been wearing a disguise when the witness was there? Was that why the sketch was so nondescript?
I wished the killer would move on so the FBI, CIA and whoever else was involved in solving the case would move on too. That way Suzanne could go home, and the police department would find Joe a new, permanent partner.
I needed to focus on finding the Bone Man’s wife and not on this killer witch. If Joe wasn’t involved with the case, it would be easier to do. The police and the witches’ council were working on finding the killer. They didn’t need me to worry about it too.
Elsie was decked out in pink and white with a matching hat when I picked her up at her house. Her pink gloves were short today. Her attitude was pink too.
“I got an email from Larry last night. Now that the full moon has passed, he’s starting for home. I’m looking forward to our happy reunion.”
She was serious about her relationship with Larry the werewolf. I didn’t have a problem with it. If he made her happy, I was happy for her, no matter what the council thought about it.
“Do you think I’m being old and silly about him?” she asked.
“Not at all. You’re seventy-two, not dead. Why shouldn’t you enjoy a romance with him?”
“Well, he’s a lot younger, and a different species. I’m not sure how Aleese would feel if he turned one night at dinner.”
I laughed at that. “I’m sure she’d be shocked and horrified. You should try to keep that from happening. Otherwise, you’re both human with different magical attributes. As for him being younger—good for you. Maybe he can keep up.”
She giggled. “Thank you, Molly. I’ve been excited about seeing him again, but also worried. I know the council won’t like it.”
“But they don’t like much of anything.”
“True.”
“That was a silly mistake Dorothy made.”
“Her magic is strong, but she’s still learning. And don’t forget, she banished Cassandra in an emotional moment. Magic is always stronger with emotion behind it.”
“Yes. I suppose that’s true.” Elsie looked out the side window. “What were you and Olivia talking about last night outside at the shop?”
“She needed a pep talk after being stuck in amber for a while. It’s not going to be easy for her to stick around as a ghost. It’s against everything we’ve ever been taught, and she doesn’t like being ridiculed by other witches.”
“I could see that. Olivia has always been very sensitive.”
“And she told me I should give up the amulet, since we think we know where it came from.” I waited for her reaction.
“You have to admit—having an amulet with the past Georgia hinted at is potentially a problem.”
“Not you too?”
“I know you must have thought about why your mother didn’t wear it. Don’t tell me you didn’t, Molly.”
“I’ve wondered. I’m going to look through her journal and see if she mentions it. It’s not like she gave me the amulet with some terrible words about it being cursed or something. She barely mentioned it. It was big and kind of ugly. I put it away. End of story.”
“I wish you would do more research on it. What about this sea god?”
“Manannan MacLir. He’s Irish, or at least mentioned in Irish mythology. He’s not thought of as being evil. Except for knowing that he destroyed the settlement on the island, I can’t find anything about him doing terrible deeds.”
“Well, keep looking, just in case. I wouldn’t turn away a magic pick-me-up amulet if my mother had left me one either. But it’s good to know what jewelry you’re wearing.”
I agreed as we arrived at Smuggler’s Arcane. Dorothy was just getting there too. She brought Olivia’s staff out of the Beetle.
I could see right away that Dorothy had been crying again. She got out of the car and ran toward us, Olivia flying along behind her.
“We just came from Brian’s apartment. He’s gone.”
CHAPTER 23
Turn the storm away,
Send me a rainbow.
“What do you mean gone?” I asked.
“I mean he hasn’t been there,” Dorothy explained. “I talked the superintendent into letting me inside. Brian’s apartment was trashed. It looked like a hurricane had gone through it. I don’t think he’s been there since the full moon celebration. I think something terrible has
happened to him, Molly.”
“Slow down. Let’s think about this. We know Brian was really upset about his grandfather coming to see him that night.”
“What if Abdon took him away?” Dorothy asked tearfully.
“It’s unlikely he’d leave anything behind,” Elsie assured her. “Witches don’t like to leave things behind.”
Dorothy bit her lip. “Do you think Abdon hurt him?”
“Of course he didn’t hurt him,” I said. “Brian is his future. He may have talked him into going away to keep him from us, but he wouldn’t do anything bad to him. Did you see his car in the garage?”
“I didn’t think to look,” she admitted. “You’re better at this than I am, Molly.”
“Was there any blood?” Elsie asked.
“No! I would’ve gone to the police right away if I’d seen blood.” Dorothy wiped her eyes and blew her nose. “What can we do?”
I glanced at my watch. We had two hours before the shop was supposed to open. “Let’s go back over there and do a thorough search. We might be able to figure it out.”
“If not, can we use the attraction spell we were going to try for the spell book?” Dorothy asked eagerly. “There are plenty of his personal possessions around.”
“We could do that. Let’s get some candles and sage from inside and go to Brian’s place.”
I convinced Dorothy to ride with me. She seemed too distraught to drive safely. We got the sage and candles together and put a note on the shop door in case we weren’t back at ten.
Brian’s apartment house was very nice and upscale. It looked as though it had been built recently. It was outside the historic river district, going toward the newer section of the city.
“This looks like a place no self-respecting witch would live,” Elsie commented as I parked the car. “Why didn’t he find a nice historic spot? These apartments have no ambience at all.”
“I imagine it’s quite expensive to live here,” Olivia observed. “Maybe Brian wanted something elegant.”
“Let’s go inside.” I got out of the car and we walked to the door.
