“Merry meet and welcome to Spindlewick Madame Lethestone and Khlorie! I am Vibiana Sager, the President of the College,” said the woman. She was wearing a black skirt suit that fell a couple of inches below her knees. The dress shirt she wore under the black blazer was a deep orange. I realized what this meant. The president of my college was a Mind Witch. I had met them before, but never in a school setting. The truly powerful ones were almost always employed by our government as negotiators, diplomats, or in the upper echelons of the military. The less powerful ones typically worked in law enforcement. Looking at Vibiana Sager, I knew she was powerful. It radiated off of her. This woman could pry into the deepest depths of my brain. She would be able to hear my every thought as long as she had me in her line of sight. She might even be able to influence my decisions. My mother sensed her power too. She tensed next to me like an animal preparing to defend herself. So, the only question that remained was why her talents were not assigned for the greater good, as typically happened with the most powerful witches. My mother, for instance, was recruited right out of college to work for the American Continental Coven’s National Priorities Potions Lab, the lab she now runs.
Perhaps, I thought, Madame Sager was recruited. Maybe, Spindlewick College is her placement for the greater good. I don’t know why this thought frightened me so much. However, an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach once more.
“Good afternoon President Sager.” I greeted in the gracious way my mother had taught me. “We are honored to have you as our campus escort.”
“The honor is mine. I assure you.” The witch shook my hand. She moved on to greet my mother in the same way, but Morrigan was not inclined to receive the gesture and, instead, kept her hands at her side. My mother rarely shook hands with anyone until they were acquainted.
“With a simple touch, you could be giving a witch access to every memory, feeling or a whole host of other information better kept private,” she liked to remind me. I wondered if she was disappointed that I had shaken hands with such an obviously powerful Mind Witch with no hesitation.
“Well,” the tall witch began, trying to brush off the slight. “Why don’t we start our tour of the campus.”
“That sounds like an excellent idea,” my mother replied, and we followed President Sager up the length of the steep dock and on to the campus.
“Now, I am sure that you both have tons of questions and I will try to answer as many as I can on this tour. We know that finding out your child is attending Spindlewick can be nerve-racking at first. That is why we do these personalized tours, to try to set families at ease and help everyone feel more comfortable about the road ahead.”
“I do have a question,” I responded quickly. “I think I remember from the acceptance letter that getting assigned to a specialty would be part of our graduation ceremony. Will we be prepared to join our specialty field when we graduate? I mean, will we have enough coursework?”
“An important question, Khlorie and it is a common concern amongst new families,” President Sager walked us up the hill towards the main building. “Every student who leaves here will have a specialty and be a contributor, if not an innovator, in her field. Many students get recruited right from here because their special skills are of vital importance to the continuing success of the ACC. Every student has intense career counseling in their third year to make the transition from school to work a smooth one. We never let a student graduate into a specialty that they are not prepared to join.”
For the next hour, President Sager walked us all over the island, discussing the program, history, and philosophy of the school with patience and expertise. With each stop, my mood lifted a bit. There was no doubt that Spindlewick was the most beautiful campus that I had ever seen. We started at the Flame Observatory, the home of the school’s astronomy and astrology labs. President Sager showed us the campus’ 24-inch reflector telescope, the most advanced telescope at any institution of higher witch education.
Next, we walked over to the main academic building, known as Coventry Hall. The Mind Witch led us up the white marble steps, past the neo-classical pillars and into a grand foyer that a football field could have fit into. The inside looked like it housed much more than was possible in a building of its size. It was the most impressive use of extension and renovation charms that I had ever seen. It was like five academic buildings in one.
Noticing my surprise, President Sager commented, “When the plans were written up for Spindlewick, there was supposed to be a full row of academic buildings, one for each specialty. However, it was felt that our mandate required a more integrated approach to magical education. So, Coventry Hall holds all of the indoor classrooms, as well as the library. This allows for greater cooperation between the faculty and keeps the island from being too cluttered with unnecessary buildings.”
In the foyer, a long hallway ran from the front door straight back to a grand staircase. A second hallway cut the building in half horizontally and led from the foyer into the two large wings of the building. The paths crossed at a stunning fountain sitting in the very center. Water bubbled calmly out of a central silver cauldron, until that calm bubbling transformed into jets shooting powerfully into the air and raining down into the basin below. Around the fountain were comfortable chairs, some of which were already occupied by students reading or chatting. One group nearby was loudly debating the best animals to shift into in different hypothetical situations. It made me miss Brigid, who would have enthusiastically joined the conversation. She wouldn’t be starting school for another month and was shocked I was leaving so soon. I shrugged it off and told her that European schools were on a different schedule. A familiar knot formed in my stomach just thinking about it.
Another lie .
Shaking off the guilt, I tried to focus on the space around me. I seemed, however, to be the only person interested in taking in the sights and sounds of the grand foyer, as my mother and President Sager had taken a left and were exploring the offices and rooms on that half of the first floor.
“Here are the school offices,” I heard President Sager tell my mother as I rushed after her to catch up. “My office is here, as well,” she said pointing to a door on the left. “My assistant, Roger Ampyx-- you met him on the dock earlier-- always knows where to find me and when I’ll be back if Khlorie is ever in need of anything,” she said.
She walked on to an ornate door at the end of this hallway. It opened easily for us with the lightest push. Inside was a stunning lecture hall. There was a stage with a lab set up on it and a hundred cushioned seats in audience style seating around it.
“There are two exhibition halls on either side of the building. They were a later extension to Coventry Hall, which explains why the building has the semi-circle shape,” President Sager said proudly. “We get many of the top witches from across the country, as well as our own talented faculty, to come here and give demonstrations. Perhaps, you would do us the honor one day, Madame Lethestone? Since you already know about the school, that would save us the trouble of having to cast a memory altering spell,” she said smiling.
“Perhaps,” my mother responded without inflection. It was the only word that she uttered so far on the tour, which seemed unusual to me. My mother was taking everything in and giving the powerful witch in front of us nothing to analyze.
President Sager was undeterred. “Let’s look at the classrooms.”
The first floor housed the gardening lab, the Spirit Communication classroom, the Chanting chamber, a small room for Flying Theory, an Animal Magic classroom, the Mind Magic classroom (right next to the President’s office), and the first-floor entrance to the two-story library.
She then walked us up the stairs to the second level where we saw the classrooms for Spell Writing, Divination, Healing Magic (Clinic and Classroom), Time Manipulation, Stones and Minerals Magic, Transformation, and three classrooms for Artisan Magic- one theory room, a fully equipped makerspace, and a culinary arts lab.
There was also the second floor of the library and the most impressive potions lab I had seen outside of my mother’s professional one. Even she was impressed by the stock of ingredients and technology available to students.
From Coventry Hall, we popped out the back door of the gardening classroom and came face to face with the most stunning natural archway I had ever seen. The archway was made from a tree that had been trained to grow into the arch shape. It was covered in the richest green leaves with pops of summer flowers here and there.
“The only way to enter the garden is by coming through Coventry Hall and passing through this archway,” President Sager explained. “We grow the most magical plants here. So, we take security very seriously.”
“The archway is part of the security.” It wasn’t a question, and I didn’t wait for a response. I just knew. It was like the tree’s magic was speaking to me. I walked up closer to the gnarled base and saw how the trunk and the branches intertwined as they bent over my head and found their final resting place on the ground. The waxy green leaves did their best to hide the tree’s twisting history. It was there, though, peeking through. Ignoring the curious glances I could see in my periphery from my mother and President Sager, I reached out to touch the curvature.
Tell me your secrets .
My hand brushed the waxy edges of the leaves and kept diving deeper to find something. The deeper my hand went into the brush of the tree, the more I understood its purpose. I am no threat, my mind communicated. I could feel this ancient protector readying to share something with me. What would it be? As I moved closer, I knew the type of tree it was, who took care of it, if it needed water, and what security spells had been cast. The siren song of the tree’s trunk continued to call to me, and I wondered what I would learn if I could just reach the twining gnarled bark. Before my hands could get that far, however, my finger caught on a jagged branch and pain from the cut broke me out of the trance. I felt the blood dripping down my arm.
“Ouch!” I pulled my hand quickly out of the tree, noticing the cut on my finger. As my blood made contact with the waxy green leaves, the archway erupted in white flowers from the tip to the trunk. I stood back in shock staring at the change. What happened? What did I do?
“Remarkable,” I heard President Sager say. It was only then that I realized that both witches were looking on with intense interest at what had just transpired. My mother rushed to my side and began rifling through her purse until she pulled out her homemade first aid tincture. Without saying anything, she lathered it on my finger, the cut healing completely under her touch.
“You could have warned us if the archway required a blood sacrifice for a student to be able to enter,” my mother said exasperatedly.
“It doesn’t,” President Sager and I replied at the same time. My mother looked at me in surprise. I could see the question on her face- How does she know this?
President Sager finished matter of factly. “It simply reads intentions. I spelled it myself. Those with ill intentions cannot pass its boundary.”
My mother opened her lips and then closed them again, as if she wanted to say something and thought better of it. I walked toward the archway again, but my mother pulled me back. With a terse shake of her head, I knew that she did not want me to do anymore exploring today.
It was then that I realized that we were not alone. A student exiting the gardening classroom appeared in my peripheral vision, dirt and grass stains clinging to his jeans and plaid shirt. Gardening tools rattled in a metal bucket as he moved closer to the archway. His piercing blue eyes took in the whole scene and I knew that he had been witness to what just occurred.
When his eyes drifted to me, I was taken aback by the intensity of his scrutiny...and my reaction to his attention. His gaze skimmed over my body, and I could feel the places where his glances lingered. It was like little heated pinpricks dancing across my skin. His penetrating eyes examined the blood that remained on my hand and sleeve. Finally, his gaze made its way back up to my face and, when he paused there and met my eyes, my stomach jumped towards my chest. Feeling emboldened by his stare, I allowed myself to examine him in return. His short, dark hair contrasted with his fair skin and light blue eyes. His face was serious, like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Our eyes stayed locked for what felt like eons. I desperately wanted to know what he saw when he viewed my unruly auburn hair, barely contained by my top knot, and the emerald green eyes that were so unusual in the witching community.
Blue eyes are unusual too , I thought to myself, and I wondered if there was a correlation between extra powers and other unusual genetic traits.
When he finally broke eye contact and looked down at his tools, a deep embarrassment fell over me for investigating this guy so thoroughly without so much as an introduction. I glanced back at the archway, now decorated by my white flowers. Was it my blood that caused those flowers to grow? It couldn’t be a coincidence.
“Khlorie, this is Hyperion Prentice,” President Sager ventured, interrupting my thoughts. “He is one of our top third-year students.” She turned to the casually dressed witch and added, “Perry, this is Khlorie Lethestone and her mother Madame Lethestone” He tried not to react, but I caught a moment, a flash, of name recognition. He’d certainly heard of my mother. Who hadn’t? I wondered if he had a positive or negative view of my family and I deeply hoped it wasn’t the latter.
“Khlorie, you’ll have Perry as a teaching assistant if you take gardening this year, and he’ll also be leading your independent study group on elemental magic,” she said looking at me with a knowing smile. That is when I realized that President Sager knew exactly what I was thinking as I looked at him. A blush kissed my cheeks.
“Can you lead an independent study group that has only ever had one member?” He responded laughing. “I am just happy to have another elemental on campus to practice with.”
“You’re an elemental?” My voice was eager, and I took a step towards him.
“Yes,” he nodded. “Not like you or anything. I just control air, but…” At my look of confusion, Perry pressed on. “President Sager gave me a quick overview of your powers so that I could start pulling resources for independent study.”
Behind me, my mother shifted uncomfortably. At the movement, Perry’s eyes flew to the formidable potioneer as if remembering that she was there.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you both,” he said in a deep yet honeyed voice as he walked past us into the garden. Before he disappeared, he turned around and added, “I like what you did to the arch.”
“Nothing like accidentally altering a 300-year-old tree on your first day,” I joked. He laughed and my body responded to the sound as if it were a tonic.
“I’m not sure it is altered as much as...improved.” He responded shyly, eyeing my mother again like a prey animal keeping tabs on a lurking predator. I could only imagine what look she was giving him. Perry motioned to his gardening tools. “I should get on with my work. I hope you enjoy the tour.”
“I think getting back to the tour is an excellent idea,” my mother sneered impatiently, and she began walking into the garden with Vibiana Sager next to her. Trailing behind, I mouthed “sorry” at Perry for my mother’s coldness. He gave me a quick nod of acknowledgment and then planted himself at one of the garden plots to get to work.
From then on, I had to work really hard to listen to President Sager talk about the gardens and Spindlewick’s green magic program. My mind kept trailing to what happened at the arch. Mother and I continued on the tour and saw the President’s home, the Witch Persecution memorial, and we walked past the circular Community Center where the Spindlewick Coven meets for full moons, holidays, and other important events.
“What do you think of our campus, Khlorie?” President Sager asked as we made our way over to Cottage Row.
“It is at the same time a typical college campus and the most special and beautiful one I have ever seen,” I answered honestly, and she beamed at
my response. I wondered why she would bother asking such a question when she could easily see the answer in my mind.
“I was trying to make polite conversation,” she explained with a twinkle in her eye.
“Did I miss something?” My mother asked, and the President smiled conspiratorially at me. My mother’s eyes narrowed slightly, but before I could ascertain whether she was upset, her mask of collected calm fell back over her face.
“Most students feel that the cottages are the best amenity that we offer. It really sets us apart from other schools that have to house thousands of young witches. First and second-year students have cottage-mates, but if you choose to be a teaching assistant in your third year, you can live alone. The ocean view cottages are held by our third years. The ones closest to the campus are for the second years, which makes the ones in the middle for the first years.” As she spoke, we came to a neat subdivision of cape cod style cottages, each one with a different color door and a garden patch outside. We walked into the center of the little village and found cottage number 14.
The smile on my face was plastered from ear to ear. In front of me was my new home and it could not be more charming! The little one-story cottage was covered in faded cedar shingles and the windows all had pale blue shutters and window boxes. The garden patch out front was ready to be planted and I could already see how some greenery would add to the picture. I walked up to the door and looked back at President Sager, expecting her to give me the key.
“Just put your hand on the door. This cottage knows that it is yours.”
I reached out my hand toward the blue door with the large number 14 nailed to its center and sure enough, I heard the door unlock as soon as my hand made contact. Turning the bronze knob, I pushed the door forward. Past the entryway, with its metal coat hooks and umbrella tree, was the coziest sitting room area. Two blue fabric couches formed an “L” around a gray, weathered-wood, coffee table. Matching end tables were positioned on either end of the couch and housed two simple lamps. On the back wall was an impressive fireplace with a wrought iron cauldron hook. Hung above the mantle was a framed sketch of the Spindlewick campus. To the right of the living room was a full kitchen. Walking in, the butcher block countertops, deep farmhouse sink, and white wooden cabinets came into view. There was a white and black oven with a small stovetop and a matching refrigerator. In the center of the room was a small, wooden table with two chairs. On top of the table was a little vase filled with hyacinth.
Elements of Power (Council of the Harvest Moon Book 1) Page 5
