The Witchfinder Wars

by K. G. McAbee

  Except he looked as if the world had landed on his shoulders. And he hadn't had a bit of sleep in the past few days.

  "Hey."

  The drag in Tommy's voice confirmed he was exhausted. I watched in amused silence as he looked around at our house, shabby, badly in need of a coat of paint. His gaze moved toward the garden we were standing in; Evie's little tags in her spidery handwriting at the ends of the rows with names such as 'Holy Basil' and 'Dragon's Breath'. The porch swing chose that moment to shift in the breeze and the resounding silence was broken by a creak.

  "Uh, nice place."

  I laughed at his expression as he passed by me. Tommy's face was too composed; too neutral.

  He's nervous, or terrified. Or both.

  I pulled the gate shut before I responded. "Yeah. It's...charming."

  He stood still as I walked past him toward the table where I had been working.

  "What brings you by, Tommy?" It was too much to hope he had come by just to see me. I knew what was dictating his actions, his reason for being here. Yet I couldn't break the feeling of happiness—he had actually come. My hands wrapped around the handle of the basket I'd left behind as I waited for his answer.

  To keep my thoughts away from the breaking this sudden happiness.

  Or why he was really here.

  Panic fluttered across his face just long enough for me to notice it.

  "I, uh, well. I was in school today for the first time since...well. You know. And you weren't there. I wanted to, you know, thank you for your note. It meant...it meant a lot to me. I...I've traveled around a lot in my life, so my friends are all spread out, and some of them I haven't heard from yet. I will."

  His blue gaze stared down at me as if I'd said something to doubt it.

  "I'll hear from lots of them, I know. But this...your note, I mean, well, it meant a lot. I just wanted you to know, so I asked where you lived and, sorta, drove out to say that."

  Tommy's embarrassment expressed itself as a bright blush across his cheeks and he didn't seem to know what to do with his hands. He kept putting them in his pockets and taking them out again, or hugging himself, then running his fingers through his blonde hair.

  I smiled to myself when I realized it stood up in all directions from cowlicks. Then I took pity on him. I couldn't help it.

  My head tilted to the side as I chuckled. "Will you carry this for me, Tommy?"

  His look of relief was evident as I gave him the basket. Now, he had something solid to put his hands around.

  "I just need to take them over to my aunt's dry shed. It's close, so you won't have to carry it for long." I grinned to myself as we made our way out the back toward the field separating the house from the woods. My steps fell in sync with his before I responded.

  "You're welcome for that old note of mine, you know. But I should be the one thanking you."

  I looked ahead to the tiny building just coming into view. It had been there for as long as I could remember, and I didn't know everything it held. Evie and Ivy stuffed it full whenever autumn came around. I only frequented the place when I had to.

  Like now. Cleaning up this chore. With Tommy.

  "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up the other day, what they might have done," I said.

  "They? Oh, those creepy dudes. Honestly, I'd forgotten about it, almost. I really didn't do anything after all. You're the one who really...I mean, your letter was..."

  I could hear his mind grab onto something less embarrassing to talk about.

  The modest knight in shining armor.

  I hid my laughter behind my hand as I pretended to shade my eyes from the sun facing us.

  "Hey, what a cool shed. Must be really old, huh? Uh, I guess your family has lived here a long time. When I asked at school how to get here, everyone said 'The old Blanchett place just out of town, out on Route Nine' like the whole world knows where it is. Must be great, to live in the same place your whole life, I guess?"

  I shrugged as we approached the dry shed. The building was nothing more than an old barn, but it had served its purpose to store Evie's herbs and Ivy's discarded treasures. The rich browns walls streaked with faded yellow rose up to the rusted tin roof. It was different; I'd give him that.

  "Well, it does have its advantages."

  I grabbed the basket from him and set it on the faded grey deacon's bench against the back wall.

  "For me, it's about not having to worry about getting lost in the melee of a new place. And you already know everybody, so you know pretty much what to expect."

  My grin widened before I turned back to him. I had the sudden urge to share the pond with him. To show him something really special.

  The voice in my head was quick to agree.

  "How long can you stay, Tommy? I'd like to show you something."

  I could see the blush returning to his cheeks as confusion formed in his eyes.

  "I promise. It's nothing bad. It's...peaceful."

  "I could use peaceful right now," he said.

  I led him to the path I'd memorized in my childhood. I worked my way around a pine tree before I spoke to him again. Anything to break the sudden quiet that had fallen over the woods.

  "So what was going on at Cothran today?"

  Tommy was focused on finding the path in front of him, his eyes filled with a sense of something close to recognition. I fell back into silence at his reticence as we worked our way down the small pine straw path leading to the small body of water. It wasn't until we reached the end of it I heard him breathe out behind me.

  "Whoa."

  I had to admit the scene before me was beautiful. The small enclave was surrounded by bristled pine trees casting deep shadows across the surface of a small pond. It was blue today, as clear as the reflection of the sky above.

  This had been my place of cherished solitude when I was little. In this place, I could believe the beauty of magic existed.

  This would be the first time I shared this place with anyone.

  "This place is...really something, isn't it?"

  His tone put more meaning into his simple words than I could decipher, but I couldn't make out exactly what it was.

  "It's..." He made a chopping motion with one hand as if to cut the words away. "Well. Never mind. It's cool; really." His voice became much too artificial; too bright. "What did I miss in school earlier this week? Don't want to fall behind in trig."

  I plopped down on a grassy spot just outside the water's edge to buy time to think up an answer. It wasn't long before he joined me. I watched the trees sway for a moment. Tommy had asked a simple question, but all of I could think of was how scared Jordan had looked. How the crowds parted in the halls as I passed now.

  My shoulders shook a bit before I could contain the shiver running down my spine.

  "...cursed..."

  "...died..."

  "...witch..."

  I sighed, pulled my knees up to my chest and planted my chin on top of them. I didn't dare tell Tommy about the incident. It didn't seem right to put this on him, too.

  Or any ideas in his head.

  "School was, well...school. You haven't missed much." I turned my head to look at him.

  "Everybody was worried sick about you. The whole place has been in mourning since the news broke."

  "I don't want to talk about it right now, okay? I've talked and thought about nothing else all week."

  The anger in his voice was unexpected; the pain was not.

  "Trig. Assignment. Please."

  My brow rose at his tone as I lifted my head up from its perch.

  Fair enough.

  "All right. I'll play nice and give you all the assignments you missed. Not just trig. I'd hate to be responsible for your getting behind on anything."

  Tommy groaned as he fell back into the grass. I couldn't help but laugh aloud at his tortured expression. The sound of it echoed across the wall of trees around us, and it died across the pond.

  Th
e sounds of the world seemed to disappear here. It was nice, sharing my place with Tommy. It felt right. Natural.

  "Tommy, have you gotten any sleep at all?" The question came out before I realized it.

  Tommy rose back up as if something other than himself was pulling him upright. "How did you know? I mean, I've just....Dreams. I've been having the weirdest dreams all week long, so I've been doing whatever I could to stay awake. Drinking coffee even, and I hate coffee. Dreams about my dad and the wreck, and something he wants me to know, and other dreams about...well, never mind about them."

  The shyness was back as he turned from me to stare out at the water.

  "Do you...can there be anything in that? I mean...the stuff they say about you and your family at school. Don't get mad, but...I really want to know. Can you help?"

  Tommy's words were a cry for help. The desire to protect him was stronger than ever.

  What I didn't know was if I could. After all, how can you stop someone from dreaming?

  I decided to ignore the comment about what people said about my family.

  I leaned back against my elbows in the grass, stretching out beside him. The dream of his father wasn't an uncommon one. Many people dreamed of their loved ones soon after a death. The veil was always the thinnest for them then when emotions were at their height.

  Yet it seemed unfair so few knew what those feeble attempts at communication actually were, those dreams of the dead. The waters of the pond had captured tiny pinpoints of the sun before my words came to me.

  "I've heard to dream of someone who's passed means they are trying to communicate with you." I smiled at him. "They...he's still with you, Tommy. Your father. Maybe he's trying to tell you something he couldn't before. You can talk to him too, you know? Through your dreams."

  His face didn't change at the words. I was sure he would have laughed. Called me crazy, believe the rumors, and disappear just as quickly as he had arrived. Instead, he hooked his arms behind his head. Tommy seemed to be somewhere else, lost in thoughts I would never know.

  I shrugged. "It's an old Southern superstition. Like hanging black velvet over mirrors to keep the ghosts out. Or memorizing your family tree by the age of five so you can adequately introduce yourself. It's all about the bloodlines around here, ya know?"

  He chuckled at that one.

  Tommy's next question threw me off balance. "Is it true what they say? About you and your family being witches? Not that I believe in that kinda stuff, of course. But I'm just wondering. How did all that start anyway?"

  I opened my mouth to deny it, but the words wouldn't come to me. My shoulders lifted in a shrug. "People here don't have much else to talk about. There's always a family in every small town, the local outcasts. Here in Manning, it just happens to be us. The rumors have been there for as long as I can remember."

  "Yeah, but how did it get started?"

  "I honestly don't know, Tommy. My grandparents were never ones for the whole social scene, and they taught my mother and aunt to live independent of Manning. We don't go to a church or see the local doctors. I'm only going to Cothran because the state mandates I have to go or get a tutor." I shrugged again, looking out over the lake. "We're different, and they don't understand us."

  I could feel his eyes on me, watching in silence until I couldn't stand it any longer.

  "So tell me about yourself, Mr. Hopkins."

  He laughed at me. "Everyone asks me about myself when I get to a new place, but no one really listens to what I say, or at least that's how it always seems. So I'll warn you right at the start; you'll get the canned version that comes out all the time. So. What do you want to know?"

  "Anything. Everything. Surely you aren't so very complicated. And I promise to pay the utmost attention."

  I laughed as I flipped over on my stomach beside him, and I became very aware of how close I was to him. So close I could feel the energies radiating off of his skin. He breathed in once before he grinned at me. Then he started talking.

  As his story began to unfold, I realized just how complicated he really was. Tommy's life of constant motion, constant movement—country to country, city to city—seemed like a whirlwind compared to my lazy existence here in Manning.

  The importance of his grandmother—Grand, he called her—was evident. As was the love he held for her. That emotion lit up his face each time he glanced over in my direction.

  That's when he dropped the Campbell soup version of his life's story. He started talking about his life in Manning. How hard it had been on his Grand, and him, when they learned Spenser Hopkins had died. Now, an uncle and cousin were in the picture. People that, while he spoke very highly of them, I could tell he didn't care for.

  As he finished, I could see him watching me out of the corner of his eye. I wondered what he was thinking. It was amazing how solid he seemed, how steady, after traveling around the world so many times, living the lifestyle many of us only dreamed of. Coming from my world, I couldn't understand. But I could sympathize.

  Nothing concrete, of course, not really. More like the silk screen magic offered for those who engaged it.

  I saw a slight movement through his hair and grinned when I realized what it was.

  "Hold still." I didn't give him the chance to protest. My fingers ran through his thick hair to snag the tiny spider. My lessons in witchcraft were strong enough for me to thank the creature for the wisdom it represented before releasing it into the grass.

  Tommy sighed at the touch of my hand and his eyes closed.

  I reached back out of curiosity, careful to watch for any notion he was pulling away as my hand ran through his hair again. He continued to relax. His energies had changed, ebbing into almost nothingness. It wasn't long until a slow but steady breathing broke the quiet calm around the pond.

  Tommy was asleep.

  I sat in silence, surprised at how comfortable it was, just lying next to him in the sun by the water.

  He needs this, Annie. This rest, free from the dreams of the dead. Of the dying.

  The voice that had announced his arrival now whispered as if afraid he would hear it. It broke the quiet, the tranquility. I pulled my hand back after it spoke, stood up to walk over to the water's edge.

  I refused to let the guilt set in; not yet. It felt as if this day shouldn't have happened. Too easy.

  And all because of the spell.

  Would he be here if it had never been cast?

  I sighed as I bent down and picked up a rock. A flick of my wrist sent it across the water.

  Yes. Eventually, he would have. Your paths were meant to cross, child.

  I don't deserve this day. This...peace. He is here because I'm selfish. Nothing more, nothing less.

  Each pebble left tiny ripples across the pond. I focused on the thin lines I created, one upon the other, until my thoughts were lost within them.

  The sun had slipped farther beneath the tree line than I realized when I came back to my surroundings. Tommy was right where I left him, his arms folded behind his head and his eyes closed to the late afternoon sun.

  Magic or no, I felt lucky to have had this time with him.

  Almost normal.

  I sank onto the ground next to him; I reached out to brush at a piece of grass stuck against his cheek. His face turned into my hand as I did something I never do.

  Ever.

  I giggled.

  The sound must have awakened him; his eyes opened.

  "Welcome back." My voice was soft as looked up at me. The gamut of emotions that crossed his face was too hard for me to read, so I gave up trying. Instead, I gestured toward the sun dipping low on the horizon, leaving the sky a paled version of the dawn.

  "It's getting late."

  He leaned up on a single elbow, those blue eyes darker than I'd ever seen them. Tommy's free hand reached out to grasp the side of my face and my breath caught in the back of my throat as I felt his thumb brush against the skin beneath it. He leaned up, slow and careful, to
press his lips to mine. I had to admit, I was startled. But what surprised me the most was I responded. It wasn't until we parted that he threw a crooked grin in my direction.

  "Sorry. I don't know what just came over me."

  "Don't...don't apologize." I smiled despite myself. "Never for a kiss, at least."

  The grin grew wider as he sat up, faltering only when he began to notice the darkening skies over the water.

  "Geez. How long was I out?"

  I chuckled as I stood and reached down to take his hand.

  "Long enough. You looked like you needed it though."

  As his palm touched mine, what felt like an electric hum vibrated through my system and I stifled a gasp. The beating of my heart increased against it, and once he was on his feet, I released him. I made sure my back was to him so the expression of shock wouldn't give me away.

  What was that? I hissed to the voice as the sound of his steps followed mine before I turned to face him. Tommy looked as surprised as I had a moment ago. At this point, I didn't know what to say.

  Or what to do.

  The voice laughed inside my head. I knew I'd gone crazy the other day. It was again confirmed.

  Voices, ghost images of Tommy. Impulsive kisses and now, electrical touches.

  Yeah. I'm too far gone for help now.

  I waited for him. It didn't take him long to reach my side.

  "It'll be dark soon. I don't want them sending a search party out for us if I don't get you back in time."

  He laughed as we began to walk up the path. "Yeah, Grand can be pretty brutal when she wants to be. She really knows how to snap you back in line if you get out of it."

  The fading light showed how right the voice had been about Tommy needing sleep. The pallor in his face had all but disappeared, the darkness under his eyes dissipated. He looked better than he had since he got here, and I secretly thanked this sacred place for helping him.

  We chatted on the way back. As we approached the house, a groan escaped as I recognized the car in the drive next to Tommy's.

  Ivy was home.

  I could almost hear the questions sure to hit me the minute I got inside.

  We said our goodbyes quickly. But just before he reached the car, I remembered something he had told me.