Bones of the Witch

by A. L. Knorr

  “Bonfire?”

  “Yeah, every year towards the end of March, the town hosts a bonfire and this year it’s today. You didn’t see the posters around town?”

  “I’ve been a little distracted.” Welcome to the understatement of the year.

  “Well, you should come. It’ll take your mind off things for one night. They serve hot cider and haggis, give pony rides to the kids, there’s a band and a dance, and of course a few big fires along the beach. Every year some stupid teenagers set off firecrackers and get the dogs barking and the old ladies swearing. It’ll be fun.”

  “Sounds great.” I laughed. “Old Scottish ladies swearing, wouldn’t miss that for the world.”

  “Bring Jasher, too, if he’s up for it. That guy is really taking this hard. He comes here multiple times a day some days. He puts on a brave face but I can tell he’s bleeding. Gavin’s a little concerned because he’s not at the jobsite as much as he should be. I told him to cut the guy some slack. He looks like the walking dead some days. You know, no sleep, too much self-medicating.”

  Jasher’s words from the night before began the echo-dance around in my head again. I squeezed Evelyn’s hand gently and sent her silent words of comfort.

  I’ll find a way, Evie. Just don’t go dying on us.

  “Hang in there, Evie,” Lachlan whispered, as if he could hear my thoughts. “We’ll figure this out.”

  The ‘we’ in his utterance warmed my heart. Even if I was the one with the secret supernatural powers, it was nice not to be alone.

  Chapter 19

  The bonfire was exactly what Lachlan had promised. It seemed like the entire town came out bundled up in woolen coats and hats and all randomly breaking into songs I couldn’t really understand. Kids ran amok along the beach while the bonfire, piled high with wood dried indoors all year for the occasion (I was told every family in town contributed to the blaze) grew larger by the hour. There was something comforting about a big fire on the beach with clusters of people chatting and drinking from steaming mugs. Dogs played tug-of-war with driftwood while kids were organized to play games like potato-sack races, and showed off their skills with the bagpipe. I couldn’t say much for their skills but there was nothing wrong with their enthusiasm. Collection points for various charities had been set up around the beach and the park. There was even a pot for Evelyn’s family.

  I’d never be able to look at fire without thinking of my friend Saxony, a fire mage with a small fire literally living inside of her. What I’d seen her do with flames was seared into my memory forever, pun intended. I was seated on a log near the fire, staring into the flames and enjoying the crackle and snap when Lachlan found me.

  “You came.” He stepped over the log and sat beside me. He wore a tartan hat with a red pompom on the top.

  “I said I would.” I looked over at him as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared into the fire. “Nice hat.”

  Lachlan dimpled. “Make fun if you wish, but this tam has been in my family for over fifty years.” It was threadbare and patched. In spite of its shabby state and bright colors, it gave Lachlan a surprisingly masculine air.

  “Looks older than that, like God wore it while he created the highlands,” I teased.

  “It’s been through a lot. Sat on a lot of heads, passed through a lot of hands.”

  “But not a washing machine?”

  Lachlan knocked the back of my own hat forward so it fell over my eyes. Laughing, I pushed it back into place and we stared into the fire in silence, listening to the kids laughing and screaming in the distance.

  “Do you think Jasher will come?” Lachlan asked. “Guy needs a little fun in his life.”

  I shrugged. “He’ll be at the clinic until visiting hours are over. Maybe he’ll come when they kick him out. I did invite him.”

  “I think everyone invited him. The story of the Irish bloke in love with the comatose Scottish lassie has gone through town like the flu.”

  “I think it’s nice,” I murmured. “Romantic.”

  Lachlan glanced at me through lowered lashes. “Speaking of romantic, how about I bring you a nice mug of mulled wine? I’ll even grab you an extra cinnamon stick.”

  “How gallant. Thank you.” I shivered and tucked my chin into the neck of my jacket. “The cold on the beach goes right through you, even with the fire. My front is burning but my backside is a popsicle.”

  Lachlan planted a kiss on my forehead so suddenly that it startled me. “I believe I can fix that.” He got up and stalked toward the drinks kiosk on the other side of the park.

  Gazing through the top of the firelight and into the trees beyond the beach and beyond the park, I caught a flash of white light. It was a strange place to see light. The cluster of trees to the northwest was a scrubby strip of forest that ran parallel to the coastline for a several kilometers before connecting to the queen’s land. Thinking the firelight was playing with my eyesight, I stood up and squinted.

  The white light brightened and glimmered, a blue-white glow in a vaguely diamond shape. It seemed to dance and flicker in a joyful way, like it wanted to join the party.

  A spunkie. I smiled and thought of Evelyn.

  It was like the light knew I recognized it and flashed brightly like a ship’s storm light in a gale. As I watched, the diamond shape stretched out to the sides, thinning, as though growing arms.

  “What the…”

  One of the arms beckoned to me. I rubbed my eyes and looked around. Lachlan was standing in line at the drinks stand. Kids and adults were scattered everywhere. A few folks stood a short distance from the fire, chatting in small groups. No one appeared to have noticed the white light.

  It flashed again, then bobbed up and down like a cartoon character eager to make friends. It beckoned to me again, then winked behind a tree. The top of the diamond appeared from behind the tree like it wanted to play peek-a-boo.

  I left the fire and strode across the beach toward the cluster of trees. At first, I just wanted to get a better look. I had no intention of entering the trees or following it. Weren’t there fairy tales that warned against following will-o-the-wisps? Then again, weren’t will-o-the-wisps also known for helping lost people find their way out of the wilderness?

  I approached the tree line, close to where I’d first seen the light. It was now farther in the trees, still winking, still beckoning. It projected a kind of innocent curiosity.

  A thought ballooned in my mind: What if it’s trying to tell me something? What if it can help Evelyn?

  Just a few more steps into the trees, and if it kept drawing me farther and farther from the party, I’d leave. I wasn’t interested in a wild goose chase. I stepped between the trees and went several yards into the woods. Gorse plucked at my pants and the ground made a sucking sound under my boots. The flickering light bobbed in what looked like appreciation and drifted farther into the trees.

  “Okay, I’m here,” I said. “What do you want?”

  It flickered again, the white light turning a soft blue, like the light of a full moon on a cold winter’s night. It drifted away.

  “I’m not going any farther,” I called. “You’re lucky I came this far. What’s up?”

  A hand grabbed my elbow. With a cry of fright, I whirled, hands up and ready to defend myself. Responding to my magic, long, ropy vines of ivy unraveled from nearby trees, moving lightning fast. They whipped around in the air like bullwhips, snapping menacingly. But they halted when I saw…

  “Laec?” I sputtered, my heart racing.

  My vines curled in the air, making a loose cocoon around us, like they wanted to watch.

  Laec’s body was relaxed but his fae eyes darted around at the vines and then found my face. “Remind me not to get on your bad side.”

  The vines retreated, drifting away to wind themselves around the tree trunks.

  “You came to find me?” I put a hand over my thumping heart.

  Laec’s expression grew serious. “I’m here to
tell you that there’s only one thing that will help Evelyn, and you have to do it soon.”

  I grabbed his shoulders with a fierce energy, hope taking flight in my chest like a startled bird. “Anything.”

  “Listen.” His hands cupped my elbows and he stepped close enough for me to see the flecks of green in his eyes. “Tomorrow night there’s a party at the queen’s residence. You have to steal the antidote.”

  “What?” I shot him a wild look. “Dude, the queen lives in London. What makes you think I can get into a party she’s hosting without getting arrested, let alone steal something from her?”

  Laec rolled his eyes. “Not your queen, my queen. Queen Elphame.”

  The name circled my head in the air like an insect. It was familiar but I couldn’t quite remember where I’d heard it before. “Queen Elphame?”

  “Meet me in the woods west of Blackmouth Castle tomorrow night at midnight. I’ll help you.”

  There was the sound of a twig snapping behind Laec.

  “Georjie?” It was Lachlan, and he was close.

  “Don’t be late,” Laec hissed. He gripped my shoulders and traded places with me like we were doing a dance, before spinning me and shoving me toward the sound of Lachlan’s voice.

  I staggered forward, feeling annoyed again at the way he’d manhandled me. I turned around to give him a piece of my mind, but of course, he was already gone. I gave a groan.

  “That’s getting old, you know!” I cried into the darkness.

  “What’s getting old?” Lachlan came through the trees bearing two mugs of steaming mulled wine. Two cinnamon sticks protruded from one of the mugs.

  “A man of his word,” I said with a smile before taking the cup and bringing it to my lips. “Mmmm, that’s delicious.”

  He wasn’t sidetracked. “Who were you talking to?”

  “A spunkie.” I grinned and headed for the beach. My heart felt anxious, but light and hopeful. Laec was going to help after all. The thought of seeing Evelyn’s eyes open made me feel like I was walking on air. I kept at bay my fears about breaking into some fae queen’s castle; I’d deal with that when the time came. Laec wouldn’t suggest such a thing if he didn’t think it was possible…I hoped.

  “You saw a spunkie?” Lachlan sounded so enthusiastic about this that I blinked at him in surprise. We emerged from the bushes and walked down the beach toward the party.

  “You make it sound like I won the lottery. It’s just swamp gas. Evelyn told me about them when I first got here. Now I’ve seen all the local attractions and can leave Scotland satisfied.”

  His happy expression faltered. “You’re leaving?”

  “I was just kidding.”

  “Oh.” He looked relieved and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

  I stopped walking and turned to face him. The smell of his soap drifted into my nose.

  “Good, because you’re not allowed to leave until…” He pulled me close against him and surprised me with a kiss on the mouth.

  His lips were warm and soft and my heart felt like melting butter sliding down my insides and pooling in my pelvis. As he deepened the kiss, my toes began to curl inside my boots.

  Catcalls down the beach broke us apart and we looked to see a cluster of young people making kissing noises and whooping.

  Lachlan smiled down at me, his arm tightening around my waist. I held my mug of wine away so I didn’t spill it, while I wrapped my other arm around his neck.

  “I was wondering when you were going to make good on that promise.” I sounded breathless. His face was still so close to mine. My lips were tingling, my pulse racing.

  “Kept you in suspense, did I?”

  “A little,” I admitted. “Come on, you can’t tell a girl you plan to kiss her and then ghost on the promise like that.”

  “I’m sorry,” he replied, and I saw from his expression that he really was.

  I told him to shush and pulled him down for another kiss. The kids redoubled their whoops of delight and when I lifted a foot in the air behind me, they burst into laughter. When I released Lachlan, we were both out of breath. He put his forehead to mine and closed his eyes briefly, before we began walking again.

  “I wanted to do it a long time ago, but with everything that’s been happening…there was never a good time.” He looked down at me as we approached the fire, the heat and light building on our faces. “If you don’t mind me saying so, I think you know more than you let on.” The words came out on a murmur.

  My stomach lurched. “What makes you think that?”

  He lifted a shoulder. “Just a feeling.”

  I opened my mouth to protest when he lifted a hand. “It’s okay, Georjie. You don’t have to tell me anything, but I want you to know that I’m here to help. I wish you’d let me. You don’t need to go through whatever you’re going through alone.”

  My vision blurred as my eyes misted. “Thanks, Lachlan. That means more than I can say.”

  He planted a kiss beside my nose and I turned my face up and offered my lips again.

  Chapter 20

  “How do I look?” I stepped out from behind the thick foliage where I’d swapped my own clothes for the ‘costume’ Laec had brought for me. Standing before him in a glade flooded with moonlight, I held my arms out and my head straight. A sprightly drumbeat permeated the woods and I turned in time to the music, letting him observe my disguise.

  Laec considered me thoughtfully, his eyes skimming me from head to toe. “You’ll do. Just need to…”

  He came to stand behind me, his bare feet silent on the fallen leaves and near-frozen earth of the forest. I suppressed a shiver when I felt his fingers in my hair, lifting, tying, fiddling. He stepped around me again and surveyed his handiwork from the front. His assessment concluded with my eyes, where his gaze locked with mine. Half his mouth lifted in a cocky smile.

  “You’ll fit right in, just don’t talk to anyone. That accent.” He shuddered.

  I snorted. “Yours isn’t exactly angels’ music either.” In truth, Laec’s accent was lyrical and lovely, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of letting him know that. Damn fae hunk was arrogant enough already.

  I looked down at my getup, which included bare feet, and frowned. Not that I didn’t like it, it was gorgeous. Laec had presented me with a gown the color of dawn. The hem, which hit at the ankle, was yellow. By my knees it had darkened to orange, at my waist it was a soft purple which transitioned into midnight blue at the chest, where it ended. No straps, and only a fine woven belt made of tree fibers kept it cinched above my breasts. A second belt hugged my waist. The gown was gauzy and as light as spider’s silk.

  I said, “I’m going to freeze in this.”

  “Are you freezing now?” Laec asked as he fiddled further with my hair.

  “No.” Huh. How about that. Winter in the Scottish Highlands and I was outdoors, barefoot, and wearing something suitable for the tropics, yet I felt perfectly comfortable.

  “That’s because you’re in Stavarjak now.”

  My head snapped up. “I’m where?”

  “Relax, you’ve been here before,” he replied absently, eyes on whatever creation he was making on the top of my head. “When we first met.”

  I put my hands on Laec’s cheeks and forced him to look at me. “Explain.”

  “Stavarjak is a fae province. You’re here because you’re with me and I don’t have time to explain the politics or the physics. You have to focus.” He made some final touch, then whacked both my shoulders like I was a soldier. After a nod of satisfaction, he turned and strode through the woods.

  I stood there with my head cocked for a breath or two. When he’d whacked me, the pressure in my eardrums had increased subtly and there was now a smell in the air that hadn’t been there before. Realizing Laec was nearly out of view, I dashed after him.

  “Did you do something back there?”

  Laec replied over his shoulder, “Keep up.”

  Trying not to
be restricted by the tunic, I picked it up and bunched it at my hips with my hands to free my legs.

  “Don’t ruin the outfit, either.” Laec didn’t turn around when he said this, but it was as if he’d spoken the words to my face, so clearly could I hear them. “Fyfa wouldn’t appreciate it. With any luck, I’ll have those back in her closet and she’ll be none the wiser.”

  “You took them without asking?”

  “She’s taller than you, but otherwise you’re roughly the same.”

  I almost stopped walking. “She’s taller?” There were some exceptionally tall women out there, but I’d never met any woman taller than myself.

  “Try not to sweat or step in mud.”

  “Has anyone ever told you you’re supremely annoying? How much taller? When can I meet her? Will she be at the party?

  “And I’m the annoying one?”

  I opened my mouth to retort when the rhythmic music drifting through the trees grew loud. Lights glimmered like fireflies in the distance. As the forest thinned, a bulky shape emerged, blacking out part of the starlit sky. I stopped walking altogether when a familiar castle came into view. Even Laec paused at the edge of the trees to let me take in what I was seeing.

  “That’s Blackmouth,” I gasped. “But, not.”

  The lay of the land was nearly identical, the turrets and windows and features of the castle were the same but this version was something out of a fantasy. Flowering vines of species I didn’t recognize hugged the corners and framed the windows. Colored faery lights flashed and swirled, darted and danced about, sometimes there and sometimes not. I hadn’t seen fairies since I left Canada and the sight warmed my whole torso and raised gooseflesh on my arms.

  “Faeries,” I breathed.

  My wonder expanded as my gaze swept the castle balconies, the terraces, the grounds. Tall, slender forms stood bathed in shadow and light, talking, laughing, sipping from cups and eating. Drums and flutes filled the air with haunting but heart-lifting music. A fat moon rose in the distance, unencumbered by the banks of clouds I’d become so accustomed to.