A Witching Well of Magic: A Cozy Mystery (Witchy Women of Coven Grove Book 2) (13 page)

It took some convincing, some arguing, and some putting her foot down, but Bailey convinced Aiden that it was her job, as Steward of the Caves—a title she made up just to push her point home, but kind of liked the sound of—to put the stones somewhere safe. When he realized, at some length, that she would not be swayed—and as she pointed out, that she was here first—he relented.

“
It’s for the best,” she told him.

“
I will… trust your judgment. And I’d hate to incur the wrath of a witch of your caliber.” This he said with a wink that made Bailey blush. She beat a hasty retreat before it got any worse.

She met the Coven Ladies by the Caves, late that night. She was a little surprised to see Rita Hope with them, leaning heavily on her gnarled cane, her face a scowl yet somehow merely passive. That was simply the shape of her face, perhaps after long decades of professional-grade scowling. Francis had nothing on her in that department, but Bailey harbored the private thought that she might, one day, if she kept it up.

“
All three stones,” Bailey said triumphantly. She handed Chloe her old, beat up backpack that she’d had since elementary school.

Chloe hefted it, and examined the bag with some amusement.

“
Who took it?” Francis asked. “The wizard boy?”

“
No,” Bailey assured her. “He helped me find the missing one. We don’t know who took it.”

“
Did you tell him about us?” Aria asked; not accusatory, it seemed; just covering bases.

“
No,” Bailey said. “But…”

“
But?” Francis snapped. “But what?”

“
We did magic together, me and Aiden. It was different. I wondered if any of you had done it before…” she trailed off. All four women were gravely silent and watchful.

It was Rita who broke the silence with a long, rattling sigh. “Kids. No sense. I’ve said it all along. Give me those, Chloe,” she said.

Chloe handed the pack over to the old woman.

“
Anita and I will keep these safe from now on. They never should have left the caves in the first place.” She started to wander down the perilously sloped and rocky trail along the cliff side. “No respect for tradition…” Bailey heard her muttering before she was out of earshot.

Bailey couldn’t hold back any longer. “When were any of you going to tell me that Rita Hope was one of us? And who’s Anita? Just how many of us are there?”

Chloe grimaced. “It’s—”

“
Tradition,” Bailey sighed. “Right. Of course it is.”

“
Anita is Rita’s sister,” Aria said gently. “The way that Chloe and I and Francis are sisters. They’re the mothers. Or…” she glanced, horrified, at Francis and Chloe, who seemed to share her distress. “Oh, dear. No, they’d be the Crones now, wouldn’t they. That makes us the Mothers. And Bailey the Maiden. We’re getting so old…”

To hear Aria, beautiful, youthful Aria who didn’t look a day over twenty five though she was nearly forty, lament getting old made Bailey have to stifle a giggle. “Ahem,” she said, “well, okay. I should be used to surprises at this point, I suppose. So… Aiden and I? That magic was different. Very different.”

Aria gave a pretty sigh.

Francis grunted once, and then shook her head. “Deal with this,” she told Chloe. “It’s your mess.”

She stormed off, back toward town. Aria pressed her lips into an apologetic frown, and scurried after her.

Chloe and Bailey were, again, alone. Maybe because of their shared gift, the others seemed to be setting a pattern of leaving Bailey in Chloe’s hands when it came to what Bailey assumed was something difficult to deal with.

“
I’m ready,” Bailey said. “Read me the riot act. What did I do wrong this time?”

Chloe laughed quietly and pulled Bailey into a short, but full hug. “Nothing, Bailey,” she said. “Sit.”

Bailey and Chloe settled onto the cool grass. It was a clear night, rare this time of year, and the stars sparkled above them winking happily as they drifted through space.

“
I know you’ve told someone,” Chloe said. “I can feel it.”

With a sigh, Bailey admitted it. There was no point hiding things from Chloe. “Avery and Piper. And, Aiden, now, of course. But that was necessity. Avery was an accident. But Piper wasn’t. I wanted her to know.”

“
I understand,” Chloe said. “Believe me, I really do. It’s lonely, this life.”

Bailey started to assure her that she thought of all three of the women as friends and teachers, but Chloe didn’t give her the chance.

“
I know having us isn’t the same as having them,” she said. “I was your age. We all were. It was never hard for Francis… or at least, she never said it was. Aria and I are so close, I think, because we’ve always had one another and she very much needs close friends. Martha was always proud of her secret… like it made her better than everyone else.”

She glanced at Bailey with sad eyes. “I don’t want you to be lonely, Bailey. I hope that, in the end, you aren’t.”

It sounded like another prophecy, like the admonishment that magic would have a cost. Tonight’s magic hadn’t seemed to. Unless the cost was getting the stone back and she couldn’t see how it was.

But Bailey kept all of this to herself. She listened to the ocean. After a minute, she asked again. “What happened between me and Aiden?”

Chloe hesitated, and then turned to face Bailey, instead of the ocean. “I imagine it was something special. Wizards and witches… our magic is different. Under the right circumstances it can be complimentary. But Bailey… I won’t tell you what to do, or how to live your life. I promise you that. Just… be careful around him. With your heart. Wizards are manipulative by nature.”

That seemed like quite a line, coming from a witch, but Bailey kept that to herself as well. “More ancient traditions?” Bailey asked.

“
Of a sort,” Chloe said. “You’ll understand one day. I promise, Bailey, all of these questions you have… they’ll be answered. It just takes time. It’s not enough to know an answer to a question. Not when it comes to magic. You have to really understand why the answer is the answer. The biggest difference between us and them—us and the wizards—is that our power is tempered by wisdom. Their magic is handed to them as is. That can be dangerous. So, be on your guard is all I’m saying.”

It wasn’t far from what Bailey herself had thought about the whole thing. “I will be,” she said. “And… thank you. I realize I haven’t said it. Not since all this began… but thank you for giving me this. Your guidance, and wisdom, and teaching me… thank you for the magic. I was worried about it, at first, but tonight… I think I started to understand how important it is to me.”

“
My sweet child,” Chloe said, drawing Bailey into another, longer hug.

“
You know I have one more person to tell,” Bailey said into Chloe’s shoulder. “I will anyway, honestly. But, I’d really just like you to tell me it’s okay.”

“
Your father,” Chloe said. She let Bailey go. “I know. Of course you should. And I believe we can trust Ryan. Wendy…” she hesitated.

Bailey felt something from her. Some knot of longing. “What about her?” Bailey asked.

For a long moment Chloe looked at Bailey, and then smiled. “She would have been proud, is all. If she was here to see you growing into your potential like this. I wish she was here to see it.”

Bailey’s eyes burned. The old ache gaped inside her, just for a moment; just to remind her it was still there. “Me too. And I feel so guilty about it sometimes, because she was so good to me but… I kind of wish my mother—my birth mother, I mean—was here, too.”

“
Oh, child,” Chloe said. Her voice was tight. She gave a single sniff. “Well, I’m certain she would be very, very proud of you as well.”

They stayed there, listening to the waves, for a long time. Eventually, though, they left the cliff side. From the street, Bailey could see the lights of the tour office still on. She let Chloe go, assured her she would get home safely, and then made her way to the office.

It wasn’t even locked. Bailey slipped inside, but knocked to announce herself. “Aiden?”

She saw his face when he leaned from his desk to look through the window. He wore half-moon spectacles, very much like her father’s, that looked, Bailey thought, perhaps more appropriately ‘wizardly’ than anything she’d seen him wear to date. He met her at the doorway. “Stones all safe?”

“
All safe,” she confirmed.

“
That’s good, then. Crisis averted.”

“
Yes,” Bailey said. “Crisis averted.”

A short silence.

Bailey bit her lip, and smiled a little. “Is it weird that I had a really—”

Aiden spoke at the same time, though. “You are a remarkable practitioner,” he said, and kept going when Bailey stopped. “And a stunning woman, Bailey. And other than the migraines and the near-destruction of the local magical Eco-system, I had a delightful time with you. But I think that we should… keep our relationship professional.”

Bailey’s stomach dropped just a little bit. “Oh,” she said quietly. “Well… yes. Okay. I agree.”

“
We—by which I mean, witches and wizards—well there is some history there. Traditions and rules and… I think it would be best for both of us if we…” he looked into her eyes, and it was clear he didn’t believe any of it. But he pressed on. “We should go slowly. Be careful. That’s all.”

Bailey let her face go still, long enough for something inside to reset to neutral. She took a deep breath and then smiled at him. “I think you’re absolutely right. Thank you for a wonderful evening all the same, Aiden. Even with the migraine and the near destruction of the magical Eco-system.” She shrugged, and then winked at him. “The magic was really nice.”

“
It really was,” he said. “Good night, Bailey. Sweet dreams.”

“
You, too.” She did kiss him on the cheek, though. And she left him with that.

A short time later, she was home. Until that moment, she hadn’t realized how exhausted she was. Or how hungry she was. She smelled food, even though it was well past eleven. That was her father, though. He hardly ever kept a regular schedule unless she was there to remind him.

She grinned when she came into the kitchen and saw him making grilled cheese sandwiches.

Ryan looked up when she moved a chair to catch his attention. “Ah, Red! Just in time, as always. Hungry?”

“
Famished,” she said.

He made her a sandwich. As he brought it to her, he sighed. “I never got the hang of making them them way your mother did. She picked up this recipe in a little town out east. Hole in the wall diner where they do it with three cheeses. Virginia, I think. Southerners know good food.”

“
I remember,” Bailey said. “But you make a mean grilled cheese too, Dad.”

“
I appreciate you saying so,” he chuckled. “So, how was your day?”

Bailey stared at her sandwich, one half-moon bite gone from it. This must have been how Avery felt when he came out to his parents. Her heart ached with the worry of what he might say. But, she’d made her decision.

“
Well,” she said slowly, carefully. “It was actually kind of exciting. Dad, there’s something I need to tell you, and I’m not sure how you’re going to take it. So, let me talk it all out, and try to keep an open mind.”

Ryan set his sandwich half down, and turned to face her in his chair. “You can tell me anything, Red. You know I’ll love you no matter what.”

Right. Well, that was a good start, then.

Bailey braced herself. “Well, Dad… to start with… Magic is real.”

To her surprise, Ryan took it in stride. And they talked, non-stop, until the sun came up the next morning.

Aiden reclined at his desk, a glass of good bourbon in one hand, a Dictaphone in the other. It was old, he’d been using it for years. He wanted to celebrate. Crisis averted. He had changed the future, right?

Except…

He hit the play button again.

His own voice, from almost seven years earlier, gravely with interrupted sleep and slurred from exhaustion, related a scene to him, the details of which had been, at the time, fading quickly, just like they always did.

“
A stone… or maybe a shell, I can’t recall… I was with a girl. Red hair… red hair and… damn it, I don’t remember. She was with me, though. We were together, I loved her. Strange feeling, a memory of love I haven’t had… there were caves. Seven, or eight, it kept changing. I was older. I had a student, I think… can’t remember what he looked like. But the important part I think is that there was a hole. A hole in the world. I can’t be certain, but I think it led to Faerie. A spell was broken, and let them back in. Just like before. Just like in Creswell. Only this time, I think I can stop it.”

Aiden stopped the recording. The next several were less clear, and had happened over the course of several weeks.

Crisis averted? Maybe. Maybe not quite. Bailey had to be the girl. And he certainly was fond of her, but… not quite in love. So, something else was going to happen. Maybe, he reasoned, if he changed that variable, the others would change as well?

That was the problem with dreaming the future. You either saw it too late, or once you saw it you ran out of choices. He finished his bourbon, and stared at the old analog recorder. He’d had seven years to get here. Had he changed enough?

He sighed, and was about to lock up for the night and slog his way home when there was a knock at the door. Bailey? No, surely not. Then again… the future did often seem written in stone.

Aiden went to the front doors and unlocked them—Bailey must have locked them by habit—but it wasn’t her that had knocked.

It was her friend, Avery. He was bundled up in a thick wool coat.

“
Oh, Avery. Ah… is something the matter?”

The young man pushed his glasses up on his nose. “No, no. Not exactly. I had a feeling you’d be here. I get those a lot. Um… can I come in?”

Aiden let him in, curious about what he had to say, but eager to pack it in for the night. “What’s this about?”

Avery pulled his hands out of his pockets, and then after a moment put them back in, and finally settled on clasping them behind his back. He looked nervous; white as a sheet. Oh, dear. He’d given the boy the wrong idea, perhaps, before. That couldn’t be it, could it?

But Avery surprised him entirely, and as he spoke, Aiden’s stomach sank. “Aiden, sir, or… Mr. Rivers, I’m not sure how I should call you… the thing is… I get these instincts. Strong ones. They’re right, almost all the time. I was right about you, in fact. And ever since I saw you doing magic in the cave I’ve had this feeling that…” he trailed off for a moment, and steadied his nerves. But Aiden knew what he was going to say next.

“
I think that I’m supposed to learn magic from you, Mr. Rivers. I’d very much like to be your student.”

Aiden almost groaned, but it wouldn’t have made a difference. It seemed that the future was, mostly likely, inescapable after all.

*****

Be on the lookout for Book Three in the Witchy Women of Coven Grove Series coming out the first of July, 2016!

Thanks for reading!