Emerald Isle (11 page)

To my dismay, both Birdie and Tallulah gathered in front of Mrs. Doherty. I let her group go first, so I could keep on eye on Hades’ Little Helper.

Tallulah was still snickering behind my grandmother’s back, a few cronies playing along, but Birdie seemed to be handling it well. She was listening intently to everything Mrs. Doherty had to say, nodding, and writing in her book.

Aedon sidled up next to me. “Don’t worry about Birdie. She’ll be okay. She’s really smart. And strong.”

I turned to him and smiled. “Thanks, Aedon.”

I knew all about the magic of Tara from my lessons. The stone was perched at the top of the highest hill, so I led my group up to it, discussing its legend, where it came from, and what it meant to the people of the land. We hadn’t hiked too far when I spotted the stone protruding from the grass.

We formed a circle around it, and a few kids asked questions. Thankfully, I was able to answer them. After about fifteen minutes of the children chattering and touching the stone, pretending they were kings and queens, I let them explore a bit more of the hillside and I did as well.

I could sense them here. Danu, Badb, Lugh, Nuada. My gods and goddesses. I could feel the dynamic energy of the earth, the power of the wind, the presence of
greatness. The landscape herself was beyond beautiful. It was intoxicating, and I knew then that they had sent me here. The redhead and the raven-haired woman were the real deal. I opened my arms wide and soaked in the essence of Tara.

That’s when I heard Birdie say, “Give it back!”

I whipped around to see Tallulah hiding behind a headstone in the old cemetery at the bottom of the hill, holding a book. Birdie was trying to catch up with her, but Tallulah had three accomplices playing keep-away with her.

Mrs. Doherty was still absorbed in her lecture around the mound. I told Aedon to lead the group to where she was, yards away, and ran down to help Birdie.

Birdie said, “Give it back, Tallulah, please.”

I had never heard her so desperate; her voice was on the verge of cracking, and my heart ripped.

I called upon the inner goddess of my core, wishing badly that Thor were here. He’d teach these little trolls a lesson. “Girls. Enough. Give the book back. Now.”

The other three scampered away, but Tallulah remained still, shooting daggers at me with her eyes.

She stepped forward, leaves crunching beneath her feet. “Do you know who I am?”

Those words startled me, for some reason. Stopped me dead in my tracks. Her voice. The very tone she used reminded me of someone, but I didn’t know who.

I shook it off and said, “I know exactly who you are, missy.” Anger swirled in my belly. It was her turn to be surprised. “You’re a bully. And believe me when I tell you, bullies get what they deserve, threefold.”

As I will it, so mote it be.

The air whirled around her and a gust of wind blew in from the east as I focused all my energy on the book—Birdie’s book—that was still in the hands of this stranger. I heard a crow caw, then another, and saw Tallulah look up nervously as a tree branch cracked over her head.

Her lip quivered for a moment, and she lifted her eyes skyward as a dark cloud tumbled in from the west. Her skirt flapped in the wind that circled around her. Her hair knotted into a nest, and I could tell she was having a hell of a time retaining ground.

She turned an icy glare to me, and then to my grandmother, who stood perfectly still, eyes only on her work.

Finally, as a sunbeam from the south nearly blinded her, and the wind whipped so hard it tossed Tallulah on her ass, she held up the book. “Fine! Take the stupid book.”

My young grandmother reached for it, but before Tallulah passed it off, she tore out the first page and sacrificed it to the wind.

Birdie screamed. “No! My fetching spell.”

Fat, rolling tears tumbled down her face as the paper twisted and flipped in the air.

I called to Birdie, “Stay here. I’ll get it.”

Birdie scanned the garden table. There were five guests slumped over their soup. Derek, Cinnamon, Tony, Chance, and Gus. Gus had come by looking for Leo, and since they needed one more person for the spell, they decided to include him. Leo was still rolled up like a burrito near the back step.

“Including the three of us, that makes nine,” Fiona said.

Lolly was lighting the candles and gathering the herbs for Birdie’s retrieval spell. She read the ingredients one last time. “I remember you speaking about this fetching spell, Birdie. You worked on it for months, did you not?”

Birdie nodded. She was adjusting the rug to make sure Leo had enough oxygen. “I began that my first year at the Academy. I recall it was on a field trip to Tara.” She cocked her head. “Funny, I don’t recall the name of the nice chaperone who assisted me with it.”

Lolly frowned then and said, “I think I must need my reading glasses. I can’t seem to make out the words very clearly.”

Fiona joined Lolly and said, “The ink seems to be quite faded.” She looked at Birdie. “Funny. It was much darker a few moments ago.”

Birdie stopped fiddling with the rug she was adjusting. For the life of her, she couldn’t recall why there was a rug outside in the first place. Her thoughts felt fuzzy.

Fiona said, “Birdie? Are you all right?”

Birdie said, “Yes, of course.” She smacked her hands together. “Now then, what was it we were about to retrieve?”

I chased the page as it curled through the wind, past the headstones, past a few trees, until it finally snagged on the branch of an ancient oak, twenty feet in the air.

“Damn,” I said. “Now would be a good time to report to duty, Badb. Or at least send one of your soldiers.”

Behind me, I heard a sniffle.

I turned to face Birdie, tears sliding down her puffy cheeks.

“Don’t cry. We can get it.”

“It’s not fair. Tallulah spoils everything.” She kicked the dirt.

I remember feeling like that when I was little. It was a horrible feeling, getting picked on for being different. Sure, everyone went through that kind of teasing at one time or another, for one prejudice or another, but knowing that didn’t make it sting any less. I was the odd kid out because I grew up in a family full of witches. Birdie was being bullied because of her address.

“Brighid, my friend, you will meet people in your life who will test your courage, question your wisdom, and
challenge your beliefs. You can’t let those people squash your ambitions. They are not who defines us. But they are important. Do you know why?” I picked up a rock and tossed it at the branch holding the page. Missed.

She thought for a moment, then shook her head. She picked up a rock too.

“Because they teach us to value what matters. When the battle is over and those people fade into mere memories, you are left holding on to the most important thing of all. And it isn’t fame, or conquest, or riches, it’s personal truth. Stay true to yourself, my dear, and you’ll never go wrong.”

We tossed a few more rocks at the branch, to no avail. I whistled to a passing crow, hoping Badb had sent it, but it soared on by, the stench of river water floating alongside it.

Birdie threw her rock and hit a lower branch. “It doesn’t matter. It was just a stupid fetching spell.” She stared at the tree wistfully. “I probably wouldn’t have used it anyway.”

I faced Birdie, put my hands on her shoulders. “Hey, you shouldn’t give up so easily.” I lifted her chin to meet my eyes. “You know what my grandmother says?”

She shook her graceful head.

“My grandmother—who is a very powerful witch, by the way—says that between destiny and duty lies faith. If you have nothing to believe in, then you have nothing. Just believe, Brighid.” I looked at the tree. “Now then, are you going to climb it, or shall I?”

As Birdie sized up the tree and her flat shoes, Mrs. Doherty screeched from beyond the graveyard. “Miss Geraghty! You are in big trouble, young lady! You too, Justice!”

Well, this can’t be good.

“She sounds pretty mad,” Birdie said, fingering her scarf.

“She sure does,” I agreed.

Tallulah was marching right next to Mrs. Doherty, a satisfied smirk on her face.

I was so over this kid.

The teacher yelled, “You are going to get the licking of your life. I warned you not to practice magic!”

“I didn’t.” Birdie stepped back and positioned my body in front of her as a shield.

The woman couldn’t be serious. “Does she mean what I think she means?” I asked Birdie.

Birdie whispered, “Disobeying a direct order is twenty licks, if you’re lucky.”

Oh no. No way was I going to let this bitch lay a hand on Birdie. Spare the rod, spoil the child was not a phrase in our book of child rearing. The Geraghtys used much more creative methods, which were far more effective, I might add. Like driving your granddaughter to school wearing a pentagram cape, and carrying a crystal ball to escort her to freshman English class.

“Badb, please help,” I said through gritted teeth. “I know you can hear me. Probably watching from that floating HD monitor.”

A raven came swooping down then, a piece of paper stuck on its beak. I pulled it off and scanned the writing. It looked like Birdie’s spell. The bird flew to a low-hanging branch.

Not exactly what I had in mind, but I figured I’d take what I could get at that point.

I passed the paper behind my back to Birdie.

She whispered, “Oh, thank you.”

Doherty was making pretty good time down that hill, and I wondered if I had misjudged her age.

Birdie clutched my skirt tighter, and a sickening thought occurred to me.
I may be able to help her now, but what about the next time, and the time after that?
If I was pushed back through the web, then who would protect Birdie? I suspected Lolly and Fiona had never gone to this school. That would explain why Birdie had taken on the leadership role for the family when her mother died. Or perhaps her sisters had already passed through and Birdie was the last one. The best one. But if they weren’t here, that would mean she was all alone, with no one and nothing to count on except herself and her magic.

Magic. That was it.

Tracing a finger around my neck, I lifted the locket over my head and turned to face Birdie. I cradled the piece in both hands, put it to my third eye, and charged it with the power of Tara, the gods and goddesses, and the ancestors who wore it before me. I still had no idea of its function or importance, but I knew with every fiber of my being that I was supposed to give this heirloom to Birdie right now.

What had the card on the box read?
For Stacy Justice. When the time is right.

So maybe the time wasn’t right when I opened it. The ghost didn’t tell me to open it. She just moved it so I’d pay attention to her.

“Birdie, listen to me.”

The little girl my grandmother had been looked up at me with such fear in her eyes, I wanted to break the legs of whoever put it there. I slipped the locket over her head.

“I want you to wear this at all times, for protection. When you’re feeling scared, or uncertain, just click it open”—I flicked open the latch—“look at the clock, and remember what I told you today.”

She glanced down at the necklace. “Is this…?” She turned the locket over and gasped. “It is.” She looked me straight in the eye for the first time, and a flutter passed between us. “I’ve only read about it. No one knows what it actually looks like, but it must be.” She examined it closer. “This is a Seeker’s amulet.” Her eyes strained to memorize my face. “That means you must be—”

Doherty came around me then, and Birdie shoved the locket under her shirt.

As Tallulah laughed, the woman grabbed Birdie’s arm violently. “Practicing magic, when I specifically restricted you from doing so, is grounds for dismissal.”

“I didn’t, I swear,” Birdie cried.

In two strides, my hand was on the teacher’s throat. “Let her go.”

She did, and so did I.

Doherty swung toward me. “I will deal with you too, Justice, make no mistake!”

“Fine. So who will deal with Tallulah?” I asked. “She must be disciplined for stealing and intentionally destroying property that does not belong to her.”

Mrs. Doherty straightened out her pantsuit. “I heard mention of no such thing. Only that Brighid cast a spell.”

The children had descended the hill by then, so I stepped sideways and leaned in to speak softly. “You and I both know that is not true, now, don’t we?”

She glared at me.

“Look, I understand the kid’s father is some big shot, but don’t you think—when Daddy’s little girl gets herself killed because she has no clue how destructive magic can be when you don’t know how to use it—that he’ll trace her failure right back to this school? Back to those who were supposed to teach her. Back to you?”

Mrs. Doherty frowned. She obviously had not considered that possibility. She flicked her eyes to my young grandmother. “Brighid, go wait on the bus. We shall discuss this incident later.”

I watched as Birdie made a wide loop around Tallulah, who stood there with an
aw, shucks
look on her face.