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“Yes! That would be great, I would love that.” Cora's excitement spilled over before she could contain it.

Tabitha was nodding her head which she assumed was her way of saying it was okay.

“Does that mean I can practise using my power?”

Ayden looked from Cora to Tabitha. His brows knitted together becoming one thick line. The twinkle within his blue eyes hardened taking on the not so charming properties of ice.

She'd said something she shouldn't have.

“She hasn’t been using her powers?”

Tabitha shook her head.

Oh dear.

It had just been a passing comment, a flippant thing. Really, no one needed to pay attention to her ramblings. Of course, she'd said all of this in her head.

“But she must!” He turned to Cora ignoring Tabitha's thunderous expression. Not a wise move in her opinion. “Cora, I can promise you we will have some fun with your powers on Saturday,” he assured her, the smile on his face that of a mischievous child.

Cora grinned and started happily blowing on her hot chocolate whilst avoiding Tabitha's glare.

“Oh and you must bring your mother to the picnic. I want to see if she looks like her great great great grandmother. She was one foxy lady!” He whistled emphasising his point.

The hot chocolate Cora had just put into her mouth sprayed all over the table. Tabitha stood up and clucked her tongue at the mess.

“Sorry Tab, it was his fault,” she choked out the words wiping her mouth and tried pointing her finger at him.

“It is not you it was aimed at.  Ayden, you know better.”

Tabitha turned away but not before Cora caught the glimpse of a small smile tug on her lips. 

“Right, I will be off, things to do, people to see. I’ll see you both on Saturday.” With a final wink, he left the shop with a bounce in his step.

“I like him,” Cora loudly announced as she watched him leave.

Chapter 17

THE PICNIC

There was an hour to go before closing and time had most definitely stood still.

“I'm going to head out for some more supplies. Do you think you can lock up?”

“Sure. Will you be back for when Ayden arrives?”

Nodding her answer as she placed her purse and keys into a hidden pocket of her robes, she smiled at her. Today Tabitha was wearing sunshine yellow, her coal black hair hung straight instead of her usual curls. Summer colours suited Tabitha
;
she couldn’t understand why she didn’t wear them more often.

             
The bell sounded just as she was aligning the ornaments on the bookcase. She stepped off the box and right into the path of the customer.

“Oh, hi,” she smiled.

“Hi, I need some more dandelion leaves.”

“Sure,” she smiled.

             
Heading to the till she used this opportunity to observe him. Today he wore a loose fitting sky blue shirt coupled with maroon chinos. She tried to look busy as he turned and walked to the till.

“I’ll take these.” He pushed several bottles her way.

“Sure.” Did she have any other words in her vocabulary? Her hands shook as she punched in the items prices.

“I noticed the sign on the door, the shop is shutting early?”

Momentarily forgetting her embarrassment, she grinned at him. “I'm going for a picnic with my friends and my mum this afternoon. We’re taking advantage of the weather.”

“It's lovely out there, where will you have your picnic?” he asked as he handed over his money.

“Errmm… I think its Adam Burns or something. He has a field that people use for this kind of thing.” 

“Yeah I know where that is. Its Andrew Bruton by the way, he opens up his land for the public to use. It’s a village thing,” he said with a shrug. “I've often used it. I hope you have a lovely time. I think we're having a BBQ. My friend Eli likes to gather his family around when the weather is nice. He has a big
family
so it's never boring. We will no doubt have a game of
football;
there will be enough of us.”

“I love BBQ’s, the way the smell of charcoal permeates the food giving it that smokey taste. It's the kind of smell that makes you think of summer.”

The memory popped into her mind making the hairs on her arms stand to attention.

“Have fun at your picnic.” He picked up his bag.

“I hope you win in your football game.”

“I always do,” he laughed as he walked towards the door. 

*

Ayden led the way with a huge wicker basket full of food hanging off his arm. Tabitha and Ember were walking slowly behind her talking good naturedly.  She had her arm looped through her mother’s. She smiled remembering Ayden’s reaction when her mother had approached wearing a crystal blue dress that cut off at her
knees;
the colour complimented her green eyes and her petite figure. Ayden had whistled under his breath. Judging by the drool slipping down his chin Ayden had suddenly developed a thing for her mother. That poor man didn't know what was coming to him. The last victim who’d made advances on her mother was probably still suffering from the verbal whiplash.

             
Ayden had jumped effortlessly over a small beck even with the huge basket in his arms. Placing the basket down, he turned smiling at her mother. He didn’t even acknowledge her.

Charming.

Cora watched as her mother graciously took his hand and in seconds was placed snugly against him. He grinned holding her for a little too long. Cora watched as her mother shyly smiled at him. What had happened to the verbal whiplash?

             
Ayden turned his attention to her but she noticed that he still had one sly arm around her mother’s waist. She grabbed his hand and felt it flex before the strength in his hand lifted her effortlessly across the beck. Ayden was a lot stronger than she gave him credit for.

             
The mid-day heat pounded down on them as they sought a good picnic spot. She was wearing a vest top with denim shorts and she was still warm. Tabitha, of course, was wearing her sunshine robes. For reasons beyond her understanding, Tabitha looked refreshed and sweat free. Ember had turned up looking like a celebrity wearing a hip hugging dress the shade of pearls and champagne gladiator sandals. Her thick silver hair was pulled back in a long plait. 

“Do you need a hand?” Cora asked when she spied Ayden fussing with the blankets.

“No, everything’s in hand.” He turned giving her a twinkling smile and bowing ever so slightly.

“It may take a while for me to get used to that,” her mother whispered.

“Used to what?”

“People bowing at you.”

Her mother’s expression made her laugh. She’d told him to stop but she was sure he still did it to make her blush.

“What’s so funny?” Tabitha’s arms slid comfortably around Cora’s shoulders.

“Nothing.” A quick glance at her mother made her giggle.

She dropped herself down on a blanket and gawped at the food.  Was he planning on feeding the entire village? There was a selection of every food group going. Snatching a loaded egg mayonnaise sandwich she chewed on a huge mouthful and sighed. She watched, feeling a little common, as everyone else started piling their food a mile high on their plates. She listened to the buzz of life around her as she chewed and watched as Tabitha opened the wine and expertly skipped over her glass.

“Hey! So I can't drink now?”

“You are not of legal age.”

“You have to be kidding me? Tab, I'm legal in witch years, this little fact should count for something.”

Without much thought she grabbed the bottle from Tabitha's hand, pushed it to her lips and drank. Ayden roared with laughter and slapped a hand on her shoulder.

“Mature. Very mature,” Tabitha chastised.

“Well if you treat me like a child. I might as well act like one.”

Silence followed. She'd actually shot a snide remark at Tabitha. What was she thinking? Tabitha's bite was worse than her mother's.  Ayden was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“Point taken,” Tabitha said nodding as she poured wine into her waiting glass.

Ember laughed. “So, whilst we're here, I think we need to discuss what we are going to do with the Chattox boy.”

“Well, we already know what needs to be done, rather unpleasant and unnecessary, but there you go. We have to protect Cora.” Nodding, Ayden pushed the rest of his sandwich into his mouth.

“Of course we know what needs to be done but we need to set up a timetable for Cora. Each of us should practice our powers and work with her in developing her skills. This will make our coven stronger when faced with an attack.”

“Attack?” her mother squeaked, her wide eyes looked questioningly at her.

Cora swallowed a large amount of her wine. So, she hadn't got around to discussing this whole Jack situation with her mother. It wasn't conversation that could be brought up over breakfast: 'oh, Mum, there’s this boy who has tried to kill me, twice, and I need to kill him otherwise I die. No big deal.' Granted, it wasn't great she was hearing it now
,
and like this
,
but her coven could reassure her mum, and her, that everything was going to be fine.

“Jack's coven may
approach
us,” Ayden replied aware that her mother’s face had turned a deathly white.

“Mum, I think I may have had a memory today.”

“Great, what was it?” Her mother jumped to attention. She was satisfied that her mother was no longer thinking about an attack.

“I think I've had a BBQ before. I remember the smell and the taste
of the food. I remember that it
was a summer night.”

Tabitha looked at her mother for confirmation.

“Yes. We've had plenty before, especially when you had your friends around.”

“At least this is the first step to your memories returning,” Tabitha said, her face showing relief.

She knew that Tabitha felt bad about her memory loss. Cora didn't blame her for what she'd done.

“I am personally looking forward to working with Cora, your sessions will be fun,” Ayden grinned and then licked his fingers as egg mayonnaise ran down them.

“Ayden, I don’t think-” Tabitha began.

Ayden cut her off holding up his eggy finger to silence her. “Tabitha, look at her.”

All eyes turned to her. She felt the familiar creep of heat flush her cheeks. Did they have to stare? She bit back a sarcastic remark. Her mother was here so she wouldn't get away with it. She was surprised she’d got away with the wine incident. Tabitha seemed to ignore them and Ayden always smiled like he loved to hear her funny remarks.

“She's handled this predicament with grace and style. It took me well over a century to deal with my power. She needs to learn how to defend herself. When was the last time you used your power?” he asked her.

“Ermmm... it was at the coven meeting.” She refused to look at Tabitha.

“See, she needs to have fun with her power. We did. You don't have to be serious all the time,” he winked at Tabitha.

Cora looked at her and saw the reluctant smile she gave him in return. Ayden had such a way with Tabitha, and apparently her mother.

“Now, Cora, show us what you've got.”

She looked at Ayden liked he'd developed a hand in the middle of his head. 

“Here you go.” He picked up a ball and threw it at her.

Where had the ball come from?

“What am I meant to do with that?”

He laughed and shrugged his wide shoulders. “Do anything you want.”

             
Throwing the ball in the air, she lifted her hands. The ball flew right into the hands of Ayden. Who then threw it to another Ayden and then another. She had to admit his gift was pretty amazing. She grinned at the Ayden holding the ball. She didn't know if he was the real Ayden. It would boggle her mind trying to solve it. His face turned from a grin to a grimace of pain as he threw the ball on the floor and yelped. “Tabitha! The ball was bloody red hot.”

Cora spun around and caught Tabitha’s satisfied smile. Her mother’s face was a picture of shock. Ember sat eating her sandwich, a small smile playing on her lips.

             
She turned her attention back to Ayden and flicked her fingers. Her element embraced the ball. She glanced back at Tabitha who was still smiling. She gave her a quick wink which told her that the ball was still very hot.  She pushed the wind with a little bit of force. The ball crashed against one of the heads of Ayden. With a flick of her fingers the ball shot off and hit the head of the other Ayden. She could hear the sizzle as the heat singed Ayden's already short hair. She giggled, watching as the Aydens turned around and ran in every direction. He realised he had no escape. Using her powers
was
fun. She could get used to this.