The Witches of Dark Root: Daughters of Dark Root: Book One (The Daughters of Dark Root) (51 page)

“Maggie, stop!” Shane called, trying to pull himself to his feet. “You don’t want to do this!”

My eyes flickered towards him, then back to Leah. He didn’t know anything about her. He didn’t know how she had used me, hurt me, stolen what was mine.

Leah managed to tuck her face into the crook of one of her arms, whimpering. “I don’t have the anti-spell. I swear. That page was missing when I found the book.”

“I don’t believe you!”

“I promise! We were just so desperate...” Leah’s wet eyes widened, tears mixing with blood. “You can’t do this. We’re sisters!”

My grip tightened and I yanked her by the hair, forcing her face sideways and planting a knee on her bloody cheek. I lowered the scissors, letting them hover just centimeters from her ear.

“You had your chance,” I said, pulling the blades apart as she screamed.

Snip.

Her long brown hair fell into the dirt, separated from her head. I used the scissors again and again, until all that remained were uneven chunks of darker brown, closely cropped on her head.

“Go!” I said, rolling off her when I’d finished and tossing the scissors into the trees.

Leah scrambled to her feet, looked at her shorn hair on the ground, and then ran for the dark path opposite the way we had come in.

“Maggie!” Shane reached me, swallowing me in his arms.

“I couldn’t get the anti-spell,” I sobbed, wiping my nose on his shirt. “Mother isn’t going to get better. I failed.”

“No, you didn’t fail. You passed, Maggie,” he said, pulling me closer. “It’s going to be okay.”

“But nothing’s changed,” I said, taking one final glance at the path Leah had gone down.

I could have followed, but I knew that wouldn’t save my mother. It wouldn’t save me, either.

An owl hooted somewhere in the woods, a comforting sound as Shane wrapped his arm around my shoulders and escorted me out. He kicked the brush out of my way and carried me over the rougher spots. At last we emerged and a million twinkling stars greeted us.

“I’m sorry about throwing you back,” I said, still in shock. “I was just so filled with anger. I have no idea how I did that. I didn’t know I had that kind of power.”

“I did. And don’t apologize. It was actually kind of sexy. Dominated by two women in one night!”

I slugged him in the shoulder, then remembered something. “You knew exactly where she was. You knew where I was that night I got lost when we were kids. And you found me at the bus stop the night I came to Dark Root. You’re a warlock!”

“Again, I prefer the term
remote viewer.
A gift I inherited from my mother. She could find anything. The only woman I ever met who never lost her purse.”

I let him lift me over a pile of mud or manure, I wasn’t sure which. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I said.

“After the original council splintered, your mother had some reservations about a man’s role in witchery. Uncle Joe trained me on the sly. Besides,” he said, dusting off the back of my dress. “You weren’t really sold on the magic thing, then. But after what I just witnessed, I’m guessing all that’s changed.”

“A tracker huh? I could really use you.” I thought about all the things I’d lost.

“Use me all you want,” Shane replied, as we stepped into the lights of downtown Main Street. Eve and Paul were singing, ‘I Got You, Babe,’ to a crowd of several hundred people.

Merry spotted me and ran over, whispering that we still had no candles for the lighting ceremony.

I waved her off. “We’ll figure it out. We always do.”

Shane and I crossed the street towards Dip Stix. “Now let’s get you cleaned up,” he said, unlocking the door and flipping on the light.

It took a second for my eyes to adjust and to see the figure sitting at the corner booth.

“Ruth Anne!” I almost chocked as I raced towards her.

“Surprise!” she said, her mouth forming a half-smile as she stood to hug me.

We cried, holding each other so tightly, I wasn’t sure whose tears were whose anymore.

I looked at Shane, once again surprised by his ability to keep secrets. He grinned and stuffed his hands in his pocket.

“I told you I was good at finding things,” he said.

“He’s a frickin’ genius,” Ruth Anne admitted. “I had even changed my name.”

“The internet is a powerful tool. I’m not sure what we warlocks did before it came along,” Shane joked.

“You can tell me the details later,” I said, not letting go of my sister.

Her hair was still short, wisps of brown hitting just above her shoulders. And she still wore the same large glasses she had always worn. She looked absolutely perfect.

“The others know you are here?” I asked.

Ruth Ann nodded. “I got in this afternoon. Shane thought we should wait and surprise you after the parade. If I would have known it was going to take you two this long to get here, I would have brought a book.”

“Sorry.” I bit my lip and gave Shane a knowing look. “We were a little delayed.” Then, remembering the day Shane had confessed to liking older, intelligent women, I suddenly felt like I was intruding.

“I, uh...” I stepped back, almost without knowing I did it. “...I should probably leave you two alone. I need to get ready for the lighting ceremony.”

Ruth Anne grabbed me again, whispering in my ear. “Don’t be an idiot. He’s not interested in me.” She kissed me on the cheek, then winked. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve been confined to this restaurant for most of the day. I’d like to get some of that caramel popcorn I’ve been smelling through the window for hours...”

“We’ll catch you out there after Maggie changes,” Shane said. “Thanks for being such a good sport, Ruth Anne.”

I gave my sister a final smile and headed towards the restroom to get ready for the lighting ceremony. After all these years, I couldn’t believe I was seeing her again. No matter what I may have believed before, I was now a firm believer in miracles.

As I carefully applied my makeup and straightened my hair, I studied my face in the mirror. It was almost imperceptible, but I could see that in the last few months it had changed. It was softer now. And older.

“You almost ready?” Shane called to me, knocking on the bathroom door. “The natives are growing restless.”

“Yes,” I said, blotting my red lips on a piece of toilet paper.

I still wasn’t sure how we were going to manage the lighting ceremony. We’d probably need at least three hundred white candles. Everyone was counting on me to supply them. I stood at the sink for several moments, staring at my reflection and racking my brain for a solution, but I came up empty. After everything we had been through. I couldn’t believe that Haunted Dark Root might fail because of a candle shortage.

“Damn it!” I hit the sink with my hand in frustration.

A light bulb popped above me, then went out.

And I had an idea.

Twenty-Nine: Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me

Shane and I walked into the night, down the now-empty sidewalks and towards the bandstand at the edge of town.

The number of spectators had nearly doubled in the half hour we were inside Dip Stix, preparing. Paul was serenading the crowd sans Eve with an acoustic version of ‘Love Potion Number Nine.’ The crowd clapped along, but there was a feeling of restlessness in the air. They were all waiting for the moment when they could take part in the traditional lighting ceremony, helping to ‘ward off evil’ for another year.

“You look beautiful, sis,” Merry said, as I made my way up the back steps of the stage, joining her, June Bug and Ruth Anne.

“Thank you,” I said, pulling at the blue-green sweater dress. It felt tighter than the last time I tried it on. No one seemed to notice; they were too busy focusing on my
transformation.

“I can’t believe you got that hair to behave,” Eve said, touching a strand that had been highlighted a honey-yellow during my trip to Linsburg. “And check out those boots! Are they real leather? I can’t believe you’ve been keeping them from me! I might have to borrow them.”

“You’ll have to pry them off me, first,” I said.

Eve gave me a sly smile that said that can be arranged.

“I’m glad you’re here,” I said to Ruth Anne. She had never enjoyed these ceremonies as a kid, but now she seemed relaxed as she munched on a corn dog and swayed to the rhythm of Paul’s guitar.

“Yes,” she agreed. “We have so much to catch up on.”

“I’m a bit worried,” Merry said, looking out at the hundreds of people assembled before the stage. “I hope you’re right about this.”

“Me, too.” I swallowed.

“There’s only one way to find out,” Shane said. “Shall we?”

He took my hand and led me towards the center of the grandstand. As we passed in front of Paul, he stopped playing to stare at me. Eve took her seat next to him and grabbed his jaw, forcing his gaze onto her. He grinned and the two exchanged Eskimo kisses. Ruth Anne made a gagging gesture behind them and we all laughed.

I walked into the spotlight, aware that hundreds of eyes were now watching me. I lifted the microphone with shaking hands, not used to being the center of this much attention. Ruth Anne, Merry, Eve and June Bug joined me in the front row, standing off to my right. We waved out at the crowd and they cheered in response.

The next generation of Dark Root witches had risen.

“Good evening, everyone,” I said, when they had at last quieted down. “And welcome to the Annual Haunted Dark Root Lighting Ceremony.”

With that, the crowd broke into another round of applause.

“I realize our little coven’s been AWOL a few years,” I said, brushing a piece of hair out of my face. “But we are back now and here to stay.”

The crowd went crazy––clapping, cheering and stomping their feet. It reminded me of the revivals back at Woodhaven, only bigger and louder. I stepped forward, the spotlight still following me, my eyes resting on a young woman in the front row.

“Legend says that over a century ago, a woman named Juliana Benbridge lost her husband, Charles, when he jumped to his death from one of the tallest bridges in Portland. By all accounts, Charles had every reason to live. He was young, wealthy, a sought-after architect, and married to the most beautiful woman in the city. Still, one fateful evening while out for a walk, several witnesses saw him suddenly stop, and then––as if under a spell––walk to the edge of the bridge and hurl himself into the icy water below. His body was never found. Later, a maid confessed to hearing Juliana complain of her husband’s bad habits, just that afternoon...

“Now, that in itself shouldn’t have aroused much suspicion. But Juliana had been a mystery ever since she had moved to Portland at the age of sixteen. It was said that flowers bloomed or wilted in her presence, depending on her mood. A cock that crowed too early one morning, interrupting Juliana’s beauty sleep, suddenly fell over dead. And a neighbor claimed her pitcher of milk had soured, just because Juliana had touched the pitcher.

“But, the biggest reason Juliana was under constant scrutiny had less to do with sour milk and more to do with her unusual ability...an ability that caused a lot of distress among the elite of Portland. Juliana could make men fall suddenly––and violently––in love with her. Husbands left their wives. Clergy left the church. Fathers left their families. All of them claimed they were under a spell.

“And so, shortly after her husband’s passing, Juliana received a visit from her neighbors, advising her that if she did not leave immediately, they were going to get rid of her themselves. Juliana––being a practical woman––left the city with her two daughters and moved to Salem, where the family commissioned a company to build them a new house deep in the forests of Central Oregon. From there, Dark Root was founded.

“It is said that Juliana’s magick followed her into the woods and that it still runs through the blood of her descendants, growing stronger with each generation. She was the original Dark Root witch and we,” I said, waving towards my sisters. “Are her great-granddaughters.”

I caught my breath and smiled at Ruth Anne, Merry and Eve.

They smiled back. We joined hands and curtsied as the crowd cheered for us. It was a strange feeling to be openly embracing my roots like this, but I wasn’t alone. I had never been alone, I now realized. I had always had my sisters.