The Witches of Merribay (The Seaforth Chronicles) (7 page)

Chapter
Nine

“Get up, sleepyhead. Get up, c'mon,” I heard my aunt Cora saying. My eyes were just so heavy that I couldn't open them.

Ice
-cold water was spritzed over my face and solved the problem. I sat up to see Aunt Cora holding a water bottle.

“My
, oh my. You're a hard one to wake up this morning,” she said.

“What time is it?” I said
, rubbing the dusty feeling from my eyes.

“Ten o'clock in the morning
. I let you sleep in but we better get a move on if we're to make it to the book sale. I don't want all the good books to disappear.” She gave my face another squirt of ice water.

“Looks like the two of you had a nice time last night
, by the looks of this garbage bag. Why, it's filled with feathers! Don't let your grandmother see that you've destroyed her good feather pillows,” she said.

Looking around the room, I recalled the night before and the pillow
fight. Zinnia's room had been cleared of any feathers and looked immaculate. When did that happen? She must have cleared them by herself.

“Where is Zinnia?”  I asked.

“Oh, she's up and gone already. Must have had an early date set with Becky.”

Confused, I rubbed my head
. “I'm a light sleeper. I wonder why I never heard her go?”

“You weren't much of a light sleeper this morning
. It's taken me ten minutes to wake you up. I almost called an ambulance. Now, get ready. We have no time to waste,” she said, scurrying out of the room.

I couldn't imagine how I'd slept through the morning
. First of all, I was normally an early riser, and secondly, I was a light sleeper. I suppose it didn't matter, but I still felt tired.

Aunt Cora returned to the room, tossed some cloth
es on me, and held her hand out to pull me up from the floor.

“I'll be ready in fifteen minutes
, Aunt Cora. Just wait downstairs. I need a quick shower and I'll be down.”

She left
, and I looked around the room. I didn't know what I was looking for until I saw it sitting on the dresser. My teacup. Zinnia had made me mint tea, and that was the last thing I remembered.

Before I took my next breath, I'd figured it out
. She had put something in there to put me to sleep. And by gosh, it had worked.

***

Rummaging through old and used books would normally be my type of thing. I enjoyed reading. Today, however, it became a nuisance. We arrived to the sidewalk sale of books; there were thousands of books to be bought.

Aunt Cora looked as though she'd walked through the gates of heaven and seen St. Peter himself sitting on a silver
-lined cloud. She could not wipe the smile from her cherubic face. She already had a basketful of romance books, which I'm sure to her seemed like finding diamonds in the rough. After sorting through a pile, she continued on to another table.

For appearance
’s sake, I glanced through the books right alongside of her.

“Isn't this fun?”
she asked.

“Yup
,” I replied.

I briefly took the time to walk to the end of the sidewalk to glance out to the bay
, and sure enough, Magella's boat floated calmly on the water. I suppose that was a good sign. I hurried back before my aunt would miss me.

Walking around
, I happened to see a familiar face. It was Becky's mom, and right beside her was Becky. Zinnia was nowhere to be seen. I approached them with a smile, said hello, and exchanged pleasantries. Then Becky's mom turned to say hello to someone else.

Just as I opened my mouth to ask where Zinnia was, Becky said, “So, where is Zin these days? I haven't seen her in a week.”

I contemplated telling her the truth, and that if she hadn't seen my sister for a week, then my sister had been lying of her whereabouts. Every time Zinnia left the house, she said she was headed to Becky's. My aunt complained of her leaving the café during work hours to go see Becky. But instead, I just said, “Oh, has it been that long?'

“Yeah
, I haven't seen her since last Friday. And she hasn't even called me.”

“I suppose she's been busy at the
café,” I lied.

“Every time I go in the
café, she's gone.”

“I'm not sure then
. My sister has been enjoying her solitude these days.”

“When you see her, tell her to call me.”

“I will.”

Well, oh well
. If Zinnia had lied about going to Becky's, then where could she be? Becky turned and walked off, but not before waving and saying hello to my aunt Cora, who waved back and said, “Good morning.”  It wasn't morning anymore. Time flew for Aunt Cora when she browsed books, but I didn't care about that; I just wanted to know why Aunt Cora didn't put two and two together. She saw Becky alone, and she never asked about Zinnia. Was her obsession of books so great that she didn't even care?

I knew two things had to happen
: I had to find out why my sister lied about her presence today, and Aunt Cora needed to find herself a man.

Chapter
Ten

“What are you doing here on a Saturday, Miss Seaforth? I didn't expect to see your shiny, happy face until Monday,” Ian said as I was ushered into the sunroom, where he sat for high tea.

“I'm to go on a run with Drumm
. Didn't you hear him ask me to be at the gate around three o'clock?” I asked.

“No
, but a run would be a good thing, I suppose. You have quite the task before you this evening. Grab a muffin. I'll escort you to the gate.”

So it was, around three o'clock,
when Ian went with me to the gate. It wasn't during work hours, and I told him I could walk there on my own. He told me that it was necessary for him to come; he had to open the gate for me.

“Why must you open the gate for me?” I scratched my head
. “I know how to open a gate.”

“Not this one.” He wheeled himself along, out the back
French doors and into the garden. “It has to be opened by a McCallister or a very few select people, otherwise you won't get it to budge an inch.”

“You're serious?” I was coming to learn that Ian was a kidder
. I had to ask for clarification.

“Yes, seriously
. Maybe in time I can have the ward changed to allow you to open the gate, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. You haven't proved yourself worthy yet.”

“
Humph.” I guess drinking a drop of an old woman's blood and agreeing to steal a rolling pin from another old woman, who just happened to be a witch, hadn't made me worthy yet.

“What is it with wards?  I saw a creepy old man sitting by the roadside yesterday, about a half a mile from
Gran's. He scared the bejeezus out of me. [I had recently picked up the word “bejeezus” from Aunt Clover.]  Drumm was in a tree. He told me to run home, that Gran's house was protected by wards.”

“Wait a minute
, wait a minute. What did you say? You saw an old man sitting on the roadside? No one is allowed to come up this way and just hang out by the side of the road. Just when were you planning to share this piece of info with me?” His face grew red.

“I just did.”

“Only because I mentioned wards. Get this imbedded in your brain: you must tell me right away when something of this nature happens.” He took in a deep breath and let it out. “Now tell me, what did he look like?”

“Well, he was old
. He had worn-down shoes, a bowler cap, old clothes, and…silver eyes.”

Ian stopped wheeling his chair
, his face stern and frowning. “That would be”—he lowered his voice to a whisper—“Izaill.” He looked over both shoulders then. “You must tell Izadora this. He is wicked to the core. Bad, bad news. I cannot stress that enough.” He wheeled his chair forward. I continued to walk next to him.

“Ok
ay,” I said.

I probably should have mentioned that I'd see the old man, Izaill, right away
. In my defense, over the course of the day, I had convinced myself that I had been imagining the cold air and the wicked smile of the old man—and the silver eyes. Sometimes we humans have a way of telling ourselves that we didn't really see what we saw, for the fact that it just didn't fit into our tiny little shoe-box worlds. For that reason, I had tried to block the thoughts out.

“To answer your question about wards
: Wards allow the good in and keep the bad out. A ward can be numerous things, such as a certain tree or charm that's been blessed or enchanted, a red-braided rope—there can be many things. A spirit…a bird…whatever.”

“What ward do you have?”

“Wards. I have wards.” He glanced at me. “I have holly trees planted at the gate, in case you haven't noticed. Holly trees are one of the trees connected to the fairies. It's a protective tree. I also have, um…a spirit.” He wheeled ahead of me.

“A spirit? Really?”

“Yes, really. I speak only the truth.”

We'd reached the
“dark path of death.”
I had named it that for being so unlike the rest of the garden. The old rowan trees’ spindly branches scratched me as I walked by. “Why don't you get rid of that rowan? I think it's dead.” I fell behind him as the path narrowed.

He spoke loudly over his shoulder
. “It is not
dead,
it's just old. And you never, never fell a rowan tree. It's also connected to the fairies. It would be inglorious bad luck to fell that tree.”

This was the second time that he'
d mentioned fairies. I suppose if there were such things as witches, then why not fairies? Even my great-grandfather Edmund used to talk about fairies in the garden. I thought I'd seen one once, flitting from flower to flower and almost like a butterfly, but it was a white light. Again, I'd blocked that from memory. It hadn't fit inside my shoebox for long.

“And we also have the Fae
. They are human-sized, some even taller. We call them the Regal Folk, the Good Folk, the Wise Ones.”

Now he was trying to fill me with bull, for sure
. “Fairies and Fae? Or rather, Regal Folk? C'mon, Ian. For real?”

“Yes
, for real. Miss Seaforth, I never lie. Take my word for it, they exist. There are the good ones, and the bad ones. Kind of like how humans are, in a way. The bad are Unseelie. The good are the Seelie.”

“Well,
what's the difference between fairies and Fae then?”

“Fairies are here for nature
. They help things grow. The Fae are like cousins—they also tend to nature, but not so much. They have other business to attend. They also watch over the fairies.”

“Okay
…if you say so,” I said.

We had arrived at the gate
. He told me to try and open it. I lifted the latch and pulled. He was telling the truth; I couldn't get it to move.

He smiled
. “Told you so.”

“Ok
ay, I believe you,” I said.

“You should believe everything I say
. I'm quite knowledgeable in many areas.” He wheeled forward and lifted the latch and pulled, while wheeling backward. “See you in a while. If I happen to not be here, Drumm can open the gate.”

“So, Drumm is allowed to open the gate? But not me?”

“In time, Miss Seaforth. In time.” He motioned for me to walk out, shutting the gate behind me. “Have fun.”

I looked back to see him he pull out a cigar, cut the end
, and light it. Apparently he would wait for me.

I walked on for a few moments
, and when I didn't see Drumm, I wondered if something had happened to him. Had the old man, Izaill, done something to him?

Finally, I spotted him walking toward me.

“Hello,” I said when we met.

He nodded his head once for a reply.

Immediately, I brought up the subject of the old man. “That old man. Ian called him Izaill—”

“Shhhh
. Don't say his name too loud.” Drumm scolded me. “He's taken care of for now. I have already informed Izadora of his presence. She is taking care of it as we speak.”

“
What do you mean, ‘taking care of it’?”

“She's sending him a message
. He won't bother you again—at least he shouldn't.”

“But he freaked me out an
d…Ian said he was dangerous!” I squealed.

“No harm will come to you, from the likes of him.”

He stood with his thumbs in his pockets. On his back hung the satchel with the bow and arrows. His turquoise, large almond-shaped eyes were way too pretty. For some reason, I had really begun to like this boy of few words. Definitely not in a flirty way, but more of a friendly way. At least that's what I told myself. I decided to trust him. If he said no harm would come to me, then I believed him.

“Ready to run?” he asked.

“Sure.” My legs had already begun to tingle with energy.

He sped off
, and I chased after him through the dark forest that smelled of pine.

Running for a half hour or so, he slowed
. My legs felt better already. I sped up to run next to him.

“Will you be able to enter Magella's boat tonight?” He talked with ease
, not even slightly winded from running.

“I'm all set to stay at my aunt
’s café. I should be able to complete the mission,” I said, a bit winded from the speeds we had been going, but not too bad.

“You nervous?”

I thought about it, and, yes, I was nervous. Nervous as hell. But I wouldn't admit it to him. “Nah. I'll be fine.”

“Good
, then. You will be fine. I wish I could go with you, but I cannot.”

“I'll be fine
,” I said a final time.

We raced throughout the forest for quite some time, until we reached an area that was too breathtaking not to stop
.

“Let's walk for a minute
,” I suggested.

“Tired?”

“Not at all. Just look at this place.”

The path, narrow and washed
out in spots, went uphill. It was mostly filled with rocks covered with lichen and moss the color of lime, and a little stream flowed over the path at an angle. Bright green ferns lined the path. Ivy circled the yew trees, reaching up into the branches.

“What is this place?”

“This path leads to the coast, which is straight ahead. We won't be going that far today—we don't have time.”

“I didn't know the ocean was back here
. Can we go someday?”

He
nodded his head yes.

We hiked up the hill
, and as it leveled out, Drumm jumped back. He already had his bow with an arrow ready to shoot.
How did he move so fast?

“What's wrong?” I whispered.

Before he could answer, two people stepped out on the path. “Oh it's you, Drumm,” someone said.

Drumm put his bow and arrow away
. “What are you doing out here? So far from the ocean?”

Two people about our age stood before us
. The boy was slightly shorter than Drumm, and the girl was about my height. To put it mildly, they were both bronzed and beautiful. She wore her long, golden hair up in some sort of twist. Her eyes were golden in color. She had the most perfect, slender nose and full lips. A pang of jealousy swept through me. How did one get so pretty?

The boy was beyond description
. He had black hair and tight, toned muscles, with perfect lips and a pronounced jawbone. He also had a small cleft in his chin. His eyes were strange, but they were growing on me. Slightly tilted up on the edges, they were blue with purple specks.

I swallowed.

“Ivy?” Drumm had been talking to me. He looked a bit disturbed with my actions.

“Uhh
…what?”

“I said, this is Nicoli and Jina.”
He pronounced Nicoli with a long “i” at the end.

“Hi
,” I said.

Nicoli held out his hand
. Mesmerized, I held out mine to let him clasp it. “Good to meet you too.” His hand was soft and cool.

The girl smiled and nodded my way.

Releasing my hand, he spoke to Drumm. “We are on the lookout. There has been theft attempt on the shoreline.”

Apparently they were lucky enough to live in cottages by the sea.

“Have they been successful in any way?” Drumm asked.

“One tried, but we chased him into the forest
. On Gala-Andra's orders. Otherwise he wouldn't have gotten very far.” He frowned.

“I'll see if I can find out anything
,” Drumm said. Anxious to leave, he said, “Good-bye then, until the next time we meet.” 

They struck fists
. Drumm caught my arm and hauled me off, running toward home.

I
didn’t know why, but it kind of bummed me out that I didn't even get one good last look at the young man.

When he stopped at some rhubarb plants, a few miles away from Nicoli and Jina, I asked,
“Why were you in a hurry to get away from them?”

He bit his bottom lip and squinted
his eyes before he said, “It's not good for you to be around them for long.”

“Why not?”

He shrugged his shoulders and gave me a hand flap, as though he were dismissing the subject.

He picked two stalks from a rhubarb plant and handed one to me
. My mouth watered before I took a bite. I could already taste the tartness of the plant. After taking a bite, my face puckered up. “Sour. I love it.”

He ate it as though it were watermelon
. Not even a twitch touched his face.

“We better head back now
, but we must stop at Izadora's first. She will want to speak with you.”