Dad was quite a character, and I was still getting used to him.Serious, people called him, and they weren’t lying. He was a very stern man on the outside, but I could see through that to his tender heart. Literally. I could see it beating when he was in the same room. It was a strong one. If I wasn’t his daughter, I’d have probably wanted a shot of it.
Before I knew it, we were pulling into Garway community hall, the lights glowing out of the windows.
There were five other cars there…
Five. Hmm. Ok.
I took a breath, staring at the doorway. There were people already in there, I could feel them. But there were eight of them, not five.
I could hear all eight beating hearts.
“Wish me luck,” I said to Mum, grabbing my bag from the back seat.
“You won’t need luck,” she said. “They’ll be so pleased to meet you. But have some good luck, just in case.”
“Thanks, Mum.”
“Ping me a thought when you need a lift back.”
I will, thanks, I thought as I walked away, knowing full well she could hear me. It was another great thing about being a witch with a witch for a mother. Mobile phones could get stuffed.
I arrived at the entrance to the hall and took another deep breath.
So, here goes nothing…
I pushed open the doors as Mum drove away, and my undead heart was pounding like crazy. I felt like I was stepping into some kind of trial – a newbie schoolgirl entering a schoolyard, with no idea who I’d meet. I was probably the most skittish vampire in the world right then.
I tried to be a psychic about the group and who was a part of it, but I had no chance. Even with my skills, the walls had been wrapped up tight with not an inkling in sight. I guessed these witches were good at it.
I didn’t bother calling out ahellobefore I entered the main hall, somehow summoning up the courage to walk on in tall.
Sure enough, there were a circle of chairs laid out in the middle of the social room.
Nine seats in total, with one empty one right in front of me. The other eight were filled, and eight smiling faces looked right at me, without so much as a hint of shock.
They’d been expecting me.
I took my seat on the plastic chair like it was a crochet club meeting and cast my eyes around the group, trying to get a measure of them. And of course… I laughed out loud, honestly, because it was too obvious to be true.
My stupid guesses about local witches hadn’t been stupid guesses at all.
There was Edna who walked her old Labrador every morning through Orcop village, and the goth girl who lived at the old pub in Garway, with the faded sun tarot card as a tavern sign. And there too was Amy, who everyone knew as thecrystal healing lady.
There was Jenny from the post office, and her cousin Jacqueline who lived with her at Hillside Farm, and the very elderly woman, Geraldine, from the apartment above the egg farm, who sometimes drove through the village in her electric wheelchair, even though she must have been going on 90.
And there were another two I couldn’t place. They must have been sisters. Identical twins with long blonde hair down to their waists. New to the area, as far as I knew.
In the middle of the circle of chairs was an altar draped in a cloth of squares, and on the top stood a burning candle, a dagger, a wand and a pentagram. The beautiful smell of musk incense felt like a powerhouse.
“Hi,” I said to them all, and they all grinned along with me. “How long have you known it was me? How long have you known I was the ninth witch?”
It was elderly Geraldine who answered me with a lovely deep shaky voice, her face lit up with wrinkles.
“Ooh, a long time now,” she told me. “A lot longer than you have. So, how about we get started with thepleased to meet yous?”
I put my bag down on the floor, and began to make introductions. I learnt about Geraldine’s first foray into witchcraft when she used to toss stones into Garway spring and make wishes, and I learnt about Amy’s first experience with rose quartz where she felt the energy right through her toes, and I learnt about Edna’s dog, Mollie, who was a spirit guide – and could talk to the other animals around her. Yep, my amazement went to a whole new level.
And then, once the initial introductions were done and we were well into the night, I took the hand of Jacqueline on my left, and Amy on my right, as we all locked hands for the ceremony.