A Hidden Witch

chapter 21

Moira walked out into the early morning mists of her garden. Sleep had done a wondrous job of reviving her old bones. She was more than a little surprised to find her nephew taking a soak, and downright astonished when he smiled and stood to help her in.

“You seem rather cheerful this morning, my dear.”

Marcus shrugged. “I woke up early. No idea why. I was up half the night working with Jamie to organize the new spellcoding library. We’re already being pelted with spells. Witches can be a rather disorganized lot.”

Moira hid a smile. “They’re just eager to help.”

“They could help by sorting.” Marcus snorted. “And by using their heads. Young Sean’s already uploaded a pirate illusion spell and an eavesdropping spell.”

“How delightful.” Moira laughed at her nephew’s scowl. There was the Marcus she knew and loved. “You never know when a pirate spell might come in handy.”

His eyebrows nearly crossed. “You can’t possibly be serious.”

“It’s getting the witchlings involved in helping others, and that’s a beautiful thing. An eavesdropping spell just needs a little reshaping to become a seeking spell that could find a lost child. Why don’t you ask our Sean to work on that for you?”

He grunted.

She took that as a hopeful sign and pushed a little harder. “He’s a strong and very imaginative spellcaster. It will take a creative trainer to get the best out of him.”

“Hmm. Perhaps partnering him with Kevin will help. His twin shows a little more sense.”

Moira had to turn away and gaze on her flowers to hide her smile this time. Elorie wasn’t the only witch coming out of her shell lately. Marcus training witchlings, and with only token protests—who could have imagined?

“It’s a very important responsibility Elorie has now,” Marcus said. “You’ve prepared her well.”

“I’ve helped her become the woman she was meant to be.” And so very proud she was of who her granddaughter had become. The witching community had gained a new leader yesterday, one who would use her new magic to strengthen the old ways.

“She’s got a firm grounding in tradition, and a strong sense of obligation to those around her.”

Moira’s heart twisted a little. “You speak of obligation and responsibility, but Elorie does this out of love. She has a truly magnificent heart.” And perhaps a tiny ray or two of that love would seep into the fortress her nephew had built around his own heart.

He’d been such a sensitive boy. The day Evan had died, something in Marcus had broken. The healer in her had ached for that small boy for almost half a century now. Even for a witch steeped in tradition, that was a very long time to hold onto hope.

He’d smiled at her this morning. At the start of a glorious summer day, she was going to hold tight to that.

And she wasn’t above meddling. “I hear that Jamie and young Aervyn are meeting in that lovely online living room later today to work on an alert system. I’m sure another mind witch would be a welcome addition.”

Even Marcus couldn’t resist Aervyn. That wee boy’s most powerful magic was his contagious love of life.

~ ~ ~

Nell: This feels really old-fashioned after our new Realm meeting space.

Moira: Aye, but we can’t be wasting transport spells to do that too often just yet. Maybe after we have more of them ready.

Nell: My triplets are working Aervyn and Jamie hard. Ginia says they’re figuring out how to do more of it with coding and less with teleportation magic, so hopefully the Realm taxi service will be up and running soon.

Moira: I look forward to it. It was so delightful to cuddle your sweet boy in my lap. He won’t be little enough to do that much longer.

Nell: Pretty soon you’ll have far littler ones to hold.

Sophie: Yes. We need to get a rocking chair installed in that room. Aunt Moira’s skills with fussy babies are legendary, and I, for one, would like to be able to call on them.

Nell: God, what I would have given for an instantly available virtual babysitter when the triplets were little.

Moira: And what I’d have given to be there.

Sophie: Well, Elorie and I will be happy to benefit from the wonders of modern technology.

Elorie: Indeed. Sorry to be late. Aaron’s meeting with a friend of his to make some plans for our new house. I can’t stay long, or they’ll have added several thousand square feet for each child. Why do men always think bigger is better?

Nell: That, girl, is a question for the ages.

Sophie: Where are you building?

Elorie: Right between the inn and Gran’s cottage. We want our own separate space with little ones on the way. I don’t figure people on vacation want to hear babies crying, or stampeding little feet.

Moira: You might be surprised, my dear. However, I think it’s lovely you and Aaron will be just a wee bit closer. I won’t be minding the sounds of little ones at all.

Sophie: Can Aaron cope with two pregnant women in a month or so?

Elorie: Only if I get fed first :-). Just kidding—mostly. I’m suddenly starving all the time. Is that normal?

Nell: Oh, yeah. Enjoy it while it lasts. Hopefully you’ll skip the nausea part, but eventually babies take up enough room that there’s not much space left for food.

Moira: I used to swear my babies stole my food and fed it to the faeries. I ate like a farmer in those first months of pregnancy. So are you coming to visit us in the fall then, Sophie?

Sophie: Sort of. Mike and I were trying to figure out the wedding thing.

Elorie: Oooh, are you getting married here?

Sophie: Not exactly. Hang on…

Nell: Type faster, girl, and don’t be so cryptic!

Sophie: Sorry. The thing is, we have family all over the place, and lots of places that are special to them and to us. Mike’s parents have a beautiful sanctuary down in Mexico, Ocean’s Reach where we did our first full circle together, and of course your garden, Aunt Moira. We tried to pick one, and we just couldn’t. So we eloped.

Nell: What???

Elorie: You’re married?

Moira: Ah, my sweet girl. Blessed be.

Sophie: We had a ceremony right here in my garden. It was very small, and so sweet. And now we’d like to come share our joy with all of you. We’re going on a marriage celebration journey. We’ll start in Mexico with Mike’s parents, and then head up to Berkeley, if that works for you, Nell.

Nell: We never, ever say no to a party. Congratulations, Sophie. He’s a wonderful man.

Sophie: Don’t I know it. And then we’ll work our way over to Nova Scotia for the finish, Aunt Moira.

Moira: We’ll have ourselves a proper gathering and celebrate your joining, child. It’s the way of the Irish—it’s the party that truly matters.

Sophie: Nobody’s mad?

Moira: You’ve always been a solitary witch, darling girl. You’ve had your private joy, and now you’ll come celebrate with us. There’s nothing but happiness here.

Elorie: I’m so thrilled for you, Sophie. Truly.

Sophie: I love you all, so very much.

Nell: The triplets might be mad that they didn’t get to wear frilly dresses.

Sophie: Party dresses can be as frilly as necessary, by bridal decree.

Nell: That’ll work. Aervyn would appreciate less frills on the small-boy front.

Sophie: Done. This bridal decree stuff is easy. How are the girls, anyhow? I know Ginia was missing her sisters by the end of witch school.

Nell: Yeah. They’d never been separated like that before, so they’re awfully happy in each other’s company right now. Jamie has them all hard at work coding for the new spell library.

Sophie: How’s that coming? I got my latest assignment—it seems amazingly organized.

Elorie: You can thank Marcus for that.

Sophie: Seriously? Jamie said he was pretty involved.

Elorie: He’s figured out this amazing tagging system that will search and match the closest spell to your needs. Even Jamie was impressed.

Nell: My girls think he’s a genius.

Moira: He’s kept that talent well hidden. Maybe I’ll have to put him to work sorting my books.

Elorie: Kevin would be delighted to do that, Gran. He might never come out, though—you’d have to check on him every so often and make sure he doesn’t starve to death.

Moira: I might just do that, but I’ll wait a bit. He and Sean are preparing some interesting spells for your little project.

Elorie: Uh, oh. The last one I saw involved a cleaning spell that sings Bob Marley while it works.

Nell: Awesome. I’ll take that one in triplicate!

Sophie: Me, too.

Elorie: You might want to wait until it does a decent job of cleaning. The singing part is pretty good, though.

Sophie: Have the cleaning spells been recategorized yet?

Nell: Yes. I think Warrior Girl gave Marcus a serious piece of her mind over that.

Moira: Whatever happened?

Sophie: Marcus put cleaning spells into a library category called “women’s spells.” I found them when I went to file a spell to ease menstrual cramps.

Moira: Oh, did he now.

Elorie: Don’t worry, Gran—he got a piece of all our minds. I don’t think it will happen again. Ginia’s threatening to create a “grumpy old men” category if it does.

Moira: Well, I might just be adding a small reminder of my own. My cauldron’s due for polishing.

Sophie: Sweet! I can tarnish it a little more, if you want.

Nell: Aervyn’s added a rain spell that could take care of that. Marcus has a pretty thick head.

Moira: Do you all really think I don’t have a good tarnishing spell handy? How do you think I’ve kept troublemakers busy over the years? It’s wonderful that the witchlings are all getting so involved, though—a rain spell sounds like a lovely contribution.

Nell: It will be, if you’re sitting outside when you access it. Some of the Realm players are having trouble getting used to real-life spells. I think Govin’s living room is still soaked.

Sophie: Oops :-).

Moira: I have a request, if I may. Sophie dear, could you cast me a gentle sleep spell? It’s getting harder to do for myself, and I do so appreciate a good night’s sleep.

Sophie: That’s a wonderful idea. I’ve also uploaded a couple of spells for joint pain—try those for your hands. I’d love to know how they work.

Elorie: Oh, I’ll try one next time I’ve been working in my studio all day. My hands ache after that.

Moira stepped away from her computer for a moment to go fetch some tea. Witches helping each other wasn’t a new thing—it was one of the oldest of things. But now they could get the right help to the right witch so much more easily, and oh, the generosity she was seeing.

Small gifts, freely given. It was the heart and soul of magic—and now it had new life. With her granddaughter at the helm.

Sometimes the rewards for a long life were rich indeed.

~ ~ ~

“Ouch!” Jamie said. “Wow, that’s still way too loud. Aervyn, dude, we need to ratchet back the volume on that a whole bunch.”

Elorie giggled at the antics on her computer screen, glad she hadn’t been the guinea pig for this last test. They were trying to work out an alert system to page Net witches in an emergency. The spell library could meet an increasing array of needs, but there would always be situations where a real, live Net witch was required.

Coming up with the alert spell hadn’t been a problem. Convincing Aervyn it didn’t need to be as loud as a fire alarm was proving more difficult.

Ginia shook her head. “I think I can control volume in the code, Uncle Jamie. We might want it loud to get some people’s attention.”

Jamie considered for a moment. “So customize the volume depending on who we’re trying to page?”

“That makes sense.” Elorie fingered her heart pendant. “We might need to change the volume once everyone has pendants instead of phones, too.”

She’d sent a batch of her biggest pieces of sea glass off to Jamie only that morning. He and Aervyn were going to work on shrinking iPhones into the glass. It was a more reliable method of portable Net power, particularly for the witchlings—sea glass was well used to getting banged up and wet. iPhones weren’t proving quite as durable.

Ginia looked up. “Okay, I’m going to ping you. Lemme know if it’s too loud.”

Elorie squeezed her eyes shut. The last time had sounded like a monster gong inside her head. Fortunately, Ginia’s idea of volume control was more precise than her little brother’s. “Much better. A little quieter yet would be fine for me, but that’s tolerable.”

Jamie grinned. “Looks like we’re ready to go, then. Do your troops have their emergency ready for us?”

Elorie rolled her eyes. “They’ve been ready since dawn.” Nothing could have pleased Lizzie and the twins more than being asked to cause trouble on purpose.

She leaned out the window to activate their pre-arranged “go” signal. Uncle Marcus, lying in the hammock, raised his hand to the sky, and an ear-piercing whistle blasted through the air. Good grief. Aervyn wasn’t the only witch who needed a lesson in volume control.

Moments later, Lizzie screamed, right on cue. Elorie looked over at her computer. “Emergency in progress.”

Ginia grinned. “Excellent. I’m ready to rock.”

Elorie walked outside to monitor in person. Uncle Marcus was still lying in the hammock. “Aren’t you supposed to be keeping an eye on them, so Sean doesn’t actually float out to sea?”

He tapped his head. “I’m mindlinked with Kevin. Not a problem. Lizzie’s father has his boat out. Sean’s not going anywhere.”

Elorie shook her head. She knew all too well how much trouble Sean could get into even when you were watching him.

Halfway down to the beach, she spotted Sean in his inner tube, floating happily out in the waves. When he spied her, he screamed and yelled “Shark! Help!” She had to laugh. The last shark attack in Nova Scotia had been exactly never.

Kevin and Lizzie were on the beach, acting as the rescuers. Kevin had his iPhone out, shooting video so Ginia could see the problem. Smart boy. They hadn’t discussed how best to communicate with the Net witch on call, and video was a lot faster than texting or talking.

Moments later, Lizzie, phone in her hand, started swaying slightly. She only did that when she worked with power. Elorie reached for her pendant, activating the fancy new visualizing spell that let her view elemental power streams.

Jeebers. Ginia had pushed a mess of spellshapes to Lizzie. Lots of air power, which made sense—that would be the easiest way to bring Sean back toward shore. But what on earth was the fire power for? There was also a third, more complex spellshape she didn’t recognize.

Lizzie, all three-and-a-half feet of her, worked with the novel power streams like she’d been born to them. The spellshape containing most of the air power morphed out toward Sean and began blowing him back to shore. Routine rescue. Excellent.

Halfway back, Lizzie grinned and waved her left hand. Suddenly Sean was headed back out to sea, and at a fast clip. Then his inner tube flipped over. Elorie could tell from Lizzie’s face—the change of direction had been on purpose, but the flip had been an accident.

It wasn’t quite a real emergency yet. Sean was an excellent swimmer, and Lizzie’s dad wasn’t far away with his boat. But their carefully planned drill was now officially off the rails.

She converged on Lizzie at the same time as Kevin did. A quick hand stopped them in their tracks. They both knew better than to interfere with a witch holding a boatload of spellpower in her hands.

Lizzie took the spellshape Elorie didn’t recognize and gently activated it. Suddenly the air was alive with a strange kind of music. Kevin listened in rapt attention, and then grinned. “Dolphins. She’s calling the dolphins. Look!”

He pointed out to sea. Sure enough, a formation of three dolphins swam in from the north, heading straight for Sean.

Lizzie danced with delight, but never let go of the spell. The strange music changed slightly as the dolphins reached Sean.

Elorie watched in awe as Sean grabbed two dorsal fins and hung on for dear life. She could hear his maniacal laughter even over the crashing waves. The smallest of the three dolphins jumped into the air and landed with a splash. Elorie laughed. Another young one who didn’t know emergencies weren’t supposed to be fun.

Lizzie spun in a circle, just once, and the music changed a third time. The dolphins pulled Sean in a big circle, and then dropped him off about twenty feet from shore.

Sean treaded water for a moment, and then threw his hands up in the air.

Kevin leaned over to Lizzie. “Aren’t you going to save him?”

Lizzie shrugged. “He can swim.”

“Yeah, but we’re supposed to be practicing, remember? What if he couldn’t swim?”

Lizzie scowled. “Fine.”

Two minutes later, Sean was on dry land and nicely warmed by the third spell Ginia had thoughtfully provided—now Elorie knew what the fire power had been for.

She wasn’t sure her trio had taken the exercise seriously enough, but Ginia had shown creativity and forethought in the spell bundle she’d pushed to Lizzie. That had been very well done, and Elorie took careful mental notes. It would be her turn as the on-call Net witch soon enough.

Sharing the spells of the everyday was really the heart and soul of WitchNet, as their spell library project had quickly been dubbed. But the ability to network witches like this—with this, they would save lives.

Their emergency response team could use a lot more practice first, however.