Page 23 of Witch Moon

"Ms. Saint Angeline?''

Mirabella turned her head sharply at the echoing voice and saw Sally Hayes standing in the open doorway of her office.

"Would you come into my office please?"

The woman turned before Mirabella could even answer, stepping back into her office, leaving the door open, leaving Bella no doubt she had just been summoned. A tiny shiver wandered up her spine. She knew beyond any doubt that this was not good.

Standing just inside the office doorway, she said. "Where are all the students?"

"We decided to cancel classes for today," Sally said. "Because of Bryan Marcomb's death. We felt the kids would need a day to deal with the shock. Tomorrow we'll have counselors on hand to help them talk through it."

Bella frowned. She hadn't had the TV or radio on this morning, so she hadn't heard the announcement that school was canceled. But she should have heard it, anyway. Staff were supposed to be notified by phone.

"No one called," she said. "What happened to the telephone tree? Someone cut it down?"

"We didn't call you because we wanted to meet with you this morning, Ms. Saint Angeline."

Bella frowned at the cool, formal tone. "Since when did we stop being on a first name basis, Sally?" Then she looked past her at the closed door to the meeting room, just off this one. "And what do you mean, 'we'?"

Sally Hayes opened the meeting room door. "The school board," she said.

Beyond the door, Mirabella saw the members of the school board seated around a rectangular table. She knew these people. But she'd never feared them. Today they wore the grim, stony faces of a Puritan tribunal, and she felt more than a little bit afraid.

Frowning and fighting the chill that raced up her spine, Bella went inside. Sally Hayes came behind her, closing the door. "I think you know everyone," she said. "Please, have a seat." She indicated one of the two empty chairs at the table. She took the other, at the table's head.

Mirabella sat down. "Fine. I'll play. What's this all about?"

"Ms. Staint Angeline, we have reason to believe that you are involved in the practice of the occult."

"What?"

"This emergency meeting of the board has been called in order to give you the chance to defend yourself against these accusations, and so that we may decide what action we need to take for the best interests of the students."

Bella looked slowly around the table. Not one of those present had the gumption to look her in the eye. Her hands shook where they lay flat on the table, and her voice shook when she spoke. "Wicca is a recognized religion in this country, and this state, with all the legal rights entitled to any other religion."

"The occult has been connected to a rash of vicious crimes in our town, Ms. Saint Angeline. Animals tortured and mutilated, vandalism and defacing of property, and most recently, it's been linked to the death of one of our own students. This is a serious cause for concern."

"There is no evidence whatsoever that any of the things you just named are connected to the practice of Witchcraft."

Sally Hayes' perfectly plucked eyebrows rose. "Well now, Bella, what are we supposed to think? That it's the local Baptists out there killing house cats in the graveyards in the dead of night?"

"That would be almost as ridiculous as assuming it was the local Witches," Bella said. But though she tried to sound brave, all she could see in her mind was the dream. The townspeople standing around her, condemning her, watching her burn.

The principal seemed taken aback, but only for a moment. She recovered quickly, and said, "We're not here to determine who was or was not responsible for the crimes in town. We're here to determine whether or not, you, Ms. Saint Angeline, are a member of any occult group or organization."

Mirabella said nothing.

"Well?" the woman prompted. "Do you consider yourself to be...a Witch?" she said the last with a tone of derision, her words dripping sarcasm.

Mirabella looked her in the eye. "Keep fucking with me, Sally, and you're liable to find out."

An audible gasp went up from the people at the table. She knew damn well she should have held her temper. But Witch or not, she was only human. And this was illegal, immoral, and ludicrous. Bella got to her feet. "I'm a Wiccan, a Witch, a Pagan. It's legal. You cannot discipline me for practicing my religion. And I'm not even certain you can legally ask me about it."

"We can however, discipline you for speaking to your students about that so-called religion," Sally said. "Have you been doing that?"

"Of course not!" she blurted, almost before she thought about it. Then she frowned. "Not on school grounds and not in my capacity as a teacher."

"But you have mentioned Witchcraft to students, haven't you?"

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