Page 25 of Pure Magic
“Hmm…” She props her elbow on her knee and her chin on her fist. “You strike me as the kind of man who usually does what’s right. I imagine you’ll continue to do so with or without fate prodding you.”
“And here I thought I was portraying myself as a reckless vagabond.” I force a gin.
She nudges my shoulder with hers. “I have a way of knowing people. I know I don’t look it, but I see people. I’ll admit my vision was clouded about Miss Ware because of the witchcraft, but you I always saw as a good and honest man.”
“You know I’m a witch as well.”
“I know. Seems witches are part of Windsor and always will be.” She shrugs and stands. “You might spend less time worrying over things left to fate and more time finding happiness with that lady of yours.” Livy gives me a wink and goes inside. Her house is nearly finished. We’ve painted and papered, fixed doors, floors, and fixed the pump handle on the well at the back.
I walk toward the coven house, musing over Livy’s insights. The streets are vibrant with people finishing their day’s work and heading home for a day off or a good meal. The coven will gather for the Sabbath and a feast. My step quickens while I think about seeing Sara Beth. She’s not invited me back to her bed, though we talk after dinner each evening. I enjoy getting to know her almost as much as holding her in my arms.
Goddess said there will be no peace if we’re apart. Peace sounds like heaven. I don’t know if I’ve ever known true ease in life. I’m always running from the past and into the future. What would it be like to live in the present?
I open the door and step inside the coven house, and I’m immediately struck by the familiar magic of my family. Raising my hands, I put up a shield while my eyes adjust from the bright day.
When my vision clears, my brother smiles from the chair near the hearth. “You don’t have to protect yourself, Adam. I’ve come on a peaceful mission.”
Sara Beth and Sylvia sit with him, having tea around a small table. Sara Beth raises her brows. “Your brother was just telling us tales about your wild childhood in the Highlands.”
I’ll bet he was. I lower my shield and step closer. “What brings you to Windsor, Kaden?”
He stands and holds out his hand. “I heard you were here and wished to see you.”
I walk to stand between him and the ladies. “I’m sure there is more to your visit than missing me,” I say with sarcasm.
“You didn’t tell us you had a twin brother.” Sylvia sips her tea. “When Kaden said you were twins, we didn’t believe him.”
“We are not identical.” I state the obvious. I have red hair and fair skin while Kaden has dark hair and smooth, tanned skin. Our eyes and height are the only similarities. “In fact, other than being born on the same day and sharing parents, we have little in common.”
Sara Beth flicks her wrist, and a fourth chair slides from the side of the room and stops next to hers. “Sit, Adam. You brother is telling the story of collecting frogs for some nefarious deed.”
Even though the story Kaden is telling is about the harmless antics of eight-year-old boys, I wish to make everyone stop listening to him. “That’s an old story.” I sit.
Kaden returns to his chair and picks up his tea. His eyes flash with familiar mischief. “Adam likes to correct my storytelling.”
“I’ll not say a word.” If he adds or lies, I’ll let him have his way. If these witches believe him, they’re fools. It’s so obvious he doesn’t belong here. I push down my anger. There’s no reason to be cross with Sylvia or Sara Beth. They’ve only asked him for tea, and they didn’t bring him upstairs, so there must be some caution in that. Holding my tongue, I listen.
“We had a fine plan to scare the high priest. He had commanded we bring him three bull frogs for his potions. Adam was already quite good at calling animals but refused to call them and send them to their deaths. It’s just frogs, I told him. He wouldn’t budge.” Kaden smirks, as if this was ridiculous.
“My view on the subject hasn’t changed,” I say without letting emotion into my voice.
Sara Beth says softly in my head, “Calm, Adam. Stay calm.”
I can’t say if she used magic, but my heart slows, and my worry eases. I want to reach across and take her hand but resist the urge. Letting Kaden know I care for Sara Beth would be a mistake.
“Of course not,” Kaden scoffs. “Anyway, he wouldn’t call the frogs, so we had to go out to the pond at night and gather them. We were cold and muddy when we went home with our assignment complete. We put the frogs in a bucket and covered it. Mother wouldn’t let us in the house until we’d washed, so we stayed the night in the barn to avoid a bath.”
Joy threads around my heart as I remember my mother scolding us for not wanting to bathe, and then bringing blankets out to the barn in the middle of the night. I wonder if Kaden remembers how kind she was, or only that she wanted him to do something he hated.
“In the morning,” Kaden continues. “We went to coven house with our bucket. Still covered in mud that was now dry and cracking, we looked a sight.” He laughs. “I was still annoyed with Adam. I punched him, saying that he could have called hundreds of frogs with a spell and saved us from a night with the cow.”
“He was mad because the cow chewed his shoe.” Hearing the story brings on longing for the times when we were still innocent.
“I was.” Kaden fiddles with the edge of his threadbare coat. Whatever else is happening in his life, he’s not earning a wage. “I badgered him relentlessly on the walk to make our delivery. By the time we arrived, Adam was furious with me, and maybe he too regretted not using magic.
“He turned to me at the door to the still room, put the bucket on the floor in front of the high priest, and said he’d show me magic. When old Bart Stone opened the bucket, a steady stream of frogs jumped out. There must have been fifty. Bart jumped on top of the table in the still room. No easy feat, as he was hefty in the extreme.”
“There were exactly one hundred frogs.” I shrug. “It was just an illusion. Though, it was funny when Bart jumped on the table and screamed like a fishwife that he was going to feed us frog guts for a year.”
