Page 77 of Dark Tidings on the Thames
Everyone agreed.
“Take the lantern from the wagon,” Niall continued. “The moon is too low to do you any good out here. I won’t need it, but you will, until you get your fire going.”
Kara kissed him thoroughly, then trailed after the other women as they set off.
Rob was on her heels. “I hope they wrap this up quickly,” he muttered.
Usually, Kara enjoyed the lakeside ceremonies, but tonight she felt tired and on edge, and she found herself silently agreeing with Rob.
Chapter Eighteen
Arock-lined firepitwas centered in the clearing where they held their ceremonies.
“Are you sure we will not need the podium?” Emelia gestured toward the water’s edge.
“Not this time,” Beth assured her.
“I do like to speak from there,” Emelia said wistfully.
“You do it magnificently,” Kara told her. “I think, though, Beth is looking for something simpler tonight. And there is no audience, after all. It is just us.”
They raided the boxes and set to work laying the fire. Gyda kept stopping to look up at the stars, but between them, Kara and Beth got the fire going. Emelia sprinkled a bit of ouzo around the firepit. She liked to work the strong Greek spirits into the ceremonies, as she said it would honor Diana.
“Hold a moment,” Beth said when Kara fetched the branches of juniper and rowan. She looked to Emelia. “Will you call the women, any who might guide and protect us, asking them to witness this?”
Emelia leapt to her feet. “Of course!”
The others settled on the stone benches as Emelia began. Even Gyda’s attention was caught as Emelia spoke with eloquence and passion, invoking the female deities of more than one tradition, as well as the ancestors of all the women present, asking for grace, forwisdom, for strength, and for guidance.
When she had finished, Beth stood to exchange places with Emelia. Removing a thin, wrapped bundle from her cloak, Beth placed it on a bench, removed the cloak and folded it, then took off her shoes as well. Standing at the fire’s edge, she lifted her face to the stars and drew a deep, long breath before she bent down to add the branches of juniper and rowan to the fire.
A sharp, fresh tang filled the air with the scent of fir. The pop and snap of resin began to sound as the flames grew higher.
“Stay there,” Beth warned as she backed up a few steps, then several more. Suddenly, she was running, and as she grew close, she leapt as gracefully as a fawn and hurdled the fire.
Kara and the others gasped.
“Oh, she’s doing it again,” Emelia said, grasping Kara’s arm as Beth whirled and jumped back.
“Twice more, from the other direction,” Beth said. Once she had completed four jumps, she stood and raised her arms to the sky. “I am cleansed,” she said softly. “No negative spirits can linger.”
She wasn’t finished, though. Kara watched as Beth went to retrieve the bundle. Taking it up, she went around to stop in front of Gyda. “Keep the wrapping between it and your skin, if you will.”
Looking curious, Gyda opened the bundle. “Oh, Beth,” she said on a whisper.
Kara teared up a bit. Inside the bundle lay the knife that Gyda had made for Beth, back when she had been so much quieter, shyer, and more reticent. Gyda had decorated it with symbols to remind Beth of her own strength, and of the friends she had made and bonded with, so that she knew she was no longer alone.
“It was taken and used for dark, violent deeds,” Beth said. “For a long time, I thought it was my fault, because I hadn’t been strong enough to keep it.”
Gyda frowned. “No, Beth. You didn’t stab Sally Doughty. Youcannot take that responsibility upon yourself.”
“You are right. I’ve grown since then. I understand myself better, and I see the world a little clearer. I’ve learned I cannot let fear rule me. And so, I will not. It ends tonight.” Beth shook her head. “Even if Royston has shifted his focus onto me, I refuse to cower and hide. Nor will I give up, as I am afraid Lily did. I will protect myself. But first, this needs to be cleansed.”
Gyda nodded, and Beth took the knife in her hands, facing back to the fire. She edged closer and lifted her hands so that they hovered over the flames, in the path of the smoke.
“Just a moment,” Kara said suddenly. She went to fetch the small box of cinnamon bark. Crumbling a piece, she tossed the powder and bits into the fire, where they burst into bright sparks. “My drops of tears I’ll turn to sparks of fire,as Shakespeare said.”
“Yes,” Beth said fiercely. “That is exactly it.” She repeated Kara’s words, then spoke a bit of Gaelic, repeating herself several times as she passed the knife repeatedly through the smoke of the fire. When she was finished, she grasped the knife and brandished it. “All the dark echoes are banished.”
