Page 82 of Witches of Dubious Origin
“Zoe,” Eloise called after me.
“Let her go,” Olive said. I appreciated the understanding or disinterest, whichever it was that motivated Olive. “I’m going to see if anyone’s home. You stay here and keep watch.”
“What am I watching for?” Eloise asked.
“Anything out of place,” Olive answered.
I heard Eloise say something in return, but I couldn’t make out the words over the sound of the wind and waves. It was just as well. I was too consumed with my churning emotions to participate in a meaningful way at the moment.
I stepped onto the beach and the size and shape of the boulders in front of me brought me right back to my childhood and the summer days I’d spent scrambling over these same rocks, pretending I was an adventurer, a superhero, a mythical creature of the sea, whatever my imagination conjured on any particular day.
The wind gusted across the sand by the water’s edge and I hunkered into my coat. I pressed a hand against one of the rain-slick boulders and the memory of Mamie and me walking this beach together filled my mind. She’d always had time for me when we’d visited her. She taught me all sorts of things about the natural world: how to tell when rain was coming, the way the maple tree’s leaves appear to turn upside down,or that honeybees actually spend two-thirds of their time doing nothing, so to her, being a busy bee meant giving herself plenty of downtime, usually with a good book.
I glanced at the ocean. The tide was coming in, although technically, as Mamie had explained it to me, the ocean doesn’t actually move so much as Earth rotates through the bulge that the moon’s gravitational pull on the ocean creates, producing the illusion of a tide that comes in and goes out. I shook my head. Mamie had taught me so many things. I glanced at the beach and remembered the day she had insisted I memorize some figures she drew in the sand. She told me someday I might need to use them.
I frowned. I found a piece of driftwood and started drawing in the sand, trying to remember. There was a triangular shape and then a swirly one, a cross, and a trapezoid sort of thing. What were the words she’d taught me to go with them? I hadn’t thought of them in years. I mumbled the first two, couldn’t remember the third, and stammered around the fourth.
“Mater matrishmm-mmready.” I frowned. When I was a kid, I’d thought it was just some silliness she’d made up to entertain me, but now with my own magic rising inside me, I knew she’d given me something more.
I didn’t remember seeing any of these symbols in the book. Still, the memory strengthened my resolve. Maybe Mamie’s house was gone, but there had to be someone on the island who remembered her, who could tell us something to help with the grimoire. I dropped the stick and strode back up the path.
Olive was coming around the corner from the house, a frown turning down the corners of her mouth.
“The owners were not accommodating?” Eloise asked.
“They’re not there,” Olive said. “No one is, which was easy to see, as their glass house is see-through, front to back, and there’s practically nothing in it.”
“It’s such a shame.” Eloise sighed. “Toni’s cottage was so charming, with its front porch surrounded by hydrangea bushes and her collection of wind chimes.”
“Now it’s ornamental grasses and not a wind chime in sight,” Olive said. “Quite depressing, actually.”
We stood like the weary travelers we were, taking in a landscape that felt unduly harsh at the moment. A large black SUV rolled up beside us.
“Need a lift?” Jasper rolled down the driver’s window and smiled at us.
“Yes, back to town.” Olive gestured for Eloise and me to take the back seat.
“I take it the house didn’t offer any insights?” Jasper asked.
“None other than the new residents have horrible taste,” Olive said. “There was not a single book in sight.” She shuddered and I felt a small smile tip my lips.
The rest of the car ride was silent until Jasper pulled into a spot in the center of town. “Where to next?”
Olive turned around in the passenger seat. “Eloise, you mentioned Toni might have some friends still on the island?”
“Potentially,” Eloise confirmed.
“We can start there, then,” Olive declared. I had another idea.
“I’m going to the library,” I said. “I want to look up any local news articles there might be about Mamie.”
Olive glanced at me, considering, and then nodded. “Suityourself. We’ll meet you there in an hour. Griffin, you go with Ziakas. Don’t get into trouble.”
“Me?” Jasper’s outraged expression was over the top. He was clearly teasing Olive, who unsurprisingly was not having it.
“Do you see anyone else named Griffin in here?” She didn’t wait for his answer but popped her door open and stepped out. Eloise let out a small yip and hurried to keep up with her. I hoped she didn’t lose a leg for her efforts.
“Shall we?” Jasper asked.
