Im just a small town shi.., p.22
Combustible Magic, page 22
“Are you talking to yourself again, Mum?” Athena asked, coming out of the living room. “What was up with Dad? Why did he storm out?”
“I think he's just sick of being treated as the babysitter, like you thought,” Rosemary replied. Clearly she wasn't going to tell her teen anything about the conversation she’d just had. Rosemary had enough to be teased about already.
“Oh yeah?” said Athena. “So if he quits his job as a babysitter, what are we going to do with the kids?”
“I have no idea. Hopefully, the authorities can find them some good foster homes as quickly as possible.”
“They need to be magical foster homes,” said Athena. “The kids aren't really practicing magic yet, but they sure are otherworldly, and strange things will happen around them from time to time, things that mundane people will struggle to understand.”
“That's why it's taking so long to find them homes, I think,” said Rosemary. “But you're right. We need to come up with some other kind of solution, because even the most placid children in the world are a handful.”
“Thank you for what you said before,” said Athena. “I know you were just trying to control yourself. Because there were all those other people listening in. I know that you're still mad at me.”
“It was the truth,” said Rosemary. “I've never had to worry about protecting you so much before because you never went to parties or got into trouble like other teenagers. And now that things have changed since we've been in Myrtlewood, I've gone totally overboard, treating you like a toddler when you're almost an adult, as you keep saying. If I treated you that way from the beginning, then you wouldn't have gone to the fae realm without telling me. Well, you might have, but things could have been different. And you would have told me how you were feeling about that place. We could have figured it out together instead of you sneaking out at night and cutting holes in the veil.”
Athena nodded. “I guess if you didn't pry into my life so much, then I wouldn't feel like I needed so much privacy or to protect myself from you.”
“I guess it's time for me to let go a little bit,” said Rosemary. “You’re so strong. You can protect yourself. You know your own mind. I'm incredibly proud of you. I’m still angry, but also incredibly proud.”
“Thanks Mum,” said Athena, giving Rosemary a playful push.
“What was that for?”
“Just trying to break the tension. I'm a teenager, I can't handle these serious earnest conversations, remember?” She giggled. “So since you're going to trust me to live my own life, you're going to let me come to this Beltane ritual, right?”
“My initial reaction is not on your life,” said Rosemary, looking her daughter in the eye. “It's bound to be dangerous, possibly more dangerous than anything we've faced yet, including the Bloodstone Society, although I wouldn't be surprised if they are the ones behind this. I have a feeling that if I try to hold you back and keep you at home with the kids, not only will we be in more trouble, because we won't have you there with your powerful magic, but you'll also find some way to sneak out anyway. And then we won't be well-orchestrated. And we'll be in even more danger. So, this is me, living up to what I've said. Walking the talk or whatever.”
“No one says that anymore, Mum.”
“I'm not trying to be cool,” said Rosemary. “It's just a figure of speech.”
“I'm glad you're not trying to be cool because I don't think it would ever work,” said Athena. “But also. Thank you.”
“I'm trusting you to make up your own mind,” said Rosemary. “I still don't think you should come. But if you are going to, then let’s work as a team.”
“I think you already know that I'm definitely coming,” said Athena. “And I'm bringing my friends too.”
Thirty-Seven
“I know you're up to something,” said Marjie, the next morning. She'd arrived at Thorn Manor a few moments before, carrying a big box of Sally Lunn buns, including some dairy free ones for Dain. “Don't even think about not including me.”
They sat around the table, drinking tea and eating the fresh baked goods.
“It's going to be dangerous,” said Rosemary. She filled Marjie in on the details. “Actually, it'd be great if you could stay here with the kids.”
“I'm not just some babysitter, Rosemary Thorn,” said Marjie. “Not when there’s danger that I could help to fight. I’d ask Herb to help with the kids, but you know he's not the best, with his bad leg. He won't be able to run after them. How about Una and Ashwyn?”
Rosemary glanced at Neve across the table, wondering if the sisters could be trusted.
“What was that look about?” Marjie asked. “Don't tell me you're suspicious of those two. They’re both absolutely lovely and highly trustworthy.”
“How can you be sure?” Rosemary asked, a whir of different suspicious thoughts flicking through her mind. “Una’s father was fae, and maybe she could have some kind of motive to do with their realm.”
“That does sound like a stretch when you say it like that, Mum,” said Athena. “Una is so nice.”
“Nice people can do terrible things, remember that sweet little girl who turned out to be an ancient vampire and came after us?”
“She was not nice,” said Athena. “Geneviève was pure evil. I could tell from the very beginning.”
“Don't be silly,” said Rosemary. “You were just jealous.”
Athena pierced her with an evil look.
“I know!” said Neve, clearly trying to break the tension. “How about we invite them over and ask them some questions. We can ask if they'll babysit. And that will also give us a chance to make sure that they’re comfortable with the kids before we leave them with the children.”
“I don’t know about that,” said Rosemary. “Can't you just stay?” she asked Nesta.
“I'm afraid not,” Nesta said. “When Neve’s working I'm only able to go out for short intervals at the moment, when my neighbour pops over to look after Neve’s aunt. I can't very well leave her and Mei alone for hours at a time in the evening.”
“They could all come here,” said Rosemary.
“My aunt's refusing to leave the house at the moment,” said Neve. “She says there's too much evil afoot.”
“That’s probably true,” said Athena. “She was right about me after all.”
“What you did wasn't evil, love,” said Rosemary. “Just misguided.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” said Athena. “That's what it will read on my tombstone. ‘Not evil, just misguided.’”
“You're not going to have a tombstone.” Rosemary frowned. “At least not while I'm around.”
“That is not exactly inspiring confidence,” said Athena.
“Are you sure you don't want to stay, Dain?” Rosemary asked hopefully.
“Absolutely not,” said Dain. “There's no way I'm going to miss out on the chance to see you fighting.” He laughed.
Rosemary glared at him.
“But more seriously,” Dain continued, “I need to be there to help protect you two.”
Rosemary sighed. “Fine. We'll call Una and Ashwyn and see if they're able to come over and look after the children. But – I want Neve to interview them before we allow them anywhere near the kids. Use your detective interview powers Neve.”
Neve gave her a questioning look. “You want me to interrogate them? Have you got a swinging lightbulb in a bleak concrete room?”
Athena laughed. “We can just ask them some questions. If they're acting weird, we'll tell them not to worry about it, and then we'll follow them around until they do something evil. And otherwise, we'll have a babysitter.”
“It still doesn't seem like the wisest idea,” said Rosemary.
“It might not, but we're running out of options.” Athena held up an old leather-bound book. “We need to get organised. This book makes it sound like we’ll have to appease the gods in some way.”
“That doesn't sound good,” said Rosemary. “In fact it sounds rather ‘adult’, especially when you think about the effect that the fire seems to have on people. I'd really prefer if you didn't come,” she said to Athena. “Can't you babysit?”
“No, Mum. We've been over this. You need my magic.”
“How do you appease the gods, then?” Rosemary asked.
An idea popped into her head relating to magical protection. She could use a shield spell and adapt it to cover the Myrtlewood residents to protect them from the fire. It would be complicated, but it might just pay off.
“We can try milk and honey,” said Athena. “That's the kind of thing that Brigid likes.”
“Okay, add that to the shopping list,” said Rosemary. “What else do we need?”
“Yellow topaz, carnelian red agate, ruby, garnet,” said Athena. “Basically all the red, yellow, and orange stones.”
“We should make some more battle charms,” said Marjie. “That's how I'm going to help.”
“Sounds great,” said Rosemary.
“Plus, I'll make sure you're all fed. I've got a batch of beef pies, baking in the shop. In fact, I better go and get them. I’ll meet you in town later on.”
Most of the day was spent in preparation for the ritual. Rosemary was relieved that there were no more fires and nobody had tried to attack her for a change, but there was lots of work to do in the meantime to prepare for the evening.
“We’ll arrive in town, just after nightfall,” said Neve, who was in charge of strategy. “That way we’ll have less chance of the mayor finding out and kicking us out of the town circle before we can set up.”
“Alright,” said Rosemary.
She checked her phone to find another missed call from Liam. Her heart sank. She had promised she would help him soon. But she had other more pressing issues. Surely, he could just do whatever he normally did if it was too close to the full moon. He'd been caught out a couple of months before, but he’d assured her that wasn't normally the case and he had some kind of cage setup that he usually used when he went all wolfie. She pushed thoughts of Liam out of her mind. She had plenty of other things to think about.
There was a knock at the door.
Rosemary opened it to find Burk standing there, his skin looking pasty. He was holding an umbrella.
“I didn't know you could go outside in daylight,” said Rosemary. It was only slightly awkward seeing him for the first time since their little incident in the middle of town.
“It's a cloudy day,” said Burk. “Plus, I'm wearing incredibly high SPF sunscreen and the umbrella’s for shade.”
“I figured,” said Rosemary. “What do you want?”
“Can I come in? It's a bit risky being out here.”
“Sure.” She stepped aside and let him in through the front door. “How can I help you?” There was slight rigidity in her voice considering everything else that was going on. She hardly needed the disruption.
“I know you're doing something for Beltane to try to stop the fires,” said Burk.
“Did Marjie tell you?” Rosemary asked. “There's no such thing as a secret in this town, is there?”
“I might have just figured it out myself,” said Burk. “I heard about the fire at the school. The mayor thinks that cancelling Beltane is going to help settle things down. But he's wrong, isn't he?”
“That's what I think,” said Neve, stepping towards them. “Look, you're not going to be able to stop us. We know it's risky, but we've got to do something.”
“I'm not trying to stop you,” said Burk. “I’m trying to help.”
“Oh, good,” said Rosemary. “Now...you can help by staying out of the way and stepping in if necessary.”
“Is that all?” Burk asked, sounding a little disappointed.
“Do you actually want to help?” Rosemary asked. “Or are you just getting your action kicks?”
Burk gave her a slightly offended look.
“I know you're a vampire. You've been around a long time, life gets boring. Maybe you're here for a little entertainment.”
“I'm just offering to help,” Burk said defensively. “Is something wrong? Did I do something to offend you?”
Rosemary shook herself. “No, sorry. I'm just a bit stressed. Sure you can help. I just I don't have the bandwidth to figure out how at the moment.”
“Never mind, leave that to me,” said Neve. “Come this way. Mr. Vam...I mean Capricorn man.”
Rosemary laughed at Neve’s deliberate use of the code word for vampires that she and Athena had come up with.
Burk raised his eyebrows questioningly, but didn’t ask any questions.
As Burk followed Neve through the house, Dain came out of the living room, raising himself up to his full height and squaring his shoulders in some kind of display of alpha-maleness.
Rosemary giggled.
“What's he doing here?” Dain said.
“Helping,” said Rosemary cheerfully. “Which is what you're supposed to be doing, remember? And it would be in your best interests to listen to Neve, instead of bothering me. I've got enough to think about with the spell.”
“What's the spell? I might be able to help,” said Dain.
“Since when do you do spells?” Rosemary narrowed her eyes.
“I have fae magic,” said Dain defensively.
“Yes, but fae magic is not the same as witch magic,” said Rosemary.
“Just run along and see what Neve’s strategy is, and we'll ask you to pitch in with the magic if necessary.”
“Okay, fine,” Dain huffed and walked away.
“All right, then,” said Rosemary, walking into the kitchen where her daughter was dutifully doing her chores. “As soon as you're finished that, I need you to help me with a few things.”
“Okay, Mum, but I meant what I said. I asked around, and my friends are going to help us.”
“Do their parents know?” Rosemary asked. “Actually, it's probably better if you don't tell me. We need the numbers. This might be dangerous, but it's going to be a heck of a lot worse if we don't pull it off.”
“I'm glad you think so,” Athena said, crossing her arms in satisfaction.
There was another knock at the door. Rosemary sighed dramatically. “Not more disruptions!”
Athena opened the door to find Una and Ashwyn. “Thanks for coming,” she said.
Rosemary felt more guarded than Athena seemed to be, judging by her cheerful smile.
“Come through here.” Athena showed them into the dining room, as the living room was currently occupied by the strategy department, meaning Neve, accompanied by Burk and Dain.
Rosemary had plenty of prep work to do and she would have much rather been watching the rooster-like behavior of the two men and laughing at them than having to have this awkward conversation.
“Maybe I'll go and get Neve,” she said.
Athena shot her mother a warning glance.
What? Rosemary asked in her mind.
“I'm going to go and make tea,” said Athena, slightly too loudly. “Why don't you sit down and be polite, Mum?”
Rosemary reluctantly sat down at the table.
“You look stressed,” said Una. “What's going on?”
“It’s complicated,” said Rosemary.
Neve came in a moment later. “Oh, you’re here!”
“What's this about?” Una asked. “I thought it was supposed to be babysitting.”
“Yes, err...” Rosemary wanted to leave the room, but Athena had made it too awkward. “We just have a few screening questions first,” she said.
Neve gave her an odd look.
“Why can't I do anything right at the moment?” Rosemary asked.
“Look,” said Neve. “Something strange is going on around town and we want to make sure that you're not part of it, so we do want to ask you a few questions. If that's all right.”
“Of course,” said Ashwyn, smiling in a friendly way.
“Is this to do with the fires?” Una asked, concerned. They both sounded so genuine and earnest. With each question they were asked Rosemary ceded a little bit more mental ground to the realisation that they must be innocent in all this.
Athena brought in the tea and Rosemary followed her out.
“What was all that about?” Rosemary asked.
“You were trying to avoid an awkward situation,” Athena said with an accusatory tone.
“So what?” asked Rosemary.
“Mum, you’re the suspicious one here. If you're really worried about those two, you needed to be there to hear them out. Otherwise you weren't going to stop being suspicious of them, and it would defeat the whole purpose.”
“Oh fine,” said Rosemary. “You have a point.”
“And?” said Athena, bracing her hands questioningly.
“And they seemed perfectly innocent to me,” Rosemary conceded. “I'll trust them to look after the kids.”
“That's perfect,” said Athena. “Now come and help me with this spell.”
“I thought I was in charge of the magic,” Rosemary said, crossing her arms.
“Mum, don’t pout. It's ridiculous.” Athena laughed. “You're just getting wound up. Why don't you go have a bath and relax? You're no good to any of us if you're frazzled. You need to recharge your batteries.”
“There's no time for baths,” said Rosemary.
“Yes, there is. We've still got several hours and everything is in hand. I'll make you a cup of Marjie’s special tea and your job is to relax.”
“Why is relaxing the hardest thing to do sometimes?” Rosemary complained. But after a lot more magical preparation, she took Athena’s advice and stalked upstairs to have a bath. After all, baths were important.
The relaxation actually did help her to clear her mind somewhat. She remembered several things that would be helpful for the ritual. She also remembered to put on the heirloom emerald necklace to help her focus. She had avoided wearing it recently because she wanted to hone her powers without the crutch of the magical talisman, but tonight, she wasn't going to take any chances.
Thirty-Eight
Rosemary emerged in her fluffy bathrobe after what had turned out to be a rather long and relaxing soak in the tub. A glorious sunset lit up the sky outside her bedroom window.
