The next time when I woke up, I found Scar curled up at the bottom of my bed. It was the strangest feeling. I’d not used all the magic I’d spindled in the cemetery last night. and as she lay there sleeping, I could feel her siphoning off the excess. It felt like cool water running through my veins. Weird, but interesting. Oh well, that was what familiars were supposed to do, wasn’t it, to balance energy levels? Who was I to complain?
Everyone else had risen long before me, and I descended the stairs to find madness and mayhem in the kitchen. And Jimmy. He still wore his coat, and I got the impression he’d just arrived. Right now he was chatting to Henry, as he chowed down on a generous plate of Mom’s bacon and eggs.
Jimmy smiled as I approached, but the sparkle was missing, and I sensed all still wasn’t well with him.
“Hey, Jimmy, when did you get home?” I asked. I gave him a sisterly kiss on the cheek and a quick hug.
“Just,” he said.
I glanced over to where Mom was fussing about putting the finishing touches on another impressive breakfast plate. I suspected those eggs were not for me. Mothers and sons.
“I didn’t think you’d be home for a few more days. How were the exams?”
He shrugged and sat back in his seat as Mom deposited a pile of food in front of him. “I don’t know what they feed you in New York, but you’re all thin as rakes.” She shook her head. “I’ve a good mind to go back with you when you return.”
A loud bang had Mom running into the rarely used dining room. I shifted slightly just in time to see our youngest brother, Joe, playing with Mom’s mortar and pestle. He was covered head to toe in a green vapor, and the place stank of rotten vegetation. Joe was grinning, like he’d made the discovery of a lifetime.
“Why, you little—”
We never heard the end of that sentence. Joe had seen her coming, and she was forced to chase him out into the yard. A moment later, I could hear laughter as Mom joined in their games outside.
Jimmy nibbled on a little bacon and then pushed his plate away.
“Are you not going to eat that?” I asked.
Jimmy shook his head. My own appetite was back with a vengeance, so I set into the food at once, laughing with my mouth full when Henry looked at me sideways.
I swallowed hard. “What, a girl can’t eat?” I was already piling the next lot on my fork.
“Your appetite is a beautiful thing to behold,” Henry said, mesmerized. I blew him a kiss.
There was so much I wanted to ask Jimmy, and I hoped we’d find some time alone together. Henry must have sensed something of the sort because he sat back and stretched. “You know, while I’m here, I might pop over to see how Matt’s getting along. You don’t mind, do you, Cat?”
I shook my head. “Not at all.”
“Good. I don’t suppose I’ll be long. Once you’ve finished that mountain of food, come over and join us, if you feel like it. Otherwise, I’ll be back in a bit.”
Henry stood up and took his plate over to the sink where he rinsed it off. Jimmy glanced at me and raised his eyebrows as if to say, I bet Mom loves him. I suspected she already did.
“Won’t be long.” Henry planted a fat kiss on my cheek, and a moment later he left.
“Well,” I said, wasting no time now that we were alone. “What’s going on?”
Jimmy thought for a minute, and I got the feeling he was struggling to put his thoughts into words. Then he shook his head, and after looking past me and reassuring himself Mom was busy outside, he pulled a little red pouch out of his pocket. He placed a small amount of white powder into the palm of his hand and blew all of it into the space over the kitchen table.
“Dude!” Just in time I scrambled to move my plate out of harm’s way.
A dull mist began to form, which separated into two wisps of smoke. Each began to twist and turn, rolling into themselves like angry, tempestuous clouds.
At last, I could make out two cloud-shaped people. The first was Isabella, the second her brother, John. I winced when I saw him. I’d really hoped I’d seen the last of him.
“You’d better go in a minute. He’ll be here any moment,” the Isabella-shaped cloud said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be gone before he gets here. I still can’t believe he’s giving you a second chance, not after that dirty picture you sent him. He must be desperate.” John sneered sarcastically, and I suddenly wanted to punch him.
“Well, he begged,” Isabelle replied. “You know I can’t resist a man who’ll do anything I tell him.”
“Unlike Freddy.”
Isabella sighed. “Ah, yes, well, Freddy’s a real man. Jimmy doesn’t even come close. But you know, I’m flat broke, and there’s no way I can stay in New York unless someone helps me out. I need to keep his grubby little hands on me for a while longer, at least.”
John snorted. “Well, good luck with that. I didn’t even get to first base with that stuck-up sister of his. Not that it matters since the family isn’t half as well-off as we thought. Earth magic! Frankly, if I were you, I’d ditch the brother as soon as you can. Sounds like he’s going to be as big a loser as their plodding father.”
“Of course I will. Once I find myself some rich stud with a trust fund and a big…” She wiggled her eyebrows and smiled suggestively. John laughed like a braying donkey. “Now get a move on. Lover boy could be here any moment.”
Jimmy angrily swiped his arm through the image, causing the clouds to disperse and disappear. His jaw was clenched, and I could tell the scene still hurt him. “Sadly, for Isabella, I got there a little early and overheard them both.”
“Oh, Jimmy, I’m so sorry,” I said.
He shook his head. “I’m a fool, but I’ll get over it. I can’t believe I let her talk me into seeing her again. You must think I’m a total idiot.”
“Not at all. We’re all a bit stupid when we think we’re in love.”
“Well, for the record, I didn’t beg. It was the other way round. She called me.”
I didn’t care one way or the other. Isabella was in the wrong, and Jimmy was better off without her. That was all that mattered in the end. “Look at it this way—it might hurt like crazy now, but at least you got to see her true colors before you got in any deeper.”
“I guess.”
I got up and kissed the top of his head. “You want me to hex her panties? They’ll always feel annoyingly bunched, and she’ll never know why.”
He laughed, and I was relieved to hear it.
“What are you going to do now?” I asked.
“I dunno. I think the exams went well. Rather than wait for the results, I might head off to Florida with some friends and have a little dude time.”
“The beach is an excellent idea. I wish I could come with you.”
“Yeah, right. I have a feeling you’re happy staying right where you are.” He jerked his chin in the direction of Matt Allen’s house.
“You have a point. Talking of, if you don’t mind, I might mosey over there for a bit. There’s something I need to discuss with Henry.”
Jimmy chuckled. “Discuss. Right. That’s what they’re calling it these days.”
I slapped him playfully on the shoulder. “Don’t be cheeky.”
As Jimmy went off in search of the others, I stuffed the last piece of bacon into my mouth, and after rinsing off my own plate in the sink, I set about cleaning up the rest of the breakfast things. I knew Jimmy was going to be okay. Maybe not for a bit, but he’d get over it. He just needed some time. And now I was glad Sylvia had let Isabella go. It would have been awkward to share a room with her after this. I would have done more than shrink her panties, that was for sure. And then my thoughts turned to Henry and the song Catherine had asked me to memorize. I began to scrub a little faster, intending to go find Henry as soon as I was done.
When I’d got in last night, I’d written down Catherine’s song while it was still fresh in my mind. I opened my notebook now and studied the song lyrics. I prayed I had it right. Gaia alone knew my memory wasn’t that fabulous, especially having heard it just the once.
Now, with the page folded neatly in my pocket and the cooking things all dried and put away, I wandered over to Matt’s house. As I passed Catherine’s grave, I whispered, “I suppose it would have been too much to ask you to write it all down for me.” There was no response, and I carried on walking.
I found Matt and Henry outside. Matt was hammering nails into his chicken coop, doing his best to repair some warped wood that had pulled away from the structure. Henry was helping him by pushing onto the dampened wood and making it as flat as possible. Neither heard my hellos over the noise of Matt’s hammer. I had to admire his determination to fix everything himself and not rely on magic. Fitter than anyone I knew, I had no doubt the wiry man would outlive us all.
Matt looked up and saw me coming before Henry did. “Have you come to give me a hand?” he asked, an easy smile on his lips.
“Sure, I can help,” I said. “What do you need me to do?”
“We’re almost done here. Would you feed the chickens?” Matt suggested.
There wasn’t a chicken in sight. I supposed the hammering had driven them off. Matt nodded toward a large food container by the side of the coop. I picked it up, and almost at once, what seemed like a million birds came out of nowhere and began to cluck and peck excitedly around my feet. Matt and Henry grinned.
As Matt finished hammering, I tossed the seed and watched as the birds fought for pole position. They looked well-fed, but anyone would think they hadn’t eaten in days. They were that aggressive, fluttering their wings and trampling over each other. I spread the feed out evenly, and by the time Matt was sliding his hammer back inside his belt, I was done. Although trying to convince the chickens that there was nothing left in the bucket was another matter entirely.
Matt took a step back to admire his handiwork. “There, that should hold through the winter.”
“Looks good as new,” I said.
“Well, that’s my repairs done,” Matt said. “I like to get everything in shape around here before the frost sets in. Now I could use a cup of tea. Come on inside, and I’ll make us all something warm to drink.”
Matt led the way, and Henry waited for me to go before him. It was dark inside, Matt turning on no more lights than was necessary while Sylvia was away. We followed him into the kitchen and sat at his table while he set about boiling some water. I was still full after breakfast, but I always had room for another cup of tea.
Matt removed his tool belt and deposited it on the large kitchen table. I thought about Mom, who would have had a fit if Dad did the same in our house.
“So where did you disappear to last night?” Henry asked.
“I thought you were asleep,” I replied.
“I was. But I heard you come back in. And Scar was running around like an idiot. She wouldn’t settle down.”
“Who’s Scar?” Matt asked, washing his hands at the sink.
“Henry brought me a familiar,” I told him. “She’s a lovely fox cub. You should see her colors. Her name is Scarlet—Scar for short. I should have brought her along with me.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.” Matt smiled. “Chickens.”
I laughed at my stupidity. “Sorry.”
“That’s okay. You made a faux pas.”
We all chuckled at that. Then I said to Henry, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Only barely. I rolled over and went straight back as soon as you disappeared upstairs. So where did you go?”
Matt joined us at the table and looked just as curious as Henry did.
“If you must know, I was summoned to Catherine’s grave last night. She woke me from my sleep, and I went out there to find out what she wanted. She sang a song to me.”
“A spirit sang you a song?” Matt asked, leaning forward, intrigued. “What kind of song?”
“Just a silly song, but she said there was magic in the words. It didn’t sound too magical to me.”
“How did it go?” Henry asked.
“Hold on. I wrote it down.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the folded slip of paper.
Henry leaned across the table to take it, but I pulled it away. “Don’t be so grabby!”
“Sorry.”
“She asked me to sing it,” I said.
The two men exchanged glances and then sat back in their chairs.
“Well then, let’s hear it,” Matt said.
“I, umm, well, I don’t have the best singing voice.” I felt my face reddening with embarrassment. “Anyway, here goes.” I cleared my throat.
I thought about the melody, and after taking a deep breath, I began to sing. The two men listened in silence. Matt, his brow furrowed as he focused on the words, and Henry, biting his lip as he recognized the song. I could only imagine the emotions unleashed inside him and hoped the memory wouldn’t cause him too much distress.
When I was finished, I could see he was choked, but he hadn’t completely lost it as I half feared he might.
“That was beautiful, thank you,” Henry said.
My cheeks grew hot.
“If that’s not your best singing voice, I can only wonder what it must sound like,” Matt added.
Henry stared down at the table, his thoughts temporarily elsewhere. Then he sighed and said, “I think the words are ‘we spin under the light’ not ‘shine,’ and there’s a little pause after ‘once’ in ‘Turn the circle once, then twice.’” He reached across for the note again, and this time I let him take it.
I watched as Henry read what was written there. His knitted brow deepened as he read. When he was done, he said, “I don’t understand. Why would your ancestor sing this to you?”
“Your mother wanted me to reunite your sister and your dad. Somehow this is supposed to help us, and Catherine acted as messenger, I suppose. You said yourself they find a way to communicate.”
Henry studied the words again. “It’s funny. I’d forgotten this for so long, and now…” The words caught in his throat, and I think Matt sensed something of what he was feeling, because he chose that moment to stand up and finish making the tea.
I reached for Henry’s hand and squeezed his clenched fingers, a gesture he acknowledged with a slight nod. “Sorry,” he said. “It just feels so strange. I remember it now. I remember the day she sang this. It was such a happy evening, and Dad, well, it was like he was a different person. I remember the joy and the delight we all felt just being together.” He paused again and shook his head. “Funny how I forgot it so completely. I wish you could have known us back then. We were such a different family. We lost so much when she died.”
Matt slipped a hot drink in front of Henry.
“Thanks,” Henry said.
“I wish I knew what we were supposed to do with it,” I said.
Matt chuckled. “Seems pretty obvious to me.”
“Oh?” I asked.
“Well, it’s a song, isn’t it? You’re just supposed to sing it.”
“I just did. Where’s the magic?”
Matt scratched his head. “Young people,” he half whispered under his breath. “Like the spirit said,” he continued, “the magic is in the words. Sing it to those who need to hear it and let the words do their thing. Simple. That’s old magic, that is. The deep stuff.”
“So I just sing this to Eleanor and the General, and all will be well?”
“Exactly so,” Matt said. “I suppose the tricky part is getting them together and making them stay long enough to hear it.” He chuckled. “That is going to be the hard part, I reckon.”
I nodded. He wasn’t wrong about that.
While Henry sipped his tea, I wondered how I was going to go about this. With Henry’s help, I was confident I could get to Eleanor easily enough, but the General…he was another matter entirely. Would he even let me in the Abbey after our last encounter, let alone give me a chance to sing a little tune for him?
I accepted the mug of piping-hot tea Matt gave me and tried to come up with a plan. I shook my head. Singing! Why couldn’t she ask me to raise the dead or something a lot less painful? Just fabulous.