Fantasia jerked awake, and gave a cry. Halliday went to take her arm, and the driver narrowly avoided an oncoming car.

“Fanty?”

“My arm,” said the woman with confusion. She started tearing at the dressing.

“No! You will start the blood flow again.”

“Take your hands off me!”

“At least let me do it for you,” he protested. “Remember to listen to your doctor.”

“Oh go on, doctor!” There was more than anger in Fantasia’s eyes. She looked desperate.

“Please hold still.” Halliday started to unwind the bandage. His charge fidgeted desperately. The final covering came loose, and he gently peeled off the dressing underneath. It was soaked with blood. The doctor took a sterile wipe out of his bag, and started mopping Fantasia’s arm. When it was clean, they both stared at the wound in bewilderment.

Now that the pentacle was complete, Ankerita stepped into the circle, and sat cross-legged in the centre, the crystal ball between her legs. She concentrated. “Begin!”

The light from each stone ran out along the connecting lines of the pentacle, in the same sequence as Ankerita had drawn them. The light spread around the outside ring, building into a steady white radiance.

“I call upon the power of the five angels,” Ankerita intoned again. “Heal this woman, and this world.”

There was a flash, like an electrical discharge, from all five stones, each in their own colour.

“I call my guardian angel,” Anna continued. “Oh faithful Friend, Nithaiah, Nithaiah, Nithaiah. You, who have protected me, I send you all my love. Help me to fight on against evil, and to move forwards along my intended path. Give me intuition and a solution for every problem I face. Confident of your presence, I am filled with hope. Thanks to you, I am one with Divinity, at all times and in all places. I give thanks to you for this great gift, as we move forward together towards a Golden Age.”

The light around the pentacle strengthened and rose like a curtain. Ankerita picked up the crystal-ball and turned towards where her friend was leaning against the wall. “I hear them, the messengers, they are ready for you,” she said. “Come and lie in the circle. Try not to scuff the chalk,” she added, the old Ankerita briefly coming through.

Jo struggled to stand, but she was desperately weak, and collapsed. Anna stood and held out her arm. “You must be in the circle, to complete the enchantment. If I come out, the spell is broken.”

“I can’t,” murmured Jo. “I can’t move.”

“It’s healed,” said Fantasia. She shook her head. “What has happened?” she and the doctor stared at unblemished skin that previously had been an ugly wound. “Mr Felucca, stop the car.”

“Ma’am?” The driver brought the vehicle to a gentle halt.

“Something has happened. I seem to be feeling better. What magic is this?”

“It wouldn’t be anything to do with that over there, would it?” Felucca pointed. In the distance, over the tops of the trees was a glare like a bank of floodlights.

“She’s running some sort of sorcery,” said Fantasia. “It’s taken away the influence of the knife that cut me. I’m okay. I’m feeling much better. So much for your claptrap, Doctor. Why am I cured?”

“I have no idea...” Halliday slumped.

“What do we do, Ma’am?” The driver was idly dabbing his foot on the accelerator.

“I actually don’t know,” said Fantasia. “Has she lifted the spell for me, or is there something else going on? Dare I interrupt and risk the chance of the injury returning, or was it an illusion all the time. Is that why it couldn’t be cured?”

“I wish I knew, but how do you feel, Fanty?” asked the doctor.

“Very weak,” said Fantasia.

“Your blood is still on the dressings,” he said. “You need time to recover from the amount you’ve lost.”

“Ma’am, what do you want me to do?” asked Felucca again. “Drive on or stay here?”

Fantasia sighed. “There’s hope. I suppose that once I’ve got my strength back, I could repeat the ritual. This changes everything, but I will need time and the energy to complete my work. Drive on, Mr Felucca. Let’s see what the bitch is up to. If we catch her, we can always keep her locked away until the time is right again.”

“And we stop her doing any more of her trickery?” The driver grinned.

“Probably, to be on the safe side,” agreed Fantasia.

“You must come inside the circle,” Ankerita pleaded.

“All my strength... gone.”

“You have to try!” Ankerita sounded desperate. “If I put my hand through the barrier, the whole spell collapses. It could kill me as the energy discharges. Jo, you must!”

“It’s too late. The pain...” Jo folded up. Her arm reached out feebly, but not far enough. “Anna!” She slumped as life deserted her.

Ankerita shook her head hopelessly. She was watching her friend die. Could she risk leaving the circle and dragging her in? “If there’s no other way, the circle has to be broken.” She took a step, and then froze. An image formed beside Jo’s body: a figure in dark robes, face in shadow.

“Francis,” breathed Anna. “I thought you had gone.”

“I am called by death.” The monk was impassionate. “I am needed tonight, but it is not time for her.” He lifted Jo under the arms, and carried her easily towards the pentacle. “Take her.” He pushed her arm through the curtain of light. Ankerita took hold and pulled her friend through.

“Thank you.”

“We will meet again.” Francis smiled, touched the side of his head in a mock salute, and vanished.

“Not too soon, I hope.” Ankerita set Jo’s limp body gently on the tiles, and arranged her friend so that her head was at the top of the star, and her arms and legs were stretched out towards the points. Jo was almost weightless; she was becoming transparent, as energy drained from her into the pentacle, living or finally passed on? It amounted to the same thing, inside the circle.

The light of all five planets blazed unnaturally through the broken window. The colours around the pentacle merged and began to pulse with energy. “I think it is time.” Ankerita picked up the book again, and completed the invocation.

“Oh Guardians, protect this woman, show her the love around, by divine will, from sky to ground, from stone to stone, give her the power of life.”

“You, Jo, are filled with the shining light of the angels, you are a Star of God. Great God and all you spirits of love who surround my friend, bring her the ultimate of blessings. Be with her now and forever.”

Ankerita held her breath. There was pressure building up around her head, as though a huge weight was being forced upon her from all sides. It built and built, until she could hold it no longer. She screamed with agony. The room plunged into darkness.