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Angel’s voice was taut but calm (Pick up a pen froo Just

relax and let o It was a process she couldn’t have described in words if she’d tried But she watched, with

a sort of fascinated horror, as her own hand began to draw on a small white invoice slip

It drew across the lines, in some kind of pattern Unfortunately the pen seemed to be out of ink, so all

Gillian could see was a faint scribble

(Show her the carbon copy)

Gillian peeled off the first sheet of paper Underneath, in carbon, was her design It looked like a

flower-a dahlia It was crudely colored in, as if it were el?)

(A sort of password Unless you know it, she’s not going to let you buy what you need)

Melusine’s face had changed She was looking at Gillian with startled interest

"Unity," she said "I wondered about you when you caot the look-but I’ve never seen

you before Did you justAnd tell her that you’re just passing through)

(Angel-is she a witch? Are there other witches around here? And how coirl was looking at Gillian rather oddly Like so to catch a conversation It scared

Gillian

"Unity No, I’el whispered, "I need the

Dragon’s Blood and, ued Selket powder?"

Melusine settled back a little "You belong to Circle Midnight" She said it flatly

(Whaaaat? What’s Circle Midnight? And how come she doesn’t like anization Like a club It’s the one that does the kind of spells that you need to do

right now)

(Aha Bad spells, you mean)

(Powerful spells In your case, necessary spells)

Melusine was scooting her chair behind the counter For a et

up, and then, as Melusine reached the

edge of the counter, she understood The chair was a wheelchair and Melusine’s right leg was

froh In aback with a couple of packets and a

box in her lap She put the box on the counter and took out two dolls made of dull rose-colored wax

One of the packets held chunks of what looked like dark red chalk, the other a peacock-green powder

She didn’t look up as Gillian paid for the items Gillian felt snubbed

"Unity," she said forathered up her purchases She figured if you

said it for hello, you could say it for goodbye

Melusine’s dark eyes flashed up at her intently and almost quizzically Then she said slowly, "Merry part

and ain" It almost sounded like an invitation

(Well, I’et out of here, kid)

Outside, Gillian looked at the town square with new eyes (The Witches of Woodbridge So, are they,

like, all over here? Do they own the Creamery and the hardware store, too?)

(You’re closer than you think But we don’t have tiot some spells to cast)

Gillian took oneherself standing in the bright air

with her packages of spell ingredients Then she shook her head She turned to the car

Sitting in the middle of her bed with the bedroom door locked, Gillian contes of rock and powder, the dolls, and the hair she’d gathered froht

Two or three strands of sun blond curls Three or four long black glossy hairs

"And you don’t need to tellat the air beside her "It’s voodoo

ti "The hair is to personalize the dolls, to link theot to wind a hair around each doll, and name it out loud Call it Tanya

or Kiot that hair, I had no idea why I was doing it But when I saw

those little wax figures-well, then I realized And the way that girl Melusine looked at et her"

"I’ht?" Hands clasped tightly in her lap, she looked at hiht, yes, I have I’ve had those-those iiant foot splat down

on eometry teacher But I don’t really want to hurt people"

Angel looked patient "Who said you were going to hurt them?"

"Well, what’s all this for?"

"It’s for whatever you want it to be for Gillian, dragonfly, all these materials are just aids for a witch’s

natural powers They’re a way of focusing the power, directing it to a particular purpose But what

actually happens to Tanya and Kim depends on you You don’t have to hurt them You just have to stop

the what they’re planning to do" Gillian’s

into action "And Tanya’s planning to write letters And Ki to spread the word"

"So what if Tanya can’t write letters? And if Kimberlee can’t talk? It would be sort of poetic justice"

Angel’s face was grave, but his eyes were glinting with mischief

Gillian bit her lip "I think it would kill Kih it" They were both laughing now "So if she had, say, a bad sore

throat and if Tanya’s arm were paralyzed"

Gillian sobered "Not paralyzed"

"I ht, what about so a pen? How about a bad rash?"

"A rash?"

"Sure An infection One she’d have to keep bandaged up so she couldn’t use her fingers That would

stop her for a while, until we can think of so else"

"A rash Yeah, that could work That would be good" Gillian took a quick breath and looked down

at her el walked her through the strange process She wound the dolls with hair and naon’s Blood, the dark red chalky stuff Then she dabbed the

hand of one and the throat of the other with the iridescent green Selket powder

"Now iven the power of the words of Hecate It is not I who utter them, it is not I who

repeat them; it is Hecate who utters them, it is she who repeats theht to Angel wordlessly, in case speaking aloud would

ruin the spell

(Be quiet Now concentrate Pick up the Tanya doll and think Streptococcus pyogenes That’s a

bacteria that’ll give her a rash Picture it in your mind See the rash on the real Tanya)

There was a certain satisfaction in doing it Gillian couldn’t deny that, even to herself She pictured

Tanya’s slin a letter that would destroy David’s future Then she

pictured itchy red bu across the skin More

itching More scratching

(Hey, this is fun!)

Then she took care of the Kim doll

When she was finished, she put both dolls in a shoe box and put the shoe box under her bed Then she

stood up, flushed and triumphant

"It’s over? I did it?"

"You did it You’re a full-fledged witch now Hecate’s the Queen of the Witches, incidentally Their

ancient ruler And she’s special to you- you’re descended in a direct line frohter Hellewise"

"I ahter She seey,

a sense that she could reach out and ht to have an aura "Really?"

"Your great-grandmother Elspeth was one of the Harmans, the Hearth-Women, the line that caith becaht she was ordinary, less than ordinary? You couldn’t argue with facts

like these She was from a line of important witches She was part of an ancient tradition She was

special

She felt very, very powerful

That night, her father called He wanted to know if she was okay, and to let her know he loved her