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"What does she want you to do?" Matthew’s voice was rough with e I’oddess needs me alive to do it"
Matthew’s hand came to rest on the space between my hps where our children slept
I felt a soft flutter Another I looked at hihtly, and there was a stronger flicker of ?" I asked
"Not at all The babies They’ve quickened" Matthew’s expression ed as well as relieved
We waited together for the next flurry of activity within ht up in the unexpected joy I tilted backthe darkness of the new ht
The crossroads was silent, and the sharp need I had felt to be out under the dark moon had passed
It was not death that had brought me here, but life Hand in hand, Matthew and I went back to the house
When I turned on the kitchen light, so for me
"It’s a bit soon for so the strangely wrapped parcel When Matthew moved forward to examine it more closely, I put out a hand and stopped him
"Don’t touch it"
He looked at ical wards on it to repel an arular An odd assortether to cover it: pink paper with storks, paper covered with priarish Christ bells A bouquet of bright bows covered its surface
"Where did it come from?" Matthew asked
"The house, I think" I poked it withpaper from birthdays past"
"Are you sure it’s for you?" He looked dubious
I nodded The package was definitely for erly I picked it up The bows, all of which had been used before and therefore lacked adhesive, slipped off and rained down on the kitchen island
"Shall I get Sarah?" Matthew asked
"No I’ve got it covered" My hands were tingling, and every rainbow stripe was in evidence as I re paper
Inside was a coes sewn together with thick string Soenta daisy over the white box for your name, and WIDE RULE
had been edited to read WITCHES RULE
"‘Rebecca Bishop’s Book of Shadows,’" I said, reading aloud from the words written in thick black ink on the daisy "This is her ics"
I cracked open the cover After all our proble from mysterious illustrations to encoded script Instead I found
"To summon a spirit recently dead and question it" was the first spell in the book
"Mo Matthew the words on the page
The notes beneath the spell recorded the dates when she and Eic, as well as the results Their first three attempts had failed On the fourth try, they succeeded
Both of them were thirteen at the time
"Christ," Matthew said "They were babes What business did they have with the dead?"
"Apparently they wanted to know if Bobby Woodruff liked Mary Bassett," I said, peering at the cramped script
"Why didn’t they just ask Bobby Woodruff?" Mattheondered
I flipped through the pages Binding spells, banishing spells, protection spells, charms to su with love ers stopped Matthew sniffed
So thin and ales in the back of the book
Scrawled above it in a more mature version of the same round hand were the words:
[des: Author had this all centered on the page]
Diana:
Happy Birthday!
I kept this for you It was our first indication that you were going to be a great witch
Maybe you’ll need it one day
Lots of love, Mom
"It’s ful that I got it back on the same day the babies quickened?"
"No," Matthew said "It’s far ht because you finally stopped running fro"
"What’s that?" I frowned
"That you were going to possess an extraordinary coical abilities," he replied
The tenth knot burned onshape
"That’s why I can tie the tenth knot," I said, understanding for the first time where the power came from "I can create because my father was a weaver, and I can destroy because ics"
"A union of opposites," Matthew said "Your parents were an alche, too One that produced a marvelous child"
I closed the spell book carefully It would take me months--years, perhaps--to learn from my mother’s mistakes and create spells of my own that would achieve the sa ainstof Matthew’s heart
"‘Do not refusea line from an alchemical text I’d studied in Matthew’s library "That line froens used to remind me of you, but now it ic and how hard I resisted it"