An Obstinate Witch Read online

  ‘Not so fast. We’re still hammering out the terms with the Covenanters who, as you know, have never been on your side.’

  His whisper tickled the skin of my neck and I shivered with a secret delight. We were going to be in Edinburgh. Never mind the Cromwell and his Covenanters, we were going to be together. My life was getting better and better.

  ‘I’ll meet you in the walled garden after breakfast.’ This last was barely spoken under his breath as if he feared the very walls had ears. After placing his finger on my lips again to make sure I understood, he nodded and slipped away into the shadows of the hall.

  Could I ever have received a better birthday present? Looking back, I should have known to look this gift horse in the mouth, especially when the Kin were involved.

  2

  I COULD HARDLY SLEEP THAT NIGHT, the room was so quiet. Even though I’d never shared a room in my life before coming to Scarp, I’d quickly gotten used to Fergie’s comforting snore six feet away from me. Besides the weird silence, I was too excited to sleep, my energy was buzzing and my thoughts were focused on my future in Edinburgh. With Hugh.

  I skipped breakfast, for the thought of entering the stinky dining hall was enough to make me urge. Instead, I waited at our appointed meeting place in the fresh air, the courtyard garden walled on three sides and overlooking the sea. Sandy had shown this secret place to me. It was quiet here, and private. The breeze coming off the water was welcomingly cool on my skin, for I felt as though I had a furnace stoked inside me.

  He appeared from the side entrance, his hair still damp from his morning shower yet he was dressed in a suit and tie even this early in the morning. I liked this much better than the formal black silk robe worn during Kin business. The fine wool fabric of the suit hugged his body and showed off his broad shoulders, tapering to his trim hips. It must have been tailor made for him, or perhaps he just looked good in everything he wore.

  The grin on his face matched mine, and this time I ran and jumped in his arms and he didn’t put me down. We stayed like that for a long moment while I gloried in that spicy sandalwood smell of him, the warmth of his body, my feeling of security within those strong arms.

  Finally he let me down gently and we walked back to my stone bench in the sun. I nestled into his arm as we gazed out to the sea and watched the gulls and waves.

  ‘How are you feeling?’ I loved how his deep voice rumbled through his chest.

  ‘Number one, now.’

  ‘I mean, how are you feeling?’ He emphasized the last word.

  I turned my neck to squint up at him. ‘I feel good. Great actually, fantastic, never felt better in my life.’

  ‘The past few days?’

  ‘Yeah, I guess so,’ I said as I snuggled back into his arm and smiled. ‘You’re right, come to think of it, just lately. Even though Fergie left, I know I should probably be feeling sad, and none of the others will have anything to do with me, but I feel like I’ve risen above all that.’ I gave a deep sigh of pure pleasure.

  He coughed slightly. I knew that sound, that reflex of his. It was the harbinger of a difficult conversation.

  I sighed again as I sat up straight. ‘Alright, what is it? Out with it. Don’t spare me the bad news. I’m a big girl, I can take it. Have they changed their minds about Edinburgh already?’

  Hugh gave a surprised laugh. ‘No, not at all. That’s definitely on the cards, and the move will be very soon. It’s just the other stuff we need to discuss.’

  I screwed up my face in query.

  It was his turn to sigh as he marshalled his thoughts. ‘Look, you agree you feel different in the past few days, don’t you?’

  ‘Different? No, not really. I feel great, just fabulous,’ I said. ‘I’m on the top of the world, never felt better in my life. As if all those things I’d wished for myself have come true, and now here I am!’

  And that’s when Hugh told me the truth. ‘This good feeling you have,’ he began. ‘You say you’ve never felt so well in your life. Have you given any thought as to why that might be?’

  I shrugged, impatient with his mysteriousness. ‘Clean fresh air, lots of exercise,’ I said. ‘Lots of food, well, the cheese is good anyway. Probably just a combination of that and... and maybe hormones.’

  Even as the words came out of my mouth, my logic sounded weak, and it started me wondering. What was making me feel so good?

  ‘You know the full moon is upon us.’

  ‘You’re saying it is hormonal, then?’

  ‘I’m saying the moon is exerting an influence on you, waking something up inside you.’

  ‘What, I’m becoming sort of werewolf or something?’ I tried to make a joke, to lighten his seriousness. He was worrying me, and I didn’t like that uncomfortable feeling breaking into my high. What he was hinting at was ridiculous. My good feelings had nothing to do with anything external. I was finally becoming the real me, all my potential was, well, being potentiated. I was coming to be the person I always knew I should be. Nothing to do with cycles of nature. And I loved how my mind was quick and racing.

  ‘Not a werewolf, no.’

  ‘What, then?’

  ‘We don’t know, but it’s entirely possible,’ he said. His eyes were boring into mine now, and no matter how much I fidgeted, I couldn’t look away. ‘That night with the Crystal Charm Stone? Your contact with it will have had an effect on you, on your body. We fear it might even have caused damage deep within your DNA structure. The Kin are concerned.’

  ‘But how I’m feeling, it’s not a bad thing.’ Even to my ears, that sounded like a pathetic protest. Sure, I was feeling great, which come to think of it, was perhaps not such a normal thing for me. And a tiny voice of reason piped up inside me, acknowledging that I knew enough about the Kin that if they were ‘concerned’, then it would never be good news for me.

  ‘And... how is it even possible?’ I sat up straight. ‘I thought DNA is forever. And what does this mean for me, am I going to grow scales or feathers or something?’ I was only half joking, for magic can be tricky.

  ‘No.’ He allowed himself a small smile as if relieved to hear this very normal response from me, then stretched his arm along the back of the bench again. His dark suit jacket had soaked in the heat of the sun and I could smell the faint scent of cloves and sandalwood from him. ‘It’s just that... well, we don’t know what to expect. The effects appear to come out during the phase of the full moon.’

  ‘Should I be afraid?’ I turned my head to squint at him against the sun. It gave me an excuse to lean back into his arm, and I paused like that, feeling the comfort of both the sun and Hugh together.

  He shrugged. ‘Like I said, no one knows. But that’s the reason we’re going to Edinburgh, just to make sure. And in Edinburgh...’

  But I couldn’t let him change the subject like that, for the possibility of having my DNA changed was a huge thing.

  ‘Why doesn’t anyone know what’s happened?’ I insisted. ‘How can they tell? Are they able to do genetic testing to see if something’s gone wrong?’

  I was full of questions and they were all coming out. ‘And surely this must have happened to someone else at some time. Isn’t there anything in the Chronicles, or even the Sagas from before the time of the Kin?’ I brought up my hand to shield my eyes, the better to see him.

  At this last question his eyes slid away, and I knew he was avoiding something. I poked him in the chest and demanded he tell me.

  Sighing, he brought both arms around me and enveloped me in a hug. The crisp linen of his shirt was smooth against my cheek.

  ‘Yes,’ he whispered in my ear, though there was no one else to hear. ‘Something did happen once before, many years ago, but I am going to make sure that this time things turn out better. For you, for me, for the Kin as a whole.’

  ‘More to the point,’ he continued, dropping his arms and moving away slightly away from me. ‘Whatever is going on, the Kin want it
contained. They want you away from proximity to the Stone and kept close to their resources. That’s why we’re both going to Edinburgh.’

  ‘But... my studies?’ My future? Was I never going to be allowed to learn and practice like a true witch?

  ‘You’ll keep up, don’t you worry. And this is the exciting bit,’ he said, his voice still in a whisper. ‘They’re arranging private tutoring in fact. With me.’ He paused to watch the effect of his words sink into my brain.

  Well this was... pretty good news. I couldn’t help the smile forming on my face, but I didn’t trust myself to speak. I merely pointed at myself, then at him. He nodded.

  ‘Under the careful eye of the Venerable Nachtan,’ he added. ‘Which is a whole other story. You’ll find out.’

  Even as I opened my mouth to, I don’t know, shout or scream my excitement, he shook his head, cautioning me to stem my flow.

  ‘The only thing is,’ he said, his voice pitched low again, and he darted a glance around the empty garden as if ensuring we were still alone. ’Us? We can’t be. We need to be strictly professional in all our dealings, or else the Covenanters will put an end to this plan.’

  I shut my mouth, then opened it again, then realizing there was no arguing against this, shut it once more and nodded. ‘But, we’ll still be together?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said, and his eyes crinkled up at the edges as they always did when he was pleased. ‘But like I said, we have to keep us under wraps. For now.’

  He left me then, alone with my thoughts and emotions and the frisson of excitement at this last news. Things were looking up. Hugh was a good teacher, I knew from past experience, remembering how he’d taught me to camouflage and to ‘fly’ with my mind, and I had no doubt my knowledge would increase in leaps and bounds under his formal tutelage. My future was secure, we just had to be circumspect in our relationship, at least in front of the Kin’s eyes.

  But the other stuff? It explained why I was feeling so fantastic, sure, but I couldn’t help but be disappointed to find out that all this good energy wasn’t coming from me. It was the effect of my contact with the Crystal Charm Stone and the moon working together. Not me at all.

  Or was it? It came to me that the reverse was true, actually. If the Stone had altered my DNA, then the power was mine, wasn’t it? I could claim this power, it was me. Even if it was only during the time of the full moon that my power was magnified, it was still mine to claim.

  Which led onto a whole other, inevitable realization. With this incredible moon-enhanced magic power, I surely now had the means to find the Ice Kingdom and rescue my mother, maybe even in a month’s time. I didn’t know how to do this yet, but I would find a way.

  Hugh would frown on this, of course. So now I had two secrets.

  ‘THESE GOOD FEELINGS OF YOURS at the moment? You do realize that they are of a temporary nature and won’t last.’ Johanna, the First Elder of the Witch Kin and Master of Scarp, spoke in her severest voice as I sat before her. Her study was lit only by the soft glows of lamps on her oak desk and the fire in the grate, and her eyes were almost hidden in the shadows. ‘We need to remove you from the island before the moon reaches its maximum fullness.’

  She pushed a mug full of dark liquid towards me. A sour smell wafted in the steam rising from it. ‘Here, drink this. It will make the voyage easier.’

  ‘Voyage? Aren’t I going to Edinburgh by helicopter like everyone else does?’

  ‘I believe that Hugh explained you are an unknown quantity?’ One eyebrow lifted inquiringly, the rest of her face could have been set in stone.

  I nodded, reluctantly.

  ‘Well then, you realize that we can’t risk your presence in any mechanical vehicle, especially one which is airborne. Not so close to the full moon. Not until we understand more.’

  Her voice turned a tad, taking on an unaccustomed kindness through her brisk manner. ‘You’ll be travelling by ferry to Edinburgh. The ferryman will be able to handle anything that arises.’

  ‘What, all that distance?’ I wasn’t too sure of the geography of this new land, but I was pretty sure Edinburgh was a hell of a long way from Scarp, especially by water and in that tiny boat that carried students and supplies back and forth from the main island. ‘He’s going to row me over the North Sea in that? It’s little better than a coracle.’

  She smiled at that. ‘His boat may look like a flimsy reed vessel, but it is much more than that. Now please, drink up. It will help your journey.’

  I scrunched up my face and swallowed two mouthfuls. It was vile, but if it helped prevent seasickness then I was all for it. My family lived in the city back home, not in the outports and bays, and they didn’t make their living from the ocean like so many others did, but I’d still travelled on enough dories and other small vessels to know that me and big seas didn’t go well together, and I really wasn’t looking forward to going all that distance in the tiny open boat. I said that, after I wiped my mouth and winced.

  ‘Oh, this will take care of all that,’ Johanna said. ‘It’s a sedative. You won’t notice anything at all of the journey, in fact. We are placing you into what you might call a magical coma. This will help balance your energies which have been so upset by the moon’s cycles.’

  ‘What?’ I pushed the mug away from me, and searched wildly around the room as if to look for escape. Was I imagining it, or could I already feel a soft, fuzzy comfortable feeling spreading through my limbs? ‘You’re sedating me?’

  ‘It’s only temporary,’ she assured me calmly. ‘And only for the duration of the trip. This is for your own safety.’

  She looked on as my body visibly relaxed, yet my mind was still racing.

  ‘I don’t... don’t want...’ My voice was slurring, and it was damned difficult to move my mouth.

  ‘It will not hurt you. You will be closely monitored each step of the way. Now, just come over to the sofa, and lay down.’

  I could feel my body lurching up and in that direction, although my mind screamed at me to run away. But then I descended into a lovely dark warm place where I didn’t need to worry about anything anymore.

  I have only vague memories and impressions of my journey, like snippets of dreams forgotten upon waking. I remember being warm and rocked, the ferryman’s dark hood rising above me with the stars and full moon behind him, and the good feelings of late, my mania if you will, slipping gently away from me, leaving my body and mind feeling nothing, just blankness.

  3

  THE FIRST THING I SAW when I next opened my eyes was a pale sun trying to push its way past bright yellow curtains, succeeding only in bathing everything in an unnatural neon glow. I was no longer on the ferry. This must be Edinburgh, then and I had managed to comatize my way all the way down to the Firth of Forth; well, that was one way to beat seasickness.

  I felt okay. I looked within for after-effects of the vile drink Johanna had fed me, but there was nothing. I wiggled my toes and shifted my legs. All in good working order, so I took a moment to examine my surroundings. The walls of the bedroom were papered with images of soft violet thistle heads, bound together by green traceries of leaves and vines against a cream background. Heavy wooden furniture crouched against the low ceiling and the slanted dormers. I could hardly move for the weight of blankets covering me. As I struggled to push them off me, I saw to my horror that I was no longer in my own clothes of jeans and hoody, but now dressed in a flannel nightgown. I had no memory of doing that myself, so someone must have done it for me. That was too creepy to dwell on.

  I placed my feet on the cold linoleum floor and realized that this nightie reached all the way to my ankles. The damp chill in the air caused me to shiver, so I grabbed one of the grey scratchy blankets and huddled into it, using it like a cloak.

  ‘Ye’re up then. About time, I’d say, if you asked me, not that anyone would,’ a small voice chattered at me from my right. It was nearer to the floor than any voice had a right to be, and I p
eered down to find the source.

  What I had taken to be a large doll in a rocking chair pushed itself up – or I should say herself – and stood before me, all three feet of her. She was a vision in brown – her hair, her long old-fashioned dress, her eyes – except for the once-white apron which covered her front and the mob cap which tried to contain her curls. ‘And I can get back to my chores, now, heaven’s sake, I’ve enough to do without having to mind you.’

  She paused before turning to the door. ‘Well hurry up, then, Mrs. Mac’ll be waiting for us both and wondering what’s keeping us. It’s nigh on half past eleven, and no’ a wee’un washed,’ She disappeared in a flurry of skirts but before I could hear her light tapping of footsteps descending stairs, she poked her button nose back inside the room. ‘Not that we have wee’uns here, no, not right now, that’s just a saying.’ And she was gone again.

  I stood slowly, looking all about me for my clothes.

  ‘They’re in the wardrobe!’ The screech came up from a distance. ‘And get a move on!’

  Sure enough, my usual costume of jeans and hoody and underwear and socks were all neatly folded and hung inside the heavy wooden closet. Every single item had been freshly laundered and, judging by the crisp folds, starched and ironed as well, yes even the socks and underwear. The mysterious Mrs. Mac was waiting, hopefully with a full table because I was starving. My clothes rustled as I moved, and I had to hold my body in perfect posture or the starch in my t-shirt would itch the back of my neck like crazy.

  The house I moved through in search of that little person was unremarkable save that none of the furnishings matched, except in their degree of fade and age. The threadbare carpet runner on the narrow stone stairs appeared to have been a tartan pattern in its earlier life, while the hallway walls were papered with faded Victorian roses. All the white painted doors were firmly shut.