THE WITCH AND THE TEA PARTY (A Rachael Penzra Mystery) (12 page)

“Perhaps you’d prefer to skip the remainder of your time.”
Moondance’s voice was full of authority. “But I wouldn’t feel right without warning you that there is danger all around you, whether it emanates from you or toward you, I can’t quite tell.”

“That’s how you handle criticism, is it?” he snarled. “Well guess what, lady. You’re full of it. Scare the women if you want, but it doesn’t work on a real man.”

He scraped back the chair and stomped out. There was a silence and then the quiet ping of the timer went off.

“Break time,” I said. I was finding it exhausting just listening. The tensions and emotions seemed to be encapsulated in the tapes. “That’s only halfway through and I’m already worn out. How does Moondance do it?”

“I can’t believe that is her,” Patsy complained. “It’s like a whole other person. I never credited her with that much in…. that much authority.”

“It’s her guide,” my aunt told us. “That isn’t Moondance talking, you know. When the session is over she can’t even remember what they said or what she said. That’s mainly why we decided to record everything. We didn’t want to get in trouble later because someone lied about what went on and Moondance couldn’t argue about it.”

I have never been very keen on the concept of spirit guides, but for the first time I was ready to think there might be something behind the idea. If I hadn’t known it was Moondance talking, I never would have been convinced it was her without proof.

“That might explain why she’s so… different in her thoughts,” David said, rather lamely. We were rather hindered by the fact that none of us wanted to say Moondance wasn’t as bright as she sounded during her readings. Even supposing people are more confident when they’re doing something they’re good at, it hardly explained the extreme difference.

Mac, fortunately, isn’t as socially inhibited as the rest of us. “Nuttier than a fruitcake, I’ve always said. I suppose her lame brain makes it easy for something else to take control.”

Dora socked him in the arm. “She’s not
that
dumb.”

David turned to Aunt Myrtle. “Did you record your sessions?”

She nodded. He looked thoughtful, finally asking, “How did it work for you? Could you recall what was going on?”

“Yes. I wasn’t as good as she
is at it, even though we’ve all practiced a lot and tried to memorize good phrases and ideas we read about online.”

“Would you mind if I handled her crystal ball?” he directed his question to the two older women. “Or maybe I can just hold my hands over it.”

“Can’t see that holding your hands over it can hurt,” Dora decided. “Don’t like the idea of you actually touching it. She’s gotten real touchy about anybody handling her magic stuff lately.”

David looked a little troubled, so I followed him into the room. He gently removed the velvet cover from the ball. It really was a beautiful thing. It seemed to glow from within. I was drawn to it,
suddenly wanting to touch it.

“Don’t touch it!” David said sharply.

I drew back puzzled, realizing that I had been leaning toward it, my hand outstretched. “I wasn’t going to touch it,” I insisted, but I wasn’t absolutely sure about it. I hadn’t even realized my hand had moved.

“Rachael, you should see your face,” he stepped between me and the table. I felt like a spring had loosened inside me. “You’re really sensitive to it. I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to ever fool around with something like this. Why don’t you wait outside with the others? Or maybe you and Patsy could run across and get the beer. You know I’ll repay you for it.”

“Huh?” I said, having a hard time concentrating on what he was saying. Slowly it pushed through my foggy brain. “Oh, yes, I’ll get the beer. Patsy can run and pick up the pizza. It should be ready by the time she gets there.” I backed out of the room.

My niece crossed the road with me to get the car to fetch the pizza we’d
ordered. “You look a little pale,” she told me. “It was kind of upsetting to hear Moondance… I’d guess you’d call it possessed. I’m ashamed to say that the main reason I believe it so easily is that she simply isn’t that intelligent.”

I managed an answer of sorts, apparently sounding okay to her ears. Inside, I took the time to feed the dogs and give them a little treat
. I always keep a large supply of beer in the refrigerator for company—and ourselves. My mind was beginning to return to normal, or so I hoped. At least I could recognize that I’d had an unnatural experience with the crystal ball. I’ve never been able to handle Tarot cards, and I’m not comfortable with any regular deck of cards either, but I’d examined and even held Aunt Myrtle’s little crystal ball. She’d brought it over to show us before she started doing her readings. I love crystals and one of my favorite pastimes is hunting for agates in the area. I’d even found some pink quartz. So it wasn’t that gems of any kind had ever bothered me.

Something, though, was different about
Moondance’s ball. Very different. I would have to watch that I never allowed myself to be anywhere near it in the future. It was strange, though, that I’d been there for a sitting when they first opened, and while it had been fun, there had been no sense of magick emanating from the ball, and Moondance had chattered away in her usual style, full of platitudes and run-of-the-mill prophecies. There had been nothing of the mysterious about the session.

Things had changed.

David had rejoined the others when I returned. He looked at me a little anxiously, but seemed relieved at whatever he saw in my face. He must have worried that I wouldn’t get over the pull of the ball.

“Good. Beer’s here.” Mac keeps his life simple and to the point.

Patsy came in right behind me, her arms full of pizza boxes. Dora invited us upstairs, a big concession on her part. People weren’t always welcome in her home. I think she just wanted to bring Eloise up, not being comfortable about her loose downstairs where one of us might mistakenly let her slip out the door. I had to admit that catching her once she was outside might be more than we could handle.

We pigged out in silence for a few minutes before David asked, “When did Moon
dance start acting so different?”

“She doesn’t,” Aunt Myrtle said.

“He means when she’s doing the readings,” Dora told her.

“Oh, that’s different. We both noticed when she started channeling her spirit guide. It was about a week after we first started.”

“Was there anything, anything at all, that was different with her setup?” David asked.

They frowned and chewed pizza as they thought seriously about it. Dora finally swallowed whatever bite she was ruminating. “Just that little stand thing,” she decided. “And that should have been part of it to begin with. I don’t know how they got separated. They were in different boxes, but someone moved one of the boxes. So it took us a while to find it once we dug out the crystal ball.”

“Is it magic?” Aunt Myrtle’s face lit up.

David looked at me for guidance. I just stared back, refusing to be drawn in. He’s the one who had figured out there was a problem. He must be the one with an answer.

“If it is,” Patsy told her firmly, “you’re not to touch it. Do you understand? You’re not even to look at it. I mean it!”

Nobody said
anything. I had no intention of ever looking at the thing again, but I knew my aunt. She’d consider it a Pandora’s box and be unable to resist it. That sort of ‘curiosity’ (that’s the better, kinder choice of words) runs in the family.

“It’s really dangerous,” I tried to add to the warning. My aunt nodded in agreement to something. I was afraid it was agreement that the ball was dangerous, not that she wouldn’t have anything to do with it.

David took a better approach. “It belongs to Moondance,” he reminded her. “Nobody else should touch it or even look at it when she isn’t around.”

This time Aunt Myrtle nodded reluctantly. I have to admit that if you can find the right buttons to her inner moral guide, she’s always honest. The trouble is that she usually has half a dozen ways to persuade herself that what she’s doing isn’t wrong.

“We’d better get back to listening,” Patsy said, starting to clear up the empty boxes and bottles. “Where’s your recycling, Dora?”

“Out the back door of the shed.”

“I’ll help you,” David declared firmly. The shed is huge and backs onto the woods. It would be dark and dangerous out there any time after dark, maybe it would be dangerous at any time at all due to its isolation.

We went downstairs after carefully closing Eloise in the living quarters, and waited until they returned. “Okay,” Mac said. “Let’s get this done. I have some programs I want to watch later.”

He could have his television. I found the tapes much more interesting.

Runes are
an ancient Germanic alphabet, each letter having its own meaning. They can be used as a writing tool, and it is believed that written communication is their original use, but nowadays they are used basically as divination tools. Each individual letter has a combination of similar meanings. “M” for instance, is interpreted as communication, cooperation, and/or friendship. It can be the meeting of two normally opposite sides coming into agreement, or cooperation among friends. Most often the runes are written on stones or square clay tiles (metal or wood can also be used, and when the latter is chosen, certain sacred types of wood are used). The interpretation is guided by whether or not the rune, when tossed, lands upside down or right side up for the reader. Upside down often means the opposite of what the basic meaning would be. As with the Tarot, there are various formations that can be laid out for readings. Originally, the runes were tossed out to land where and how they chose. Nowadays a blank stone or tile is often included, but that is a relatively new addition rather than traditional.

Chapter Six

Karen Powell was the next one to be read. “I’m really excited about this,” she said, seating herself with a minimum of sound. “Nothing I ask about will be repeated, will it?”

“Only what you feel compelled to share with others,” Moondance (or whoever
, maybe
whatever
) said. “Do you have special questions for me, or would you prefer to have me see what the crystal ball says?”

“I,
er, I’d kind of like to know about my love life,” she stammered. “I know it sounds silly, but I really do need to know what my chances are.”

There was a short pause. “This involves a married man,” Moondance said. “And that always makes the future questionable. Too many people and elements are involved. What I see now is a violent swirl, nothing settled. I’m sorry if it disappoints you, but I feel I must warn you that it might be wisest to back away from the situation.”

“I can’t do that,” Karen’s voice rose. “It’s her, isn’t it? She’s who you see causing all the trouble. I knew it would be like that. I told him! What else do you see?”

“I’m wondering if you might not have been trying to take control of things in a bad way.”

“No, no, of course not. I haven’t done anything. Nothing!”

Even without the crystal ball, I could tell that she was lying
, even if she had only imagined doing something wrong.

“As you wish,” Moondance dropped the subject. “I’m sorry, but I can’t make any more predictions when things are in the chaotic state they’re in at the moment. You need to take the time and make the effort to meditate, to cleanse your mind and emotions. There is such a thing as loving too much. It’s very dangerous.”

“Love is the most beautiful thing in the world,” she protested. “My whole soul is his.”

“If you choose to give it away, then you’re right, but what does that leave you?”

“Him! I’ll have him!”

“That doesn’t necessarily follow,” Moondance warned her. “He has his own free will. You giving up your soul
doesn’t mean he’ll be influenced in your favor. Perhaps just the opposite.”

The session timer pinged. We heard the chair being scraped back. “It will work out just like I’ve dreamed of it. Your silly ball is just a game. You’re guessing or making things up.”

She stormed out.

Her brother, Quentin, took her place. “Oops, you got my sister all worked up, didn’t you? Must have told her the truth. He’s not trustworthy. I could have saved you the trouble and told you that Karen won’t listen to a word you say.
Drama Queen is too weak a term for her.”

“And you, Mr. Powell? Do you like drama, too?”

“I hate it, if you want the facts.” The chair scraped as he seated himself. “I’m the type of guy who figures out what he wants and sees to it that he gets it. I don’t worry about other people and their feelings. Does that shock you?”

“Not particularly. Many people are like you, but they don’t admit it aloud, or even to themselves. Survival is all to some.”

“That would be me,” he sounded proud. “I’ve always figured I’d do great on one of those survival shows. I could play the game better than anybody else. I’m always figuring out good strategies before they do on the show.”

“Perhaps you could look into finding out how to be on one,” Moondance suggested.