Shadows at Stonewylde (39 page)

‘Look at you all tarted up,’ he sneered. ‘Did I upset you the other night? Tried to do something about it, did you? You’re still an ugly, skinny little bitch and don’t you forget it!’

‘Kestrel doesn’t think so!’ she blurted out, her cheeks burning.

‘Kestrel? Was Kes sniffing around then? What did he say?’

‘None of your business!’ she retorted, wishing fervently that she hadn’t mentioned him at all. She should’ve just kept quiet and let them get the tormenting over and done with.

Jay glared at her in surprise, then punched her in the stomach. It wasn’t a hard punch, nothing like he’d given Magpie, but it made her grunt in pain as the air was forced from her diaphragm.

‘Careful,’ warned Sweyn. ‘No bruises or marks, Jay – we said about this.’

‘Yeah, yeah, I know, but she ain’t talking to me like that. So I’ll try again, Leveret – what did Kestrel say that made you think you’re not the ugly little weasel we all know you to be?’

She hung her head, still gasping for breath from the blow that had winded her and not wanting any more pain tonight.

‘He said I was worth waiting for,’ she said quietly.

‘HE SAID YOU WERE WORTH WAITING FOR!’ crowed Jay at the top of his voice, laughing raucously. ‘And you took that as a compliment, did you? Stupid little bitch! Kestrel pokes anything that moves; of course he’ll get round to you when you’re old enough. That doesn’t mean a thing so don’t flatter yourself! Anyway, if he thought you were that bloody hot he wouldn’t want to wait at all, would he?’

He looked at her and shook his head mockingly.

‘Are we going to take her outside then?’ asked Gefrin. ‘Like we said.’

‘Too many people about,’ said Sweyn. ‘And we’ve better things to do tonight, haven’t we, with all these girls here? Let’s leave it for tonight – Leveret’s still going to be here tomorrow. And the next day and the one after that. We can sort her out any time we want.’

‘Yeah, you two go on and get some more cider in – I’ll be with you in a minute. I’m just going to have a quiet little word with Leveret on my own.’

‘Alright but remember what we said. If there’s any marks to prove her snitching, we’re all in big trouble.’

‘I ain’t going to hurt her, not tonight. Don’t worry – no marks.’

Sweyn and Gefrin ambled off towards the bar and Jay turned to Leveret, who was filled with a plummeting dread. There was something really nasty about Jay. He was worse than her brothers who, all said and done, were just thick bully boys. But Jay was something else – he had an edge of viciousness that she found terrifying and she remembered the warning her brothers had given her earlier in the cottage. He leered down at her and took her hand in his.

‘Come on – outside, girl! I got something special for you.’

He tugged on her resisting arm and led her out into the cold night. It was shockingly quiet after the booming of the relentless music. The stars spangled in the black sky, filling the heavens. Leveret looked up and hoped Mother Heggy was somewhere out there still watching over her welfare. She was terrified of being alone with Jay who didn’t share her brothers’ concern about their mother finding out. Jay wouldn’t care less – his family had been in dispute with Maizie for a long time and she knew there was bad feeling between them stretching back many years.

He pushed her along the side of the Barn until they reached a buttress which blocked the view from the door. A lantern hung from a hook to guide anyone using this way as an exit and she could see his face clearly. He was bullet-headed with a massive neck peppered by a nasty rash where the bristles had only been roughly shaved. His face was ugly and pugnacious, his prominent eyes sparking with aggression, and now he shoved her hard into the corner where the buttress met the wall. He leant his hands on either side of her against the stone, trapping her in a human cage of muscle and sinew. His breath washed over her in foul waves as he stared down at her.

‘I got a bone to pick with you!’ he began. ‘It’s
your
fault they moved that half-witted cousin of mine up to the Hall.’

She said nothing and kept her head down.

‘Now my auntie and the two old ones have no one to do all the heavy work. They expect me to come and chop the wood and get the water every day. AND I’M NOT VERY HAPPY ABOUT THAT!’

She felt his spittle spray her face and involuntarily raised her hand in disgust to wipe it off. He grabbed hold of her wrist and yanked it away.

‘What’s the matter, Leveret? Don’t like me getting too close, eh? Scared of me, are you?’

Still holding her wrist he edged his body forward even closer to hers so they were almost touching and she felt the heat pulsing off him. She was completely trapped by his bulk and increasingly frightened of what was he was going to do to her. He was so huge and she felt very vulnerable indeed. She held her breath, gazing straight ahead at his chest and hoping desperately that someone would come along and find them – although to the casual observer they’d simply look like a couple canoodling in the darkness. She raised terrified eyes to his and he chuckled.

‘Yeah, you should be scared, girl. You’re right to be scared.’

As he glared down at her she saw something different in his eyes and he chuckled again, giving her wrist a cruel twist.

‘But that’ll wait for now. I got a present for you – something you’re going to need in the future. And I got the same present waiting for Magpie when I get the chance to give it him.’

With his free hand he pulled a small package from his pocket and placed it in her hand, closing her reluctant fingers over it.

‘It’s from Old Violet, so next time you’ll be able to do the job properly.’

‘What is it?’ whispered Leveret, looking down at the dirty piece of cloth in her hand. Whatever was wrapped inside was very light indeed.

‘Death Cap – the one you should’ve taken but messed up. Keep it safe, Leveret, because soon you’ll wish you were dead all over again.’

Laughing, he turned and stomped back into the Barn.

The stars blazed down on the girl standing straight-backed in the centre of a circle of salt. The elements were represented on the points around the circumference – a tiny lantern for fire, a stone for earth, a feather for air and a rough clay dish filled with water. The fifth element, the spirit, she’d symbolised with a little wooden hare that Yul had carved for her as a child. At the head of the circle lay a small and very rough altar, simply a large chunk of bark, decorated with mistletoe, holly and ivy as befitted the season. There was also a tiny cake and an egg-cup of elderberry wine. Everything was representational and the gifts showed that she gave back to the goddess what had been freely given to her – the fruits of the earth.

Leveret had whispered the words she’d memorised from her notebook as she’d sprinkled the salt, calling for protection from any spirit or person wishing her harm. Holding Mother Heggy’s athame in both hands, she now stood pointing it to the stars and calling the power of the elements to join her in the circle. She summoned each element in turn, asking that it lend its energy to her for the magic and indicating the symbol she’d used to represent it. The element of spirit, last to be summoned, she called from within, the blade at her chest. Then she invited the spirit of Mother Heggy to join her if she would.

Once the protection was in place and the elements summoned, she began to raise the energy she needed. With tiny steps Leveret started to walk widdershins around inside the circumference of the circle, the athame in her right hand pointing skyward and her left hand pointing to the earth. Leveret was acting as a conduit, a conductor of the energy which must pour down through her into the circle to create the magic. She called upon star-fire, for the dark skies were ablaze with it. She called upon the spirit of the Dark Moon, the crone, and especially Mother Heggy. She called and called, circling and circling, her entire being summoning, inviting and drawing it down.

Gradually she felt it coming, building into a cone of pure energy. There was a change inside the circle, an excitement and force that hadn’t been there before. Still she circled, one arm skyward and the other earthward, her face raised to the diamond stars in exaltation. Finally she stopped – it was enough. The air around her was thicker, quivering and crackling with invisible force. She bowed and sat down cross-legged on the frosty grass with her cloak wrapped around her, facing the altar she’d built.

Now she pulled out the willow she’d cut earlier and had woven into a rough sphere. She placed it carefully on the altar and asked the Dark Goddess to bless it and for the spirit of the willow tree to act as guardian. Then she took out a twist of paper and very delicately unwrapped the precious contents – the lock of Magpie’s butterscotch-gold hair. She raised it to her lips and kissed it gently, concentrating on a bright and happy image of her friend. She thought hard of Magpie, the kind soul within the simple body; the gentle soul she loved so dearly, blessed with a creative gift and a love of all things natural. She thought of the innocent soul that had been tormented and abused almost from the day it entered his body and this world, that had suffered constantly at the hands of others yet still shone with goodness. Leveret concentrated until she felt the essence of Magpie’s soul was with her. Then she poured it into the soft lock of hair resting in the cup of her palms, which she held now up to the heavens.

I call upon the five elements summoned here to my pentacle
,

I call upon the power of the Dark Goddess, the secret magic of the Dark Moon
,

I call upon the wisdom of the Wise Woman who once walked these lands
,

I call upon the spirit of every tree gathered around this sacred place
,

I call upon the mother-love of the great willow by the river
,

I call upon the energy of this land, the green magic of Stonewylde
,

I call you all together into this circle to witness my spell!

I ask you to bring magic tonight for my spell of protection
,

I ask you to give me power to weave a spell of protection for Magpie
,

I ask you to be guardians to my friend and protect him from mortal danger
,

I ask you to bind those who’d hurt him and create a shield of protection

I ask you this with love in my heart – protect Magpie!

I will do what you will in return
,

I will do your bidding, whatever it may be
,

I will be your vessel and serve you, in return for this spell of protection
.

May Magpie be safe from all harm!

Blessed be!

Leveret took the willow sphere from the bark altar and deftly pushed the lock of hair inside through a gap. She took some loose strands of willow from her bag and wove them into the ball, closing the larger gaps and gradually making the whole thing ever more solid and substantial. The hair was now locked within safely. Leveret cupped the willow globe gently in her hands and then held it to her heart. She threw her head back and looked up at the stars blazing in the velvet skies. She wished with every fibre of her being upon the stars. Then she hung her head, suddenly exhausted. She’d done it – her first spell. And she realised with a start that she’d used none of the words so carefully copied out from the Book of Shadows. The words for her spell of protection had been entirely her own, drawn straight from her soul. She hoped they were good enough.

Standing stiffly, Leveret raised the athame to the skies once more and dismissed the elements she’d summoned. She sent the energy she’d raised out of the circle and back into the starry night and then she bent and scattered what she could see of the salt with her hand, breaking the ring of protection. She’d finished and she’d done her very best. She could now feel the absence of the power that had gathered around her in the darkness. She blew out the tiny lantern and began to pack all the things away into her bag. Carefully she wrapped the sphere in a piece of cloth ready for its resting place tomorrow. Finally she lifted the chunk of bark that had served as a rough altar, but as she did her hand touched something which made her jump back with a cry. The hair on her arms rose in fear. Gingerly she reached forward again, groping in the freezing grass, and her fingers closed around the smooth bone handle of the gathering knife. Leveret knew for certain that it hadn’t been there when she started – Mother Heggy must have been with her all along.

T
he festivities of Yule were finally over and life at Stonewylde felt a little bleak. Days were short and nights long and it seemed ages until the next festival: Imbolc at the beginning of February. Folk used the dark evenings productively; the flax weaving and dyeing was completed and the bolts of new linen cloth cut and sewn into clothing and bedding. Patchwork quilts were started so no scraps were wasted and the carded wool was knitted into yet more garments. A lot of felt was made too and used to line coats and boots as well as make lovely bags, hats and slippers. The Stonewylders were industrious and took pride in their crafts. Leveret was surprised to find she enjoyed helping Maizie and learning more about how to make functional but beautiful things.