Whistle Down the Wind (Mystic Moon) (29 page)

Instead he
shocked her with robust laughter that shook his broad shoulders. “Tricked
me
?
I confess, I conspired from the moment I first set eyes upon you in that gaol
to figure out how I could get you into my bed and seduce you. In truth, Catlin,
I couldn’t believe your sister wanted me to be your chaperone.

Catlin rose
from his lap and gawked at him, her hands upon her hips. “My sister cast a
spell upon you, using her Fire Dragons. You didn’t want to bring me with you,
she
forced
you to bring me.”

Griffin fell
into another fit of raucous laughter. “She cast a spell, eh?” He gulped for
air. “Using her Fire Dragons.”

Catlin
frowned. “Tiny but dangerous creatures, and of course you’d not know she was
doing it, for she’s a Fire Adept.”

Still he
laughed. Catlin’s temper flared.

“You do not
believe a word I am telling you, do you, Griffin?” She stared out the window.
The evening sunset blazed vivid reds, bright oranges, and deep yellows against
the blue of the sky, reminding her of the elemental fire spirits.

“’Tis true,
Griffin, whether you choose to believe it or not. My sisters and I are all
elemental witches, and each of us has spirits to help us cast spells and use
our magic.”

Griffin
stopped laughing, but the silver sparkle edging the dark center of his eyes
showed he thought she was telling him a nursery tale.

He pulled
her back upon his lap. “I do believe you,
cariad
, for you have certainly
bewitched me.” He traced one thick finger from her earlobe down her neck to her
breast. Her skin prickled at his touch, and a flutter warmed her belly. “I
would love to hear more of this tale, but I shall be late to meet my
companions.”

“You travel
at night?” A tremor of foreboding snapped through her. “Isn’t that dangerous?”

Griffin
waved away her concern. “We sail upon the river, and only to the next
plantation. We should arrive well before night settles in, for ’tis nearly the
solstice and the days lengthen.”

He set her
upon her feet, stood, and put his arms around her. “Do not fear for me,
cariad
,
for I'm protected by a great and powerful witch!”

Before
Catlin could give him another slap, he kissed her cheek and hurried out the
door.

The way he’d
so quickly dismissed her words irritated her. Surely he’d seen enough of her
rendering magic to convince him she held true powers. Of course, any man with
his wits about him would refuse to admit real witches walked amongst them. That
very fact had protected Catlin’s family for centuries.

She grabbed
a silk dressing gown and donned it. His absence would provide her a perfect
opportunity to observe the solstice ritual. She’d need to gather her tools and
find a secluded place safe from curious eyes.

Catlin
couldn’t frighten the good folks who worked at Hawthorne Hundred. This place
and its people were quickly becoming precious to her, and she’d do everything
within her powers to keep them all safe.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The next
evening at twilight Catlin gathered a basket filled with her ritual tools and
slipped out of the main house. She slid along the shadows of the smokehouse,
and then crossed the yard, eager to make her way into the forest edging the
clearing.

“Stay away
from the woods at night,” a lilting female voice warned her.

Catlin
turned to find Kanti watching her from near the chicken coop.

“I’m only
going for a short walk, to settle my meal.”

“’Tis not
safe out there.” Kanti pointed toward the dark stand of trees edging the fenced
garden that provided fresh vegetables and herbs for the plantation. “You should
not go there alone.”

A frisson of
fear slid down Catlin’s backbone. “Are there others out there who would harm
me?”

She feared
the answer. In her lifetime there’d been a horrible massacre of colonists by
the naturals living in the area. Although she’d been told that those people
were long gone, Kanti’s warning awakened slumbering terrors.

“Not others
like you and me,” Kanti said, taking a few steps closer to Catlin. Her dark
eyes were shadowed with fear. Her bottom lip trembled.

“We call it
Windago
.
I have no word in your tongue.” She paused. “My husband would say--
bogie
.”

Catlin
frowned. If the Scotsman called it by that name, then Kanti must be talking
about...

“Ghost?”
Catlin said, and the tremor in her voice was evident even to her own ears. “You
believe there's a ghost in the woods.”

“
Windago
,”
Kanti repeated, forming her hands into claws over her head. “It will eat you.”

Her
sylphs
had warned her of the
Windago
, and an icy trickle of fear splashed
through her body. While she’d encountered any number of different spirits, the
idea of a ghost terrified her. Her mother had lectured her daughters about the
unpredictable nature of a creature held to earth by a need for revenge, for
settling a score, or to make peace with a loved one. A ghost would be a
frightening intruder during her solstice ritual. Especially a man or woman
eating ghost.

“Ghosts
can’t eat you, they have no—” How could she make this woman who had limited
knowledge of English understand her? “Teeth.” She circled her fingers around
her lips to pantomime.

“
Windago
have teeth. Knife teeth.”

Catlin stood
at the edge of the woods. They grew darker by the moment. Should she postpone
the drawing down of power tonight? It might be her only chance to observe the
seasonal ritual, because Griffin would return tomorrow. The timing was perfect
to make an offering to the Lady and cast her circle.

Catlin
straightened her spine and lifted her chin. She would not let an ancient Indian
legend stop her from celebrating the summer solstice. She believed in many
beings, but not cannibal ghosts that haunted the woods beyond the plantation.
If any such creature had ever existed, she would have heard of it. Her family
had been Elemental Adepts for ten generations. Her grimoire held a record of
the different magical creatures that roamed the earth. She’d never read nor
heard of any creature called a Windago before arriving in this new land.

“I have
herbs to collect beneath the full moon. It’s very important that I do it now.”

“You are
Pauwau.” Kanti twisted her mouth and shook her head. A frown creased the smooth
skin of her forehead. “I have no words, but you are.” She folded her arms
across her chest, her mouth set in an expression of annoyance.

“Kanti, I’m
not afraid.” Catlin stood as tall as she could. “I can protect myself.”

“Pauwau!”
Kanti repeated, pointing at Catlin. “
Windago
eat you.”

Not a
pleasant thought, but in reality Catlin was more frightened of panthers and
bears. She imagined a ghost almost manageable when compared to some of the
creatures roaming the wild country of the Virginia colony.

“I shall be
fine.” She motioned for Kanti to return to the house.

The other
woman shook her head vehemently, stepped closer to Catlin and handed her a
large, bone-handled knife. “
Windago
,” she repeated, then turned and
hurried back to the house.

Catlin’s
steps dragged as she left the safety of the yard surrounding the house. Even
though she dismissed the story, her conversation with Kanti made her wary of
entering the dark shadows looming before her.

It’s a story
told to remind children not to wander away, she assured herself. People
everywhere had similar stories. Her own mother had told her and her sisters
many such tales.

The crunch
of her footsteps on the trail reassured her. Animals shuffled in the underbrush
and night insects buzzed. A flock of bats wound through the trees on their way
to hunt.

Many
creatures roamed the woods tonight, and all were part of the rhythm and swirl
of life. Catlin felt no alarm at any noise she heard. Enough light still shone
for her to make her way through the trees on a thin, almost invisible path.

When she
reached the small clearing she’d chosen earlier in the day to cast her circle,
she set her basket down and pulled several candles from the bottom.

With the
knife Kanti had given her, she made four indentations in the ground, marking
the cardinal points of north, south, east, and west. Catlin pulled the other
items from the basket and created her altar space in the center between the
marked points. With a few strikes of her flint, she built a fire with some dry
kindling, and then lit the candles before setting them at the points.

Night had
settled upon the forest. She listened for any sign of a strange presence in the
woods, but only the rustling of animals met her ears.

With all of
her tools arranged in front of her, Catlin took the pine branch she’d carefully
hidden earlier and prepared to cast her circle.

“This night
of changing seasons, set by the moon

 Brings a
summer’s bounty, a feast and a boon.

 I offer to
our Lady, my head, my hands, my heart,

 All I ask
of her, is my wish for a fresh start.”

Catlin
carefully swished the makeshift pine branch broom along the ground and cast her
circle as she walked around the burning candles. Strange shadows danced behind
her, but she ignored them. Once the circle was set, she could begin the ritual.

When she
completed the circle, she returned to her small altar in the center. She drew a
consecrated knife through the air and called upon her
sylphs
. Within
moments tiny glowing lights appeared.

Pausing in
front of the copper pot holding fresh water she’d carried in an earthenware
bottle, she spoke the words offering her thanks to the water spirits who had
assisted her when she’d jumped from the
Lady Bountiful
.

Another few
steps and she offered words of thanks to the earth spirits, for the safety and
beauty of Hawthorne Hundred Plantation. She wished she could communicate with
Seren, her youngest sister, who often expressed a heartfelt desire for such a
home. Perhaps the gnomes of her element would somehow let the young woman know
that a safe sanctuary existed for her beyond the great, wide ocean.

A flicker of
the candle enticed Catlin to look up, but the moon had not yet risen. Only a
ceiling of stars glowed far, far above her.

Finally, she
came to rest before the flame of the candle that represented her eldest
sister’s element. Fire, so dangerous and yet so tempting. How many times had
she watched the death dance of a moth, drawn to the flame, enticed, dancing
with danger only to find its own life extinguished? Fire. An element so
treacherous that any Elemental Adept who mastered it held the highest rank amongst
them. Fire—so like her older sister’s raging tempers and unfulfilled desires.
Aelwyd possessed a hot and blazing heart waiting for the right fuel to set her
aflame.

Catlin
laughed at her own folly. Perhaps love was making her wish everyone could find
what she’d found with Griffin.

The very
thought of him made her ache with longing. A day had never seemed so long
before she met him, but now it stretched to an eternity when they were apart.

A stick
crunched, and she startled. she caught herself before crying out in alarm. Had
Kanti followed her?

Another twig
snapped from the edge of the clearing, and Catlin jumped. Despite her show of
courage, the story the Indian woman shared unsettled her.

“Kanti, are
you there?” She made her voice sound as assured as she could. “Please come
out.”

More
rustling followed.

“Don’t
bother to hide. I know you’re there.”

Now she’d
have to draw back her circle because a
sophor
had appeared. She had no
intention of performing her ritual with a witness nearby.

“I know
you're out there, so please just show yourself.”

A chill of
terror swept through her when she recognized the figure walking out of the
depths of the forest. The arrogant walk, the aristocratic air of entitlement,
and the aura of angry, dark magic made her blood run cold.

“I warned
you, witch.” He took a step closer, and Catlin sketched a sigil of protection
in the air. He could not enter the circle unless she created an opening and
invited him in. Still, her fear of the Earl of Sheffield took hold. Her knees
shook nearly bringing her to the ground. Her heart beat against her ribcage,
and the knife she held in her hand shook uncontrollably.

“You cannot
hurt me,” she whispered, backing closer to the center of the circle.

“You’re
right about that, but perhaps we can negotiate a truce.” He snapped his arm out
to point, and several heavy thuds echoed just beyond the darkness. A bound man
jetted forward and slammed against the ground with a bone-shattering crunch.

Catlin
gasped and almost left the protection of her circle when she recognized
Griffin’s bruised and beaten face. Her hand flew to her mouth, tears pricked
her eyes.

Blood seeped
through the rough shirt he wore. Her hatred for the Earl of Sheffield blazed
hot and fierce, a thirst for revenge tempted her to use dark magic to wound
him. To destroy him!

“He’s
nothing to you. It’s me you want. If you release him, I’ll do whatever you
say.”

Catlin hated
to beg this evil, dark magician, but she couldn’t do anything to help Griffin
until she secured his release.

“I warned you
if I cannot have you, no man ever would.” Lord Sheffield prowled around Griffin
and gave the prone body a hard kick. He grinned when Griffin moaned.

“Stop it!”
Catlin raced to the very edge of her protective circle.

Lord
Sheffield raised an eyebrow. “So, the Cavalier who is your lover touches all
those soft, gentle places within you.”

He gave
Griffin another hard kick and Catlin bit her bottom lip. She ached to raise her
hand and cast a spell to destroy Sheffield. Tears coursed down her face, and
she clutched the knife, prepared to rip the evil magician's heart out if he
hurt Griffin any more. Blood roared in her ears.

“What do you
want?” Her voice quaked, the edge of hysteria making the sound weak and
pitiful. “Just tell me, and let him go.”

“You are the
rose, the key to finding the treasure.” He whispered roughly. "Your father
was a great alchemist, and my order has assessed all of his work. But, we never
found the key to transforming matter."

Her mouth
went dry at the mention of her father, for she and her sisters knew the key had
been her mother's magical abilities. No chemical formula could work without the
addition of their elemental magic. But, he'd never put that into his diaries,
because it would pose a danger to his family.

The Earl of
Sheffield laughed, the sound echoing through the woods. “Why should I let him
go? Are you willing to trade yourself to save your lover?”

Catlin
worked to regain control. She knew nothing would prevent the earl from taking
her as his prize. She could only bargain for Griffin's life now.

“You want
me, to control my powers and use me for your own purposes. If you release him,
I’ll do as you ask.”

The earl
paced around Griffin. Finally he pulled a pistol from the thick leather belt
cinched around his waist and aimed it at Griffin’s head.

“’Tis a sad
truth, but the only way you will ever truly be mine is if I kill your lover.”
He raised the gun. “His death offers a permanent solution to our little
predicament.”

Catlin
screamed and the ground shook beneath her. The earth rumbled, and she raised
her hands to the dark night sky and gathered all her magical powers. She pushed
out against the stars, out to Grandmother Moon, and out to the Queen of Heaven.

“You will
not do this!” Her words swirled the magic within her. The bright crystal lights
of her
sylphs
danced above her. The wind roared and crashed through the
trees on its way to do her bidding.