She had a confused look on her face that morphed into a look of understandinge when her eyes connected with Jen who alsohad the same thought process."We hexed it green!" they both said at the same time.
Laughter spilled out of the women as Ursula stood behind where Tilly sat and helped brush out the knots and Jen pulled out a compact from her bag.
Thanks to Ursula's garden tonic, they were all feeling better. Heads were no longer pounding and stomachs were no longer threatening to upset. Still, their bodies felt fragile and their insides bruised, but the worst was over.
"Okay, back to the dream. Lady in white. Chanting. What was that?" Eloise asked. "And she was vaguely familiar."
"I thought it was just a creepy dream with weird melted faces," Kelsea said as she ate her coffee cake.
"Oh yeah, the melted faces. Was that supposed to be us?" Ursula asked.
"One of the faces looked regal as hell, so yeah." Jen drank her coffee and sighed. "Bess, you are an angel. Thank you."
Bess smiled as she sat next to Eloise, still tentative, but the sweet moment was not lost on her. Lady Macbeth got up on her back legs and lifted her arms in the air.
"Could you pick her up? I don't think I should bend yet," she whispered to Bess who scooped up the raccoon and placed her in Eloise's lap. She snuggled into Eloise like she was a human beanbag chair facing the women sitting around like she wanted in on the conversation. When her little raccoon hand reached for the coffee cake in front of Eloise, she swatted it away gently.
"What do you think it means?"
"Does my hair look terrible?" Tilly asked running a hand over the green side, which was wavy instead of a tangled mess thanks to Ursula's nurturing.
"Honestly?" Jen asked. Tilly nodded with fear in her eyes. "It looks fucking fabulous."
"Why can Jen cuss?" Bess's question made Ursula roll her eyes.
Jen raised her eyebrows and said, "Because I pay taxes."
"Preach."
"Hey, I pay taxes from working at The Black Cat," Bess argued.
"Baby, do not take this the wrong way because I want you to stay young and bothered by other, more important things, but you pay taxes in the same way that men in the fifties did housework."
Bess screwed her mouth to the side and sighed as Ursula wrapped an arm around the teenager kissing the top of her head with a laugh.
"Hey, I don't know about you ladies, but I don't want to hide," Eloise interrupted, looking at the newest article on her phone. There was one grainy black and white picture of women with raised arms, and what they knew would be bundled sage in their hands, the smoke white against the black backdrop of the forest. "I know the court of public opinion is weighty, but we have done nothing wrong. Someone is setting us up, and hiding from the town. I'm not going down for them." She shook her head and looked up into all eyes looking at her intently.
"What do you have in mind?" Jen asked.
"Town hall meeting," Tilly said. "Tonight. Let's go, show the town that we are here and we're not a threat or backing down."
"Yeah," Kelsea and Jen agreed.
"I like it," Ursula wiggled her eyebrows. "I've never been to a town hall."
"They're fairly boring, and it would absolutely make a statement. But can we take a nap and read all day and not make any sudden movements to gear up for it?" Jen pleaded.
"Ohmygosh yes," Eloise said, slumping to the island. "Let's take care of these old busy bodies then get ourselves ready and meet up for dinner?"
"Town hall is at seven."
Everyone agreed and separated to sink into their days full of warm tea, reading and naps. Some took bubble baths and others took slow walks in the sunshine. They regenerated from the night before and then got ready for a night out to show the town they were there to stay.
Town halls in Salem were, to Jen's point, typically a boring affair. Held in the library after hours, ladder back chairs set up on the first floor to accommodate the usual fifty people who always made room in their schedule. Six women walked tall, side-by-side, to the door where Kathy Redding was handing out the evening's itinerary.
She slowly looked them up and down, holding the stack of paper firmly to her chest.
"Hello Kathy. Lovely to see you," Crystal said with a gentle smile.
