‘At least one of us had a good day,’ Catherine declared. ‘Mine was thoroughly wasted by the fools at the Savannah Historical Society.’
‘Sounds thrilling,’ I said, turning my back on Ashley when she saw me watching her and flipped me off.
‘Then I’m overselling it. Since we began debating whether or not to rebuild the two lost squares, at least ten babies have been born, gone off to college and come back to join the committee and start the debate all over again. It never ends.’ She pressed her fingers into her temples and massaged in gentle circles. ‘This is what you and I are up against, Emily. No one has any respect for the history of this city. To this day I can hardly believe they tore down the original city marketandEllis Square to put up a parking lot. All in the name of progress.’
‘And that’s bad?’ I guessed. ‘I thought progress was usually a good thing.’
‘Not when the people in charge can’t see past the end of their own noses,’ Catherine said. ‘They destroyed an important historical site because they needed more parking. Now there are too many cars and the traffic is damaging the city.When the original plans were proposed, my own grandmother spoke against them for that very reason, but did they listen to her?’
‘I’m going to say no.’
She confirmed it with a sigh. ‘I’ve seen it too many times. Build it up, knock it down, build it again, knock it back down. Men simply cannot help themselves; they light the world on fire just to watch it burn. Protecting this city, its past and future, is part of your heritage as a Bell witch.’
‘Speaking of witches,’ I replied, still stumbling over the word. ‘I was thinking. Surely there are more of us. There have to be other families with the same abilities we have, right?’
Catherine didn’t respond right away. Instead she pushed back her chair, stood up and walked across the garden to a wooden tray full of plants and herbs in small clay pots, examining their leaves and flower buds before bringing it back to the table.
‘Yes and no,’ she answered. ‘Once upon a time there were a great number of witches here in Savannah and the Bell name was well known to our sisters all across the world but that was before my time. Today, it’s just us.’
It wasn’t the answer I’d been hoping for.
‘So there’s no secret society of witches?’ I pressed. ‘No meetings under a full moon? Not even a secret handshake?’
My grandmother laughed as she rearranged the plants on the tray.
‘You seem to be confusing witches with Freemasons. And I could tell you some stories about them that would make your hair curl. But we do use the full moon and, if it helps, you and I could create our own secret handshake.’
I poked a despondent finger in the soil of the plant pot closest to me, damp and dark and dank. I’d been more into the idea of a secret coven than I wanted to admit.
‘The Powells were like us once. Lydia and Virginia’s ancestors were witches.’
‘They were?’ I looked up in surprise. ‘But not anymore?’
‘As I explained last night, magic must be cultivated and tended to,’ she replied. ‘Virginia’s ancestors lost track of the line and the blessing fell dormant.’
‘Does Lydia know?’ I asked.
Catherine shook her head as she moved the plants around, lining them up in what seemed to be a specific order.
‘No and I don’t think it would be helpful to tell her.’ Focusing on the plant closest to her, a woody-looking shrub, she picked up a pair of clippers and delicately trimmed away some of the tired leaves. ‘Losing the connection to the blessing is almost too easy. All it takes is one generation that doesn’t follow the rituals and …’
She sliced through the stem with a decisive snip. The top half of the plant fell sideways onto the table.
‘Life is very fragile. We might be witches but we’re still human.’
I thought back to the beach, to the thunderstorm, to the wolf and silently agreed.
‘I think it’s time we learned more about your magic, don’t you?’ Catherine said, shifting effortlessly back to her happier sunshine self. ‘Our magic expresses itself in different ways, the blessing acts like an antenna. Each of us picks up a different signal and that signal comes through with varying degrees of strength.’
‘So my magic might be different to yours,’ I replied. ‘We could have different abilities?’
She nodded. ‘That’s right. There will be some talents that we share but a witch’s strongest connection to the blessing is almost always hers and hers alone.’
I shuffled my chair closer to the table as Catherine pushedthe first pot in her line-up towards me. ‘Tell me, what do you know about this herb?’
‘Nothing.’ Without a store receipt or a plastic name tab in the dirt, I was completely at a loss. ‘Can’t say I’ve ever had much of a green thumb. I even killed my Chia Pet.’
‘You’re doing it again,’ she chastised. ‘Stop doubting yourself. Listen to the plant and tell me what it says.’
