She points at the picture.
“Calling the corners,” I say. “Setting the ward spell.”
“What does that mean?” Rose asks. “Calling the corners? We’ve never done that since.”
I shrug. “I don’t know. But I remember.”
“I’ve seen every movie about witches ever,” Rose says, “And they all have some version of it. But that doesn’t mean it’s real.”
“Of course it’s not real,” Posey says. “Movies aren’t real.”
“Movies are great,” Hazel says. “They’re not accurate, but they’re great.”
“Fair,” Rose says. “So what is the spell then? You said you remember but you don’t know, so tell us what you remember.”
I pick up the piece of paper that fell off the back of the picture, thinking it’s probably just part of the frame falling apart.
It’s not.
Hazel sucks in a breath as we all realize what I’m holding at the same time.
An envelope.
“It has our names on it.” Hazel’s voice is hushed, and Rose’s eyes are round as dinner plates.
“If you don’t open that envelope right now and read it to us, so help me God, I am going to jump over there on my good foot and rip it out of your hands and read it myself.”
“Can you calm down?” Rose tells Hazel. “OnlyFeet can’t have you getting your other ankle hurt.”
“You’re all dicks and I hate you,” Hazel says, grinning in spite of her words.
Caleb laughs, then sobers. “You want me to give you all some privacy?”
“No,” I bark at him, then soften. “Unless we’re being too much. Or if one of you wants him to go.”
He sets his hand on my shoulder, stopping the flow of my anger. Which isn’t about him. Not at all.
“Sorry I snapped,” I tell him.
I take a deep, shaky breath and blow it out, trying to compose myself. I take a moment look at my sisters, really look at them.
“I’m sorry,” I tell them. “I’m on edge. This is bringing up so many memories that I haven’t dealt with in so long, and I’m sorry if I’m acting crazy.”
“We like it when you act crazy,” Hazel says. “Reminds us all you’re human.”
“That’s a lot to deal with,” Rose tells me.
I reach down and pet Gunner’s head. I’m not sure if it’s a silent apology to him too, or just for the simple act of rubbing the velvety soft ears of the animal I’ve loved my whole life.
“It’s hard,” I tell them. “I try so hard to pretend like I’ve got it all together. And I want to protect the three of you more thananything. But I think this is making me realize that trying to protect you has only made things harder for myself. And for all of you. And maybe even the whole town.”
“You can’t blame yourself for all of this,” Rose says, gesturing wildly. “You didn’t make that storm happen. You didn’t cause the flooding. And you can’t fix everything by yourself. I think that’s the… thing weallneed to realize.”
She points at the picture of the four of us. “The four of us work better together than apart. We always have. Even if Mom and Dad left because they were afraid of our magic — afraid of what we were — we had Grandma. And we have each other. We always will.”
“You have me too,” Caleb pipes up. “I may not have any magical powers, but I’m happy to help the four of you however I can.”
I’m afraid to look at him.
