“I’m not quite sure what I’m going to use yet, so we’re going in fully stocked,” Miss Elva said.
She opened another cabinet and pulled out a mortar and pestle, sliding it across the butcher-block island at me. She rooted around in her basket for a while before pulling out a jar of red flakes.
“Grind this. Counter-clockwise. Breathe through your mouth,” Miss Elva ordered.
“All of it?” I asked, holding the jar up to the light and shaking it gently.
“All of it; now hush, child, I need to focus,” Miss Elva said, hefting her weight onto a stool as she began to pull items from the basket and lay them in front of her. I noticed pieces of straw, small Popsicle sticks, twine, scraps of fabric, and a variety of jars full of roots and leaves.
“What are you making?” I asked and Miss Elva sighed dramatically.
“Did I stutter? Is there something making you unableto understand the words ‘hush, child’? Do I need to repeat myself?”
“No, ma’am,” I said, turning back to my task. Now I was even more curious but, knowing she’d kick me off my stool if I said another word, I opened my jar and poured the contents gently into the small stone bowl, being careful to breathe through my mouth as Miss Elva had instructed. Picking up the pestle, I began to grind the red flakes counter-clockwise, losing myself in the hypnotic rhythm of the grinding motion and trying not to let my worries for Luna consume me.
“That’s good,” Miss Elva’s voice interrupted my thoughts and I realized that I’d ground the little red flakes into a fine dust. “Pour it in this pouch.”
I did as I was told and handed Miss Elva the pouch, wondering what would happen next. I was surprised to see that she had constructed a little man of sorts in front of her; the wrists and ankles were tied together, the mouth gagged and eyes blindfolded. She was slowly stuffing herbs into the body of the doll.
“You’re making a voodoo doll? What are you stuffing inside it?”
“Confusion herbs. Valerian. Wormwood and the like,” Miss Elva said, concentrating on the task at hand. I didn’t want to interrupt her process, so for once in my life I remained quiet, while she finished stitching the little doll closed. When she was done, she looked at it for a moment, nodding to herself before turning to me.
“Go ahead, ask your questions,” Miss Elva said, getting up to pour herself a glass of water.
“I just…I thought voodoo dolls only worked if you had apiece of hair or a cigarette butt or something from the person you’re trying to control,” I said, resting my elbows on the counter as I studied the doll.
“You’re absolutely right. That’s usually what’s needed,” Miss Elva said, finishing her water with a sigh.
“But you don’t need that?”
“Child, I told you I was old magick. Sure, some of the newer priestesses starting out will need those physical bits to tie the magick to the doll, but I’m stronger than that. All I need is my intent.” Miss Elva smiled at me.
“So why use the doll at all? Couldn’t you just cast a spell without it?”
“I might do that too. I don’t know what we’re walking into. I prefer to have all my tools with me. You don’t go to a gun fight carrying a spatula now, do you?”
I refrained from pointing out that we were going to a potential gunfight and all she was bringing was a doll.
See? I do have a sense of self-preservation sometimes.
“You go on out on the porch now. I have to run some charms on these pouches and I don’t want your thoughts interfering,” Miss Elva said.
“Fine by me, I could use some fresh air anyway,” I said. I walked through Miss Elva’s living room, restraining myself from stopping to peer at all the curiosities on her shelves, and made my way to the uncomfortable visitor’s chair on Miss Elva’s front porch. Even though she wasn’t sitting on the porch with me, I still knew better than to sit in Miss Elva’s rocking chair.
“Althea,” a voice said at my shoulder, and I swear I almost jumped three feet out of that chair.
“Damn it, Rafe! I told you not to do that,” I hissed,throwing my hand over my heart as I gave the pirate an evil look.
“Sorry, I forget you can’t sense me,” Rafe admitted, coming to float in front of me.
“Did you find anything out? Did you see Luna?”
“Luna? Why would I be looking for the witch? I thought I was supposed to go look for that crazy horn-wearing Pagan guy?”
That’s right. Rafe hadn’t been with us when we’d discovered Luna had been taken.
“Luna was kidnapped. Presumably by the killer. We have to go to the beach tonight and rescue her,” I explained.
