“But you decided to stay.”
“Yes. I liked it. Summers aren’t so sweltering hot. Gwyneth moved up here to help me pay the bills, and we decided to concentrate on Wicca. There’s no degree needed, justdedication, study, and practice. Plus, healing with herbs and magic doubles a practitioner’s chance of success.”
“That’s fantastic! What kind of clients do you have? I imagine they must be into New Age, natural healing too.”
The two witches exchanged glances and chuckled. Then Gwyneth said, “Y’all have no idea…”
Merry cocked her head, but returned to finishing her tea and asked what she was supposed to do next.
Gwyneth had her turn the cup upside-down onto the saucer, place her hand on top and make a wish. Merry closed her eyes and frowned as she concentrated. Eventually, she opened her eyes and let Gwyneth take the cup from her.
“Holy shee-it!” Gwyneth exclaimed.
“Whoa. I thought little Miss Goody Two Shoes didn’t swear!”
“I don’t. Hush your mouth, Chad. Morgaine, look. This’ll put a quiver in your liver.” She pointed inside the teacup.
“Tell me what you see, sister.”
“Sister? I thought you were cousins. Or maybe you’re both. Doesn’t that happen back where you guys come from?”
“Shut up, Chad,” Morgaine demanded.
“Yeah, Chad,” Merry echoed. “Leave them alone. This is important to me, and I want them to be able to concentrate.”
“Oh, all right.”
“I see bats, bees, and ducks all over the place.”
Morgaine bent over the cup and nodded. “Right. I see them too. But look! Here’s a bear.”
“What does a bear mean?” Merry and Gwyneth asked at the same time.
“It’s a powerful protector. And look how close it is, Gwyneth. The two are obviously connected.”
“Do you think it’s Sly?” Merry asked.
“If not him, it’s me. I’ll fix you up with some protectivetalismans and, if you’ll allow it, I’ll cast a spell to see you through this time. Oh look! There’s an arrow. There’s the answer to your question.” Morgaine pointed to something in the cup and all three women peered at it.
“Yeah, I see it,” Merry said. “I’m almost afraid to ask. Is that a good sign?”
“Yes and no. It depends on where it’s pointing. Yours is pointing up, which means your expectations will be exceeded. If it were pointing sideways, your expectations would be met, but there would be no surprises. If pointing down, you’d never get your wish.”
“So that means my wish will be granted?”
“Yes, but maybe nothowyou expect it to happen. If your expectations are good, no matter what happens, you’ll have a positive outcome. If you expect the worst, though…”
“That’s what I’ll get.”
Gwyneth cried, “Oh no. Y’all aren’t one of them folks who expects everything to go wrong, are you?”
“No! Oh, I didn’t mean that at all. I was just finishing Morgaine’s sentence for her.”
“Whew!” Gwyneth said and sagged. “Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned from Morgaine, it’s that you reap what you sow. We’re all bundles of energy, and we attract the kind of energy we carry around with us. Positive attracts positive. Negative attracts negative.”
Merry nodded but didn’t look as though she quite grasped the concept or its importance.
“I had to work hard on my attitude when I got here,” Gwyneth continued. “I was kind of a mess, but I’ve learned so much from Morgaine. And now, things are really gettin’ better for me.”
