Legacy Of Magick (Legacy Of Magick Series, Book 1) (3 page)

“Mom, can’t I go in at noon instead of nine o’clock this morning?” She whined.

Aunt Gwen patted her on the head as she rose. “We are leaving for the store in twenty minutes, Ivy. You can be ready and ride with us or you can walk,” she announced quietly, but firmly.

“Fine,” Ivy grumbled. She sat up, yawned hugely, and grabbed her soda again. “I’ll go put a face on.”

“Twenty minutes, Ivy.” Aunt Gwen warned her as she looked through the cream colored kitchen cabinets on the far side of the kitchen.

Ivy muttered under her breath, but jogged quickly back up the stairs. Bran stood up. With his neatly cut red hair, and deep green eyes, he was very GQ handsome in a bookish kind of way. Well, until he opened his mouth and you discovered how pompous he was. His lips curved up a bit as he announced, “Mom, remember I have a faculty meeting later today, then Angela and I are going to the theater. So I won’t be home this evening.”

I inwardly sneered at the thought of his girlfriend. I’d only met Angela once, and she seemed very much the upper crust society type, plus she’d been just as patronizing as Bran. So they were perfect for each other, in my opinion.

As I turned the dishwasher on, I was startled to see my cousin smile. When he did I had a sudden flash of him, looking all dapper, and handsome in a tuxedo.
He stood there beaming by an evergreen tree that was lit up with white sparkling lights, and covered in gold star shaped ornaments.
Then the perspective on the vision shifted,
and a woman wearing a long white dress walked down the manor stairs towards him.
Her face was hidden by a veil, so I couldn’t see her, but the expression on his face was enough for me to know. Bran was going to be married. By the end of the year, judging by the Christmas tree in the vision.

The vision faded away and I found myself standing in the kitchen staring at my cousin. I shivered a bit and pressed a hand to my suddenly queasy stomach as I came back to the present time. I felt a little rush sweep over me from the force of what I had just
seen
.

The vision had only lasted a couple of seconds, but wow, it had been intense! Apparently The Sight had decided to come out and play today. I blinked my eyes and shook my head a bit to clear out the images. I went straight to the nearest kitchen chair and sat down, very deliberately.

“What?” He frowned at me.

No way was I telling him about what I had seen. Instead I said, “That’s the first time I have seen you smile since I moved here. Must be the thought of getting some action tonight that has you all chipper.”

He rolled his eyes at me and walked out of the kitchen, muttering to himself about being plagued by another smart ass in the family.

“So, Autumn,” My aunt turned back to me holding what looked to be a first aid kit and an unlabeled bottle holding some kind of liquid. If she had noticed anything, or suspected that I’d just had a vision, then she covered it very well, which made me figure, that she hadn’t. “Tell me about the young man you met this morning.” She sat next to me and put my foot in her lap to better doctor my, now slightly gooey, knee.

“Did you overhear Holly and me talking?” I asked as I held the open kit, and she rooted through it.

“No, but I did have a dream about you meeting someone new,” she said as she tucked her lightly silver-streaked, auburn hair neatly behind her ear. I saw that she had on crescent moon earrings today. “I also foresaw a silly accident,” she looked at me with one eyebrow raised. “I assume he is the reason you have a scraped knee?”

Aunt Gwen looked a bit peeved, but was still speaking pleasantly. She dabbed my knee with something, I assumed was homemade, out of the glass bottle. I expected it to sting, but it didn’t. Next she got out a big bandage and quickly covered the area. So while she competently worked on my knee, I filled her in and assured her that it was simply an accident, and that no, he didn’t hurt me at all. He actually was sweet and had walked me home.

“Duncan Quinn?” She asked me after I finished telling her about my morning adventure.

“Yes, he seemed really nice.” I said, and took my foot out of her lap.

“Well, well...” Aunt Gwen hummed thoughtfully. “Rebecca Drake’s son makes his move.”

“Wait.” I put a hand on her arm to stop her as she turned away. “Do you know Duncan?”

“I knew his mother.” Aunt Gwen said cautiously after a moment. She stood up, walked over to the cabinet, and put the bottle and the first aid box away.

“He said his family was into real estate but that he restored and flipped houses.” I told her. And that got me no response. “He didn’t seem thrilled about living in that big old stone house, he called it a mausoleum,” I added. Aunt Gwen still didn’t answer me. She seemed lost in her own thoughts.

I fiddled with the bandage on my knee and waited for her to reply. As I waited for my aunt’s response, I started to feel a tightening in my stomach. I got the sinking feeling that there was something here that she that didn’t want me to know. While I ruminated over that, Merlin hopped up into my lap to knead and purr.

Aunt Gwen knelt down and placed her right hand on my skinned knee. She took a controlled breath and I felt her fingers grow warm while they sat lightly on top of the bandage. I waited while she repeated a quiet healing charm over it. After she finished, she patted me on the leg. “We’ll talk about it later.”

“So, that healing thing you just did? That was pretty cool.” I rubbed a hand over Merlin’s kitty head for courage, and then I asked her what I’d been working up to for days. “Will you teach me about the family’s legacy? You know, the magick part.”

I watched my aunt’s face light up. “We’ll begin with magickal theory and the basics of the Craft, right away.”

“When will you teach me how to do spells?” I wanted to know.

She raised an eyebrow at me. “After you have a bit of time and study under your belt, perhaps later this year.”

I sighed in disappointment.

“I think you’ll find helping out at the shop educational. You can learn a lot about the tools and supplies of the Craft there.” Aunt Gwen gathered up her purse and paperwork for the day.

For some reason, I frowned after my aunt. I had to wonder... was she stalling? Why wouldn’t she teach me any spells?

Now, I did not consider myself very empathic. I couldn’t feel emotions like my cousin Holly could, but, Witch or not, everybody has instincts. And mine were screaming that something was definitely up. Which made me wonder, since I had just experienced a waking vision about Bran, if maybe mine were ratcheted up a few notches? There was a noticeable tension in my aunt that wasn’t there a few moments ago. I also had the distinct feeling that Aunt Gwen was concerned, and that she did not approve of Duncan Quinn. But why?

My musings were cut short as Bran walked back in the kitchen to retrieve his briefcase. Ivy trailed behind him, grumbling. So I got up, which annoyed the cat, then snagged my own purse, and followed them out through the conservatory, filled with green plants and herbs, and finally out to the garage.

“I’d like to talk to you later, anyway.” I said to my aunt as I walked past Bran and stood by the passenger door of Gwen’s car. “I’ve been having some creepy dreams for weeks, and I’d like you to help me figure them out.”

“About what?” Ivy asked around a huge yawn.

“Running through a cemetery. I’m with someone, but I can’t see their face. It’s night and I’m afraid, and there’s an overwhelming sense of urgency to the dream...” I shuddered.
God I hated cemeteries.

“You can’t interpret the basics on your own, cousin?” Bran asked as he hit the button on the garage door opener. He was smiling when he said that, but anyone would have felt the condescension that was coming off of him in waves. “I could interpret dreams by the time I was ten.” He slid into his practical sedan and started the engine. I had to resist the urge to flip him the bird.

As Ivy climbed in the back seat, Gwen smiled reassuringly at me over the hood of her car. “Of course, honey. We can do that right after dinner tonight.”

“Thanks,” I said. I chose to ignore Bran and his typical superior attitude. No way was I going to tell Bran about my
seeing
him getting married. Good grief, he’d be even more impossible to live with.

If such a thing were even possible.

***    

I helped Ivy with the inventory and we accomplished quite a bit. Aunt Gwen stayed closed in her office with catalogues, getting ready to order items for the fall season and the holidays. Whenever Ivy and I had a moment alone, I tried to get more information about Duncan Quinn and why Aunt Gwen seemed to be unhappy about him and me meeting each other. Ivy didn’t have much to say on the topic and the shop was busy that morning.

In between my other tasks, I people watched, which in a metaphysical store was a pretty entertaining past time. I felt a little out of my depth in the shop, and I referred the customers to Ivy for any questions. In most stores, employees couldn’t wear a black t-shirt that proclaimed ‘Come to the Dark Side. We have cookies!’ along with a red and black lace choker, long red plaid shorts and heavy black boots. But at Enchantments, it worked.

I did learn by listening and watching Ivy’s adept handling of the clientele. By paying attention to the customers and their purchases, I learned that black tourmaline was the stone of choice for protection, while rose quartz was preferred for romance. As I counted out the little mini spell candles, I noted the framed list of each color’s magickal uses that was alongside the display. Well that was interesting. I had always loved candles, but my mother had forbidden them in the house. When I finished counting them all, I discreetly took out my cell phone, and snapped a picture of what the colors were each used for.

“Excuse me, darlin’, can you help me?” said a southern voice behind me.

I tucked my phone in my back pocket, mildly embarrassed to have been caught taking a picture of the chart. I turned to discover a pretty, curvy woman with long dark hair, who was covered in the most amazing tattoos. Down both arms, across the back of her hands, and over her upper chest, they went in a stunning mishmash of colors and patterns. I said to her, “I’m new here, but I’ll try.”

“You Autumn? Gwen’s niece that moved here from out east?” She inquired.

“Yes—” I began.

“Hey, I’m Marie.” She took a deep breath and proceeded to tell me that she was opening up a tattoo shop right across the street.

I had to grin. Marie talked even faster than I did. Ivy practically materialized at my elbow, clearly she and Marie knew each other well, and the two of them began an animated discussion on the new shop. After swapping stacks of business cards, apparently they were going to cross promote, Marie inquired about Hoodoo herbs. She handed Ivy a list, and curious, I followed along to see what sort of herbs qualified as Hoodoo.

“High John root, vandal root, black snake root... yeah we have all of these.” Ivy read the list off and went to the big glass apothecary style jars on shelves behind the counter and started pulling labeled jars down. Then she stopped. “Sorry, we don’t have yellow dock in stock.”

“Yellow dock?” I asked. “That’s a wildflower. I saw some blooming along the jogging trail this week.”

Marie tilted her head and looked at me. “How’d you know that?”

“My father ran a nursery and a landscape business. I used to work with him. I know plants.” I explained to Marie and Ivy nodded at me in approval.

“You got time to show me where those plants are?” Marie asked.

“Well actually, the spot isn’t far from here at all. It’s really close. We could walk there, and be back shortly.” I told Marie, as Ivy bagged and then rang up the herbs.

Marie tucked her wallet back into a huge bag, snagged her purchases and then hooked me by the arm. “You’re on break. “ She announced to Ivy. “I’ll bring her back in a few.” Then to me, Marie winked and said, “Let’s go.”

Ivy laughed and shooed us out the door. I guessed I was going for a quick walk with Marie.

“So how do you like our town?” Marie asked, as we walked around the corner and headed towards the park, behind the shop.

“It’s a little different from what I’m used to,” was the best answer I could give her.

Marie grinned at me. “I bet so.” She patted my arm. “Seemed to me, you needed a break from your aunt’s shop. You feeling a bit overwhelmed. Too much to learn, eh?”

I didn’t even bother to ask her how she knew.

A few moments later. we stood on the walking trail and I pointed out the six foot tall blooming stalks of yellow dock. “It’s also called prairie dock in this part of the country. It likes to grow in dry waste areas.” I explained.

The yellow dock was growing opposite of the wooded side of the trail, next to a parking lot. It was surrounded by weeds, and was in a spot where no one would mind if it was harvested. Marie produced a large pocket knife from the depths of her purse, and she neatly snipped a few leaves from the base and a dozen flowers from the tall stems.

I had almost offered to gather the plant material for her, but she clearly knew what she was about, as she only took a small amount of the plant. Business concluded we headed back towards Main Street.

“So, Marie, tell me about Hoodoo herbs...” I began.

“Girl, you and me? We are gonna be friends. ” Marie let loose a booming laugh.

I enjoyed listening as Marie gave me a run down on Hoodoo, she also called it root working, as we walked back Main Street. She handed me her business card and surprised me with a parting hug. I watched Marie hustle back across the street into a storefront where the sign said ‘Opening Soon!’

It seemed that I was surrounded by magick. It was comforting and funny all at the same time. “Interesting characters you guys have in this town.” I said to Ivy, as I let myself back into Enchantments.

“You don’t know the half of it.” Ivy warned me.

I went back over and resumed my counting of the various candles. “I swear, a Druid could walk in here, in full ceremonial garb, and I wouldn’t even blink.” I muttered to myself.