The Witches of the Glass Castle (The Witches of the Glass Castle Series Book 1) (3 page)

Cassandra beckoned to Mia and Dino. ‘This is
Wendolyn,’ she introduced. ‘She has generously invited you into her home for the summer. Wendolyn, these are my two children, Dino and Mia Bicks.’

‘Notice,’ Madeline interrupted, ‘Bicks. They have
our
family name, not their father’s.’

Mia smiled nervously while Dino stared steadily at the older woman.

‘Dino,’ Madeline chuckled flippantly, ‘stop staring at everyone! It’s weird.’ She frowned. ‘Not to mention creepy.’

Dino looked down to the ground. His cheeks coloured slightly.

‘Oh, leave the boy be!’ Wendolyn jumped to Dino’s defence. ‘He’s just not used to his power yet. You know how difficult it is at first.’

Mia
watched the scene unfold. She couldn’t help but wonder what exactly her brother’s power was. Or what her own power was, for that matter.

‘You’ll soon find out,’ Wendolyn said in a knowing voice. She winked at Mia.

Mia froze. She can hear my thoughts.

‘Only when I want to,’
Wendolyn replied in good-humour. The aged skin on her face framed remarkably youthful eyes that swirled with a mixture of blue and hazel.

Madeline
clapped her hands in glee, delighted by the whole exchange. ‘Wendolyn is a Reader,’ she explained. ‘She has the ability to read thoughts. You can’t get anything past her! Believe me!’

Cassandra grinned.
‘And Lord knows you tried.’

The three women smiled as though they were sharing a private joke.

‘Now it’s time for the new generation to take their turn,’ Wendolyn said warmly.

Mia suddenly felt as if Wendolyn were commanding her, summoning her and her brother towards her.

Mia took an involuntary step forward, but Dino didn’t budge.

‘Come here, boy,’ Wendolyn called to him. Her words, although blunt, sounded safe and compassionate.

But Dino didn’t move.

Madeline rolled her eyes. ‘Cassie, tell him,’ she said in a tight voice.

‘I have no control over him,’ Cassandra answered. The statement was probably truer than any parent would wish to admit.

‘He’s your son!’ Madeline pointed out, her voice hushed discreetly.

Wendolyn held up her hand to silence them, and like naughty schoolchildren they shrank back.

‘You’re going to be very powerful, Dino,’ Wendolyn said in a voice that seemed to reverberate around the peaceful meadow. ‘You’re blocking me. You know that, don’t you?’

Dino didn’t reply, but he wore a sudden air of complacency.

‘I can’t read your thoughts,’ Wendolyn went on. ‘You’re blocking me.’

‘What?’ Madeline gawped. ‘How has he done that? He’s only had his powers for a few days!’ There was a distinct note a jealously in her tone.

Dino threw her a lazy smirk.

‘Come along, boy,’ said Wendolyn. ‘It’s time to go inside. You understand me, don’t you?’

This time Dino
reluctantly submitted. His look of arrogance was replaced with a grimace.

In
a daze, Mia lifted her rucksack from the courtyard floor and slung it over her shoulder. She watched as Dino did the same. When she caught his eye, he glared at her as though all of this was her fault.

Deep down, Mia knew that Dino blamed her. After all, she had been the one to light the candle and read out the words on the basement wall.
This
was
all her fault.

Above them a jackdaw crowed raucously. Mia looked up and saw its ebony wings shimmeri
ng blue as it soared overhead. As if by magic, a feather fell from the bird, tumbling through the sky like a piece of black silk. It slowly floated to the ground, landing at Mia’s feet. She picked it up and studied it, admiring its sleekness.

‘A jackdaw feathe
r,’ Cassandra noted. ‘They say that’s lucky.’

Mia clung to the feather, taking a strange sense of comfort from it as she waved goodbye to her mother and aunt.

Wendolyn led the way down a long, dimly lit corridor. The carpet below was a dull red and the hardwood walls were patterned with intricate carvings, telling a story that Mia knew she could not yet read. At the far end of the corridor Wendolyn pushed open a heavy door.

‘Come in,’ she authorised her two guests. ‘Take a seat.’

Mia and Dino followed her into the room. It was a small library, the walls lined with hundreds of dusty leather-bound books. There was no window in the room, so Wendolyn set to work lighting a myriad of long black candles which projected from the walls in ornate brass candlesticks.

Mia took a seat in a green velvet armchair. In the quiet of the room she heard the wooden structure creak as it took her weight. Dino sat down in a similar chair beside her, and Wendolyn strategically took a seat opposite them. Between them was a low-set apothecary table on which was already arranged a tea tray with a white china teapot and matching teacups.

‘Welcome to my home,’ said Wendolyn, humbly. ‘It’s a pleasure to finally meet you as young adults. I remember you only as babies in your mother’s arms.’

Dino’s expression remained stony. ‘
That was a lifetime ago, then.’

‘It was,’ Wendoly
n replied, unaffected by his acid tone.

‘Thank you for having us,’ Mia added, trying to balance out her brother’s insolence.

She felt Dino’s eyes on her again. To avoid his stare, she looked around the room, absorbing every detail of the extraordinary decor. Her gaze landed on a striking oil painting set inside an elaborate gold frame. It was a double portrait of a finely dressed man and woman, gazing out from their painted world.

‘Who are they?’ Mia asked.

Wendolyn glanced at the portrait. ‘The man is William Wix. He was once lord of this castle. The woman at his side is his wife – me!’

‘It’s
beautiful,’ Mia complimented.

‘Yes,’ Wendolyn agreed.
‘It’s one of my favourites. William, my husband, was the founder of the Glass Castle. He envisioned a place where young witches could be nurtured, rather than discriminated against and spurned.’

The idea made Mia uncomfortable. ‘So, he wanted a safe place for witches to…hide?’

‘Not hide,’ Wendolyn corrected. ‘More like a place for adolescents to develop their powers freely and without prejudice. Without guidance it’s not uncommon for new witches to turn to the dark arts. You see, powers are simply an expression of emotion. When your emotions are wild, so are your powers. William understood that.’

‘Is he here?’ Mia asked. Dino touched her arm, urging her to stop. He had obviously picked up on something that she had not.

‘No,’ Wendolyn replied quietly. ‘William passed away some time ago.’

Mia cringed. ‘I’m sorry.’

Wendolyn smiled, but there was sadness in her eyes. ‘It was a long time ago,’ she said. ‘Almost eighty years ago, in fact.’

‘Eighty
years?’ Mia frowned. Surely she had misheard. ‘Eighty?’ she repeated.

Wendolyn nodded her head.
‘Almost.’

Mia chewed over the notion
. If Wendolyn’s husband had passed away that long ago, she wondered, how old did that make Wendolyn? In the painting they were easily in their thirties, so that meant that Wendolyn must be…

She s
crunched up her nose; maths had never been her strong point.

Wendolyn
carried on. ‘This castle is William’s legacy, and I intend to maintain it for many years to come.’

‘Do you take in
lots
of people?’ Mia asked. She guessed that it would be naive of her to assume that she and Dino were the only ones.

‘Some years more than others.
At the moment we have around fifteen Arcana and four Hunters. Would you care for some tea?’ Wendolyn didn’t wait for a response. She lifted the white teapot and poured the contents into the three waiting cups.

Mia sat up a little straighter in her chair. ‘What’s an Arcana?’ She paused. ‘And a Hunter?’

Wendolyn raised the teacups individually and circled each one three times in a clockwise direction. ‘An Arcana is what you are. In other words, a pacifist witch who lives as a civilian.’ She handed Mia a teacup. ‘Your powers are connected to nature and are used placidly. A Hunter, however, is a witch bred as a warrior. They too source their power from nature, but it is of, let’s say, a darker strain. They need these extra powers to aid them in combat.’

‘Combat?’ Dino echoed
, interested now. ‘They fight?’

‘
Yes. Usually other Hunters or malevolent witches.’

Mia bit her lip.
‘Are Hunters…human?’

‘Of course!
All witches are born human. The only difference is Hunters are raised purely as weapons.’

Mia flinched. ‘Will they attack us?’

Wendolyn’s kind eyes were unreadable. ‘You would be wise to be wary of them,’ she admitted. ‘But they shouldn’t be of any concern to you. In truth, you’ll rarely see them. The Hunters reside in a different wing from the Arcana, so your paths will seldom cross. Occasionally I will need to call you all together, but even then they keep their distance.’

A wave of fear coursed through
Mia. She shuddered. Feeling tense, she took a sip of her tea. It didn’t taste like the sort of tea she was used to.

‘What is this?’ she asked
, wrinkling her nose.

‘Tea,’ Wendolyn told her.

‘From a teabag?’ Mia stared down at the pale orange liquid stewing in her cup. Quizzically, she fished out one of the small tea leaves that floated on the surface. The little brown dot clung to her finger while she examined it.

‘It’s witches’ brew,’ Wendolyn explained. ‘Tea extracted from plants. Let’s see, it’s made up of fennel, rowan berries, mugwort, elderflower…’ she listed a long catalogue of plants, counting them off on her fingers. ‘It’s known to enhance psychic powers and bestow protection on those performing magical works.’

‘No, thanks,’ Dino said, slamming the delicate teacup down on the apothecary table.

Wendolyn smiled at him strangely.

Mia took another sip. On her second try it wasn’t so bad. Different, but not awful. She picked a tiny rogue leaf from her tongue and surreptitiously wiped it off on Dino’s T-shirt.

He glared at her.

‘Try some,’ she said, offering her cup to him. ‘It’s not so bad.’

‘N
o. I’m not looking for psychic powers.’

‘Well, I am,’ Mia retorted.

Wendolyn laughed in a jolly fashion. ‘Oh, you don’t need tea to give you power, my dear. I can see power exuding from you even as we speak.’

Mia tightened her grip around the teacup. ‘Really?’

Wendolyn studied her for a long moment. ‘You are a daughter of nature.’

‘And that means
…?’ Mia prompted.

Wendolyn pursed her lips
. ‘It’ll come to you when you’re ready,’ she said cryptically.

I’m ready now
, Mia thought irritably. ‘Am I psychic?’ she asked out loud.

‘No. Be patient. You’ll use your powers when the time is right. And as for you,’ she turned her focus to Dino, ‘you will learn to shut them off. After all, that’s why you’re both here – to learn.’

Mia took her final sip of tea, hoping to gain something from it. She doubted that she had any powers at all. She certainly didn’t feel any different.

‘Are you finished?’ Wendolyn asked, gesturing towards the teacup.

‘Yes. Thank you.’ Mia handed her the empty cup. To her surprise, Wendolyn looked intently down into it, examining the gathering of leaves at the bottom.

‘Hmm…’
Wendolyn muttered to herself.

‘What does it say?’ Mia asked anxiously.

Dino shook his head with a dry laugh. ‘It doesn’t say anything. It’s just a pile of leaves!’

‘What does it say?’ Mia repeated, ignoring her brother’s obnoxious outburst.

Wendolyn placed the cup down on to the table. ‘I’ll tell you when you’re more able to deal with it.’

Mia’s voice went up an octave. ‘What does that mean?’

‘Nothing to worry about,’ Wendolyn assured her. ‘But if I told you now, I don’t think that you’d understand.’

Mia looked fearfully at Dino, hoping for some form of comfort.

‘OK,’ he said evenly. ‘Read my fortune.’ It was a challenge more than a request. He lifted his untouched tea and knocked it back it in one swig, then thrust the empty cup into Wendolyn’s hand.

Without batting an eyelid, she peered down into the depths of the cup.

Mia held her breath while they waited. The room was silent other than the quiet crackle of a burning candle and the slight rasp of Dino’s breathing.

‘You’ve got an interesting path ahead of you, Dino,’ Wendolyn said at last. ‘And you’re going to have to make some difficult choices.’

‘What kind of choices?’ Dino demanded.