The Dragon Puzzle Spell by Amanda Hartford

Author:Amanda Hartford [Hartford, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nineteen Cents Press
Published: 2019-08-12T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

THE CIRCLE

My friends and I aren’t all witches, but each of us has something magical that he or she brings to our common cause. And so, before we are tested, we gather to draw strength from each other and affirm our mutual will.

Witches have always gathered in high places. In the bad old days, they sought out remote woods where they would not be discovered by those who meant them harm. Our problem is different. We live in a major American city, where getting off by yourself is something of a challenge. Still, we manage.

Stella dropped me at sunset at a trailhead in the Scottsdale McDowell Sonoran Preserve and headed back to pick up Daisy. “Trailhead” sounds like something you’d find in a national park far from civilization, but the preserve is a 30,000-acre protected desert habitat within sight of downtown. It’s enjoyed by hikers, bikers, birdwatchers, equestrians, and the occasional witch.

I’d hiked this trail many times, and I knew a secret. Where the public trail forks at the top of the ridge, there is a boulder. Most people stop and rest there before they continue on, east or west. An initiated few who arrive after the park officially closes at sunset slip behind the boulder, out of sight from the ordinary world, and follow a goat trail over another low rise. Just below the saddleback, on the far side of the ridge, is a circle of ten stones, each the size of a steamer trunk.

The sun was down by the time I made it to the stone circle, but the plateau shimmered in the triple-digit heat. The spring wildflowers were long gone, but the desert was still alive. For the coyote, the owl, the bobcat: this was their hunting time. My friends and I were guests here. We would be respectful.

No open flames are allowed in the preserve, but I had brought a canning jar half-filled with olive oil. I took a small square of foil threaded with a cotton wick from my backpack and floated it on the surface of the oil. When I lit the wick, my candle glowed.

I had just settled onto one of the stones when Mark crested the ridge and joined me.

Barry was next, holding Asia’s elbow. It tickled me to watch the dynamic between them: Barry, trying to be a gentleman, helping her along the trail; Asia, a legendary warrior, letting him do it. There might be hope for those two yet.

Alex had picked up Clayton at his hotel, and they came up the hill together. Their faces were grim; they must have been talking in the car about the task ahead.

Lissa and Orion held hands as they crested the ridge. The way that man looked at his wife nearly stopped my heart.

Daisy was last, clumping along on her footed cane as Stella hovered discreetly behind her.

As each of my friends joined the circle, they took their seats on the boulders and placed their own glowing canning jar candles at their feet. Our circle of light was complete.

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