The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste

Author:Tracey Baptiste
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Published: 2015-02-19T20:02:55+00:00

23

The Call

Pierre remained trapped inside himself, unmoving and unthinking. Severine rushed around preparing another pot of stew for him. Until the magic took full hold, she had to keep feeding it to him. She couldn’t risk losing him, not now. Not after her sister’s child had refused her. She grumbled as she worked, irritated that she had let the girl go.

“I should have found a way to change the child first,” Severine muttered.

With the child’s magic on her side, turning the rest of the people on the island would have been simpler. But now—now they would fight. Severine didn’t mind the fighting, but she did mind losing her own kind. She shoved a spoonful of stew into Pierre’s mouth.

“Well, they will lose too,” she said aloud. “At least I have you.” Severine dabbed a dribble of stew from Pierre’s lips. She looked at him tenderly.

In spite of everything that had gone wrong, she would still get a family. Corinne would eventually follow her father. Severine had noticed they could not be without each other for long. In two more nights, the magic would have permanent hold on Pierre and he and Severine would be sealed together. He would bring his daughter to their side. Eventually, Severine would release Pierre from the magic. He might come to love her as he had loved her sister. But before any of that happened, she had to take care of the people of the island.

Only two nights to wait, but in the silent house, restlessness settled on Severine. She wanted the people turned faster. “Why wait two more nights to begin?” she wondered. “I have an army willing to do as I say. And if Corinne sees what we jumbies can do if she doesn’t cooperate, maybe she will join us on her own.” She went to the window and sang in a voice only understood by jumbies:

Drowned in water, scorched in sun,

Tonight your time is finally done.

Silent children come and fight,

The people’s end begins tonight!

She fed Pierre another spoonful and patted his lips dry. “There now,” she said. “That wasn’t so bad, was it? And now, I should take care of your wife.”

She picked up Nicole’s necklace by the string, careful not to touch the stone. It felt heavy under her fingers, not because of the stone itself, but because she understood its magic. She felt its power as soon as it touched her skin. It was Forming Magic, an ancient power that was created at the same time that the very earth was made. It was bigger and more powerful than she herself—more powerful than anything she had ever known. She wondered how her sister had come by it, how she had handled it, and if it was the thing that had allowed her to live among people for as long as she had. Severine was tempted to try to use the magic herself, but she knew that this magic was dangerous even for her. How then could her sister have given

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.