Tiernan, Cate - The Sweep 01 - Book of Shadows by Tiernan Cate

Author:Tiernan, Cate [Tiernan, Cate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Witches, Young Adult, Post-Apocalyptic, Adventure
Published: 2012-01-19T20:08:09+00:00

CHAPTER 13 Stirring

"If you look, you will see the mark of a House on its progeny. These marks take many forms, but a trained witchfinder can always discover one."

— Notes of a Servant of God,

Brother Paolo Frederico, 1693

I don't understand my mother at all. It's not as if I've done something wrong. I hope she calms down. She has to, she just has to.

On Monday afternoon I skipped chess club and drove to Red Kill, to Practical Magick. As I drove, I soaked up my favorite signs of autumn: trees streaked with bright, vivid colors, protesting the little death of winter. Tall roadside grasses were feathery and tan. Small farmers' stands sold pumpkins, t late corn, squash, apples, apple pies.

In Red Kill, I found a parking spot right in front of the store. Inside, it was again dim and full of the rich smells of herbs, oils, and incense. I breathed deeply as my eyes adjusted to the light. This time there were more customers than the last time.

I worked my way down the rows of books, looking for a general history of Wicca. Last night I had finished my book on the Seven Great Clans, and I was hungry for more information.

The first person I ran into was Paula Steen, my aunt's new girlfriend. She was crouched on the floor, examining books along the bottom shelf. Paula looked up, saw me, recognized me, and smiled. "Morgan!" she said, standing up. "Fancy meeting you here. How are you?"

"Oh, okay," I said, making myself smile back. "How are you?"

I liked Paula a lot, but this was a weird place to run into her, and I felt slightly nervous about it. She would mention it to Aunt Eileen, and Aunt Eileen would tell my mom. I wasn't keeping anything secret from my parents, exactly, but I hadn't gone out of my way to tell them about the circles or Cal or Wicca, either.

"Fine," she said. "Overworked, as usual. Today one of my surgery patients canceled, so I played hooky and came here." She looked around the store. "I love this place. They have all kinds of neat stuff."

"Yeah," I said. "Are you… into Wicca?"

"No, not me." Paula laughed. "I know lots of people who are, though. It's so pro-woman, it's sometimes popular with lesbians. But I'm still Jewish. I'm here looking at homeopathic books about animal medicine. I just went to a conference where they taught a course on pet massage, and I'm looking for more information."

"Really?" I grinned. "You mean, like giving your German Shepherd a rubdown?"

Paula laughed again. "Kind of," she said, "just like with people, there's a lot to be said for the healing touch."

"Cool," I said.

"Anyway, how about you? Are you into Wicca?"

"Well… I'm curious about it," I said in a measured tone, not wanting to blurt out all my messy feelings. "I'm Catholic and everything, like my parents," I went on in a rush. "But I do think Wicca is… interesting."

"Like anything else, it's what you bring to it," Paula said.

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