22. To Certain Poor Jaspers #2
“Oh, we’re still around,” Delilah assured her. “Still hidden from the outside world, still home to witches. The Stargazer Inn, which is what your barn will become, has been in my family for generations.”
Relief washed over Agnes’s face. “These are most welcome tidings. We have sacrificed much to create this haven. And the poor souls we left behind... they weigh heavily upon my heart. Can you tell me what fate befell them?”
Jasper and Delilah glanced at one another, then down at their feet, uncertain what to say.
“Ah,” Agnes said sadly. “I see the answer writ upon thy faces.”
Jasper nodded reluctantly. “They um, they didn’t make it.”
Agnes closed her eyes briefly. “Lord, receive their innocent souls,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “Forgive us who fled while they remained.” She opened her eyes. “So great a punishment for so small an offense.”
“What offense?” Jasper asked. “Hang on, were they actually witches after all?” That would be quite a discovery.
“Nay.” Agnes shook her head firmly. “Merely curious girls. They sought knowledge of magic, of spells, of the limits of our reality. That was their sin. Simple curiosity. Yet for that, they paid with their lives.”
Jasper longed to press for more details; this firsthand account could rewrite the established narrative of the Salem trials. But Delilah took a step forward; it was obvious she had more pressing matters on her mind.
“Goodwife Bartlett, Oak Haven desperately needs your help,” Delilah said, shifting the conversation. “The portal magic you used to bring the barn here? The witches have forgotten it over the centuries.”
Agnes’s expression brightened slightly. “That is well to hear. I had resolved to destroy all knowledge of the spell, that it might die with my generation.”
“But that’s just it,” Delilah pressed. “We need it again now. Your descendants need that spell to save our town.” She quickly explained about the malevolent strangers and their attempt to expose Oak Haven to the outside world.
“You were happy to hear Oak Haven still exists in our time, but without this spell to help us, it may not for much longer.”
Agnes listened gravely but shook her head when Delilah finished. “The portal magic is too dangerous to be known widely. I will not enable such another exodus.”
“But we’re not trying to run away,” Delilah argued. “We just need to move this... building...”
Jasper leaned in her ear. “Give her more details, maybe that’ll help.”
Delilah made a face. “You wanna explain a casino to this woman, be my guest.” She turned back to Agnes. “I swear to you, we just want to defend our home, not abandon it.”
Agnes was obviously unmoved. “I cannot risk such power falling into the wrong hands. The consequences could be catastrophic.”
Jasper watched the exchange, desperately wanting to help but uncertain how. What could he possibly say to change her mind? He wasn’t a witch or a magician. He was just a guy who liked old stuff and a new girl.
“They’ve taken my mother,” Delilah said finally, her voice breaking slightly. “The magicians have her trapped in the space between portals. Without your spell, we can’t save her.”
That got Agnes’s attention. Her head snapped up, eyes widening. “Trapped between? Such a fate is worse than death.”
“I’ve heard,” Delilah said softly. “That’s why we need your help.”
Agnes was silent for a long moment. She turned away, staring out at the creek.
Jasper opened his mouth to speak but Delilah laid a hand on his arm to quiet him. “Give her a second.”
At last, Agnes turned back. “I cannot abide one of my descendants suffering such a fate.” She fixed Delilah with a penetrating gaze. “I will help thee, but on one condition.”
“Name it,” Delilah said eagerly.
“I will not leave the spell to be found by just anyone,” Agnes declared. “No witch, even one as seemingly virtuous as thyself, can be entirely trusted with such power.”
Delilah began to argue, but Agnes silenced her with a raised hand.
“Instead, I shall conceal the spell beneath the archives of which thou spoke—the building where my likeness hangs. And thy hand alone shall be able to retrieve it.”
“Me?” Jasper squeaked. “But I’m not even magical!”
“Precisely,” Agnes nodded. “The magic shall respond only to the touch of one who cannot wield it for himself.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Delilah argued. “Surely the spell should remain within Oak Haven, where we can protect it.”
Agnes’s expression hardened. “That is my condition. Accept it, or depart.”
Before the argument could escalate further, a voice like thunder shook the trees around them.
“MEATSACKS!” Louise’s disembodied voice boomed through the trees, startling them all. “I RETURN TO RECLAIM WHAT BELONGS TO THE PRESENT!”
“But wait!” Delilah shouted to the sky. “We need more time!”
“I HAVE ALL TIME—YOU HAVE NONE!”
A brilliant light engulfed them, the ground shaking beneath their feet. Jasper reached for Delilah instinctively, his fingers barely brushing hers before reality itself seemed to tear open around them.
The last thing he saw was Agnes Bartlett’s face, serene despite the chaos. Her lips moved in what might have been a blessing or a final instruction, but it was impossible to hear over the roar.
And then they were falling, tumbling through a kaleidoscope of fragmenting moments, until?—
THUD.
They landed in an ungraceful heap in the center of Oak Haven’s town green.
Jasper blinked, disoriented by the sudden transition and the assault of garish colors and loud sounds.
The tasteful buildings of Oak Haven’s downtown were shrouded in gaudy signs and displays.
“AUTHENTIC WITCH SOUVENIRS!” screamed one sign in neon.
“HAUNTED WALKING TOURS EVERY HOUR!” proclaimed another.
Tourists swarmed like ants across an open jar of honey, snapping photos with their phones.
Many wore loud-colored T-shirts emblazoned with cartoonish witch silhouettes and slogans like: “I GOT MY HEX ON IN OAK HAVEN!” and “MY PARENTS WENT TO WITCHTOWN AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS STUPID T-SHIRT.” Across the street, a banner announced the grand opening of the “WITCH HISTORY WAX MUSEUM,” promising a “ terrifying torture dungeon experience !” in the basement.
Jasper and Delilah gaped at their surroundings, the same dark thought occurring to them both at the same exact moment.
Are we too late?