Chapter 12
12
SALEM, PRESENT DAY
As Sephy drove into Salem, Dora perked up. She looked at the plain white welcome sign on a board on the side of the road and felt something stir deep inside her. Sephy navigated the warren of streets, driving past Dairy Witch Ice Cream store towards Essex Street. The ice cream shop was busy; there was a queue outside with kids hanging off their parents’ arms, huge cones clutched like prizes as they licked the drips. Dora had to admit the ice cream looked pretty good and she realised she was craving something sweet. The sign above the shop was her first glimpse of a witch, she was flying on a broomstick and clutching an ice cream cone in one hand. It wouldn’t be her last though; as Sephy drove farther every available signpost was adorned with orange and black flags with a silhouetted witch on them.
‘They’re so cute,’ she said, pointing towards a prominent one outside a dry cleaners. ‘Are there witches everywhere in Salem?’
Lenny side-eyed Sephy, who laughed. ‘There are witches on every street corner, dear. This whole town isn’t called witch city for nothing.’
‘Not like the old days at all. Back then, you murmured the word witch and before you knew it Corwin would have you rounded up and put in those stinking cellars of the county jail in a room so small you couldn’t bend at the knees.’
‘Lenny, you have to let it go. It’s been a long time, we never expected things to turn out like they did, but it worked out.’
‘Did it? Look at this place, Sephy, all these people cashing in on the horror and heartbreak brought upon those poor souls by that Betty Parris and Abigail Williams. Those little girls started the whole crazy panic. They have a lot to answer for. And for what? Because they got scared their father would find out poor Tituba had told their fortunes as a joke when they were bored out of their tiny minds with their strict Puritan upbringing, desperate for some attention they never were given.’
Dora had never seen her normally cool, calm and collected aunt so angry.
‘I can’t let it go and neither should you.’
‘Then you’re going to have a simmering pot of anger inside your chest for a long time to come. I’m just as angry about it as you but I’ve learned to make my peace with it. You know, maybe it’s time you did too, Lenny.’
Lenny tutted and turned to look out of the window. Sephy smiled at Dora and shrugged. Dora had no idea what Lenny was so angry about. It wasn’t as if she’d been there. They turned onto Chestnut Street, filled with beautiful old Federal-style mansions, all of them three storeys high with huge entrances in the middle, some with double doors. There was a mixture of styles of houses, many with gardens to the side that wrapped around to the rear, filled with beautiful blooms of roses and lush greenery.
Dora sighed. ‘Oh wow, these are amazing.’
Sephy nodded. ‘It’s nice. I prefer it here, it’s steeped in so much history. It was built as a haven for the wealthy mariners who wanted to escape the hustle and bustle of the busy waterfront. Plus, the houses are mainly single family homes and the neighbours keep mostly to themselves, it’s a little more refined than some of the streets. The neighbours are so busy doing their own thing, they don’t care what anyone else is doing. That’s always a good sign if you want good neighbours. How are you feeling now, Dora?’
She’d momentarily forgotten her sickness, but the mention of it brought it back with vengeance, and her stomach suddenly ached so much she wanted to either be sick or lie down with a hot water bottle.
‘Not too good.’
Sephy nodded. She pulled up in front of a quirky pale pink house with a pristine white picket fence. It was like something out of a fairy tale and Lenny growled.
‘You didn’t?’
‘I most certainly did. And what’s it to you? It’s not like you live here.’
‘Pink?’
‘Pink is my most favourite colour after black. I would have painted it black but that black house a few blocks away in Salem is enough in this area, don’t you think? I didn’t want the tourists mistaking this for that fool Corwin’s house and standing outside all day and night in fancy dress while taking photos of each other for Instagram.’
At this Lenny laughed. ‘Well, I suppose pink will deter them although it still stands out.’
Dora thought it was the most beautiful house she’d ever seen; it wasn’t like the others along the street, this one was set back from the rest. There was a huge oak tree in front of it and behind the white fence was a front garden full of pretty pink roses, lavender, rosemary, basil, thyme, every single herb she could name and some she couldn’t. There was a turret that looked like a pointy witch’s hat, with white windows and sills. Intricate trellis work adorned the house and the white arch that led into the front garden was covered with an abundance of the smallest but most fragrant tiny blooms.
‘Mayflowers,’ Dora whispered to herself. A beautiful porch wrapped around the front of the house, on it a swing and a couple of rocking chairs. She sighed. It was like a real-life gingerbread house. Whenever she’d pictured living in America this was the kind of house she’d imagined.
Sephy opened the gate and stepped through. Dora could smell the flowers and the scent was intoxicating, although there was something else as well. A distant memory of planting the seeds for the herbs, working the ground on her hands and knees, singing while she raked her fingernails through the crumbly, fertile soil. She shook her head; she had as far as she knew never planted a garden in her life but something about this place was so distant, yet familiar. Sephy came back towards her, linking her arm through Dora’s, and leaned close to her ear.
‘Welcome home, Dora, we’ve waited a long time to see you.’
At that moment, Dora was almost overwhelmed by such a strong sense of love for the woman standing next to her, even though as far as she knew she was a complete stranger. Lenny was already dragging the two cases from the boot. Sephy walked Dora through the arch, smiling.
‘A garden planted with love is sure to bloom for all of eternity. Look at how these lilacs bloom; they knew you were coming home and opened in time for you to marvel in their beauty.’
Dora looked at the lilac bush, its branches so heavy with blooms they were bending in the breeze. They looked as if they were bending towards her. She stepped forwards and gently lowered her face to the flowers, inhaling their sweet, heady smell, and whispered, ‘Thank you for being so pretty and flowering for me, you are incredibly kind and beautiful.’ A low sigh of pleasure filled Dora’s mind. She looked around to see Lenny was already at the front door and Sephy was standing back, nodding her head with the biggest smile on her face.
‘Was that you who sighed?’ Dora asked.
‘No, although I could have. You speak the language of the flowers and it’s a rare and beautiful gift. They were sighing in appreciation of your thanks and also, I think, because they’ve waited as long as I have to have you here. They should have bloomed in April or May, but they didn’t, they held on. I think the flowers knew exactly when you’d be coming home.’
Home . Dora felt tears prick the corners of her eyes. Yes, this was what it felt like. She had come home to the place she belonged, despite having had no knowledge of it until five minutes ago.
Sephy reached out her fingertips, trailing them across the delicate petals. ‘Did I not tell you she was coming home; I thank you for this glorious display too.’ She hooked her arm back through Dora’s.
‘Magic is truly everywhere. If you open your eyes and your heart you will feel it deep inside of you. It will also find you when you’re ready to accept that and let it in.’
A loud squawk from above them made Dora jump; she felt as if she had been intoxicated by the heady scent and Sephy’s words. She looked up to see a bird, with midnight-black feathers like her hair. It flew down from the upstairs windowsill it had been perched on, landing softly on one of the branches of the twisted hazel tree next to them.
‘Dora, this is Hades. He is our watcher, a very wise and a much-loved member of this family, aren’t you, Hades.’
She held out her arm and he swooped towards it with such grace that Dora was mesmerised. He perched on Sephy’s arm and stared at Dora, his two shiny black eyes watching her every move.
‘Hello, Hades, it’s lovely to meet you.’
Hades looked at Sephy and tilted his head to one side. Sephy laughed.
‘Of course she remembers, don’t you, Dora? He’s very sensitive for a bird, aren’t you, Hades?’
Dora had always been a little scared of the pigeons that were everywhere in London and would swoop down to land on your head if you weren’t careful. But she held out her arm. Sephy nodded at the bird, and he hopped across to sit on Dora’s forearm, making Sephy clap her hands in delight.
‘Oh, look at you two, you always were inseparable.’
Hades bent his head towards Dora and, before she could stop herself, she bent hers and kissed his small head. He squawked loudly then took off circling around them both.
‘Did I scare him?’
‘No, you just made an old crow very happy. He’s showing off.’
Lenny appeared at the door smiling, her head shaking, showing two different emotions at the same time.
‘Will you get Dora inside; I’m sure the neighbours are wondering what’s going on. It’s like a scene from Harry Potter out here.’
Sephy rolled her eyes. ‘My dear Lenny, trust me, the neighbours have seen much worse. Come on, Dora, let’s do what she says before her head implodes. She’s such a mortal at times it really is hard to understand that she’s a bloodline witch through and through.’
Dora laughed and followed her aunts into the picture-perfect pink house wondering if she was ill or if this was all a dream. Would she wake up any minute now with a stiff neck from the plane seat and a broken heart, longing for the life she had just been shown that could not possibly exist? Sephy talked about magic as if it was a very real thing, like it was a part of her daily life, and Dora wanted to believe that it was, more than she’d ever wanted to believe in the tooth fairy or Santa Claus.