The Vanishing Bookstore

Chapter 44

44

Sephy jumped in the front of the van and Dora the passenger side. Dora left the door open long enough so that her shadow dog could also climb in with them. Sephy, who never usually drove fast, sped out of the street towards the shop. She mounted the curb and abandoned the car at the same time as Ambrose came pelting around the corner, almost colliding with the small white van. Dora was already out of the van and pushing the front door of the shop open.

‘Lenny, are you here?’

She prayed her aunt would answer her and make the pair of them realise how wrong they were, but she was greeted by silence and the earthy smell of rotting compost. Sephy came in behind her and her nose twitched.

‘He’s been here, I can smell him.’

‘That’s his smell? He came into my shop, and I thought he smelled of expensive aftershave. I never smelled anything like this.’

‘You couldn’t, dear, you were just a mortal back in London with no prior knowledge of your heritage and previous lives. Now you’ve awakened your magic you can smell him for what he really is. Nothing but a fetid, decomposing piece of shit.’

Dora smiled at Sephy, tickled despite the gravity of the situation. Since she’d arrived in Salem, she’d hardly ever heard her swear.

Ambrose sniffed the air and shook his head, then he squeezed past both of them. ‘Sorry ladies, I know you are both in charge but let me check the shop out first. I need to feel as if I’m of some use to you.’

He looked around then went through the curtain leading to the back room and stopped.

‘Sephy.’

Sephy rushed to where he was standing. There was a pile of shattered glass jars on the floor and a streak of red along the corner of the whitewashed shelf. She strode towards it then leaned forwards to smell. ‘Blood. He’s hurt her – that doesn’t smell of decay like he does. Damn him, please Lenny, be okay, don’t fight him too much, we’re on our way.’

The back door was unlatched and Ambrose pushed it open, Dora following him. The pair of them stood there surveying the area but could see nothing in the street.

Sephy joined them. ‘He’s gone, there’s no scent, no trace. He had to have had a vehicle.’

‘What do we do, call the cops?’ Dora asked.

‘No,’ both Sephy and Ambrose said in unison.

‘They can’t help us,’ Sephy added. ‘They never have been able to and probably never will. It’s too much for a mere mortal’s mind to accept. I’m sorry, Dora, but that’s the way it is and always has been. We fight our own battles. Win or lose, it’s what we do.’

A look of pain crossed Ambrose’s face. ‘I hate him, I wish I’d never been born to the same family as him. My father was bad enough, but my uncle was always so much worse, always waiting around behind closed doors to make his move when he thought no one was looking. Only I could see him, I saw the blackness inside of him. I just wish I’d been brave enough to do something about it before he got this strong.’

Dora stared at Ambrose. With his floppy fringe and dazzling smile he did have a look of George Corwin. But whereas Corwin wore an air of cruelty around him like a cloak, Ambrose wore one of friendship and loyalty. She reached out and touched his arm and Sephy turned to him.

‘You are nothing like him. You were also a child, he wasn’t your battle to fight.’

‘I feel as if he was, that I could have made the difference for you all, Sephy.’

She reached out and hugged him briefly. ‘You have been here for us all since that terrible day and for that we’ll always be grateful, Ambrose.’

Dora felt her heart fill with warmth watching her aunt soothing Ambrose when it was her who needed the soothing.

‘Well then, I guess we go home and wait for Hades to report back.’

‘Or we could go to Boston? Lenny said that was where he was, we might be able to use our powers to track him down. It has to be worth trying.’

‘We can’t, darling, we are unprepared and emotionally wrung-out. We could be wasting precious time driving around in circles. Boston is not Salem; everyone doesn’t know their neighbours.’

Sephy ushered them back inside and bolted the back door behind them. She glanced at the mess on the floor and ignored it. Then they were out the front of the shop, where Dora was surprised to see the van still there parked across the pavement with the engine running. If this had been London, Sephy would never have seen it again, it would have been stolen and on its way to the other end of England. Once Sephy had secured the front door, all of them piled inside and they drove back to Sephy’s fairy tale pink house. They clambered out of the van and down the garden path, Dora scanning the sky for a sign of Hades and his friends, but there was nothing. Sephy led them inside where they took seats around the kitchen table. Ambrose took in the offerings and smiled.

‘You invoked Hecate, you brought out the big girl?’

Sephy nodded. ‘I fear I had no choice; she came and answered our prayers. Maybe a little too late for Lenny, but she is here and Dora is well protected.’

Ambrose stared at Dora, with her long black hair pinned in a messy bun, her grey linen dress with the tiny pearl buttons and high lace collar. ‘Dora, you look so beautiful. You look just the way you used to. I remember you when I saw you walking through the woods to get to the village with your book under one arm and a handful of freshly picked daisies. I fell even more in love with you than I had when we were children.’

Dora smiled at him. ‘I feel like that girl too. She was so innocent but there is something raw and untamed inside of me waiting to be unleashed. I need to find Lenny and Corwin then maybe we could start all over again, Ambrose.’

His eyes sparkled and his grin lifted his whole face into an expression of boyish charm. ‘You would? Of course you would, that is amazing. What are we waiting for, let’s get looking!’

As if summoned, the sky outside turned even darker and there was an almighty whooshing sound as the darkness moved towards them. They rushed outside and Ambrose took a step back but Dora stepped forwards. She opened out her arms and stood there waiting for Hades as the crows flew towards them and the old oak tree. Dora watched as they all took their turns to settle on the branches, the noise deafening, and felt a pang of fear in her heart when she couldn’t see Hades among them.

‘Where is Hades?’

She turned to Sephy, who was biting her lip and wringing her hands. ‘I don’t know. He’s probably watching Lenny and doesn’t want to leave her.’

Dora called out into the night sky. ‘Hades, come back, where are you?’ The crows in the tree were watching her, then a smaller one flew down and landed on her arm.

Dora looked at it and whispered, ‘Where is he?’

But she already knew; she had a crushing feeling of loss inside her chest that she couldn’t explain. The crow bowed its head, unable to look her in the eyes, unlike Hades who had taken great pleasure in staring her out. It took off, soaring high into the night sky, and she knew then that something was terribly wrong.

‘Is he hurt, is he dead? What happens if Corwin has hurt him? Isn’t Hades the one who will protect our souls when we die?’

Sephy bowed her head. ‘I don’t know, Dora.’

Dora felt a burst of electricity explode from her fingers with a loud crack as she pointed towards a fallen branch and let it shoot from her, splitting the wood in two. She was furious, raging with lifetimes of pent-up anger and frustration towards George Corwin. She spun around and around, the electricity humming around her as a bright light enveloped her. She closed her eyes and pictured Lenny, tough, strong Lenny who had endured everything life had thrown her way and yet still strived to help the people around her. Images of her first life filled her mind: the cottage, the garden, the woods surrounding it, Gallows Hill looking down onto the town and the ledge below it where she, her mum and aunts had taken their last breaths.

She stopped and turned to Sephy. ‘I know where they are. He’s waiting for us to go there, to Boston; he’s always been waiting for us to go there since the very first time. I need your van keys, please.’ Dora held out her hand.

Sephy shook her head. ‘You’re not going alone; we’re coming with you.’

‘No, if I’m to do this, I’m to do it alone. I wouldn’t be able to concentrate with you there in case he hurt you, Sephy, in case he hurt either of you. I need you to wait here, do what you have to do to keep Hecate and anyone else you can summon to help me, but I have to do this alone.’

Ambrose shook his head. ‘I’m coming with you, no arguments.’

She took hold of his hand. ‘No, I need you to keep my aunt safe. I need you to make sure we still have a home to come back to when all of this is over. I can’t do what I have to if I’m worrying about him hurting you and Sephy. Because he will, I know that he will to get what he wants. He doesn’t care about anyone except getting his revenge.’

A look of pain flashed across Ambrose’s face. ‘But Dora, I’m supposed to help you, I always do.’

‘Things are different this time though, aren’t they? I think we should try to do something we’ve never done before. You can be my research assistant; we can keep in contact by phone the whole time and you can guide me through the streets of Boston.’

He nodded. ‘I could do that.’

‘Yes, you could. But more than anything I need you to take care of Sephy.’

She wrapped her arms around him, pulled him close then stood on her tiptoes and softly kissed his lips. Then, before he could pull her in closer, she tore herself away.

‘You’re a good man, Ambrose, I thank thee from the bottom of my heart. Sephy, I need your keys.’

Sephy was dithering until she heard Dora speak and then she stopped and stared at her.

‘What did you just say?’

‘I said, I thank thee. Oh, where did that come from?’

Sephy smiled and Dora knew she was trying to work out if she should let Dora do this on her own. Then she handed the keys to her and from out of nowhere Dora was holding her close, burying her head into her neck and inhaling the wonderful lemon, vanilla and lavender scent that her aunt always smelled of.

‘You’re back, the old Isadora is home, and this makes me so happy. Now you have Hades, Hecate and Caesar by your side. Please call on the power and use your guide and protector the best that you can.’

Sephy stood up straight. No longer wringing her hands with nerves, she looked almost majestic as she stood tall and pulled a piece of old papyrus and a jar of black salt from her pocket and passed them to Dora. Then from her other pocket she drew out two small stones.

‘Memorise these words, Dora. It’s vitally important, for this is the binding spell that shall undo the curse and render Corwin defenceless. Make sure you cast your circle first and use the black protection salt to keep you safe. These stones are small, but mighty. You have haematite for strength and courage, chalcedony for power over dark spirits. It’s what we’ve waited for, and I know you can do it. You must be fearless and remember that you are the magic, it’s inside of you, flowing through your veins like a river of stardust that you can call upon as you need it. Be safe, my beautiful girl, and bring my family back to thee to stand strong for all of eternity.’

Dora nodded her head. It was true; she could feel the magic fizzing inside her, and she had a feeling if she didn’t release some of the pent-up energy, she might burst into a glittering ball of this stardust that Sephy kept telling her ran through her body. She pushed the salt and stones into her pocket then looked down at the piece of papyrus and saw six lines of old cursive script in bold black ink. She read them through a couple of times, hoping when the time came she could remember them word for word, then she tucked the piece of paper into the pocket with her stones. She didn’t tell either her aunt or Ambrose that she knew where Corwin was and that he was waiting for her to figure it out. She had no intention of driving to Boston, she was playing for time and hoping that they would let her go on some wild chase. She stopped herself from any further thoughts about it in case Sephy was as good at reading minds as Lenny. There was no way she was putting them at risk.

She turned and rushed down the path towards the small van. She could feel the floor vibrating with Caesar’s heavy paws running with her, and she had never felt so glad to have an invisible shadow dog by her side willing to fight for her to save them all.

She opened the door and whispered, ‘After you, boy.’ She could almost hear the leather seat creak with the weight of the muscular black dog that had been an Italian mastiff in his mortal life. She turned and waved, then took off. She didn’t know Salem now, but she could remember the Salem from centuries ago and she drove out of Chestnut Street towards where Corwin was waiting for her, less than a five-minute drive away.

It struck her how close to all the horrible memories and places Sephy still lived. Once she was almost there, she would find the rocky outcropping on the small parcel of land where they had hanged the innocent victims of the witch trials. Where her aunts and mum had been hanged, after being kept in squalor and tortured for days in the jail. Her insides churned with pent-up anger and sadness at the injustice of it all. Her phone began to vibrate and she saw Ambrose’s name. She slid her finger across and could barely hear him; the van had no hands-free.

‘Sephy said you need to find Proctor’s Ledge; she knows fine well you aren’t on your way to Boston.’

Dora grinned. So her aunt could read minds too. ‘I’m on my way to Gallows Hill.’

‘She thought so. Dora, it’s not Gallows Hill, there is a low spot we used to call the crevice below Proctor’s Ledge. It’s where they dumped the bodies after they cut the rope around their necks, letting them fall. No one was hanged on the hill, it’s the ledge, and below it is a memorial. It’s a small, curved, walled memorial in between two houses. If Lenny’s not there, then you can walk up the hill and a little farther up is Proctor Street. It runs directly behind the memorial, you can get to the wooded area that way. This is where you all died in case he’s hiding somewhere a bit more discreet. I can be there in ten minutes if I set off running now.’

‘No. Please don’t, if I need you, I’ll tell you.’

Dora ended the call and turned onto Pope Street, driving slowly until she saw the curved stone wall of the memorial sandwiched between two white clapboard houses. She shivered as she wondered if the people who lived there could hear the cries and wails of the innocent people who had been murdered in the spot between both properties late at night when there was no traffic around.

She stopped the van a little way up the street, not wanting to walk straight into Corwin’s trap so brazenly and give herself a fighting chance. She got out and gave her shadow dog time to follow. She didn’t even remove the key from the ignition so she could get away fast if she needed to. She couldn’t see Lenny or Corwin at the memorial, but Corwin wasn’t going to be somewhere so open. No matter how powerful he was, she doubted he would try to kill both her and Lenny in such plain view of neighbouring houses.

As she got closer, she spied a small black mound on the floor and felt her heart rip in two. No longer caring about the element of surprise, she ran towards the entrance to the memorial and saw Hades, his crushed, lifeless body on the floor. Dora had to stifle the scream that was bursting to erupt from her throat at the sight of her watcher, her friend, no longer able to be anything to her other than a memory. Dora fell to her knees, hot tears falling freely from her eyes as she gently scooped the bird’s broken body into her hands and held him close. He was still warm. The pain in her chest was unbearable as it gripped like a vice, squeezing every inch of life out of her. She could feel Caesar next to her and wondered if Hades would turn into a shadow animal. She didn’t want him to. She looked at the stone his body had been thrown under and felt a stab of anger begin to burn inside her stomach.

It read ‘ Lenora English ’.

Dora looked up the hill to see if Corwin was there watching her from the cover of the trees. He would love to see her so upset and would be enjoying the show. She kissed her friend’s head and carefully placed Hades on the wall. She clambered onto it, then stood up on the side of the hill that had been planted with trees and evergreen ferns.

It was fully dark, and the moon illuminated some of the hill but not all of it. She wanted to scream Corwin’s name in fury, but was conscious of the two houses and their occupants. Instead, she made her way up the steep incline as far as she could go. There was only a narrow part of it accessible, the rest was fenced off. He wasn’t here – she’d missed him but not by long. And then it hit her. She knew where he was. This place was far too public, but the field Giles Corey had been slowly crushed to death in over the course of three days wouldn’t be. That’s if it was still a field, she wasn’t sure. All she could do was head in that direction and hope for the best.

As she part stumbled, part jogged down the incline with tears rolling down her cheeks, she almost ran straight off the edge of the memorial, and only just stopped herself in time. It was difficult in this dress, but she didn’t care. She managed to get herself down and heard a small tearing noise as the seam gave way on one side. She could feel the air whooshing up through the slit but it didn’t matter, it gave her more movement. She tenderly picked up Hades and put him in the hem of her dress, holding it up so he was covered in case any tourists walked past on a mission to see the memorial. They would be in for a treat with her dressed in a now damaged, stolen, seventeenth-century dress as she cradled her dead pet bird and talked to her shadow dog with snot and tears running down her cheeks.

She made it to the van just as a large group of tourists turned into the street. Once she was sure Caesar was in, she carefully laid Hades onto the back seat and shut the door, then got in and drove away just in time, a vision of the group turning on her and shouting, ‘Witch, witch, witch.’ Over and over the cries filled her mind, past lives colliding with this life. She had to push them away and tell herself they were not a mob of angry Puritan villagers baying for blood.

Her phone began to ring again. She swiped it but instead of managing a hello she let out an anguished cry and Ambrose’s panicked voice filled the front of the van.

‘I’m on my way, are you okay?’

‘No, I’m fine. They weren’t at Proctor’s Ledge.’

She glanced in the rear-view mirror at the dead crow and decided not to tell Sephy until she had to. A dead crow was probably a sign of impending doom.

‘Ambrose, where is the field Giles Corey was killed in?’

‘It’s a cemetery now, they built over it and he’s supposed to be buried in there. It’s called Howard Street Cemetery; Dora, I’m coming, I can’t wait here.’

She heard Sephy in the background. ‘We’re both coming.’

Dora ended the call; she couldn’t think about Ambrose or Sephy. She had to focus. If Lenny was dead then she was sure Corwin would have left her body back at the memorial and not Hades’.

She drove way too fast for the streets of Salem towards where she remembered the field was. Turning onto Federal Street, she passed a building with a black-and-gold plaque on it that read ‘Old Witch Gaol’, and then made her way along Bridge Street until she saw the entrance to Howard Street, the cemetery filling one side of the narrow residential road.

Dora wasn’t sure if there was any magic left to run through her veins because they seemed to be threaded with fury at Corwin and his senseless persecution of all women who were bloodline witches. She knew if he’d already hurt Lenny there would be no stopping her. She didn’t care what happened to her as long as she broke the curse and got rid of Corwin for good.

She didn’t bother being discreet and stopped the van outside the black, waist-high, chain-link fence that ran around the perimeter of Howard Street Cemetery. Dora opened the door and waited for her beloved dog to jump out.

She whispered, ‘Don’t show yourself until I ask you, please.’ A wet nose pushed against the cold skin of her thigh where the dress had torn and she felt her love for him begin to fill her heart, as it pushed away a little of the sadness.

The gates were closed but it didn’t matter. Thank God Dora had her Doc Marten boots on, they equipped her for all eventualities. She ran at the fence and in one swift swoop found herself on top of it. She balanced for a minute before landing on the other side, the ground thumping as Caesar landed next to her. She scanned the old graves, looking for a sign of Lenny, and then got the faintest smell of something gone bad carried on the wind and knew Corwin was hiding out of sight. The dog next to her stood on edge, his silent growls only she could hear echoed inside her head and she patted his head.

Walking further in she called out, ‘I can smell thee, I know who you are, George Corwin. Why are you hiding from me when thou foul disposition gives thee away?’

She strode in the direction of the far end of the grassy cemetery where the moonlight didn’t cast its glow, leaving it shrouded in darkness and shadows. She saw a figure on the floor, and knew it was Lenny. She was lying underneath an old tombstone that was far too heavy for her slight figure and a rush of fury filled Dora’s veins, so intense she could hear the crackle of static. Corwin stepped out of the shadows, a large boulder in his hands.

‘What took you so long, Isadora, and look at you. Give a girl the right dress and she’s right back where she came from.’

He shook his head. ‘One move and I’ll drop this onto your aunt. It took that stubborn bastard Corey three days to die, but your aunt is a lot smaller than he was and she’s already looking a bit peaky from the weight of the tomb that is crushing her slowly to death.’

Dora tensed; she couldn’t look at Lenny but at least she knew she was still alive, which was something. She had to distract Corwin without letting him drop the extra weight onto her aunt’s chest. Or if he did, she would need to move quick to get it off her.

‘What exactly do you think you are doing?’

‘What I always do, taking the English sisters’ lives one by one until you are all obliterated from this life.’

‘Why? We’ll just be back the same as we always are.’

‘You’re forgetting one thing; did you not visit Proctor’s Ledge before you came here, Isadora?’

His voice was cold, taunting, and she wanted to rip his voice box out of his throat with her bare hands so she no longer had to listen to it.

‘You did, of course you did. Any self-respecting English would have gone to the ledge before even thinking of coming here but you’re not going to admit it, are you? You don’t want to ask me why I killed that stupid crow that has followed you around for centuries because you know that I know he was more than just a bird.’

He stepped towards Lenny.

‘Keep away from her.’

‘Or what, you’ll turn me into a frog, a cat?’

‘I mean it, you don’t want to know what I’ll do to you.’

‘Shall I tell you how you have kept evading me and reliving your lives? I’m angry with myself, you know, for taking so damn many centuries to work it out. I suppose it’s better late than never.’

Corwin was so busy talking he didn’t notice the black cloud of birds, filling the air as they silently flew towards the ancient tree behind him. Dora watched them from the corner of her eye, wary of alerting him to their presence.

‘That bird or whatever he was saved your souls. Every time you died before I could claim them, he took them somewhere far away. I have a bit of bad news for you though, dearest Isadora, he’s dead. I caught him snooping and turned the tables before he could fly away. It took very little to crush the bones in his neck, they snapped so easily.’

Dora let out a scream of anger and pointed her finger towards him, sending a surge of bright blue sparks in his direction. They hit the boulder, which she realised was made from marble with a brass plaque attached to it, but it was too late. The stream of light flew back and hit her in the chest with such force it took her off her feet and threw her into the air. She landed with a loud thud on the hard ground and let out a grunt of pain. She was winded and furious with herself; Sephy had warned her about reflective surfaces, she needed to control her magic and concentrate. Corwin was laughing at her, which made her even more angry. She felt Caesar next to her, straining to get at him, but she lifted a hand in front of him in a wait there gesture. She crawled to her knees and then to her feet. She was dusty, and her beautiful dress was not only torn, but singed.

‘For real, you want to carry on when it’s useless? Give it up, Isadora, you left it too late to be in with a fighting chance, but I do admire your spirit. You are so like your aunt Lenora – she was always a fighter.’

Dora noticed her aunt move slightly under the heavy slab of concrete and realised she was listening. She’d thought she was unconscious. Dora took a deep breath in and glanced up at the glowing white moon and remembered Hecate, the binding spell and the salt in her pocket. She smiled at Corwin, and he frowned, it was now or never while his hands were full.

She lowered her hand and commanded Caesar, ‘Now, boy.’

The shadow dog leaped forwards and she watched in awe as he came into full view. Corwin let out a yell and dropped the heavy stone on top of Lenny. Dora had minutes to make this work, her hand had uncapped the salt, and she began to turn, spreading the black salt as she moved to form a protective circle around her. George held his hands up to protect himself from the dog and at the same time sent a flash of white electricity in the dog’s direction. Caesar let out a yelp and fell to the floor.

Dora began to panic as she felt in her pocket for the papyrus, it must have fallen out when she jumped over. She turned and saw it near to the fence, she couldn’t remember the spell that Sephy had given to her and she felt all the strength drain from her legs, making it hard to keep her body upright. The crows began to caw and they all took off at the same time, the beating of their wings deafening as they rose majestically from the branches of the oak tree. Corwin turned to them and sent a beam of light their way, but it didn’t stop them as they flew towards him. She heard the singular beating of wings as a lone bird swooped down to pick up the piece of papyrus and then it was flying towards her, landing on her shoulder with the paper in its beak.

She stared at it. ‘Hades.’

The crow nodded once, then pushed the paper towards her. The murder of crows were distracting Corwin, flying around him like a black tornado, while Caesar was up on his feet and growling at him, stopping him from moving towards Dora. She heard a voice so soft and light whisper in her ear and she felt a love so strong that she knew it was Lucine.

‘I’m here, Dora, you can do this, we’ll do it together. Just read the words.’

Dora nodded, her voice was dry, and she wanted a drink of water more than anything.

‘I cast this spell into the night.’

She heard Lenny’s voice in her other ear and carried on.

‘And bind George Corwin into the light.’

Sephy’s voice was behind her. She turned and saw her aunt standing there with her arms up in the air, she nodded and smiled at her.

‘No longer can he thrive from pain, his action and desires he can no longer gain, in Hecate’s name.’ Dora paused as she saw a tall woman wearing a cloak step forwards from the darkness, holding a torch in one hand with a snake wrapped around the other. She was standing with Caesar staring at Corwin and she knew in her heart this was Hecate, the mother of all witches. She was here to help set them free.

‘I end this fight and free all witches back into the night.’ Dora yelled the words in Corwin’s direction.

Corwin let out a strangled scream as the birds attacked him, pecking at his face, his eyes, his fingers. She watched in horror and awe as the holes in his skin left by the birds began to leak a black, fetid substance that filled the night air with its vile smell. He fell to his knees, screaming and writhing in pain.

Dora’s voice was no longer hers, it belonged to a thousand women who had been persecuted and tortured by Corwin.

‘Get them off me,’ he howled.

She shook her head. ‘For what is a witch without her familiars?’

She realised she was no longer standing on the ground but hovering above it. The tall woman turned to Dora and removed the cloak from her head. She was beautiful, there was a crescent moon drawn on her forehead and she had the bluest eyes. She smiled at Dora and nodded her head, then stepped forwards and took hold of the cowering Corwin. She lifted her hand and a brilliant white light, the same colour as the moon above them, wrapped itself around him. It was a rope made of moonbeams and it circled him so tight that he couldn’t move. He screamed in Dora’s direction and the light filled his mouth. There was an explosion of darkness that was sucked into the light and then he was gone. There was nothing left, not even the lingering stench that emanated from him.

At that moment in the intensive care unit in St Thomas’ Hospital back in London, Katie’s eyes flew wide open and she sat up in her bed.

‘Lenny,’ Dora screamed and ran towards her, terrified that she was too late and her aunt was already dead. She pointed her finger at the chunk of marble and the heavy slab, careful not to hit the shiny part, and sent a burst of power towards it. The stone and marble shattered into a thousand tiny pieces, leaving her bruised and bloodied aunt’s body lying on the cold, hard ground. Dora fell to her knees and scooped Lenny up into her arms. She turned to see if Hecate would help her, but she was gone, along with her beloved Caesar. Ambrose and Sephy came running towards the pair of them on the ground.

Dora kissed Lenny’s forehead. ‘Open your eyes, please don’t be dead.’

‘If you kiss me again, you’ll be dead.’

Lenny was staring at her through one bloodshot open eye.

‘Oh my God, you’re alive,’ Dora breathed.

‘Only just. What took you so long?’

Sephy looked down at her sister and her niece. ‘Same old salty Lenora, thank God for that.’

Dora looked at Lenny then Sephy. ‘Lucine was here, so was Hecate?’

Lenny squinted her one eye. ‘Did you get knocked on the head, kid?’

Sephy smiled. ‘No, she did not. She is quite right, Lucine was here as I knew she would be and we asked Hecate for her guidance. I didn’t realise she would actually put in an appearance.’

Lenny sighed. ‘Where’s Corwin?’

It was Dora who answered. ‘He’s gone. I think we did it, we ended the curse and we’re free.’

Sephy was smiling. They stood for a moment, wondering if the curse really was broken. It must be. Sephy sighed with relief. For once maybe they could get to live out their happy ever after.

‘Dora, be a dear and go and close your circle. All you have to do is stand there and turn anti-clockwise. We don’t want to leave it open in a cemetery of all places, we have no idea who might come through and we’ve had quite enough excitement for this lifetime.’

Dora grinned and walked back to her salt circle. Pointing her finger, she turned anti-clockwise.

Ambrose was standing there watching her. ‘Dora, your hair.’

‘What about my hair? I know it’s a mess, it got a bit singed, but it’s nothing a quick trim with some scissors can’t fix.’

She walked towards him, and he shook his head. He reached out his fingers and touched it.

‘It’s silver, like your aunts’.’

Dora patted her head. The messy bun she’d fastened it in this morning was much diminished, there were more strands of hair out of it than in it.

‘What do you mean?’

‘It’s beautiful, it really suits you.’

She turned to Sephy, who had helped Lenny to her feet. The pair of them were watching her.

‘Is my hair…?’

‘Whiter than the driven snow, my dear. An English trait, I’m afraid, when we go into battle. If it’s any consolation you look stunning, darling, and it will save you a fortune on hair dye when it started to go grey.’

Ambrose took out his phone and turned the camera on, snapping a quick photo and turning the screen for Dora to look at. She stared in wonder at the beautiful white hair that fell about her dirty, mud-flecked face. Her eyes were also the most vivid green she had ever seen, even brighter than Sephy’s.

Lenny smiled at her. ‘Well, there is only one way for an English woman to come to terms with this kind of shock.’

Sephy began to laugh. ‘Of course there is. We all need a little black magic to celebrate our freedom, don’t you think?’

Lenny clapped and let out loud, ‘Ouch.’

‘Don’t be so dramatic, dear, it’s just a few cuts and bruises. A little bit of my arnica salve and some black magic, you’ll be as good as new in a few days.’

Dora reached out and took hold of Ambrose’s hand, and they watched as Sephy helped Lenny to the van. The gates were open.

‘Did you cut them open?’

‘No, they never lock them. Sorry, I should have told you.’

‘They don’t?’ She smiled at him, and he grinned back.

‘Dora, I have no idea how we’re going to get that dress back to the museum. Have you seen the state it’s in?’

She looked down at the filthy, singed, torn dress and laughed.

‘We might have to get Sephy to work a little bit of magic on it before we do.’

Lenny’s voice called out. ‘Get a move on, I’m injured and need medical assistance.’

They looked at each other and smiled again, then ran to help Lenny into the rear of the van.

‘Why the hell have you got a dead crow on the seat?’ Lenny asked when Dora opened the door.

‘I thought it was Hades.’

At the mention of his name, he appeared in the sky, soaring above their heads and circling.

‘Well, I can assure you it isn’t, he’s alive and well. It must be one that went rogue, and Corwin thought it was our beloved bird.’

Sephy gently took hold of the crow and carried it to the cemetery where she bent down and dug at the earth with her fingers. She placed it in the shallow grave and said a prayer while they watched. Dora still felt sad that it had died at Corwin’s hands, but she was grateful it hadn’t been Hades. Tired, aching and looking as if they hadn’t had hot baths in a year, all three English women got into the van. Even Ambrose, who hated cars, climbed in and sat next to Dora. He clasped his fingers around hers and she smiled at him. Maybe now they could get to live their lives as they should, together. Maybe there would even be kids somewhere in the near future. Dora had never thought about that before, but someone had to carry the English line on, and she would love to share all of this history with a little girl of her own one day.

Lenny let out a sigh.

‘This lifetime was the hardest. Can we make a pact or something not to let it get to this stage ever again? You know, a pinkie promise or something would do. I don’t want to go through this next time around.’

Sephy nodded. ‘Let’s get you and Dora cleaned up, make those cocktails and then we’ll stand around the fire naked in the back garden and make a pinkie promise under the moonlight while chanting to the goddess.’

Dora stared at her aunts, horrified. She wasn’t doing that for anyone.

Both Sephy and Lenny turned around to look at her with huge grins on their faces. ‘Gotcha.’

And then they all began to laugh, Dora a little slower than her aunts who she had decided were crazy, wonderful, magical, but above all the most beautiful human beings she had ever met, and she was never going to let them go ever again.