Chapter 20 Bourbon and Curses #2
Flashlights, a full picnic basket, and jars of moonlight were grabbed as they made their way through the backyard and the woods to the Lost Souls graveyard.
The moon was starting to relight herself. Only a sliver of her was visible, but the black velvet sky was clear and the stars made themselves a little brighter as the six women stood under their watch and raised crystal tumblers into the air.
Crystal lit a fat black candle before tipping it to light Tilly's, who then tipped hers to light Kelsea's and on it went until the circle held six women with six burning candles and six almost-empty crystal glasses.
"We ask for protection. Surround this land, surround these women. From the earth we pull your goodness and your riches offered to us without pause. And we give back to the earth our goodness."
"Is this a real spell?" Eloise whispered to Jen who shrugged as she held out her glass to Kelsea who walked around with the blackberry syrup in one hand and the bourbon in the other, refilling glasses.
"Crystal could probably bring someone back from the dead," Jen whispered.
Eloise's eyebrows raised as she nodded her head in agreement. In her pocket she carried the items Crystal had charmed for her weeks ago.
A black willow leaf and a coin squatted in her pocket or her leather tote as personal sentries.
When she'd gone to Crystal secretly, the wise woman asked for the objects without pause, wrapping her steady hands around Eloise's and a moment later, they were heavier and smelled like crisp winter and her dad's cologne.
They all sat on the ground and passed around the bowl of bourbon-soaked blackberries as they talked and laughed.
"So, what happens now?" Eloise asked and the women all smiled, happily, imbibed and loose.
"No idea. We never followed any kind of ritual before."
"Yeah, we mostly did it as a joke," Kelsea said then pointed to Jen laughing. "Joke's on this one because she still can't say the word 'cat'."
Laughter spilled out of mouths full of blackberries and lemon drop pie. The air around them was sticky with its sweetness and Eloise breathed it in deeply.
"Hey, it has become quite a fun game to come up with creative names for the creatures. Furry little death-evaders."
"House raccoon!" Tilly said in a high-pitched voice. "Oh, prozac dog! That's my favorite."
Ursula and Eloise looked at each other and at the same time shouted, "Apathetic murder puffs!"
"Ohmygosh this pie is amazing. Is this a pretzel crust?"
"Pretzel, graham cracker and butter with sea salt and honey," Kelsea said nodding in an exaggerated movement giving away her slow, softly inebriated state.
"Oh, I love butter. I think I have an attraction to it, actually," Eloise said licking pie off the silver tines of her fork and looking at it lovingly.
"I think I have an attraction to that new police chief," Tilly said and then covered her mouth with a slap of her hand.
"I think he liked looking at you, sugar," Crystal said in a slow, sly way.
"There's something about him. He brings a certain presence," Ursula added smiling at a fully flushed Tilly.
Crystal's face was thoughtful at Ursula's words, her eyes lost in thoughts she kept inside, but no one noticed as they ribbed their friend and talked about the new chief.
"Ahhh Tilly!" Jen said loudly, pointing at the red-faced woman who had her hand over her mouth lest she let more confessions loose.
Laughter and bursts of chatter were heard around the group, which was less of a circle now, and more of a dilapidated oblong.
"Speaking of boyfriends, can we all talk about the aloof lint-licker in the room?" Jen asked and when everyone gave her a confused look she waved an arm. "Elephant in the room but we're more of an aloof lint-licker community and Sulphur and Georgia joined us."
"I should get a cat!" Eloise said suddenly. "Everyone seems to have adopted a cat."
"No one has adopted a cat, darling. They adopt us," Crystal said with a wink and giggle that was absolutely charming on her.
"Wait, what is the cat in the room?" Ursula asked, suddenly fixated on Jen who looked up with a pursed mouth and alcohol-kissed confusion.
Then she held up a red manicured finger and said, "Ah! Yes. Boyfriends. Speaking of boyfriends among us."
"Ohmygosh are you into men now? Because I will need to call the Chief and correct my earlier statement," Tilly said with drunkenly honest, wide-eyed concern. "There really is something about him, isn't there? I can't put my finger on it," Tilly mused.
"Girl, no. Still have both high-heeled feet firmly in the female camp. Men are gross."
Tilly nodded with a serious look on her sweet face. "That they are. How anyone argues that who you're attracted to is up to you is beyond me. I've had so many terrible experiences dating men, I would not be attracted to them by choice."
Kelsea grabbed onto Eloise as silent laughter took over her body and Eloise wrapped her arms around her. "You smell like blackberries and an ocean tide," Eloise said and squeezed her. Kelsea leaned her drooping head on her shoulder with a lazy smile.
"No, the boyfriend thing," Jen said, snapping her fingers to get all of their tipsy, possibly more than tipsy for most, attention. "Detective Taylor White. He is besotted with our Eloise."
"Oooohh," Tilly said, swinging her gaze to where Eloise sat still clutching Kelsea, who was looking at her with a dopey smile and nodding happily.
"He is not," Eloise said, feeling a pang simultaneously with a zing of magic. She hadn't told anyone about their kiss. It was a buried thing, six feet under. She just hoped she would break the habit of visiting that grave.
"He so is," Tilly argued and then looked to Ursula who was dropping a drunken blackberry into her mouth. "Right, Urs?"
She froze and looked over at Eloise who was glaring but her friend smiled slyly and leaned forward. "I swear that man is beyond besotted with our little mermaid."
Whoops went around the group but Eloise quieted them down and said, "He can't. He's cursed and can't fall in love."
"So?" Jen asked.
"So, he doesn't date because he doesn't want to hurt anyone. I think it's honest and noble."
They all stared at her, then looked at each other before bursting out laughing.
So surprising was their reaction that Eloise looked around the dark graveyard to look for anyone not out of their minds with bourbon.
"Girl, curses were made to be broken." Tilly said pointing to Ursula who nodded emphatically.
"Yeah. The Brawny Man was cursed and then he bumped into me and bam." She clapped her hands together, her drink sloshing over the side and onto her hand which she licked with feline movements. "He said he suddenly felt this calmness around me and I broke it."
"What? How have we not talked about this? How did you break it? Wait," she said holding up a hand. "I am too drunk for this conversation. Let's talk later."
"Do you want to break his curse?" Kelsea asked waggling her blonde eyebrows. There was whipped cream dotting the arch over her right eye like a small moon shining over the starlight of her glassy eyes and Eloise gently wiped it off.
Eloise made a distressed noise and then said, "Yes. But I can't go there right now. Too much going on."
"True," Tilly agreed.
"And he smells like sweet oranges and smoked hickory which makes me feel safe and like I want to curl up with him and rest, and I swear I smelled it in Florida when I knew I needed to come here." The confession made her head feel less full.
"Oh, maybe smell is her witchy thing," Tilly said.
"Witchy thing?"
"Yeah, anyone who lives in The Lost Souls House gets kind of a witchy gift. Although, I get witchy inclinations sometimes," Tilly explained. "But nothing like Ursula's gift with plants."
"What do I smell like?" Jen asked.
"Fresh hay and sweet cinnamon apples," she replied easily.
Her mouth dropped open. "I love the smell of hay. Grew up with horses. And my best childhood memories are hayrides while drinking spiced apple cider. Wild," she said.
"Oh, do me!" Tilly said jumping a little.
Eloise tilted her head and closed her eyes. "A hardware store and sugar and yeast."
Tilly had a similar reaction to Jen as her eyes widened behind her red cateye glasses.
"My dad used to take me to the hardware store when he would work on projects and he'd always get me a vanilla glazed doughnut.
It was the only time I felt I could breathe with someone in my family.
" Tilly's eyes had gone hazy with memories; rides in her dad's truck, both silent as they listened to an old radio station.
She followed him around the hardware store quietly until she was rewarded with a doughnut dipped in vanilla glaze and more quiet with her father.
"Holy crap, our little mermaid is also a little witch!"
"Shhh," Kelsea said looking around. "Remember there is a hunt for witches right now."
"Oh, should we hex Carol Weatherby?" Jen asked.
"We cannot hex Carol," Ursula and Kelsea said together.
Jen shrugged and tipped back the rest of what was in her glass.
"I love this. I love all of this," Eloise said as she leaned into Kelsea who started playing with her hair.
"Are we a coven yet?" Tilly asked, looking at Crystal.
They all looked at Crystal who twisted her white hair up into a clip. "Why do you all look at me with these things?"
"Oh come on," Jen rolled her eyes throwing the blackberry from her drink at Crystal who laughed, unbothered by the dark purple stain left on her top.
"I do know we should get rid of some of this dark energy," she said, delicately sidestepping the question.
"Oh yes!" Tilly said jumping up shakily followed by the other women in various states of wobbliness.
Anyone looking in would see a scene of women trying to balance themselves amongst graves and cats and an outrageously large hound, laughing at the audacity of gravity as they held out arms to link for steadiness.