Chapter 57
FIFTY-SEVEN
Dora felt sad that Morana had left without telling them, but she understood that everything Sephy had told her was a lot to take in.
She didn’t blame her for wanting to clear her head, she just hoped that she was okay and in time would come to realise that they were all here to help her.
Half-sister or not, Dora felt a love for the woman so deep and a bond that she knew would be unbreakable now she had found her.
Then she felt a horrible, sharp stabbing pain in her back that knocked her sick and she let out a small shout.
‘What’s the matter, dear?’ Sephy asked, running to her side.
‘Something is wrong with Morana, I can feel it. Something bad has happened to her.’
Dora closed her eyes as a picture of a beautiful black mansion with seven gables appeared in her mind. ‘She’s in trouble down by the House of the Seven Gables, we have to help her.’
Lenny grabbed the van keys from the dish on the side and all three of them ran out, not bothering to lock the door behind them. They clambered inside.
As Lenny reached Derby Street that led to where they needed to be, Dora pointed to the black clouds looming above the area. Brilliant flashes of bright red shot up into the darkness and Sephy whispered, ‘Oh my, this is bad. We shouldn’t have let her sneak out on her own.’
‘What the hell has she done?’ Lenny’s voice was filled with fury.
‘It’s not her, it’s Clara,’ said Dora.
‘I knew that old bat was up to no good.’
Abandoning the van in the car park where a group of tourists were staring at the clouds and flashes of red from outside of Ye Olde Pepper Company across the street, Lenny shouted to them, ‘Private party, pyrotechnics.’
Dora took off running. The buildings were in darkness, but the gardens would be accessible, maybe, if she clambered over.
Unsure whether her aunts were up to that, she didn’t wait for them.
She heard Hades cawing. She jumped the turnstile and ran to the gate, and squeezing through it she ran towards the noise then stopped in her tracks when she saw Morana on the floor, blood seeping all around her.
Clara was battling with Hades. She swiped at him with the dagger she was holding, and the bird fell to the floor with a thud.
‘Hades!’ Dora screamed and ran towards him.
Clara looked like a woman possessed. She aimed her finger at Dora and pointed, and a stream of red energy flew towards her, but Dora stood still, held up the palm of her hand and deflected it back towards Clara.
It caught Clara off guard and Dora zapped her with so much force it took her off her feet for the second time.
‘Thou should not do evil under the guise of being a good witch, Clara,’ Dora said, striding towards the woman.
She saw Hades, his feathers a mess on the floor.
He looked broken. He was staring at her and she bent down, tears falling down her face.
‘Hades, you’re hurt.’
‘Do not cry for me, sweet child, I will be okay.’ But the voice Dora heard wasn’t coming from the body of the bird.
Stunned, Dora stared up only to see a pure white light, and a body leaning over him. It was the ghost of a tall, handsome man, dressed in a red shirt and breeches.
He smiled at Dora. ‘John Hadden at your service,’ he said. ‘You look just like Lucine, only even more beautiful.’
Morana was losing consciousness and her eyelids flickered towards the vision standing in front of her.
‘But…?’
‘It’s a long story, my soul has been your watcher for all of eternity, and I am glad that you and Morana have figured out that you’re sisters.
I’ve been watching her too. She is the darkness to your light, but you need each other and now that you’re in each other’s lives, I need you to promise to never let go.
Be there for each other and love one another like you were always meant to. ’
Tears flowed down Dora’s cheek and she went to hug her father, her arms passing through him, but she felt an icy chill as he hugged her back, wrapping his arms around the best he could. He looked every bit as handsome as her aunts had described.
He had never left her, never left her mom, and she cried freely now.
‘Lucine thought you left her, did she know?’
‘Eventually she figured out that I did not leave through choice. My soul was taken in by Hades who kept it alive. He is a clever bird with a heart even bigger than yours, Isadora.’
Dora had scooped the broken bird’s body into her arms and was cradling him to her heart. ‘What happens now?’
‘Now, I go back to doing what I always have. To be your watcher is better than an eternity without you both. I want you and your sister to be united and strong now that you have each other. Promise you will never let each other go.’
‘Do you not want to be free and go to the light?’
He threw back his head. ‘I am as free as the bird who is my soul. If I leave him now, he will die. If you can help me to get back inside of him, he will live and I feel that his survival is what we both want.’
Clara, who had been scrabbling around on her hands and knees, got to her feet and was about to pick up The Book of Black Magic.
‘Get your wicked hands off that book, Clara, or I will break each finger and feed them to the gulls.’ Lenny’s voice was calm, but Dora could sense the fury lacing every word.
Lenny sent a wave of pure white light in Clara’s direction that wrapped around her like a cloak, and she could not move an inch.
‘And I will help her, I swear to the Goddess Hecate. Clara, what have you done to Morana and Hades?’
Sephy rushed towards Morana, who was barely conscious, and began to place her hands over the wound on her back, sending warm, pulsing light towards it filled with healing and love.
‘Lenny, you have to help Hades,’ Dora sobbed.
Lenny turned to her. ‘I can’t, I don’t heal like Sephy does, but you can.’
‘I don’t know how to.’
‘Yes, you do. Think Dora, remember all that good harnessed inside of you, all of your power.’
Dora looked at Aunt Sephy and copied her as she imagined a warm, white light pulsing out of her fingers and the palms of her hands just like Sephy’s, and she bathed the bird in it, until he was cocooned in the warmth.
She could feel his broken body begin to fix itself under the heat of her love and guidance, until he let out a loud caw, then croaked, ‘Thank you, Dora.’ He shook his feathers and she gently placed him on the ground.
John Hadden was smiling at Hades.
‘Well, my old friend, time to get acquainted again, what do you say?’
Hades flew in the air and the white light containing her father began to dim, getting smaller and smaller until it merged into one with the bird.
Dora bowed her head, tears flowing down her cheeks with relief, but also sadness for the time Lucine had led believing he had left her when the whole time he had never left her side.
‘Am I dying, or have I already died?’ Morana’s voice sounded raspy.
‘You were, but I managed to fix you in the nick of time. It’s a good job I managed to climb that turnstile without breaking my neck or you’d be in big trouble,’ Sephy whispered. She was holding her hand.
‘Who was that man? The ghost in Hades?’
‘That, my dear, was your father.’
Morana was overwhelmed. She had finally felt the presence of one of her parents and somehow it was like a piece of her had been healed.
‘What about her?’ She pointed to Clara whose face was contorted in rage.
‘I wouldn’t worry too much about her. The thing is, after that little outburst of energy her magic depleted itself.
The spell book has a failsafe kind of magic about it.
Her name wasn’t written inside of it, and therefore she wasn’t the rightful owner and she didn’t even know the spells were not complete.
They would never have worked for her the way they would for you and Dora because only a descendant of Lucine or John could complete them.
Now, she can’t even stir her morning tea using magic because she broke the rules set by the very council she presides over. ’
‘Yes, she did. Ladies, I am sorry it took us so long to get here when you called. It’s tourist season and Essex Street is still busy. You know what it’s like trying to get through those crowds.’
Arnie was grinning at them, and Pennywise was standing behind him looking every bit as terrifying as the real deal.
‘We’ll take her from here, of course, unless you want to press charges for trying to kill you, then it will be the cops.’
Morana shook her head. ‘How do we explain this without sounding like lunatics?’
‘We can’t, but it’s your choice.’ Lenny was smiling at her.
‘No cops, let them deal with her,’ Morana said.
Lenny released Clara, the light dissipated and Clara fell to her knees. It was Dora who spoke. ‘You messed with the wrong family.’
Arnie took hold of one arm, Pennywise the other. ‘She certainly did. I’ll be in touch, ladies, to sort out her replacement.’
Lenny rolled her eyes. ‘Don’t bother, we’re not interested.’
Sephy smiled at him. ‘Take no notice of her, she’s always grouchy after a bit too much spell work.’
They watched as Clara was led away. Morana was sitting on a turquoise cast-iron chair. Her face ashen in the light of the moon, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief at the whole situation. Her voice sounded scratchy and barely above a whisper as she asked, ‘Now what happens?’
‘That depends on you,’ answered Sephy. ‘What do you want, Morana? It’s your choice.’
‘To learn to be a better witch and be a part of your family. It would mean the world to me, if you’ll still have me. I know I messed up big time and I’m sorry for all of this.’
‘Excellent, that was a very good answer. You haven’t messed up, you were put into a difficult situation that was not entirely of your own doing, and you have stepped up and handled it as well as could be expected.
We would love to have you as part of our family, dear.
You will be a most welcome member of the English Coven. ’
Hades was circling the air, cawing with delight this time.
‘Come on, let’s go home. I think this calls for some black magic.’ Lenny mimed lifting a glass to her lips, and Morana laughed.
‘Oh, God, yes please. Can I have double because I almost died?’
‘Don’t be dramatic, dear, you sound just like your aunt Lenny. It was just a nick.’
Sephy laughed.
As they got to the turnstile, Lenny sighed. ‘I’m too old for this, my climbing days are well over.’
‘Then it’s a good job you only have to walk through it.’ Dora laughed. ‘It’s the way out, it turns that way.’
‘Thank goodness for that.’ Sephy laughed.
They walked to the van. The crowd of tourists had lost interest and gone, leaving the sidewalk empty. Lenny, Sephy and Dora squeezed into the front, letting Morana and Hades sit in the back. Once the doors were shut Sephy winked at Dora then Lenny before turning around to smile at Morana.
‘Well, there is only one way to end this evening now that you are an English woman by association.’
Lenny nodded. ‘Oh, yes. We must end this most challenging night with the new witch ritual, mustn’t we, Dora?’
‘Yes, I suppose we must,’ Dora replied.
‘What ritual?’ asked Morana.
All three of them answered. ‘By dancing naked under the light of the crescent moon.’
Morana shook her head. ‘No way, I’m not doing that even if you did save my life.’
All three of them laughed and turned to Morana smiling.
‘Gotcha.’
Morana groaned but found herself laughing with them. They were insane, beautiful and the most incredible women she had ever met, but for the first time in her life she felt hope of a brighter future, and she was excited to become an English witch, even if it was by association.