The Time Witch - Part 14

Recap: The oldest gossips in town—Champ & Bear—told Evangeline & Danna about the Founding Families’s Wedding Pact, and that they ran one man out of town—Adas Abernathy, the apothecary. And then Evangeline got a text message signed with the symbol of a witch’s hat.

Short on time? Scan the story and just read the Bold parts to get the gist of the story. Then come back later and read the whole thing!

LINKS: The Beginning, Last Part (#13), Time Witch page

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Founder’s Square. Midnight. Alone.

Thanks to the cryptic text message, Evangeline stood in the middle of Founder’s Square at midnight, waiting near the gazebo. The groomed expanse of turf, a couple of football fields wide, filled the quad formed by quaint shops and the library. She could see them all from her vantage point if she pivoted around.

Evangeline’s thoughts, however, weren’t focused on the square but on banishing her fatigue. She’d spent the afternoon and early evening convincing Danna that she needed to come alone. Still, her newest friend had insisted on waiting at the library. Its lights shone from across the quad.

They’d gone over all the pros and cons of meeting with the coven, but Evangeline ignored the cons since it was what she wanted. Plus, Danna was confident they’d just like to talk. It wasn’t like they’d do anything to harm her. The coven members were part of the community, too, and wanted to blend in, not stand out by committing a crime. Still, Danna felt there was safety in numbers. Or, at least, power.

As Evangeline stood at the bottom of the gazebo steps, trying to take comfort in its classic white lines, she had to agree she didn’t feel powerful. She felt exposed.

Breathing in the night air, Evangeline tried to distinguish the different scents. A bit of fresh-cut grass and a hint of magnolia, she decided. Remnants of a lovely day, not that she’d enjoyed it. Lots of fun summer activities were going on in Baxter Creek. Evangeline had seen a poster that several local bands would play at the square on weekends. Residents were invited to bring a blanket and a picnic basket and enjoy the free concert.

Evangeline doubted that she could attend, but she imagined the crowd gathering. Meeting more of her neighbors and getting them excited about the library’s renovations would have been a great opportunity.

Next time, she thought. With a little laugh, she tried to imagine a time when her life would return to normal, and she could enjoy a free concert in Founder’s Square. 

Thunder sounded overhead.

Evangeline looked up, frowning. She put out a hand. The weather report had been clear, and she didn’t recall seeing a cloud in the sky all day. In defiance, a sudden breeze rattled the trees.

Having second thoughts, Evangeline considered leaving or taking shelter under the gazebo. A shower could blow over, but she’d get drenched running back to the library if it kicked up into a big storm. Maybe if she waited, Danna would come out with an umbrella to save her.

With a squint toward the dark, cloudless sky, Evangeline found it hard to believe a severe storm brewed above. Stars twinkled overhead, and she saw none of the usual warning signs. She didn’t want to bail on such an important meeting.

Is this really my life now? Evangeline asked herself. Am I really meeting a witch in the middle of the night? A complete stranger, intentions unknown. What seemed wise and logical had certainly changed in the last 72 hours.

Thunder sounded again, causing a chill to rush through Evangeline. She closed her eyes and willed the storm to avoid her; however, the hush of rain showered all around—but oddly, none of the raindrops touched her body. She opened her eyes, noticing the downpour, confused.

The rain soaked the nearby grass, but it stayed two feet away from her. Everywhere else, rain hit the ground. It just stopped short of where she stood. In fact, the storm seemed to be dumping across the whole town—except on Evangeline. The pitter-patter sounded on the gazebo roof, but only half of it. One side was within Evangeline’s no-rain zone. That part of the structure and the ground around her remained completely dry. 

The rain created a wall of water between Evangeline and everything else. It muted her view, like a gauzy curtain shutting her off from the rest of the world. Insulated. Trapped. 

“What’s going on?” Evangeline said to no one but felt she wasn’t alone. She froze. 

From within the rainy downpour, a figure approached. “Hey!” she shouted at the human shape. It did not acknowledge her and kept walking forward, getting closer and closer. The shape shifted, getting easier to see—a woman.

Evangeline braced herself. Here we go. She suddenly felt utterly defenseless. What could she do to someone who controlled the weather?

“Samuel?” Evangeline whispered. “Are you here?”

No reply again. Typical.

The rain parted before she could call for him again, allowing a slender woman into the dry zone. She moved like a dancer, remaining perfectly dry despite walking through the rain. The droplets had not touched her, either. She hadn’t even prepared for bad weather. She wore a pink sundress with floppy sandals. Her long red hair was tucked behind each ear to expose crystal earrings. The aqua color twinkled with an inner light.

Evangeline blinked, not sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her.

The woman, dressed part flower child and part Earth Mother, cocked her head to one side, greeting Evangeline with a smirk. “I’m Nixie,” she said softly. “Are you the one that requested a meeting with the coven?”

Evangeline let out her breath, relieved. “Not formally,” she answered, “but I wanted to meet you.”

Bowing her head with a sly glance to her side, Evangeline noticed they were not alone. Keeping their distance in the rain zone, four more human shapes appeared. They took up compass points—north, south, east, west—around the dry space.

“Or some of you,” Evangeline corrected, assuming the coven had not let Nixie come alone. “But how did you know I wanted to talk?”

Nixie bit her lip. “We have our ways.”

Hummingbirds or a variety of forest animals doing your bidding? Evangeline kept the question to herself. “What’s with the rain?”

“Privacy,” Nixie said. She smiled at the hazy rain that isolated them from the world.

Evangeline immediately saw a flaw. “But a bunch of women standing out in a downpour won’t cause suspicion?”

“No one can see us.”

Evangeline assumed she meant all the witches, deciding to keep her attention focused on the one checking her out. She had more questions but didn’t want to get off topic. Wondering where to start—how to start? She didn’t want to step on any toes, as Danna had warned. She waited for the witch to say something.

The woman appeared to be in her late twenties—maybe older—early thirties? She seemed a bit ageless. She was in no hurry to chitchat as she slowly walked around Evangeline, checking her out. Her methodical inspection was like an archeologist trying to determine what fossil she’d uncovered.

“Just Nixie?” Evangeline tried to break the silence with an easy question. “Do you have a last name?”

“St. Clair.”

“Well, Miss Nixie St. Clair, can we drop this dramatic weather display and discuss what you want? You can even invite your friends to join us.” Evangeline tried for a smile, but it felt lopsided. “After all, you summoned me here in the middle of the night. I’d have picked a coffee shop.”

“Oh my,” Nixie said, “you are bold.”

“Sorry. It’s been a strange day, and I’ve got a bit of a time issue,” Evangeline tried to explain.

“I’ll say you do!” Nixie laughed.

Evangeline missed the joke.

“You’ve been practicing magic without approval.” Nixie shook her head like it was a punishable offense. “It’s rather rude since you’re new to town. We expected a formal request.”

A bit confused, Evangeline raised her hands, opening her palms upward. She hoped the gesture would show how clueless she was about the accusation. Do I have to spell it out?

“Spell what out?” Nixie asked.

Evangeline gasped. “Did you just read my mind?”

Nixie made a slight curtsey, eyes rolling skyward. “Standing this close, it’s hard not to hear a few of your thoughts.”

Evangeline didn’t move, but she wanted to grab her ears to stop the flow of information as if that would help. “Can you read me like a book? Like anything I know?”

It was Nixie’s turn to be surprised. She puffed air out of her mouth. “I haven’t met anyone that can do that,” she scoffed. “I can just catch bits and pieces. Scraps. The last thing someone thinks before it vanishes. Thoughts disappear quickly, but you should practice protecting yourself from such a causal probe. It’s like you’ve never been trained.”

“Trained?” Evangeline’s voice cracked. There’s witch training?

Surrounded by rain and its spectacular display of magic, Evangeline felt the scope of what she was up against. Being trained to understand what was happening would have been a luxury. But training won’t help, Evangeline realized. She was so far behind she couldn’t even dream of catching up. 

Nixie stepped back, giving Evangeline the impression that distance made mind reading harder. “Oh my, your thoughts are a jumble. Hard to catch on to just one. Is that how you were trained? Confuse with a torrent of thoughts?”

“I wasn’t. That is… I’m not a witch,” Evangeline whispered. “Yesterday, I would have joked that a witch isn’t even my favorite Halloween costume, but today, I’ve seen some stuff.” 

Evangeline’s eyes smarted, feeling on the verge of tears. The sting made her blink. The last thing she wanted to do was get emotional in front of a stranger. In fact, she hated how crying translated to weakness, and it never made her feel better, even if it did release some tension. She clenched her fists, willing any sign of tears away.

Nixie’s eyes never left Evangeline’s face. She scrutinized it, and Evangeline sensed she was searching for deceit, appearing a little perplexed at finding none. Did I just read her mind?

“No training.” Nixie clucked her tongue.

“I really don’t know how I broke your rules,” Evangeline admitted. 

Nixie nodded as if understanding. “I believe you, and I want to help.”

Relief flooded Evangeline’s very soul. She wants to help! Which means the coven wants to help! For the first time, a glimmer of hope showed through the darkness.

Nixie held out her right hand, palm down, like a magician about to do a card trick. She turned the palm upward to reveal a silver bracelet. She held it out. A gift. Intricately etched with symbols, it hinged at a center point to easily put on. 

Without explaining, Nixie took two quick steps forward and snapped the bracelet onto Evangeline’s bare wrist. The action disrupted the air. It made their ears pop, like driving in a car on the freeway and someone opens a window. The pressure change pushed out between them, and they stepped farther apart.

“What have you done?” Evangeline asked. She held up her hand to study the bracelet. It emitted a yellow-green glow—a sickly color that pulsed around her wrist.

Nixie gave her a sad little smile. It drooped the corners of her lips, expressing no joy. “You’ve disrupted time. We can’t allow that.”

Not allow? Evangeline thought, panicking. The witches in the rain began to chant. That can’t be good.

“With no training, you’re a danger to us and yourself,” Nixie said.

“But I haven’t done anything!” Evangeline cried. “Why don’t you understand?”

“You were very convincing when you said you’re not a witch, yet you are using magic right now,” Nixie accused, pointing at the sky above them.

Evangeline made a face. “I’m not making it rain.”

“I know,” Nixie said. “I am. And you should be soaking wet, but you are completely dry.”

The rain continued to make a soft hush around them, but none of the precipitation touched the women. A canopy of magic fizzled the drops into vapor. 

“You are stopping the rain from touching you,” Nixie said. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

Looking up, Evangeline blinked. “How am I stopping the rain? Do I have an invisible umbrella or something?”

Nixie’s eyes squinted. “Give up the charade. You are exposed.”

“I thought you could read minds!” Evangeline shouted. She pointed to her head.

“Amazingly, as soon as I told you that I could read minds,” Nixie slowly stretched out the words, “a wall came up. You only gave me a peek, but now you’re blocking me.”

Evangeline groaned. Reasoning with no reason sapped all her energy. “I’m not blocking you, and I’m not stopping the rain! I wouldn’t know how to do either!”

With a flick of her right index finger, Nixie hummed a tune, and the rain stopped. The last drops settled into the grass with a gentle sigh. Silence followed as if nature awaited the next bit of witchcraft. The coven members circling them all took a step forward simultaneously. They paused a second, then took another step in unison.

A shiver ran through Evangeline.

Even without the rain, the women were isolated from the rest of the town. The quad’s green space acted like a buffer zone. Someone out for a walk would be seen long before they got close enough to witness the intrigue unfolding next to the gazebo.

“Believe me, Evangeline,” Nixie said, “you are controlling time, and if you are doing it naturally—without conscious thought—you’re even more dangerous than we initially thought.”

Evangeline couldn’t even comprehend the witch’s damning words. The accusation went beyond reality, at least her reality. Any defense failed her. How can I be doing magic without even knowing it? Even before I knew magic existed?

But Nixie didn’t want an explanation. With lightning-fast speed, she conjured a second bracelet and moved to clamp it over Evangeline’s other wrist. The action was almost too fast to see—just a blur of movement. 

“Nooooo—” Evangeline screamed, sensing the attack almost too late.

Everything around them froze. The wind, the air… and Nixie. The witch was suspended, one foot off the ground and leaning forward, eyes intent on her goal—putting the second bracelet around Evangeline’s other wrist.

She wasn’t the only thing frozen. The other coven members were caught mid-motion, lurching forward, stalled in an attempt to get to Evangeline. Not even a bird’s chirp, mosquito buzz, or a bit of breeze interrupted the captured moment. Just dead air. It had a density to it, growing stale with every nano-second.

Evangeline glanced at her wrist to see the second bracelet. It was open at the hinge, and given another micro-moment, Nixie would snap it into place around her wrist. 

With a sharp cry, Evangeline pulled her arm away from the bracelet’s grasp—and ran!

The Time Witch episodes drop every Tuesday!