Кейт Тирнан - Eclipse стр 4.

Did you not close the door? Mary K. persisted. Morgan sighed and tiptoed to the broom closet, taking out a broom and a dustpan. Morgan with a broom, I thought. How appropriate.

No, I closed it. Morgan sounded fed up. I dont know what happened.

Uh-huh. And my mom is Queen Elizabeth, I thought.

Morgan scowled down at the broken dish as if she could reconstruct it with her eyes and make it all rush backward and mend itself, like in the movies. Actually, maybe she could. I didnt know.

I didnt she began, and then her head lifted. Hunter, she said. Wiping her hands on a kitchen towel, she walked out the kitchen door, leaving hamburger sizzling on the stove, a broken butter dish (that she had broken) right there on the floor. A moment later we heard the front door open and shut.

What about Hunter? I said.

Mary K. looked a little uncomfortable as she used a paper towel to pick up the glass-encrusted butter and put it in the trash. Hunters here, I guess.

Did you hear his car? I didnt even know why I was asking. I knew the answer. It was Morgan, Morgan the witch, Morgan and her freaky powers. Shed heard Hunter coming with her superpowerful witchy ears.

Mary K. shrugged and began to sweep up glass. I stood up and turned off the fire under the hamburger, giving the meat a quick stir. Without meaning to, I glanced at the table and was immediately drawn again to the green book. What was it about that book?

3. Morgan

You dont look like a happy camper, I said, crossing my arms over my chest. Id come out without a jacket as soon as Id felt Hunters presence. The thing with the butter dish had totally thrown mewed never figured out why the weird telekinetic stuff happened. I was afraid that it might be a sign from Ciaran, just to let me know he was watching. Im glad youre heresomething weird just happened

I just came from a meeting with the council, Hunter uncharacteristically interrupted me. Kennet flew in yesterday, which is why I couldnt get hold of him. They called me this morning.

What was it about? Did you find out anything about Ciaran?

Yes. Hunter seemed tightly coiled, like a snake, and I felt anger coming off him in heated waves. He strode past my mothers crumpled crocuses and up onto the porch. I did. He reached out to enfold me in his arms. Apparently Ciaran dismantled the watch sigil two weeks ago. He hasnt been seen since.

I pulled back and stared at him. Two weeks ago? I choked out. Oh, Goddess. Oh, no. My father could in fact be hiding under my front porch right now. I went rigid with fear. He could have been watching me for almost two weeks now. Goddess, I whispered. And the council didnt share this because...?

He shook his head, looking disgusted. They have no good reason. They said it was on a need to know basis. Why they didnt think you or I needed to know is a complete mystery. I think theyre just embarrassed that hes slipped through their fingers again. Obviously they should have taken him in before now and stripped his powers. But they were hoping he would lead them to other cells of Amyranth. Now hes gone.

The image of Ciaran having his powers stripped was disturbingId seen it happen before, and it was horrifying. But the image of Ciaran coming after me with full powersmaybe being in Widows Vale right nowwas much, much worse.

I cant believe it, I said, feeling anger rise in me like acid. Who the hell do they think they are? I dont need to know my own father is free? When Im the one who put the watch sigil on him?

Hunter nodded grimly. Too right. I dont know what theyre doing. The council was never intended to be able to act with impunity. They seem to have forgotten that, and that they have a responsibility and an obligation to the witches they represent. Not to mention their own fellow council members.

I cant believe it, I said again. Those asses. So we can assume that Ciaran is around here somewhere. I thought about it. I havent picked up on anything, except the vision.

Nor I. But I think we can guess hes coming to at least talk to you, like he said.

What should we do? What are you going to do?

We need to be incredibly vigilant and on guard, he said. Im going to demand that the council take some responsibility for once, take some real action. In the meantime, your house and car are about as protected as I know how.

I closed my eyes. I had liked Eoife, the council witch I knew the best, but I was outraged that they had bungled this so badly and hadnt bothered to tell me. Surely they knew that I would be in danger. What had they been thinking?

The council Hunter began, then stopped abruptly, clearly as upset as I was. Its like theyre falling apart, with certain factions acting without the knowledge or approval of the others. When it was first formed, they had strong witches at the head. Nowadays the whole thing is being run, and badly, by a witch named Cynthia Pratt. She doesnt seem to have a handle on anything.

Great. So now what?

I dont know, he admitted. I have to think about it. But maybe we should try scrying again, see if we can pick up on anything about Ciaran at all. He glanced over my shoulder. Can I come in?

My parents would be home from work soon. I had to finish getting dinner together. I glanced at my watch. I have maybe ten minutes, max, I said. But if my mom or dad comes home early, youll have to get yourself out of here without them seeing.

He nodded, and I opened the front door, almost hitting Alisa, who was on her way out. She shot me a startled glance and clutched her messenger bag tighter to her chest. With a jolt I remembered the broken butter dish and sighed. Given the way Alisa was eyeing me, she thought Id done my Blair Witch act. It was unfortunate that these things often seemed to happen when she was around.

Hi, Alisa, Hunter said absently, stepping aside to let her pass. Hope youre feeling better. Alisa had been hospitalized about a month ago for some kind of flu, but she seemed fine now.

Thanks, Alisa muttered; then she scuttled past us on the porch and went down the stairs. I watched her for a moment; then Hunter and I entered the warmth of my house.

In my room, where the only male creatures allowed were my father and Dagda, Hunter and I sat on my woven grass rug and lit a candle. We surrounded it with protective stones: agate, jade, malachite, moonstone, olivine, a pearl, black tourmaline, a chunk of rock salt, and a pale brown topaz. We linked hands, touched knees, and looked into the candle. I knew we had only minutes, so I concentrated hard and ruthlessly shut out any extraneous thoughts. Ciaran, I thought. Ciaran. Hunters power blended with mine, and we both focused our energy on the candle. The glow of the candle filled my eyes until it seemed that the whole room around me was glowing. Slowly a figure began to emerge, black, from the glow. My heart quickened, and I waited for Ciarans face to become recognizable. But when the glow faded a bit, it revealed revealed instead a woman or a girlher back was to me. She raised one arm and wrote sigils in the air. I didnt recognize them. I got the impression she was working magick, powerful magick, but I didnt know what kind. Who are you? I thought. Why am I seeing you? As if in answer, the girl started turning to face me. But before I saw her features, a great, rolling wave of fire swept toward her. She crumpled underneath it, and the fire swept on. I waited to see the twisted and charred body left behind, but before I could, the image winked out, as if someone had turned off a slide projector.

I sat back, disappointed and confused.

What I saw didnt make sense, Hunter said finally, blowing out the candle.

It didnt to me, either, I said. I didnt see Ciaran at alljust a girl and a fire.

What does it mean? he asked in frustration, and then we heard a gentle tap on the door.

Mom just pulled up, Mary K. said quietly.

Quickly I put the candle away and Hunter slipped back into his jacket. I opened my bedroom door.

Thanks, I told my sister.

She looked at me pointedly. I got dinner together for you. I cleaned up the broken glass. And now Ive told you moms home so your ass wont be in a sling.

Oh, Mary K., I said gratefully. Thank you. I owe you one.

You sure do, she agreed, and I followed her down the stairs.

Be careful, I heard Hunter barely breathe in back of me, and I nodded. Then my mom was in the living room, and I went to the kitchen to finish dinner, and soon after that my dad came home. I never heard Hunter leave, but half an hour later I remembered to glance out the window, and of course his car was gone. It made me feel incredibly alone.

4. Alisa

This is it, I thought, staring at the green book that lay before me on my bed. This is the beginning of my complete and total slide toward hell. Now I am a thief.

I had never stolen anything in my life, yet when I saw that stupid green book of Morgans, I had been taken over by my evil twin. My stupid evil twin. Only the three of us were in their kitchen. If Morgan noticed the book was gone, shed ask Mary K. Mary K. wouldnt know, and by a lightning-swift process of elimination, one name would come up: Alisa Soto. Sticky Fingers Soto. Which is why Id pretty much avoided both of them at school today. But neither of them had acted funny when Id seen them, so maybe Morgan hadnt missed the book yet.

The only thing I had going for me was that Dad was at work, of course, and Hilary must be at her Mama Yoga class since it was Tuesday. Yay. I had no witnesses to my crime.

It was hardno, impossibleto explain. But when I had seen that book fall out of Morgans backpack, it was like it was my book that I had lost a long time ago, and here it was. So I took it back.

Just in case Hilary popped in anytime soon, I locked my bedroom door. I felt strangemaybe some of Morgans weirdness was rubbing off on me. I almost felt like I was dreamingwatching myself do stuff without knowing why.

I ran my fingers over the cloth cover and felt a very faint tingle. I flipped open the cover, and the first thing I saw was a handwritten name. My eyes widenedit was Sarah Curtis, which was my own mothers maiden name! Oh my God, I whispered, not believing what I was seeing. Was this why I had been so drawn to it?

I began to read. It was a diary, a journal, that Sarah started keeping in 1968, when she was fifteen, my age. Flipping through to the back, I saw that the book ended in 1971. I leaned back against my pillows and pulled my grandmothers flowery crocheted afghan over my feet. Ever since Hilary had moved in, our thermostat had been set to Ice Age.

From the very first page I was totally hooked, but the book only got stranger. My jaw dropped by the second page, when I saw that Sarah Curtis lived in Gloucester, Massachusettsjust like my mom. How many Curtises could there be in one Massachusetts town? Maybe a lot. Maybe Curtises had lived there so long the name was really common. But if it wasnt, what did that mean? Could I be sitting here reading my moms diary? It was impossible! I had gotten this book from Morgan! Then a chill went down my spine: Morgan had said this was a witch book. My eyes opened wider, and the back of my neck tightened.

On Saturday will be the annual Blessing of the fleet. Its funny how today people still rely on the old traditions. Mom says the fleet has been blessed every year for over a hundrend years. Of course, its the Catholics who run it and make the big show. But I know that Roiseal always does are part as well.

I stopped for a moment. Ròiseal? The Blessing of the Fleet I had heard abouta lot of fishing communities have it every year, where the priest comes out and sprinkles holy water on the bows of the fishing boats to protect them through the year and give them luck.

Sam and I went down to Filberts today and got some orange soda pop. Mom would kill us if she knew. Mom and her whole food, natural food stuff. She thinks artificial flavours and taste are enough to dull your sense and abilities. I havent noticed any difference.

Whoa, I thought. And I thought Hilary was bad, with her organic toilet paper. I mean, she thought sodas werent good for you, but I didnt think she actually believed they would dull your senses. A glimmer of a memory went through my head, of my mom saying something to me, telling me a story about when she was a little girl. About how funny her mom had been about some stuff. But the memory was too vague to really remembermaybe I was getting mixed up. After all, my mom had died when I was three. This was an amazing coincidence, though. If it was a coincidence, a scared little voice inside me whispered.

I am still trying to talk Mom and Dad into an out-of-state college. I figure I have another three years to work on themwho knows what could happen? They just dont want me mixing with people who arent like uslike if I meet different people, Ill leave and not come back.

I frowned as I remembered Dad telling me about how Moms parents hadnt wanted her to go away to college, either. Oh, Godwhat did this mean? This couldnt just be a coincidence. But how was it possibleGod! As if mesmerized, I turned back to the book for answers.

The lilacs have been blooming for a couple of weeks now. When I go outside, the damp salt of the sea is overlain with their gorgeous, heavy perfume. Moms bushes are covered with bees in ecstasy. Seeing the lilacs in bloom breaks me out of my northeast winter blues every year. I know that warm weather is coming, that summer is almost here, that school will be out soon.