Page 7 of The Witching Hours

She washed off her finger at the kitchen sink tap and went back to grinding. In less than a minute she’d regained that pleasant slightly buzzed feeling she’d had before. Glancing down at the mortar she noticed streaks of red. At first, she didn’t connect that it might be blood because the wound wasn’t big, and it no longer hurt. Bringing her finger to eye level, there was no mistaking the telltale signs. She’d thought the slight bleeding had stopped. It hadn’t.

Grace came breezing into the kitchen just as Brigid was throwing the mixture away.

“What on earth?” Grace asked.

“Got a splinter.” Brigid held her finger up. “It bled into the mix before I noticed.”

“Oh. Well, then. Let’s just start over.”

“Grace?”

“Hmmm?” Grace turned back to see what might be the matter.

“Is this supposed to happen?”

Brigid was standing over the garbage bin watching a thin veil of purple smoke rise from the mix she’d thrown away. She guessed by the way Grace’s eyes popped the answer was no. That was definitelynotsupposed to happen.

Grace grabbed hold of the crystal she wore around her neck and said, “Saints be with us. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Brigid decided to take the bag that held the concoction outside. Whatever was causing the weird purple haze, she didn’t want it in the house. When she returned, she said, “Grace, you’re my older sister. I love you and respect you, but I’m taking Kenny to urgent care.”

“Your call.”

“Will you watch the boys till I get back?”

“Of course.” Grace looked at her watch. “I have to pick up Lana and Laura at two and it’ll take forty-five minutes at that time of day.”

“Gotcha. We’ll be back. If you can’t scrounge lunch in the freezer…”

“We’ll be fine.”

Brigid knew they would. Her sister was resourceful, an absolute magician when it came to making meals out of little to nothing.

The wait at urgent care was a blessing in its brevity, but she had to pay out of pocket for the visit. Steve’s office had made a point of saying their insurance was no longer valid.

She stopped by the pharmacy on the way home to pick up a prescription, relieved to know Kenny would be feeling like himself by dinnertime. She would’ve called Grace to say she’d pick up lunch, but her phone wasn’t working.

On that score, the good news was that bill collectors couldn’t call. The bad news was that she didn’t want the boys to go back to school with no way to be reached. She vowed to make phones and insurance a priority and figure out a solution as soon as Grace was gone.

Grace had made a healthy vegetable soup with tiny little meatballs. It made Brigid feel like a failure as a caregiver. But she tried to lift her own sprits by telling herself it was not a competition and that she could kick Grace’s ass in kickboxing.

By the time Grace left at one, the day had grown colder with a dark overcast.

“Yes, you can stay inside and play video games in the game room,” she told Blake and Judson. “But stay quiet enough that Kenny can sleep. Your brother is still sick.” They didn’t have to be asked twice. They went thundering up the stairs sounding like a herd of elk had just passed. Apparently, they missed the memo about being quiet so Kenny could rest.

She allowed herself a small sigh of self-pity before throwing herself into maintenance. Laundry was calling as was the dishwasher and plans for dinner. She didn’t want to leave the kids to go to the grocery store and hated the idea of paying a delivery fee, but there wasn’t much choice. Having used up the last of the credit left on their household card, she went to the safe to retrieve the untouchable card. The one that was reserved for what they’d do if they were being chased to South America by the mob. Or something similar.

She used it to buy groceries online then caught up phone charges and fees. She called Grace to reassure her sister that communications were restored.

“Hello?”

“Just checking to make sure they got my phone working.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Thanks for all your help this morning. You’re the best.”

“I know. You’re so lucky.”