Page 27 of Heart of the Wren (Haunted Hearts: Season of the Witch #2)

DARA

“DO YOU do this for all your lodgers?”

In the weak morning light, we lay on Lorcan’s bed and he rubbed my bare foot. “I like your stubby little toes.”

“They match my stubby little fingers.” I wiggled all my digits. I’d kept my silver rings on. In fact, I never took them off, if I could help it. “I'm glad I cut my toenails. If I’d known you liked feet so much I'd have suggested this sooner. It’s really very nice.”

His thumbs kneaded the sole of my right foot. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. Give a sexy man a foot rub. I suppose it’s a bit silly.”

“It’s not silly at all. We all have our…oh. Oh, Jaysus, yes. Keep rubbing there.”

When he finished, he lay with his head on my broad chest, one hand idly cuddling my belly. Outside, voices shouted and chattered, boots heavy on the ground.

“Shouldn’t we get up?” I asked.

“We’re allowed a lie-in for once.” He slipped his hands under the blankets and fondled my willy. “Michael and Eddie know what they’re doing.”

I kissed the top of his head.

“Are you cold?” He pulled the blankets up higher.

“No, I’m fine. This isn’t cold. I’ve been cold.

There was this one day, I was standing at a bus stop and I was shivering, and I thought “ I'm so cold, I can't believe I'm not dead ” and then — and I know how this sounds — and then the sun was on the other side of the sky, and the clouds opened, and the horned god Cerne lowered a cloak of golden sunshine on my shoulders, and I instantly felt warmer. I thanked him and the sun snapped back to its proper place and the clouds covered over again. I can still feel the cloak on me. It's always there, even though you can’t see it.”

“Is that what Carol meant at the school? She could see the cloak with her ESP, or whatever it is?”

“I think so, yeah. She has some natural psychic talents. I suppose Extra Sensory Perception is as good a name as any for it. It’s a part of magic. ”

“Do you have to be born with it? Magic?”

“Oh, no. She has a natural affinity — a gift, if you like — but anyone can learn. All it takes is an open mind and dedication.”

He snorted. “Good luck finding open minds around here. How did you become a witch, then?”

I rubbed my nose. “After my dad kicked me out, I didn’t have anywhere to go so I started walking.

I walked, and I walked, and I cried, and I shouted, and I yelled out at the injustice of it all.

Have you ever been so upset that you sort of lose your mind for a while?

You don’t think the way you usually think, you don’t feel the way you usually feel.

It’s almost like an out of body experience?

I was lying in a grassy field one night, tears flowing.

Just a scared, hungry teenager with nothing but the clothes on his back, and then the moon walked down out of the sky to comfort me and set me on my magical path. ”

“The moon?” he asked.

“The actual moon. Right out of the sky.” I walked two fingers along his arm.

“She told me there was a way to connect to another side of life. The energy of the earth, of the celestial bodies, of everything. I told her what had happened to me and she said she knew. She’d been watching me.

She taught me all about her three aspects — maiden, mother, and crone. She’s all three in one.”

“So weird,” he said.

“Is it any weirder than one God being the father, the son, and the holy spirit? The triple goddess repeats throughout the world’s mythology.

The Fates and Hecate of ancient Greece, the Norns of Norse mythology, the Morrígan of Irish myth…

She told me what each of her aspects represented and how to tap into her power.

And she gave me my new name, there and then. ”

“What new name?”

“ Crann darach ,” I said.

“It’s Irish for oak tree, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “Dara, for short. I never used my old name again. I never needed to. I tapped into something that night. And that one experience led to the next and to the next. Meditation became second nature, and when meditating, I communed with all sorts of spirits who guided me to food, and water, and shelter. They showed me how to cast a protective circle, how to stir the primal powers of the earth, how to commune with ancient gods. I gave myself over to them and they taught me how to survive.” I showed him my inner forearm.

“They taught me some ancient symbols and how to craft my own. I chose to have some of the more potent ones tattooed on myself. They act like a shortcut to the magic for me. I’ve met some other witches who taught me their ways but mostly I stick with my own tried and tested techniques.

I tried being in a coven once or twice but I didn’t fit. ”

“You know I’m picturing you and a bunch of other burly naked men in pointy hats dancing around a cauldron?”

“You’re not as far off as I’d like,” I said. “One of them did have a cauldron. I think they’d learned magic from watching Looney Tunes .”

He laughed and touched me again. “What’s it like? Being a witch?”

I couldn’t recall the last time anyone had asked me. “It's about being connected to another side of life. Feeling the love of it. Feeling… seen by it. Acknowledged.”

“It sounds better than being overlooked.”

I hugged him more tightly. “I didn’t know you felt that way.”

Lorcan moved and lay on his pillow. “I’m stuck up here on this hill, away from everyone. Ignored. Life is passing me by.”

“You have Bullseye. And Carol… she treats you like an uncle.”

“I’m not, though. I’m only her dad’s friend.”

“Is there anyone in the village you fancy?”

He made a face. “Only Pat Lynch, but I couldn’t imagine living with him.”

“Who do you imagine living with? When you’re lying here at night and you’ve got one hand on your mickey and you’re tugging away, who do you think about? And don’t say me.” I chuckled and rolled onto my side so we were face to face.

“Do you know the RTE presenter, Derek Davis?”

“Oh yes,” I said. “The stout, blonde fella from the north?”

“You remind me of him. Around the eyes. You smile a bit like him too. What about you?”

“I’ve always been partial to Ronan Collins. The DJ?”

“Yer man with the ronnie?” Lorcan put a finger under his nose to suggest a moustache. “Yeah, he’s a handsome big man, alright.”

“I like listening to him on the radio when I’m driving,” I said. “I was talking to Pat at the hurling match and he asked what you’d be doing for Christmas? ”

Lorcan mooched around in bed, adjusting the sheet. “Bullseye invited me to his house for Christmas dinner. They invite me every year but I don’t go.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“He only asks out of politeness. Christmas is a time for family. They don’t want some… They don’t need me cluttering up the house.”

I lay my hand on his chest and ran my fingers through the hair. “I’m sure he wouldn’t ask you if he didn’t want you there.”

“It doesn’t matter this year, anyway. I couldn’t go and leave you and Carol alone.”

“You don’t think she and her dad will make up before then?” He rubbed his nose. “I doubt it. They’re both too stubborn. Anyway.” He kissed me hard and loudly, with a purposeful mmwah . “I‘d better get up and washed.”

He slid out of bed and gathered up his clothes for the day.

“You’ve a fine arse on you, Lorcan Fitzgerald.” I tilted my head to get a better view of his hairy rear end.

Lorcan gave it a wiggle and laughed on his way out of the room.

???

While Lorcan bathed, I rolled away the rug from the end of the bed.

I took a stick of chalk from my backpack and drew a large circle on the floor of the bedroom.

Inside of this I drew five straight lines, forming a star.

When I was happy with my work, I sat naked in the centre of the pentacle.

I closed my eyes, calmed my mind, and prepared myself .

“Earth from the north, air from the east, fire from the south, water from the west — I call to you.” I took a deep breath as my body shed what little stress remained and my muscles relaxed.

“I wish to commune with the power of this land. With the force disturbed.” A fizzing sensation travelled from the base of my spine to the top of my head.

I was close. “Show me what I can do. Show me how to make amends. Show me the path.”

I found myself in the top field of Twin Bridge Farm, standing beneath the holly tree which stretched so tall it touched the clouds.

The grass was soft beneath my bare feet and the wind warm on my naked skin.

I walked, and where I walked flowers bloomed.

The clouds overhead whizzed past with unnatural speed. I breathed deeply.

The hill on which I stood began to shake.

I stooped over, bracing myself. It shook again, more violently, knocking me to the ground.

The clouds moved faster and faster. A small brown bird landed on the holly tree, hopping from branch to branch.

Where it hopped, spiny leaves fell, and blood red berries whirled through the air as the wind started to howl.

A terrible ringing filled my ears. I clamped my hands over them, trying to drown it out but the ringing grew louder and louder. I opened my eyes. I was in Lorcan’s room, sitting on the floor, exactly as I had been. Downstairs, the phone was ringing.

Uncertain if Carol had returned, I put on my boxer shorts and hurried down to the hall. I lifted the receiver only to be met with static. Still, I asked if anyone was there.

A muffled young voice whispered to me: “ The wren, the wren. ” And the line went dead.