When we arrived at the November Search and Rescue meeting, Mr. Neils was there with his CPR dummies and his miles of bandaging. “How are my two young ones doing?”
“We’re
fine.”
“Many rescues this year?”
“Only one big one. A helicopter crashed in the woods,” I said.
“I remember hearing about that. How do you like Delta team?”
“A little boring sometimes, but okay,” Penny said.
“Gives you a chance to ease into it. I hear you’ll have a new person tonight.”
That was news to us, but soon a guy about 25 arrived that we didn’t know.
Jack started the meeting, and told him about the trial membership.
“Hi. I’m Bob. I’m pretty good at backpacking, and I figured I should do something to help out the community.”
People on the team asked him about how far he could run, and swim, and stuff like that. He looked strong, and the answers he gave confirmed it.
Mabel explained about Delta team for the first year. Everybody liked him, and we voted him in as a trial member.
We all worked for hours with Mr. Neils. He taught Bob a lot, and made sure no one else on the team had any weaknesses. We had splints, bandages, and CPR dummies all over the house, but it was fun. Jack passed out fresh emergency food packets to everyone, and we went out for pizza.
Michael started to learn how to make fire. We had to get more flint, but we had pouches and everything else. We worked in my backyard, and always rewarded ourselves with toasted marshmallows.
“I have a kind of magic I already know, and I think you guys will like it,” he said after building a fire one evening.
“Really? What is it?”
“Close your eyes. Tighter, and no peeking!”
“He’s going to turn me into a snake!” Penny joked.
We could hear him putting something together, something made of wood.
Then there was a low tone, and another, and finally a whole melody, mysterious and secret, like the notes were lurking in and out of caves and tunnels. A flute! No, not quite. I listened. It was an old melody, medieval maybe. The notes were low and mellow. The song ended.
“Can we open our eyes?”
“Yeah.”
“A recorder! It’s beautiful, Michael! I didn’t know they went so low.”
“This is an alto recorder. I have a soprano at home too, but I like the lower notes. Do you think it has a place in magical stuff?”
“It
is magic!” Penny said.
“Yeah. That’ll really be nice at the Grove. I could just sit by the fire for hours and listen to you play!” I said.
“Thanks. I was hoping you guys would like it. I want to learn other kinds of magic too.”
We
nodded.
Michael played another song. It fluttered like bees and butterflies on a summer day. “I’m going to get some new music soon. I want to learn more medieval and renaissance stuff.”
“Michael, you’re our official Bard!”
Michael made photocopies of a few things he had read, and Penny copied some Tarot stuff. I found some new things too. One Saturday, when my parents were out of town, we took apart our study book and spread it out on the living room floor. I had a couple of sets of notebook subject dividers, and
we tried to make some sense out of it.
“I’ve got the history pile. I’m going to try to put it in chronological order,”
Michael said.
“Tarot and astrology over here,” Penny said.
“I’ll do religion and philosophy. Where do fairy tales go?” I asked.
“In their own section, with myths and legends and superstitions,” Michael said.
“Here’s a pile for herbs and amulets.”
We shuffled the pages for hours. I calligraphied the subject tabs, and we finally put it all back together. It looked really nice, and it was a lot easier to find things now.
“I need to read more of this stuff,” Michael said.
“Start with the general stuff first,” I suggested. “Details can come later.”
“I have a surprise,” Penny said. We looked at her. I wondered if she had found her true love.
“Well?” Michael prodded.
“I’m ready to do a Tarot card reading. Only . . . I’m not sure what to do it about. You said once it shouldn’t be for myself, Ariel.”
“Yeah. That would be like casting spells for yourself.”
“I see what you mean. Can we go to the Grove tonight?”
“Okay with me. Can you come, Michael?”
“Sure, but won’t it be wet?”
“It never seems to get wet under the cedars. Why don’t we eat dinner and then go? I bet we’ll think of something for Penny to do.”
We made soup and sandwiches, with Halloween candy for dessert, got all our magical stuff, and headed for the park. There was snow on the ground, but we were dressed for it, and the snow made it easier to see in the dark. We slipped into our blue cloaks and disappeared into the woods.
At the Grove, we had some silent time in the darkness. The ground was dry in most places. “Michael, will you build the fire?”
“Sure!” He went over to the fire pit and Penny and I went to the storage hollow for candles. When we got back, Michael was just sitting there with a glum look on his face. “I forgot my fire pouch.”
“A Wood Sprite without a fire pouch. Shame, shame!” Penny taunted with
a smile.
“If you’ll play, I’ll kindle,” I said. I knew Michael hadn’t forgotten his recorder.
He smiled and brought it out of a cloak pocket. He played a happy frolicking song as I blew a spark to life and built up a nice, toasty blaze.
“I have it!” Penny said. “I should ask the Tarot cards about the next Sprite! You think that would be okay?”
“Who would it help?” Michael asked.
Penny thought. “Maybe . . . I don’t know.”
“How about asking how we can help new people join?” I suggested.
“That would help us and the new people!” Penny said.
I looked at Michael.
“Sounds okay to me.”
We lit three candles, dedicated the Grove, and sat in the Magic Circle, Penny in front of the altar. I held the Grimoire — she said she might need it.
Penny looked nervous. This was her first time doing magic. She took out her little box of Tarot cards and set it on the altar. “There’s something missing. A special candle?”
I opened the Grimoire to the page on candle colors. “Purple, for magical skills.”
Penny took up a white candle and stepped out of the Circle. I told Michael how we always held a burning candle when going into or out of the Magic Circle at night, and that was why we lit a candle for each person. Penny returned and lit the purple candle.
“What do I say?”
“Just talk to a Spirit.”
“Which
one?”
“How about Counsel?” I suggested.
She took a deep breath. “Spirit of Counsel . . . I, no we offer this purple flame — I mean purple candle — so we can find out what we want to know —
no, that’s not right — so we can find out what you want us to know, from the Tarot cards. This is hard . . .”
“You’re doing great,” I said, holding in the urge to laugh.
Penny opened the box. “I’m only using the 22 major Arcana.” She took
out part of the deck and handed the box to Michael. “I want everybody to think about what we are asking. What is it again, Ariel?”
“What can we do to help new Sprites find us and join the Grove?”
Penny nodded and shuffled the cards, dropping one of them. “Oh, well. I think I’m ready, but I’m a little scared.” She sat for a few moments with her eyes closed. Then she moved closer to the altar. “This row is for physical things, past, present, and future.” She laid three cards face down on the altar, one beside the other. “This row is for mental things.” Three more cards, above the first three. “And this row is for spiritual things.” There were now nine cards on the altar. She put the rest back in the box Michael was holding.
“That was the easy part. Now I have to read them.”
“Remember, you have help,” I said.
“Yeah. Please help me, Spirits.” She turned over the first card. “Physical things in the past, there was a lot of sacrifice.”
Penny and I looked at each other. “There sure was!” I said, remembering our training and testing.
She turned over the middle one in that row. “In the present, victory.” She glanced at Michael. “And in the future . . . patience? Look up Taurus for me.”
“Patience, persistence, temperance . . . Penny, we need to remember how these are laid out so we can think about them later on. Could you put them back in the box in this order, so we can do it at home?”
“Okay, then we can take our time figuring out what it all means.”
“I know what it means,” Michael said. “Remember how some of the physical training has been harder for me than you guys because I’m older and heavier? What happens if the next person is 20? Or 30?”
“It would take them longer,” I said.
“Or maybe they couldn’t do something at all, but they were good at lots of magical things. What would we do then?”
Everyone was silent.
“Let’s think about it more later,” I said.
“The next row is mental things. In the past, randomness, the Wheel of Chance.”
“I can see that!” I said. “I was just learning whatever I could find, sometimes from school lessons, sometimes things I stumbled upon in the
library, and I didn’t have the study book or the Grimoire.”
“In the present, wisdom and discretion.”
Michael and I both nodded.
“In the future . . . faith, hope, and truth. The Star, or the true Teacher.”
That really spoke to me. Over and over again I had been learning that I was some kind of teacher. But what kind . . . ?
“Spiritual things. In the past, the Lovers, or the Two Paths of temptation.”
“Maybe that’s the Two Paths of black and white magic,” Michael said.
“The lovers makes sense too,” I said. “I started learning magic because I once had a true Teacher. I loved him. But it wasn’t physical love, more like
. . . spiritual.”
Penny put her arm around me. I think she saw that tears were close. After a minute, she went on.
“In the present, there is strength and power, spiritual power. And in the future . . .”
We all stared at the card. The Reaper. Death. No one said anything.
Penny didn’t even try to figure it out. After several minutes she picked up the cards and put them into the box. We quietly thanked the Grove, put out the fire, and went home.
I was sad, confused, and depressed. We silently waved good-bye to each other on the street corner, and I went home to bed and cried. I didn’t even know why.