Issa met Michael at school, and they walked to my house, carrying the pumpkins. Penny and I were ready, and we all headed for the park, each with a pumpkin and a daypack with our food, cloaks, and magical tools.
Issa was silent, but I could tell he was wondering where we were going.
Michael was holding in a grin. Penny was higher than a kite, bouncing and talking as we walked. The day was clear and breezy, but not too cold.
Penny fell silent as we entered the empty picnic area, and we walked quietly in a line through the woods, Michael leading, taking a slightly different path than ever before. We came to the Guardian Hedge.
Issa looked up at it, then looked at us. We put on our cloaks.
“Are you ready for your first Wood Sprite celebration, Issa?” I asked.
“How do I look?” he asked, putting his hood up.
“Very spritish!” Penny said.
He took a deep breath. “I’m ready. I want to learn magic.”
Michael found a crawl-slot through the Hedge, and we followed him in.
Issa’s eyes got bigger. The sun was slanting in through the trees, and the forest was full of blue-green light. In my mind I could see us, a line of blue-cloaked figures winding through the woods, only visible because we were moving.
As we wound our way up onto the cedar-crowned hill, Issa’s mouth began to hang open. “It is so beautiful!” he said.
“We gather in silence,” Penny said, putting her finger to her lips.
Sitting quietly around the fire pit, I thought about the lesson I had prepared — and about the Grimoire cover. Strange. After a while Penny kindled a new fire and Michael carried wood. “It’s okay to talk now,” Penny said.
“If I have ever felt God anywhere on earth, I feel Him here,” Issa said.
“This place is for all of God’s good Spirits,” Penny said.
We shared the Athame and Issa’s pocket knife and worked to turn the pumpkins into jack-0-lanterns. Penny collected all the seeds to roast at home.
I liked Michael’s the best — it had a wicked grin. I brought tea lights out of my daypack, and we placed the finished creations around the Grove to await the darkness. Finally, we heated Penny’s tamale pie, dished out my salad, and opened cans of juice Issa brought.
“Do you have an order of ceremony?” Issa asked.
“Yes,” Penny said. “The potluck can come either before or after. As soon as the sun sets, we’ll enter the Magic Circle.”
“You only go in at night?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, “but it usually works out that way. Except on Lemmas, the celebration of the first fruits.”
We ate and answered Issa’s questions. Michael passed out pastries he had made for dessert, and he was obviously proud of them. The sun went down and we got out the candles we would need, four tall white, one yellow, and one purple for the Tarot reading. With jack-o-lanterns lit and glowing white candles in our hands, Michael gave the dedication.
We set our candles on the altar and sat down for the lesson.
“The Second Principle of Magic,” I began. “Harm no one, for all harm will return to you three times over. Also, you would be betrayed by your efforts, for those Spirits willing to carry out black magic are not God’s Spirits, and they are not honorable. God’s Spirits would refuse. Any magic that attempts to force a person or a Spirit is harmful, for all of God’s children were given free will. Neither harm yourself. Truly white magic that helps another requires no sacrifice from you other than your sincere magical effort and knowledge.”
Everyone was thoughtful for a little while. Then Michael said, “You mean, if someone that we really care about is dying, we can’t offer our life in
exchange?”
“If God wants to save the dying person, He doesn’t need your death to do it,” I said. “But He does want to know you care. Remember the story about Abraham and Isaac? God only wanted to be sure Abraham was sincere. He is spirit, and has no use for blood.”
I could see Issa nodding thoughtfully.
There were no more questions, so we had prayer time. Spirit of Understanding, please help me to figure out what I want with Michael. How can I tell him? How can I find out what he feels? “God, please hear our prayers.”
Issa watched carefully as I lit the yellow candle and asked for the Spirit of Knowledge to help Michael with his test. Then I asked for a special blessing of knowledge on a necklace of three clay beads, and slipped it over Michael’s head. I had planned to kiss him on the cheek at that point, but didn’t find the courage when he was actually right there in front of me.
Penny lit a purple candle and asked the Spirit of Counsel to help her and her sister. Then she laid out 5 cards.
“I’m using all the cards now. This is the present,” she said, pointing to the middle one. “This path is her major now, near and far future, and this is the major she might switch to.” She turned over the middle card. “Is someone taking notes for me? Thanks, Michael. In the present . . . Exploration . . . let me see . . . of her self-image. On the path she is on now . . . um . . . look up Taurus for me. The four of swords.”
“It says Determination, then some symbols I don’t know.”
“Thanks. Determination, requiring a lot of patience, and finally . . . a Queen, a woman of will power . . . Leo. And if she changes majors, struggle, maybe about religion . . . and then . . . renunciation.”
I could tell Issa was amazed. Penny collected her cards and blew out the candle. I nodded to Michael, and he began a haunting melody in a minor key.
“Tonight begins the celebration of All Saints and All Souls,” I began. “This is a time to look back and remember people who have died.” Michael played as I spoke — his music was sad and spooky. “As Penny breaks the bread, I will blow out the candles one by one.” I blew out one of the tall white candles.
Penny had a worried look on her face. I went on, “All of the people who have
ever died went into darkness, hoping there was light somewhere beyond.” I blew out another. “We have to have faith like that too.” Michael played. I blew out the third candle. Penny broke the bread and passed it around. As we started to eat, I blew out the last candle. The fire had burned down to coals, the jack-o-lanterns didn’t give much light, and so we were almost in the dark.
Michael played low and quietly.
A scream! From kind of far away, maybe the picnic area. Again. A girl or a lady. Faintly, “Help!”
“What should we do?” Penny said.
“Let’s check it out — but stay out of sight!” I whispered. “Michael, please stay with Issa.”
I pulled my hood up and dashed down the hill toward the Hedge. I could tell Penny was near me. I knew Michael and Issa would come more slowly.
Another scream. Through the Hedge and into a run again. I was a cat, dodging shapes and shadows in the darkness, and Penny was right beside me.
We came to the edge of the picnic area with its one streetlight and stepped into a shadow. I looked and listened for anything.
“There!” Penny whispered, pointing. Just out of the light, near the restrooms, someone was struggling.
“Shut up!” a man’s voice said.
“Leave me alone!” the girl screamed.
I was shaking, but we had to do something. We were Sprites, masters of the woods. I pointed out a route through the shadows, and Penny and I silently dashed to a tree much closer.
“She’s
young!”
Penny
whispered in my ear.
I could hear clothes tearing. The girl screamed again, but I could hear her crying too.
The man’s voice hissed, “Shut up or I’ll cut you!”
“He’s got a knife!” Penny whispered.
“So do I!” I said. I unsnapped the safety loop around the Athame and crept forward. They were in some ferns. I could see the man trying to get on top of the girl. My anger flared up hot inside me. I crept behind him. He was making too much noise to hear me.
“Don’t!” the girl screamed.
Now or never, Ariel. I glimpsed Penny just behind me, pulled out my knife and leaped forward, grabbing his hair and getting the blade under his throat.
“Let her go or I’ll cut you!” I roared.
“Hey, hey, don’t, I didn’t do it, just let me go, just leave me alone . . .”
“Shut up!” Penny growled.
“Get off her,” I said, “real slow!” He smelled bad. Part of me wanted to kill him. I had never felt rage like that before. It scared me and I knew I was shaking like a leaf, but I was madder than I was scared. He got up and I kept the blade at his throat.
Penny jumped in beside the girl. “You okay?”
She was crying. I don’t think she was much older than us. She managed to say, “I think so.”
Michael and Issa arrived, hooded like Penny and me.
The man started to shake. “Hey, what are you guys, anyway? What’s going on? Where did you come from? Let me go!” he said with a trembling voice.
Issa grabbed him and bent his arms behind his back.
“Ouch!”
he
screamed.
“Some kind of rope or string, please, Michael,” I said, handing him the knife. He ran off to find some, and I knelt down to help Penny with the girl.
She was still crying.
“Did he rape you?” Penny asked.
“Almost,” she said, sobbing.
I could see Issa taking the man into the light, and Michael running up with some cord. Penny and I helped the girl get her clothes back on. Her shirt was torn, but her pants and jacket were okay. Then we walked with her slowly out of the ferns.
The guys had the man tied up, hands and feet, and laying face down. I couldn’t help but clap and cheer. Penny did too. The girl wasn’t crying so much, seeing what we had done to him.
“Who are you guys?” she asked between sobs.
We all still had our hoods up. “We’re friends, that’s all we can tell you,” I said.
We slowly walked over to where Issa and Michael had the guy tied up. He
was begging them to let him go. Issa had one foot on his back to hold him down.
“You guys are wonderful,” the girl said. “What can I do to thank you?”
“Don’t tell anyone about us,” I said.
She looked into my shadowy hood. “Okay. You must be special people. I won’t tell.”
By now the man was crying like a baby.
“What do you want us to do with him?” I asked. “The Sheriff’s just a phone call away.”
She was thoughtful for a long moment. “No. I think he learned more from you guys than he would in jail. Just let me call my dad. He can be here in about 2 minutes.”
We walked with her to the payphone, then chatted while she waited for her father. As soon as she recognized his car coming into the park, I nodded to Michael, and he cut the cord around the man’s feet.
He dashed away, hands still tied behind his back. It was almost funny.
Michael handed me my Athame.
“Bye!” we all said to the girl as we slipped into the woods. Once in shadows, I turned to make sure she got safely into the car, then followed the other Sprites back to the Grove.
The four jack-o-lanterns were still flickering and grinning at us. Michael built up the fire. I think Penny was deeply troubled by what happened to the girl. Issa was very quiet. I was still angry.
“Please light a blue candle for healing,” Penny said.
I got one out, lit it at the fire, and stepped into the Magic Circle. I knew what I had to do. The others stepped in behind me, and I lit the four white candles with the blue one.
“God and Spirits, we hope you can help the girl at the picnic area to heal.”
There was a little voice inside me. Should I really say that? Okay. “And the man, too.”
I closed my eyes for a moment. The excitement was fading, and all I could feel was fear and doubt. I think there were tears in my eyes. “God, I don’t know if what I did was right. I threatened to hurt someone with my Athame.
Was that okay?” I could remember clearly the promise I had made long ago when I consecrated it — never to hurt anyone. With reluctance, I pulled the shiny wooden-handled blade out that had been my helper for so long and set it on the altar. “If I have used my power wrong, please take away my power, even my life if you want to. I don’t want to be a black Wood Sprite!”
I started crying. Tears poured down my cheeks. I shook and sobbed and I couldn’t stop. My whole body was filled with fear and hurt about what had happened. I felt what the girl felt, and I cried. I felt a little of what the man felt after we tied him up, and I cried. And I felt like I had done something wrong with my magic, something black, and I cried.
Hands were touching me. Friendly hands. They were saying something. I felt arms holding me. Someone was saying something.
“Look, Ariel! Look at the knife!”
I wanted to, but my eyes were full of tears.
“Please look, Ariel!” Penny’s voice said.
I rubbed at my eyes and tried to focus. I could see the candles . . . and my Athame . . . and a tiny butterfly sitting on the blade. A butterfly. On Halloween?
“Remember when we first broke bread here?” Penny said from beside me, her arm around my shoulders.
“A butterfly!” I said. As I spoke, it flew away. “Good-bye, butterfly!”
“If that isn’t a sign from God that you did His will . . . or at least are forgiven if you didn’t . . . then I don’t know what is,” Issa said.
I hugged each of my wonderful Wood Sprites. Michael last. I wanted so badly to tell him I loved him. But all I said was, “Thank you for the wonderful music.”
Outside the circle, we thanked the Grove and returned to the fire. It was getting late. No one said much, but we were all smiling. I think everyone, even me, decided that what we had done was okay. Michael said the girl was in his school, but he would keep everything secret. We saved the dishes to do tomorrow, put out the fire, and left the Grove behind. Michael played as we walked down the road, the happy song he first played at Lammas. Penny insisted we go trick-or-treating at a few houses that still had their lights on.
Issa didn’t mind.
When we were almost to my house, Issa said, “Is every Wood Sprite ceremony that intense?”