Chapter 15

With a zap of green magic,Flora removed the corn stalks from a circle of earth a stone's throw from her sunflower border and bade me sit down. The bare ground was hard and cracked and uncomfortable, the scenery so mundane it barely held my attention for more than a few seconds, the lack of trees allowing the chilled October wind to blow freely, but I didn't care. Flora moved with the purpose of someone who knew was she was doing, so I said nothing other than, "Yes, ma'am."

Once I was seated and Flora adjusted the circle of bare earth so I could lay down if I wanted, Shari and Daphne emerged from where they'd disappeared into the house. Each woman carried a fistful of crystals, and Flora hemmed and hawed about where each should go along the perimeter. Selenite, obsidian, amethyst, quartz, agate, hematite, all in a varied pattern I saw no rhyme or reason to. But I knew they were healing and cleansing crystals, some known to absorb negative energy, maybe even leech away some of whatever was affecting me.

I didn't feel the ward rise until the last crystal was in place, a shimmering barrier encircling me in a cone, and then my core actually shivered. It was a containment barrier, against me. I tried not to take it personally, but I still found my lip quivering and the heat of building tears pricking at the backs of my eyes.

Enough! I told myself angrily. You are Meadow Hawthorne! You do not cry. You are stronger than this!

Pressing the tip of one finger against a big lump of obsidian, Flora called forth morning glory vines that wasted no time weaving in and around and interlocking each crystal to the other so the barrier would bend and not break it if just happened to be struck. The garden gnome was taking no chances of whatever was infecting me leaking out and infecting her.

Her task complete, she stepped back a few paces to join Daphne and Shari, and all three watched me like I was the new and terrifying exhibit at the zoo.

Flora tapped her chin. "Those selenite crystals are fouling up pretty quick. They've already lost their luster. Whatever's got ahold of you, witch, it's pretty nasty. You sure you're not feeling sick yet?"

There was that condemning term witch again instead of her endearing cider witch. I shook my head in answer, not trusting myself to speak.

"Then you must be pretty powerful. But stupid, too, since you forgot to remove that parasite ring."

I knew she was just trying to express her hurt, to wound me as I had her by keeping secrets from them. But it still stung, chaffing at the wounds I'd already inflicted on myself over that mistake. All my power and education and training and I was still na?ve. I hadn't ever been tested in the real world outside Hawthorne Manor, and it showed. All I'd wanted to do was protect my family, free them of the curse they knew nothing about, and I couldn't even protect myself.

My head lowered, cheeks aflame with shame.

"Flora," Daphne said sharply. "That's not helping."

The garden gnome grunted. "Well, there's only one thing to do with a core that newly infected and that sick."

Of course there was. Burn out the infection with an overwhelming amount of magic—like that found in my amazonite pendant—but though Flora was strong, she didn't have the power I did. She might have a cache of magic-storing crystals… or she might've used them all up in this containment barrier. A Band-Aid on a sucking chest wound.

"Soak in a moonflower-milk bath at midnight under the moon," Flora finished.

"A-a bath?" I asked, dumfounded that it could be so simple. "That's it?" If it worked, this would definitely be something for the notebook. Moonflowers… Aunt Peony would be stunned to know the power they held.

Flora crossed her arms over her chest and cocked an eyebrow. "Yes, a bath. Are you so prideful you thought the cure couldn't be something as humble as a good ol' fashioned soak? That it had to be as fancy as an amazonite pendant?"

Forget my cheeks, my whole body burned with embarrassment. I'd been thinking exactly that not just a handful of seconds ago.

"Hmph. But it's not just any bath. Moonflowers cost more than the smallest vial of saffron, and they need to be fresh for this application, so that makes them even more expensive. Lucky for you, I know a verified seller."

"I'm sure you can worry about paying Flora back after you survive," Daphne said kindly. "Right, Flora?"

The garden gnome grunted again. "I suppose. But the moonflower's worthless without fresh milk."

"Which my goats are supplying in abundance now," Daphne said. "They'll be due for another milking this evening. How much does the bath need?"

"She needs to be fully submerged."

"Well, it's a good thing I have a lot of goats. Think I'll go and give them some extra forage for encouragement."

"And I'll go make a phone call." Flora looked down her nose at me, still a difficult thing to do even though I was sitting cross-legged on the ground, but she managed it. "Don't be touching my crystals now, witch. They're simple but effective."

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Of course, dear," Daphne answered for the gnome, then: "Shari?"

"I'm staying," the quiet crafter said, stepping up to the crystal barrier and sitting down on the ground directly across from me. She rolled the sleeves of her hoodie so her hands were exposed, but no higher, and hauled her bag onto her lap. "She's alone and hurting. No one should be alone while they hurt."

Rummaging in her bag, she withdrew her latest crochet project. Then, to my surprise, she pulled out another ball of yarn, this one butter yellow, and a spare crochet hook. "You've got nothing else to do until midnight. Wanna learn how to crochet?"