Chapter 14

The letter lay on her lap, returned neatly to its envelope. Flora remained sitting against the tree, her head back against its bark, and let the tears flow unchecked down her cheeks. Tears for the mother she had never known who died so young, the aunt, her mother's sister, who was hurting inside even now - and even for herself. This last was tempered by the knowledge that she had lived the best life she could have and the decisions had been the right ones.

Most of all, she wept for the loss of Sybil. For not having the benefit of her wisdom throughout her life. She did feel that her aunt, her real great, great aunt, was still with her and she was grateful for meeting her that one time. She found herself trying to recall some scenes from that meeting so she could live it over again. What she did remember now was that, after she had tried to place a daisy chain around Sybil's neck, the old woman had placed a silver chain around her neck in exchange. How could she have forgotten that? She held on to the ‘tree of life' pendant now, which she wore every day - and sobbed again.

She felt rather than heard a presence nearby and she opened her eyes to see Peggy standing between two trees in silence. Freya stretched and with a sidelong glance at the old woman, sauntered off into the woods as Peggy watched it. Flora managed a watery smile.

‘You found the letter then?' Peggy remarked.

‘You know about it?' Flora frowned.

‘ I knew it existed but not where it was. You were supposed to find it yourself and then ask to see a second letter, which is in my possession.'

'Which I would like to read as soon as possible'

Peggy paused then came over to lower herself slowly onto a mound of grass near to Flora.

'Sybil said that you ought to wait a while, to let the news of the first letter sink in properly before you attempted the second'

‘It's sunk in. It sunk in easily because every word she has written, I feel like I have read before. I haven't of course but it just seems familiar.'

She looked over at Peggy as the old woman nodded sagely.

‘Also' she continued, ‘with respect, Sybil didn't know how stubborn I could be, although I would hazard a guess that she suspected. Now I know of the other letter's existence, I'm not going to be able to rest until I've read it.'

Peggy's mouth twitched as she accepted this. Then her face became serious again.

‘Why did you come out here to read it?' she asked Flora.

‘I don't know. I just felt I needed to. Why?'

‘No reason.'

‘I hate it when people say that. There was obviously a reason.'

Flora sighed and leaned forward, her elbows on her bent knees. Peggy replied with another question.

‘Why did you choose this tree to sit under?'

‘Well I – Ah, now there is definitely a reason behind that question. What is it?'

Peggy hesitated only for a few seconds. Flora needed to know.

‘Matty - your mother - her ashes are buried here.'

Flora sprang up as though she had somehow committed sacrilege by sitting there.

‘She didn't die here. It was elsewhere in the wood but we scattered her ashes here in view of the cottage, then we planted the rowan tree over them to protect her.'

‘ I thought rowan trees were meant to protect against witches.'

‘They are meant to protect against evil . We are not evil. The rowan watches over her, the meadow and the cottage.'

The two women held each other's eyes and smiled. With a sudden brisk manner as though she just remembered something, Flora held a hand down towards Peggy.

‘Do you want a hand up?'

‘I want two hands up if you can spare them.'

Flora prised Peggy from the ground.

‘I'll come round for the letter tomorrow if that's all right.'

‘Yes of course. Why tomorrow? Why the change of heart?'

‘I have something urgent to do. I have to see Jen. I need to talk to her.' and she turned and walked back down through the meadow and the cottage as though she was on a mission.

Peggy had opened her mouth to object but it would make no difference. Flora was a force of nature. She couldn't even let Jennet know as Flora would be almost there now. It was all happening too quickly. The three of them suddenly couldn't keep up. As soon as she had met with Bianca and Jennet at the Folly to discuss the discovery of the Faestone, they knew they were dealing with something special and would have to let events take their course. What would be would be. Flora possibly had more power than Sybil herself. Sybil had been around seventy when she found the stone. Flora had found it on her second night in the village - and had no idea yet what it was.

And the cat… The black kitten with the white streak near one ear. The only photo Peggy had of Sybil was of when she had silver hair, which happened very early in her case. Yet, Peggy remembered her when she was younger with hair as long, as thick and as black as Flora's with one exception. The thin white streak on the right-hand side of her hair

*

This time Jen wasn't behind the counter and so didn't have to bid a hasty retreat on Flora's entrance. Steve looked up and smiled.

‘Was the book any good?'

She had found a thin volume of Starting up your own Internet Business and whereas it repeated most of what she already knew, she had found a couple of useful tips.

‘It was fine thanks. Is Jen in?'

Steve looked wary.

‘Yes, I think so. Shall I go upstairs and check?'

That would give Jen a chance to make an excuse, thought Flora.

‘No, it's okay. I'll just go up. I need to see her' and with that, she was behind the counter and halfway up the stairs.

Steve only had time to call his wife's name before Flora was face to face with her aunt in the doorway of the sitting room. Jen was blocking her way.

‘ What do you want?' she asked with obvious hostility.

‘Just to talk, Jen. I know now who you are - and who I am - and what happened. Please , can we talk?'

‘There's nothing to say.'

‘Everyone thinks you blame me for my mother's death.'

‘Where did you hear–' Jen began.

‘But I don't' interrupted Flora. ‘I don't believe for a minute that you blame me.'

Jen stood, her arms on either side of the doorway, stopping the younger woman from entering - but her expression had changed from belligerence to something like panic.

‘It's all right Jen' said Flora in the same soothing voice she had used to calm down the nervous and overwrought Fury. ‘I promise you that by the time I leave here, we will have begun the journey to a solid friendship.'

Jen listened to her, searching Flora's face, her brows knitting. What she saw there made her step back and let her niece into the room.

*

They were seated at a table in the window overlooking the street below. She hadn't been offered a drink but she would have refused. Next time perhaps. Jen had resumed the sulky expression.

‘What did you mean? And I didn't say I blamed you for her death. Ever.'

‘I think it was assumed from your attitude, that's all.'

‘ How could you possibly know that or know what my attitude was?'

‘I can see how it would have been mistaken. You appeared to resent me but it wasn't resentment was it? It was guilt.'

Jen stood up angrily, her hands pressed onto the table.

‘Get out! How dare you? I don't want you here. Just GO'

Flora sat calmly. She reached across for Jen's hand but it was withdrawn before contact was made. She spoke quietly.

‘I need you to know this. I need you to know that I don't blame you at all. Not even a little.' she said gently.

Jen uttered something between a scream and a sob.

‘You don't blame me ? Oh, that's very good of you. Why the hell should you blame me?'

‘ I don't. You blame yourself.'

There was an intake of breath from across the table. Then Jen slowly lowered herself into the chair again.

‘You blame yourself and I'm not quite sure why. We need to find out and exorcise it. One thing I am sure of is that it wasn't your fault. Not only did Sybil say in a letter that nothing at all could have prevented my mother's death from happening when it did - but I know in my own mind that you had nothing to do with your sister's death. And I know you've been blaming yourself ever since. Letting it poison your life, making you spiky, giving a false impression of the real you - all because of a guilty conscience that you have attached to an innocent soul.'

Jen had ceased to move and, incapable of speech, stared across at this young dark woman, so like Matty. This time when Flora reached forward to hold her hands, there was no movement to stop it. They stayed like that for quite a few seconds. Then sobs wracked the older woman's body and she fell forward onto the table, giving vent to years of hellish torment.

Flora stroked her hand for a while then went quietly to find the kitchen, which was in a back room. After a minute or two and as the sobs diminished to the odd sniffle, she carried two hot cups of tea through. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a clean tissue. She handed it to the woman with the puffy red face and mascara down her cheeks who took it gratefully with - was that a smile? Flora smiled back just in case.

Jen shifted in her seat. She stared out of the window as she took sips of the steaming tea and then with a last wipe with the tissue, she seemed to make her mind up. She began to speak.

‘I wanted to go and collect heather from the moors that day. I'd got it into my mind and my stubborn nature wouldn't let it go. I wasn't allowed to go up on the moors by myself. I was only nine years old but not only that, I was prone to wandering too far away and losing track of time. They had to send the newsagent's lad out looking for me once when dusk was falling. So I was banned.

‘I asked Matty if she'd come with me even though I knew she was very pregnant with you. She hadn't been feeling well either. She refused many times until I wore her down. She said she would come with me into the wood and then I could pick the first bunch of heather that I could see on the moor while she watched me. She explained it was too rough for her to walk on the moor in case she tripped.

‘ I was happy with this and I did find a bunch of heather that was in bloom. But I could see some that was even better a little further out. Then another patch further than that which had more colour than the others. I was in my own selfish little world and only vaguely remembered hearing Matty call my name When it finally registered - only after I'd got the best bunch of heather I could find - I turned back towards her voice.

She was standing, hands on hips, annoyed with me. I had honestly turned back towards her and she wasn't even standing on the moor, only at the edge of the wood. She shook her head at me like she sometimes did when she was just pretending to be annoyed with me. She put her arm out with her ‘Come on you rascal' gesture and laughed. She actually laughed! And I grinned back at her. She saw that I had nearly reached her and she turned to walk back then... '

Jen's tears began to flow again and her voice trembled but she carried on.

‘She just crumpled up. No cry, nothing. She fell on the floor and rolled over onto her back. I screamed and ran to her. I thought she was dead. She wasn't moving and her eyes were closed. Then her eyelids flickered and she looked up at me and she smiled.'

There was a pause which Flora didn't interrupt, while Jen gathered herself.

‘She smiled and said "Don't worry, Jenny Wren. Bring Sybil to me quickly." You probably know the rest.'

Jen gave a long shuddering sigh as though she had experienced a physical pain being removed from her body. She had never confessed this to anyone before today. Flora watched her and knew that what had been removed was the mental burden she had carried around with her nearly all her life. While maybe not disappearing altogether, it might now allow her aunt to live with herself.

She grasped told of Jen's hands and this time felt a firm connection between them both and judging by the uncharacteristically gentle look in Jen's eyes, she felt the same. They held each other's hands tightly, neither willing to let go.

Gradually. Flora felt something else coming through this connection and she frowned. Seeing this, Jen pulled her hands away.

‘Is everything all right?' she asked, frowning too.

‘I would say everything is going to be perfect.' beamed Flora.

‘How can you tell that just from holding hands?'

‘ I feel that now that you've let go of the guilt that you should never have felt, all the negative feelings have been swept away to make way for something much more positive. I'm sure you will be far happier than ever very soon. Things are working out how you have always wanted them to.'

Jen sighed with relief.

‘ I don't know why I believe you but I do. You must be powerful.' she whispered in awe.

‘ Powerful?' laughed Flora, taken aback. ‘It's not magic! It's logical that when you let go of feelings that hold you back, good things will happen.'

They hugged with genuine warmth.

As Flora went down the stairs she thought. ‘Although there was something I felt when I held her hands which was beyond my comprehension'

As Jen watched her go, she thought ‘You can deny it all you like Flora - but how come no one else, even those well versed in the old ways, knew what I was really feeling all these years? You knew exactly.

‘And you felt something else. Could it be -after all this time?'