For a list of the many characters who populate this saga, check out Dramatis Personae.
Thus far in our story…
Prologue: Hailey Ellis has returned to Morcant-On-Sea after several years away, only to find the coastal town is a shadow of its former self. Amidst this decline, Hailey navigates her various relationships, but a shocking encounter with her selkie aunt foreshadows a chain of events that will change all their lives forever.
Ch1: Several months later in the village of Derwold, the summer holidays begin for the Newton girls. Eleven-year-old Freya struggles to cope with the changes that adolescence brings, and wonders why she feels so angry and alone. To add to her unhappiness, she experiences her first period.
Ch2: The next day, Freya has a chance meeting with Elsa Hart, wife of the new lord of Derwold Manor. A little later, Freya joins Sadie and her sister Millie for a lesson in alchemy, but things don’t quite go as planned when Millie inadvertently amplifies the potency of the love potion they’ve brewed. After the effects have worn off, Millie visits the churchyard to pay her respects to an old friend. Whilst there, she has an encounter with a black panther, and discovers she can communicate with the creature.
Ch3: Several days later, Simon and Elsa host a housewarming party in the grounds of the old manor. Elsa treats Freya to a tour of the recent restoration efforts, and the seeds are sown for a burgeoning friendship. Meanwhile, post mistress Sally Jeffries has a few too many drinks and ends up accidentally setting fire to pompous druid Bernard, then has a few choice words for Simon Derwold, who she remembers from decades before. Georgia, Sadie and Millie make their way home, where they indulge in a night of passion in the lounge, only to be interrupted by Elsa and Freya. Elsa comes to suspect her new neighbours are not all that they seem.
Ch4: The vicar of Derwold has been murdered by an unknown assailant. Unaware of the events that are about to unfold, Sadie tries to fathom the mysteries of the ancient standing stone near her cottage with the help of Freya and Millie. Later, Freya pays a visit to Derwold Manor, and she and Elsa enjoy an afternoon of passion. It turns out Elsa is using Freya for her own ends, and the eleven-year-old is tricked into revealing all their secrets.
Ch5: Sadie receives a concerning call from Vivaan Dinesh, Derwold’s resident doctor. At the surgery, she is confronted with the murdered vicar. Meanwhile, Millie rescues Bernard from the mysterious black panther, and the traumatised man confesses he’s not a real druid at all.
Sadie sets out to investigate the vicar’s murder, and discovers that someone has set an arcane wall around the village, preventing anyone from entering or leaving. In the woods that surround Derwold, she meets Astris the dryad.
Ch6: Astris tells Sadie that Elsa is the one who has sealed off the village, though for what purpose she doesn’t know. The dryad also hints that Elsa is a witch, and that she harbours great power. Sadie researches the Derwold family and discovers they have a troubled history. She also discovers Elsa changed her name to conceal her past, and is inexplicably older than she seems.
At the post office, Sally Jeffries tells Sadie a disturbing childhood story, in which an eight-year-old Simon tortured and killed his pet dog. Suspecting the vicar’s murder may have been Simon’s doing, Sadie hastens to Beekeeper Cottage to make sure everyone’s safe, but Freya has already gone to the manor to meet with Elsa. Sadie races to retrieve her.
Ch7: At Derwold Manor, stark truths are revealed. Elsa has sealed the village off to protect Simon. More than that, she intends to set the stage for a new world order, one where women rule and men are consigned to history. She asks Sadie and Millie to join her, but Sadie refuses. She and Freya arrive back at Beekeeper Cottage only to find Georgia and Millie missing. They are captured by Elsa’s thugs, and reunited with Georgia and Millie, the four of them are imprisoned in the manor.
Discovering the large rock in the cellar where they are confined is actually an ancient standing stone, Millie manages to tap into its magic, and she and Sadie are transported to an unknown location.
Ch8: Enraged, Elsa threatens to kill Georgia if Freya doesn’t tell her where Sadie and Millie have gone, but Freya manages to convince her they know nothing of their whereabouts. Taking no chances, Elsa locks them in a room full of taxidermy specimens. Freya opens up to her mother, expressing her fears and doubts.
Meanwhile, in the Cornish town of Morcant-On-Sea, a tribe of Selkie rescue a near-drowned Sadie and Millie, then point them in the direction of the lighthouse. Sadie hopes that whoever lives up there can help them get back home. Having reached their destination, they discover a strange cocoon-like object. Before they have time to consider exactly what it is or what it means, they realise someone has followed them into the lighthouse.
Ch9: Elsa uses the menhir to determine Sadie and Millie’s whereabouts. Having discovered they are in the town where she spent her childhood, the enraged woman prepares to recapture them.
Meanwhile, Sadie and Millie meet Hailey and Derek. Hailey tells them that whatever’s sleeping inside the cocoon was once her selkie aunt, Rita. Sadie explains that she needs to get back to Derwold to rescue Georgia and Freya, but with no easy way back to the mainland, they will need to wait until morning. Meanwhile, Sadie’s cat familiar, Billy Buckham, sneaks into Derwold Manor with plans of his own.
Some time later, Millie is awakened by a strange voice summoning her to the top of the lighthouse. There she meets a spectral version of Rita, and the two of them enjoy a moment of intimacy, culminating in an exchange of old magics. Over on the mainland, Elsa makes her way towards the coast to prepare an invasion.
Ch10: Elsa raises an army of the dead and invades Morcant-On-Sea. Sadie does her best to protect Hailey and Derek, but Millie is trapped in the lighthouse and they must get to her with all haste. Fighting their way to the top, they find a very angry Elsa. Revealing her true power, the dark witch threatens to kill them all, but she has invoked the wrath of the creature slumbering inside the cocoon. It bursts free, revealing itself to be a Siren. Amidst the ensuing chaos, the creature flies off with Elsa in its grasp, and Sadie, Millie, Hailey and Derek make their escape from the destroyed town.
Safely on board Derek’s trawler and bound for Derwold, Hailey discovers the sexual nature of Sadie and Millie’s relationship. The four of them part ways in the border town of Lydney. Hailey and Derek return to Morcant to help with rescue efforts, and Sadie and Millie head home, unaware of whatever awaits them there.
Ch11: Sadie and Bernard rally the entire village to march on Derwold Manor and rescue Georgia and Freya. Meanwhile, Georgia and Freya, with the help of Billy, manage to incapacitate Simon and escape. Finally reunited, Sadie, Georgia and the girls can only watch as the manor is consumed by flames. Simon chooses to perish in his home, rather than face the music.
Some days later, with life in Derwold having returned to normal, Georgia and the girls visit Sadie at her home. Sadie reveals she must leave the village and seek out the fate of the covens and her Wiccan sisters. To mark her departure, Sadie, Georgia and the girls enjoy an intimate picnic at the waterfall glade. But watching from the trees is a mysterious figure.
Ch12: Elsa Hart lives! Having been spirited away from the lighthouse by the siren several days before, we learn how Elsa came to survive the encounter.
Amidst an epic battle between dark witch and mythical sea creature, Elsa remembers her childhood friendship with Reeta of the Selkie, unsure why her suppressed memories choose to make themselves known now. Finally, with her power all but exhausted and her magpie familiar dead, Elsa realises with horror that the siren is Reeta, though how her old friend came to be this monster, she has no idea. If that wasn’t enough, the siren appears to be pregnant. Unable to end its life, Elsa lets the creature go.
Poisoned, and severely wounded, Elsa comes under the care of a kindly old hermit who nurses her back to health. When she is well enough to travel again, she makes a detour to a destroyed Morcant-On-Sea to find a very old, very precious clock. There she buries Minerva, her beloved familiar, and makes a tentative peace with her past. It is a greatly diminished but more reflective Elsa that returns to Derwold.
And now, dear readers, we make our way into the final installment. Read on…
by BlueJean
1
They found Rita on the eighth day of searching, floating on the surface of the water like so much flotsam, her membranous wings bent at awkward angles. She was dead. And perhaps that was a blessing.
After ferrying Sadie and Millie to the mainland, Hailey and Derek made their way back to Morcant, or whatever was left of it. The rescue teams were already there, digging through rubble and detritus. Twenty-three people had been pulled out alive. Seven more hadn’t been so lucky.
Hailey and her uncle offered what help they could, but once all of Morcant’s residents had been accounted for and ushered onto boats for evacuation, the two of them stayed behind, clambering up the collapsed cliffside to their cottage. They packed what little belongings they had room to carry, then cautiously made their way back down to the boat. The trawler wasn’t large, but it had a cabin with bunks, a working shower and toilet, and a small stove. They could live there in relative comfort for as long as need demanded.
Then they set out to search for Rita, if indeed there was any remnant of her left inside that terrible creature.
The siren’s call guided them ever onwards, but she remained frustratingly elusive. Often, Derek was certain they were heading in the right direction, only to find empty water or an abandoned spit of rocks. Other days the sound was so faint they had no chance of pinpointing its location.
Two days passed without them hearing the call at all, and they were sure the trail was lost until Derek swore blind the large shape he had seen in the sky off in the distance was Rita. They picked up the call of the siren once more. The search continued.
On the sixth day, the call became weak and sporadic, not simply the sound itself, but the glamour it held over Derek and Hailey. By the seventh day, it was even fainter, and far less frequent. By the eighth, there was nothing but the sound of water lapping against the hull of the boat, and the occasional seabird overhead.
By some miracle they found her anyway.
They dragged Rita aboard and laid her on deck. Hailey reached out to let a hand hover over the corpse for a hesitant moment before resting it on a grey, mottled shoulder. “So cold,” she said in a faint voice.
Derek balanced on his haunches and afforded the siren a fisherman’s appraisal. “Don’t think she’s been dead for long,” he said. “No sign of scavengers gettin’ at her, anyroad.“
“What about all this?“ Hailey said, pointing to the myriad cuts and lesions that mapped the creature’s body. “And… Christ, one of her eyes has been gouged out.“
“I’m thinkin’ all that happened when she was still alive. Most of her injuries show signs of healin’.“
“Do you think Elsa did this?”
“Aye, could be. Had to ‘ave been one hell of a fight.“ Derek shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry, Rita. You didn’t deserve this.“
“What’re we going to do with her?“
“Find somewhere to bury her, I s’pose. I’m glad it was us what found her – elsewise, she’d prob’ly end up bein’ dissected in a lab somewhere.“
“I should call Sadie,” Hailey said.
Derek looked at his niece blankly. “Eh?“
“Elsa may still be alive. They might be in danger.“
“Oh. Hard to say. We can only hope she’s lyin’ at the bottom of the sea. Couldn’t happen to a nicer woman.“
To make sense of death was hard enough, but to process this… It was too much to bear. The strangeness of it. Hailey couldn’t decide if it was sorrow or horror she felt. “I wish I’d never come back to Morcant,” she murmured.
“Don’t say that, girl,” Derek told her. He choked out a single sob, then put a fist to his mouth to stifle any further anguish.
Hailey wrapped her arms around her uncle’s waist, and the two of them held each other close for a span.
“I should get us to land,” Derek mumbled when they’d parted. He gave Hailey a rough pat on the shoulder, then made for the wheelhouse.
Hailey wiped away the last residue of tears from her eyes, then sank to her knees next to the creature. “Were you still you when the end came?“ she asked of the pale thing. “Or did you die in that cocoon? It’s easier for me to believe you did, you know?“
Some vague sense of movement drew Hailey’s eye to the thing’s belly. Had its stomach always been that distended? True, the chaos inside the lighthouse had not exactly given Hailey an opportunity to scrutinise the creature’s anatomy in any great detail, and it was possible the thing had gorged since then.
“I hope that’s you in there, Elsa,” Hailey said, surprised by the level of vehemence in her voice. “You deserve it.“
But wait. Something was moving beneath that pale grey skin. A jerk. A spasm. Hailey stared in horrified fascination. Then a larger, more violent convulsion, like something… something trying to get out?
Hailey’s hands flew to her mouth in shock. “Uncle Derek! Something’s happening!“
Derek rushed over. “Eh?“
“I think she’s still alive! Look!“
Derek loomed over the siren. His eyes went wide, and then he was rushing to the wheelhouse.
“What’s happening?“ Hailey cried.
When Derek returned a few moments later, he held a large gutting knife in his hand, its blade keen and unyielding.
Hailey regarded it for an instant before sudden realisation kicked in. “Whoa, wait! Let’s think this through. We don’t know what’s happening here!“
Derek hunkered down and readied the sharp implement, his face set grim. “I’ve seen my fair share of dead things, Hailey. I know what dead looks like. She definitely ain’t alive, but somethin‘ is.“
“Oh, God…” Hailey groaned, turning away from the inevitable. “When will it end? She’s like a set of Russian dolls.“
Derek steeled himself, then cut into the meat of the thing’s belly, slicing carefully through each layer of flesh so as not to damage whatever was moving inside.
Hailey rocked back and forth on her haunches, the knuckles of one hand trapped between her teeth. It’s just a fish, that’s all. A fish swallowed whole. An eel, maybe.
But eels didn’t sound like human babies, did they? No. Only human babies sounded like human babies. Hailey turned to the unexpected noise, her hands flying to her mouth in utter shock and disbelief.
“Look,” Derek said, his face gone pale. “Look what I found.“
Hailey stared at the mucky newborn he held aloft, unable to fully make sense of what she was seeing. “It’s a baby,” she said dumbly. “It’s a baby girl.“
“Hold her for me,” Derek said with a quivering voice. “I need to cut the, er…”
“Umbilical.“
“Aye. Hold her.“
Hailey took the babe with shaking hands. She wiped mucus from its brow and face while Derek took hold of the cord tethering it to the dead siren. “Not sure where to cut,“ he said.
“It’s a baby…” Hailey kept murmuring.
“Need some help here, girl. Do you know the best place to cut the cord?“
Hailey peered up at her uncle with wide, blinking eyes. “Don’t think it matters. Uh… leave a couple of inches, then tie it off with some thread or something. It’ll bleed otherwise.“
“All right.“
Hailey turned her attention back to the tiny miracle in her arms, the babe’s wails now turned to soft mewls. There was already a sparse smattering of red hair on her head, and her eyes were a familiar green. Her tiny limbs paddled the air, and if that was notable, it was only because they were limbs – human limbs, not the reptilian tail of a siren or the flipper of a selkie.
“It’s Rita,” Hailey said in amazement. “Isn’t it? It looks like her, at least.“
“Aye,” Derek said as he worked at the umbilical. “She came back to us. Millie said summit strange, summit about Rita bein’ inside a belly. Didn’t pay it much heed at the time.“
“Look at you,” Hailey murmured, her pinky finger caught in the babe’s grip. It peered up at her with bright eyes, and Hailey could’ve sworn there was something resembling recognition in them. Or perhaps that was just wishful thinking.
Hailey couldn’t have failed to recognise Rita in those features, not simply a passing resemblance, but a sense that this might actually be Rita, that somehow this strange alien life cycle had come full circle and delivered her aunt back to her.
But had Georgia been on that boat, she might have recognised something different – the button-shaped nose, the soft dimples at the corners of the mouth. For there was undeniably something of Millie in the infant’s appearance, too, though Hailey was understandably oblivious to the notion that the babe might be the progeny of a mythical sea creature and an eight-year-old girl. Right now, this was more than enough for the sane mind to process.
Derek cut a woolen thread from his jumper and used it to tie off the umbilical. They took the newborn down to the living quarters to get her cleaned up.
2
“Stay here,” Sadie told the others, her eyes never leaving the dark figure standing at the edge of the forest. She wrapped her sarong skirt around her waist, slipped her top on, then slowly walked out to meet the newcomer.
Elsa pulled back her hood to reveal the ruination of her face. Her once wild red hair had been cropped short against her scalp, and Sadie guessed she must have recently shaved it to better treat the wounds that mapped her face and skull. Where her right ear had been, there was naught but a raw, bloody hole, the tissue there angry and barely healed.
Sadie peered down to briefly see the fingers of a hand reduced to bandaged stumps before Elsa slipped it back inside her cloak.
“Hello, Sadie.“
Sadie said nothing for a long moment. Even greatly diminished, it would be a grave mistake to underestimate Elsa, but she couldn’t help feel some measure of pity for the woman. Perhaps that was a mistake too. Finally, she spoke. “Why have you come back?“
“It was my home, wasn’t it? For a brief time, at least. And yet, all I find is charred timbers and a new gravestone. I’ll assume you had something to do with that.“
“Simon was the author of his own demise. Some of the responsibility lies with you, though. People died in Morcant, Elsa. Buried in their own homes. Did you mean to raze an entire town to the ground?“
Elsa was smiling bitterly. “I thought destroying my past would cut that part of me away. Naïve, wasn’t it?“
“How can you not see how wrong all this is? Don’t you understand the pain you’ve caused?“
Elsa jabbed herself in the chest with her fingerless hand. “What about my pain?! I’m not the villain! I’m not! I just… I just wanted to build a better world for us.”
“Oh, not like this, Elsa! Not like this. This wasn’t the right way to do it.“
Elsa absentmindedly reached out to touch her right shoulder, as if she were expecting to find something there. When her hand found nothing but the dark fabric of her cloak, she winced, grief etched into her disfigured face.
The bird, Sadie thought. Elsa’s lost her familiar. She’d never seen someone so beaten, so racked by despair.
“Back at the lighthouse,” Elsa said, “you said you’d be a friend to me if I needed one.“ She met Sadie’s gaze, and for a brief moment Sadie thought she saw someone else staring back at her, someone frightened and alone. A little girl called Frances Mooney, perhaps. “Did you mean it?“
“You killed people, Elsa. You would’ve killed us if you’d had the chance. I’m scared of what you might do next. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can be your friend.“
Elsa gave a resigned nod. “Yes, you’re quite right. I’ve been a monster for so long I don’t think I’m able to be anything else now.“
Her eyes turned cold and flinty. Any vulnerability that might once have been there melted away. She was terrible to behold, her injuries lending her a new, monstrous form that was every bit equal to the dark soul beneath.
Sadie stood with her heart in her throat, ready to pull her ward up at a moment’s notice.
But Elsa’s attention had shifted beyond Sadie. Sadie turned to see Millie walking towards them, closely trailed by Georgia and Freya.
“Go back, Millie,” Sadie told her apprentice, fighting to keep her voice steady.
“Millie, come here!“ Georgia hollered.
“The Dryad are here,” Millie said. “Can’t you see them?“
Sadie carefully surveyed the glade, peering through trees and foliage. Her eyes quickly adjusted to make better sense of her surroundings.
The Dryad were indeed amongst them, so close that Sadie wondered how she had not seen them in the first place. Now that she was aware of their presence, the thick magic of their being flooded her senses, almost overwhelming in its intensity.
Six of them there were, including Astris herself, and yet no two dryad were alike. One had the silver skin of a birch tree, her hair ashen. Another had the dark skin of mahogany. The remaining three were green like Astris, but wildly different shades, from sage to olive to shamrock.
Elsa had seen them too. Her eyes went wide, and she stumbled towards the nearest dryad, a slender nymph with bright eyes of jade. “Blessed Danu! Can it be true? Dryad? Dryad! Might you be Astris?“
“I am Astris,” Astris said. “But my name is not yours to utter.“
Elsa scurried over to Derwold’s protector. “Astris! My name is Elsa. I’m—
“I know who you are, child. And what you are.“
“I’ve searched so long for your kind! I have so many questions.“ Elsa turned this way and that, regarding the Dryad with childlike wonder. “I have questions for all of you.“
“You’ll get no answers from us, sister,” the silver dryad said. Her voice was like a harsh wind.
Elsa was now still amongst them, her smile turned to confusion. “Why?“
“You are dangerous,” the dark-skinned dryad said without malice. She reached out and placed a hand upon Elsa’s ruined one. “You have strayed.“
Elsa pulled her hand away. “No, no. I’m Old Blood. I’ve come to learn. That’s why you made us, wasn’t it? To lead? To shape the world?“
“I think it would be a very foolish thing to grant you more power than you already wield, witchling,” Astris said. “You have allowed your rage and your insecurities to govern you. You have marched into this forest like a spoilt, petulant child, thrashing and wailing. You have snuffed out life as if it were nothing. But you speak true of one thing – you are of the Tuatha. You are one of ours. And so we will teach you. But it is not power you will learn from us. We will teach you humility, compassion, sacrifice. And to learn those things, you must unlearn all the lessons you have taught yourself, this poison you have mistaken for wisdom.“ Astris stepped silently towards Elsa and regarded the woman solemnly. Elsa seemed to shrink under her scrutiny. “Will you learn the lessons we have to teach, child? Do you want to learn?“
“I don’t have time to learn those things! I’m trying to save the world here! I need to know how to breed without males. I have to set us on the right path before it’s too late. I only have a few decades left to lay a foundation others of our kind can follow. Sooner or later, men will destroy the world, you must see that!“
“Men will destroy themselves,” said another dryad. “The world will continue turning as it ever has.“
“They’ll destroy everything else along with them!“ screamed Elsa.
“Poor thing,” the silver dryad said. “Have you such little faith in nature? The change is already underway. It does not require your assistance.“
“What change? Cancer? Some new pandemic? Anything nature throws at us, we just bat right back. Have you been hiding away in your forests so long you don’t see what’s happening around you?“
“If you are not willing to learn from us, then you must leave this place,” Astris said. “Whatever it is you seek is not here. Will you let us heal some of your wounds before you go?“
Elsa screwed her face up, and for one moment Sadie thought she might throw herself to the ground and bawl like a child. “What a disappointment,” Elsa hissed. “You wait your whole life to meet your gods, only to discover they’re a bunch of fucking morons! And I’ll keep my scars, if it’s all the same to you. I earned them.”
“We were never gods, silly girl,” said the dark dryad.
Astris gestured towards the edge of the glade and the trees beyond. “Leave the Oak Wood now, sister. Do not think to stand against us – you are powerful, but even a child of the Tuatha cannot hope to prevail against this many Dryad. I hope you find peace.“
Elsa made some effort to compose herself. “Don’t worry, I’m leaving. There’s nothing left for me here.“ She strode past the Dryad, then stopped short where Millie stood. “Come find me when you’re old enough,” she said. “I’ll be waiting.“
Georgia put a protective arm around her daughter’s shoulder.
Millie shook her head morosely. “I don’t want to be like you.“
“I’ll be waiting,” Elsa said once more. She turned to Freya, and seemed ready to offer some words before thinking better of it. Finally, she disappeared through the trees.
Sadie let out a relieved breath. “She’s too dangerous to let live, Astris.“
Astris gave the young witch a surprised look. “Oh! Should we have killed her, Sadie Laine? The Dryad do not take life easily, but perhaps we should have restrained her for you so you could administer the killing blow. What is your preferred method of execution? A sharp blade across the throat? To hang her from a tree? Perhaps to hold her head beneath the water until she drowns?“
Sadie looked down at her feet, suddenly unable to meet the dryad’s penetrating gaze.
“No, indeed. Do not speak of killing unless your hands and heart are equal to your words.“
“Is this the other one, Astris?“ the silver dryad asked, leaning down to carefully inspect Millie.
“It is. This is Millie Newton.“
“She doesn’t kill people, though!“ Georgia said with a nervous laugh, her arms around Millie. “She’s normal. Mostly. Just in case you were thinking of doing something… dramatic. Hi, I’m Georgia! I keep bees.“
Georgia stuck her hand out, and the silver dryad recoiled from it. Astris laughed.
“It’s okay, Georgia,” Sadie said, looking embarrassed. “They’re not going to hurt her.“
Freya peered up at the dark skinned dryad with her mouth ajar. The nymph was tall, her limbs strong and wiry. “Uh… hi. I didn’t think there were this many dryads in Derwold.“
The dryad gave her a cursory glance, then chose to ignore her entirely.
“My sisters have travelled through the stones from their own forests,” said Astris. “I needed their aid in unraveling the wall around the Oak Wood, and if there had been violence, I could not have stood up to Elsa alone. We have not been together like this for almost two millennia. There are few of us left now.“
“Aww. It’s nice to catch up with family, isn’t it?“ Georgia said, resisting the urge to click her heels together and murmur, There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home!
While Georgia, Freya and Millie finally found a dryad who would deign to speak to them, Astris took Sadie to one side.
“Sadie Laine, there is something I wish to know.“
“I’ll answer if I can, Astris.“
“What is a ‘fucking moron’?“
3
When the Dryad had retreated back into the forest, and Sadie and the Newtons were gathering their things together to head home, Freya happened upon a crimson shape laid out on the surface of one of the larger rocks.
On closer inspection, she saw it was a rose. A blood rose from the grounds of Derwold Manor.
She reached out a hand to pick it up, then stopped herself.
“No,” she murmured. “I don’t think so.”
The stem was all thorns, and she would not allow it to draw any more blood than it already had.
She turned and ran to catch up with the others.
4
The remainder of the summer holidays passed without incident. Georgia, Sadie and the girls spent several days busying themselves harvesting and bottling the year’s first bounty of honey, and Georgia was grateful for the distraction. After everything that had happened, she needed her children close at hand, at least for the time being.
Sadie divided her remaining time in Derwold between preparations to depart the village and conversing with Astris at the waterfall glade.
The other Dryad had returned to their forests, but Astris explained that the long-severed bond with her sisters had been renewed after so many centuries. It was not the confederation it had once been, and most likely never would be, but it was something.
Sadie asked about the fate of the covens, but Astris told her the Dryad had not been involved with human affairs since the Roman legions invaded their forests two millennia before and drove the Tuatha into hiding. Nevertheless, after much consideration, she gave Sadie the locations of her sisters and suggested she seek them out in their forests for any information they might be able to share.
“What if they won’t speak to me?“ Sadie said.
“Do you still have my acorn?“ asked Astris.
Sadie told her she did. Astris had left them the large green seed several months before, a symbol of gratitude for freeing her from Isabel’s malevolence.
“Take it with you and show it to any of my sisters. Still they may not speak with you, but they will know you have my favour, at least.“
Then Sadie broached the subject of the Old Blood, girls born touched by the power of the Tuatha Dé Danann, like Millie and Elsa. How had they come to be?
“It was our great mistake,“ Astris said after such a long period of silence Sadie thought the dryad would not speak of it at all. “Many ages ago, when your ancestors were still hunter-gatherers, we selected the most gifted amongst your females and planted seeds within them. The children that grew from those seeds were powerful and long-lived, as much Dryad as Human. We nurtured them, primed them for leadership, for your people are headstrong and reckless, and we believed blending a part of ourselves into your gene pool would temper such shortcomings.
“Centuries and millennia passed, and on occasion our power would manifest in your newborn, and though it remained undiluted, with each new generation their physical selves lost more and more of their dryad characteristics until eventually they appeared fully human.
“Then the Legion came from across the sea. We had heard whispers of them, of their cruelty and brutality, how they would swarm like ants, slaughtering anything in their path. They cut down our oldest trees and killed our kind, not just Dryad, but others of the Tuatha too – Giantkin and Fae, Selkie and Merrow. Those that survived fled into the Highlands with the Pictish tribes, but others of our kind stayed and hid in what remained of our forests. Gwenaëlle was the last Old Blood we ever nurtured. Your chroniclers know her as Boudica.“
Sadie’s mouth dropped open. “Boudica?! The Boudica?“
Astris gave a single haughty nod. “She feigned an alliance with the Legion to protect her people. When her husband died, Gwenaëlle was flogged and her two daughters raped.“
“If I remember my history, the Romans took her husband’s lands for themselves,” said Sadie.
“It was her kingdom. Gwenaëlle was queen of the Iceni even then, despite what your chronicles say. Though the Legion must have thought her husband was her protector.“
Sadie pondered that. “They thought it would be easy pickings with her husband out of the way.“
“Just so. They thought it inconceivable that a woman could command a military force. But Gwenaëlle did just that. She gathered the tribes to her cause and set about waging war. Her Dryad mentor Andrasta beseeched her to take her people north instead, where the Legion would not venture. But Gwenaëlle was bent on vengeance. She marched across the land with her armies, slaughtering Legion and Briton alike.“
“It’s hard to blame her, after everything she suffered.“
“Perhaps so. But I saw her during those last days of the uprising. I looked into her eyes and saw what she had become. Vengeance can twist a person beyond all recognition, Sadie Laine. Your chronicles speak of the noble and fierce Queen Boudica of the Iceni, but there is little romance in seeing men boiled alive in their armour, or strung up while…” Astris looked off into the distance. Into the past, Sadie thought. “Such a terrible way to use nature.”
The dryad seemed to come back to herself. She ran her hands through her long, walnut hair. “And so, scattered and diminished, the Tuatha drifted away from Humanity. And from each other. Without our guidance, many of those touched by our power became dangerous and unpredictable. Like Elsa.“
“Could you not have sought them out? Found a way to guide them in secret?“
Astris dipped her hand into the cool, clear waters of the pool, swirling it to and fro. “Humans have a tendency to organise themselves into factions. You segregate yourselves by culture, race, geography, spiritual belief. What you must understand is that the Tuatha only ever saw you as a single people.
“When one army waged war on another, it was naught but humans killing humans to us. We tried to protect you from yourselves, but ultimately, we failed. Nothing will strip you of your primate tendencies. We were foolish to think otherwise. Yes, perhaps the few of us that remained could have intercepted those born touched, and set them back on the path, but who’s to say allowing them to realise the full extent of their power would not have made things worse? Imagine the damage someone like Elsa could have caused if she had been fully nurtured by the Dryad.
“The world has changed. Humans have multiplied exponentially, and few of my kind remain. There are too many unknown variables in taking humans under our wing once more. Too much latitude for catastrophe.“
“What about Millie? Do you think she’ll become another Elsa, then?“
“The child is strange. She is a thing that doesn’t fit. She is… elusive.“
“I don’t understand.“
“Nor I, not fully. But that day when Millie first touched the tree where I dwelled, I had a sense that it was not the first time we had met. Regardless, when her menstrual cycle begins, we will get some measure of her true potential.“
“I hate the thought of not being here for her.“
Astris cupped water in the palm of her green hand, then brought it to her lips. When she was done drinking, she met Sadie’s gaze. “Of that I would speak further. Listen well, witchling.“
5
Sadie and Georgia lay atop the quilt on Georgia’s bed, the breeze from an electric fan delightfully cool against their sweaty skin. Their breaths came in short, laboured bursts.
“You’re one hell of a fuck, Sadie Laine,” Georgia opined.
“Thanks for saying so,” Sadie replied. “You’re not so bad yourself.“
Georgia turned onto her side and regarded her friend and lover. “Why do I get the feeling I’m never going to see you again?“
Sadie cupped her friend’s cheek. “I’ll come back. I will. I’ll come back because I love you. I love the girls.“
“I wish… I wish we could just be a normal family,” Georgia said, and for a moment it was all she could do to keep from crying. “All this magic business. It’s like a thorn in our sides.“
“It’s a part of who I am, Georgia. It’s a part of who Millie is. Nothing can change that.“
They lay in comfortable silence for a while, until Georgia spoke again. “Do you ever think Elsa might have been right?”
Sadie looked surprised. “About what?”
“A world without men. Would it be a better place, do you think?”
“Not with women like Elsa in charge,” said Sadie, then after a moment of consideration added, “I’ve never really had any problems with men. Have you?”
Georgia thought about it. “You say that, but haven’t all women had to put up with crap from men at some point in their lives? Are you telling me you’ve never had unwanted advances from guys, never been leered at in the street, never been treated differently because you have a pair of tits?”
“Of course I have. But that’s hardly a reason to snap my fingers and erase the entire male population, is it? And they’re not all arseholes. What about Mr. Dalliard? And your husband? He was a good man, wasn’t he?”
“I’m just saying.” Georgia gave a half-amused huff. “When I worked in the city, I used to walk down to the coffee shop at the end of the street on my lunch breaks. I remember some builders were working up on scaffolding nearby. Every time I went by I got the usual crap – wolf whistling, crude remarks. In the end I started taking a detour to avoid them. Took me another ten minutes to get my coffee but at least I didn’t have to put up with all the abuse. But I remember feeling so fucking angry that I had to do that, that I had to give way to their bullshit.”
“It’s a woman’s lot in life, isn’t it?”
Georgia bristled. “But it shouldn’t have to be. And some idiot shouting, ‘Oi, show us yer tits, luv!’ is the least of it. What about women in Iran or Afghanistan? Forced to cover themselves from head to toe, never allowed to go to school or university, not even allowed to speak to each other in public. They’re treated like animals. It’s horrific.”
Sadie had no way to counter the truth of that argument. In every society, women and girls had been pushed down in some way. The specter of male dominance loomed over all of them, always had. But Elsa had tried to push back. It was surely the fantasy of a madwoman, but God knows she had tried. And the world had punished her for stepping out of line, as it did so many women, for having the audacity to want change.
Perhaps it was too much of a stretch to blame men for Elsa’s downfall. She’d brought this on herself, hadn’t she?
Isn’t that what they’ve always said about women? Sadie thought. That we bring it on ourselves? That we freely invite everything that comes our way?
Elsa had been shaped by the world she lived in, same as all of them. A man’s world.
“I don’t know, Georgia. I don’t know if a world like that is even possible, but I do know one thing: if we want to build a better one, genocide isn’t a particularly sound foundation.”
Georgia heaved a great sigh. “I know. I just wonder what that world might look like, that’s all. We’re lucky, I suppose. Derwold’s a good place to live, a hidden place. We can be who we want to be here. Mostly.”
“Mmm. I’ll miss it.”
Georgia traced the curve of Sadie’s breast with a finger. “When do you leave?“
“In a few days. I have a couple of loose ends to tie up first. My replacement at the school will need bringing up to speed, for one.“
“Oh, you found someone?“
“Yeah. She’s never taught before, and she’s awfully young, but I have a good feeling about her.“
Georgia was smirking.
“What?“ said Sadie. “I know that glint in your eye.”
“You have a key for the school, yeah?“
“I do.“
“No one goes in there during the summer holidays, right?“
“No. I’m the only one with a key. What are you up to, Georgia Newton?“
Georgia’s smile widened. “How would you like to play teacher one last time?“
6
Derwold’s school was really nothing more than a large hut with a single classroom, a small staff office, and a cloakroom. It sat on the plot next to the church, the classroom facing out onto a small playing field and the woods beyond. This was good. Because what Georgia had planned for that early Sunday evening, when most of the village’s other residents were sitting down to enjoy a traditional roast dinner, was not something for the eyes of unbelievers.
Georgia told Sadie to meet her at the school at 4 o’clock. She also told her to dress in her work attire, emphasising the importance of stockings and lacy panties. Not so strange – Sadie had always enjoyed wearing naughty lingerie at school, a fact of which Georgia was well aware.
Sadie played along, of course. When she pulled up in the school’s small carpark at a quarter to four, Georgia was already there, leaning on her own car with her arms folded. Freya and Millie were kicking a football around. They were wearing their school uniforms.
“Hello,” Sadie said wryly when she’d got out of her car and met up with Georgia.
“Hello, Miss Laine,” Georgia replied huskily. The beekeeper looked like she was all dressed up for a night on the town. A tight-fitting cream dress clung to her body, and she’d put on her white strappy heels.
“So… what are we all doing here?“ Sadie asked.
“I thought we could all indulge in a little… roleplay.“
“Oh, I see. And what ‘roles’ might we all be playing?“
Georgia played coy, the tip of a finger poised at one corner of her mouth. “Well… you’ll be the teacher. Obviously. Freya and Millie are your students, of course.“
“Of course. And you are?“
“Oh. I’m… the school inspector! I’ll be making sure everything’s, er, ship-shape. And generally just… you know, inspectoring.“
“I don’t think ‘inspectoring’ is a word.“
“I’ll be the judge of that if you don’t mind, Miss Laine.“
“I don’t like school inspectors much. Nobody likes school inspectors much.“
“Yes, well, I’m a very nice school inspector. I’ll just be observing from the sidelines while you go about your business. You won’t even know I’m there.“
“Very well. But I must warn you— sorry, I didn’t catch your name.“
“Miss Newton.“
“I must warn you, Miss Newton, my teaching methods are somewhat… unorthodox.“
“Oh, I’ve heard the rumours, Miss Laine. I’m afraid we’ve all heard the rumours back at the school inspector’s, uh, guild. Department. Headquarters?“
Sadie fished a key from her pocket and held it up. “Perhaps we should go inside and make a start, then.“
Georgia nodded gravely. “I think that would be best, yes.“
7
Inside the classroom, Sadie switched the light on, then closed the blinds. Freya and Millie took their seats at the front of the class, wearing coy little smirks.
Georgia sat in a chair just off to one side. She folded one leg across the other and rested both hands in her lap.
Sadie took her place behind her desk. “Well, here we are,” she said, drumming her fingers upon the varnished wood surface. She afforded Freya and Millie a stern appraisal. “Extra lessons for two very naughty girls. Do you know why you’re here?“
Freya and Millie looked at each other. They shook their heads.
“You were caught in the cloakroom with your knickers round your knees, weren’t you? Well, weren’t you?“
“Er… I suppose so?” said Freya.
“Yes, actually,” said Millie with an enthusiastic nod. “We were fingering each other. Weren’t we, Freya?“
“Oh. Yeah.“
Sadie gestured to Georgia. “This is Miss Newton. She’s a school inspector. She’ll be—”
“Inspecting?“ Freya ventured.
“Exactly. Say hello to the nice lady.“
Millie waved at her mother. “Hello, Miss Newton. It’s lovely to meet you.“
“Hi!” Freya said in a silly voice, sweeping a hand in a slow, wide arc in front of her.
“Hello, children,” Georgia cooed. “My, what pretty girls.“
“Well, then,” said Sadie. “Seeing as you both seem to think it’s appropriate to diddle each other in the cloakroom, I think a little sex education lesson might be in order. Now, come up here and stand in front of my desk.“
Freya and Millie pushed back their chairs and got to their feet. As they approached Sadie’s desk, Freya lifted the back of her skirt and flashed Georgia her knickers. She offered her mother a sassy pout.
“What an ill-mannered child,” Georgia opined.
Sadie circumnavigated her desk, her heels click click clicking upon the polished herringbone floor. “Bend over my desk,” she told the girls, and they complied. She lifted their skirts, leaving the plaid fabric draped across their backs. She gave each of their bums a light swat.
“Ow!“ Freya groused halfheartedly.
Millie peered back at her teacher with a naughty grin. “I quite like that. Do it again.“
Sadie gave Millie another spank, only this time she pulled her knickers to one side and slapped a bare arse cheek.
“How am I doing so far, Miss Newton?“ Sadie asked.
Georgia had allowed a hand to wander up to a breast, kneading it through the material of her smart dress. “I certainly don’t remember this being a part of the curriculum. But carry on, Miss Laine.“
“I told you my methods were rather unusual,” Sadie said. She gave the girls one last swat, then snaked a hand down between Freya’s thighs, rubbing the girl through her panties. When it was Millie’s turn, Sadie pulled the eight-year-old’s knickers high around her waist, the brilliant white cotton moulded tightly around her plump mons. Sadie locked eyes with Georgia as she trailed a finger through the narrow crease before bringing the offending digit to her nose to smell unashamedly.
Georgia hiked her dress up round her waist and spread her knees apart. Her knickers were lacy and semi-transparent. She dragged two fingers back and forth through the lips of her pussy.
“You’ll make a mess of those nice panties,” Sadie warned.
“Oh, I’m counting on it,” Georgia replied huskily.
“Can we take our knickers off now?“ Millie asked, her fingers already poised at the waistband.
“You can take your skirts off,” Sadie told them. “I’ll deal with your panties myself.“
The girls unclasped their plaid skirts, then stepped out of them. Sadie dropped to her knees and peeled Freya’s knickers down until they hung round her legs. She prised open her bum cheeks, moving to the side so Georgia could see the bright pink interior of her daughter’s cunt. She planted a single kiss on Freya’s arse, then sidled across to where Millie waited.
While Sadie tugged Millie’s knickers down, Georgia unhooked the top few buttons of her dress and scooped out her pillowy breasts. She dipped several fingers beneath her panties and into her cunt, then smeared the wetness across her nipples. She loved the smell of her own arousal. She loved watching her best friend do wicked things to her children, too.
Sadie squatted at Millie’s rear and spread the child’s arse open, peering back at Georgia with husky conviction. She snaked her tongue through the raw crease of Millie’s pussy and arse, leaving them glistening with saliva. She afforded Freya the same treatment, flicking her tongue through the delicate folds, then probing the girl’s arsehole.
Georgia pressed fingers into her sex, stuffing the crotch of her knickers inside. “Oh, you’re a dirty lady, Miss Laine,” she hissed. “Such a filthy, filthy teacher. I can see why my superiors were so concerned now.“
Sadie flashed her eyes at her lover, teeth bared in a wicked grin while her tongue flickered back and forth. This was the fantasy. The one that’d left so many pairs of her lacy knickers soaked through at the end of each day. Two little girls bent over her desk, panties round their knees. But that was only part of the fantasy, wasn’t it? There was more to act out.
“You can take your knickers off now,” Sadie told the girls, and while they eagerly tugged down their undies, she unbuttoned her blouse and slipped free of it, then pushed her skirt to the floor. Her lingerie was white and sheer. “Now that you’ve taken your own panties off,” she told her students, “you can remove mine for me.“
Freya and Millie folded to their knees at either side of Sadie and peeled the gossamer panties down her smooth, toned legs. Sadie stepped out of them, then sat back on her desk. She brought her heels (slutty pumps, Georgia liked to call them) up onto the wooden surface, and spread her legs to their limit. If that wasn’t a lewd enough invitation, she prised herself open like a curtain, the rose-coloured flesh of her sex taut and glistening.
Millie looked back at her mother and smirked, while Freya regarded Sadie’s open sex with unconcealed lust.
“Both of you… get down here and eat my cunt,” Sadie growled.
By now, Georgia had removed her own panties and was scrubbing them back and forth through her moist folds.
Freya and Millie drew closer to get at the rare treat proffered so wantonly by their teacher. They lapped at the musky flesh, tongues working as one as they moved up and down, up and down.
Sadie scooped out her breasts and lubricated her rubbery nipples with saliva. “Fuck yeah,” she snarled, then peered over at her students’ mother frigging herself on the chair. “How’d you like that, Miss Newton?“ she recited in a sing-song voice. “This is how we do it out here in the sticks.“
“It’s a very unusual method of teaching, Miss Laine,” Georgia replied. “But I approve wholeheartedly. Carry on.“
“You hear that, children?“ Sadie said, stroking the girls’ hair. “Miss Newton thinks we’re doing splendid work at our little school. If you show her how well you can make your teacher come, I’m sure she’ll give us an excellent rating.“
Millie stuffed her tongue into Sadie’s cunt. Freya nursed on Sadie’s clit. Moments later, Sadie came hard, pressing herself into the girls’ faces.
“Oh, fuck,” Georgia muttered as the first of her orgasms hit. “That has to be better than an apple on your desk.“
Freya turned to her mother, a hand toying between her legs. Her lips and chin were coated with Sadie’s nectar.
Georgia held up her knickers, the fabric sodden and creamy. “Want these?“
Freya nodded, so Georgia found her feet and brought the messy gift to her eldest, pressing them to her face. Freya sank back onto the desktop and closed her eyes, strumming her slit while she breathed in her mother’s rich scent.
Sadie climbed from the desk, nudged Millie back onto it, then took one of the youngster’s legs between her thighs, rubbing herself on a long, white pelerine sock, leaving it smeared with her juices.
Gazing lovingly at her teacher, Millie eased a finger into her own bum and worked it back and forth.
Georgia leaned across and kissed Sadie on the mouth.
“I love you, Georgia Newton,” Sadie groaned as they parted. “Fuck, how I love you.“
“I know,” Georgia replied. “And I’m worth every ounce of it.“
There were more climaxes that day in the humble little hut that served as Derwold’s only school. When the four of them finally reinstated their clothing and crept out of the building, all they left behind was the sweet scent of their lovemaking.
8
Two days before the new school term was due to begin, Georgia, Sadie, Freya and Millie were gathered in a forest clearing not far from the waterfall glade. Georgia stood behind Millie, hands resting on her youngest daughter’s shoulders. Freya and Sadie stood off to one side in respectful reverence, hands laced in front of them.
Astris, the Green Lady of Derwold, stood a short distance away.
“Do you remember the words?“ Sadie asked Georgia in a low voice. Her face was serious, her jaw set firm.
Georgia nodded.
“Then speak them.“
All of this flew in the face of Georgia’s better judgement. Allowing Sadie to instruct Millie in the ways of witchcraft had been one thing, but this… this was something else entirely. This was a fucking escalation. But what choice did she have as a mother? Sadie was leaving, and her youngest daughter needed guidance, the kind a mere beekeeper simply wasn’t equipped to offer.
But by God, if it needed to be done, it would be done on her terms.
Georgia cleared her throat and spoke. “I bring my daughter before the Dryad. I offer a mother’s consent. I grant you permission to instruct her, to nurture her as you have nurtured others before her. If this is the will of the Tuatha Dé Danann, then let it be done.“
Then, to Sadie’s horror, Georgia added a few amendments of her own. “Except on Sundays, birthdays, Christmas, dental appointments, and days when we’ve made other arrangements. Also, make sure she’s home by a reasonable time, because she has to get up early for school. Oh, and I’d prefer you didn’t teach my daughter anything especially dangerous. If she comes home missing any fingers or toes, you and I will be having words. Okay?“
“Omigod…” hissed Sadie. She closed her eyes and shook her head in despair. One simply did not talk to an ancient forest spirit like that.
Astris padded forward like an animal stalking its prey, her face like thunder. She afforded Georgia a scathing look. “Your terms are outrageous, Georgia Newton,“ she growled before her face softened by small degrees, “but I will agree to them.“
Then the dryad peered down at Millie. “You are the first we have nurtured in two millennia, and I suspect you will be the last. I will not make it easy for you, Millie Newton. Will you listen well to my instruction? Will you work hard?“
Millie gave her most enthusiastic nod. “I was Sadie’s best student, actually. And I’m definitely the cleverest in class.“
Freya rolled her eyes. She was trying hard to stop doing it, really she was, but bloody hell, if that didn’t deserve an eye-roll, nothing did.
Astris folded her arms and considered the child carefully. “We shall see.“
9
There was an atmosphere of anticipation in the classroom that went beyond the usual excited chatter that accompanied the first day of any new term.
Millie pulled out various bits of paraphernalia from her school rucksack, placing each item neatly on her desk. Pencil case. Ruler. Notepad. Calculator.
Her phone was vibrating in her pocket. They were supposed to turn their devices off in class, but Millie had promised Freya she’d leave it on. She pulled it out under the desk and saw her sister had left a message.
They’d seen Freya onto the bus earlier that morning, on her way to her new school just across the border into Wales. There’d been some talk of her boarding there, but it was only an hour’s journey, and Freya said she’d prefer to remain home and commute for now.
Millie read the text.
Well? Who’s your new teacher?
She typed a reply.
Dunno yet. What’s your new school like?
Big! Kind of scary, I guess, but exciting, too.
Okay. Sadie’s coming into the classroom now. I better go. See you tonight. Love you.
Love you too. Good luck!
Sadie entered the classroom to a chorus of, “Hello, Miss Laine! We thought you’d gone, Miss Laine! Did you change your mind about leaving, Miss Laine?!“
Sadie raised a hand. “All right, all right, settle down. I’m just here to introduce your new teacher. Everyone take your seats, please.“
The children parked themselves in place behind their respective desks. Several of them craned their necks in vain attempts to see who was waiting outside in the dark corridor.
“Boys and girls,” Sadie said. “I hope you’ll all be on your very best behaviour for my successor. If you’re not…” At this, Sadie wagged a finger, “…rest assured, I’ll be back to give you all a very stern talking to. Make me proud. And always remember to present the best version of yourselves.“
Sadie gestured to the open door. “Please welcome Derwold’s new teacher – Miss Ellis!“
Hailey came through the door and presented herself to the class, leaving Millie absolutely flabbergasted. If that wasn’t shock enough, there was also the fact that Hailey had a baby strapped to her chest.
Where on earth did she get a baby from? Millie knew enough about human procreation to be absolutely certain infants didn’t reach full term and emerge into the world in a few short weeks. There had been no baby when Millie had last seen Hailey, not even any talk of one. Was she looking after it for a friend?
Everyone was making cooing noises at the babe. Millie caught Hailey’s eye and gave her a discreet little wave. Hailey mouthed hi from across the classroom, accompanied by a knowing smile that left the child light-headed.
Millie tapped out a covert text message to her sister under the table.
Omigod, you’ll never guess who my new teacher is!
10
Sadie Laine packed the last of her belongings into the boot of her car – the essentials, at least. Hailey would look after the rest. In particular, she’d been at great pains to stress the need for proper care of her beloved books.
“You’re welcome to read them, but don’t bend the covers back, it damages the spine,” she had told Hailey. “And never put mugs of hot liquid on them, that’s a big no-no. Oh, and dust them now and again. Books like to be dusted.“
There were several more things to consider:
“If the boiler starts clunking, you have to run the hot water tap for a few minutes. If you don’t, there’s a good chance the cottage will blow up. If you hear scratching noises in the eaves, it’s just birds nesting up there, maybe the odd rat or two. Cows sometimes find their way into the garden from the farm next door. Just shooing them away usually works. And don’t fall down the well!“
Now Georgia was peering into the boot of the car with the thorough scrutiny only a mother can command. “Have you got everything you need?”
“Yes, Georgia.”
“A warm jumper?”
“Yes, Georgia.”
“Enough pillows?”
“Yes, Georgia.”
“Plenty of knickers?”
“Yes, Georgia.”
The two of them regarded each other in silence for a few moments, then burst into laughter.
Sadie pulled her friend and lover into a warm embrace. “I love you, Georgia Newton.”
Georgia nodded solemnly. “Come back to us,” she whispered.
“Always.”
When they’d parted, Georgia gestured discreetly to Hailey, who was standing near the cottage bouncing baby Rita in her arms. “Can she be trusted?”
“Absolutely,” Sadie said.
“What’s going on with that baby, anyway? I’m sure she’s doubled in size since yesterday.”
“Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but yeah, she does seem to be quite the grower.”
“And they found her inside a dead mermaid, you say?” Georgia screwed her face up. “Are you sure this new teacher isn’t having you on? My nan used to tell me they found me in a cabbage patch when I was a baby.”
Sadie shook her head matter-of-factly. “No, no, she’s telling the truth. But it was a siren, not a mermaid. I’ve explained the difference between mermaids and sirens. Several times.”
“I don’t like it,” Georgia decided. “It’s weird.”
“Be nice. Hailey might need some help in the future.”
Freya and Millie were saying their goodbyes to Billy Buckham, who didn’t seem fussed one way or the other. Sadie wandered over and folded to her knees.
“You’re going to tell us to be good, aren’t you?” Freya said with a wry smile.
“Oh, aren’t you the smart arse,” Sadie retorted. “Actually, I have a task for you both.”
“A task?” Millie said.
Sadie glanced back at Hailey and the babe for a moment. When she turned back to Freya and Millie all her humour had gone. “Look out for Rita. I’m assigning you both as her guardians.”
Freya made a face. “Uh, we don’t really know much about babies.”
“Well, that’s the thing,” said Sadie. “I have a feeling she won’t be a baby for long. Just… just be there for her, okay? I can’t trust anyone else with this.”
Millie was regarding the infant with interest. She bunched a fist against her chest. “I will train the child,” she declared. “She will become a great warrior under my mastery!”
Sadie got to her feet. “Right. Good. Or maybe just read her bedtime stories. Whatever works for you.” She kissed the girls on their brows. “Anyway, we can all keep in touch on our phones. It’s not as if I’m going to the Antarctic.”
Sadie slammed the boot of her car shut, then peered back at the little roundhouse with a tear in her eye. She’d been happy here, but had come to realise that happiness wasn’t always enough. Sometimes there needed to be a measure of struggle in life, a little hardship to help us discover who we are and what we’re truly capable of.
Leaving was hard. But staying would only eat away at her.
Besides, there was work to be done. She needed to find out what happened to the covens, why they were so suddenly abandoned. And if there were others like her out there, those of her lineage, Sadie would seek them out.
But you already cast one of your own aside, didn’t you? a voice in her head reminded her. Elsa reached out to you and what did you tell her? “I can’t be your friend.“ Are you sure you made the right decision?
She’d vowed to take responsibility for Elsa, but what did that actually mean? To drive Elsa off? Maybe even to end her life?
No. It meant taking her under your wing, and you know it. That’s why you feel like such a coward, isn’t it? You offered her friendship, then took it back because the prospect of taking responsibility for someone like Elsa was too frightening, too complicated. You wanted a nice neat ending. One where the wicked witch gets her comeuppance and the good guys live happily ever after.
Well, nothing to be done about it now. Elsa was gone. But there might be other Elsas out there. Sadie wasn’t so naïve to believe all witches were pretty schoolteachers who brewed love potions. It was time to step up, to start thinking about what was needed, instead of wanted. There might very well be tough decisions to be made.
Hadn’t Elsa said something like that once?
But I’m not Elsa. I’ll never be Elsa. I’m Sadie Laine.
Sadie pulled the acorn from her coat pocket. Its weight was reassuring in the palm of her hand. She turned it this way and that, then slipped it back inside her coat.
She climbed into her car. Billy Buckham regarded her stoically from the passenger seat.
“Here we go then, grumpy boy. Onwards and upwards.“
Sadie Laine keyed the ignition and drove away from the village of Derwold.
11
Millie Newton stands alone in the forest.
Her eyes are shut tightly. She reaches out and allows the cool breeze to caress the palms of her hands. Shutting everything else out, she pinpoints her senses on the rustling leaves in the trees. But when she listens, she really listens.
Because the trees whisper memories. The trees remember. And Millie Newton understands the subtle language of trees, for she is of the Tuatha Dé Danann.
The currents of the world are shifting, the trees tell her. A monumental change is underway. More and more, women begin to turn away from men and look to each other for comfort and intimacy. Fewer children are born, and of those, nature begins to favour female offspring. Of those born male, an increasing number are sterile and will be unable to father children of their own. Nature is fighting back. The world is unravelling.
The trees whisper other secrets: The last of the Tuatha are out there somewhere, scattered and alone. They must be brought back together, for the knowledge they keep will be much needed in the years to come.
Millie opens her eyes and walks on. A dark shape emerges from the trees and takes its place by her side. She lets her hand wander across its black fur. They’ve been meeting in the forest for some time now. They have an understanding.
“Hello, Serene,” Millie says, because that is the panther’s name in the human tongue.
Together, the young witch and her familiar head towards the waterfall glade where the dryad awaits.
The End
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