“Amy.” Carly ran after me, her sweet voice calling my name, and I skidded to a stop. “Yeah, sweet pea?” I panted. The need to protect her warred with my need to take care of her.
She pointed to a box on the fridge. “Daddy told me to show you the box.” She bounced on her toes. “He said it was important, but I forgot about it till now.” She looked worried.
“It’s okay, baby girl. You did great.” I ran back to the box and pulled it down. Another note was taped to it. I wanted to laugh, because the man thought of everything. I brought it to the table, and Toya stood up from the couch when I slammed the box down.
“What’s going on?” She walked over to us and patted Carly on her head. “Are you okay?” I opened the box only to find more herbs and four little statues. “What’s this stuff for?”
But I knew. This was the start of a new barrier spell. I grabbed everything from the box and thought back to the spell in the book. The herbs were here. The statues were here. There was a lock of hair from everyone in the house that needed cloaking. But everything else is here.
“A barrier spell.” I put everything back into the box and then went for a pair of scissors. I dropped them off at the table and then ran upstairs to Carly’s room and grabbed the bag of small rubber bands that I used in her hair today, and made my way back to the table. “Guys, I need you down here for a minute.” I dropped the bag on the table and pulled my hair free.
“What are you doing?” I sectioned a tiny portion of my hair off and braided it. Toya came closer. “Why are you braiding your hair?”
“Come over here, baby girl.” I waved my hand as I grabbed the scissors. Then I cut the braid from my head and chucked it into the box. Carly came over to me. “I have to do the same to you, baby.” “Okay.” She turned, and I undid her hair. “Why, though?”
“I’m going to use it in a spell to keep us safe.” I looked at everyone. “I need a piece from all of you, too. Just in case you come and visit, I don’t want someone able to trace you here,” I explained, but my friends were already braiding their hair.
Toya just took the scissors and cut one of her braids off. “There.” She smiled as she tossed it into the box. One by one, my friends tossed a chunk of their own hair into the box. I finished the tiny braid at Carly’s nape and cut it off, then I quickly redid her hair. “Look at how pretty you are. You can’t even tell.” Toya smiled as she pinched Carly’s cheek, earning a giggle. Then she turned to me. “What are our next steps? For the spell, I mean.”
I kissed Carly’s head and then grabbed the box. “Wendy, grab the big metal bowl from the counter.” “The one with the fruit?” “Yeah. Just leave the fruit, and fill it with water. Please and thank you.” I turned to Carly. “We always say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ because it’s…” “The nice thing to do?” She looked at me, confused.
I smiled and nodded. “Exactly.” Then I headed to the door.
Outside, I put the box down and looked at the sun. It was easy behind the house, and I realized the view from the front deck, the swing there, would be amazing. The sunset over the ocean. I made a vow to watch it later tonight. But right at this moment, I needed the northern point.
It’s to the left. Nix nudged me that way.
“How do you know?” I started around the side of the house as Megan and Nix laughed.
We are wolves. We know our directions.
I shook my head but kept walking. I wasn’t sure where I needed to be, but when I took one more step, I knew. This is where I needed to be. I dropped to my knees and pulled everything out of the box. Everyone froze beside me as I put everything onto the ground, kicking up a small amount of dirt into the air.
“Um, Amy?” Toya started.
“Hanna, can you get me some wood? I need a little fire.” I cleared off a spot and looked back to the cabin.
“Amy?”
“Hanna? Can you bring two big rocks from the garden over here? I need to suspend the metal bowl over the fire.” I organized everything again.
I heard footsteps, and I looked up to see Wendy. “I got the bowl.”
“AMY!” Toya screamed, finally snapping my attention to her.
“What?” I sat back on my feet.
“Do you realize where we are?” Toya looked around.
“North?” I was still focused on the spell.
“My daddy died here.”