All The Dark Places

42. Wax & Salt

    It was clear to her what had to be done to keep them all safe. There were more like Winston and Noel Leeky out there, and if her group had special abilities then others did too. What would happen when they clashed? She could not bear to think of being given the opportunity for greatness and turning it down. It seemed a terribly selfish thing to do. Her newfound powers could keep them safe, and perhaps if the group of people she was beginning to think of as family had powers too... well, they could all together thrive. Somehow, Felicia had communed with one of those creatures and it had communicated to her which of the needles were safe and which would turn a human being into some mutation like the horse that threw Martin. A stroke of luck like that should not be ignored. Rosalind counted out the needles on a linen napkin. Twenty-eight of them, a staggering number. She wondered how many of the creatures Felicia had befriended. Assuming they each had six needles, that would be five, and she shuddered when she thought of those things with Felicia.

"Tomorrow night, meet me in the tower room, all of you. Any of you who wants one of these. We'll talk it over, and we'll take care of each other. There is a sickness you get with it, and sometimes it feels like you're dying. Arnav took care of me. It didn't hit him nearly as hard. We can do this, all of us."

They were quiet a long while, and Martin smiled as the fever started.

"I already feel like I'm dying."

The group left, leaving the Yearlings to have some privacy as much as possible. Rosalind charged Ramona and Deka with getting extra towels, linens and supplies from the castle to bring to the post office clinic. She delegated tasks throughout the day while helping with the clean up which had made everyone slow down to a shocked and awed pace. Finding a wicker basket in the parlor, she searched the kitchen and supply pantry for candles, finding several boxes of colored Christmas tapers in a box at the back of the shelves. She picked out a blue, red, green and white candle and then spent an hour dripping wax from each onto a saucer plate and inserting the wick she had pulled out of another. That would have to do for the marbled candle. She added salt and a piece of chalk, then her makeshift mirror dagger she had created at the rectory. At four in the afternoon, she made her way to the castle courtyard where she saw a large group convening, waiting nervously to hear her explanation. She stood up on a platform that in past years had been for the use of bands and other performers. She felt the boards creak under her feet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming," she said, and the crowd hushed. More people came in, the crowd swelling until almost the entire village was there, and she had to shout to be heard in the back. "It is obvious to us all I am sure, that extraterrestrial or unearthly forces are at work here."

"Aliens!" someone yelled.

"It's God's plan!" another countered.

"Somehow," She decided not to tell them how she got the powers, only that she had them. "I myself and others have been given certain abilities. We are still learning about our abilities. Some of them are a mystery to us. Where the come from and how they are used, but I promise you that all of us plan to use these abilities for the protection of this village and the people residing in it."

"So, you've got magical powers," Song Han nodded near the front. "How do they work?"

"I can make a noise that causes pushback. A lot of you saw that in the church and could see how it works. I won't demonstrate that here as it might harm someone. I can also tell when someone is lying."

"Bollocks!" said a bearded man. "Prove it."

She gestured to Scott.

"Scott, do you mind?"