The Binding Witch and The Fortune Taker

An Understanding

Indira and I headed back to the fairgrounds.

Most of the Rennies had turned in for the night. Campfires burned down to smoking embers and the familiar crickets, cicadas and bullfrogs were in full concert. An owl hooted. "Eastern Screech-Owl of the Megascops asio family!" I whispered.

Indira snuck glances at me and guided me back on the path while the unique calls of at least a dozen other birds drew my attention. I knew them all.

We rounded a stand of pines and ran smack into my mother.

"Mom!" I said.

"Kate!" Mom screamed and grabbed me to her chest. "I'm so sorry, my love! I should have noticed something going on with my own daughter! I was just so caught up with the Bindan..." her voice faltered as she bit back a sob. "I came as soon I could after I pried your message out of that stupid, stupid man."

I steadied myself and hugged her back. I breathed in her perfume of ylang-ylang and patchouli. The smell told me I was home. "I'm okay, Mom. Really."

"It won't happen again." Mom said. "My own daughter..."

"I don't blame you, Mom." I squeezed her one last time and pulled away. "I fixed it. It's all okay now, see?" I did a pirouette.

Mom shook her head and blinked back tears.

"Don't cry, Mom."

She sniffed once more and her face turned stoney. "What happened?" She was all business-witch now.

I took a deep breath so I could give her the information to help her focus on healing everybody else and not go after stupid Miri, who was probably halfway to the East Texas border right now. I didn't care about her anymore. I only wanted to help the other victims and the thing is, Mom can get a little revengy.

"Lily and Ella were right." I said. "They did get whammied, and a whole bunch of other people did too, me included. And there are some talismans that take people's good fortune. She got really powerful from all of the fortunes she took and attacked Indira, but that basically zapped her power." I looked at Indira for her take on it.

"More or less," she said, and rubbed the red spot on her chest.

I took a deep breath through the wave of guilt over Indira's injury.

"Right. So she wanted to give me back mine, so we did that. She gave it back." I dug the coins out of my pocket and showed them to Mom. They glistened in the moonlight, as if ready for another fortune. "She said she thought all of the fortunes transferred back to me when she gave me the coins."

Mom sucked in her breath. Her face paled in the moonlight as she stared at the coins.

My eyes grew wide. "What, Mom?"

"I thought I told you not to..." she blew out a ragged breath, "I told you not to get involved!" She ran her hand through her hair and paced a circle in front of us.

Indira leaned forward and reached for the coins.

I jerked my hand away. I didn't need any more fortunes in here than I already had, though Indira's Kalari-whatever would be very cool. "Don't touch! That's how it gets transferred!" That, and a few words of a spell, but I didn't want to tempt fate. Or fortune.

Indira hopped back. "Sorry!" She cocked her head at my Mom and narrowed her eyes. "Clea, you have seen before?"

I caught Mom's glare at Indira and short shake of her head.