could use one of them to help catch them. After all, two witches were better than one, right?
There was a familiar clanging sound a few streets away.
“Well, that’s the end of lunch,” said Lucy. She got up and brushed off her skirt. “Don’t worry, Sal. She’ll come around.”
“Let’s hope so,” I said.
“She will if you keep trying and do your best. Don’t be so negative.” She straightened her kerchief and dabbed on a bit of lipstick. “Thanks for the pie,” she said with a smile. Then she set off toward the school, and I headed back to the church and the five pages of unfinished Futhark on my desk, the penny in my pocket glowing just a little brighter.
That night, after dinner, I pulled the Booke out from under my pillow, flipping to the place I’d left off the night before.
DOWSING: also known as divining. A form of divination employed for the finding of objects, elements, or spirits. Though some types of witches are stronger dowsers than others, dowsing can be done by most types, to some degree. All that is needed is an Imbued Object.
I pulled my penny out and held it in my hand, where it thrummed quietly, simmering with my own unidentified magic.
First, you must form a method of communication with your Object. Simply ask it to show you yes and no. Then use these commands to find lost objects. Dowsing is something that can only be perfected through trial and error, so practice is vital to its success.
All right, I thought. Here we go. I took the penny in my hand and asked it, “Um… could you show me a yes?” To my surprise, it gave one short pulse of power in my hand. My heart raced. I was communicating with it.
“What’s a no, then?” I asked, sitting up on the bed.
It pulsed twice, two bumblebee buzzes in my hand.
I asked it a few questions, just for practice. Am I a girl? (Yes.) Do I have black hair? (No.) Are there three dresses in my closet? (Yes.) And every time, the thrum of magic was strong and sure and effortless. Dowsing, unlike the other spells I’d attempted, was coming easily to me.
If used as a pendulum, an Object can indicate direction as well as any dowsing rods, I read.
I remembered how Mother Morevna had found the Dowsing Well, how she had taken the black pendulum and it had pointed to exactly the place the Well stood now. I remembered how that same black pendulum had pointed at me out of everyone in Elysium. The tiny whirlwind and the flames and the quiet shoes were fun, but Dowsing was something that had real, practical use. I fumbled through my chest of drawers until I came out with a piece of twine. This I tied around the penny and hung around my neck, a sad, cheap imitation of Mother Morevna’s pendant.
“Show me left,” I told it, and it swung immediately to the left.
“Now the right,” I said, and it swung to the right.
“Um… how about north?” I asked, and, sure enough, it swung outward toward the north, holding itself outward from my chest.
“Can you… can you find the thieves?” I asked, my voice soft and hesitant.
Suddenly, the penny shot straight out from my chest, straining its twine like a bloodhound on a leash. It pointed toward my door as though leading me, pulling me downstairs.
“What, really?” I asked it. “You can find them?”
It thrummed once. Yes.
My heart sped. I can do this, I thought. I can really do this. I can find them. And then she’ll have to take me seriously. I tore open the curtain and looked outside. The sky was clear and dark over the walls, and one by one, I saw the lamps in the windows of each house wink themselves out. I threw a dress on over my nightgown and put the Booke in my pocket. I pulled on some stockings and slid into my boots. I sneaked downstairs, boots magically quiet over the planks, and went out into the night, the penny around my neck softly pulling me onward.
Through the empty streets, I followed the penny as it led me this way and that, toward the northeast. It pulled me forward, glowing brightly in the dark, and eagerly I followed. But just as we approached the wall, the penny started to go wild. It began to move in short, hesitating jerks, first one direction, then another, as though it were confused. As though