up in the dying light, studying its shape one more time. Perhaps this one had been part of a bottle sitting on the dressing table of a fine lady in Venice, or one crossing the Atlantic on a ship. It might have been tossed overboard, or the ship come to an untimely end. And then the broken pieces of glass had tumbled in the ocean waters, fighting with pebbles and sand to come to rest at last on a lonely Nova Scotia beach, perhaps waiting centuries for her eyes to find it.
Elorie made a mental note to have some friends over for dinner soon. Getting all misty-eyed about her glass was a sure sign she’d been too much of a hermit lately. It was for a good cause; she had a growing pile of gorgeous new work ready for the Art Fair in San Francisco.
It was rare for her to venture beyond the borders of her home province, but under Aaron’s gentle pressure, she’d submitted her designs to the continent’s most prestigious art show and been selected for one of their emerging artist slots. It was a high honor, and quite a bump in her nice, stable life.
Truth be told, it was rather terrifying.
Since the natural light was now entirely gone, she gave up trying to finalize the setting for Gran’s necklace and began to tidy her workspace. She always left one work-in-progress lying on her desk as inspiration for the next day. With a last touch to the jewel-blue glass, cooling now without her fingers to keep it warm, she started the more mundane tasks of organizing her tools and sweeping the floor.
Her laptop pinged with an incoming instant message, Aaron’s solution to having to leave the inn to get her attention. Seemed a little silly when a shout out the back door would work, but evidently she’d ignored one too many of those. Dinner was probably ready. She sat down at the computer to let him know she’d be up to the house shortly.
Nell: The spell is fetching someone now… her name is Elorie.
Sophie: Hello, Elorie, and welcome to Witches’ Chat. We’re delighted to have you join us!
Elorie: What a nice surprise! Hello Nell, Sophie. I’ve heard all about your chat room from Gran. I can’t stay for long—I was just about to let Aaron know I was on my way up for supper.
Moira: Hello, my sweet girl. It’s good to have you here, and a wee bit of a surprise, as well. Nell’s fetching spell must have misfired. We were looking for some new witches for our chat. Perhaps one of the students was on your computer earlier.
Elorie: That wouldn’t be a surprise. Kevin’s fascinated by anything electronic.
Nell: Hang on a minute; I’m looking at the code now. Sorry, Elorie—not sure what went wrong. It’s nice to “see” you again, however.
Sophie: Your show’s coming up soon, isn’t it?
Elorie: It is. I’ll be heading out in less than a week now. Nell, do you still have room for me to stay with you?
Nell: We always have room. If you want a little more quiet, though, Jamie and Nat would be happy to have you. Their house is starting to look pretty lived in, but it could use a guest or two to get rid of the new house smell.
Elorie: Either one is fine, and appreciated.
Nell: So, I hate to ask a dumb question, but the code for the fetching spell is getting a clear power reading on your end, Elorie.
Moira: Well, it can’t be from Elorie. If she were a witch, we’d have detected it long since.
Elorie: Maybe a student, then?
Nell: No, the spell is specific to an individual, not a computer. And it’s an untrained power signature again. Kevin’s had enough training that his would look more like the actively practicing witches we’ve been chatting with lately.
Elorie: I don’t understand what that means.
Nell: It means my code is suggesting you’re an untrained witch, but that doesn’t make any sense.
Sophie: Has anyone run a scan on you lately, Elorie?
Elorie: We both got scanned often enough growing up. You can’t possibly believe I’ve got magic now, Soph.
Sophie: I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. I know it was hard for you then, and I’m really sorry we’ve managed to stick our finger in it again somehow.
Elorie: It was a long time ago, and no apologies needed. I’m happy your magic grew, and I stopped crying about the lack of mine a long time ago. And now I really do need to