"A little crazy at your end of the continent too?"
"Ooooh, yeah. Lots of witchlings excited to make the trip. I think half the village is coming with them. They're beaming over in an hour." Sophie nodded at the shiny red helmet. "I assume there's a bike to go along with that?"
There was, as long as her brothers managed to vanish themselves long enough to get the wheels on. "He grew out of the helmet you guys made for his broomstick. Kid's growing like a weed." It had taken her a week to load this one up with protection spells. Mostly for the poor people who were dumb enough to get in Aervyn's way.
"I think Marcus made him a spell for his fire truck."
Nell wasn't dumb enough to hope it was a quiet one. "He realizes that we're going to get even for all these things, right?" Most of Marcus's gifts lately - and any gifts at all were astonishing - were very loud.
"He doesn't seem to care." Sophie sipped from her mug and made a face. "Morgan played drums half the night last night, and he was downright cheery this morning."
Her world couldn't adapt far enough to consider a cheery Marcus. Nell sniffed. "You have hot chocolate?" She side-eyed the solitary mug.
"Yup. Trust me, you don't want any. Lizzie's experimenting again."
Ah. Disguised green stuff. Nell abandoned her dreams of chocolaty goodness. "You're drinking it."
"Not anymore, I'm not." Sophie looked around. "The Witches' Lounge is in need of a big plant."
Noted. On the list for after solstice. Way after. "Did Moira make it back from her travels?" Keeping track of one old Irish witch wasn't as easy as it sounded. "Beth emailed that she'd headed back your way."
"Back and napping. I'm supposed to wake her for the mass transport."
Jamie'd been up half the night making sure they wouldn't lose any travelers. "Anyone snagged her spare bedroom?"
"I think that's where Kevin's holed up. Moira brought him a couple of books from Chicago." Sophie grinned. "Need a hideout, do you?"
She did. She had a fantastic idea for a solstice spell, but it needed some thinking time. Which was going to happen exactly nowhere in Witch Central, and they left for Ocean's Reach in two hours.
"Got your spell ready yet?"
Nell eyed her companion. "What, you suddenly have mindreading skills?"
"Nope." Sophie laughed and came over to man the tape dispenser. "You were wiggling your fingers."
That probably wasn't helping with the wrap job any. Nell took a piece of tape, grateful for the assist. Lumpy, sort-of-round things were hard to wrap. "Yeah, I have an idea, but I'm not sure I can make it work. Think we can sit the outer circle in pretty organized lines?"
Sophie's eyebrows shot up. "Dare I ask why?"
"Not telling." It would be a secret under normal circumstances - doubly so when she wasn't sure she could actually pull it off. "I could ask Nat." Her sister-in-law was a rocking witch herder.
"You could. Or you could just ask them." Sophie smiled. "Your solstice spells are little miracles, Nell. People will do whatever you ask."
That was an embarrassing thought. "I just have a little fun with them."
"Everyone talked about last year's spell for weeks."
That one had been high on outside assistance, low on magic. "All I did was a glorified book of baby pictures." The shooting-them-up-to-the-sky part had been pretty cool, though.
A warm hand reached for hers. "Every time I look up at the sky now, I see Adam's face. Or Mike's."
Awww. "Okay, that's pretty sweet."
Sophie squeezed lightly. "You love spinning the solstice spell more than any witch I know."
Nell sighed and squeezed back. She did. And this year, she was going to love it especially much. Even if she had to barricade herself in a closet to get the darned spell worked out.
It was time to truly welcome a witch.
-o0o-
Ocean's Reach always stirred her soul.
Moira walked the winding path that would carry them to the valley under the stars, a steady stream of Fisher's Cove villagers walking the route in front of her.
Fire globes were popping up here and there in the curving procession. The sun had gone down with