Clara brushed her fiery red hair back before throwing on her cloak and pulling up the hood. “So, where are we headed?”

  “To Annabelle’s place,” I replied as I pulled open the door and held it for her. The streets were full of people again, going about their business. It was impressive how fast the village recovered after almost being destroyed by a cataclysmic force of nature.

  “Why do you want to talk to Annabelle? She’s a little out of the loop,” Clara asked, as we maneuvered around a couple of small groups chatting in the street.

  “Even if she’s out of the loop, she is one of the founding members of the community. She should know something. Besides, she and Lady Adel are twins; perhaps she can give us some insight on why Lady Adel distrusts the government so much. If the council had sent someone west, and reported what happened to Thyra to the authorities, the coven wouldn’t be facing this threat right now,” I replied quietly. “I don’t suppose Lady Adel ever told you the reason the coven came all the way out here?”

  Clara shook her head. “No, and I was far too young to actually remember the trip. I always assumed it was just to get away from the bigger, more established covens. To have some freedom.”

  “I guess because you grew up within the coven, the reason they migrated out here didn’t matter that much, until now.”

  Clara nodded quietly as the two of us slipped out the southern gate of the village. We swiftly made our way back down the trail to the crossroads, before heading up into the hills. Now that I knew what to expect, I paced myself better on the way up. By the time we arrived back at Annabelle’s cabin, I wasn’t even out of breath.

  Annabelle was sitting on the edge of the porch, smoking her pipe on the porch. As soon as she saw us, she waved lightly. “I didn’t expect to see you girls again so soon. Did something happen?”

  I paused for a moment. “A whole lot has happened. Hasn’t anyone come by since yesterday?”

  “The only ones that make the trek up here are either delivering supplies, or looking for medicine. Come, take a seat, tell me what’s got you all riled up!” Annabelle declared, patting the porch next to her.

  “Yesterday Clara and I went out hunting, and ran into a couple of goons walking the perimeter,” I explained as I made my way up to the house. Annabelle raised an eyebrow, but didn’t interrupt. “They were torturing a couple girls, forcing them to use their magic to test the wards.”

  Annabelle snorted. “Sounds familiar.”

  “It should; the goons were working for the Graves company. The same group that captured Thyra a couple of years ago.”

  “So why come to me? She can probably tell you more about that bunch than I can,” Annabelle muttered.

  “Because one of the things she told us was Lady Dyer wouldn’t allow anyone to travel to the east, and report their actions. We were wondering if you could tell us why?”

  Annabelle leaned back, and took a long pull from her pipe. “I’m sorry, girls, but that’s one bit of history I won’t go into. Too many old wounds I’m not willing to reopen.”

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  “Even if it could help protect the Coven?” Clara asked quietly.

  “Even then,” Annabelle confirmed. “I will say this though: Experience has taught us that trusting the powers that be is dangerous. Even if we did send someone east, and that person somehow managed to contact someone high enough up the chain to get help, we have no guarantee that the government will intervene. And if they did, that they’d be on our side. We’re just a small coven caught in a backwater conflict; what incentive do they have to help us?”

  “Graves stole the armor and weapon designs from the Witch Hunters, something they’ve been very secretive about in the past. They’d want to deal with that issue before it becomes a problem,” I pointed out.

  “Oh, the government will probably want to deal with that issue sooner or later, but answer me this: what would benefit them more, dealing with Graves' private army the instant they hear about it, or waiting until they’ve finished the railway and taking care of them then?”

  Annabelle slowly rose from her chair and walked to the edge of the porch, where she turned her pipe over and gently tapped it against one of the supports to clear it out. “We came out here knowing that if we got into trouble, we would be completely on our own. If those wannabe Witch Hunters decide they want to pick a fight, we’ll give them one.”

  “And what if we can’t win?” Clara whispered.

  “Then we’ll at least buy enough time for the younger members to escape. We do have a couple contingencies in place, in case the worst happens, but we’ve also had twenty years to prepare. We won’t go down easy, no matter what those low lifes throw at us.” Annabelle sighed, and slipped the pipe into her apron. “Now, if that’s all, I feel the need to lie down for a while. Thank you for coming today.”

  “I suspect that Graves knows you're sick,” I said as Annabelle turned back towards the front door, “and that’s the reason they’ve become more brazen.”

  “Well, I don’t know how that’s possible. Barely anyone in the Coven knows I’m sick,” Annabelle replied quietly.

  “Almost everyone knows you’re sick. They’re just pretending not to since you’ve been doing your best to hide it,” Clara declared.

  “Well… that’s extremely sweet of them, but it’ll also make the next time I talk to any of them extremely awkward,” Annabelle muttered. “So why are you bringing this up?

  “Is there anything we can do to help? Anything at all? Your granddaughter went out looking for rare medicine, right?”

  Annabelle sighed and turned back towards Clara and me. “I’m afraid Dakota and Cheyanne went chasing after an old wives tale—lizard tails have about as much medicinal value as a pile of dung. I would have burned that book they were reading, if it didn’t have a decent section on aquatic plants. No, I’m afraid I’m already treating myself with the best herbs we have available. I’d probably already be cured if it wasn’t for all the magic in my system. The same magic that’s prolonging my life is also causing the tuberculosis to reproduce faster than the medication can kill it.”

  “Right now, the disease is under control, and if I keep taking the meds, I should be able to keep it suppressed long enough for it to slowly die off, but if I get as much as a cold, the TB will probably take advantage of the shock to my system and grow out of control. It’ll spiral out of control.”

  I looked at the woman, who looked a lot older and frail than she did the last time I’d visited. She was afraid.

  “I… could try and destroy the disease within you,” I hesitantly suggested. “My powers don’t encourage growth, so they won’t cause the TB to propagate, but I’ve never targeted something that small before. I’ve destroyed bullets, but never a disease. I could cause more harm than good.”

  “I appreciate the offer, but I’m fine for now,” Annabelle replied with a sad smile. “There may be a day when I ask for your help, but not today. Now, I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m quite exhausted, and I’d like to go lay down,” Anabelle declared. She turned once more to head inside, but paused long enough to say one last thing. “I’m sorry I couldn’t give you the answers you wanted, but hopefully I danced around the issue enough that you sort of understand our situation. Good luck dealing with those hooligans, and make sure you work with Thalia if you plan on doing anything to our defenses. My sister and I sprinkled a few surprises around, and I’d hate for you to get hurt messing with something you shouldn’t. Have a good day.”

  With that, she slowly made her way back to the cabin, closing the door behind her.

  “Well, now I feel bad,” Clara mumbled. “We came all this way, only to ask Annabelle about two sensitive topics and tire her out. We didn’t even learn anything that would help us protect the coven.”

  “That’s not entirely true,” I declared. “I was counting on the government intervening in this conflict, if they learned what Grimes was doing, but I was probably a little too optimistic about that. I’ve only dealt with Witch Hunters from a position of strength, with an old established Coven at my back. We might be on our own, if Graves decides to attack.”

  “That doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence,” Clara said.

  “Yeah, well, it’s better to be realistic with our chances, and do the best we can than be overly optimistic, and come up short. That was my mistake. Come on, let’s find Thalia and talk defenses.”

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