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“Yeah, he’s turned into a total guard dog,” Sunny replied, looking back at him.
“Oh, how lovely,” Rowena said in a dizzy voice, from the back seat. “I wish I had a guard dog like Cullen.”
“Its lovely, but be careful what you wish for while these two are listening.” Sunny gave a slightly hysterical laugh. “Make sure it’s something you really want.”
“You got what you wanted though, didn’t you, Sunny?” Willow quizzed.
“I did, and I wouldn’t change Cullen for the world.” Of that fact she was sure. The rest, not so much. She was still reeling from Eben’s tutorial the day before. What would today bring?
At first it had been theoretical learning, but as the days went by they were throwing her in at the deep end with tasks beyond her wildest imagination, challenging her repeatedly. They told her, rather euphemistically, they were building up her repertoire. That almost made it sound normal.
She’d finally accepted her gift, but she felt as if she were in shock. In one sense her life was in tatters, the web design start-up business on hold, and the house brimming with unfinished renovations and unpacked boxes—and to top it all her parents were due soon. Nevertheless, priorities had taken over and she’d vowed to concentrate hard on every lesson they presented her with.
A few minutes later they traveled up the steep and narrow lane leading to the cliff tops. Sunny peered out the window, remembering how mere days ago she and Cullen had hidden in the caves below these cliffs. But that was really long ago, back in time, back in 1820. The caves and the cliffs were still here though. It raised so many questions about the nature of time, and place, and the endurance of nature.
When they got out of the car, Sunny looked around the beautiful cliff top and breathed in the air.
Willow joined her. “It’s such a special place. Here you feel the eternity of nature, and know we’re servants of it.”
Aveline nodded. “That we are,” she agreed, “our responsibility is to care.”
“It’s good to know your place in Mother Nature’s world,” Willow added, and put her hand on Sunny’s shoulder, giving her a gentle squeeze. “Now, I hope you’re feeling brave this morning.”
Sunny mustered a smile. “Not really, do I have to be brave today?”
The three women gathered around her.
“Eben tells us you’ve mastered the gift of levitating an object,” Willow said, ignoring her question.
“Apparently so, and I did as he said, I tried to communicate with nature.”
“I bet you got a response,” Rowena rushed in.
“Rowena,” Willow chastised, “let Sunny tell us.”
“Yes, I felt something, I saw something. I felt kind of...magical.” She felt her cheeks warming and hoped she hadn’t overstepped the mark.
Willow clapped her hands together in glee. “Oh, you’re coming along nicely, well done.”
Sunny smiled. They were so easy to be around. Could she really be one of them, in every way?
As usual, Willow was dressed in ethnic garb. She had baggy harem pants buttoned at the ankles, and flat sandals. She wore them with a long, multicolored tunic and a bright orange scarf round her hair extensions.
Aveline, on the other hand, looked ready to scoop top prize for the best 1940s costume at a convention. She wore an impeccable mustard-colored suit with wide-leg trousers and broad shoulders on the jacket, beneath it a red pin-tucked blouse. Her hair was swept up in a chignon at the back of her head, and her court shoes were the exact shade of mustard as her outfit. She always had a look of Grace Kelly about her, and Sunny wondered if Eben’s passion would ever melt Aveline’s heart. She hoped it would.
Rowena’s appearance was the most normal. She was a pretty blonde girl who blushed at the slightest thing and had a starry-eyed look about her. She appeared to be about nineteen, but Sunny had now learned not to judge members of the coven by the age they looked. Rowena wore a T-shirt and jeans, much like Sunny herself.
As Sunny took in their appearance, she remembered what Eben had said about their humanity drawing them together, not just the gift. They were good people, and she felt lucky to know them.
They led her closer to the edge of the cliff, where the tufts of grass were at their hardiest, and the ragged edge of the land soon dropped away into nothing. Sunny could hear the waves crashing against the rocks far below, and the smell of sea hung heavy in the air all around. They were so high, it was as if they could reach out and touch the clouds. To the right, nestled in the bay below, was the town of Raven’s Landing. “Our town looks tiny from up here.”
“I always think that too,” Rowena said. “It makes you realize how small we really are.”
“We have to think big, to get the task done.” Willow’s voice was firm and instructive.
“Think big?” Sunny sighed. “I must admit I’m struggling with it all, it’s just so much to take on board. And what if I....what if I just can’t manage it?”
“You’ll manage,” Aveline replied. “The doubts will fall away soon.”
