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Solstice
Somewhere inside,I’d harbored the fear that people still wouldn’t show up, despite how many tickets I’d given out. It seemed like just the sort of trick Lilith Black would play on me — to have her followers dutifully troop over to the store to get their admission to my solstice ritual, only to make sure they’d all be over at her own ceremony, leaving me with a pile of uneaten food on the tables Chuck had set out…and a whole mess of egg on my face.
And unfortunately, my gut seemed to have been correct. Travis was ready and waiting to park cars, but the only one that appeared was Josie’s red Cadillac sedan, which bumped its way across the pasture and seemed vaguely annoyed by being subjected to such an indignity.
She got out, gingerly making her way along the path that Chuck had marked out with care, using surveyor’s sticks and citronella torches. I saw all this because I was standing at the edge of the grove, vainly hoping that someone…anyone…would show up.
“But where are all your guests?” she asked, looking around in bewilderment.
“Best guess, they’re over at Lilith Black’s ritual,” I replied. Bitterness seeped into my tone despite my best efforts to keep it out.
Her pale blue eyes — looking somehow even paler in the flickering light from the torches — widened slightly. “How rude!”
My thoughts exactly. However, I didn’t much see the point in going on a tirade as to why Ms. Black was a conniving wench. I’d been outplayed, and there didn’t seem to be much I could do about it.
“I suppose,” I said. “But come on — we have a lovely bonfire going, and there’s lots of food.”
Lots andlotsof food. I didn’t really care about the money I’d wasted purchasing all those supplies, but I really hated the idea of all that lovely fruit going to waste. Maybe there was someplace we could donate it before it went bad.
Josie’s lips tightened, but she took another look at my face and apparently decided that she’d better not push things. In uncharacteristic silence, she followed me into the clearing, where Chuck and Hazel were standing and doing their best to make conversation.
And my comment about the bonfire had been true enough. The wood Chuck had provided was well seasoned, and had blazed up without any encouragement from nasty chemical starters. With the sun down, the air had cooled, and it was pleasant enough out there under the trees. I’d worried that the fire would make things too hot, but I’d forgotten how much of a difference some altitude could make when it came to dropping nighttime temperatures.
Everyone was staring at me, and I pulled in a breath. What the heck was I supposed to say?
Well, practical matters first, I suppose.
“I know this isn’t what any of us planned on,” I said, trying to ignore Hazel’s sympathetic expression, Josie’s look of righteous indignation…the hard, angry set to Chuck’s mouth. My friends, and despite my anger toward Lilith Black, I couldn’t help but feel a rush of affection for all of them. I was still a newcomer here, but they clearly looked at me as one of their own. “It’s still the solstice, however, and I still have a ritual to perform. Before I get started, though — Josie, is there something we can do with all this food?”
She glanced over at the tables Chuck had so thoughtfully set up. “I think the shelter down on Third Street would love to have it. Let me make a quick call.”
I sent her a grateful look, and she pulled her phone out of her purse. Even though it was nearly nine o’clock at night, whoever she was calling must have picked up right away, because she said, “Hello, Eva? It’s Josie. Would you be able to take some trays of fresh fruit tonight? I can bring them over in….” She trailed off there and sent me a questioning look.
“I should be done around nine-thirty,” I said, and she nodded.
“About an hour,” she finished. “Is that all right?” A pause as she waited for the reply. Then she said, “Thank you, Eva — you’re a godsend.”
And after that, Josie slipped her phone back in her purse.
“All settled. Eva runs the women’s shelter, and she’s there all the time, so that’s why I thought she would be the best person to call. And yes, she’ll take everything.”
“Thanks so much, Josie,” I said, hoping she could hear the gratitude ringing through my words.
She waved her hand. “It’s no bother. I’m glad we could have something good come of all this.”
Something good. That was what I needed to hold in my heart, the reason why I was here. So what if Lilith Black had pulled a dirty trick on me? True, I didn’t have any concrete evidence of foul play, but my instincts told me she was most likely behind all the no-shows. Anyway, this ritual was about gratitude, about acknowledging the power of the change of seasons and the gifts it brought to our lives. One petty woman couldn’t change any of that.
“Then I’ll go ahead and get started,” I said. “That way, you won’t be too late getting over to the women’s shelter.”
“I can help with that, too,” Hazel put in. “There’s lots of room in the back of my Volvo.”
“And I’ll also lend a hand if you need it,” Chuck added.
Josie clasped her hands together. “Oh, that would be wonderful. Yes, we can make short work of all this — although it’s probably better if you stay in the car while we’re bringing the food into the shelter, Chuck. Those women have been through so much.”
For a second he looked puzzled, as if he couldn’t quite comprehend what she was talking about. But then he nodded, apparently realizing that the presence of a man at a women’s shelter might be triggering for the people who’d taken refuge there. “No problem.”
Seeming to understand that was settled, Josie looked back over at me. “What do you need us to do?”
