Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Shelby smiled at JJ, then looked at Amanda. “These are your kids?”
“They are.”
“I’ve never met kids who—I love it here so much.”
Amanda beamed at her. Anyone who liked her kids, she was good with them.
“Are you listening?” Toby asked her, squinting.
She pressed her lips together tight, not wanting to draw the ire of the second-grader. “I am. I apologize.”
“Okay,” he said with a huff. “So I say, Friends from the forest, protect me for my highest and best. But you, if you’re not by a forest, you can say for the protection of all, and that’s for you and your friends,” he whispered, and she nodded quickly. He raised his voice when he said, “And the harm of none, protect us all as we are one.”
“That’s lovely.”
“It’s good if it can rhyme like that because it’s easier to remember.”
“Got it.”
“And say so mote it be at the end so the spirits—or if you have an angel like my mom does—then they’ll know it’s time for them to go to work.”
“Your mom has an angel?”
He nodded. “She says he drinks because she’s a handful.”
Shelby turned slowly to Amanda, and I had to cover my mouth so I wouldn’t make a sound.
“Outstanding,” Meijun told Amanda, who waggled her eyebrows at her.
Shelby asked Toby, “Anything else I should know?”
“If you pour it out, the herbs will be all mixed up. There’s lavender and star anise, and sometimes there’s rosebuds and cinnamon sticks and juniper berries.”
“And the tea flowers,” JJ offered.
“Oh yeah, that’s right, chamomile flowers and dandelions and pieces of cedar and oak bark.” He thought a moment. “At Christmas, Uncle Xan celebrates Yule, and at Yule, there’s mistletoe in the casting herbs, but not right now.”
“Thank you so much,” she said softly.
“Casting herbs just means things you throw in the fire or put in a bag or something. My dad says it’s like when he’s fly-fishing and casts his line out like this.” He showed her the motion Eddie Sterling made. “But don’t do it hard, because one time he hurt his back doing that.”
It was Amanda’s turn to cover her mouth so she didn’t burst out laughing.
“Mom says he needs to do what?” JJ asked Toby.
“Strength training.”
JJ nodded knowingly. “Yeah.”
Now Shelby had both hands covering her face.
“But even though the stuff looks like it’s nothing good,” Toby told her, “it’s a mixture, and Uncle Xan, he talks to it and makes it super strong. And when you run out, you can come back and get some more, okay?”
“Yes,” she whispered, her eyes filling.
“You need a hug?”
Quick nod.
Toby put the herb bag down and leaned into her, turning his head so it was on her shoulder as she closed her eyes and tears ran down her face.
Meijun cleared her throat. “Could I have a hug too?”
“JJ,” Toby said.
Amanda’s youngest slipped from the chair, darted around the table, arms open, and Meijun scooped them up and hugged them tight.
“Oh, you’re such a good hugger,” Meijun praised JJ.
“I know. My mom tells me all the time.”
Everyone looked at Amanda then, who beamed. She might not be perfect, but in that moment, she was the mother they all wanted. She made sure to go around the table after that and hug each one.
It was a very nice morning.
Shelby, Meijun, Jeremy, and Liam were sorry they couldn’t stay, but they had to leave Osprey, which they had visited for the same reason everyone else did—the doomsday cult—and go directly to Salem, Massachusetts. They had a YouTube channel and a TikTok for me to follow, swore not to mention me, and would make sure to come back through as soon as they could.
I wasn’t holding my breath. They were all young, and things could change at a moment’s notice. Their paths could diverge as well.
When Lorne was ready to go—he had to check in at work as both Friday and Saturday night had been so eventful—he got the kids moving. Since he was going to drop them at their van, they were on his timeline. I hugged each of them goodbye. I’d packed up fruit, bread, and cheese for them, which they were all excited about. Normally I would have left those in cloth-and-jute-wrapped packages, but since Amanda had brought food, we sent them on their way with plastic, which my friend assured me would keep better on the road. I didn’t like it at all.
Shelby had my number and vowed to call. I told her I would love that, but no pressure.
“Friendship is never an obligation.”
“I know,” she agreed.
“And be smart in Salem. Keep that charm on.”
She promised she would, was about to close the car door, but then popped out of the police utility vehicle—she was riding shotgun—and ran back over to hug me again. It was sweet that she felt the pull to do so.