Free The Witch is Dead by Shirley Damsgaard Page A

of hair away from her face, but I stopped halfway for fear of waking her. As I watched her sleep, a jumble of emotions ran through me. Pride at what Tink was becoming, fear of losing her, panic at the thought that her talent might destroy her as mine had almost destroyed me, and most of all, the fierce need to protect this child at any cost. I clenched my hands.

    Iwould keep this child from harm, Iwould learn where these events were leading us, and Iwould stop it.

    Taking a deep breath, I turned and left the room.

    In my office, I crumbled dried leaves of sage into my abalone shell and lit them. The aroma of burning sage soon filled the room. Closing my eyes, I inhaled the pungent smoke. Instantly, I felt a sense of peace and purpose blanket me. Placing the shell on the desktop, I grabbed two crystals from my desk—amethyst and ulexite. The energy of the amethyst would increase my psychic talent, and the ulexite would help clarify what I saw with my sixth sense. I moved to my circle and stepped over the line of salt, careful not to disturb it.

    After seating myself in the center, I lit the candle. The wick caught, making the flame dance. Holding the amethyst in my left hand, I placed the ulexite against the center of my forehead. My eyelids drifted shut and I concentrated on feeling the energy from deep within the Earth. Slowly, I let the force surround me as I imagined sitting in a circle of light. I framed my question carefully.

    “How can I protect Tink?”

    Placing the two crystals on either side of the candle, I picked up the worn leather pouch containing Annie’s runes. I opened the bag, slipped my right hand inside and let my fingers play over the round stones. When one felt warm, I removed it and set it gently on the linen square in front of me. Soon three runes lay gleaming on the white cloth.

    The Norns—the Three Sisters. Past, Present, and Future.

    I ignored my trembling fingers as I flipped over the first rune.

    Berkano.“Bear-kawn-oh,” I whispered. It was reversed—the rune that resembled a B was facing left instead of to the right. Not good. Berkano was the rune for birth, family, children—that which the heart holds dear. Reversed indicatedproblems in those areas. Strife and stress. A permanent split.

    Okay, that made sense. In the past, while living with Juliet and Jason, her aunt and uncle, Tink’s life had been a mess. Juliet had been bent on using the child’s gift for her own evil purpose. We had thwarted her efforts, and as a result, Tink came to live with me. Juliet was no longer a part of Tink’s life.

    I turned over the next rune—the Present.

    Kenaz.“Kane-awze.” Again I said the name aloud.

    Dang. The sideways V faced the left, too. Another rune reversed. Kenaz represented the warm fire of the hearth and new beginnings. Facing in the opposite direction, it indicated an ending fraught with anxiety. Did it mean an ending to Tink’s connection with the Finches?

    Maybe the last rune would shed light on what Berkano and Kenaz meant.

    The rune indicating the Future stared up at me, and I felt my heart thud.

    Isa.“Ee-saw.” I choked on the word. That rune was a simple straight line and had no reverse. But just because the rune had no opposite meaning, it wasn’t a positive sign. It stood for “ice.” A freeze on all activities. No movement forward or backward. Whatever the heart held dear would be locked away in a block of ice until the Wheel of Fortune decided to turn.

    I tugged on my bottom lip as I stared at the runes before me. How in the hell did these three glyphs answer my question? They were all negative. All indicated some kind of separation relating to home and family. A loss that would be full of frustrations.

    Did Kenaz mean Tink would be lost to the Finches because I adopted her? Given the way the legal system worked,an adoption was bound to be full of delays, as indicated by Isa. And I would experience anxiety, another element shown by Kenaz, until the