Free The Witches of Dark Root: Daughters of Dark Root: Book One (The Daughters of Dark Root) by April Aasheim

baby talk since before Christmas and Maggie was tired of hearing it. Though she was almost four, and just eighteen months younger than Merry, she enjoyed being the youngest of the house. “...I like our family the way it is.” Maggie strained her ears to listen to the sounds outside. She could hear her mother’s voice, saying goodbye to Uncle Joe who had dropped her off.
    “It’s not our choice. Yer mother wanted another baby and she had one.” Aunt Dora turned her gaze on Maggie. “I don’ know why she wants another rug rat runnin’ around, neither. Ya three are enough to make a young woman ol’ and put an ol’ woman in her grave.”  
    And then, turning to Merry,  
    “Ya’ll love it, whether it’s a boy or girl. Ya love e’eryone, Miss Merry.”  
    Merry giggled and turned towards Maggie. “You’re going to be a big girl now, like me and Ruth Anne. Isn’t that exciting?”  
    Merry twirled on tiptoes, yellow hair and tutu spinning out around her.
    “How long has Mama been gone?” Maggie asked, popping her thumb back into her mouth. Merry gave her a disapproving look and Maggie removed it. “I don’t remember what she looks like.”
    “Oh, you’ll remember her. No doubt about it.” Her sister Ruth Anne trudged down the stairs carrying the largest book Maggie had ever seen. She was wearing a pair of jeans with holes in the knees and a baggy t-shirt their mother hated. Her long, brown hair was fastened in a loose braid that hung over her shoulder. “No one forgets Sasha Shantay...”  
    Ruth Anne posed dramatically at the bottom of the staircase, letting the book fall from her hands and land on the wooden floor with a noisy thump. Merry and Maggie laughed in response.
    “Be good girls, will ya? Yer mama’s not gonna let me sit wit’ ya anymore if she see the way yer acting.” Aunt Dora removed the apron she was wearing, and placed it on the breakfast table. “Okay, now. I think I hear her comin’ in. E’eryone smile pretty.”
    Ruth Anne removed a pair of glasses from the front pocket of her jeans, deposited them on her face, and joined her younger sisters. The girls lined up according to age, youngest to oldest––Maggie, Merry, and Ruth Anne.  
    At last, the door opened and their mother burst in, wearing a purple-feathered boa around her neck and an infant carrier draped across her arm like a very large purse.
    “Mama!” Maggie and Merry hollered in unison as Ruth Anne reached forward to give her mother a quick hug.
    “My girls!”  
    Their mother sat the carrier on the ground and scooped her three daughters into her arms. They allowed it for a second, then wiggled free to see their new sibling. The baby was pink and round with a dark patch of fuzz on the top of its head. It was dressed in a rose-colored nightgown that was tied at the bottom like a birthday present.
    “It’s a girl!” Merry exclaimed, leaning in to smell the baby. She inhaled deeply and grinned. “Oh. Babies smell wonderful.”
    “Just wait,” Ruth Anne said, after a brief glance at the new family member before going to retrieve her fallen book. “They don’t smell that way for long. Trust me.” Ruth Anne plopped herself down in a voluminous recliner and began reading.
    Their mother ignored Ruth Anne’s lack of interest.  
    “You three have a new sister, born on New Year’s Eve, exactly one week after Merry’s birthday. Isn’t that special? We have two holiday babies now!” Miss Sasha reached into the carrier and covered the baby up with a soft-looking, pink blanket that had been wadded up by her feet.
    “Well, what’s da child’s name, for mercy’s sake?” Aunt Dora asked, working her way in. “Or have ya even thought of that, yet?”
    “Eve.” Their mother smiled tiredly, stretching her arms overhead. She removed her feathered boa and her fur coat and placed them on hooks by the door. “It’s drafty in here. Dora, are you trying to freeze us all?” She rubbed her arms to prove her