Wandering Witch, page 5
“Now, um, what are the odds that you’d be so kind as to remove these pesky chains? There’s really no need for such drastic measures amongst a new friend, is there?” he asked with a jovial smile.
“And who exactly decided that we were friends?” I asked.
“Why, I did of course!” The prat’s grin grew. “After all, you two are the first ones to be able to see me in over four hundred years! So what kind of ghost would I be if I just let an opportunity like this pass me by?! Call me Roan, the last soul of the doomed Roanoke Colony.”
I cocked my head at the odd creature. Just who does this creature think he is to lay such claims upon my mate and I? I had expected my anger to rise at the audacity of the ghost. However, my bear only stirred long enough to purr with contentment.
Confusion filled me as I tried to understand what was going on. Between the strange response of my bear and the overly friendly ghost, I was at a complete loss for what to do.
At my side, I felt my mate stiffen with an emotion that gave me the sensation of excitement or joy.
“Really? You were a part of the Roanoke Colony? That’s amazing!” She cooed as she leaned towards the ghost.
“I was and I am. Every other spirit has moved on one way or another by now. So I am the very last. It is such a lonely existence, only being able to see the world change around my colony but never being able to be acknowledged by anyone.” His voice took on a pouty tone as though he was trying to garner sympathy from us.
I had no idea what his problem with solitude was. I was alone for most of my life and had rather enjoyed it. Finding my mate was just a pleasant surprise that I could have never expected.
I must have tuned out the pair because my focus only returned when I felt Fare get up from her place on the ground and start around the fire. When I reached out to stop her, my hand merely grazed the back of her jacket.
I tried to stumble after her and only caught up just as she reached the ghost and laid her hand on the chains binding him. She muttered a few words before the wind holding the spirit in place released.
The moment that they did, he flung himself at her and tackled her to the ground.
I lunged after them, and as the three of us rolled across the ground, laughter hit my ears. When we eventually came to a stop, I looked down at the pair I had pinned beneath me. The two of them stopped long enough to catch their breaths before locking gazes for several heartbeats before breaking back into peels of laughter.
“He seems like a grumpy bear, but deep down, he is rather protective and cuddly,” she whispered to the ghost. I grumbled as I rolled into a seated position without releasing my grasp on my mate.
Unfortunately, the stalker spirit came with us and when I tried to tighten my grip on her, he remained like a physical barrier. She gasped as I unintentionally crushed the ghost into her.
“What’s this?” he asked as he tried to look up at me. “More happy magic?”
His voice took on a wistful quality and I was torn between wanting to squash it and desiring to encourage it. When I opened my arms, he fell out of my lap and I could trap my Fare right where I wanted her. Safe from his clutches.
She giggled once it was just her that I was holding on to. Before us, the specter scrambled up and twisted around so he was seated with bouncy crossed legs. I swear, if that pest had a tail, it would have kicked up a stiff breeze from wagging.
“Locke, it’s okay. I swear. I don’t think that he’ll hurt either of us.” She soothed me as she patted my forearm.
I didn’t want her to know that it was working when I was still worried about what the being before us was up to. Everything about him came across as just wrong.
Farren
Icouldn’t stop the smile that seared itself across my face. All my life I had wondered about my family curse that rose in power during the fall of the Roanoke Colony, and here was my chance to ask someone who was there about it!
I was so giddy that I couldn’t even begin to decide where I wanted to start with my questions. I wanted to know all of the things.
“Do you recall any witches living in your colony?” I blurted the first sentence to form in my mind.
He paused in the rocking he was doing as his face took on an introspective look.
“Y-yes, I do believe there was at least one family of them.” He sounded very unsure as he cast his mind back so long ago. “There may have been more, but back then people kept those kinds of details to themselves in broad companies. Not everyone was very accepting of differing cultures back then. So forgive me if I can’t be of much help. Did you possibly have any ancestors lost there?”
I tried to hold back my disappointment that he wouldn’t be as helpful as I had hoped.
“According to a family legend, I did. They were the ones who caused the mass disappearance. I’m sorry.” I pulled back into myself as Locke took advantage and held me closer to his chest.
“Really now? Do you happen to know what spell they cast to do so? It’s a mystery that even I myself have been puzzling over forever.”
I couldn’t bring myself to look at him as I answered, “It wasn’t so much a spell as a curse. I mean, I know that curses are types of spells, but she didn’t cast it. It was cast on her.”
“Huh, fascinating. What kind of curse?” His voice remained calm yet curious.
“I don’t know the name, but the women of my line are forever chased by an all-devouring darkness. We can’t stay in any location for any real length of time before it catches up to us and destroys our surroundings. Any living thing caught in its shade is eliminated.
The story in my family goes that the branch that fled to the new world on your ship believed they were finally safe. All except one daughter. The night of the curse struck, she fled.”
Roan nodded along until I finished speaking before commenting.
“I hate to burst your family bubble, love. But I can tell you that there was no dark cloud that swept over us in the night. And I don’t recall there being any talks of any curses like that. That’s something that would have made the rumor mill, even back then, since the trip lasted at least a month’s time.” He attempted to reassure me with a firm hand placed delicately on my arm.
Locke took issue with his touch and growled as he tried to pull me out of reach. I sighed a little as I leaned my head back onto his warm broad chest, while he settled me on his lap.
“Locke, I don’t think he was trying to hurt me or steal me from you just now. And honestly, I kind of needed the comfort. The one thing I thought true all my life, my one potential source for answers just flopped and failed me. Now I really have absolutely no clue how to break this damn curse.”
My bear whined as he banded his arms tighter around me before nuzzling his cheek onto the top of my head.
“Hey, hey, don’t look so gloomy. I swear I will do everything in my power to help you figure this out.”
“Don’t forget you will always have me as well, my mate,” Locke added.
We all sat like that for a long while, me on Locke’s lap with Roan keeping a steady hand on my arm and the fire burned down low.
Morning eventually woke me with its chill as I tried to burrow deeper into Locke’s chest for warmth. I sighed in contentment as he shifted his grip on me to offer better coverage on my back just as a blanket was settled over us.
Just as I was about to drift back off to sleep, I heard something riffle through our packs. I murmured for Locke to just leave them for later as I waved a sleepy hand at him. When I brought my hand back to hide in the warmth of my cocoon, I grabbed a fistful of the soft flannel shirt I eventually had talked Locke into wearing to better blend in when we had to interact with the world.
My eyes snapped open just as I was about to succumb to my slumber as I realized the inconsistency. I jerked up so fast that the blanket draped over my shoulders fell away as I looked about our camp.
Locke was still fast asleep and moaned before he tightened his grip on me as I tried to see just what had woken me.
As I cast my gaze around our small campsite, I didn’t see anything off. Right off to the side of where we slept, I could see the incorporeal outline of something digging around in our bags.
“H-hey! What are you doing?” I tried to rise but barely made it more than a couple of centimeters before getting caught by Locke’s embrace.
The ghost shot up and whipped around to make eye contact with me.
“Lady Fare! You’re awake,” it whispered. “Please try to keep it down. I get the feeling that your companion doesn’t get much rest. So I told him I would stand watch.”
I risked a glance up to see Locke’s sleeping face scrunch up for a moment at the disturbances before smoothing out. When I looked back at the spirit, he smiled softly.
“After you fell asleep last night, he and I talked. He mentioned the quest that you two were on and I offered to take a look at the map and see if I had any ideas. I hope you don’t mind.” I shook my head at his explanation as I slowly relaxed back into Locke as I watched the specter, Roan, my memory supplied. “Now, let’s take a look at this map you have here.”
He unrolled the map and placed several rocks in the corners to hold it open. Noises of interest come from him as he studied the paper before him. I watched, entranced as he ran a hand just over the surface before him. As he did, a soft glow emitted from his hand and in its wake, several pinpricks of light stayed behind.
“Very interesting. It would seem you have managed to imbue this map with the power to show all the mysterious disappearances. Very intriguing. Are these circles and symbols your doing?” He gestured again, and this time I nodded as we both gasped and watched the circle at our current location change. It glowed with a dark blue light as it stretched and morphed into the shape of a fish. Just as it finished, the star above glowed with the same blue energy as the upper right spoke shaded in. When it finished, we both looked up at the same time and just locked gazes. “Well, that was most definitely unusual. But I would say that this map is your key for sure. Did this happen after you met Locke?”
I shook my head in the negative at first before I thought about it more and nodded while I raised my shoulders.
“Honestly, I don’t know if the change was exactly like that. It was several days after I met him that I looked at the map again and by then, it had changed. So maybe? I really don’t know.” My head started to hurt. What was going on? Life used to be simple, more than a little stressful with my constant fleeing for my life, but far more simple than magic maps that changed all the time.
“It's okay to be unsure, sweetheart. We can’t all know the answers to everything.” He smiled before continuing, “For now, let’s just focus on what we do know. One, you’ve been given the vision of this map that marks places of mysterious disappearances. Now, I’m just guessing at these locations that you have marked, Alaska had a town, and here was a colony, and this place up here?” He gestured to the last circle. “I’m not one hundred percent sure, but my guess would be that one here is going to be located over a site of similar happenings. Honestly, I have a few guesses as to what could be waiting up there.”
“Really? But I thought that ghosts were trapped at their death spots. So how would you know about the other locations?” I asked.
“I am stuck here, but that doesn’t mean that the living don’t gossip like old maids. I’ve been haunting these woods and hanging with the campers here since well before radios were a thing, love.” He laughed. “When things like what your map shows happen, it becomes a big topic of discussion. Makes it rather easy to keep up with what’s going on in the outside world. It got easier still when such things became pocket-sized.”
I was taken aback at how willing he was to admit to stalking and spying on people.
“It's one of the better things to have happened in my afterlife, I’ll admit. To be able to see just how much the world has changed since my life.”
“I’m much more impressed with the ease of finding food myself. The last time that I was active, the easiest way to get a meal was to attack a town. Now people are willing to part with meat for anyone with meager funds.” Locke’s deep voice rumbled from behind me.
“Trust a bear to be more concerned with his next meal over invention.” Roan laughed good-naturedly.
I felt the muscles in Locke’s chest move in what I would guess was a shrug and he chuckled along. What happened between these two last night? Before I fell asleep, I could have sworn Locke hated Roan, so what changed?
“Thank you for keeping watch. And for your counsel. But we should get going, I don’t want to be caught unaware again by your curse, my love.” Locke eased me off his lap after holding me since last night and stood.
I watched from my position on the ground as he walked around the camp, repacking our packs and making sure the fire was completely put out. I was torn about what I wanted to do.
Yes, I knew we would be wise to leave sooner than later, especially since the curse had been picking up the speed at which it was able to find me. But on the other hand, I really didn’t want to leave Roan alone again. He had been left unseen for so long, and looking at his face, I knew that he was thinking he was about to be forgotten all over again.
“Roan, would you be able to guide us along the best way through your territory so as to avoid being seen?” I asked and smiled as his face lit up.
“I would be honored, love.”
Roan
Ican’t believe they are going to leave me already. We had just met and now that damn bear was going to take her away. I was lost in my misery and nearly missed the offer that the beautiful Farren had posed to me.
There was no way I would turn down a chance to extend my time around the first people to see me in forever. So after the bear shifter had packed up everything, he shifted and lay flat on his belly so Fare could load him down like a pack mule.
Huh, I guess that’s one way to travel and save on expenses. I mused as I floated behind Fare and tried to help her mount. Trust this to be the hard limit of what I can do in regards to interacting with them.
At least she could get onto Locke’s back without my help, and even more importantly, neither of them seemed to notice my failure in regards to helping her. And since they didn’t comment, there was no reason I had to bring attention to that. So I moved in front of Locke and made a gesture that he was to follow me.
I only looked back a couple of times to make sure they were following me before I felt sure they trusted me enough for this task. There were only a couple of times that I accidentally erred in my guide duties.
The first time, I moved without thinking and when the first thick tree came into our path, I merely passed through it. Locke was more focused on making sure he kept me in sight and trotted face-first into the tree. When I heard the thunk and growl, I whipped around and would have flushed if I still had blood in my veins. I apologized profusely, I might add, as I made sure from there onwards that I wove around the trees.
The other time was not my fault. I will swear on that to this day.
We were nearing the edges of my territory and a stray group of hikers nearly stumbled upon our band. I didn’t even think. I flew back and slammed as much of my energy into Locke as I could and barely managed to get him far enough away from the trail that the humans passed by without seeing so much as a single grolar hair.
Despite my attempts to help, I got the feeling that the small amount of respect I had gotten from the shifter last night was drying up fast.
A couple of hours later, we made it to the farthest north that I’d ever been from the center of my once colonial home.
I swallowed hard and waved a hand before me to indicate that they should continue on.
“This is where we must part,” I stated with a heavy heart as I looked over the waves rolling in from the ocean.
I heard Fare asking Locke to let her down before she strode up beside me, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at her.
“You know, when I was alive, there was not much that I loved more than being in the water. When I finally came to terms with being a ghost, the first thing I did was return to the waves.” I laughed sadly at the memory. “There are not enough words ever penned to describe the pain I felt when I realized I could no longer feel the weight of the water. I could still smell the salt in the air and feel the wind that carried it, but even the rain would pass through me.” She moved out of the corner of my eye and I felt the subtle pressure of her hand on my back.
Strange, when I was the one to initiate touch between us, it was like I was flesh once more. But when she did, it was more like the memory of sensation.
“I’m sorry fate was so cruel to you. Maybe if I ever break my curse I’ll come back and build a little cabin in your woods?” she whispered.
My heart broke. She wasn’t sure about anything but her pity for me. If only I could stay by her side and remind her that there would always be tomorrow.
Locke
Iwatched the pair share a whispered conversation as I lowered myself into the sands on the beach. I would be lying if I said I was happy to leave the spirit behind.
He brought out a side of Fare that I couldn’t, yet I didn’t find myself jealous for it. He was just playful, whereas I was the guardian. I wondered if it would be possible to change the source of his tether.
One of the things we had talked about last night was how he became trapped. Ghosts were bound to where they died or a place that held significant meaning to them in life. Since he was a vagabond before crossing the great ocean and had barely begun to live here, he was trapped to his death spot. A bonus he had noticed was that he was bound to the ever-changing boundaries of his colony. As the government recognized it as something of import and made it a protected area, his domain grew to encompass it.
