The Witching Hour (The Witches Pendragon Mystery Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

glance in the direction of the carved mantelpiece. It’s probably worth explaining that as pagans, we witches do acknowledge the dark side of the universe, but we don’t dwell in it. What did we worship back home in 546 A.D.? We worshipped Mother Nature in all her glory. We thought of ourselves as priestesses of the earth. Despite what modern people think about witches, in Anglia, we were known as healers and helpers, not as proponents of evil. In fact, we witches of Forest Fosse don’t do evil. We don’t do evil at all, and I can tell that Hendra is not impressed by grotesque faces carved into a fireplace to ward of malignant spirits.
    “Please, have a seat,” the Count offers, and the four of us sit down side-by-side on the empire sofa. “How do you all take your tea?” The Count asks pointing to a sterling-silver tea service on a rolling cart.
    “Oh Sisters, you don’t know how thankful we are to have you here. Things are getting worse with our resident ghost,” Claire-Elaine cuts in.
    “Please tell us everything. We’ll do all we can to help, but of course we make no guarantees,” Hatha replies graciously as the Count hands her a porcelain teacup.
    The count passes out tea to the rest of us, then hands his young wife a cup. She takes it with a trembling hand and sits down in a wing chair.
    “Let me tell you a short history of the ghost,” the Count begins. “This chateau was originally built in the 11th century. It came into our family a short while later, a gift from the king to a distant ancestor who fought many battles in support of the monarchy. The outer walls were rebuilt and reconstructed in the 1550’s…”
    “Do get on with things,” Claire-Elaine snaps abruptly. Perhaps she thinks we are growing bored with her story since Monique has dropped off into a deep sleep and is snoring up a storm. I want to tell her it’s okay, Monique is well over 200 years old. She sleeps when she needs to. But Hatha shoots me a look. She finds Monique’s behavior unbecoming and since I am sitting next to the old witch, she wants me to do something about it. Gently, I jostle Monique who startles awake.
    “Right, the ghost,” the Count clears his throat. “I was just coming to that. You see, Sisters, over the years, a figure of a woman, who we call the Lady in Blue, has been seen roaming the halls. Well, I’ve never actually seen her, but reports of her have been made by past residents as early as the late 16th century. We don’t actually know who she is or what she’s doing here, but we do know one thing –she’s starting to become more aggressive.”
    “What do you mean by ‘more aggressive,’” questions Hatha, who leans forward in her seat.
    “The ghost is going after the children,” Claire-Elaine answers for her husband.
    This produces a loud outburst from those of us on the sofa.
    “No!”
    “Oh the depravity!”
    “That’s not right!” Hendra, Monique and I utter in turn. Only Hatha retains her composure, saying, “What do you mean going after the children, Countess?”
    “Oh, I’m not a countess,” Claire-Elaine replies calmly, “I’m sorry if you were misinformed. I don’t have that title yet.” She shoots her husband a penetrating look.
    “Yes,” the Count replies, coughing into his hand, “My ex-wife is the Countess de Trisse. She was very strong-willed. She wasn’t going to divorce me unless,” here he coughs into his hand again, “she was allowed to keep the title. We are suing her in court over the whole affair. Anyway, you don’t want to hear our sordid family affairs, you want to know about the ghost.”
    “Quite,” agrees Monique, having a rare moment of lucidity.
    “We fear the Lady in Blue has been visiting our oldest child at night,” Claire-Elaine takes over the story. It’s clear by the intense look on her face that she doesn’t think her husband was telling the tale fast enough. “My eldest daughter Mathilde reports a presence in her room every night.