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account. Better to get at what her mother wanted – or was afraid of – so she could calm her down, and get on with her day.
    â€˜Because of the eclipse, of course!’
    â€˜Of course.’ Dulcie and Chris had visited over the summer and one of her mother’s parting gifts had been a lunar calendar. Her mother had been very excited about the September eclipse. For the life of her, Dulcie couldn’t remember why such a natural occurrence warranted an early-morning phone call. ‘Mom, did you sleep last night?’ It wasn’t yet six thirty West Coast time, and while that might not be early for some, Dulcie knew her mother was far more a Daughter of Luna than of Sol.
    â€˜We had a circle, Dulcie. The sky was luminous.’ Well, it would be out in the woods. Dulcie realized belatedly that she shouldn’t have let her mother go off on a tangent and decided she had time to get dressed as Lucy rambled. Sure enough, even as she’d pulled a shirt over her head, she could still hear her mother’s breathless enthusiasm. ‘. . . enmeshed in the sacred oak!’
    And something else – the beep of call waiting.
    â€˜Lucy!’ She reached for the phone. ‘Would you hold on a second?’ Without waiting for an answer, Dulcie clicked through – to nothing. Well, whoever it was would leave a message. ‘Sorry, I had another call.’
    â€˜I’m not surprised. Your planets rarely come together like this. It must be more than two hundred years since they last . . .’ Dulcie let her mother go on, the coincidence of the timing distracting her. It had to be coincidence, didn’t it? ‘Which is why I don’t want you to repeat that error.’
    The unusual silence that followed prompted Dulcie to realize that some response was required. ‘Repeat?’ Before her coffee, it was the best she could do.
    â€˜Haven’t you been listening?’ Luckily, Lucy didn’t wait for an answer. ‘You have to be careful, Dulcinea, especially in the next few days. An eclipse doesn’t just cover up a source of power, it unleashes all sorts of echoes and shadows – time past and present. It opens passageways between the worlds. We cannot foretell all the implications. Oh, that’s the breakfast chime. I’ve got to run, Dulcie. I’m blessing the chai today.’
    With a final invocation to the goddess, Lucy hung up, leaving Dulcie to wonder how shadows ever were leashed, and whether anyone, even Lucy, could foretell an implication.
    â€˜Lucy?’ Chris got up to pour Dulcie’s coffee as she entered the kitchen, still pondering. He had already fed Esmé, she noticed with gratitude. The little cat barely looked up from her corner nook, so busy was she with what looked like fresh Fancy Feast.
    â€˜Yeah. There’s a lunar eclipse tomorrow.’
    â€˜Ah.’ He handed her the mug. He had some first-hand experience of Lucy, and Dulcie was warmed once again by his nonchalance. ‘And it has some kind of special message for you?’
    â€˜Oh, damn. Hang on.’ The missed call! She hit the numbers for voicemail, and snuck a sip while her new password – ESME – went through. When she heard the voice on the other line, she knew she’d need the rest of the pot.
    â€˜Ms Schwartz?’ It was Martin Thorpe, the department’s interim head and her thesis adviser. ‘Something has come up. Something rather urgent and – ah – timely. We need to meet as soon as possible. Please call me as soon as you get this.’
    â€˜Well, that’s interesting.’ She doctored her coffee with more milk, the easier to drink quickly. Chris looked at her, waiting. ‘Lucy called to tell me that the eclipse is drawing forth shadows, or something like that. Anyway, there are dark forces at work, and I’m not to go to “the meeting”, whatever that means. But Thorpe must have found out about