The earth witch the keep.., p.1
The Earth Witch (The Keepers of Kilbrae Book 3), page 1
L.E. Gordon
The Earth Witch
Copyright © 2021 by L.E. Gordon
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
First edition
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To All the Staff in the Cardiac Ward at Westmead
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgement
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Also by L.E. Gordon
Preface
The Earth Witch
L.E. Gordon
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotations embodies in critical articles or reviews. This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Acknowledgement
The Earth Witch wasn’t the easiest of books to write, 2020 was a stinker of a year for pretty much everyone, but, with a bit of hard work and determination I got it finished and I hope you enjoyed it.
The amazing cover artwork is by the fabulous Maria Spada (www.mariaspada.com).
A big shout out to my girls, Bec, Tracey, Emma and Fiona for getting stuck in and finding my mistakes.
One final shout out and that is for you, friend. Thank you for taking the time to read this book, your support for an indie author is very welcome. If you want to know more about release dates you can sign up at www.legordonwriter.com/free-books.html.
Prologue
Summer was coming to a lazy end and Flora was looking forward to the slower months which were approaching. The plants in her Garden Centre were looking forward to a sleep and, as an Earth witch, she was happy about the introversion of the colder months where her connection to Mother Earth encouraged her to slow down and rest in preparation for spring.
She was humming away while checking the outdoor plants when she saw a tall man walking about looking confused. She left him to wander for a few minutes while she checked him out, his russet red hair was paired with a neat beard and a handsome face which was screwed up in concentration as he checked a list. From the descriptions she had heard floating about, this could be the new art teacher who had the teenage hearts in a flutter, and seeing him in her Garden Centre, she could see what the fuss was about.
She was just about to walk over to him when he looked up and, spotting who he rightly assumed was an employee, walked over to her.
“Can I help you with something? You look a bit lost.” Flora asked him.
He smiled, “I hope so. I moved into town recently and my garden is huge, but I have no idea what to do with it. I’d like a veggie patch, but I think I might be too late to start one this year.”
“Not really, you wouldn’t necessarily plant much at this time of year, but it’s perfect to make a start on preparing the soil and getting your plan in place for spring. It would make it a lot easier next year when you want to plant. We love to encourage people to take up gardening and offer a free service where we can come out to your house and draw up a planting scheme suitable for you and your soil.” Flora said, thinking she would be taking this job herself if he wanted to sign up to it.
The man looked as though she had handed him a bottle of water in the desert. “Really? Wow, that’s generous, and it sounds perfect. I’m a city boy and pretty clueless. Where do I sign up?”
Flora took him to the customer service counter and pulled out the centre’s client diary, “When are you free? We are pretty quiet for bookings at this time of year, so it’s your choice.”
“Is this afternoon too soon? I’m keen to make a start before autumn takes over.” He asked.
“This afternoon is fine, I’ll see you at 3 o’clock.” Flora replied and handed him a client information form to complete. “Can I get your name, address and phone number so I know where I’m going?”
“I’m Eric, are you coming to check it out? I don’t want to sound like I’m an old man, but you’re quite young.” Eric said, looking embarrassed that he had sounded like his dad.
Flora laughed, used to hearing this from people who were new to the area, “You’re in safe hands, Eric. I own the centre.”
A blush that would have put one of his pupils to shame crept up Eric’s neck, “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean… oh man, I’ve made a total arse of myself. Thank you. I’ll see you this afternoon.” He scribbled his address and phone number down and made a hasty retreat to his car.
Flora turned up at Eric’s house at 3 o’clock and was greeted by a sheepish man, who was obviously still embarrassed at his earlier mistake. Flora brushed off his apologies with a good-natured laugh, “I’m get it all the time, I don’t take offence. I mean, who would expect a twenty year old to be interested in plants, never mind own a Garden Centre, it’s such a Nana thing to do! Let’s have a look at the garden and we can figure out what would work best for it.”
After an hour of measuring, checking the soil and plotting the sun on the garden, Flora had a rough plan drawn up for Eric which she went through with him.
“We can make a start on this next week if you like? I’ll get all the items for you to build the raised garden beds and put in an order for soil to be delivered here next Saturday.”
“That would be great,” Eric replied, pleased to see his project developing. “Do you want to stay for some food? I’ve made a casserole and there is way too much just for me.”
Flora smiled, “Sounds fun, but I’m meeting friends tonight.”
“Girl’s night out?” Eric asked, looking slightly deflated.
Flora thought about celebrating the Mabon festival with the coven tonight and laughed. “Yes, something like that…”
Chapter One
“Ms Bell is on the phone for you, Flora.” The voice at the other end of my phone told me “Do you want me to put her through?”
I sighed, “Yes, put her through.” Ms Bell had been my teacher at primary school and she was an imposing woman. Standing nearly six foot tall, she loomed over my 5-year-old self the first day of school and scared me so much that I wet my pants. She still scared me a little, but thankfully I had better bladder control these days.
“Ms Bell, a pleasure to hear from you. What can I help you with today?” I asked the older lady.
“Flora, I have a fairy ring in my garden and I have no idea how to get rid of it. The mushrooms popped up overnight.” She boomed at me in her deep teacher’s voice.
“A fairy ring, I’m surprised that your lawns are affected by one, you take such great care of them. If it’s the mushroom type, rather than the rings which affect the grass, you can remove the mushrooms. Sadly, nothing can be done to get rid of the mycelium which they grow from, unless you wish to dig up the lawn, put down new soil and hope that we have cleared all traces of it before we lay down new sod.” I explained.
“I thought as much, damn fairies. Thank you anyway, Flora.” She said and hung up on me.
I chuckled a little at the thought of Ms Bell believing that fairies had actually caused the fungus on her grass. I had always been of the opinion that she was part Fae herself, not that I would ever question her humanity, but her stature and strange features made her seem rather crow like and I wondered if there wasn’t a dash of dark Fae blood somewhere down her bloodline.
I pushed the thought aside and got back to my paperwork so I could get on the floor of my Garden Centre and do what I enjoyed most, speaking to my customers and working in the potting sheds. As an Earth witch the plants were my solitude as well as my lively hood, and working in the sheds always left me relaxed, which was very much needed.
Life had been crazy in Kilbrae for the last few months. Between ghosts and a sexed up elemental, it had kept us on our toes. After we had dealt with the ghost situation, the local Dryad had warned us that the nearby stone circle was attracting attention, which was bound to end up in trouble. To try to keep the chances of something major happening, I was going out and checking on it each week. Tomorrow was my day to see if anything had changed.
I escaped from my office and made my way to the damp, earthy warmth of the potting sheds, and after a couple of hours there, my energy was replenish
The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, I went to the circle before I went to the Garden Centre. It had been activated by accident a few months ago and, while I had stopped it being used as a power source, I wanted to make sure it wasn’t causing any trouble. The circle was on land owned by a friend of mine, Simon, whose family knew all about the local coven as they had monitored the circle for us for centuries.
The drive to the farm was glorious, full of hedgerows with cobwebs that had frost on them and fields of animals puffing out white breath in the chilly morning air, and I soon pulled my SUV into Simon’s back yard. In farming areas it wasn’t seen as impolite to go to the back door, it was an unwritten rule to do so to stop tracking mud through the entire house. Mary, Simon’s wife, came to the door to greet me.
“Good morning, Flora, you’re here early.” She said, pulling me in for a quick hug.
“Hi Mary, I need to check on the stone circle, make sure it’s behaving itself. Is Simon about?”
“No, he’s away to check on some cattle in one of the lower fields, he’ll be back in ten minutes. Want a cuppa?”
“I’d love one.” I said, and we sat down at the kitchen table to catch up on what our families have been up to while we waited.
Simon arrived home before too long. He came in the back door and pulled off his welly boots, muttering to himself. As he came into the kitchen he stopped, realising he had a visitor.
“Good morning, nice to see you, Flora.”
“Good to see you too, I’m just here to check on the circle, I wanted to make sure you knew I was poking about in the field before I went over. Is everything OK, you look a bit frustrated.”
Simon sat down and poured a mug of tea from the teapot. “I’m fine, but I think that Neil might have been smoking something other than regular cigarettes. He came flying in here this morning to tell me the highland cows were missing from their field, but the gate was shut and they hadn’t trampled the hedges. I went to see for myself and they were all there. Neil’s worked for me for years, and he was certain they had gone. I’ve sent him home, maybe he’s coming down with the flu or something.”
Mary looked at Simon, then me, “That’s not like Neil, hope he’s not sick.”
I wasn’t worried about Neil, but the disappearance and sudden reappearance of the cows was setting my witchy radar going.
“I think Neil is probably fine, apart from the surprise of the cows disappearing. Can I have a look at the field they’re in, Simon?” I asked.
“Why are you interested?” he asked.
“No particular reason, but anything that sounds odd needs to be checked on at the moment. We’ve had such a run of strange things happening, I like to keep on top of what comes across my path to rule out any other catastrophes.” I explained.
“You think it involves magic?” Mary asked.
“It could be, or maybe Neil is coming down with something and was confused. Either way, I’d like to put my mind at ease and see if it has affected your cows.”
“No problem, let me finish my tea and I’ll take you down.” Simon answered.
We were at the field in five minutes, and Simon helped me over the gate. I was glad it had been reasonably dry and my boots wouldn’t be covered in mud from walking round the grass. I checked the perimeter first, seeing if there was an opening that had been camouflaged by magic, but the hedges were intact.
Next I wandered over the field, looking for anything that could cause the cows to vanish, I had reached the bottom corner of the field, furthest from the gate, when I saw a fairy ring. Could the innocent-looking ring of mushrooms be the reason behind the cow’s disappearing act?
“Simon, stay back there, I’m going to check out this fairy ring.” I instructed him to stay far enough back that it couldn’t affect him and crouched down to check the earth for magic. I pushed my earth magic into the ground and sent tendrils out towards the fairy ring, at 3 meters across, it was quite old one and would have taken some time to grow so big. I held my breath as my magic came in contact with the roots of the fungus and tested if it was active. It wasn’t, but that didn’t rule it out.
I released my breath, pulled my magic back to me and stood up. “It’s not active, so I’m not sure it if was responsible. They could just be mushrooms. Can you move the herd, just to be sure?”
“I think I will. I’m not one to mess about with the wee folk, and with the stone circle on my land, who knows what could be happen?” he replied.
I was glad he took my suggestion seriously, but he was well aware of how magic can interfere with normality and didn’t want to risk his prize cows going AWOL.
“Talking of the stones, can I have a look at them? After all the fuss at Halloween, I want to make sure they aren’t going to cause more trouble.” I asked.
“Of course, if there are any issues with them, call me. We can close off the field and stop people wandering in if we have to, not that many people are having walks out here at the moment.”
“Thanks, Simon, if there are any problems I’ll pop in and speak to Mary when I pick up my car. Do you need help to move the cattle?”
“No, it’s OK, I’ll put them in the field across the road, they’ll be happy enough to move for me.”
Pleased that I wasn’t required to help move the big, hairy beasts, I said goodbye and walked back to the field with the stone circle in it. There was no hint of trouble coming from it, but close contact might pick up on what my distant link to it couldn’t.
The field the stones were in was easy to access as they had put a special gate in to allow walkers entry from the road. Once I was in the field, I approached the stones like old friends, choosing the closest one to make contact with. There was no sign that they were active, so I was safe enough putting my hand on the cold, rough stone and let my shields down to sense the energy.
The warmth of the magic contained in the stones brushed up against my hand and welcomed me, recognising my magic, then retreated into itself again. It appeared content and sleepy, and I was reassured that it was dormant, almost hibernating. Simon and Mary didn’t need to be aware of anything, so I walked back to my car without intruding on any more on their time.
On the drive to work I thought about the cows, Neil was a stable man and not known for flights of fantasy, so I was leaning towards the cows having vanished and reappeared, but how? The fairy ring appeared inactive, but it was in the field. Maybe it wasn’t as innocent as it looked, and it being the second one mentioned in as many days had me on my toes. We weren’t prone to getting the rings in town, so to have a couple spring up might need further investigation.
My day at the Garden Centre was busy, I set up stock, helped customers and checked in on the plants in the potting shed and gave them a little magical boost to strengthen them. When I finished, I made my way to the studio and prepared for the succulent workshop we were holding the next day.
After checking on our supplies for the workshop, it was time for lunch, so I grabbed a sandwich and hot chocolate from our café and headed to my office space for some peace. I pulled out the latest staff roster and checked that it was in order and then posted it in the staff room. There weren’t any changes, but sometimes the staff liked to swap shifts, so it gave them time to arrange that before the new week started.
I’d caught up on my work for the day, so gave Kenna a call. “Hi, thought I would fill you in on my morning’s work. I checked on the stone circle and it seems pretty quiet, which is the good news.”
“So, what’s the bad news?” She asked.
“Not sure if it’s actual bad news, but while I was at Simon’s farm, Neil, who works for him, said the highland cows had disappeared, but when Simon went to check, they were in the field. I went to look at the field and I found a fairy ring, my magic said it was inactive, so could just be a normal ring of mushrooms, but my witchy sense tells me something is off, especially as Ms Bell called me yesterday about a fairy ring that had appeared overnight on her grass.”
