Annabelle stepped back, allowing Clara and I to enter, before closing the door behind us.

  I marveled at her small home. The front area was fairly normal, a sitting area, kitchen and dining area, but the back was something else entirely.

  In the rear of the cabin was an alchemy laboratory that rivaled any which I had seen back east. The walls were absolutely covered in shelves containing glass jars containing hundreds of different animal parts, herbs and minerals. Across from them was an equally stuffed shelf full of premade unguents, pills and potions. The back contained heavy tables topped with different alchemy devices, beakers and glass work I never would have expected to see this far out in the wilderness. Most impressive was, between it all was a massive copper boiler suspended above a fire pit by four heavy legs. Copper tubing spiralled out the top before connecting to the alchemy tools at the back of the room.

  “Come in, come in, sit down,” Anabelle said, directing us towards the sitting area. A smile on her weathered face. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

  She slowly hobbled towards the kitchen, hunched over, leaning heavily on a cane, breathing heavily. A large black shawl hung over the shoulders of her rich brown robe.

  “No thank you, ma’am,” I politely declined, before sitting on a comfortable wooden chair. “You probably already know who I am, but I feel like I should introduce myself. My name’s Zoey Claiborne, and I was told you wanted to speak to me.”

  “I did,” Anabelle declared as she busied herself at the stove. “I wanted to thank you, for saving my granddaughter’s life, but unfortunately my sister and the rest of the council decided you had to stay locked up in that shed, until today. Too far for this frail old lady to walk.”

  “That’s all?” I asked suspiciously.

  She turned towards me, an impish grin on her face. “You think there’s more?”

  Kaylee huffed, even she could see through this charade.

  I sighed. “Yes. Why else would you be hobbling around, pretending to be half crippled when you’re perfectly fine.”

  Annabelle’s smile widened, she threw off the shawl and stood up straight, returning her ‘walking stick’ to the pile of kindling next to the stove. “What gave me away?”

  “You’re the coven’s alchemist, and have to work with all that equipment in the back, something that would be very difficult for someone as crippled as you pretended to be. In addition, if you were that crippled you would have moved closer to town for the convenience, and not be out here in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Mow”

  “And we could hear you running about trying to get your disguise together,” I admitted after Kaylee prompted me.

  My cat turned an accusatory eye towards Clara, who was sitting a couple chairs away, and the woman immediately threw up her hands. “She does this for all new arrivals, and made me promise not to tell you ahead of time.”

  “So why the theatre? Trying to judge whether I’m dangerous or not, like the rest of the council?” I asked tiredly.

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  “Heavens no. If you were dangerous you wouldn’t have saved Dakota and Cheyanne, I was certain about that the instant I first saw you. What I really wanted to do was judge your character,” Annabelle admitted as she set two porcelain cups on the table, one in front of Clara and another in front of herself. “You sure you don’t want any?”

  I nodded.

  “Suit yourself,” the woman said before picking up her cup and taking a tiny sip. “I do appreciate you saving Dakota, that was no lie, but I’m sure after my little performance you have questions. Ask!”

  I glanced around. “Does Dakota live here with you? Is she here?”

  The old woman sighed exaggeratedly. “She does, and she’s not. My favorite little helper lives upstairs, and when she’s not helping me prepare she usually heads into town to see Cheyanne. It’s unfortunate, but since we’re such a small coven she only has one friend her own age.”

  She took another sip, eyes locked on me, eyebrows raised expectantly. I stared back at her, trying to decide what to ask next.

  “You said this was some sort of judge of character? How did I do?” I finally asked.

  “It was. Seeing how people would treat you when you’re old and crippled tells you a lot about a person. Do they treat you like a normal person, or an invalid? Do they treat you with false kindness, or do they actually care?” Annabelle explained.

  “And me?” I asked.

  “You, my dear, are straight forward. You speak your mind and don’t mince your words. I’ve had a number of people suspect I’m acting, and hold back on the off chance they’re wrong, but you’re the first one in a long time that called me out right away.”Annabelle smiled, leaned back in her chair. She took out a long pipe and lit it, filling the place with thick medicinal smoke. “Anything else?”

  I glanced at the pipe, causing the old woman to raise an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. “I don’t have any more questions really, but I’d appreciate it if you could tell me about the coven, or maybe why the Graves company is taking your people?”

  “If you want to know about those Graves bastards, Thyra is the one you should talk to. She has the most knowledge, and experience, on the subject.” She shook her head. “As for the coven, sure, I can tell you a bit.“

  “Twenty years ago Amillia and I left our previous coven, which had grown too large to properly sustain. We gathered a bunch of young people who wanted a new start and headed as far into the frontier as we could. Once we saw this place we knew it would be the perfect place to settle down. We made deals with the natives, provided them with cloth and grains in exchange for meat and furs. Thought we’d be able to live peacefully out here for the rest of our days.”

  Annabelle took a long draw on her pipe. “We had no idea that within a couple decades someone would lay a railway line clear across the country before stopping right on our doorstep. It would have been nice to get access to some new goods, but unfortunately that town is as backwards as they come. We’ve realized it’s better to go nowhere near it.”

  “You can say that again,” I mumbled under my breath.

  “Other than that? Not much to say. We’ve picked up a few strays over the years, but we keep to ourselves. Most of the others don’t like visitors. They may be suspicious of you at first, but they’ll warm up to you in time.”

  “I doubt that,” I told her, “but we’ll see.”

  “You think I’m wrong?” Annabelle asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “I’ve learned that people fear what they don’t know, and not to get my hopes up,” I replied, trying my best not to be disheartened.

  Annabelle stared at me for several long seconds, puffing on her pipe the entire time, before placing the pipe carefully on the table and standing up. Drawing herself to her full height, she squared up and looked at me. “You listen here. Even if your powers are unconventional, doesn’t mean they’re evil or wrong. There are many types of magic. Beside the natural magic of witches, there’s the spiritual magic of the natives, the divination of the gypsies, the vile magic of diabolists, the protective power of witch hunters. Those are only the most prevalent uses, there are thousands of other, minor types of practitioners around the world. Having a strange power doesn’t make you evil, a jinx, or anything else. It just makes you different.” She huffed. “Your last coven should have realized that a long time ago, the backwards numpties.”

  “You do realize I came from one of the strongest covens on the east coast, right?” I asked with a slight smile.

  “Large and powerful doesn’t always equate to wise, as they’ve proved here.” Her speech done Annabelle sat back down and once again grabbed her pipe. This time with shaking hands.

  “I’d like to entertain you further, but unfortunately I’ve gone and worn myself out.” She took another long draw from the pipe and the shaking stopped.

  “It was very nice to meet you Zoey, please stop by again once you’re a little more settled in.”

  Clara shot to her feet, “Is there anything I can do before…”

  Annabelle just waved her hand dismissively.

  “It’s alright child, I just need to lay down. You take Zoey here and introduce her around town, off you go!”

  I let myself get ushered towards the door, turning right before leaving and giving a polite nod back to my hostess. “Thank you very much for having us, I look forward to seeing you again.”

  With that I stepped outside, holding the door just long enough for Clara to join me before shutting it again. As soon as I did a massive coughing fit arose from inside. Clara tried her best to pretend she hadn’t heard it.

  “Mer” Kaylee said quietly.

  “Yeah, I know,” I whispered back. “She’s tried to hide it, but she really is a terrible actor.”

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