Claire-Marie pushed open the lid of the basket and began digging inside. She set several bottles, bowls and small jars down on the table. A tangled root, bundle of grass, and several candles were laid out on the table beside the basket. A young girl stood near the corner trying to watch as closely as she could without getting in the way. A large piece of red flannel was the last thing taken from the basket, and spread out across the flat surface. Claire-Marie began to light the candles. Outside, the wind began to howl louder and whip through the trees behind the house. As she began measuring out her powders, a gasp came from the corner. The girl’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates. “Hush, now” she told the girl and went back to her preparations. Evangeline had come up behind her with just a slight whisper of scent to let her know who it was. Comforted by her familiar friend, she finished mixing up the spell and was ready to begin. She called to the others who lived in the house, an older woman and her husband who were parents of the girl and an elderly white-haired woman who had been the one to call Claire to come help their problem. She gave them the prayer to Saint Anne, and told them to repeat it. As they began chanting the prayer, Claire-Marie picked up a bowl and walked to the center of the room. She waited as the family chanted louder and faster, she barely saw Evangeline spinning around the room, making the thin curtains swing. The effect was definitely raising up the energy that she needed. When their voices had reached a feverish peak, Claire-Marie began to shout and shriek. Throwing the powders at the four walls, she called on the protection of Saint Anne, begging and beseeching for the terrified family. The words flew from her mouth without her knowing what she said. The room was spinning faster and faster, the chanting was at its highest point… Suddenly there was a loud slam. Claire dropped to the ground, breathless and drained. After a few moments she felt a gentle hand brush a lock of hair from her forehead. Carefully keeping her long skirt around her legs, she got her legs under her and stood up. Each member of the family was staring at her in awe. Glancing over at a mirror hung on the wall, she sucked in a sharp intake of air. There was a golden light surrounding her and was causing quite a stir with the other people in the room with her. “Knock it off, Evangeline,” she muttered under her breath. The light faded and the room darkened. Claire closed her eyes and used her other senses to feel the energies. The nasties were gone, and the house spirits were relieved. It felt happier in here now, compared to how it felt when she had first arrived. Whatever it was that had attached itself to the house appeared to be gone, hopefully permanently. House cleansings and blessings were about all she was prepared to be doing at this particular point in her life. She retrieved her bottles and things and out them back in the basket. The elderly woman was sitting in a rocking chair, smiling at her in a strange way. Claire wiped the back of her hand across her forehead, and tilted her head at the old woman. “And just what is that look supposed to mean?” she asked. The old woman cackled. Reaching out one gnarled and boney finger, she pointed at Claire and said, ”You only think this is all that you want to do. There’s a bigger problem coming for you. You best get ready for it.” A deep foreboding chill ran down Claire’s spine at her words. Her stomach began to knot up and she turned back to the basket, putting away the last of her things. The old woman closed her eyes and rocked back and forth. After the family finally let her go amidst the many thanks and a freshly butchered chicken, Claire-Marie walked back to the main road away from the small house. It was nearly dusk, not the safest time to be out walking by one’s self. Evangeline gusted up with a scattering of leaves. “Wasn’t that fun?” The leaves spun in a tiny whirlwind around Claire’s feet. She was tired and felt more than a little drained. It didn’t feel all that fun to her. “Hush now, Evangeline. Those people were terrified out of their wits. I’m glad you were so amused.” Claire muttered grumpily. Her feet were sore by the time she reached her own home, a small two room house barely more than a shack at the edge of the tiny town she had lived in all her relatively short life. Leaving the porch light off, she pushed her way in through the front door, and set the basket down just inside. She put the chicken in the ice box to keep cool until she would be ready to cook it up. With her heavy shawl hung up and a fire blazing away in the wood stove, she finally sat down with a cup of tea. Opening up her old ledger book, she looked at her calendar to see where she had to be the next day. Evangeline had disappeared again, her incessant chatter would have been more welcoming than the quiet, with only the wood crackling for noise. Claire-Marie felt off. Uncertain as to the cause, she stood back up and pulled out her reading cards from the cupboard. Shuffling them slowly with her questions swirling in her mind, she began to lay out the cards. As she looked at the scenes on each card, her vision started to shift. A cold draft swept up from the floor as she watched the cards change in front of her. The Queen of Swords had gotten up off her throne and had turned toward Claire-Marie with a menacing scowl on her face. She held the sword out in front of her, as if threatening to slash Claire. With a gasp, she jerked backwards. The chair collapsed to the floor as a weak leg finally gave out, dumping Claire in a heap. When she regained her feet and looked at the card again, it was as if nothing had happened. The Queen sat regally holding up the sword just the way the card had been originally drawn. “I’ve got to get to bed,” she said out loud, even knowing Evangeline was gone. Things always look better in the morning. The sun’s rays through the threadbare curtains woke her up early. It was a good thing too, she had laundry to do, the chicken to prepare and several clients were scheduled throughout the day. Claire-Marie walked to the basin and splashed cold water on her face to remove the last remnants of sleep from her eyes. Drying off her hands and face, she tossed the towel into the laundry basket and carried it into the main room of her house. An urge for coffee made her set the basket back down on the floor and she set the kettle on the stove. It still had water in it from the night before. A fire was quickly set and heating up the water as she took up her basket again and headed out to the back of the house. There were two half barrels set up next to a line tied up between a pair of trees. Claire dumped the clothes into one of them and went to the well at the far end of the yard to start carrying the water. After the washing was done, she stopped for her coffee and tidied up the room for her first client who was due to arrive at any moment. She lit the incense and several candles to set the mood and readied her cards on the table. The barest flash of a memory went through her mind, but she brushed it away. A knock on the door had her hurrying to open it. A short heavy set woman stood there, her carefully coiffed blond curls ruffling in the breeze. “Come in, please,” Claire-Marie swept open the door wider to welcome her guest.

Click here to go to chapter 2