White Witch (20 page)

The next few periods feel like a normal day. I’m beginning to relax and get back into the flow of another school week when I get to art and Ms. Appleton starts placing paintings and drawings around the room.

“A couple of days ago, I asked for suggestions of the type of art you all would like to study,” she says. “Those of you who made the effort to offer suggestions gave me some good ideas. Today, we’re going to start with Jax’s suggestion of fantasy drawings. We’ll look at some examples then you’ll draw your own.”

I like the pastel fairies, which remind me of Mom’s work. But also striking are the dark reds and blacks of a Count Dracula rendering, the rich greens in a leprechaun print, and artwork from
The Lord of the Rings
. My heartbeat falters when I spot a large piece of a woman dressed all in white robes, her ebony hair so black it shines blue in spots.

Before I realize what I’m doing, I raise my hand.

“Yes, Jax?”

I point at the painting. “What is that one called?”

Ms. Appleton lifts the piece of art. “The White Witch of Wiltshire. It’s from an English work by Simon Devane, though the artist is unknown.”

When Ms. Appleton turns to set the painting back in the tray of the white board at the front of the room, Toni nudges me. “What’s wrong?”

“That drawing. It’s
 . . .
I don’t know. Something about it is familiar.”

“Maybe you’ve seen it before.”

I haven’t, of that I’m certain. If I had, I’d remember it, the innate beauty of feature and spirit of the woman. And yet she’s called a witch. I’ve never had such a difficult time focusing on my own drawing. I can’t take my eyes off the drawing of the witch. Only when I force myself to finish my own work do I realize that I’m trying to capture the same sense of light and purity I feel from the older painting.

When class is over, I approach Ms. Appleton.

“I was wondering if I could make a photocopy of this painting.”

Ms. Appleton notices where I’m pointing. “You really like that one.”

I nod. “She looks like she could walk out of that drawing and bring goodness with her.” That might sound hokey, especially coming from a high school kid, but I like that description. It conveys how I feel when I look into the witch’s blue eyes.

“She does, doesn’t she? You have quite an eye for art.”

Ms. Appleton has no idea how much her words mean to me, that they make me feel closer to my mother than I have in a long time.

As I look at the painting again, it calls to me. Is it possible? Had this woman been real? And had she truly been a witch, a real one? If so, how had she escaped the darkness? Or had she lived before the covens formed?

As I head down the hallway to the office to make the copy, I can’t stop staring at the painting, wondering if the woman represents any sliver of truth, or if she was simply a fantastic drawing straight out of the artist’s imagination?

After making the copy and leaving the original at the front desk for Ms. Appleton, I head for my car. When I reach it, Keller’s leaning against the Beetle, his long legs stretched out in front of him.

“Hey, beautiful.”

I smile. “Hey, yourself.”

He pulls me to him and kisses me. When he does that, it’s so easy to forget the world holds any danger at all.

When he ends the kiss, he nods at the paper in my hand. “What’s that?”

The end of Keller’s question is cut off by the roar of Egan’s motorcycle pulling up next to us. Toni sits on the back, her arms around Egan’s waist. I remind myself not to meddle, not unless it becomes necessary.

Egan removes his helmet and kills the engine. “I believe this is called a public display of affection. My, my, what would the school officials think?”

“Speaking of school, you planning on signing up anytime soon?” I ask.

“Can’t say it’s high on my list.”

I don’t press the issue. Egan is insanely smart if an incurable flirt. I doubt Baker Gap High School can teach him anything he doesn’t already know.

“Listen,” I say. “I want you to see something.” I unfurl the drawing. “It’s called The White Witch of Wiltshire.”

Egan shrugs. “So what? There are millions of artists’ renderings of witches, all wrong.”

“You don’t think she could be real?”

“The ‘white’ implies no.”

“What if that’s what’s missing from the Beginning Book?”

“That drawing?”

“No, not necessarily. What if the covens are scared of white witches?”

“Jax, there’s no such thing.”

“We’ve never heard of one, not a real witch anyway, but they’ve lied to us before. What’s to say they didn’t omit this useful factoid from our history lessons?”

“I think you’re stretching. It’s a little clichéd to think the big uh-oh for dark witches is Glinda the Good Witch. I mean, if a white witch exists, how could her power be stronger? What would she draw from? And how could she take on so many dark witches?”

“I don’t know.” I feel Keller’s hand at the small of my back, supporting me. It’s amazing how he can make me fall for him more with the smallest gestures.

“Don’t worry,” Keller says. “We’ll keep looking for the missing pieces. If the covens come, we’ll be ready.”

I meet Egan’s gaze, see what I’m thinking reflected back at me.

Keller has faced so much in his life, but he has no idea what he’s talking about. No matter how much planning and stockpiling of weapons he does, he’ll never be ready for the covens.

If it’s the last thing I ever do.

“So, what’s up with the sprinklers going off in the gym?” I ask to change the subject.

“Mom said they malfunctioned. Before anyone noticed, the place was soaked. They’re going to have to rip up and replace the floor.”

“I can’t believe they were able to get The Barn on such short notice. Won’t that make their normal clientele mad?”

“Maybe a few, but most of the people there on Friday nights are from school anyway.”

Toni and I help each other with hair and makeup, dance around the room when Toni turns up her stereo and giggle as we strike poses in the mirror.

“You know, I think this is the first time I’ve seen you in anything other than one of your famous T-shirts.”

“Yeah, they haven’t come out with a line of Slayer dresses yet.” Toni looks at herself in the mirror, as if she can’t believe the reflection staring back at her. “Besides, I don’t want to seem like too big of a dork.”

I stand looking over Toni’s shoulder into the mirror. “Please don’t lose yourself. Don’t change who you are because of Egan. Because who you are is pretty cool.”

“Thanks. You’re pretty cool yourself. Of course, you’re a witch, so you’ve got an unfair advantage.”

I swat her on the bare shoulder.

The doorbell causes Toni to squeak. “They’re here.”

I glance out the window to find Keller’s truck at the curb. Butterflies burst out of their cocoons in my stomach. I may have danced with Keller before, but tonight is different. We’re going to a dance, a real dress-up date. It all seems so Cinderella-like. I just hope midnight doesn’t bring the end to the fairytale.

Toni’s about to have an asthma attack, and she doesn’t even have asthma, so I agree to go down the stairs first. Halfway down, I stop and stare. Keller stands at the bottom of the staircase looking up at me, his expression as stunned as I feel. He looks so good, so perfect in a blue button-up shirt and black pants.

How will I ever bear leaving him if it comes to that?

“You look amazing,” he says.

“So do you.” My voice is no more than a whisper, a reverent one. “You should wear blue every day.”

He smiles at that, and I find enough momentum to take me the rest of the way down the stairs. When I reach the bottom, he lifts his hand to my face and gently kisses me. “I’m so glad you chose to run away to Baker Gap,” he whispers in my ear.

“Me, too.”

“Okay, okay, we get it. You two really like each other,” Egan says. He nudges Keller aside. “It’s my turn. I think I have a date up there somewhere.”

But Toni doesn’t appear at the top of the stairs.

“Toni?” I say.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Egan adds.

“She’s, uh
 . . .
I’ll go get her.” I don’t want to reveal how nervous Toni is. That will put too much importance on this date, on Egan.

“Nah, I’ll go get her.” Egan bounds up the stairs.

I start after him, but Keller holds me back.

“Let him go. He seems like a good guy.”

I glance at Keller and wonder when he’d come to that conclusion. Then I redirect my attention up the stairs and sigh “Yeah.” Unfortunately, Egan is also good at breaking hearts.

The football gam
e lasts for-ev-er. After Baker Gap finally kicks the winning field goal, everyone heads for the dance. After negotiating the traffic, we finally make it to The Barn and the part of the evening I’ve been looking forward to.

“What are you thinking?” Keller asks next to my ear when we reach the dance floor.

That this is the most perfect night ever.
But I don’t say that. “Nothing. Just enjoying myself.”

He looks over my shoulder. “Looks like Toni and Egan are having a good time, too.”

I turn and see my old friend and new friend seemingly oblivious to anyone around them. They sway gently, Toni’s head against Egan’s chest and Egan’s hand pressed against her back in what looks like a tender and protective gesture.

“What?” Keller asks. “You have a strange look on your face.”