Page 75 of A Sorceress Comes to Call
I believe she hit me with some kind of magic spell, just to see if I could dodge it. This would have been much worse than asking why tongues existed, so Cordelia shook her head and said, “I’ll be fine after a night’s sleep. And she’s leaving for her honeymoon soon.”
Alice nodded and slipped out of the room.
Cordelia sighed and poured a cup of water out from the pitcher. She had barely taken the first sip when Penelope’s voice exploded into her head.
What did you just do!?
Cordelia dropped the cup with a yelp. The handle broke off when it hit the floor, and she yelped again.
“Cordelia!” The door banged open as Alice rushed in. “Are you all right, miss?”
Sorry, sorry! The scent of watercress filled the air with eye-watering strength. Cordelia wiped her eyes frantically.
“Did you cut yourself? Sit down here and let me look.”
“No, no, I’m fine. I just…” Tell her a ghost yelled at you. That will go over wonderfully. “… uh, the mug slipped. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to break it. Maybe we can glue it back?”
“I’m sure someone can,” said Alice, more reassuring than truthful. “Let me fetch a dustpan, and careful where you step.”
When she was gone, Cordelia whispered, “Penelope? What happened to you? Are you okay?”
Insomuch as I’m still dead, not exactly. Other than that, I’m fine.
“Errr… well, yes. You broke off so fast earlier, I was afraid something had happened to you.”
Cinnamon air swirled around her. My own stupidity, I’m afraid. I could see actual objects. I haven’t been able to see those since I died.
“What were they?”
The altar. And on top of it, the water, wine, and salt. They were real. As solid as anything. The priest picked up the water and I tried to pull it out of his hand, just to see if I could actually touch it.
And then Evangeline took the cup and her hand went through me.
Cordelia inhaled sharply. That must be what her mother had felt, and for some reason she thought Cordelia had tried to pull the cup from her hands. Which made no sense at all. “She felt you.”
Oh, I know. I heard her say “Now, what are you?” as clearly as you talking to me. So I ran. Everything went to blobs as soon as I left the edge of the churchyard, but I didn’t dare get close to her again.
Cordelia couldn’t blame her. Left to her own devices, she would never get close to her mother again.
It was very odd about the water, wine, and salt, though. When they drank the wine, it was like… oh blast, I don’t have a word for it! It rang like a bell, but I’m not sure if it was really a sound. And then the salt rang too, when they ate it, and the two made a harmony together, and then the water. I was running away then, but I could hear it behind me, all three of them together ringing so loud that it drowned out everything.
Maybe that’s why I got away, because she couldn’t see me through the ringing.
“That sounds like magic,” said Cordelia. “Or maybe the opposite of magic. Maybe that’s why they break spells together?”
Maybe. I don’t think I would have wanted to stay there, even if Evangeline hadn’t seen me. It felt like it might have drowned me out, too.
Alice came back in and hastily swept up the shards of crockery. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I’m fine. Just… um… tired, I guess.” Cordelia tried to smile.
Alice paused, still holding the dustpan. “It won’t be so bad, going to Evermore House, miss. No one in service has any complaints of him.”
Cordelia was sure her face looked as blank as her mind felt. “Err… good?”
“If you were worried about that, I mean.”
“Oh.”
