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Talia gasped. “That’s Binx, Monica’s cat!”
“We should talk to her sister,” I suggested. Nadine and I walked to the front of the room, while Talia, Grant, and Chloe went to coax Binx out of the corner.
Nadine cleared her throat as we approached. “Excuse me, Meredith?”
The woman turned. I expected to see tears in her eyes, but she wore a stoic expression.
“Priestess.” Meredith nodded to Nadine, before her eyes traveled over me. “I expected to see you here, but who is this?”
Clearly, I wasn’t welcome.
“He’s come to pay his respects,” Nadine said. “We’re terribly sorry for your loss.”
“Don’t be,” Meredith snapped. “My sister deserves no respect. What she’s done is deplorable.”
My stomach twisted into knots. I wished I could tell her the truth.
“Meredith, please,” Nadine pleaded. “She was your sister.”
“That means nothing after what she’s done,” Meredith said. “My sister was always so wrapped up in her career. She never had time for dating or kids. Now look what she’s left with. Nothing, just as a traitor deserves. Don’t bother with your condolences. I’m only here to ensure she’s buried, along with her memory.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but Nadine placed a hand on mine. She shook her head, and I had to remind myself what we’d agreed upon. Trying to change the coven’s mind was futile. There was nothing I could do to convince this woman of her sister’s innocence. Meredith took our silence as the end of the conversation, and she breezed past us without another word.
“That was intense,” Talia said as she approached us, alongside Chloe and Grant. Talia held Binx tightly in her arms, stroking his head while he purred.
Nadine frowned. “One day she’ll know the truth. Once we have all the Oaken Wands and this conflict is over, I’ll make sure we clear Monica’s name.”
Chloe stepped toward the casket and gazed down at Monica’s lifeless features. “I wish we didn’t have to lose any more lives to get there.”
Monica’s body was still, and her black hair stood out against her pale skin and the white sheets. She reminded me of Snow White, though there was no handsome prince who would come to save her in this twisted fairy tale.
Talia stepped closer to the casket. Binx jumped out of her arms and onto Monica’s chest. He batted at his owner’s chin, like he expected her to move, but nothing happened. Binx turned a sad gaze up at Talia, and she sniffled as she shook her head. Binx meowed softly, and our cats echoed his cry. He curled up on Monica’s chest and closed his eyes. I could practically feel his heartbreak as my own.
“I’m gonna miss her, too, buddy,” Talia said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out something that I thought was a wand at first, but had silver buttons all over it. I realized it was piccolo, a tiny flute just barely over a foot long.
Talia’s voice cracked when she spoke. “I bought this the first time I met Monica. It was years ago, back when Hallowed Harmonica had just opened. I was still a kid. I came into her shop and saw the baby grand piano sitting there. I couldn’t help but sit down and start playing. I didn’t know she was listening. She just stood there until I was done, and when I finished, she… she told me she thought I was really good, and that I should try composing music. She saw something in me that I couldn’t see myself. I kept coming in, just to play that beautiful piano and talk to her about music. She was always so welcoming.”
Talia closed her eyes and ran her fingers over the piccolo. Her lids flickered, and I realized she was replaying a memory in a vision. “She asked once if I’d ever played anything but piano, and I told her I hadn’t. Then she asked if I could pick one other instrument to learn, what would it be. And I said flute, but not a regular flute. I wanted a tiny one—a piccolo. She brought this down from a shelf and gave it to me and said, You can start now. I told her I couldn’t take it, but she insisted I should borrow it. I never got to give it back. I never got to thank her for all she did for me.”
Talia choked up, and she placed the piccolo inside the casket beside Monica’s body. “I’m going to miss her.”
Grant wrapped an arm around Talia. “I didn’t know her well, but I know one thing. Monica was one of the kindest people in all the coven. She will be missed.”
“Her death will not be in vain,” Chloe growled. “That I can promise.”
A man cleared his throat, and we were ushered to our seats. Most of the seats were empty, except for my friends and I seated in the front, the priestesses in the back, and a few other people who knew Monica.
The service was short, and one of the funeral workers delivered the eulogy. I didn’t think he’d known Monica, judging by how generic his speech was. I supposed Meredith had been slated to give the eulogy, but she’d most certainly refused.
The workers closed the casket, and we watched as they loaded Monica’s body into the hearse. Talia held Binx tight in her arms, but he tried to struggle free. He yowled loudly, and the other cats joined in, as if singing a song of mourning.
We climbed into the car and followed the hearse through town. The sun had dipped low in the sky, and people lining the streets appeared as ominous shadows as dusk fell. They had come to watch. They screamed obscenities and threw rotten vegetables as the hearse passed through town.
Soon, the crowd disappeared behind us, and the cemetery gates loomed ahead. The graveyard was empty when we arrived, apart from a few chairs set around a fresh grave. We shivered as we stepped out of the car, and snow crunched beneath our feet as we passed by gravestones. We were in a far corner of the cemetery, where most of the graves were still covered in snow. Monica’s grave was one of the cheapest lots, in an area of the cemetery used only by those everyone had forgotten about.
We took our seats, and I kept my eyes on the hearse parked nearby. The funeral workers opened the back, and the priestesses gathered around. They opened the casket and peered inside at Monica’s body once more, like they wanted to be certain she was dead.
“Very well,” I heard priestess Margaret say. “Let’s get this over with.”
