Page 5 of The Book of Unwritten Stories

‘It most certainly did not look like nothing. Pay attention, the reverend is asking questions about his sermon.’

Lucine felt the gentle flutter in her chest turn into a storm as it gathered strength at the thought of him asking her what he had preached about for three hours. As he walked towards the sisters he paused and smiled at them. ‘Good to see all of you here, I hope you enjoyed it.’

Seraphina nodded her head vigorously. ‘Wonderful as ever, Reverend, thank you for such an insightful sermon. You have given me plenty to think about this coming week.’

He smiled broadly at Seraphina, and Lucine noticed his cheeks, which were rounded and rosy most of the time, colour a little deeper. He turned and walked away quickly, and Lucine felt the storm that was raging inside of her begin to subside.

Seraphina whispered, ‘You owe me, dear sister. Come, let us get out of here and back home where we can discuss the good reverend’s sermon in great depth.’

Seraphina winked at Lenora and Lucine, the gentlest, quickest of winks that should anyone question, she could say she blinked. For she knew that Ann Putnam was always watching the three of them as closely as a hawk watches the field mouse it wants to scoop into its claws and swallow whole.

FIVE

SALEM, PRESENT DAY

Dora was drunk, more drunk than she’d been in a long time, and that meant she was emotional. Her aunts Lenny and Sephy weren’t far behind on the drunkenness scale; they were on a second jug of black magic, the cherry-infused vodka cocktail that her mom had loved so much and was now her favourite after a porn star martini, though unfortunately it wasn’t a cocktail that was readily available in the bars in Salem.

She smiled at Ambrose. His hand pushed his floppy brown fringe to one side and he smiled back at her with the bluest of eyes that were as pure as his heart and soul. He was handsome in a way that reminded her of a younger Hugh Grant. He had been her friend through many lifetimes, sometimes much more than her friend. She was thirty-three years old and falling in love with him more each day, but the curse that the English women had been under for centuries lay heavy on her heart. In theory, the curse should be broken – if there was no more Corwin, there was no more curse – but it worried her that she might still die before her thirty-fifth birthday and that thought whenever it entered her head manifested itself in a physical pain inside of her heart. A stabbing pain that made her wonder if this time it was her heart that would give out and kill her. A pain that she could feel keeping her apart from Ambrose…

‘You are not going to die, Dora, it’s probably indigestion.’ Lenny was staring at her over the rim of her cocktail glass. ‘No, I didn’t read your mind. You keep rubbing at your chest.’

Dora smiled at Lenny, clever, beautiful, wise, salty Lenny as Sephy called her.

‘I was.’

Sephy and Lenny nodded their heads. ‘We haven’t eaten much, and those cocktails can be a little too strong on an empty stomach. Why don’t we go get some pizza?’ Sephy was smiling at her. ‘I know how much you enjoy it; we could have a stroll down to Essex Street Pizza.’

Lenny turned to stare at Sephy. ‘At this time of day? Through all the tourists, you want us to walk into the Witch City Mall of own free will and queue for an hour?’

Sephy rolled her eyes at Lenny. ‘Honestly dear, sometimes I think your feet are planted firmly in the sixteen hundreds despite your intelligence. I’ll phone our order in, we can wander through the street market and soak up all those good vibes, those happy vibes. It will do us all a world of good. You know how much I love to support all the local traders; we could pick up some bits and treat ourselves to something to remember Lucine by. How does that sound?’

‘Good vibes, pick up bits? Jostling my way through crowds is not reminiscent of a good time for me, Sephy. It reminds me far too much of hanging day, those village idiots who were so intent on watching us swing for no good reason other than their own entertainment.’

Sephy shrugged at Dora. ‘She’s never going to let it go, is she?’

Dora smiled at her aunts. ‘I barely remember it, or I try not to.’ Her body was taken over by a shudder so strong it made her spill the last drops of her drink.

‘That’s the best way, dear, dwelling on that horrid day is not healthy for anyone’s mind. It happened, it was brutal, but we’re still here to tell the tale so it wasn’t all bad.’

Lenny’s eyes rolled to the back of her head. ‘It wasn’t all bad, Sephy? I honestly wonder what planet you’re on at times.’

‘A planet where innocent women and men didn’t get hanged for being falsely accused of being witches, that’s the planet I’d prefer to be on.’ Dora sighed. ‘I wish I knew more about my father. Can you not tell me anything about him other than the little I already know?’

Sephy gave Lenny a side eye then turned back to Dora. ‘Some men can be dangerous, even the kindest of them can bring about the downfall of women even if they didn’t mean to.’

Dora opened her mouth to argue with her aunt, but before she could Ambrose intervened.

‘I’ll ring for the pizzas, same as usual?’ Ambrose was smiling at all three of them, making Dora glad he was here; he had a knack of being able to distract her aunts far better than she could. ‘Cheese, please,’ she said.

‘Veggie special and an Essex special for us, we can share,’ replied Sephy.

‘Excuse me, ladies, while I make this very important call.’ He winked at them and stepped outside into Sephy’s back garden.

Lenny nodded. ‘He’s a good kid, why don’t you let him go to London with you tomorrow?’

‘I need to say goodbye on my own. I already owe Katie so much. I want to spend my time with her and Mabel.’

‘You must invite them to come here for a holiday anytime they are missing you too much.’ Sephy was smiling at her.