Page 63 of Coven of Corpses

“Too late.” Cody put his head back against the couch.

“Was that all five of the women in their group had been able to sense the stronger natural energy in the woods around town. But she was especially in tune with it because she was a very powerful green witch.”

“She was green?” Cody lifted his head. “Like in The Wizard of Oz?”

“No,” Clarabell said, getting up to grab a thick ring binder off the kitchen island before returning to her chair. “Green as in nature. She would have been very in tune with the seasons and used things found in nature for her spells. She wanted to make the area where they settled a safe place for their coven. All five practiced different areas of magic.” She leafed through pages in the binder until she found the spot she needed. “Hannah Johnson was a divination witch, Abigail Brewster a celestial witch, Esther Hopkins a kitchen witch, and Catherine Winthrop was a hedge witch.” She looked up. “And, possibly, a necromancer.”

“Oh, shit,” Demetrius said as a shiver went up his back.

“What’s that?” Cody asked, looking between them. “It’s bad, isn’t it? Like, really bad?”

“She would have been able to raise the dead,” Demetrius said without looking at him, then he asked Clarabell, “Was she successful?”

“Not from what I’ve been able to tell on a first read through,” Clarabell said. “But she was a hedge witch.”

“So she did that thing with bushes?” Cody said. “What’s it called?”

“Topiaries?” Demetrius said.

“Yes!” Cody pointed at him, smiling, before looking back at Clarabell. “Is that what she did?”

“No. A hedge witch studies the boundary between the physical world and the spirit world.”

Demetrius looked at Cody. “That might explain the demon.”

“That’s right,” Clarabell said. “And here’s where it gets even more interesting. The coven lived in small shacks out in the woods, built close together around a shared fire.”

“Like a witchy commune,” Cody said. “But full of evil and dark magic.”

“Yes and no.” Clarabell turned pages in the binder. “From what I’ve been able to piece together, it was a peaceful coexistence.”

“Really?” Demetrius said. “As a man of God, Pastor Stone was okay with them living out there and practicing witchcraft? Even the hedge witch?”

“That’s an interesting point as well.” Clarabell turned more pages in the binder, then said, “Ah, here it is. This is an entry from Elizabeth’s diary.” She cleared her throat and began to read. “A visit tonight from Pastor Stone. Though he be a man of God, he finds we women to be comely and true to our word. Tonight he lay with me to help me find the true meaning of faith.”

“Oh my,” Cody said, grinning. “The good pastor was quite a rapscallion.”

Demetrius and Clarabell shared a look, then both laughed.

“Rapscallion?” Demetrius said.

“Hey, don’t blame me. That word floated up from your side of this brain.”

“This is so weird,” Clarabell said, shaking her head. “We’ve got to break this spell.”

“I agree,” Demetrius said. “So Pastor Stone slept with Elizabeth?”

“From what Tracey and I have been able to tell, he slept with each of them.”

“Go Parson Stone. Got himself a witchy harem.”

Clarabell ignored him, watching Demetrius. After a dramatic pause, she said, “Within a year, each woman gave birth to a child.”

“Oh. Oh, wow.” Demetrius felt a little lightheaded as so many things became clear at once. He got up, weaving a bit as he maneuvered Cody’s larger body around the furniture to an open space where he was able to pace. “So, the witches all had bastard children, who had been sired by a man of God. And was this common knowledge in the town?”

“The town was just getting built up. For a long time, it was just Pastor Stone and the coven in the area.”

“So each of those children grew up and, what? Stayed here in town?” Demetrius said, still pacing.