Palindrome
Bishop

I watched as they got inside a shiny, black Shelby Mustang of the new kind. To my surprise, William got behind the wheel; I would have guessed the older brother to be the driver. His eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses, but he nodded at me when he saw me looking. Luckily, my shift soon ended; this incident had thrown me off the horse, even though nothing had happened. Evans got up to leave, and he patted me on the shoulder. “Who was that?”

I kept following the car until it was out of sight.

“They`ve just moved into the Pevensy-house.”

Evans gave a guttural noise. “Really? Hmm, must be a wealthy family then.” I didn’t respond, and Evans grabbed his hat and said goodbye, promising to stop by soon to see to the hedge. As I took one last look out the window, I was sure of one thing. They weren’t entirely human.

It took five rings before someone answered the phone on the other end.

“Bishop.”

“Hi, it`s Hannah Reeveer calling.”

A moment of silence before the voice changed completely.

“Hannah! How are you? I haven’t seen you since…well, it has to be in three years.”

Since my parents were killed, that meant. I cleared my throat before answering.

“Yeah, sorry, it`s been busy. The days glide into each other.”

The voice laughed a bit too cheerily.

“I know, I know. Same here. How are things in your town?”

Suddenly I regretted having called him. I hesitated; I didn’t want it to seem like I didn’t have control.

“Fine, fine. How are the rest of the family?”

Samuel chatted away about his big family, which I once knew very well. I realized I had withdrawn myself more than I thought from the community since mom and dad died.

“You must come to visit, Hannah dear. Bridget asked after you earlier today; a bit eerie that you called, but there`s Bridget for you.”

I took a deep breath, comforted by his easy way, and blurted out why I was calling.

“There is someone new in town. I don’t know what they are, but they aren’t entirely human. I need advice.”

Samuel waited a moment before he answered, and now the tone had changed again. More business-like.

“Did you get a reading from them?”

“Very little.”

I described the incident and how it seemed they recited or chanted something when I got close. They`d learned about the protection spell and how my name was spelled. Samuel also made me describe them in person, and I told him the word I`d gotten from the card. His voice sounded weird when he finally spoke.

“I don`t know, Hannah. I agree that something is happening, but I must investigate it further. I`ll call you back. Do you need me to come down there?”

The thought was tempting, but I couldn’t see what difference it would make.

“No, there`s no use in that yet. Thanks for offering, though. I`ll call you if anything more happens.”

We said our goodbyes, and I was a bit deflated when I hung up the phone. I wanted to do something, but I didn’t know what I could do. Tired, I decided to sweep the floors; I didn’t want any bad energy in the house now. Afterward, I went into the garden and picked a collection of herbs and flowers. Some would have to wait a few days; they needed to be gathered under the dark of the moon. I wandered around the garden and thought about William and his brother. The funny thing was that I got the same feeling thinking about him as before the Beltane ritual. I knew I should be afraid, but I felt excitement instead. I had to start over again for the first time when I bound the bundle of herbs together. I saw visions of his tattooed fingers reaching for my hands, dragging me towards him. We were in the sunlight, and I felt his warm breath against my neck as he laughed. My hair fell forward when he spun me around.

Then a thorn in a rose woke me; I was standing in the middle of the kitchen. Embarrassed, even though no one had seen me, I let the drop of blood mix with the flowers. Was it visions, or was my mind filled with hormones after Beltane? No way of knowing, not yet. I hang the bundle on the door to protect the house even more from evil spirits.

After dinner, I sat down in Dad`s study with a glass of Whisky. In there, I felt safe and loved; no harm would find me here. I spun the chair around and studied the many books before me. Where to start? The wall was covered in books, pamphlets, and manuscripts from centuries back.

Lilith`s children, maybe? I could be wrong about them not being witches, so I needed to look up the different kinds.

My family and the Bishops were what you would call the original “Village witch” We lived in one place our whole life, kept the family traditions close, and protected our village. In some instances, that went bad, which is why the Bishop family lived in another town now than they did in the late 1600s. We used spells alongside things that nature provided us. I drew my powers from my family line and this town itself. It was in my interest that the city thrived.

Then you got the hedge witch; they were prone to walk amongst the dimensions. I didn’t have the nerves for that; what if you got caught in a dimension you didn’t want to be in? A hedge witch liked to work alone. If you`ve had your palm read or someone looked into the crystal ball, you have met a hedge witch. If you have had the card laid out before you, that was most likely a cosmic witch. They read the stars and the positions of the planets. Green witches are one with nature; they often live in the forest-they draw powers from Mother Nature more than anyone, like a Sea witch, that collects their powers from water. Of course, you had someone who drew powers from life's darker sides, but we liked the balance. As the Goddess reminded me last night, nothing is good or bad. People with an affinity for witchcraft derived from the great Lilith. She was the first woman, and unlike Eve, Lilith was made from the earth. The story tells that she got cast out of Eden because she didn’t want to stay under Adam. Her name has many meanings; female demon, night mistress; in Jewish myths, she is known as the Queen of the demons. Funny how the male point of view can twist things, right?

For us, Lilith was our Mother. She looked after and protected us without coming in the way of free will.

They didn’t match any of our kind. I had to look elsewhere. But first, I needed to know more. The thought of seeing William and his brother again should have made my instinct flare up, screaming danger. It only made my heart beat faster.

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