Page 46 of Midlife Witch Unexpected

We all fanned out and began looking through different parts of the Celtic Martyrs’ plot. There were headstones everywhere; laying down, standing up, and leaning against each other. I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for, but I began to read the names and the dates on the tombstones and looked for little nooks and crannies inside each headstone.

“I found it!” Hilda cried loudly, about thirty minutes into our search.

We hadn’t been looking long but we were all frustrated and unsure of whether we would even find the thing or not. So, there was a genuine sigh of relief when we discovered we would be able to stop the search. We all huddled over to where Hilda was standing overlooking an oval tombstone lying flat in the grass and covered in vines. She had moved the vines aside and we read the text etched into the marble headstone.

“Nathaniel Grady. Beloved Husband. Born in 1892 and died in 1935. He was 43 years old,” Drake said.

“I don’t see the folded cross,” I said. “I thought it would be bigger. I don’t see anything on this oval except marble in writing.”

“Do you see the hollow there?” Hilda pointed to a hollow in the marble, about two inches deep and the size of my fist. I would never have noticed it had she not pointed it out. It was in the lower left side of the stone where hardly anyone would notice.

“It’s supposed to be sitting right there,” she said. “The Folded Cross is missing.”

Chapter 27

“Can everyone just go home?” I asked, staring at my five companions. It was hours after we had discovered the missing Folded Cross and although we had spent some time in the cemetery, we had all agreed after a few hours there was no reason to continue looking there. We weren’t about to find it overnight. We didn’t even know how long it had been missing. We made our way back to The Estate and were sitting at the large kitchen table with Anita scribbling notes with her finger as a pen (what?) on places where the Folded Cross might be.

“I need some time alone.” I looked at Branson. “Don’t you need to go home or something? Maybe you have a cat to feed or something?”

Anita chuckled at my comments, but Branson looked at me seriously. “I have nowhere else to be other than guarding you. It is my sole purpose in life.”

“Can you please stop making it sound so dire?” I asked. “Do you know what I really want is a glass of wine, a hot bath, and to be left the heck alone?"

My voice was high-pitched as I tried to deal with the rising anxiety and frustration inside me. We had found the problem, there was a missing cemetery talisman, but holy fuck my life was insane, and I didn’t even know how to make sense of it.

“We have to find the Folded Cross,” I said. “I understand the importance of it, but I’m just feeling really drained.” The words slipped out before I even meant to. But the second I said them I knew they were completely true. Trina and the children stood up immediately.

“I told you she couldn’t handle it,” Trina said.

“She can handle it just fine,” Hilda said. “She just did a really powerful magic spell last night and earlier today. It’s going to drain her some.”

“She doesn’t even know how to replenish her energy,” Anita said.

“Every witch does it differently,” Hilda said. “It sounds like she’s got a pretty good idea of how to refresh her energy. Hot bath, was it? You probably got a bit of elemental in you. You know the supernaturals do crossbreed a bit, so we end up having some strains of other supernaturals in us. Like you can tell by my magic I have some flora elemental in me. It’s perfectly natural.”

“You guys.” I held my hands up in frustration and peeled the words slowly out of my mouth. “I. Need. Space. I’m going to lose my shit. I’d prefer to not lose my shit in front of everybody.”

“Told you,” Trina said, looking down her nose at me before she went and led the way out the door. Her children followed with a lot less pouting and sniffling.

“You too,” I said, glaring at Branson. “Out.”

What good was all this magic, if I couldn’t have a little peace and quiet to myself.

Branson looked at Hilda with a questioning look.

“Do not look at her.” I wagged my finger in the air. “This is my house, my coven, and you’re my guardian. I’m telling you to take the night off.”

Branson looked at me, his golden eyes blinking solemnly. “I’m going to give you your space,” he said, “because you’ve requested it. But my oath dictates I can’t leave you alone. So, I’m going to have to be outside.”

“You’re kidding me.” I was completely exasperated. “I mean, you’re hot so it’s not creepy, but dude, if you were not as hot as you are it would be creepy. I’m telling you right now.”

Hilda stepped forward. “Maybe if I stayed quiet and gave her space, then maybe you could take some time off this evening, Branson. You know, go around town, sniff out the perimeter, do something else you do to help protect her without being right in her face. Would that work?”

We both looked at Branson hopefully.

“I’m not really comfortable being too far away from her,” Branson said.

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