Page 41 of The Women of Wild Hill
“He’s not taking me anywhere, Grandma.” Sadie despised being called Grandma. “We bought a house closer to the city. It’s less than an hour away. And may I remind you, I chose my own powers,” Lilith said. “Their energy does not depend on Wild Hill.”
“So you’re running away.” Sadie sniffed. “What kind of witch are you?”
“You’ll see soon enough,” Lilith told her. “I’m the kind of witch who gets things done.”
The silence hung between them. Then all at once, Sadie broke out in laughter.
“You get that from me,” Sadie announced. “I suddenly feel muchbetter about everything.” As she prepared to make her victorious exit, she stopped at the door and called back over her shoulder, “And I know that’s not the only one of my gifts you inherited.”
AT THE WEDDING RECEPTION, BESSIEoffered her blessing in the form of gentle breezes filled with fragrance. Lilith and Levi cut their cake on the brow of the hill, in sight of Rose Duncan’s grave. Sadie and Ivy were there, along with Levi’s elderly aunts. Two of Ivy’s clients from the village wept openly. Levi’s mentors in the Columbia chemistry department spent the evening trying to catch Sadie’s eye. There were twenty-two flesh-and-blood guests in attendance. Anyone who was able to see spirits might have caught a glimpse of Bessie watching from the roof of the mansion—or Rose perched atop her tombstone.
As they celebrated into the night, Levi’s aunts joined Lilith and Sadie as they watched the chemistry professors dance with Ivy and the ladies of Mattauk.
“Levi has done his mother a great honor,” his aunt Eva told Sadie. “He’s married a girl just like her.”
“He was always such a good boy,” his aunt Sarah agreed. “No child could have loved his mama more.”
“Levi’s mother was a chemist as well,” Lilith explained to her grandmother.
“Among other things,” Eva added. “Aviva was a woman of many gifts.”
“Oh?” Sadie adored gossip. “Do tell.”
“She had a very special nose, for one,” Eva said. “She could have made a fortune in the fragrance business, but such things never interested her. She told me that every person has a distinctive scent—our skin excretes a combination of chemicals with an odor that’s as unique as a fingerprint.”
“Aviva could close her eyes and follow you around the house using only her nose,” Sarah elaborated. “And she always knew if something was wrong with you physically. Cancer, tuberculosis, diabetes. She could smell them from across the room.”
“How delightful.” Sadie was looking at Levi with a new level of appreciation. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Aviva’s gift were passed down to your daughters? It would complement the Duncan family gifts quite nicely, I think.”
“Every chemist needs a good nose,” Lilith replied, with a look that made it clear that she wanted the conversation to move in a different direction.
“Why don’t I grab another bottle of champagne, and we can all toast the magnificent Aviva,” Sadie said, letting Lilith have her way.
As the three of them watched Sadie swish across the room, the aunts grew serious. “There’s much to be learned from your mother-in-law’s life,” Eva told Lilith. “Being brilliant and powerful doesn’t make a woman invulnerable. Those who stick their heads out are often the first to get them lopped off.”
“I’m not sure I understand.” Lilith was taken aback by the sudden turn the conversation had taken. “What are you trying to tell me?”
“The men you’ll be facing are well aware that women like you exist. They found Aviva. Don’t let them find you. If we can recognize you, they will, too.”
“I’m sorry, but who exactly do you think I am?” Lilith knew her fear must have been written all over her face.
“A disciple of the Old One, of course,” Sarah said.
Tiny Eva stood on her tiptoes and kissed Lilith’s cheek. “Don’t worry, darling,” she whispered. “Your secret is safe with us.”
BY THE END OF THEevening, the chemistry professors and the ladies of Mattauk had disappeared, squealing and giggling, into the trees.
“Did you spike their drinks with one of your potions?” Lilith asked her aunt Ivy, who’d come to stand with Lilith and her husband as they stole a private moment away from their friends and loved ones.
“Believe it or not, the only magical ingredient in the punch was gin,” Ivy said.
“A powerful aphrodisiac by the looks of things,” Levi replied.
“Which reminds me. I still need to give you my wedding present,” Ivy told them. She handed Lilith a plain white envelope. “It’s for your business.”
“We have a business?” Levi had heard nothing of it.
“I must have forgotten to mention it. My grandfather owned a chemical company,” Lilith said as she tore open the envelope. “After my father died, I was his heir. What’s this?”
