After the Summerland (The Witches of Spring Hill Book 1) by Patricia Proctor Page A

run.
    Rowan, feeling inspired
by Chloe’s carefree attitude, sprints to catch up with her. Not worrying about
anything, she focuses on how she
feels
and for the first time in a long time, she feels
good.
    Not to be outdone by
his energetic sisters, Kaiden jogs happily behind them, happy about this new
connection that they have with each other. He can feel Chloe’s joy, he can feel
Rowan’s relief, and he senses his own need to understand himself in a way that
he never has before.
    Chloe slows down enough
for Rowan and Kaiden to catch up to her and when they do, she spins around with
her arms open to the world. Smiling, she says, “Do you guys feel that? This electricity
all around us?” She giggles before setting off again on a path that only she
sees through a thicket of trees and rocks that make up the dense woods.
    When she gets to the
entrance of the clearing Chloe waits for Rowan and Kaiden so they can all go
through the boulders together and enter the clearing at the same time. She has
been here enough times by herself that she knows that something profound
happens each time she steps through. Now that she knows of their abilities, she
is sure that when they all walk through together with the intention of casting
spells, the energy will become electric.
    “What are you waiting
for, Chloe?” Kaiden asks, and before Chloe can answer him, he and Rowan step
past her and into the clearing.
    Chloe watches their
reactions. By the widening of their eyes, she knows they have experienced the
awareness of the something “other” nearby, followed by the intense need to
brush away the goose bumps that crawl along the skin from head to toe.
    The air inside the
clearing smells faintly of decay and a stronger musty, earthy, smoky smell that
has one conjuring up images of the people who used this land for their ancient
ceremonies.
    Just as the smells are
identified and memories acknowledged, the wind picks up and clears the air, as
if the spirits of those present have accepted the newcomers presence and
cleared the air of the smells of the past. That same wind rustles the leaves
overhead and causes the tall pines to sway and creak, reminding them of their
place within the clearing, their place on the earth, and their connection to
all of the elements.
    Kaiden quickly drops the backpack and rubs his
arms while Rowan wraps her arms tightly around herself, as if protecting
herself from whatever is causing this invasion of her senses. Chloe bows her
head as she always does when entering the clearing as she has always recognized
the sacredness of the space. She has always felt an affinity to the clearing,
which she knows is rooted in her love for all things earthy — gardening,
planting, growing, and harvesting.
    She walks over to the
backpack that Kaiden dropped and begins taking out the items that they are
going to use for spell casting.
    Rather than casting
three different spells, they decided earlier that together they would focus on
casting the circle and then cast a spell of protection. Although the Silvans
have not done anything to imply harm to them, Rowan, Kaiden, and Chloe agreed
that casting a protection spell should hopefully prevent anything from
happening while they begin their investigation of the Silvans.
    Kaiden grabs the
newspaper and matches out of the backpack and heads over to the hearth to start
a fire.
    “Chloe, are you sure it’s
safe to start a fire in this thing?” he asks, as he tries to look up past the
dense foliage to see where the smoke will exit.
    “Yes, Kaiden. I’ve had
fires up here before and you’ve never noticed the smoke, have you?” Chloe
responds.
    “I wasn’t looking for
it,” Kaiden mutters while arranging a pile of twigs, newspaper, and dried
leaves inside the fireplace. “And you are lucky Dad never knew you were
lighting fires up here by yourself. You could’ve burned down all of these woods
and the house.”
    “He knew,” Chloe
responds and watches the surprise on both