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

Kaiden and Rowan’s faces.
    “What?” she asks. “When
I saw the hearth I told him sometimes I get cold when I’m up here and I asked
to use the fireplace. He told me it was fine as long as I never left it burning
when I was done and as long as I was always careful.”
    “Well, I guess we’re
good to light it now then,” Rowan says, surprised at how understanding and easygoing
their dad seems to be, especially when someone is direct and honest. It makes it
even harder to keep secrets from him, but she knows he won’t always be cool
about everything.
    Chloe sets the altar to
face east and then when she is satisfied with its positioning, opens it and pulls out the items inside. First she lays down the altar
cloth with the pentagram at the base of the altar. She arranges it the same way
she saw her gramps had it laid out on the night of their disclosure.
    Next, she pulls out the
four candles; green for north, yellow for east, red for south, and blue for
west; the athamé, the correct name of the silver dagger; the iron cauldron;
salt; the gold chalice; the incense burner with incense; brown, blue, red, and
green stones to represent the elements; and finally, the wooden wand that will
be used to cast the protection spell.
    Once she has carefully
pulled everything out of the box, she closes it and reverently traces her
fingers over the two pentagram symbols burned into the wood. In the center of
the altar is a mounted pentagram that was carved and burned by her grandfather.
On each side of the altar, distinct symbols are carved. One is of two crescent
moons surrounding a full moon, the same as the metal piece on the porch, which
she learned earlier represents the Goddess. The other carved symbol is a
crescent moon atop a full moon, the symbol for God.
    She arranges the
candles to correspond with their appropriate direction, starting north and
following a sunwise or clockwise direction. She then
places everything else as it was in the diagram she studied earlier. Once
finished, she is satisfied that it looks just like her grandfather’s altar she
observed last night.
    Rowan watches her
sister place every item in its correct place and admires her sister’s ability
to recreate the altar from memory. She grabs the box of matches from Kaiden,
who is fanning the fire, and hands it to her sister to light the candles and
incense.
    “Thanks, Rowan.”
Wanting to include her sister, she asks her, “Will you help me to clean out the
circle? Let’s brush away these leaves, twigs, and pine needles.”
    Usually not inclined to
help or clean, Rowan agrees because she is simply glad to be included in the
preparations. Since they have both been preparing things, she has been left
standing around doing nothing, which only makes her feel useless and
uncomfortable.
    She grabs a handful of
twigs and pine needles and tosses them onto the fire that Kaiden started. She
smells the sap burning and warms her hands by the fire. She hasn’t been able to
get warm since they walked into the clearing and she knows that no amount of
heat from this fire is going to change that.
    After what seems like
forever, Chloe finally says, “I think we’re ready.”
    Kaiden and Rowan move
closer to their sister and watch as she pours salt into the cauldron and pours
water from a bottle into the chalice. She strikes a match against the box and
begins lighting the candles and incense. The circle fills with light
eliminating any remaining shadows and the scent of musk fills the air.
    Chloe pulls out the grimoire
with the incantation needed to cast the circle. She takes the athamé and
touches it lightly to the water within the chalice and says, “
I consecrate and cleanse this water to
purify it
.” She then touches the athamé to the salt, and says, “
I consecrate and cleanse this salt to purify
it.
”
    She faces north, lifts
the athamé to waist level, and begins walking around the circle drawing on her
own energy, the energy of her sister and brother,