Summer Of Fear by Lois Duncan Page A

anyway.”
    Carolyn gave me a funny look and said, “Well, that’s up to you. Are you coming, Julia?”
    “Yes,” Julia said, “as soon as I get my suit.” She went upstairs and while she was gone Carolyn gave me my gift. It was a friendship ring with a tiny turquoise set in the silver band.
    “I got it at Old Town a couple of months ago,” she said. “I was so happy about finding it. I thought it was just the right present. Now—well, I don’t know. Maybe you’d rather have something else.”
    “Of course not,” I said. “It’s lovely. Why would you think I wouldn’t want it?”
    “I don’t know,” Carolyn said again. “We just don’t seem the same as we used to be. We used to talk about everything, but lately you seem to have sort of walled yourself off. You never want to go any place or do anything. I spend more time with Julia these days than I do with you.”
    “Then maybe you’d like to give the ring to Julia,” I said shortly. As soon as I heard the words I wished I could call them back, they sounded so cold and bitter. I saw Carolyn flinch as though I had hit her. Carolyn and I had never in our lives said unpleasant things to each other. It was one of the proofs of our friendship that even when we argued we never got angry.
    “I bought the ring for you,” she said now in a tight voice. “You can keep it or exchange it or throw it away, it’s all one with me. Here comes Julia now—you’re dumb not to come to the pool. It’s a beautiful day for swimming.”
    They left, and I went out into the yard and watered the roses. Then for lack of anything better to do, I strolled down the sidewalk and paused to say hello to Professor Jarvis who was sitting in a lawn chair in his front yard, writing in a “note book.
    “How did your talk go?” I asked him by way of greeting. “My father read in the paper that you were scheduled to give a lecture on witchcraft to some women’s club.”
    “The University Women,” he said, looking pleased that I had known about it. “It went very well indeed, thank you, my dear. It’s one of the benefits of retirement to have the time to do such things.”
    “It’s funny the University Women would be interested in such a fairytale subject,” I said.
    “A fairytale subject?” His pale blue eyes crinkled as he smiled. “Now there’s where you’re wrong, Rachel. The subject of my lecture had nothing what-so-ever to do with fairy tales. What I spoke about was modem day witchcraft of the sort that’s practiced right here in this country all the time.”
    “You’re kidding, of course!” I regarded him with amazement. “Nobody in this day believes in something like that!”
    “No?” He laid his book down on his lap. “Then why is it, pray tell, that there are over four hundred witch covens in existence in the United States at this very moment?”
    “You mean people who practice real magic?” I exclaimed.
    “That depends upon your definition of ‘magic,’” Professor Jarvis told me. “If you mean the fairytale stuff, then probably not. But if you accept as the definition of ‘magic’ the one originated by Aleister Crowley the question is debatable. Mr. Crowley is one of the best known of modern day witches, and he calls magic ‘the science and art of causing changes to occur in conformity with will.’ In other words, he describes magic as the utilization of the mind force to make things happen as they are desired.”
    “Do you think that’s possible?” I asked doubtfully.
    The professor nodded. “If I did not I would certainly not be giving lectures on the subject. We know that the mind has powers that often go undeveloped. Scientific tests conducted in laboratories have proved that certain people have more control over their mind forces than others. There are people who can predict the turn of a card or tune their minds in on events that are occurring at other places. Why then is it unreasonable to believe that there might be other people