Cry of Crows

Cry of Crows C S C Shows Copyright © 2023 Dragonfly Hill Books, LLCPaperback ISBN: 978-1-952898-15-0All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without written permission from the author.This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locals is entirely coincidental.For information, address:Dragonfly Hill Books, LLC, 996 Greensboro Rd., Eupora, MS 39744Cover design: MiblArt DedicationTo those who make writing dedications seem so easy and enjoyable, I kinda hate you and respect you at the same time. May the crows never peck out your eyes. Alas, if they do, you're probably already a corpse. (Bet you didn't use alas in your heartfelt or clever dedications!) TABLE OF CONTENTSCHAPTER 1CHAPTER 2CHAPTER 3CHAPTER 4CHAPTER 5CHAPTER 6CHAPTER 7CHAPTER 8CHAPTER 9CHAPTER 10CHAPTER 11CHAPTER 12CHAPTER 13CHAPTER 14CHAPTER 15CHAPTER 16CHAPTER 17CHAPTER 18CHAPTER 19CHAPTER 20CHAPTER 21CHAPTER 22CHAPTER 23CHAPTER 24CHAPTER 25CHAPTER 26CHAPTER 27CHAPTER 28CHAPTER 29CHAPTER 30CHAPTER 31CHAPTER 32CHAPTER 33CHAPTER 34CHAPTER 35CHAPTER 36CHAPTER 37CHAPTER 38CHAPTER 39CHAPTER 40CHAPTER 41CHAPTER 42CHAPTER 43Epilogue “All things truly wicked start with innocence.”- Ernest Hemingway CHAPTER 1 September 22, 1828, 9 PMEight women in white linen dresses gathered at the hilltop clearing, each representing one of the eight solar sabbats. None of them knew that only one woman would return.Elizabeth Goode glanced at the smiling faces as she lit the ritual fire inside the three perfect concentric circles placed long before her feet stepped on this sacred soil.She already felt so close to the sisterhood she’d started here. They were the only members of a forbidden secret society on their campus, which defied the Christian ideals of the Methodist college where they attended or worked.An owl hooted in a tree, a lonely sound that raised the hairs on her arms. Chatter among the women rose with their excitement. Here, away from the judgmental eyes of those on campus, they did not fear raising their voices and dancing in the firelight together. Here, they were free to worship as they wished, in a frontier unfavorable to the Old Ways.Elizabeth and a second-year student named Henrietta added a few more pieces of wood to the flame. The fire gained intensity, sparks flying into the black sky in a swirling pattern. Thinking of it as an enchantment, Elizabeth stared at the sparks momentarily, mesmerized by their dance toward the celestial realm.Elizabeth spoke, silencing the excited chatter of the other young women. She tried to quell her annoyance that they weren't reverent about the ritual. “This is Mabon, the day and night of equal length. We thank the goddesses Demeter and Persephone for our bountiful harvest this year.”Elizabeth looked for the apples they had picked earlier that day to celebrate the Autumn equinox. She pointed to a young blonde woman, who placed the small basket of apples at the eastern corner of the circle to represent harvest.“It is now the time to Turn the Wheel of the Year.” Elizabeth pointed to another woman who laid the scythe at the western corner of the circle to represent the sun setting on the harvest.Elizabeth raised her hands toward the black sky. “We invoke the Dark Mother as we bid farewell to harvest time, and we welcome the harsh winter that follows, which will test our fortitude,” said Elizabeth. “We honor the Crone as the crops die out. Without death, there is no new life.”The eight women grasped wrists, forming a circle made stronger by their solid grips, and they encircled the fire, which crackled and sparked in the inky blackness of the clearing. The bright firelight made everything beyond the women seem non-existent. It was as if they existed out of any certain time and place. Elizabeth could see nothing but their faces, the dancing fire casting odd shadows that distorted their features and made them look ghoulish and deformed. Clouds covered the bright waxing moon and the starlight that had guided them in the darkness. For a moment, Elizabeth thought that their circle was the only thing left on the earth. Maybe the world had dropped away, and this is all that was.Elizabeth’s heart swelled with happiness. Out here with her sisters, she felt alive and free. She felt part of something bigger than herself. Her coven was the only family she had left, and anytime they gathered, it felt like coming home.At Elizabeth's nod, the women slowly moved in a clockwise rotation, their long white linen dresses fluttering in the warm air. Together, they whispered a chant, an ancient song in Latin that Elizabeth had taught them the week before. The chant rose above the sound of the wind in the treetops and sounded like a lullaby to the night.A clap of thunder ushered in fat droplets of rain, and the women giggled and shrieked as each cold droplet hit hot skin. The fire they surrounded hissed with each raindrop and then extinguished into steam as it rained harder, throwing them into utter darkness. Elizabeth usually didn't mind the darkness of night, but with no visible moon, it was too dark. The girls huddled together. Smoke from the smoldering embers rose into the sky.A bolt of lightning lit up the clearing, and for a moment, the women could see dark figures surrounding them. Elizabeth gasped. This was her worst nightmare.Their screams split the night.Elizabeth's heart pounded as she stepped backward, bumping into another girl who clutched Elizabeth's arm. Elizabeth knew that there was nowhere to go. An angry cry followed by the cacophony of more yelling pierced the night, sending chills down Elizabeth's spine. Elizabeth knew that sound well. Her parents had been killed after a sound like that while a young and terrified Elizabeth had hidden nearby.The women gripped each other as their eyes adjusted to the dark, and they found themselves surrounded by a dozen or more tribesmen holding hatchets and knives at their sides. Elizabeth’s eyes roamed