Ridley spotted Greta and Iris walking down the path, toward the crowd. She waved to them, and they hurried to her side. She was glad to see her friends; being at Penelope’s funeral was making her feel wobbly inside, and not in a good way.
“Hey.” Greta gave Ridley a long, fierce hug. “This is so sad,” she murmured.
Ridley nodded into Greta’s shoulder. “It’s crazy-sad. I still can’t believe she’s gone.”
“Group hug,” Iris said, wrapping her arms around both of them.
“This group hug’s incomplete, though. Where’s Binx?” Ridley asked.
“She said she had to stop by the public library first,” Greta replied. “She just texted us.”
Ridley pulled her phone out of her pocket to check her messages. “Yeah, here it is. The Sorrow Point Public Library? The place with books? That doesn’t sound like Binx. Does she even know where it is?”
“I know. I asked her to research something related to our…” Greta paused, then added, “Calumnia. Related to our case. I think she might be working on that.”
“Huh.” This was turning out to be a day of surprises—first Momma acting like her old self, and now Binx looking at physical books.
An elderly-looking minister had moved to the head of Penelope’s casket, cradling a black leather-bound Bible in his hands. “I believe we’re about ready to begin. Friends and family of Penelope, please gather around,” he called out.
Just then, four latecomers came rushing down the path. It was Colter and another guy who looked like him; probably his brother. And with them were Div and Mira—no Aysha.
“What are Div and Mira doing with Colter?” Ridley whispered to Greta.
“Calumnia. Div called me like an hour ago and said that she and Mira are doing more undercover work having to do with that family. She said we shouldn’t say hi or talk to them or anything. She said she’d explain later.”
“Is that his brother?” Ridley asked.
“Yep.”
“Why are they even here, if they hate witches so much?” Iris asked.
“Well, Colter was Penelope’s boyfriend. I’m not sure about Hunter… maybe moral support?” Greta guessed.
The three girls joined the back of the crowd as the minister began the service. As he spoke, Ridley closed her eyes and just breathed. Her head swirled with a ton of emotions. Sadness about Penelope. Regret that she hadn’t gotten to know her better. Fear about what she and the other witches didn’t know and what might yet happen.
“We are here today to honor the life of Penelope Rue Hart,” the minister was saying.
Ridley opened her eyes. In the distance, she saw Binx hurrying down the path. Ridley didn’t want to disturb the minister’s speech, so she simply nodded at Binx.
Binx stopped in her tracks and gestured for Ridley to come over. Ridley frowned and pointed to the minister, but Binx shook her head emphatically and continued beckoning.
“Be right back,” Ridley whispered to Greta.
Greta raised her eyebrows. Ridley mouthed the word Binx, and Greta nodded. Then Ridley slipped away as quietly as possible.
She noticed someone noticing her exit, though. Colter.
A chill ran down her spine. Why was he looking at her? Had he figured out that she, too, was a witch? Had Penelope told him about their Starbucks date (no, not date, just coffee), about how they’d tearfully confessed their witch identities to each other?
No way.
Ridley soon reached Binx’s side.
“Are you okay?” Binx whispered.
“No. What’s up that you couldn’t wait till after the service?”
In response, Binx grabbed Ridley’s arm and pulled her behind a massive stone mausoleum with a bunch of Latin words engraved on it. “Listen up. So I went to the downtown library—”
“Yeah, I know.”
“—because I needed to find this old book about the history of witch-hunters by a dude named Dante Basileri. Did you know that the library has a rare book room? It’s really cool, and they make you wear gloves to handle the books because the pages are crazy-fragile. Anyway, this morning, Greta asked me to do some research on a witch-hunter from the Great Purge times. Maximus Hobbes. I went online, and long story short, the trail eventually led to Basileri’s book.”
“Is Maximus Hobbes the one who hunted down and killed like hundreds of witches? I’ve heard of him.”
“Yeah, that’s the one. Nice guy, right? So in his book, Basileri explains his theory about Hobbes. And guess what? His theory is related to C-Squared, too.”
“Go on.”
“Some people believe that she was the greatest, most powerful witch of all time, right? And that her book is the reason why most of us who were born witches even know how to practice the craft? Or even know that we’re witches? Well, according to Basileri, Hobbes believed that C-Squared had special… I don’t know, like special genes or special superpowers or something, and that her heart-fire and the heart-fire of her descendants could extend life. Even make you immortal, I suppose, if you had like a never-ending supply.”
Ridley crossed her arms over her chest. “O-kay. What’s ‘heart-fire’?”
“I’m still trying to figure that out. Maybe it’s a special potion that only C-Squared and her descendants knew how to make, because of their specialness or whatever? But after I read all this, I thought of something really, really horrifying.”
“More horrifying than all the witch murders Hobbes committed during the Purge?”
“Yes. What if Hobbes is still alive?”
29 HEARTLESS
Certain witches may possess a special quality that makes them more attractive to their Enemies.
(FROM THE GOOD BOOK OF MAGIC AND MENTALISM BY CALLIXTA CROWE)
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths
