“Mr. Weed, I’m sorry I broke you. If I help you go back together, can you move to my yard?” I asked, concentrating on the plant being whole. This time, the roots came out in one piece, the broken stem fused back together. I showed my mom, but her eyes were again wide with surprise, but it wasn’t the pleased kind.
“I’m sorry, Mama. I didn’t mean to break it,” I said, waiting for her disappointment.
Her eyes got even wider but then her shock swiftly changed to something warm and soft and she wrapped me in a hug. “I know ye didn’t, lad. But tell me, how did you put it right?”
“I gave it some magic, just a little, onna account I broke it. It was just a little,” I said, holding up my thumb and finger a little apart like I’d seen both her and Aunt Ash do.
“Truly ye are me blessing, Declan O’Carroll, a gift from the goddess herself,” she said, squeezing me in the best hug ever.
“Should I do more weeds, Mama?”
“I should say so,” she exclaimed as she reluctantly released me. “But Declan, what ye did with the plant was uncommon. It’s a thing to be very careful with. Very careful, do ye hear?”
“Why, Mama?”
“Have we talked about the Threefold Rule, lad?” she asked.
I shook my head.
“It’s a very, very important rule ye must always follow—always!” she said, holding up her index finger, which meant it really was serious. “The Threefold Rule says that whatever a witch puts out into the world, they get three times as much back.”
“What’s three times?” I asked.
“This is one.” She held up a finger on her right hand. “This is three,” she said, holding up three fingers on the other. “Right?” she asked.
I nodded because everyone knew that.
“What’s this?” She held up two fingers.
“Two.”
She nodded. “How many do I have if I have three twos?” she asked, tapping the two fingers with her other hand, then unfolding two more fingers for a total of four, then held up two fingers on the other hand.
I counted. “Six?”
“Right ye are! So if you give me two and I give you back threefold, how many will you get?”
“Sixxxx,” I ventured slowly.
“Yes. Because threefold two is six. Your teacher in school will say it three times two, and you’ll learn more about it there, but for now all you need to know is that if you put out magic, either good or bad, you’ll get back a whole lot more of the same. Do you understand?”
“I don’t do bad magic, Mama,” I said, frowning.
“No, you don’t, Declan, because you’re not that kinda witch, now are ye?”
“No, Mama.”
“But even putting out things that might seem good can be trouble for a witch, laddie. What if you gave every weed in this garden a little magic? What would happen?”
“They would grow?”
“Grow and grow and grow. Now, ye dinna do a wrong thing, ‘cause ye was fixing your mistake, but what should ye have done in the first place?”
“Gone slow and not broke the plant,” I said.
“Right ye are,” she said with a nod. “Now let’s go slow and sure and get our garden clean and healthy.”
“But Mama, I hear you talk to the good plants too.”
“Aye lad, so I do. Talking, like we been doing, is a fine way to give jest a wee bit o’ magic to our work, ye see? A wee bit to get the weed out, and a wee bit to keep the vegetable healthy and strong.”
I worked alongside her till she was satisfied, then we took the weeds and sprinkled them throughout the yard. She said that if they could take root then they deserved to grow. I didn’t think she liked Kentucky Bluegrass although it was green, and I didn’t know what Kentucky was.
After garden duty, I helped her cook a dinner for all of us including Aunt Ash, using mostly plants that we had picked ourselves. During dinner, she recounted to Ash our gardening adventures and Craft lessons, which earned me a surprised glance from my aunt.
“He’s learning the Threefold Rule,” Mama said, which caused Ash to turn and look at her very quickly.
“Well, now, I should think it a proper thing for our sharp scamp to be learning. Not too soon at all,” Aunt Ash said in a way that made me think she meant the opposite.
“Well, he already knows that a witch seeks restraint and balance in all Crafting,” Mother said.
The word Crafting triggered my memory. “Mama, you said you would teach me something else… a trick?” I asked.
“Well now, so I did. It’s a clever thing and ye won’t be good at it right away, but if ye practice and take your time, it’s great fun. Your Auntie Ash and I played it many times when we were jest girls.”
“When you were my age?” I asked.
“Maybe just a bit older. Now let me show ye,” she said, reaching out and grabbing some dirt from the nearest of many, many houseplants. She cupped the dirt in her hand and focused her attention on it. Instantly I felt magic rising around the room, and she began to glow to my Sight. The golden glow grew around her head and torso, then flowed rather suddenly down her right arm and into the pile of dirt.
The soil shuddered, then began to move about on the flat surface of her palm. It rose into a mound, which shifted in shape, forming a little round head, a visible body, and even legs and arms. I’m sure my eyes were huge as I leaned close to the little dirt person. It began to walk, and I think I just about lost my mind.
The figure walked across her hand, a bit raggedly at first but quickly smoothing out its gait. Mama moved her hand to
