“I just don’t know what to do next,” I admitted, pacing around the living room. Mom and Mama Gwen were on the sofa, while Debbie and Grandma sat in the chairs. Dad was at the dining room table, working on his laptop, but listening to what was going on.

With the experience I had gained from my merge with Grandma and the three “bad” witches, whose power I had removed, it seemed I was now the de facto leader of our coven. Our traditions say that the strongest witch should be the leader of our coven, and due to some freak mutation or something, I’m the strongest witch on record. Oh, how lucky am I!

“We need to keep our focus on the Circle.” I’d already decided they would be our first targets. “They seem to be the strongest of Thomas’ supporters so far. They’ve already been making moves on our coven, which makes them fair game.”

“I think we all agree with that,” Grandma stated. “The question is, how do we find them? I’m fairly sure that none of them are wearing uniforms or carrying flags that would tell us they’re Circle members.”

“So we have to wait for some kind of attack before we do anything?” Debbie asked. She looked at me. “When you fought off the Circle the first time, did you get any idea where they were? Could the three witches you took out be Circle members?”

“The first attack was a complete surprise, to everyone, including me.” I said. “It happened so fast, I didn’t get much detail, but I do know they were in Texas. The ladies I “took out” were in Ohio, so I don’t think it was the same group.”

“Maybe, instead of actively hunting them, you need to set out traps.” Dad suggested. “You’d need someone to act as bait, though. That could be very dangerous. Maybe if you had some kind of artifact or two? Just making suggestions, that’s all.”

“But it’s not a bad one,” Mama Gwen commented eagerly. “If we were to create a couple of phony artifacts, then somehow get the word back to Thomas and his supporters that they were really responsible for Emily’s incredible power, those artifacts could work as bait, perhaps.”

“I like that!” Grandma exclaimed as she smiled with an almost predatory smile. “We know that Thomas has his spies among us. If Emily was seen ‘using’ our fake objects, the word would get back to him. If we did it right, we might even get a clue as to who our spies are. Yeah, I think that’s an excellent idea.”

“I agree, but perhaps we need to research a little in order to make our ‘artifacts’ seem credible?” I suggested.

“Debbie and I can handle that part. She’s pretty darn good with the computer, and I think we can have some suggestions by tomorrow.” Gwen volunteered, and Deb nodded her agreement.

“Cool, then you get that started, and I’ll look into what Mrs. Davies meant when she said she knew about magic. She might even be an unwitting spy.” I really hope not, though.

“Grandma, I’m hoping you'd like to come along? Please?”

“I’d love to, honey.” Ever since our “merge,” Grandma and I have been much closer. It’s strange to have some of the memories I have now. I have to tell ya, the stuff with my Grandparents sex lives, I could live without. I mean, I know they had sex, but really? I would never have thought he was into anything like that! Kin-ky!

We drove over to Tim’s house, and then walked up the stairs to the door. Before we could knock, Tina opened the door with a friendly smile.

“I knew you were going to be here soon, Emily. Come on in, love. Let’s get comfortable.”

“Thanks, Tina. Have you met my Grandmother, Elizabeth Carstairs?”

“We’ve seen each other, dear, but we’ve never been introduced. It’s nice to meet you, I’m Tina Davies.”

“It’s my pleasure, Tina.”

The house was very “modern/ rustic”, with huge windows and large open rooms. We walked into the living room with its massive stone fireplace, and furniture made from logs and leather. It was beautiful, and quite comfortable, actually.

“I’ll bet this has something to do with magic, doesn’t it?” Tina said as we sat down.

I decided to go with a direct and honest conversation. This was my future Mother-in-law, after all. “When you told me that you knew about the magic, I was very surprised. How much do you know about it?”

She smiled. “My grandmother used to tell me stories about the witches in our town. She hated the stereotypical Hallowe’en witches. I was told that witches lived all over our little town, and that we had a very old connection with them. She told me stories about the Ring, and that it was very special.

One of the stories she told was the story of the ring. It was cast long ago, by a mysterious fellow known as Hartvig. Now, all this was in the old world, in what we now know as Germany. My many-times-over Grandparents worked for an important and much loved family, but they were accused of dark sorcery and of consorting with demons. For some reason, my ancestors were given the ring, and asked to keep it safe.

I’ve always known that someday, it would find its true owner. I’m so proud that we were the fortunate ones to meet you. It’s a pleasure to finally actually meet a witch, and to think, she’s going to be a part of my family! It’s just so wonderful!”

I blushed. “We’re still young yet, Tina. I hope you’re right about us, but things do happen. We’re still a long way from being married.”

“Don’t worry about it, dear, it’ll happen. You two are fated to be together, it’s actually quite obvious.”

I smiled and blushed again. How many colors of red are there?

Grandma laughed. “They do make a nice couple, don’t they?”

“I don’t know, Elizabeth. Red really isn’t Tim’s favorite color.” Tina giggled.

It just means they love me, I thought to myself. Relax....

Tina stood up and pulled me into a hug. “Oh, you’re such a treasure, Emily. I’m going to love having you in my family.”

That made me so happy I was crying a little. Okay, I thought, I have 2/3rds of the family that loves me, I just gotta work on my future father-in-law. Nah, that’ll be easy. I hope?

We talked a bit more, and Tina told us a couple of stories her Grandmother had taught her. I loved them, they were almost like fables, and she said that there were many more. I talked her into writing them down for me. I hoped someday to tell the same stories to my Grandchildren.

We had to stop by the hospital to pick up my Grandmother’s medication at the pharmacy there, and have lunch with Mom. We waited for some time, but she never showed up. I assumed that they were very busy, and she couldn’t get away, but I thought she might leave a message or something. Oh well, things like that happen.

We returned home, and found Debbie waiting. She was sitting on the back porch stairs, but as soon as she saw us, she smiled and waved.

“Hi, Debbie!” I called as we got out of the car. “What’s news?”

“I found some interesting ideas for an artifact,” she said, as we followed Grandma into the house. She picked up her backpack and came in, then set up the laptop in the kitchen.

“What did you find, Debbie?” Grandma asked.

“There are these mystic jewels, no one knows for sure how many, that vanished 3600 years or so ago, after the massive volcanic eruption at Thera. They were known as the Minoan Jewels. Some of them are said to have been recovered, and legend says they are known as the Santoron Jewels. They are supposedly in the hands of extremely wealthy private collectors.

There are stories that say Hitler searched desperately for some of them near the end of World War 2. I guess he was seriously into the occult, and was a known believer in the power of magic. Some people in our community believe that he was a descendant of one of the ‘Families’, and that his mother may have had some power, but there is nothing to support that.

Anyway, it’s a great way to produce our artifacts. We could just say that we had possession of some of the Minoan Jewels. We don’t even have to say they were magical, just that they’re in our possession. My mom is making a necklace and an arm brace, and she’ll be over a little later with them. The mere fact that you’re wearing them gives them credibility, and you don’t even have to do anything!”

It was perfect, and completely plausible. We didn’t have to claim that they did anything at all, which I really liked. Anything that I did would be attributed to them, as I’m sure Thomas would not accept that I could truly have as much strength as I have.

Now all I had to do was wait to be attacked, and have them fall into our trap.

Sounds like fun, don't it? My Grandfather always said that any plan falls apart once the battle is joined.

Oh Yippee.