Cassie let out her breath.
They believed in her. She couldn't let them down.
"If everybody agrees," she said, scarcely knowing her own voice.
"We'll do it the easy way," Melanie said. "All in favor of Cassie as leader, raise your hand."
Every hand was raised.
Diana jumped up. "I'll get the things," she said. She and Adam headed for the cellar and returned a few minutes later with the brass and leather document box. Everyone leaned forward to look as she opened it, and there was a soft hiss of amazement around the Circle.
"They're beautiful," Suzan said, touching the silver diadem with one perfectly manicured nail.
"Yes," said Diana, unzipping her backpack. "Here, Cassie, put this on." It was the white shift Diana wore at meetings.
Cassie felt heat stealing into her face. She couldn't wear that. She would look . . .
"Don't worry, you won't be cold," Diana said, and smiled.
"But - you're taller than me. It'll be too long-"
"I hemmed it," Diana said. And then, in the silence that followed, she said gently, "Take it, Cassie."
Slowly, Cassie took it. She went into the bathroom, still slightly steamy now, where the boys had washed Sean, and she put on the raw-silk shift. It fit perfectly.
Diana had this planned, she realized.
She was embarrassed to walk back out, but she told herself this was no time to be worried about how much skin she was showing. Chris and Doug whistled as she rejoined the group.
"Shut up, this is serious," Laurel said.
"She might as well stand here, in the circle of white stones," Melanie said. "Get out, Sean."
Sean, looking relieved, stepped out. Cassie stepped in.
Silence fell.
"I adjure thee to work for the good of the Circle, to harm none, to be faithful to all. By Water, by Fire, by Earth, and by Air, lead us peacefully and with good will," Diana said. Cassie realized she was getting the part of the ceremony that Faye had missed when Faye had become leader.
"Look - this is only temporary, isn't it - ?" she began.
"Sh," said Laurel, kneeling. Cassie felt something soft being fastened just above her right knee. She looked down to see Laurel buckling the green leather garter.
Coolness encircled Cassie's upper arm, and she turned to see Melanie clasping the silver bracelet there. It was surprisingly heavy; Cassie knew she'd feel the weight whenever she moved that arm.
"Look at me," Diana said. Cassie did. Between her two hands Diana was holding the diadem of delicate twisted silver, with the crescent moon on top. Cassie felt it settle into her hair, lightly but firmly. And then, all over her body, from the silver of the garter buckles, to the silver of the bracelet, to the circlet touching her forehead, Cassie felt a rush of tingling warmth. An - aliveness.
These are the real tools; not just symbols, she thought. They have power of their own.
In that moment, she knew she could direct their power. It was part of her, suffusing her with strength. She was a witch, from a line of powerful witches, and she was leader of this Circle.
"All right," she said, stepping out of the ring of stones and going over to take her Book of Shadows from her backpack. She was no longer worried about how she looked; she knew she looked good. That didn't matter. They had a little time ahead of them, and she wanted to use it to their advantage.
"All right, look; while we're waiting I think we should go through our Books of Shadows - my grandmother told me to study mine, and it's better than doing nothing," she said. "We can take turns reading out loud until it gets dark - he won't move until then."
"Are you sure?" Melanie said.
"Yes." Cassie didn't know how she knew, but she knew. Her grandmother had called it the Sight, but to Cassie it was more like a voice -
an inner voice, a voice at her core. By now, she knew enough to listen to it.
Nobody argued. Those who had them reached for Books of Shadows. Outside, the wind wailed dismally.
Chapter Fifteen
Around four o'clock the power went off. The house got colder. They lit candles and went on reading.
"'For Protection Against Fire and Water,'" Cassie read. But Melanie said the spell which came after wasn't powerful enough to protect against a hurricane, and Cassie knew she was right.
"Here, this is To Cast Out Fear and Malignant Emotions,'" Diana read from her own book. "'Sun by day/ and moon by night/ let all dark thoughts/ be put to flight.' Nice thought."
They went on reading. A Charm to Cure a Sickly Child. An Amulet for Power. Three Spells to Bind a Lover. To Raise a Storm - that, they didn't need, Cassie thought wryly. She read again about crystals: how the larger a crystal was, the more energy it could store and focus. The spell To Turn Aside Evil, she read aloud, although she didn't understand it.
"'Invoke the power which is yours alone, calling upon the elements or those features of the natural world which lie closest to your heart. These powers have you over all that is evil: powers of sun and moon and stars, and of everything belonging to the earth.'"
She read it again, puzzling. "I still don't get it."
"I think it means that as witches we can call on nature, on the things that are good, to fight evil," Melanie said.
"Yes, but how do we call on them?" Cassie said. "And what do they do when we do it?"
Melanie didn't know.
It got dark. The gray light from the windows got dimmer and dimmer and finally faded altogether. Wind banged the shutters and rattled the glass in the windows. The rain kept coming steadily in the blackness.