Journey Home

Chapter 8 - The Verdant Witch

To get to Vancouver Island we needed to take a bus to a place called Horseshoe Bay. From there, we would take the ferry to Nanaimo Bay, a seaside town on Vancouver Island. After arriving on the island, we had no plan, unless asking questions and looking for clues counted as one.

Tee and I trying to read a map was pure comedy. People on TV made it look easy. They unfolded a piece of paper, pointed at things on the paper, pointed at things in the air, and then they knew the way.  We didn't even know which way to hold the map. We could tell the difference between land and sea, and I did have the great idea to search for places by the sea. After a long process of elimination, and painfully sounding out words, we found Horseshoe Bay.

On the map, it looked like Horseshoe Bay was close by, but since we had no idea how to gauge distance using a map, we could not be sure. We also could not figure out how to use the map to plan a route to get to Horseshoe Bay. Though I suspected the lines intersecting other lines held the answers, what they were and how to use them was beyond my comprehension.

Well, that was a waste of time.

Unless we were going to travel by foot, and not eat we were going to have to figure out what to do about our money situation. To do that, I needed answers. For a nanosecond, I considered asking the coyote shifters. They were minding their own business now, drinking their hot chocolate and being a rowdy bunch of kids. They seemed approachable, but I remembered the elder's words and continued looking around the shop. There had to be someone else we could ask.

Scanning the room my gaze stopped at the woman at the counter. The one who had told the cashier to give us the chocolate milk. 'You poured 'em you may as well let 'em have 'em.' There was something about her shadow that made me think she was paranormal.

I tried to remember what Mother told us about identifying paranormal beings. Each species had its icon that manifested in their shadows. But I was having trouble remembering what the icons were and who they belonged to.  The undead had bones and smelled like dirt, weres had their animal, vampires smelled like blood, but I couldn't remember what their icon was. Witches had symbols that represented their discipline, but I could not remember what the disciplines were or their corresponding icons.

I stared at the paranormal's shadow until her icon became clear. The woman had the symbol of a tree. I guessed that she was some kind of witch. I had never met a witch before.

"Tee, do you remember the symbols and smells of the witches?", I asked.

"There are two kinds. The hedge witch and the green witch. The hedge witch smells like lightning and has the symbol of infinity ∞. The green witch, I can't remember umm...", Tee said.

"The symbol of the tree?", I asked.

"Yes! The symbol of the tree and they smell earthy.", Tee said.

"Good job Tee. Look at the lady sitting at the counter, by the cashier.", I said.

After a minute of staring, Tee's eyes got big, and he looked at me.

"Isn't verdant another word for green? Tee asked.

"I think so.", I said.

"Seek out the verdant witch means to find the green witch.", Tee said.

Suddenly, the verdant witch turned toward us with a smile and beckoned us over. I was so terrified by her aura that I almost peed my pants. Tee and I looked at each other.

"Do you think she can read minds?", I asked.

"If she can, she can hear us talking about her.", Tee said.

"What should we do?", I asked.

"I think you should go over and talk to her.", Tee said.

"ME? Why do I have to go, why can't you go? You're the talky one.", I said.