Fiery Gemstones (A Heston Witch Novella) by Cassandra DeBrown

#1
    Just a Normal Day at Red Rock Haven .
     
    “ W e are Heston witches ,
    We are many, we are one.
    We are descendants of Eve ,
    And different webs we weave ,
    As long as this life gives us leave ,
    Though many hearts we might ….peeve? ”
    Elvira Heston paused to consider what the next words should be in the spell she was writing. She had a good feeling about this one. Her bones were telling her that it was going to be epic. She was definitely going down in the annals of the Heston Witches as the Next Big Thing. Unfortunately, her spell writing mojo was being seriously drained by the palpable impatience that she could feel emanating from every single pore in her c ousin’s body. Esther’s patience was not one of her strong points . Sometimes it seemed as if having to wait for anything caused her a physical pain.
    Elvira glanced over at her cousin and smothered a wry grin. The two of them were almost inseparable and though Esther could be a little hyperactive, she wouldn’t have it any other way. Right now s he was practically hopping on the spot , tugging on and twirling her shoulder length brunette hair as she waited for Elvira to finish writing the spell and the fidgeting was not helping to speed up the process at all.
    Bugs Bunny on a steroid rush !
    She turned back to her spell and just when she felt the perfect word sliding into her mind, Esther started popping her knu ckles. Elvira gritted her teeth. Her cousin knew she detested that sound more than any other and most times only did it in an attempt to get on her nerves . If that was Esther’s intention right now, it was definitely working. She took in a lungful of air and let it out slowly but it didn’t quite work. That knuckle popping was doing her head in.
    “Oh , stop that already , would you. You know all this…, t his twitching that you do is ridiculous. ” She ground out, turning to look Esther in the eye.
    Her cousin stared back, totally unrepentant.
    “ If I’ve told you once , I know I’ve told you a million times already ! Spells don’t have to be fancy. They do not have to rhyme as you well know. They just need to work.” Esther shook her hands next to her head to emphasize her point. Elvira thought she looked like a Native American shaman.
    “Rhyming helps me focus . ”
    “Bull! The only thing it does is help you waste time. Our precious time. As in your time, but more importantly, mine as well. ”
    “I have to disagree, Esther. I consider it time well spent, not wasted. The longer I spend thinking about a spell, the more life force I put into it , the more effective it will be . ”
    “ If you want ed to add life force to your spell, why didn’t you simply slit a wrist and be done with it huh? After all, magic runs in our veins,” she scoffed derisively.
    “ Hey, no mo cking my verses. My spells work just fine , so mind your own. ”
    “Fine. I was just saying …”
    “ Saying what dear? ”
    Both girls turned towards the speaker. The new voice was that of their silver haired grandmother. Evie had joined them in the alcove that led off from the kitchen area at Red Rock Haven, the Heston’s ancestral home . The three-tiered red brick house stood on twelve acres of flourishing green lawns and gardens. It had been in their family for generations and local lore held it to be a place of great power and harmony. To the Heston witches though, it was simply their home.
    Esther smiled down at her diminutive grandmother, Evie. The Hestons came from a very long line of powerful witches and Evie, the matriarch of their family was the greatest Heston Witch that Silverline City had seen in a very long time. She’d taught her daughters almost everything she knew and they in turn had passed it down to their daughters. Her size was nothing, it was the power she wielded that was simply awesome and her grandmotherly façade was simply a convenient disguise for one very powerful witch.
    Right now that very powerful witch was waiting patiently