The Phoenix Girls, Book 2

Chapter 3-1

Chapter 3

Making the Circle

Ronan shadowed the girls all the way to the hollow but kept his nagging to a minimum. He stuck closest to Katie, extolled the virtues of self-confidence and positive thinking. His pep talks had become increasingly manic, and when Katie’s father finally put his foot down and forbade her from coming to Penny’s house, Ronan had lost his temper and shouted in a language Penny had never heard before. Even without knowing the language, Penny got the gist of his rant and was pretty sure it wasn’t nice.

Now that Katie had returned, he seemed more determined than ever to help her get past her block. Penny was intent on helping her as well. Part of it was simply craving to learn more, to do more, but most of it was the growing certainty that Ronan was preparing them for something. He had said as much after their fight with the Birdman.

This isn’t a game. You have a serious purpose.

He still wouldn’t tell them what that purpose was, but his changing demeanor brought his warning back to her mind.

Penny had been off in her own little world, not paying attention to where she was walking, and nearly tripped over Ronan.

He barked in irritation, or humor, sometimes it was hard to tell the difference. Zoe and Katie had drawn ahead of them while she was daydreaming.

“How much longer until you have to be back?”

“We have a few hours,” Penny said. “Susan’s picking up stuff for the party after work.”

“Yes … your birthday party,” Ronan said. “Happy birthday, Little Red.”

Penny groaned and rolled her eyes, but it was a show. The nickname didn’t bother her like it used to. She didn’t think she was fooling him, either; Ronan was very good at reading their moods.

“Do you still carry the mirror around with you?”

The question caught Penny by surprise. She’d been expecting more of his grumbling about Katie’s lack of progress and her, Penny’s, responsibility to make things right with Katie’s father so she could resume her practice on a more regular basis. The last time he took this line, she’d reminded him, a bit shrilly as she recalled, that she’d never even met the man and his grudge was against her dead mother and an aunt she’d never even knew existed until the previous summer.

That had shut him up. Temporarily at least.

It still seemed weird to her that her mom and Katie’s aunt used to be friends, but she was getting used to the idea. That old connection had raised other questions in her mind and a suspicion she hadn’t dared to bring up with Ronan yet. She knew what his answer would be: more infuriating silence.

She patted her pants pocket. “Right here. We all carry them.”

She expected more words of caution from him, and he surprised her again.

“Good,” he said and actually nodded approval before resuming his trot. “Keep them with you at all times. It’s important for us to stay in contact, especially with Kat in trouble.”

Penny jogged to catch up. “Have you got them all now?”

She knew he’d been snooping around Dogwood since last fall, trying to track down all of Tovar’s missing mirrors.

“It’s impossible to know without another look in the Conjuring Glass.”

“You know where it is,” Penny said, catching up to him. She could see the top boughs of Aurora Hollow’s willows ahead. As always, she looked for the crown of the big tree, the strange one growing at the edge of the creek that ran through the hollow, but she didn’t see it. After some botanical research, Zoe had identified it as a Fraxinus excelsior, a type of ash common in Europe but certainly not in Washington State. She had no idea how a European ash had ended up in Dogwood. From inside the hollow, that tree seemed colossal, reaching into the green canopy toward the sky.

“Tonight maybe. I would like to be sure.”

“It’ll be like a slumber party,” Penny said, and laughed when Ronan turned back to her and rolled his eyes.

A few seconds later, they were at the downward path into the narrow canyon that hid Aurora Hollow from the rest of the world, and Penny followed Ronan.