"I simply can't believe you would do something like that!" Effie exclaimed for perhaps the third time in the last ten minutes.
She paced furiously back and forth along the wooden floorboards, lecturing her Aunt Anise who sat at the apothecary's consultation table, her hands folded calmly together in her lap.
"And Seth Clayton of all people?" Effie said bitterly, sounding as though she was talking about the most undesirable person on earth. "Seth?! I mean really? We aren't even interested in each other. We're just old classmates. Hardly even friends."
"Speak for yourself," Anise raised a skeptical eyebrow, realizing just how blind the girl really was. It seemed like everyone in Evanore knew that Seth was in love with Effie except, apparently, for Effie herself.
"And anyway," Effie continued, too heated to listen to Anise's remark. "You're lucky I still remembered to buy our herbs before the festival shut down for the night. Do you realize how close we came to missing out this year? I mean, pretty darn close. The lady at the stand had to be persuaded with a generous tip to let us buy anything since she'd already packed up more than half of her wares at that point. Do you even realize how embarrassing it was that I had to let Seth pay out of his own pocket just so I could buy the herbs?"
"Oh, Effie dear," Anise finally said once Effie had given her a little breathing room to speak. "I hope you know that I don't care about those silly herbs half as much as I care about you. I had just hoped that you could finally enjoy yourself at the festival for once. I've tried so many times over the years to encourage you to have a little fun, but every year you've been as unmovable as a stone. So when I heard that Seth was back in town, I thought... I just thought maybe if I dropped an old friend at your feet this time things would turn out differently. And by the look of that beautiful pendant around your neck, I am beginning to suspect they have."
Effie reached up and grabbed the pendant instinctively, hiding the embarrassing item from view inside of her clenched fist. "I didn't even want this thing. But Seth insisted on buying it for me. He really gave me no choice. He practically forced it on me. And.. and it's not even my style, you know."
Anise smiled wistfully. "Seth is a nice boy, you know. And... I'm getting along in years now. And someday... someday I won't be here. I know you haven't been the best at making friends since your mother died, and sometimes I worry that was partially my fault for sheltering you too much. So I thought maybe you and Seth... Well, I just don't want you to end up alone when I'm gone."
Effie's face fell, all her anger deflating out of her being in an instant. She rushed over to Anise, dropping to her knees before the older woman in the chair, and took up a wrinkled hand lovingly into her own. "Don't talk even like that, Aunt Anise! You're not even that old. You're going to be around for a long time, do you hear me? And I... I'm going to be by your side the whole way. I made that promise to you the day my mother died, and I still stand by my word."
Effie's mind traveled in time, transported back to the day, fifteen years ago, when the two of them sat on the floor of an abandoned house, sobbing in each other's arms because the one person they loved the most in the world had just been executed before their very eyes. And she remembered the promise they had made as they held onto each other so tightly that nothing in the world could pull them apart. Effie had been forced to leave her mother's side all those years ago, and she had lost her. But now that she was grown, Effie knew that she would never leave Anise's side no matter what the world threw at her.
Instinctively, Effie's eyes traveled through the room, searching until they found the familiar pair of little yarn dollies sitting on top of a tall, wooden cabinet. The dollies were worn and discolored with age now, but still so very precious. Their names were Lottie and Alice, and Anise had so lovingly made for Effie so many years ago with her own two hands. And after all this time, Effie had never let them go.
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The night wore on into the earliest hours of the morning, and by then Anise and Effie had nearly finished sorting through and putting away all the herbs that Effie had bought from the market festival that day. And they were about ready to lock up and go home for the night when unexpectedly, the little bell above the door chimed loudly, announcing someone's arrival.
"I'm sorry, we're closed for the night," Anise started, but as she turned around to face whoever had just walked in, she froze in her tracks.
"Farmer Silas!" Effie's breath caught in her throat.
There standing in the doorway, a young red-headed Kip was struggling to keep his grandfather's body upright as they both stumbled in out of the dark streets, practically tumbling their way into the apothecary.
"What happened?!" Anise demanded as she rushed over to help Kip support the old man's barely conscious body.
"I don't know!" Kip panted, his face blanching with fear. "Grandpa was- he seemed alright one minute. And then the next he had collapsed to the ground."
"He's burning up with fever," Anise announced urgently. "Effie, clear the table. Quickly."
Although Effie was already frantically at work, pushing aside towels, flasks and jars of medicine so that she could help Anise lay Silas's body down lengthwise across the table. Once they had done so, they set to work on him.
Silas was barely breathing, and each shuddering breath that he did manage to take came out more like a bubbling wheeze. It sounded as though he was drowning. Kip hovered around nearby, wringing his hands in dismay. Meanwhile the two women bustled about Silas's body, pouring medicinal concoctions down his throat, dabbing the beaded sweat off his forehead, and applying strongly-scented salves to his chest.
"Is- Is grandpa going to be alright?" Kip stuttered, his lip quivering.
"I don't know..." Anise replied solemnly. "But I can promise you that we will do everything that we can to get your grandfather through this."
Kip's brown eyes shone in the warm lamplight, brimming with tears that threatened to fall. The sight of it caused Effie's heart to throb. It brought on a flashback of the day long ago when she was just a child herself; when she stood there helplessly watching as her own mother die right before her eyes. Determination filled her chest now, burning like a fire. She refused to let the same thing happen to this child. She would save Silas no matter what.
But Silas's condition continued to deteriorate. Silas's body, delirious with fever, began to grow agitated. It grew restless. His faint breaths turned into violent coughing fits, and then blood sputtered up from his mouth.
Kips sharp gasp rang painfully in Effie's ears.
"Grandpa!"
This couldn't be happening. Silas couldn't just... he couldn't just die here. Not now. Not right in front of his own grandson.
"Kip," Anise said gently to the boy, with pity in her eyes. "I think you should go home now. It's nearly sunrise, and I'm sure your mother is very worried about you."
"I can't-" Kip hiccuped on a sob. "I can't just leave grandfather here like this."
"I promise you, he is in the best hands," Anise assured him. And though Effie wasn't sure she agreed with having the child leave his grandfather in this moment, she thought maybe Anise wanted to spare him from a sight that she hadn't been able to spare Effie from. "Go home, Kip. I'll send Effie to deliver any major updates to his condition. But for now, we just need to concentrate on him and monitor his condition."
Reluctantly, Kip agreed. And soon he had disappeared back through the door, presumably heading home to be with his mother.
Meanwhile, Silas continued to cough up a concerning amount of blood. Effie cleaned up pools of it with a towel while exchanging alarmed glances with Anise.
"This isn't looking good," Anise said gravely after some time had passed. "I'm not sure if he's going to make it to sunrise. It might be best to go to their family's farm and deliver the news... to tell them to come say their goodbyes."
"No!" Effie argued defiantly, blinking back hot tears before they could form. "We can't just let him die like this."
"We've done all we can, dear..."
"No. We haven't." Effie maintained. "We are witches, aren't we?"
"Shhh, not so loud," Anise hissed. "Are you suggesting we use our powers to save him then? We have no idea if it'll even work. Most witches aren't powerful enough to heal someone on the brink of death. And besides... what if we get caught."
"I did it once," Effie admitted. "Once in the woods, I used my powers to heal an injured man who was about to die. And... and he survived."
"Euphemia Blackmoore!" Anise's voice was unusually cutting, her face growing white with rage. "I thought I'd forbidden you from ever-"
"I'm not a child anymore," Effie cut her off sharply. "I don't have to do what you say anymore, Aunt Anise. If I choose to use my own powers to save someone else's life, then that's what I will do."
"How dare you... after everything I've done to keep you safe!"
"And I appreciate everything you've done immensely. There are no words to express my gratitude. However, it's time you stopped treating me like I'm still that helpless five year old little girl that you rescued from Avanthia on the day of the Witch Hunt fifteen years ago. I'd like it much better if you looked at me now as your equal. I am a woman. And I am going to save this man's life. And you can either help me, or step aside. But either way, you cannot stop me. Besides, are you really going to just let an innocent man die the undignified death of drowning in his own blood when you know that together we both have the power to save his life? What about Kip and his family? Hadn't you just promised him that you would do everything you could to save his grandfather's life? Do you really want to play a part in the death of their loved-one by not lifting a finger to truly help?"
Anise stood in stunned silence for a few moments, considering everything that Effie had said. Then her bewildered expression softened into a defeated smile.
"Effie... Sometimes I forget that you are truly a Blackmoore. You are just as strong and spirited as your mother was, rest her soul. I see now that there is no stopping you. If we use our magic to save this man's life, it may very well be our last day on earth. But if that's how it must be, I'd rather die fighting for this man's life at your side."
Effie nodded firmly. "No matter what happens, we must do the right thing above all else. Now, let's get to work."