The Night of the Solstice by L.J. Smith Read Free Book Online

in a mortar, and grynde it all fine till it be enough. Then bring the pouder forthe and put it in a crucible of golde. Add thereto the blood and spittle of ye who wolde traverse the mirrors. Stir widdershins and wake with the first reflexion of moonrise. When cool, parte and sew into bagges of green silke. Wear at the neck.”
    â€œThat’s it,” said Charles. “Then there’s just a list of ingredients. So what’s wrong?”
    â€œRead the ingredients,” said Alys.
    â€œOh. Okay. It says we need, uh, dwaleberry and red wulfenite, quicksilver and peacock coal, hornblendeand wild elephant’s ear, stinking smut and bladderwort, flyclub and phoenix feather and sunfish scales and falcon’s tooth and …” He broke off, looking unhappy. “It says—a shard of human bone.”
    â€œWhat’s a shard?” asked Claudia.
    â€œA little piece,” said Janie. “Like a splinter.”
    â€œJeez, Alys, are you sure you transcribed this right? I mean
human
bone? How’re we going to get hold of that?”
    â€œOh, well,” said Janie, suddenly cheerful. “There’s always the obvious solution.”
    â€œWhich is?”
    â€œWell, we all have bones, don’t we? It would only take a little one. Like this.” Janie grabbed Claudia’s pinky finger. “This is a nice little bone, just the size of a shard,” she said ghoulishly.
    â€œJanie!”
    â€œYou wouldn’t mind, would you, Claude? Maybe Mom would give you some anesthetic. It would be over in a minute.”
    Janie leaned forward, smiling madly at the cowering Claudia.
    â€œJanie, shut up!”
    â€œI told you not to—”
    â€œAbout the other ingredients,” said Charles, placing himself and the list between his sisters. “Some of these sound just as bad.”
    â€œI know. The first thing is to find out what they are. Remember, these are old-fashioned names. We’ll divide the list up and each research a part. Once we know what we’re looking for we can figure out how to get it.”
    So the list was divided, and because Claudia wanted to help out, Alys gave her the top ingredient, dwaleberry, and had Janie copy the next four for herself. Janie did this without expression, but as she rose to leave she wiggled her fingers under Claudia’s nose.
    â€œDon’t forget, Claude,” she said. “I mean, it’s not as if you were ever going to play piano or anything.”
    â€œDo I have to copy this?” Charles said as she left the kitchen. “Or can I just tear it in half?”
    â€œCopy,” said Alys positively, standing up. “Just a sec.” She caught up with Janie at the back door.
    â€œNow, Alys,” said Janie, looking at her speculatively, “I hope you’re going to keep your sense of humor. I hope you’re not going to say—”
    â€œI’ve got only one thing to say,” said Alys. “And it’s this. If you don’t lay off Claudia at once and forevermore I am going to knock your head off.”
    Janie’s mouth fell open.
    â€œI may not be a genius,” Alys continued, “but if there’s one thing I know about it’s teamwork. And you have to decide right now whether or not you’re on our team. If you don’t want to help us, if you’re scared, that’s fine. But if you plan on working with us, you’re going to act like one of us. You’re going to
try
to help, and if you have any bright ideas you’re going to tell us right away. Because if you don’t I am going to pull your brains out through your nostrils. Understand?”
    Janie’s mouth opened and shut like a fish’s.
    â€œGood. Off you go, then.” Alys turned on her heel and marched back into the house.
    The next afternoon they gathered in the kitchen once more. They’d done well with their research: EvenClaudia had found out that dwaleberry was