Suffer a Witch by Claudia Hall Christian Page B

the turn of the century, I guess — a fire moved through the area,” George said. “We had to move out. I went to England. Sam and John fought the Indians in the Crown colonies. The women went everywhere —to Boston, New York; some joined immigrant populations all along the Eastern seaboard.”
    George shrugged.
    “We had to scatter,” Em said. “By that time, we were healthy and getting around well.”
    “And well known,” George said.
    “People could have easily recognized us,” Em said.
    “Did you have . . . powers?” Isaac asked. “I don’t know what you call them.”
    “Magic?” Em asked. “I did. You?”
    “I didn’t know what it was or how to use that,” George nodded. “That was Em. In her reading, she found books on how to manage this mastery of the elements — fire, water, time, space, air, that kind of thing.”
    “I didn’t have the skill to control them,” Em said. “There was no real guidebook. We picked up one thing here, another thing there. Anything we could find.”
    “A lot of it was trial and error,” George said.
    “Em put a spiritual section in Devorah’s mercantile,” Isaac said. “It’s the first religious bookstore in Boston.”
    “I thought it would be a good way to meet anyone who knew anything,” Em said.
    “Did you?” George asked.
    “Mostly charlatans and some people who knew a tiny bit of how things worked,” Em said. “Since I had all the time in the world, I started to put it together into something that made more sense.”
    Em fell silent. She could feel George’s eyes on her face. She smiled at Isaac.
    “While I’m deeply glad for it, I’m not sure why we’re here today,” George said.
    “Oh,” Em said. “I need a favor.”
    “Grandmother, I am always at your service,” Isaac said.
    “I need a human to join a group of ghost hunters,” Em said. “I’m going with Shonelle, but I can’t really go with a bevy of witches.”
    “Ghost hunters?” Isaac asked.
    “They are ghost hunting in Danvers, you know, where Salem Village was,” Em said. “They say they’ve filmed Bridget Bishop’s ghost.”
    “Have they?” Isaac asked.
    “Something I’d like to find out,” Em said.
    “They seem to have stirred up a kind of presence,” George said. “We think this shade is connected to Em in some way.”
    “Grandmother?” Isaac looked worried. “What is this?”
    “I don’t know any more than that,” Em said. “If I get more information, I think I can figure out what’s going on. But for now, I just have this devil or demon or. . . dark thing. . . and an annoying bunch of kids talking about putting the spirit of one of the witches to rest.”
    “Do you think it’s the same kind of apparition that caused all of this?” Isaac asked.
    “That’s the question, isn’t it?” George asked at the same time Em said, “No.”
    Isaac smiled.
    “When do they meet?” Isaac asked.
    “They are meeting tonight,” Em said. “They are going ghost hunting on Saturday.”
    “My eldest, Asher, and I will go,” Isaac said. “It sounds fun.”
    “Thank you,” Em said.
    “It’s my pleasure,” Isaac said. “Now, if you’re not doing anything, I was thinking about getting some breakfast. Interested?”
    Em smiled.
    “George?” Isaac smiled. “Let’s take this woman out to eat.”
    “As you wish,” George said.
    Isaac hopped to his feet. They went through the facility and went out the back. Em was standing with George while Isaac went to get the car.
    “Are you okay?” Em asked. “That’s a lot to . . . process.”
    “You realize these people . . .” George gestured around him, “they are human .”
    “Not really.”
    “Oh, yeah?” George asked.
    “They’re family,” Em said.
    George chuckled. She let him hold her.
    “I will tell you . . .” George started. He gave her a peck on the lips and let go.
    “Yes?”
    “I’ve learned something important,” George said. He walked away from her as he