Poppy, Lissi and Tatty were all sat around the fire. Lola was otherwise engaged as she put it, which really meant that she had been grounded probably because of her rudeness. Sometimes she would sneak out of her room down a ladder she had acquired last summer when she was having a particularly bad spell, but given that they had been waiting over half an hour this seemed highly unlikely. "So" Tatty had chirped. "What are we going to do now?" she had stared so hard at Lissi that she began to think that she was trying to read her mind or bore a hole in her head just by looking at it. Neither of these seemed very inviting or comfortable for that matter so she broke the silence "The usual" she smiled. "Lola being here isn't gonna make any difference. She might be bossy but im sure we can manage without her for one night." At this Tatty had looked quite hurt. "But I thought all this was her idea? Without it it'll all seem so…stupid!" At this Poppy had groaned. People thought that because Lola had thought all of this up that she was the boss and therefore in their little minds had come to the conclusion that nothing could function properly without her. "Im sure we'll be fine" Poppy grimaced. Tatty had looked suspiciously at her but nodded and said nothing more. "Right" Lissi broke in. "Moon on my left, sun on my right. With stars behind me I welcome you o' gods." At this Tatty had clapped violently, this had come to an abrupt halt once she noticed Poppy's look of disdain that she could not keep from spreading across her face. "Ok Tatty" Lissi had managed to smile. "Let's see what you can do." She nodded towards one of the candles they had spread out.
"Place your hands around the flame. Good. Now concentrate really hard and take the heat from the flame and turn it to ice so that the flame flickers blue instead of red-orange." Tatty had looked nervously at both girls then closed her eyes and placed her hands around the small flame. She sat there for a few minutes her brow creased in concentration then her eyes snapped open and her lips began to wobble. "Im sorry" she wailed. "I can't do it. I tried I really did" she looked nervously at them both "you're not going to chuck me out are you?" Poppy who had seemingly regained some of her untouchable patience smiled at her "'Course not! Not everyone can do that anyway." By this she meant Lola who mainly managed things that were just trickery to the eye. "Let's try something else." Tatty had managed a weak smile at this point and then launched herself enthusiastically into trying to draw oil from eucalyptus leaves that they had brought to make herbal remedies out of. Nothing happened. Lissi felt sorry for her. She concentrated hard, not blinking, upon the leaves before Tatty, who began to bob up and down with excitement as they misted over with oil and began to drip onto the ground beneath them. "Grab a cup" she had yelped as it oozed into the soil leaving a dark stain upon the ground. "That's 'nuff for tonight" Lissi had smiled at Tatty, who with barely contained pride had said goodbye and bounced out of the wood without even offering a hand to clean up. Poppy had growled at Lissi from the other side of the clearing as she disappeared "I saw you 'n you shunt of dunnit." Lissi's smile had faded in a flash "shell think" poppy continued "that she can really do it now an' what you gonna say when she tries it when she's alone an' doesn't manage it." Poppy was generally a kind girl but when it came to lying to make people feel better she really didn't approve "its jus' gonna make things more awkward Lis. What're you gonna do when she tries to show Lola, she wont be so forgiving when Tatty doesn't manage and shell catch on soon enough when she can only accomplish stuff when you're around" Lissi had continued to pack away in silence contemplating what her friend had said. Lissi had meant well but her friend was right it would only complicate things further when Lola and Tatty found out what had really happened. Poppy came towards her with the rest of their herbs packed into little boxes and packets, ready to leave. "You've got a kind heart Lissi Eaves" she smiled "sometimes too kind. Mind you don't cause more trouble by being kinder than necessary. Sometimes people just need to be told the cold hard facts of life, whether they like it or not. You'll do more good in the long run that way than being as kind as you are. Not everyone's like you and soon they'll learn to take advantage then you'll be stuck in a real hole cause you'll have become so kind that it'll be torture to tell 'em the truth. It's easier to learn now" Lissi looked up from where she was pouring the freshly drawn oil into a phial "I know" she had smiled understanding exactly what her friend was saying. She was only being kind. Which was such a Poppy kind of thing to do "you have to be cruel to be kind" she had always said and now learning the hard way Lissi knew she was right. Oh Lola would cause such a fuss she thought. Yes this was going to be a very messy business unless Tatty decided for some reason that the coven didn't suit her after all and forgot all about this evening. She picked up the packets, put them into a box and closed the lid. Lola would find out sooner or later she knew that, but the later the better as far as Lissi was concerned, at least that way she would have a chance to come up with a valid argument and talk things over with Tatty first. You couldn't change someone's mind with magic but she supposed it wouldn't do much harm to use magic to help her along a little. Poppy walked over to stand beside her waiting for her to finish tidying up. Lissi looked at the damp patch on the ground and sighed. She hated asking Poppy for anything especially when it concerned tidying up her own mess but Tatty was going to take some talking to if she was going to change her mind and she certainly couldn't do it alone. "Poppy" she started "you know how much I hate askin' for things so don't make me drag this out. A simple yes or no answer will suffice." Poppy's face screwed up into a shrewd unfriendly expression that Lissi knew all too well meant that she was taking what Lissi was about to say very seriously. This really didn't help at all and just made her feel a whole lot more awkward about asking her. "I want you to help me change Tatty's mind about our coven. Make her think were being really stupid and she's better off without us." Poppy's face screwed up. "That's not gonna be easy with the way you've made her feel tonight. It just isn't gonna work" This really meant, Lissi judged that they would give it a shot but it wasn't going to be easy.
The steady walk home out of the woods remained silent with Lissi not knowing what to say and Poppy concentrating on formulating a plan on what their first moves could be. Neither disliked the silence but wrapped it around themselves and made room for each other as they had so often done in the beginning when they didn't know what to say to each other. It was never like this with Lola around though. She seemed to take the silence and create a brick wall that could only be broken from her side so that no one spoke unless she did. She made the silence hurtful and unforgiving.
Helena watched them leave and slipped out into the clearing. She brushed her finger over the place where the oil had spilt. There was no warmth no trace left of how she'd drawn it out. She was definitely showing promise; yes the other witches would definitely want to know about her. The other one too in time but Larissa Eaves' departure or tutorage was imminent she would be being tutored or would have left within the month even without her having finished her school. There was no way that they would leave her another 7 months before taking her under their wing. No. seven months would be far too long; she could have accomplished all manor of unforgivable things by then and fallen into wrong hands as Mistress Crippen would put it. Many things could befall a talented young girl who had no path to follow or wise one to be moulded by. There was no one to tell you when to stop but your conscience and they were very tricky things to master these days, very good at hiding. She stood up and scanned the area. It was a good place for secrets, not any different than anywhere else but slightly less real. It seemed to change and flicker with the dying light, the magic practised in the copse seemed to have rubbed off on it making everything seem dreamy until you were up close to it.