FOUR

Piper was in the living room when Prue and Phoebe got home.

"Are you okay?" Prue asked sitting on the sofa next to Piper. "Phoebe said that warlock attacked you."

"Yeah, I'm okay," said Piper. "A little singed around the edges but otherwise I'm fine. And I had a little help."

"Hey," said Leo, coming in from the kitchen with a glass of juice that he handed to Piper.

"Leo," said Phoebe. "What are you doing here?"

"I sensed the attack on you," said Leo. "Piper filled me in on what happened."

"Yep," said Piper. "And Leo filled me in on Jessica Bishop, if that's who that really was."

"What do you mean?" Prue asked.

"Jessica was a very old friend of your grandmother," said Leo. "They were in the same coven in San Francisco. About twenty years ago Jessica moved to Salem, her ancestral home. I understand she and Penny kept in touch over the years."

"So she is a witch," said Phoebe. "I knew it."

"Not so fast, speedy," said Piper. "It's possible the warlock also knew that and is using it to bait us. We need to know for sure before we go trusting some strange voice over the phone."

"Leo, did you know this Jessica Bishop?" Prue asked.

"Not personally," said Leo. "I wasn't Penny's Whitelighter. But George, her Whitelighter, told me about Jessica. Even though Penny kept in touch with Jessica, George didn't. She wasn't one of his charges."

"Okay, so what do we do?" Phoebe asked. "If that really was Jessica on the phone, she said we needed to talk about the warlock."

"And it if wasn't," said Piper, "we could be walking into a trap."

"We need to make sure this Jessica is the person who called," said Prue. "I suggest we call her back and ask her some questions. If she was such good friends with Grams she should know things that warlock wouldn't know."

"Why not just go ask her?" suggested Leo.

"Sure," said Piper. "Just hop a plane and fly all the way across the county just to ask her if she called here."

"Well, not exactly a plane," said Leo. "I could orb you all there."

"Orb?" questioned Piper. "You mean that bluish cloud thing you do when you leave here?"

"Yes," said Leo. "It's called orbing. It's the way a Whitelighter gets around."

"And you can orb us to Salem?" Prue questioned. "That's a long way to go."

"You'd be surprised how far I can orb," said Leo, smiling. "It won't take more than a few seconds to get there and get back. I can orb all three of you there and still have you back in time to go to bed when you usually do."

"Is it dangerous?" Phoebe asked. "For us, I mean. We aren't Whitelighters."

"No more dangerous than walking across the room," said Leo.

"That might work," said Prue. "If it wasn't Jessica who called we'd know it for sure."

"What if the warlock comes back while we're away?" Piper asked.

"I can orb you guys back in an instant," said Leo. "

"Okay," said Prue, "how does it work?"

"You three hold hands," said Leo. "I'll hold Piper's hand and when I orb I can take you with me. It's perfectly safe, I assure you. As your Whitelighter I couldn't do anything that might put you in danger. And I've orbed a lot of my charges around."

"Well, okay," said Piper. "It won't hurt will it?"

"The sensation might be a bit unsettling the first time," said Leo. "Not unpleasant, though. Just something that takes a bit of getting used to."

"Can you teach me to orb?" Phoebe asked.

"I'm afraid not," said Leo. "It's a standard Whitelighter power. Only Whitelighters can orb. I can't teach you any more than you can teach me to use your powers. Now, if we're all ready."

As they all took each other's hands, Leo took Pipers' hand in his. Smiling at them he began to orb out of the manor. Piper had her eyes shut tight as if she expected there would be pain or something. It was very similar to the face she made when she had to get a shot at the doctors' office.

"There, that wasn't so bad, now was it?" Leo asked after a moment.

Piper opened her eyes. She was standing in the middle of a living room of a modest house. Standing across the room was a woman about Grams' age. She stood in a stance that suggested she was ready for a fight.

"Who are you?" demanded the woman. "What do you want here?"

"Well, if you're Jessica Bishop," said Phoebe, "we spoke on the phone earlier. I'm Phoebe Halliwell and these are my sisters, Prue and Piper."

"Yes, I'm Jessica Bishop," said the woman. "You must be their Whitelighter."

"Leo Wyatt," said Leo.

"So, Ms. Bishop," said Prue, "I understand you called us earlier."

"Yes," said Jessica. "And please, call me Jessica. It was about the warlock in your attic. I thought he was attacking Penny. As I told Phoebe, I didn't know she had passed away."

"Just how did you know about the warlock, anyway?" Piper asked. "You called almost as soon as he took off."

"I'm clairvoyant," said the woman.

"The ability to see what's happening at distant locations," Leo explained to the sisters. "That would explain how she knew about the warlock."

"That's a pretty long way to see," said Prue.

"I've been a witch a long time," said Jessica. "Please, have a seat. As I'm sure you're aware, your powers get stronger the longer you have them."

"So we've been told," said Piper. "You said we needed to talk about the warlock. And you made it sound urgent."

"It is," said Jessica. "Or it could be, anyway. All I saw was the warlock attacking. I didn't see whom he was attacking, although I recognized your attic. I just naturally assumed it was Penny. I'm surprised you three know about the Craft. Penny told me she wasn't going to teach you about it."

"We sort of learned by mistake," said Piper. "After Grams died, Phoebe found a book in the attic. That kind of started everything."

"The Book of Shadows," said Jessica. "I made a few entries in that myself some years ago."

"So, what's so important you needed speak to us about?" Prue asked. "Like Piper said, you made it sound very important."

"It is," said Jessica. "It involves something your grandmother was working on the last couple of years. And I think it might involve that warlock as well."

"What?" Piper asked.

"Someone has been killing the descendents of the prosecutors from the Salem witch trials," said Jessica. "Penny was trying to figure out who it was and stop them. I think it might be that warlock. If it is, then all three of you could be in terrible danger."

"From a warlock?" questioned Prue. "We've dealt with them before. We can handle one warlock."

"Not this one," said Jessica. "At least, not without some preparation. That's why I asked if you were sure of how Penny died. I think it's very possible that this warlock may have murdered her."