FOURTEEN

"Here you go," said Leo, handing the athame to Jessica. "It's just as you described. We found it under a loose floorboard in the attic."

"I see," said Jessica. "It's a good thing you did. There's no telling what damage this might have caused if the warlock had found it."

"You're sure you can remove the enchantment on it?" Leo asked. "I know those rituals can be very complicated."

"Oh, quite sure," said Jessica. "Penny and I came up with a special one once. Guaranteed to remove virtually any enchantment. When I'm done this athame will never again be used to steal a mortal's soul. And I'm going to melt it down once the enchantment is removed. That will keep it from being used ever again."

"Good," said Leo. "But I do have some bad news. Since you and Penny were such good friends, I think you should know."

"What is it?" Jessica asked. "You make it sound serious."

Leo told her what they had discovered about Grams. When he finished, Jessica just looked at him.

"Penny turned evil?" she questioned. "I find that very hard to believe."

"Well, Prue and her sisters don't believe it, either," said Leo. "But considering all the evidence we've uncovered there really isn't another explanation. I wish it weren't true. I'm sorry. I know you and Penny were close."

"Almost like sisters," said Jessica. "She was a very powerful witch and a good friend. It's hard to imagine her evil. I think I'll just remember her as I knew her when I lived in San Francisco. A very prominent force for good."

"Well, I think Prue and the girls will eventually accept what happened," said Leo. "I know how hard it is for them. They loved their grandmother very much. It's going to take some time until they accept that she may have been corrupted."

"She loved them, too," said Jessica. "And if she were corrupted, it wasn't her fault."

"I know," said Leo. "I'll tell them you said hello."

"Please do," said Jessica. "And tell them to come for a visit some time soon. I have a few stories about Penny they might just like to hear. The Penny they knew and loved. It might make them feel a little better."

"That sounds like a good idea," said Leo. "I'll tell them."

Leo orbed out of the house heading back for San Francisco.

"Mind if I come in?" George asked Prue standing at the door to her room.

"You are exactly my favorite person right now," said Prue, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.

"I realize that," said George. "But we still need to talk about this."

"Where's Leo?" Prue asked.

"He took the athame to Jessica so she can destroy it," said George. "He just got back. He's downstairs with Piper and Phoebe."

"Okay," said Prue. "I guess you can come in."

George walked in and sat down in a chair across from the bed. Even considering all that had happened, Prue couldn't help but like him. He seemed like a father figure to her. Since her father had abandoned them when she was very young, she really had very little to compare him with. But she imagined he was the type of man that a father should be like.

"I still don't believe it, you know," she said.

"I know," said George. "It's not an easy thing to accept. And I know how difficult this is for you and your sisters."

"There has to be another explanation," said Prue.

"I'd be more than willing to listen to any," said George. "Any reasonable explanation that might explain everything. If you have any ideas, I'd like to hear them. I haven't told the Elders about this yet. I know how they are going to react."

"Why tell them at all?" Prue asked. "Grams is dead. What would telling them accomplish?"

"She was my charge," said George. "I'm duty bound to inform them of something like this."

"It doesn't make any sense to me," said Prue. "What good will it do?"

"Probably none," said George. "I don't always agree with the rules. But I do have to follow them. Just like Leo has to follow them. If one of you turned evil he'd have to report that."

"Yeah, I guess so," said Prue. "This whole thing is just so crazy. How could Grams be evil and I not know about it?"

"I don't have all the answers, Prue," said George. "I wish I did. I wish I could tell you this has all been one huge mistake. But I can't. The only reasonable explanation is that your grandmother turned evil. I wish it weren't true. And like I said, if you have another explanation, any kind of explanation, I'd like to hear it."

"I don't," said Prue reluctantly. "But just because I can't think of one doesn't mean there isn't one. You're right about one thing. If this were anyone other than Grams, I wouldn't feel so passionately that you were wrong. I'd probably agree with you. But this is about Grams. Other than you, I probably knew her better than any living person. I just can't accept that she was evil."

"People change as they grow older," said George. "Not always for the better. Things happen that alter our judgments and perceptions. And as Leo said, the prosecutors of the witch trials were probably her least favorite people. Having that fester inside you for as long as it did her has to have some consequences."

"But to go after innocents," said Prue. "That just wasn't like Grams."

"No, it wasn't," said George. "Look at it this way. Once she turned evil, the Penny Halliwell you grew up with no longer existed. So in a way, she wasn't doing the murders."

"That doesn't help much," said Prue.

Suddenly there was a creaking sound in the distance. Prue looked toward her open door but saw nothing.

"I didn't see Piper or Phoebe go by," she said.

"No," said George. "They're downstairs with Leo as I said."

"Get them now," said Prue hurrying over to her door.

"Why?" asked George, looking worried.

"Because if they're downstairs with Leo and you're in here with me," said Prue, "that means we have an uninvited guest in the attic. That creaking sound? That's the loose floorboard where we found the athame."

George hurried downstairs to get Piper and Phoebe as Prue headed for the attic.