Matthew gave a sniff and turned to me with an accusing stare. “You said you hadn’t heard from Baldwin.”
“No, I said I hadn’t talked to him,” I said, feeling that it was important to draw the distinction. “Not the same thing at all.”
“Where are the children?” Matthew demanded.
“Jack and Marthe are with them. Marcus and Agatha are with Fernando in the great hall, trying to talk Baldwin down off the mountain,” Sarah said around another mouthful of popcorn. “I volunteered for lookout duty. Baldwin makes me nervous.”
Matthew stalked off in the direction of the hall.
“Should you call Ysabeau?” Sarah asked.
“Already on her way,” I said. “We invited her to come for the fireworks.”
“Guess we won’t have to wait until dark for the excitement to start after all.” Sarah dusted the salt off her hands and hopped off the stool. “Let’s go. We don’t want to miss anything.”
When we arrived in the hall, Matthew and Baldwin were facing off across the carpet while Marcus and Fernando urged them both to see sense. Agatha’s contributions to the negotiations involved pointing out that this whole family drama smacked of male privilege.
“You need to take a deep breath and realize that this isn’t all about you,” Agatha said. “You’re behaving like these children are chattel.”
“God, I love that woman,” Sarah said, beaming. “Down with patriarchy. Right on, Agatha.”
I had had it, too. I turned my hands heavenward and splayed my fingers wide. Brightly colored strands appeared, snaking down each finger, across my palms, and around my wrists.
“With knot of one, the spell’s begun,” I said.
“This is what happens when you don’t answer your e-mail!” Baldwin said, shaking his finger at me.
“With knot of two, the spell be true.” I touched the tips of my thumb and little finger together. A silver star emerged from where the two met.
“Don’t speak to Diana like that, Baldwin,” Matthew warned.
“With knot of three, the spell is free,” I said, releasing the star into the sky.
“Cool,” Sarah said, watching my every move.
“With knot of four, the power is stored.” My ring finger glowed with an inner, golden light, and the silver star grew in size, floating toward the knot of men in the hall.
“Does anyone smell something burning?” Marcus wrinkled his nose.
“With knot of five, the spell will thrive.” I touched the green thumb on my right hand to my middle finger, uniting the energy of the goddess as mother with the spirit of justice.
“Well, well,” Fernando said, looking at the five-pointed silver star that was hovering above him. “I don’t believe anyone’s ever put a spell on me.”
“With knot of six, this spell I fix.”
The star descended in a whoosh, tangling Matthew, a startled Baldwin and Marcus, and a bemused Fernando in its loops and twirls. With a flick of my fingers, I tightened the star so that it held them fast. Then I gave it an extra twist so that the more they struggled against the bonds, the more snug they would become.
“You lassoed us!” Marcus exclaimed.
“Diana went to camp in Montana one summer,” Sarah said. “She wanted to be a cowgirl. I had no idea they taught her how to do that.”
“You wanted to talk to me, Baldwin?” I said, advancing slowly on the group. “I’m all ears.”
“Let me go,” Baldwin said through clenched teeth.
“Not fun, is it, to be all tied up?” I asked.
“You’ve made your point,” my brother-in-law said.
“Oh, come on,” I said. “Since when has it been that easy to change your mind? As you see, Baldwin, I’m not against tying people up when they deserve it. But this branch of the family is done with turning their children into puppets and wrapping them in knots.”
“If Rebecca has blood rage—”
“If Becca has blood rage. If Philip is a weaver. If, if, if,” I interrupted. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”
“I told you to run tests,” Baldwin said, trying to grab Matthew. The movement forced the bindings tighter, just as I intended.
Ysabeau arrived with a wicker hamper filled with bottles. She surveyed the scene and smiled.
“How I’ve missed family gatherings,” she said. “What have you done this time, Baldwin?”
“All I’m trying to do is keep this family from self-destructing,” Baldwin shouted. “Why is it so impossible for the rest of you to see the trouble Rebecca might cause? The child cannot go around biting people. If she has blood rage, she could give it to others.”