Early March 2026 Salem, Massachusetts
It was just cold and breezy enough on the porch that Aunt Ivy grabbed the good wool blanket along with two mugs of tea, the heavy gold and purple one she kept folded over the back of the reading chair. She draped it over Eliza's lap without asking.
They sat side by side, looking out at the street. The neighborhood was quieter than usual, no rush of traffic; it was too early for that yet. A few tulips had just started pushing themselves up through the dirt along the front walk, Eliza had noticed.
“Holly’s sourced everything we need,” Aunt Ivy said, taking a sip from her purple mug, continuing their conversation from earlier in the morning. “An athame that's close enough to my old one, Celtic salt, the candles. A sage bundle for burning, to protect you as you cross. We have multiple copies of the grimoire page, just in case. I’ve been mapping the crossroads — there are two that could work. I want to use the older one, where the paths cross near the stone wall by the old Nurse homestead. Right near where we think was Old Gallows Hill”
Eliza nodded, watching steam rise from her own cup, waiting for the tea to cool enough for her to take a sip. She was still knocking sleep away, trying to wake up because she knew Becca would be taking her to the beach soon.
“The equinox falls right at dawn,” Aunt Ivy continued. “That's better for us, since the liminal qualities will be strongest at dawn and dusk. We’ll want to be in position before first light.” She paused. “Holly will drive her Jeep, obviously.”
Eliza almost smiled at that, thinking of the entire crew in the Jeep, and she nodded. Then she thought about her counterpart.
"What about Lils?"
“Well,” Aunt Ivy said. “On her end, she needs to be in the general vicinity of the area of where we cast the spell. That’s just judging from what happened to you, how you were able to get here last time when Lils cast on Halloween.”
“And she doesn’t know any of this? You haven’t been able to reach her?”
“No, not yet.” Aunt Ivy smiled faintly. “Holly and I are trying everything we can. We tried talking to her in a shared Google doc, scrying, even a spell that is supposed to reach her through a crow. Something is still blocking it, I think. But I have to believe—” She paused to take a breath. “I have to believe she’s resourceful enough to find her way to a crossroads on the equinox, or at least somewhere near that damn crossroads. Lils will know the equinox is a liminal time.”
The wind whipped through the bare maples at the edge of the yard. One of the baby tulips bent and then popped back upright.
Eliza leaned forward. “And you said both parties must want it? The switch?”
Aunt Ivy, who had been gazing at the street, turned back to look at her properly.
“Yes, I think both of you must choose it. You’ll have to want it for the spell to work. And you will be the one calling out to the Crossroads Keeper. It has to be you."
Eliza looked down at the cup of tea Aunt Ivy made her, English Breakfast swirled with honey. The blue and white ceramic mug was warm against her palms as she took a sip, and flavor exploded across her tongue. She would have no more of this back in her own time, no soft wool blanket, or tea and honey. No Aunt Ivy smiling back at her, no Becca coming to pick her up for a date on the beach.
She thought about Lils at a crossroads in the dark on Halloween night, bleeding into frozen earth, choosing to go back. What had she been thinking?
“I know,” Aunt Ivy said quietly, even though Eliza hadn’t spoken. She reached over and put her hand over Eliza’s, just for a moment. “I know, girl. None of this is easy.”
They sat there for a moment, taking in the sounds of the morning all around, until a green Volkswagen bug pulled into the drive. Aunt Ivy stood and collected the mugs.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“Please have a good time and be safe,” she said, at the door. Then, very softly, looking back: “She deserves to know you, Eliza. The real you. Becca probably already knows more than she’s letting on.”
Aunt Ivy waved toward the driveway at Becca, and went inside.
Through the windshield, Eliza could see Becca leaning over to clear the passenger seat of what looked like a tote bag, a sweater, a beach towel and a few empty cans of Red Bull. Becca caught her watching and waved, slightly embarrassed.
Eliza went down the porch steps. She waved up at Lucy, spying from the window, and Lucy darted away from view rapidly, as if she’d never been there.
This part of the beach was mostly empty, only a few dog walkers at the far end and a lone figure sitting on the rocks near the breakwater. The ocean was gray-green and restless, crashing up against the shoreline. In her own time, she had never been able to visit the sea, as her kin were not the seafaring kind. I will have to change that, she thought, looking out over the horizon.
Becca had brought a blanket, which Eliza was discovering was a pattern with her, always thinking one step ahead about comfort.
They walked along the shoreline first before setting up, close enough that their arms brushed with every few steps. Becca talked about school, her driver’s ed class, and about a witchy podcast she’d been listening to that was fascinating and teaching her how to read tarot cards. Eliza listened and watched the water and felt something accumulating in her chest like sand in an hourglass, heavy and getting heavier.
She reached over and took Becca’s hand. Becca looked over at Eliza and squeezed her hand back, smiling.
They walked until they found a dry stretch of sand above the waterline and Becca spread the blanket and pulled Eliza down onto it with effortless confidence. In her own time, this would have been not only dangerous, but downright unthinkable. It had no space to exist at all.
Here, it was just another Saturday in Salem.
Eliza thought about that sometimes, in the dark of Lils’ room when sleep evaded her. About how it would feel to live in a world where this was so accepted, so normal. Where she could be almost anything she wanted, and date who she wanted, too.
“Okay,” Becca said, producing a small cloth pouch from her tote bag. “So don’t laugh.”
“I promise not to.”
“I have a deck of gummy bear tarot cards my little sis gave me.” Becca set the pouch in her lap, looking at Eliza. “I do readings sometimes when I need to work through stuff, but I’ve never given one to someone else. You don’t have to do it, I just thought…” She stopped. “It seems like you’ve been going through some shit lately, and I thought this could help.”
Eliza looked at the pouch like it was about to bite her.
“Is tarot witchcraft?” she asked, before she could stop herself.
Becca blinked. “I mean, sort of? It’s more of a tool. The cards are like, symbolic, for suggestion. Not necessarily predicting anything for certain,” She tilted her head, studying Eliza’s face. “Are you okay? You're looking at me like I've just done something terrible. I thought you were into witchy stuff?”
“No, I—I am interested.” Eliza shifted her expression, remembering that being witchy in this time wasn’t bad, as Lucy and Aunt Ivy had repeatedly explained. Her puritanical conditioning ran deep though. “I apologize, I wasn’t expecting it. Please, go on. Show me.”
Becca opened the pouch slowly, shuffling the cards and laying three of them face-down on the blanket between them. Eliza had to admit that the pattern on the back of the deck was pretty cool.
“Past, present, and future,” she said. “A three-card spread. You don’t have to ask a question out loud, but it helps to have one in mind. Or I can just do a general reading.”
Eliza had one hundred questions, all of them she was sure were unanswerable by a deck of the devil’s playing cards. She didnt even know what a ‘gummy bear’ was.
Becca turned over the first card. It was a gummy bear standing at the edge of a cliff, pack over one shoulder, looking out over the horizon. A small gummy dog was at his feet, and the sun was right overhead. The little gummy bear was holding a bundle of gummy flowers.
“The Fool,” Becca said. “New beginnings, standing at the threshold of something.” She glanced up.
Eliza nodded, leaning forward.
Becca turned over the second card. Two gummy bear figures entwined under a sun and moon, facing each other lovingly.
“The Lovers.” Becca’s voice shifted. “This is your present day card. Looks like you’ve made a um, good connection with someone.” She blushed slightly and moved on quickly. “And now for your future card.”
The ocean pushed up the sand and pulled back. Becca reached for the third card, flipping it over.
“Oh, are you going somewhere?” Her jaw tightened once the card was revealed. “I feel like this is a goodbye card.”
“Yes, I’m going on a trip,” Eliza said carefully. “A family thing soon.”
“When?”
“The twentieth.”
Becca looked out at the water. “That’s the equinox.”
“Yes, I suppose so.”
Becca shuffled the cards back into their deck, looking at Eliza. “I feel like I’ve been watching you become a different person these past few months.” She shuffled the cards, flipping over another one. “You actually let me get to know you, which is insane because you never let me in before.” She shook her head.“But lately it feels like you've retreated back into yourself. What’s going on with you, Lils? Will you please just—” She dropped her voice lower, pleading now. “Tell me? The Death card doesn't just show up twice for nothing.”
The ocean was loud behind them, crashing relentlessly as Becca gathered the cards all together again so they wouldn’t blow away, stowing them in her tote. Her eyes flashed green and gold in the afternoon light, searching Eliza’s face.
“Becca,” Eliza said. "There’s something you should know about me.”