Read Online Mystical Circles by S. C. Skillman - Free Book Online

figures emerged, each bearing a covered silver dish. Juliet was reminded of a Greek myth in which a character served the head of his enemy’s son to him at dinner in revenge for some wrong done to him. Pushing this image aside, she studied the two chefs. Llewellyn she recognised immediately; he looked cheerful, but his shorter, fair-haired companion seemed jittery. Her curiosity was aroused. She wondered what lay behind his mood. As the dishes were placed on the table, everyone applauded.
    “Ah, Llewellyn and Oleg,” said Craig. “Well done, friends. Soon the feast will begin.”
    Oleg evidently didn’t share his positive frame of mind. He wore a taut expression. “Burned the rice.”
    Llewellyn squeezed his arm. “No need to tell them, Oleg. The next lot we cooked was fine.”
    The Slav looked unconvinced. “This always happens to me.”
    “Nobody minds,” insisted the Welshman.
    Craig intervened. “We’ll happily accept whatever you give us, Oleg. You’ve cooked it, and that’s all that matters. Dish it out.”
    “Do community members take it in turn to prepare meals?” Juliet enquired.
    “Yes,” said Craig. “They also serve on a rota of other practical tasks around the house and garden. Each day everyone does two hours’ work.”
    “So you aim to make the community as self-sufficient as possible?”
    “Indeed.”
    Juliet had a hunch that whatever Craig asked, his followers carried out without question.
    While the food was being served, James raised a bottle in the air. “Red, Juliet?”
    “Yes, thank you.”
    As he poured, Craig said, “Surprised we have such a high standard of living?”
    “Surprised but very pleased,” she replied.
    “I see it as all part of my group therapy,” he went on. “Remember, any questions, ask me. I’m here to help and guide you. Use me. I want to be used.”
    She gazed at him. Use him in what way?
    “That word makes you feel anxious, doesn’t it?” he said.
    He picked up on her emotional state with an almost feminine intuition. This in itself gave her pause for thought.
    She still didn’t trust him. And what worried her was the fact that Zoe clearly did. Her attention had barely swerved from Craig during the past ten minutes.
    Craig clapped his hands. Silence fell once more, and all eyes turned to him. In those faces she noted a quality of warm engagement. This was true of the men as well as the women.
    “Before we begin, I’d like to make an announcement: one I feel sure will delight you all. On Monday evening, we’ll have Theo Lucas with us again. He’s agreed to come and be our guest speaker for the week.”
    A buzz ran round the table.
    James snapped his fingers. “Excellent. The Reverend Theo Lucas,” he said. “Splendid man. Though I still can’t believe how he managed to get himself ordained.”
    There was a good deal of table-thumping and laughter at this, until Craig’s voice dropped into the swell of sound. At once, hush descended. Juliet allowed her eye to skim the diners. Craig’s presence and personal style exerted a powerful effect upon them.
    “The Wheel of Love is a tribute to the dynamic power of change,” observed Craig. “And Theo fits in with that perfectly. We all bear witness to it ourselves. Which one of you can say you’re now exactly where you were on your life’s journey when you first arrived?”
    No one spoke. Again Juliet glanced around at the faces; some dreamy – as was Zoe’s – some wistful, others intense. Beth’s and Oleg’s even looked distressed. This puzzled her. As she studied Oleg, she saw his eyes dart to Beth’s face, with a yearning expression. Ah. He liked her, it seemed. But were his feelings returned? It appeared not. Beth herself spent more time looking at Craig than at anybody else.
    Emotions were simmering, and evidently not everyone was happy. And how, Juliet wondered, did people change once Craig got to work on them and reshaped them ? And did that include her too? She hoped not.
    Once