Read Online The Language of Spells by Sarah Painter - Free Book Online

No wonder she was broke. What was
wrong
with her? The new-yoga-obsessed Ruby would probably say that her chakras were unaligned or something.
    She put tissue paper over the box, added a ‘thank you for your purchase’ card and began folding layers of bubble wrap.
    Still Lily lingered.
    ‘I’m going into town to post this,’ Gwen tried.
    ‘That’s fine,’ Lily said. ‘I’ll come with you. I can show you around.’
    Gwen knew that she should explain that she used to live in the town and that she probably knew it as well as Lily did, but the words remained stuck in her throat.
    She hoisted her bag onto her shoulder and locked up the house.
    ‘Iris never locked her back door,’ Lily observed.
    ‘That was very silly of her,’ Gwen said.
    Lily laughed her unnatural tinkle. ‘I keep forgetting you’re a city type. You don’t know what it’s like in Pendleford; we all look out for one another here.’
    Fed up, Gwen snapped, ‘I suppose there’s no crime at all, then? If I buy the paper, it’ll be completely blank.’
    Lily looked away, but she didn’t say anything. They walked past the frost-touched hedgerows in silence, reaching the end of the track and joined what probably counted as a main road in Pendleford.
    ‘You have a lovely garden,’ Gwen said as they passed it. A peace offering.
    ‘Not as big as yours.’ Lily’s voice had real bitterness in it, but a moment later she said brightly, ‘Have you looked at the town bridge yet?’
    ‘I’ve driven over it,’ Gwen said, adding silently:
And, a lifetime ago, I snogged Cameron Laing underneath it.
    Lily slid her a sideways look. ‘But have you really looked at it?’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘You’ll see,’ Lily said with satisfaction.
    Gwen breathed in, enjoying the crisp autumnal air, the sunlight that lit the trees into beacons of flame. Within minutes, the roads narrowed and they entered the town centre. ‘Some of the buildings are medieval – like the Tithe Barn,’ Lily said, pointing down a side street. ‘That’s a big attraction.’
    A queue of cars inched slowly down Silver Street, spoiling the olde worlde effect somewhat.
    Lily saw Gwen looking and said, ‘We weren’t built for cars, that’s for sure.’ She spoke as if the town were alive.
    ‘Mmm.’ Having walked down the winding street, balancing on the cobbles and narrowly avoiding pitching into a silver sedan, Gwen stopped outside a small shop called The Crystal Cave. It was filled with crystal balls, decks of tarot cards, and a tabby cat. It was the kind of place Gloria loved to browse in for hours and she breathed in, half-expecting the scent of incense to permeate the street.
    ‘It’s for the tourists,’ Lily sniffed. ‘Wiltshire is known for its ancient stones, ley lines and mystical energy.’
    Gwen didn’t ask what a fake crystal ball had to do with a prehistoric stone circle.
    ‘It’s silly really,’ Lily said.
    Gwen hadn’t been paying proper attention, but now she realised that Lily was watching her carefully. ‘Silly,’ she said, hoping that agreeing with Lily would make her stop staring at her in that unnerving way. She added, ‘Harmless, though.’
    ‘One woman’s cupcake is another’s shit sandwich,’ Lily replied.
    ‘Pardon?’
    Lily gave her a calculating look. ‘That’s what your aunt always said. She said it was impossible to do no harm. One hungry family’s roast dinner is the sad demise of a chicken.’
    ‘Right.’
    ‘She was full of them. Said everything was a war and that there could only be one winner.’
    The cold air was making Gwen’s nose run and she pulled out a tissue. She was getting the creeping sensation that she might not have liked her aunt very much. Question was: should that make her feel more or less guilty about inheriting from her?
    ‘Look…’ Lily pointed down the street. ‘There’s the roundhouse.’
    At one end of the bridge was a round stone structure. Its shape was a cross between a minaret and a beehive and there