Read Online The Night of the Solstice by L.J. Smith - Free Book Online Page B

“is
that
?”
    â€œThis,” said Alys, “is an X-Acto knife. Well, we need blood, don’t we?” she added, as everyone stared at her.
    â€œI was thinking of maybe a safety pin,” Charles muttered.
    â€œWe can’t sit here all night squeezing blood out of pinpricks. Come on, I’ve had first aid at the Y.”
    â€œSo if you sever an artery you’ll know how to apply a tourniquet?” But Charles allowed her to make a small jab at the tip of his finger. After an instant blood welled out.
    â€œDrip into the bowl,” instructed Alys, and she turned to prick Claudia. Claudia joined Charles over the crucible, and soon Alys was bleeding companionably along with them.
    Janie hung back.
    â€œIt doesn’t hurt—much,” said Claudia.
    There was a pause.
    â€œI don’t want to,” said Janie.
    â€œGet over here,” said Alys impatiently. “You’re not afraid of a little cut, are you?”
    Janie’s nostrils flared and she tightened her lips. But she held her position by the door.
    â€œLook,” said Charles. “You were practically willing to let Claudia sacrifice her whole finger, and now you’re making a fuss about a few drops of blood. Coward!”
    â€œDon’t,” said Alys. It was dark outside by now. “If she doesn’t put her blood in, she can’t go through the mirrors, that’s all. We’ll have to leave her here.”
    After another moment of deadly silence Janie yielded. Alys tried to be gentle, but somehow Janie’s cut was deeper than the others’, or else her blood was thinner, because finally her finger had to be wrapped in a dishcloth to stop the bleeding. Janie was once again wearing her killer-frost expression by the time they had finished.
    After they each spat into the bowl, Alys stirred again.
    â€œAnd now we’d better go outside,” she said. “We have to let the first ray of moonlight shine on the crucible.”
    â€œI don’t suppose anyone noticed,” said Janie in a polite, expressionless voice, “but it doesn’t say the first ray of moonlight. It says the
reflection
of the first ray. As in mirror reflection.”
    â€œHey, she’s right,” said Charles, checking the battered sheet of paper.
    Alys wanted to shake Janie. “Couldn’t you have mentioned this before?” she demanded angrily. “Instead of waiting until the last minute to show off how clever you are?”
    Janie’s purple eyes blazed. “There are dozens of mirrors in this place! We can use any one of them!”
    â€œAny one small enough to carry. Claudia, run and find one while we take this stuff outdoors.”
    The grass was damp under Alys’s slipper-shod feet as they walked out to the garden behind the house. Beyond this flat space the ground sloped steeply away, and the wood-covered hill stretched down to the lights of Villa Park below. They had barely reachedthe spot Alys had chosen when Claudia’s voice came to them faintly.
    â€œI can’t get it out!” With the shout, Claudia herself appeared, flushed and panting. “I took the little mirror off the kitchen wall, but I can’t get it through the door. It isn’t heavy. It just—won’t come out!”
    It took Charles only a moment to ascertain that this was true. “It’s like there’s some kind of magic wall there,” he said, returning. “Doesn’t
anybody
have a mirror on them?”
    Alys, in her sodden slippers and too-tight pants, clutched the crucible to her chest with one hand and juggled her backpack and the flashlight with the other. “Would we be standing here if we did?” she snapped, and then: “Oh, no—look.” To the east a pale radiance showed in the sky, and a sliver of white appeared over the foothills.
    There was instant pandemonium. “Where can we get a mirror?” “Nowhere—it’s too