The Once and Future Witches

Juniper awakens in the tower the following morning, feeling much recovered. She finds Quinn and Bella busy cataloging and translating the books. This doesn’t interest her in the least. The three women speculate about the witch burnings in bygone days. Bella says, “I don’t think they were burning bloodlines out, at all—I think they were burning knowledge. Books, and the women who wrote them” (277-78). Juniper is disappointed that it doesn’t require a witch’s bloodline to do magic, but she soon decides to use the books in the tower library to help the women of New Salem. Her initial plan is to cast spells to free the other witches who were arrested. Then, she will distribute magic lore among the Daughters of Tituba and the Sisters of Avalon.

After leaving her sisters, Agnes slips back into her old way of life. She dyes her hair and disfigures her face with pock marks so that her old boss won’t recognize her and gets herself rehired at the mill. The other workers recognize her, but she refuses to participate in their witch meetings. One evening, she crosses paths with Lee. Agnes believes he has fallen in love with her, and he wants to help the cause of the Sisters of Avalon. Agnes refuses to get him involved and says that she’s simply doing her best to survive. Meanwhile, Juniper creeps about the city at night, dispensing magic to women who need it.

Agnes tries to remain inconspicuous at her mill job until she sees the owner, Malton, intent on sexually abusing a new employee. Agnes bursts into his office and reveals her true identity. She threatens Malton with several curses if he ever lays a hand on an unwilling woman again. Then, she triumphantly leaves the mill only to realize that her water has broken and she is about to go into labor. Her sisters instantly sense her physical distress.

Agnes goes to the golden tree to dig up the vial of dirt that will allow her to return to the invisible tower. To her horror, she sees city workers excavating around the tree. The vial is gone, and she has no way to enter the tower. Agnes collapses on the spot, exposing her identity, and she is placed under arrest. Bella and Juniper use a mirror spell to check on their sister’s whereabouts, and they realize she’s been captured.

Agnes awakens in a hospital. She is still under arrest, with police and doctors milling around the room. The delivery is taking a very long time. Agnes realizes that her sisters are trapped in the tower. The only way for them to free themselves is to uncloak the tower in the middle of the square, making themselves vulnerable to arrest. As an alternative, Agnes uses her own blood to draw a portal circle on her bedsheet. Realizing that Agnes is summoning them, Bella and Juniper appear in the midst of the officials and medical men.

The sisters cast spells on everyone and order them to depart. Then, they go to work helping Agnes. The labor is intense and harrowing. During this time, Agnes learns that Bella never told their father about her abortion. It was the boy who got her pregnant who gave away her secret. For her part, Bella forgives Agnes for retaliating by revealing her lesbian romance to their father. The sisters reunite emotionally just in time to bring Agnes’s daughter into the world. The baby is named Eve Everlasting. At the same time, a fisher-hawk appears in the room; it is Agnes’s new familiar.

Lee rushes in, having earlier received a magical distress call from Agnes. She is touched by his concern and seems willing to allow him into her heart at last. As the group prepares to seek refuge elsewhere, Lee tells them that they can’t return to the tower because it’s been set on fire.