Brunonia Barry - The Map of True Places

“Did she?” Ann asked. “That’s one thing I didn’t know about your mother.”

“There’s a lot you didn’t know about my mother,” Zee said.

Ann thought that was probably true. Zee had always known far more than any child her age should have to know.

“She really did love radishes,” Zee said. “She ate them all the time. Finch told her if she ate any more of them, she was going to turn into a radish.”

It brought a smile to Ann’s lips. She was really fond of this kid. Didn’t seem much like her mother at all, or her father either, for that matter. She was definitely her own person.

“I have some books on reincarnation,” Ann said. “If you want to read them.”

“No,” Zee said. “I just wanted to know if you believed in it.”

“I’m not sure what I believe about it,” Ann said.

ANN FIRST MET MAUREEN THE year before Zee was born, when Maureen enrolled in one of Ann’s herbal-remedy classes, one that was meant for practicing witches but was open to the public as well.

It was a decidedly manic period of Maureen’s life. She was spending Finch’s money with abandon and signing up for everything in town. It would have been annoying if she weren’t so charming. Seldom had Ann seen anyone as beautiful as Maureen. When she walked into the class-late, of course-the energy of the entire room changed. Heads turned.

Maureen’s purpose for taking the class, she said, was that she was afraid she couldn’t conceive. She was desperate, had tried all the regular methods, and wanted to try an herbal remedy. She announced this to the class as they went around the room, each person stating her particular areas of interest in herbalism. Most wanted spells, or child-safe remedies, or to learn to make perfume by brewing essential oils.

“What kind of traditional methods have you tried?” Ann asked Maureen at the break. No matter how New Age Ann might be, she was still a New Englander, and she didn’t believe Maureen should share such private information with the whole class.

“We tried different positions, of course, with me remaining prone with my legs in the air for hours. We’ve tried different times of the month. We’ve even tried a turkey baster.”

“Why would you try that?”

“The problem is really more with Finch,” Maureen said. “His libido, if you must know.”

Ann didn’t need to know-in fact, she would have preferred never to know. But she was afraid that if she didn’t address this new bit of information right away, Maureen might be tempted to share it with the whole class. “Talk to me after this is over,” Ann said. “Maybe I can brew something up for you.”

Maureen looked so grateful that Ann feared she might turn to the class and make another announcement, but she didn’t.

After class was over, Ann did brew something up-several things, in fact. Though it was long before Viagra, Ann had pretty good luck with raising people’s libidos, sometimes to the point of being less a gift and more of a curse. “It’s a tea,” Ann said. “Steep it for at least five minutes, and make sure he drinks it hot.” It was one of Ann’s most powerful potions, and it was popular among Salem’s male population. Even so, she doubted that her potion would work for Finch and Maureen. Ann had known Finch for years. She had been surprised when she heard he’d gotten married.

Maureen completed Ann’s introductory class in herbology. And then she took another, more advanced class. And somewhere along the line, Ann and Maureen became friends.

All that spring, Maureen fed Ann’s tea to Finch.

“So is it working?” Ann asked her one day after class.

“It is,” Maureen said. “Though I’ve taken to putting it in his wine instead of brewing tea.”

“I’m not sure about that,” Ann said. “You’re supposed to drink it hot.”

“Well, it seems to be working,” Maureen said. “Plus, I added a little something.”

“What kind of little something?” Ann asked.

“Just something I read about that enhances pleasure.”

Ann looked at her strangely. In the last month, Maureen had purchased every book on herbs and plants that Ann sold. If there was something in there that enhanced pleasure, chances were that Ann had already added it to the mix.

Maureen picked up on Ann’s concern. “Don’t worry about it,” she said.

“Hey,” Ann said. “If you found something that got Finch going, you ought to give me the recipe. We can package it and make a fortune.”

“Thanks so much,” Maureen said.

Ann didn’t realize quite how it sounded. “I didn’t mean it like that,” she said.

“Sure you did,” Maureen said.

It was the first time Ann realized that Maureen wasn’t in denial.

“I don’t get it,” Ann said. “Why do you stay?”

“Hey, it’s working,” Maureen said. “And we really want to have a baby.” Maureen’s eyes filled up with tears. “Finch would make such a good father,” she said.

Ann had already overstepped, and she knew it. “I wish you many blessings,” she said.

THAT SUMMER MAUREEN AND FINCH went their separate ways, Finch to Amherst and Maureen to Baker’s Island. It had been Mickey, and not Maureen, who’d told Ann about the split. So when they showed up at the store together, Ann was surprised.

“We have something to tell you,” Maureen said. “We’re pregnant.” For someone who had just gotten everything she said she wanted, Maureen didn’t look quite as happy as one might expect.

Finch, on the other hand, seemed ecstatic.

“Congratulations!” Ann said. “This is the best news!”

The pregnancy kept them together, as Maureen had hoped when she originally asked Ann for potions. The father-to-be was so attentive that Maureen couldn’t help but be happy during the duration of the pregnancy. Still, something was clearly bothering her. When Ann finally decided to ask, Maureen quoted Oscar Wilde: When the gods wish to punish us they answer our prayers.

ANN DID FOUR MORE READINGS before Zee showed up. She was beginning to doubt that Zee was coming at all when she suddenly appeared at the door.

Ann got one of her girls to take over her station, then led Zee through the back rooms past beakers, bottles, wands, crystals, jugs of distilled water and stacks of handmade soap, candles, and rows of books on magick and the healing arts.

Ann had recently replaced her Indian-print door curtain with a beaded one and her futon with a brass daybed she’d bought from an old witch she’d met at the Farmington midsummer festival who was retiring and moving to Florida.

Zee hadn’t been in Ann’s private room in years. Looking around, she thought it seemed more brothel than witch’s lair.

“Too McCabe and Mrs. Miller?” Ann asked.

“No, I like it,” Zee said, heading straight for the bed and sitting cross-legged as if they were about to do Transcendental Meditation, as they had in the old days when her mother brought her along. Zee had been the most devout little student, keeping her eyes closed and holding the lotus position for longer than anyone else and with such an expression of sheer determination that Ann and Maureen couldn’t help but laugh.

Ann had made sandwiches with sprouts and early tomatoes on the multigrain bread she bought at A & J King. “Thank the goddess for that bakery,” Ann said.

“I’ve been meaning to stop there,” Zee said. “The place right next to Cornerstone Books, right?”

“The other side of the building,” Ann said, turning on the electric kettle. “Would you like a cup of herbal tea?”

“Sprouts, herbal tea, the world has moved on, you know.”

“You’re wrong about that,” Ann said. “The world is moving backward. Yoga is back. And everyone’s vegan.”