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meat pies, and roasting pork, beef, mutton, or wild game. The family’s fields kept them rich in vegetables, and their cows provided milk and butter. Margaret loved her kitchen. She enjoyed cooking for her family, tending the small indoor herb garden, spinning thread and weaving cloth with her daughters next to the warmth of the fire, and teaching her children the sacred knowledge of their ancestors.
    It would be another year before she could give Phip instruction — he was still too young to be trusted to silence — but Bridget and Priscilla were already apt students.
    Knowledge of herbs was an ongoing lesson with the girls, but that morning Margaret chose to teach them about magical protection. It seemed a dangerous time to be without protection.
    William, Phip, and Catch were out plowing the fields for the spring planting, and the women were alone. Bridget and Priscilla sat at the kitchen table while Margaret drew curtains over the windows to shut out the light of day. She lit a tallow candle and placed it on the table, then removed a tiny box of deadly nightshade from behind a loose brick in the chimney. She took two dried berries from the box and ground them with her mortar and pestle to a fine powder. After mixing the powder with a cup of hard cider, Margaret administered the concoction to the girls by spoonfuls until she was convinced each had received the proper amount. Finally, she placed a few drops of scented oil — a mixture of lilac and violet — in the flame of the candle to scent the air with a pleasant aroma. All the while, she hummed an old English lullaby. Before too long, the drug took effect and the girls — their eyes darkened and their lips curved in crooked grins — visibly relaxed.
    “How do you feel?” Margaret asked.
    “I’m floating,” Bridget said.
    Priscilla giggled. “Happy.”
    “Good, because we’re going on a journey together.”
    “Where?” Priscilla asked.
    “Hush. Listen to me, and speak only if I ask you to.”
    “Yes, Mother,” Priscilla said.
    Bridget slapped the table. “She said hush .”
    Margaret grinned and waited for them to settle down. “Now, close your eyes and listen to what I have to say.”
    The girls obeyed.
    Margaret spoke slowly. “When we’re born, the gods send us into this world with the spirit of an animal to be our protector and guide. This animal is with us all our lives, even if we never see it. Most people don’t know this, but our ancestors taught us about the power we can gain if we meet our guide. Today you’re going to take a journey to find your animal. Are you ready to explore?”
    Bridget nodded, but Priscilla didn’t. Concerned, Margaret took Priscilla’s hand and felt the blood pulse at the wrist; it was strong. Relieved that she hadn’t given the child too powerful a dose of the herb, she continued.
    “I want you to see a cave. It doesn’t matter what kind of cave it is; it can be a dark, mysterious cave or a bright cave full of crystal rock and dancing light. But you must find a cave and go inside.”
    She gave them a few minutes to follow her instructions.
    “Now, inside your cave, find a hill and walk down it, and keep walking further and further down into the earth until you can go no further.”
    She paused again. She noted that both girls’ closed eyes were fluttering. That told her their journeys were proceeding well.
    “When you’ve reached the bottom, look around for an entranceway into the inner world.” She paused. “Pass through it and look for the animal waiting there to greet you.” She paused again. “Talk to it. Touch it. Hug it. Ask its name.”
    Margaret gave them time to befriend their animals before calling them back home.
    Margaret’s voice brought Bridget around, but she had to shake Priscilla awake; she wanted them to revive quickly and remember.
    “It was an owl, Mother,” Bridget said, her voice sleepy. “A beautiful owl with bright eyes and huge wings. I climbed on its back, and it took