BELLA KNELT ON THE cold ground and started pulling things from her large, canvas bag.
Edric watched her move in a clockwise circle around the space, clearing away small sticks and other debris. Then he helped her spread a large, orange tablecloth on the cleared ground in front of the headstone. Next, she pulled a long, black chord from the bag and laid the end of it on the ground, spreading it in a circle that enclosed the cloth and the headstone. She left the two ends separated.
“Tell me what you’re doing?”
She pulled and arranged the chord to make a better circle and then stepped over it to return to her bag. “The cloth is my altar, and the chord encloses my circle. I’m leaving it open until I start my ritual.”
Pulling several black candles and a white one out of the bag, she settled
