“I'm not sure we’re going to find it here, Cole," I called.
That was when he motioned for me to join him in the red room. “Does this
look familiar to you?”
As I drew closer, I understood what he meant. “The painting looks like the
cover of the journal we saw your mother writing in.”
“Let's take the picture down and see what’s behind it,” Cole suggested.
We took ahold of opposite sides and lifted the large portrait. It was much heavier than it looked. Setting it down gently, I turned to inspect the wall. To my
dismay, there was nothing to see behind the painting, other than a square that was lighter colored than the rest of the aged wall.
Disappointed, Cole said, “Nothing there. Let's put it back up.”
We started to rehang the canvas when something caught my eye. “Wait! Put
it down,” I said. “There’s something on the back.”
Once it was back on the floor, we could clearly see a small hole in the frame.
“You're right. I think there is something here.” Cole carefully tore away the
paper backing. He pulled out a red journal and held it in the air. "We found it.
Good eyes, Mar.”
We returned the painting to its spot on the wall and settled, together, on one
of the chairs. Flipping through the pages of the journal, we found many spells.
There was even one similar to Gram's, but none seemed exactly right.
When we turned the next page, we both looked at each other.
"This is it, Mar," Cole said in a whisper.
Labhair an Fhírinne
Prepare three small white candles as follows:
1st wick: dip in the dried petals from an agrimony flower
2nd wick: dip in dragon's blood resin
3rd wick: dip in the ground spiny needles of a juniper tree
Prepare a yellow tri-wick candle by dipping each
pith into the ground acorns of the white oak.
Grind two small petals of the yellow rue and pour into liquid.
Serve this beverage to the one whose truth is in question.
Be cautious, as too much rue will reveal the truth,
but death will come to the one ingesting it.
Light the candles
Your target will Speak the Truth.
Remember everything is not always as it seems.
“I think you’re right,” I agreed.
“We have most of these ingredients already," Cole said excitedly before returning to the cabinet. He held up a large clear bottle, labeled White Oak Acorns. “We have everything we need now. Let's get this to Gram. She'll know
what is best.”
Cole continued digging through the cabinets and added more items to the
box Gram had packed. While he finished loading them, I continued to look
through the journal. When I came to a page with The Protectors written on the
