The Llyfr Sillafu

Ottilia was about to reach for the book she had already read from, but found her hand grasping another one. This one ... it seemed familiar, for some reason. Unlike the rest she saw, it was written in English, though more like Old English. But still ... it was something she could read.

And the moment she took it out of her husband's closet in his study, her mind had cleared. That voice that was urging her to come back here seemed to be gone and ... what were those memories she was experiencing on the way here? Her husband going to a distant village? The sound of hooves and grinding of wheels? It was like she was recalling the memory of someone from the past, the long past. But how was that possible? And whose memory was she even recalling?

Yes, Steven had been called away, but it was to the town of Olde Mill, two counties over. He was visiting a friend, a fellow pastor. And he didn't use a horse and buggie to get there. He simply used their sedan.

Shaking her head, and feeling the unfamiliar, though pleasant feel of her new longer tightly curled hair swishing back and forth, she refocused her attention on the book in her hands.

"Llyfr Sillafu" was the title. She blinked. Wait, wasn't that in English just a moment ago? But ... no, it wasn't English. It was Welsh. How did she know that? She didn't know anything about the Welsh. She opened the book and looked through the pages, seeing the same thing inside. It was all written in Welsh, not English. But ... somehow, when she focused on the words, she could somehow understand them. What was happening? How could she suddenly read something that was normally unreadable to her?

Little did she know, she had been recalling the memories of one of her ancestors, a woman married to a priest back in the early 1800's, but a woman who had been secretly a witch. This witch, of Welsh origin, not only could read Welsh, but was also the owner of this book. Which was why the book had seemed so familiar to Ottilia, even though she had never seen it before. Having a witch for an ancestor also explained why she was one of the first residents of Nelson's Ridge to be so easily affected by Agatha's spell. Eventually, hopefully (as Agatha wanted it), all of Nelson's Ridge would be full of witches, but having had a witch for an ancestor, Ottilia would be one of the most powerful one of them all, maybe even as powerful as Agatha herself.

Realizing it was best not to be in her husband's study, even though he probably wouldn't be back until later in the day, Ottilia headed back to the bedroom and closed the door, the "Book of Spells" (as the book was called, in English) held tightly in her hand.