Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Witches’ Cliff


Modern day Wiccans exist. Many people still practice the ancient religion.  In researching Wiccan practices for my novella, Witches’ Cliff, I learned a lot of things I didn’t know before like the use of crystals or minerals in their practices.  Wiccan Gerald Gardner’s Book of Shadows was used in the television show Charmed and is still used today.  Penny finds that original book in Barrett’s Books and Antiquities and is treated poorly after picking it up and carrying it to the front.  It fell from the top of a seldom used bookcase, but the proprietor acted like she was trying to steal it. That was when Penny realized this quaint little town held a lot of secrets it didn’t intend to give up.
            Originally traveling to the Vermont Deerbourne Inn for a weekend get-away from her home in Salem, Massachusetts, Penney encountered people and things she hadn’t planned on. An old woman kept appearing and disappearing telling her to go home.  She never went looking for Liam, the attractive electrician at the inn, or another witch.  But they found her.  It was Halloween and she wanted to contact her ten-times great-grandmother to ask her opinion on a marriage proposal back home.  She got more than she bargained for.
            The village had a dreadful past they didn’t talk about in town. About the same time as the Salem Witch Trials, Willow Springs, Vermont had their own trials.  But instead of burning the witches at the stake, they threw them from the cliffs to their deaths below.  Later the bones of the witches were gathered to make a monument to the ones who went before.  An arch was formed at the entrance to the cliffs as a reminder of those dark days and they could be a help or a hinderance to all who climbed the trail to the top of the cliff.
            Penny came to contact her ancestor on Halloween, the most powerful time of the year for a witch.  But would her grandmother help or hinder Penny in her quest for answers? 
            Check out Witches’ Cliff and leave me a review.  It is only one of the many novellas about the Deerbourne Inn located in the quaint Vermont countryside.  The inn has many stories to tell.         


Peggy Chambers

Witches' Cliff Available on Amazon
and other online retailers

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