An Account by Kent Blackburn

I saw a circle of stones in the forest.

I stopped, putting out my arm to stop my companion as well. While I stared at the forest floor, she danced around my arm.

"Stop that," I told her sternly.

Cordelia stopped, the tips of her pointed shoes a near inch from the circle of stones. Her skirts swished with movement, as if they wanted her to continue forward.

"Do not step into the circle," I warned her.

Her dark eyes peered at me from beneath her veil. "And why would that be, Mr. Blackburn?"

I rolled my eyes and tapped my fingers on my cane. "Cordelia," I chastised lightly. She never did abide by my instructions, one of which was that there was no need to address me as 'Mr.', for I found formalities quite tiresome.

I stared deeply into the circle of stones, pondering the meaning of their appearance here, of all places. Bird calls echoed from deeper in the trees.

"The time, Miss Green?" I said abruptly, noting that the forest had gone quite silent.

Cordelia sighed and took her timepiece out of her skirt pocket. With one gloved hand she lifted her veil, and with the other rose the timepiece to her eyes. "Just a hair past eleven, sir," she said, tapping the face.

I stood motionless save for the tightening of my lips and the slightest crease of my brow. "Indeed, indeed. Strange, isn't it?" I adjusted my top hat and looked over at my companion then, the smallest of smiles on my face.

Cordelia raised a brow in return, then swept her eyes to the stone circle. "So it is what I believe it to be?" I did not miss the gleam in her eye.

I chuckled then, and lifted my cane. "Yes, Miss Green. A conjuring circle."