“These will keep us from harm if devils appear. Remember that angels are stronger and their love higher than the others’ malice.” I cannot say I found this comforting. That I might see devils terrified me and Frankie too, judging by the set of her mouth.

“Bugs, witches, fairies, ghosts, imps, puckrils, goblins … they will not bother us, even devils will be thwarted. We will tell the angels our hopes but they will only be realized if godly.”

Forman pulled away a carpet, under which was drawn a circle and within it a star.

“Witch marks?” I said, close to calling the whole enterprise to a halt.

Forman tutted. “Witches use them perhaps,” he conceded, “but they are ancient symbols used by great magi.” In the middle he placed a great metal bowl and lit pebbles from which issued smoke and sweet smells. Our priests never risked burning incense in London, there were too many Catholic-hating noses in proximity, but I knew what this substance must be. He took Frankie’s hand and led her to one point of the star, within the circle, and half-dragged me to the opposite. Forman put on a black cloak that covered him except for his head and arms and blew out all but one candle.

“When spirits and angels come, they do not like to be clearly known. Do not step beyond the circle; it protects you,” he said. My eyes watered in the smoke, its dryness caught my throat. Frankie coughed. Among the shadows, I thought I saw movement.

Then he threw something into the bowl, which hissed loudly, and the room around us filled with pungent vapors. Forman began to chant and call in a strange voice and it took all my strength not to run to Frankie in my fear. She resembled a phantom in the pale smoke. Her head was tilted back, I suppose to watch the angels descend, and her curiosity and stillness calmed me.

I began to feel the effects of Forman’s magic. The walls of the room moved in and out, the ceiling rose and fell, like bread proofing. The creatures in the jars began to dance and sing, and then, on a cloud of smoke, I saw Forman fly into the air. With my own eyes I saw it. His arms outstretched, he talked in a foreign tongue, at times listening and nodding eagerly. I looked to Frankie, rising like a lark; and when she stared at me in wonder, I knew that I too was floating.