“Rude.” I took another sip. “And you don’t need to do that. I’m not mad at Nora. I know this whole situation is upsetting for her. It’s upsetting for all of us.” I then told Izzy everything Williams had told me about the town meeting.

Izzy sat down across from me. “It’s even more important we talk, then.”

I frowned. “So, we’re having an official talk?”

“I was hoping to give you a little perspective about why Nora behaved the way she did last night,” she said, sinking back into her chair. “Now, I know your aunt comes off as this supremely confident, proud woman, and she is, for the most part, but that wasn’t always the case.”

I took another sip of my cocoa.

“I don’t know if you know this, but when we were little, Nora had a really difficult time in school.”

I pulled the mug from my lips. “Really?”

“She was painfully shy. I mean, we all knew we were different from the other children, but Nora felt it more deeply than the rest of us. And kids being kids, they picked up on that.”

“I can’t imagine Nora took that very well.”

Izzy looked down at the mug cupped in her hands. “For a long time, she just endured it. She always sat alone at lunches. She walked the yard by herself at recess. I think for a few years she never spoke a word in school at all, and no one even noticed.”

I suddenly had a mental snapshot of Nora eating her lunch at a table by herself dressed in black, a red bun perched on top of her head.

“Your mother did her best to help,” Izzy said, meeting my eye. “She was the oldest, of course, and very popular. She had a quality that drew others to her. But she was in high school by that time, so she could only do so much. Gideon and I tried to help, but we were young too. Self-involved. We should have done more.”

“Huh, somehow I thought Gideon would have been the loner.”

Izzy laughed. “Oh no, all the girls loved Gideon. They were drawn to his tragic poetic side. His fan club followed him everywhere.”

I smiled.

“Anyway, for a while there I think Nora thought about giving up her powers altogether.” She peeked up from her mug at me. “She didn’t talk about it much. But we all suspected.”

“What happened?”

“I think when it came right down to it, she decided she had to be herself.”

“Izzy, that’s not fair. I’m still me.”

My aunt held up a hand. “I’m really not drawing comparisons. This is about Nora. Anyway, in order to get through it, your aunt had to develop a thick skin. Armor, really. And a certain bravado. All that nonsense about the Warren witches being the best witches?” Izzy smiled and shook her head. “That’s part of it.”

“Wait, you mean we’re not the best witches?”

Izzy laughed. “Well, of course we are, but that doesn’t mean we should be bragging about it.” My aunt’s laughter ended with a sigh. “But in all seriousness, it was a good thing, for the most part, because it meant Nora finally had a way of engaging with others. And most people do find her fiery nature amusing.”