W

hen I next saw Betsy, I informed her of this strange fight. She said she found it hard to believe, and asked me if I was absolutely sure it was a cobra and a mongoose. When I replied in the affirmative she shuddered and said she hoped we would not see them again.

Mrs. Corning's diary mentions the event only in passing: "Oliver witnessed the cobra-mongoose fight." However she wrote many extraordinary passages concerning a person she referred to as "Serpens Regina Abyssum" which is Latin for "Serpent-Queen of Hell."

December 12, 1813
And so I have finally discovered the source of my unease. The depression I had felt since Randall's passing had lifted slightly and I was able to leave the house now and then. And so it happened I was walking down a lane when I began to feel a sense of dread and dark powers. And she must have sensed my presence as well for when I was near her home (as I discovered it was later), I saw her walking towards me. How could I not have known she was here, in my own neighborhood? I later discovered the answer - she had been on the Continent for a few years, traveling with her husband. What bad fortune to move to this place where she dwells.

And so she knew me for Wicca and as she approached she said: "Hail, Elizabeth of Tredyffrin will you join us on the left-hand path?"
Rather than answer her, I held my talisman and whispered the chant of the Revelation. And immediately I knew - this was no average practisioner of the black arts, but the Serpens Regina Abyssum. I held my tongue and simply said: "I am a long-time accolyte of the right-hand path, sister. Let us part in peace."
A look of hatred crossed her face, but she said nothing and did not attempt to hinder my departure. But I felt her eyes of ice boring into the back of my head as I went. I felt fortunate to make it home sans incident, and it was many a day until I ventured forth again.

(to be continued...)