EPISODE 6: THE ANCESTOR ## CHAPTER 1: THE CALLING The dreams started on the night of the winter solstice. Penny found herself walking through corridors that weren't quite Thistledown House—similar in layout, but older, more primitive, lit by candles rather than enchanted lamps. The wallpaper was different. The paintings were different. But the feeling was the same. Home. At the end of the longest corridor, a door stood open, light spilling through like honey. She walked toward it. Inside, a woman sat by a fireplace, silver hair bound in a simple braid, wearing clothing from another century. She looked up as Penny entered, and smiled with a face that Penny recognized. The stubborn chin. The gray-green eyes. The slight build. Thornwood features. "You finally heard me," the woman said. "I've been calling for weeks." "Who are you?" "Penelope Thornwood. The first Penelope. Your great-great-great-grandmother. And I have things to teach you, child." --- ## CHAPTER 2: THE HISTORY Penny woke with the taste of wood smoke on her tongue and the memory of that voice ringing in her ears. "The ancestor dreams have started," Silas said when she told him. He didn't sound surprised. "I wondered when they would." "You knew this would happen?" "I knew it was possible. Thornwood witches connect with their lineage—it's how the tradition passes...