A Charming Cure (5 page)

“Hey,
Gerald.” I tossed the keys to my green El Camino in the air. “Since you love my
green machine so much, would you mind starting her up a couple times while I’m
gone?”

“Does
that include a couple times around the block?” His eyes were filled with
delight, just like the customers who tasted his amazing tea.

“Absolutely.”
I nodded. “Even a trip to Locust Grove to pick up some of those great cupcakes
too, if you like.”

I
tossed the keys in the air and he caught them, slipping them into his pocket.

“I
need to get back to my customers.” He waved and was off to help the next in
line.

Something
was brewing. I felt it deep in my bones. I looked up at my little cottage on
the hill that overlooked all of Whispering Falls. There was a dark cloud
hovering over it like a bomb was about to drop at any time.

Chapter Four

Four
o’clock a.m., the alarm gonged and I smacked the snooze button, rolling over
toward Mr. Prince Charming. He didn’t bother to lift his head or purr when I
touched him. We never get up this early. But, we never went to Intuition School
either.

Last
night, after Belle and I had our little informative session with Gerald, I went
back to A Charming Cure to make sure everything was ready to go. My, the gossip
spread.

Most
of the village population trickled in and out of shop to get the 411 on why
Helena had come to town. According to all of them, Helena never showed up
unless there was a big problem. Most of them were happy to hear that I was
going to school and maybe be the President of the village when Izzy retires,
which made me happy since I had no idea what I was doing.

Use
your intuition.
Is
all that Darla had written in the journal she had left behind? I reached over
and turned the alarm off, briefly touching the green leather-bound journal of
my mother’s last words.

Darla
never kept any keepsakes. She said that the memories I needed to keep were the
ones in my head.

When
my father was murdered, my mother left the village in order to keep me safe and
tried to live a normal life. I was little, and slowly a few memories were
coming back to me. Somehow she knew I would find my way back to my roots,
because she left the journal in the shop. She wrote about her time in
Whispering Falls and a few tips of advice for me. Granted it was motherly
advice, nothing spiritual or psychic because she wasn’t. But, she did let me
know who I could and couldn’t trust within the village.

The
globe next to the journal was completely black. I braced myself for what was
going to happen when I tapped it. If four a.m. was too early for me, it was
certainly too early for Madame Torres.

“Here
goes nothing,” I whispered loud enough for Mr. Prince Charming to open one eye.

Tap,
tap, tap.
Pulling back away from the globe, I raised the sheet over half my face. Nothing
happened.

Knock,
knock, knock!
My knuckles rapped on the glass. A bright orange glow immediately lit up the
room.

Madame
Torres’ red hair was sticking up all over the place. Her eyes darted between
mine with the look of death. “June! It’s too early to seek anyone!” My sassy crystal
ball yelled back at me.

“Shh!”
I pulled the covers over my head. I knew she was going to be mad. “I know I
should’ve told you last night about having to get up early, but I didn’t feel
like dealing with you when I got home.”

Who
knew crystal balls could talk? I certainly had never dealt with a crystal ball,
much less a snarky one.

“Do
you know its four o’clock
in the morning
?” Madame Torres’ tried to tame
her hair by putting her turban on her head. I tried not to smile at the
cock-eyed hat, but it was hard not to. “What? Just because I’m supposed to be
at your beck and call, doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

It
was true. Madame Torres’ crystal ball was meant for me. The story was that
every crystal ball has an owner, but it might take years for them to find each
other. I had no clue I was looking for a crystal ball when I stepped foot in
Izzy’s shop, Mystic Lights, my first day in Whispering Falls.

Madame
Torres told me I was in trouble and knew things I didn’t even know. According
to the law, Madame Torres was my crystal ball and now I’m stuck with the small
round glass ball with attitude.

“You’d
better get ready.” I had no clue how long it took her to get ready. Some days
she was all dolled up and other days I’d wake her up from a slumber and I’d never
wish my worst enemy to deal with her. “We are starting Intuition School today.”

The
globe went black.

Tap,
tap, tap.

The
globe was black with gold stars floating all around.

“Funny,
Madame Torres. I know it’s night time, but we have to do this.” I hated to pull
out the big guns, but she left me with no choice. “Did you know that I’m the
Dean’s niece?”

“Of
course I knew, but I wasn’t going to tell you.” Her voice broke out into a
yawn. “That means you can be late to Intuition School. Good night!”

The
globe went black again.

I
threw back the covers. Mr. Prince Charming still didn’t move.

“Were
you on the crystal ball clearance table?” I muttered. Who was in charge here? I
certainly wasn’t.

I
grabbed the crystal ball and made my way to the kitchen.

“Whoa!”
Madame Torres was wide awake now. Not looking good, but awake. “You know I get
sea-sick when you roll me around like that without warning me.”

The
red light on the coffee pot lit up when I pushed it, letting me know that my
hot cup of energy was coming up. The fireflies darting outside my window caught
my attention. I didn’t have time to tell Eloise, a Fairiwick who lived on the
outskirts of Whispering Falls and Darla’s best friend, that I was going away to
school. I knew the fireflies would let her know.

The
fireflies loved to gossip or spy on people. Besides, it was
only
four
days. I’m sure no one would even realize I was gone.

“I
don’t like a back-talking crystal ball. You are going to go to Intuition School
whether you like it or not.” The coffee smelled good as it percolated. I held
the ball up to the window so Madame Torres could see them playing around.

“Ah,
to be young again and be able to sleep
all day
.” The globe went black.

I
chuckled. She was right. The fireflies were the teenagers in the village. Just
like the pubescent humans, they roam and play all night and then sleep all day.
I set Madame Torres down by the coffee pot to leave her with the fresh,
awakening smell while I jumped in the shower.

With
a quick wash and rinse, I hopped out when I heard my cell ringing. Intuition
School better not be cancelled or I’m going to be one mad homeopathic cure
maker.

“Hello?”
I noticed it was Oscar. What in the world was he doing up so early? “Oscar, is
everything okay?”

“It
sure is.” I could hear his smile through the phone. It wasn’t unusual for me to
wake up in the middle of the night when we were teenagers to find Oscar
crawling through my bedroom window. We really thought we were being rebellious,
but all we would do is go hide under his big Oak tree and eat Ding Dongs until
he was sick. I could eat a million and never get sick.

“I
wanted to wish you luck at Intuition School today.”

“Listen,
I’m doing my time and coming back to live my life.” I toweled off and wrapped
my robe around me. Even though I gave Helena a hard time about classes, I was a
tad-bit excited to find out exactly what I was capable of doing with my “gift”.
“I will report back and won’t leave out any details.”

Since
I had agreed to do the fast couple of day course, I had to stay on campus and
Oscar was going to look after my cottage and shop.

It
hadn’t been long since I moved here, but the cottage feels more like home than
the Cape Cod I owned in Locust Grove. Granted, my parents owned the cottage
when they lived in Whispering Falls, so I was sure somewhere deep in my soul
the comfort of knowing that was there. It was good to find out that they
stilled owned it, just in case I did come back. They were right.

The
little family room had all the comforts of home. The natural wood crown-molding
accented the vibrant orange fabric on the chairs and couches. There were two
bedrooms, of which I only use one. I thought about putting Mr. Prince Charming
in one, but he’s my fairy god-cat and he needs to be next to me like he has
been for the last fifteen years.

“Wake
up sleepy head,” I called over to the lazy feline. He was going to Intuition
School too. There was no way I was going to leave him behind.

Mewwwl,
mewl
.
His mouth gaped open into a wide yawn exposing all his pointy teeth, his back
arched with his front paws stretched way out in front of him. He did a couple
quick circles and lay by down.

“Don’t
get too comfortable.” The clasp on my charm bracelet took a little longer than
normal to clip. I guess my eyes really weren’t adjusted to the time. “You are
going with me and not leaving my side. And I’m not talking about the bracelet.”

I
played with my charm bracelet. Bella said Mr. Prince Charming had picked out
protective charms. There was no better time like the present to be protected.
Going to school made me nervous and uneasy. And my intuition told me stay on
alert, even though it was
only
four days.

With
suitcase in hand, charm bracelet clasped around my wrist, Mr. Prince Charming
by my side, and Madame Torres neatly tucked in my purse along with my Ding
Dong, we were off to school. Something I never thought I would do.

The
early morning air was brisk. The fog hung just above the tree line as we
entered the forest behind my cottage. Using my intuition and Mr. Prince
Charming’s lead, I knew we were on the right track to Hidden Hall A Spiritual
University.

We
passed the big rock where all the smudging ceremonies in the village take
place. A rock I know very well since I’m the master of ceremonies with my
homeopathic skills. As a community, we celebrate everything around the rock.

The
last celebration was to welcome all spiritualists to the village. I held a
smudging ceremony to clear the way from any negative juju from the past rules.
We had a small parade through town and tea at Gathering Grove. Chandra Shango
did free pedicures and manicures.

I
love the little cauldron she painted on my thumb.

Looking
back, I gazed over Whispering Falls through a small clearing. My heart swelled.
I had never really felt at home until I moved here.

“Come
on,” I sighed and coaxed Mr. Prince Charming along, even though I knew we
really wanted to be back in bed and then go open the shop for the day. I
continued to repeat the motto I was going to adapt while I was gone, “It’s only
four days. What can happen in four days?”

We
came to a sign in the middle of a wheat field. I had never ventured this far
out of the Whispering Falls village. The sign had several long wooden arms,
each with a finger pointing in a different direction. I set my luggage down
next to me and shook my hands out. It was a little heavier than I was use to
carrying.

Meow,
meow.
Mr. Prince Charming planted his butt next to the suitcase.

“Listen,
I didn’t know what type of shoes I needed to bring.” I rolled my eyes. Who in
the world needed a testy fairy god-cat? “A girl can never have too many shoes.”

“Eye
of Newt Crystal Ball School, Tickle Palm School, Intuition School. Oh!
Intuition School must be that way.”

The
problem was, the sign pointed in the direction of a big empty wheat field. And
there was no way I was going to walk through that! Especially with my new
heels.

I
looked down at my new grey jumpsuit. It had been sitting in the closet waiting
for the perfect opportunity to be worn. It didn’t make me look like a teenager,
and it didn’t make me look like an old lady. It was perfect; comfortable and
cute, especially if I was going to be sitting in the classroom all day long.

But
the heels were a different story. I wasn’t use to wearing anything other than
my flip flops or tennies, but I couldn’t resist the little added hot pink color
that went well with grey.

“Hmm.
. .” I did a 360-degree turnaround, wondering where this Hidden Hall A
Spiritualist University was.

Mewl,
mewl.
Mr. Prince Charming did a complete circle eight, stopped, looked up at the sign,
and back at me.

“Do
you know where we are supposed to go?” Talking to him like he really did know
made me feel stupid, but he was my fairy-god cat, so maybe it wasn’t so dumb.

His
tail shot up and did a double pump in the air like he was pointing to the sign.

“Yep,
it says that way.” I tapped the arrow on the sign and, as if magic, a pathway
appeared across the wheat field.