A Charming Potion (3 page)

“No you can’t!” Patience chirped, looking in the other
direction and then cleared her throat.

“What was that about?” Petunia Shrubwood walked out
of Golly Bee and gestured toward the two angry twins. “You’ve got them all up
in arms over something.”

“Oh, they are blaming me because their business is
down.” I rolled my eyes. There was no way in the world that I, June Heal, had
anything to do with the comings and goings of souls, especially the soon-to-be
dead ones. “I can’t help it if they rely on people dying to make a living.”

I glanced back at Two Sister’s and a Funeral. A dark
cloud loomed over top of it, which was very strange since it was usually sunny
in Whispering Falls. But it was autumn, and this was the first time I’ve lived
here during the fall season.

“Someone is always blaming someone,” Petunia scoffed,
and tried to adjust the twigs sticking out of her messy up-do. “I see Mr.
Prince Charming has come to visit Elroy.”

I looked into the front window of Golly Bee, and
sure enough, Mr. Prince Charming sat next to Elroy under the living tree in the
corner of the store.

“Elroy looks ready for business.” I smiled, looking
at the brown canine that was sitting tall with his blue turban perched on his
head. He was psychic in another life, according to Petunia.

“He really thinks he’s giving Mr. Prince Charming a
reading.” She nodded as we watched Elroy and Mr. Prince Charming meow and bark
back and forth as if they really were having a conversation.

Petunia had the spiritual gift of communicating with
the good souls that came back in the form of an animal. She definitely had her
way with all animals.

I snickered as the birds flew around Mr. Prince
Charming’s head and squirrels jumped from limb to limb. Yes, Petunia was in her
element.

A year ago I would have considered her crazy, and I
would never have believed animals could live in harmony. Golly Bee Pet Shop had
proven me wrong.

“Send him over when you are sick of him.” I took my
box of treats into A Charming Cure. It was getting late and I still had to get
my ingredients ready for the smudging ceremony.

“Hmm. . .” I looked down the line of spices to find
the right ingredients for Adeline’s not-so-in-love man. I grabbed a few things
and begin tossing them in the cauldron. “Oh… can’t forget the salt.”

I took a few pinches of such a basic grain, that
meant pure love, and watched the murky bubbling substance spark, creating a
puff of red smoke that hung over the pot.

With my hands held over the red orb, I began
repeating the chant over and over in my head to help finish the cure.

Roses and candlelight

Come to me, come tonight

You shall be mine till I you free

This is my will, so shall it be.

I had to repeat it three times before the cauldron
flipped off, letting me know it was finished. The clear bottle Adeline had
picked out with the red glittery swirl glowed like fire. It was ready to house
such a powerful cure.

With the bottle in one hand, I took the ladle and
filled it with the red mixture, carefully filling the glass container.

Carefully I put a small hole in the side of each
June’s Gems and injected a little of the cure in each one. Just enough to get
the point across.

“There.” I was pleased with how you couldn’t tell I
had messed with them. It would be a perfect Halloween treat for Adeline to give
her man.

Voila!

Happily ever after.

I was such a sucker for love. . .true love.

Four

The chill in the Hallows Eve
night air made all the elements come together for a perfect smudging ceremony.
The light breeze created an almost harmonious tune as it hit the leaves in the
trees.

Whoo, whoo
. The owls let
everyone know they were in the trees watching over us.

I looked around as I carefully placed all the
ingredients I had gathered for the smudging ceremony on the Gathering Rock. I
knew Oscar wasn’t going to be able make it. He never did. Besides, he had Sorcery
class tonight and he had to make sure everything was safe while the entire
community was at the ceremony. As if Whispering Falls were dangerous…it wasn’t.
But I did expect to see Mr. Prince Charming.

Even though it really didn’t surprise me any that he
would use this as a learning tool to teach me a lesson on not to interfere with
love.

Regardless, the ceremony must go on.

“Good night for a gathering.” Eloise slid up behind
me. Her emerald eyes glistened like the stars that were dotting the sky.

“Isn’t it fantastic?” I inhaled, deeply. It was
really great to see her; after all, she was my mother’s best friend. I always
felt a close connection with Eloise. She was part Dark-Sider and-Fairiwick, not
to mention she was also Oscar’s Aunt. Only Oscar was completely a Fairiwick
whose specialty was sorcery. “Have you seen Oscar lately?”

I acted as if it was no big deal that I had asked,
even though I knew she knew about Oscar and me dating secretly.

“Actually, he did stop by today.” She used her
fingertips to pick at the edges of her short red hair, her eyes looking deep
into my soul. “He told me about the little kiss and. . .”

I tried to contain my smile, but there was no way
around it.

“Please,” Madame Torres dripped with sarcasm from
the bottom of my bag. “At least you didn’t have to watch it.”

“Zip it!” I loudly whispered into the bag, giving
Madame Torres a slight reminder of her place.

“Oh, June!” Eloise’s cloak flew up behind her as she
wrapped her arms around me. “Darla would be so happy.”

Oh, no!
Everything I had
feared about starting a relationship with Oscar was about to come true.
Everyone was going to marry us off and we had
just
started dating.

“We haven’t told . . .well, anyone.” It wasn’t as if
we were trying to keep it a secret, we just didn’t have time with us working so
much. And we didn’t want to get everyone’s hopes up.

“Your secret is safe with me.” Her eyes and
shoulders lifted in approval.

“What secret?” Hili brushed her long blond hair
behind her head. Raven walked up behind her. Hili had her pen and pencil out
ready to take notes for the new local newspaper for spiritualists, or to take
notes so she could read my cards in the comfort of her new apartment that she
and Raven share above Wicked Good Cupcakes.

I brushed her off. “Everyone always wants to know
what’s in the smudging sticks,” I lied and looked away.

“This is our first smudging ceremony!” Raven seemed
to be excited to see me perform.

“Good Hallows Eve, everyone,” I kept my tone level
and quiet. “Let’s gather around the rock. The Gathering Rock. The place we have
long used as our alter of good things.”

Slowly, everyone walked into a big circle facing the
rock in the center. Mr. Prince Charming was nowhere to be seen. There was no
dancing tail in sight.

Everyone watched as I picked up the Bald Eagle and
Blue Jay feathers and tied them together.

“As in nature, I will use these two feathers to help
spread the uplifting smoke from the ceremony to cleanse, protect, and continue
growth in Whispering Falls.” I held the feathers above my head, and then
proceeded to break the Larrea Tridentata into bits and pieces, along with the
Desert Mistletoe. Using natural hemp string, I tied the bundle together and
laid it on the Gathering Rock, our alter. “Here is a Rose Quartz stone,” I
walked around showing everyone the beautiful pink stone, “The Rose Quartz opens
up the fourth Chakra, the heart. I will set it on our alter to help with
healing so we can continue to move forward in our village.”

The nods and smiles let me continue.

“This is my green stone,” I held it between my
fingers in the air, “meaning balance and growth renewal as we move into the
Orange Moon Phase of our village.”

Until reading the village manual, I had no idea that
spiritualist’s community calendars run Orange Moon to Orange Moon, meaning
Halloween Eve to Halloween Eve.

The world views Halloween as a time for children to
dress up and get candy. Whispering Falls comes together to celebrate our
heritage, which was a perfect time for a smudging ceremony.

Carefully I lit the bundle and laid it back on the
rock. Picking up the feathers, I fanned the smoke that was beginning to rise.

“Give thanks to the Universe,” I called into the
night air, “Take slow deep breaths as the smoke comes near you. Smell the clean
fresh scent all the way to your core.”

Slowly I walk around the use the feathers to circle
the smoke around the bodies of everyone gathered there.

Before putting the bundle back on the Gathering
rock, I circled the smoke around each of my limbs thinking of Oscar and cleansing
his spirit. Opening my eyes, I saw him standing beyond the smoke, outside the
circle, with a smile on his face. Our eyes met. He knew I was thinking of him.

“Everyone have a seat and let the bundle burn out,
with all your  cares being released.” Everyone took a seat as we waited for the
smoke to clear, focusing on each of our needs and growth for the upcoming year.

Caw, Caw
. A Bald Eagle
swooped down into the smoke, gathering it on its wings, and then carried it
across Whispering Falls, taking everyone’s cares away.

I glanced over to where I had seen Oscar, but he was
gone.

Five

Bang, bang.

“Madame Torres, go to bed.” I rolled over and
automatically pushed the globe clear to the other side of my bedside table.

Bang, bang, bang!

“It’s not me.” Madame Torres red glow lit up the
black room…red like lava. She was pissed. “You know I have to get my beauty
rest!”

Bang, bang, bang!

I grabbed the cell and quickly dialed Oscar.
“Oscar,” I whispered into the phone when I heard him click the ‘on’ button
before he even acknowledged me,” someone is beating down my door and trying to
break in.”

“June, it’s me. I’m at your door.”

Silence.

“There isn’t an open bedroom window to crawl through
like I did when we were kids.” He laughed, reminding me how many times I woke
up with him hanging out in my room while I slept. Creepy, right? But not
really. We were best friends with weird family lives. “I knocked and called,
but you must have been fast asleep.”

“Oh.” I pulled the phone away from my ear and
noticed there was a
missed call
notification.

“Were you having a dream again?” He asked, referring
to my nightmares that had a tendency to come true in some form or another.

“No.” I bit my lip trying to remember if I was
having a dream or nightmare before the banging.

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Are you going to let me in or not?” He asked. “I
have to talk to you right now.”

There was desperation in his voice; the same tone he
used when he told me I was the number one murder suspect in a spiritualist’s
death. Not a good tone.

“Oh, yeah.” I hung up the phone, grabbed the
sweatshirt off the chair in my bedroom and put it on.

I ran my hands through my short black bob, and
fluffed my bangs, hoping that I looked somewhat attractive.

Funny, I’ve never had to think this way before when
he would come over. Before we were trying to be a couple.

“Please. . .” Sarcasm dripped from Madame Torres.
“Am I going to have to watch this?”

“Go to bed!” I shut the bedroom door behind me, and
padded down the hall. Oscar’s shadowy figure was coming through the door by the
light of the orange moon.

I glanced over at the clock on the wall, just as Mr.
Prince Charming ran past me to the door.

“Midnight!” A giddy joy filled my soul. It was
finally Halloween. The most celebrated day in Whispering Falls. I swung the
door open, and flung my arms around Oscar’s neck. “Happy Halloween!”

When we first moved to Whispering Falls, we had no
idea there was a spiritualist bone in our body. We thought they wanted us
because I made such amazing natural homeopathic cures and he was a great cop.
We always knew that we really didn’t fit in with the kids that we grew up with,
and we accepted that.

Whispering Falls felt like we were coming home.
Everything we learn here, we learn with excitement.

Mr. Prince Charming darted out the door past Oscar.
I watched his tail dance down the hill and disappear into the village over
Oscar’s shoulder. There was a pit in my stomach that told me to go after him,
but I didn’t, which left me wondering if I should listen to my intuition.

Nah
. It felt much better here in
Oscar’s arms than it would to run down a field into a dark town after midnight
after a cat.