Gone With the Witch (34 page)

Storm's cell phone rang. It was King's lawyer, the one handling his custody battle for Reggie.

Storm went outside to talk to him, grateful that Reggie had called the man on her behalf. He gave her some good advice.

"Are we ready to go?" Storm asked going back inside. "
Marvelanne, that
was my lawyer. You have to write and sign a letter saying that I'm taking Pepper with your permission.
To protect me from kidnapping charges."

"Or else?"
Marvelanne crossed her arms in satisfaction.
For an extortionist, she was no poker player.

"Or else?"
Storm repeated, using her cell phone to snap a picture of the assorted support checks.

"Okay, okay."

Marvelanne made a grab for Storm's cell, but she
shoved it in her pocket. "Write the note."

Marvelanne did, and signed it, a cigarette dangling from
her mouth the whole time. "I sure hope Harmony's rich husband can afford this kid"

Okay, so she was gonna hit King up for money later.
They'd cross that bridge ... later. Permanent custody,
however, they would deal with sooner than later.

"Okay, Pepper. Let's go home."

"Yay!"
Pepper Snoopy-danced her way out the door, not
even saying good-bye to Marvelanne.
When she stopped
and ran back inside, Storm watched, but all Pepper did was
grab her stuffed dog.
"Almost forgot Freckles!" At the car door, she looked earnestly up at Storm. "She's gonna ask for money at some point. You know that, right?"

"I figured."

"I thought you should know."

"Our castle-owning brother-in-law has some great
lawyers
. '
I think we'll be okay."

"Yes!" Pepper cheered as if the Sox had won the World
Series again.

"You sure you don't want to run back in and say goodbye to your mother?" Storm asked Pepper.

"That's a joke, right?"

They packed the car together and got on the road.

For a few minutes, Pepper sang, "I Gotta Go My Own Way," and suddenly she stopped and turned Storm's way. "Are you the boss of me?"

"Absolutely.
Buckle
up."

"Are Harmony and Destiny the bosses of me, too?”

“
Absolutely."

"Who gets final say in the event of a disagreement or
a ... three-way split?"

"Vickie?"

"My halfish sister?
Okay. She could be
impartial."
More thoughtful silence as they left slums, casinos, and board game street signs behind.

"Storm?
Where's home?"

"I didn't tell you?
Salem,
Massachusetts
. Ever heard of it?"

"Sure
. '
I love to read about
Salem. Are there really
witches there?"

Uh-oh.
"Yeah, there are. Does that bother you?”

“You wanna know the truth?"

"Always"

Storm watched Pepper brace herself for a reprimand. "I
kinda like to read books about witchcraft, and I try spells
in
secret."

Oh yeah, she was their sister. "It can be dangerous to practice magick, if you don't know what you're doing,"
Storm said, "and did you know that whatever you send out
into the universe comes back to you times three, good or bad? We'll teach you to do it right so you don't get hurt, okay?"

"We?"

"My sisters and
I. 'I should have told you up-front, I
guess, but it's like announcing your religion, which nobody
thinks to do. I'm a witch. We all are. And we're psychic, too"

"Gnarly! I think I might be psychic, too."

"Destiny's mother thinks you might be. Is Pepper your real name?"

"Afraid so"

"Did Destiny's mother ever say why?"

"Sure. She said that when she held me for the first time, she knew I was going to spoil the taste of life forever.”

“
She's—" Storm clamped her mouth shut.

"Yeah," Pepper said, "she sure is. Throw a little water on her and watch her melt. Her name is
not
Glinda."

Chapter Forty-eight

WATCHING Pepper in the passenger seat, out of the cor
ner of her eye, Storm could practically see her unclench
ing and becoming a little girl again. Storm only hoped that
she could live up to this new sister's expectations

Pepper looked at her as if she could sense her insecurity.
"Where's that great-looking
guy
you had with you the last time you came to
Atlantic City?"

"We broke
up "

"Too bad
. '
I thought you'd keep him around for a while. Great eye candy"

"We have to turn you back into an eleven-year-old,"
Storm said, "and I know exactly where to start.”

“
Where?"

"For tonight, we'll stay in a hotel, order room se
rv
ice, and watch a movie of your choice ... not porn. And tomorrow morning, I'll treat you to a birthday surp
ri
se at a destination of my choice."

Storm couldn't afford a suite like Aiden, but they found
a nice hotel with a room se
rv
ice menu to satisfy their junk food palates. Pepper chose to watch
Practical Magic, a

favorite
of Storm's, too, and when the midnight margaritas
song came on, they got up to dance.

The following morning, on the way to her surp
ri
se, Pep
per looked a little down, and it broke Storm's heart. "Do you miss her, Pepper?"

"Nah, 'I just wish she'd miss me. I can feel how happy she is now that I'm gone."

Storm put a hand on Pepper's arm and squeezed. "Be happy. It's your birthday!"

They got to the elephant poop carnival by eleven. Winkie
the Clown recognized her and Warlock, on his leash, right away, and came over to say hello. Winkie didn't mention their first meeting.

Pepper was impressed, and Storm was grateful.

"I love the music at carnivals," Pepper said. "I used to hang out around the rides in
Atlantic City just to hear the music."

First thing they did was get their faces painted. Storm
got a cat face, and Pepper became a Dalmatian puppy,
spots and all, some of which came off as she ate corn dogs,
pizza, cotton candy, and funnel cakes, two of them.

"You're gonna turn into a funnel cake," Storm said.

"Can we go on every ride?"

That was the real reason Storm hadn't taken her to a gigundous amusement park. She'd hate for Pepper see her throw up on a roller coaster. Besides, this place had called to her as much now, maybe more, as when it was an open
field. Now happy family vibes marched beside some amaz
ingly warm and erotic memories.
Boy,
did it.

She'd been blissfully, ignorantly happy that day. She must be nuts to have come back, and yet this is where her heart had led her.

As if to prove her point, she heard a little one c
ry
,
a
frightened, "I'm scared," that came with the scent of candy
apples. "Let's go find the candy apple stand," Storm said.

"Yes!" Pepper did a mini cheer, but thankfully, the word
extortion
was not mentioned. "I never had a candy apple.
Gotta try
one."

"Of course you do. Remind me to buy you a barf bag for the d
ri
ve home."

Pepper stopped when Storm got on all fours beside the stand. "Storm, you're embarrassing me"

"And it's gonna get worse. Get down here and crawl through this small space. I don't fit"

Pepper looked at her as if she'd sprouted a second head.
"Did I leave one fruitcake behind to go home with an
other?"

"Kinda, but I think there's a little boy stuck back there. He needs to be led out."

"You just
know
this, right?" Pepper said. "Like I
knew
you belonged to me the minute I met you?"

"Did you?" Storm's heart expanded. "Yes, sweetheart, that's how I know."

"Okay" Pepper crawled through a tiny space between a
generator and the side of the candy apple booth until Storm
lost sight of her.

"Is he in there?" she called.

"I don't—oh, yeah, he's really little and he's afraid of
me, Sis."

Fine time for Pepper to claim kinship, when she couldn't
hug her.
"Will he let you take him back through the crawl space?"

"No. He keeps moving away from me, shaking his
head"

Probably around two,
Storm thought. "Stay with him."

Storm asked the owner of the candy apple stand to make
an announcement that they'd found a little boy by the
stand, which he did. She tried to buy a large lollypop for bait and he waved away her money. Back on all fours—though she'd attracted a crowd—Storm reached into the space with the lollypop. "Pepper, take this and see if you can lure him out with it."

"I don't have to," Pepper said.
"You're
luring him out with it."

"Okay." Storm wiggled the pop as she drew her arm
back slowly, until she saw the blond toddler crawling

through
the space on his knees. When she could reach him,
she gave him the lollypop, and while he got busy trying to
unwrap it, Storm pulled him the rest of the way out. Pepper
came out two seconds later, in time to get her share of the applause.

A man
came
breaking through the crowd and whisked
the little boy out of her arms. "Jeffrey! Thank God," he
said, hugging the boy, whose only interest was the lollypop. "How can I thank you?" he asked Storm.

"Thank my sister. I didn't fit in the space Jeffrey had crawled into. Hello, Jeffrey."

The stand owner came around and blocked the danger
ous opening and gave her and Pepper their choice of candy
apples. Pepper chose a chocolate-and-caramel-covered apple, and Storm wondered where she was going to put it.

As the crowd dissipated, Winkie high-fived her.

"That was cool," Pepper said. "You're like Super Psychic."

She was more like superstupid, because now she heard
another baby crying, except that it sounded like Becky,
with baby powder, apricot scents, and all, and suddenly she
was looking for Aiden around every corner. Wow, she had
it bad. Did people wither away and die from the disappointment of terminally hopeless lovesickness?

As they walked, Pepper bounced around, eating her
candy apple, recounting her own psychic experiences, and
they were significant.
"This is my best birthday ever. Well,
it's the first I've ever celebrated. Let's go on the Ferris
wheel. I've never been on one. It looks scary."