literal leigh 05.7 - mission impawsible (2 page)

“Stupid? Maybe. Guess what? I force my students to make those. Every damn one of them. I love it.”

“You would. Torturer. When I remember Halloween, I recall trick-or-treating around our block. You were always a witch. I was always a vampire. We’d run everywhere. Plastic pumpkins full of candy and swinging by our sides. And remember, there was always that one house… the one where they pretended not to be home, but we always saw someone peeking from behind a curtain?”

“How could I forget? One year, I stood in the driveway and waved a little plastic wand at the house, like I was hexing them. Little did I know, one day I might actually cast a spell. For real.”

“I have an idea. Maybe we should dress up and take the nieces and nephews around the block this year. Maybe throw some real magic around. Wouldn’t that be something? It’d give the kids something to brag about. We’d be the coolest auntie and uncle of all time.”

“No freaking way, Randy. The problem is the witchcraft itself. I’m not good enough. You’re not good enough. Forget it, buddy. I’d like to hone my skills first before I start doing drive-by spells, with a pack of little trick-or-treaters tagging along. I have no desire to go back to that damn Witches Court.”

“Pffft. You know what the problem is? We’re not taking any risks. We should be cracking open the old grimoire we found, trying a few spells. Practicing, like we all
said
we would do, with our Spell Club meetings. Or am I the only one committed to perfecting our craft? Can we at least give it a shot before we say no to adding a real
wow
factor to this year’s Halloween?”

“There’s no doubt trick-or-treating in the ‘burbs has been dead on its ass the last few years. I’ll agree to only looking through the spell book. That’s all I can promise, for now.”

So, that’s how everything started. That one conversation, with my visiting brother, was the catalyst for one very interesting Halloween experience. It makes for a pretty good Halloween story, too.

Chapter Two

R
andy followed me as I made my way to the bedroom. My cat, Gemma, meowed when I warily approached the antique cedar chest at the foot of my bed. It seemed to be a very cautionary meow.

“What? Is it booby-trapped?” Randy took a step back.

“No. I’m always afraid I’m going to open it and see something totally frightening.” Once I had the chest opened, I was relieved to see the black wand Ezzy gave me and my mini-broom resting harmlessly on the ancient spell book. It was safe and sound.

The other items in my cedar chest, the things I didn’t think he would notice, caught Randy’s attention. “Geez, Kel, are you trying to scar me for life? I don’t need to know that my sister is solely responsible for keeping the Energizer Bunny employed!”

“Seriously? You’re standing in my bedroom, complaining about the items I keep hidden in a chest? Besides, your toy collection is probably ten times bigger than mine, so don’t you dare act like Gertie. I may believe her innocence, but not yours. I don’t think you’ve ever been innocent.”

I plucked the magic items gingerly from the chest, like they were fragile antiques of rare blown glass, and set them on the bed. My fingers danced across the cover of the grimoire before I slowly opened the cover. Each turn of the stiff parchment pages made a crinkling sound. It seemed so old and delicate. Beautiful artwork and script adorned the pages. Unfortunately, most of it was in Latin. Still, there were enough in French and Old English to keep us busy.

“Kelly, we should take a look at some of these Latin spells. I bet we can figure them out.”

“Hold on there, Eager McBeaver. I might know a little Latin, but not enough to translate ancient spells.”

“Do like Gertie does. If she doesn’t know all of it, she just takes her best guess.”

“Are you nuts? That’s hardly the technique I was going for. No wonder Gertie’s had so many accidents.”

“All right, nix the Latin spells. What about the French ones?”

“Sure. I know enough French to read it.” I stopped when I came to the first French spell. “We really should have Esmeralda here with us. She knows what she’s doing. You should see her with a spell book and a wand. She can tap the page like this.” I touched the page with the tip of the wand. “Then she does something so when she twirls her wand, it looks like there’s a swarm of fireflies circling around the tip. It’s weird. It almost looks like she is lifting them from the page. Then she flicks her wrist. The glowing dots scatter, sort of flickering away. That’s how she casts a spell from a book.”

“Holy Shit! You mean like that?” The color ran from Randy’s face. He pointed a shaky finger at my wand, like he was pointing out the fact that a king cobra was about to strike my hand.

If my eyes could’ve opened any wider, my eyebrows would’ve been on top of my head. “Oh no. No! No, no, no. Oh shit. Please tell me those little fireflies aren’t real. We’re imagining this, right?”

My stomach cramped up at the sight. At the tip of my wand, tiny glowing lights circled around, forming a swirling ball. It was just like the kind Ezzy created. “I didn’t mean to! I just tapped a random page. I don’t even know what kind of spell it is!”

“Exactly, it could be anything. You’ve got to put it back! Hit the page again. Just put it back.”

I reacted by giving the parchment a smack with the wand. The dazzling ball of firefly-like particles smashed into the page and exploded in a violent burst. I’m not sure what we expected to happen, but needless to say, both of us ran from the room. I cuffed Randy on the back of his head. “See? That’s exactly why I don’t screw around with this stuff without supervision.”

“Kelly! I can’t believe you did that. You shouldn’t be so careless, waving your wand around, sticking it where it doesn’t belong.”

“Look who’s talking.”

“So, now what? Do you think you managed to put the spell back?”

We crept back into the room and looked at the book. I stared at Randy for a few seconds before I answered. I really didn’t know what happened. “I have no idea.” The pages were charred beyond recognition. In fact, the entire grimoire was ruined. Not one single, legible word remained. Then it hit me.

My back slumped against the wall. “Ugh.” Fright took the strength out of my legs, and I wobbled down to the floor, like a newborn calf that hasn’t figured out how to use its legs. I sat there, wallowing in the pool of despair rising up around my curled frame.

“We could have done something… something incredibly bad. I mean the really, totally, incredibly, now-we’re-completely-screwed, kind of bad.”

“We? Hold on, Kelly. There’s no ‘we’ about it, unless you’ve got a mouse in your pocket.”

“Uh, I mean ‘we’, as in me and your dumb ass. Don’t try to act like you didn’t have a part in this mess. You talked me into it and that’s enough to be involved. Listen, if the Witches Union comes down on us, they aren’t going to care
who
was holding the frickin’ wand. We’re both going down.”

My heart pounded. “Repercussions from a stupid mistake like this are guaranteed. We could’ve created a monster! Or started a nuclear war! Better say your goodbyes, brother. We’re going to have to go into hiding, if it’s even possible.”

“That’s ridiculous. How do you know? Maybe the spell went right back in the book. You splattered it all over the pages. I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Randy’s index fingers massaged his temples until an idea popped into his head. “Hey! What are we thinking? Just call Esmeralda. She’ll fix it.”

“Ezzy would be a big help, but she doesn’t have a phone. I can never reach her, she usually just shows up. As far as the spell goes, we have no idea, and we won’t know for sure until we hear if something crazy happens.”

We both thought quietly, hoping to come up with a plan. “I’ve got a plan. Listen, Randy, we have to do this. Go back to the Plantation, ask Gertie if she knows of any spell that can keep us off the Union’s radar.”

“I’ll be sure to tell her to keep an ear open for any news as well.” Randy cocked his head and stared. I knew he was perplexed. “Hold on a sec. You’re talking like I’m going to the Plantation. Aren’t you coming with me? I know Gertie can keep us hidden. She hid herself before. Remember?”

“No, I lied. You’re right. It is my fault, only mine. I was the one waving that wand around like it was a damn sparkler on the Fourth of July. If the Union comes after me, I don’t want you guys around because they’ll charge you with aiding and abetting or something. I’m going to see Gabe first. I have to let him know I’m going into hiding for a while. Anyway, I won’t stay with Gabe for the same reasons I won’t stay with you and Gertie. If I’m lucky, I’ll find a way to get in touch with Esmeralda. She might be able to help.”

There was no need to wait. I threw my arms around my brother and literally begged him to take care of himself. It was time for me to fly.

Chapter Three

“
O
ne, call in work excuse. Two, make up a story about a family issue. Three, load the dog and cat supplies in car. Four, pack a bag, get you two and the cat in car. Five, leave. Six, go to bank, take everything out.” The lead of my pencil tapped thoughtfully on the notepad. “I guess that’s about it. I’d leave by broom travel, but I know for sure the Union would be able to track me if I zapped us out of here.” The Chihuahuas yelped their approval. I’d have to wait until morning to leave, and I knew it would be a long, anxious night. I talked myself into believing I had enough time before they were hot on my trail for improper use of magic or whatever charges they cooked up this time.

The next morning I stood in the bank lobby. It was my last stop on my way out of town. I didn’t like the idea of writing a check or using my ATM card while I was on the run. I wanted to at least make an attempt to hide from the Union, even if it was an exercise in futility. Incidentally, I had no idea the bank could limit how much cash I could withdraw. I snapped! Who the hell were they to tell me I couldn’t take my money and do whatever the hell I wanted with it?

“What do you mean I can’t take all of my money in cash? It’s my money… ” I’m pretty sure I actually winced when I realized I was about to repeat a catch phrase from some damn TV commercial, “… and I want it now!”

But what do I know about money? Before Karma Inc., my checking account balance hovered somewhere between flat broke and how-am-I-going-to-cover-that-check broke. In any case, I expected to see enough cash to stuff a small duffle bag. When the teller handed me a neat little bundle of fifty dollar bills, I asked, “Where’s the rest of it?”

The teller politely forced out a tiny laugh at what she thought was a lousy joke. I was serious and so was the bank.

With a measly five thousand dollars in my bag and my tail between my legs, I slinked out of the bank before I drew any more attention to myself. With my luck, I’d not only have the Witches Union looking for me, but the FBI as well. This was so not how I imagined my day going.

As I drove north, away from Chicago, I felt sick to my stomach. I was more nervous with every mile I traveled, and I started questioning myself out loud. “Kelly, what the hell are you doing? You can’t just skip out of town like this. It’s ridiculous. You’re jumping to conclusions. You should just turn around.”

I even slumped down in the driver’s seat when I spotted several squad cars racing down the oncoming traffic lane. “Now I’m really being paranoid. It’s not cops I need to hide from, it’s the Witches Union I need to be worried about.” I continued my drive, speculating on the Union’s actions. Would I suddenly be transported away with a flash of magic? Would I be cornered and accused on the spot?

Randy was back at the Plantation, probably not even trying to hide. I made up my mind to call him, once I reached Caldron Falls, to see if he found out how bad I screwed up. I tried to convince myself the odds were good it was a very insignificant spell.

When I crossed the state line into Wisconsin, my excitement pushed aside my anxiety. Gabe consumed my every last thought. I couldn’t wait to see him again. The only problem, I didn’t call to let him know I was on my way. I didn’t want to leave any clues to my destination. It never occurred to me there was a chance I could have been wrong about him wanting to see me as much as I wanted to see him. What if I got there and Gabe wasn’t alone? That ugly thought didn’t creep into my mind until it was too late and I was driving down Caldron Falls’ main street.

Let’s face it. Showing up unannounced on your relatively new, long distance lover’s doorstep isn’t really a pro move. Even if said lover isn’t messing around with someone else, it still makes you come off as the suspicious, crazy, stalker type.

By the time I passed through Caldron Falls and made my turn onto Gabe’s woodsy trail, my excitement once again beat back my worries. After all, this is
Gabe
I was going to see, a real man. Okay, he’s technically part man and part bear, but so completely different than anyone else I’d been with. I mean, not different because he’s a werebear either, but because he actually has his shit together.

Realizing my car wasn’t suited for off-road adventures, I parked it and walked the rest of the way. With my cat in my arms and my two Chihuahuas excitedly dancing around me, “walked” may not be the best word to describe it. You see, fall was in its glorious zenith. I was surrounded by a vivid cloud of nature’s finest art. The downside, I had one hell of a time walking upright on the slick multicolored carpet of wet leaves that filled muddy puddles. My feet went down into every one of them. The little dogs barked a greeting when we finally spotted Gabe’s log home. Gemma leapt from my arms and joined in the dog’s excitement.

“Kelly?” Gabe stepped down from his porch and jogged out to meet me. “Wow! This is a real surprise!”

“A good one? I hope.”

“A great one!” Gabe’s muscular arms wrapped around me, and he plucked me out of the latest puddle I had been struggling to get out of. “It is so good to see you.”

With my face nuzzled into his flannel covered chest, I reveled in his woodsy scent, soaking in his warmth. I turned my head to answer him. “It’s great to see you, too. I just… ” I watched my words drift away in the crisp fall air. It was apparent that I didn’t know exactly what I should say about my unexpected arrival, so I quietly buried my face back into his comforting chest.