by Susan Harper
Abigail suddenly became very calm. She sat upright, staring at Monica through those bright cat eyes of hers. “You did that for me?” she asked.
“You are my familiar, Abigail,” Monica said. “And I know this hasn’t been especially easy for you. You’ve been at this for a long time. Long before I was even born. You’ve had other witches, and I’ve heard good things about you from them. I know I haven’t exactly made it easy on you dragging you to the mortal world. I know you can’t stand it here. My fascination for mortals has probably made you a bit resentful toward me, I get it. But you’re still my familiar. If I can help you, I will.”
Abigail’s whiskers twitched ever-so-slightly. “Wow… Thank you, Monica… I don’t know what to say.”
“You could start by losing your constant attitude,” Holly grumbled.
“No one was talking to you,” Abigail huffed, and Monica had to stifle a laugh. The heart-to-heart moment was gone in the blink of an eye.
Holly shook her head. Then, she stood upright as a thought seemed to occur to her. “This Sorcerers’ Council… What is that about exactly?”
“They’re sort of like…your version of the Supreme Court, except the Sorcerers’ Council holds a bit more power in the mystic realm. They are made up of mostly witches or wizards, but there are also some representatives from other mystic groups who are voted in by their clans. They’re judge and jury of the mystic world,” Monica said. “They’re made up of some of the smartest, most educated witches and wizards you’ll ever come across.”
“Do you think this Sorcerers’ Council would be able to help me figure out my ancestry?” Holly asked.
Monica had not thought about this. “They could, actually!”
“If you can get a hearing with them, that is,” Abigail added. “They keep themselves pretty busy.”
“Maybe they would be willing to allow you to come to Abigail’s hearing to make a request for help?” Monica suggested. “I’ll respond to their letter and see what they say.”
Monica grabbed some paper and a pencil and proceeded to write a letter explaining to the council who Holly was and how they had discovered that she was part-mystic. Finally, she requested that Holly be brought along for a brief meeting with them following Abigail’s hearing. Using her wand, Monica sent the letter off to the world of the mystics as she had done with the first letter. “It’ll be a while before they respond,” Monica said. “We’ll see what they say, but if anyone can figure out what sort of mystic genealogy you got going on inside of you, it’s going to be them.”
“Ooh, this is so exciting!” Holly exclaimed. “I mean, this is such a big deal, right? All my life I thought goblins and witches and werewolves were just spooky stories parents told their kids. Something you would dress up for at Halloween. But not only do I find out that there is this whole other world out there…but I’m a part of it! I just have to know what I am. I’m probably a witch or something like that, right? I mean, I don’t look like a goblin or a troll or anything. I don’t have an urge to howl at the moon. So, I’m probably something fairly humanoid, right?”
“Most likely,” Monica said. “Though my broom doesn’t seem to believe you’re a witch. And you’ve never shown any sign of magical abilities that would resemble that of a witch, have you?”
“I wouldn’t know,” she admitted. “I have no idea what to look for in myself to confirm whether or not I’m a witch.”
“Are you certain you don’t have troll in you?” Abigail asked.
“Shut up, Abigail. Stop being so mean,” Holly insisted. “I just hope whatever I am that I’ve got some sort of cool power inside me just waiting to be unleashed. Like, maybe I’m a shapeshifter! I just don’t know how to, you know…do it?”
“Don’t get too excited there, Holly,” Abigail warned. “We have no idea how far back your mystic ancestry is. Just because you’ve got a little bit of it in your DNA doesn’t mean the discovery of this is going to lead to anything. You’re not going to suddenly sprout wings just because you find out you’re a fairy.”
“Yeah, well, aren’t you just a little party pooper?” Holly huffed. “But I guess you’re right. Finding out I’m part-vampire isn’t doing to suddenly make me crave blood, is it?”
“Definitely not,” Monica said. “You’re still Holly as you’ve always been. How is it coming with finding out information from the adoption agency about your parents?”
“So far, I’m coming up pretty empty. They are looking into it for me, though. Wow, you know what I never thought of? If you think about it, it’s all because of you that I might actually find out about my biological family. If you hadn’t taken over the bookshop and hired me, I never would’ve found the portal to the other side! And that never would’ve made me look into my past. This could lead me to find a whole family I don’t know about.”
“Whoa, that would be amazing!” Monica exclaimed. “I mean, I suppose you don’t really know what happened to your biological parents, do you?”
“No, I never really looked into it,” Holly said. “How amazing would it be, though, if I was able to find out more about them because of this? Find out why I was given up… I mean, my parents might not have even been mystics, I guess. One of them might have just been as clueless as me about our mystic ancestry, for all I know. But I suppose I might be able to find out once the adoption agency gets back to me about them. I’m just excited to find out what I am right now. I don’t want to get my hopes up too much about locating long-lost relatives, but you never know! Ugh! This is going to be the most amazing thing ever, isn’t it? I can’t believe I could be just a day away from finding out what I am!”
The back door to the shop busted open once again, a bunch of magical dust and smoke came swooshing out as Monica held out her hand and caught a letter in midair. She tore it open. “It’s from the Sorcerers’ Council!” she called, and Holly scurried over next to her. “Miss Montoya, the Sorcerers’ Council approves your request to bring your employee, Holly, to attend your familiar’s hearing. We will squeeze you in immediately following the hearing of Abigail Williams.”
“Oh, this is awesome!” Holly shrieked, bouncing and clapping her hands. “I might actually find out what I am! Isn’t that just…just…awesome!”
Abigail laughed. “Well, it’s looking like tomorrow is going to be a good day for us both, Holly.”
“Aww, come here, you stupid cat,” Holly said, picking Abigail up off the counter and giving her a big, tight squeeze.
“No…please…stop… I’m allergic to affection,” Abigail moaned as Holly hugged and cuddled with her against her will.
Monica laughed at Abigail’s expense. “Tomorrow is going to be a great day. I can tell.”
7
Monica’s phone buzzed that afternoon as she was reading The Sound and the Fury. She glanced at her cellphone, a silly little device mortals used that she was still growing used to, to see that Brian had texted her that he had found Enid and Tiffany and that if she wished to help out with interviewing them to meet him at the station. Of course, Monica was more than willing to go meet him. “Hey, Holly!” Monica called from her seat behind the counter. “You good to watch the shop for a bit? Brian could use my help with some interviews for Jeremiah’s case.”
“Do what you got to do,” Holly said, peering around from behind a bookshelf. “I’ve got this. It’s been kind of slow today, anyway.”
Monica thanked her. She glanced over at Abigail, who had been pacing since they’d received the letter from the Sorcerers’ Council. “You want to come with me?” Monica asked. “You look like you could use something to distract yourself with.”
“No! Definitely not. I’m… I’m trying to come up with what I’m going to say to the council when we speak to them tomorrow evening,” she said. “I’m…rehearsing, if you will.”
Monica smirked. “Well, I definitely don’t want to pull you away from that.”
Abigail sat down and exhaled deeply in front of the coffee station
where she had been pacing. “Thank you, Monica,” Abigail said. “I don’t know what to say, really. You might have just gotten me a second chance. Perhaps you and I have gotten off on the wrong foot.”
“You’ve been my familiar since I was a kid,” Monica said. “I don’t think it has anything to do with a bad first impression at this point.”
Abigail sighed. “I suppose you’re right. I’ve not been the easiest familiar to have, I know. I can’t believe you would do something like this for me.”
“Well, if I can help, I will. Whether you like it or not, Abigail, you’re my familiar.”
Abigail seemed to almost smile under that kitty-cat face of hers. “I think I should work on my attitude toward you, then, shouldn’t I?” Abigail said. “I’ll try to be a better familiar.”
“Who knows? Maybe after tomorrow night, you won’t have to,” Monica said, and she saw Abigail’s tail sway back and forth.
“Don’t say that. I’ll be getting my hopes up! I’ll be excited just to get a reduced sentence,” Abigail said.
Monica smiled. “Okay, well, I’ll be back a little later. I won’t keep you waiting up or anything like I did the other night.” Monica headed out, but she paused. She really didn’t want to have to walk all the way to the station. Then, an idea occurred to her. She ran back inside the shop, snatched up her broom, and excused herself into the backroom.
She stepped through the back door, and there was a blinding flash of light, and then she was stepping out into the other side of Backroom Books, where her sister was sipping on some sort of pumpkin-flavored drink. “Mona!” Monica said perkily. “I need your help with a complicated spell.”
Mona sighed. Unfortunately, as the natural witch sister, Mona was always having to help Monica out when she needed anything past rudimentary spellcasting. Monica showed her sister her broom. “Can you do a spell on my broom to make it to where it can shapeshift?”
“Why on earth would you want to do that to your broom?” Mona asked.
“I want it to be able to change from broom to bicycle,” Monica explained.
“Ah! You are getting a mortal form of transportation after all!” Mona cried dramatically. She had been teasing Monica about driving a car for the longest time.
“It’s not like I’m talking about a truck, just having a way to get around during the day when there are mortals all over the road would be nice,” Monica said. “Come on, can you help me out?”
Mona sighed. “Yes, I know a spell. Your broom has to be willing to do it, though, or it won’t work.”
Monica smiled and held her broom gently. “What do you say?” she asked, and the thing gently tugged away from Monica’s hands and remained floating next to Mona. “I think that’s a yes.”
Mona went and fetched a spellbook from a nearby shelf and flipped through it for a moment. “Yes, this should do.” And with a simple incantation and the wave of her wand, the broom magically transformed into a dark violet, vintage-looking bicycle with a lovely black basket.
“It’s so cute!” Monica said, clapping her hands together. “And it’ll be able to switch back and forth?”
“That’s right,” Mona said, and Monica hugged her twin thankfully. “Let me know how it rides. If I’m ever hanging out with you on the mortal side, I might just do the same spell to my broom.”
“Thanks, Mona!” Monica said again before hurrying back through the shop, pushing her broom turned bicycle through to her side of the shop.
“Where did that come from?!” Holly cried. “What a cute bike!”
“It’s my broom!” Monica said perkily. “I got Mona to put a spell on it so that it could change back and forth. Good idea, right?”
“Well, at least now we won’t have to walk everywhere,” Abigail said. “Is that little basket for me?”
“I assume so,” Monica said, giggling. “We’ll give it a try later today.”
She pushed the bike outside and sat on it. Then she frowned. “Hey, broom… I’ve never ridden a bike before. I’m not sure how this is going to go, so prepare yourself…” She pushed forward and managed to get her feet on the pedals. Thankfully after only a brief, wobbly start, she managed to get going pretty good.
Monica smiled excitedly as she rode the bike through town, picking up speed whenever she went down a slope. Eventually she was arriving outside the station, and she saw Brian outside the building. He smiled brightly when he saw her. It was then that Monica realized she had no idea how to stop a bicycle. To avoid crashing into him, she jerked the steering wheel and went tumbling over the handle bars into a bush.
“Oh my gosh!” Brian yelped and hurried over to her. He pulled her up out of the bush, and she quickly brushed herself off. “What just happened?” he asked as though he had never seen someone crash a bike before.
Monica’s face turned bright red. “Um… First time on a bike, believe it or not,” she said. “Forgot to find out how the brakes work before jumping on.”
Brian laughed. “You’re so cute. I can’t believe that you’ve never ridden a bicycle before.”
Monica laughed at herself a bit as well, and she thanked him for helping her out of the bush before placing her bike out in front of the building. “So… Where did you find Enid and Tiffany?” she asked.
Brian smirked. “You’re going to probably laugh. They’re in a holding cell here at the station. Another officer brought them in last night for drunk and disorderly conduct. They had a catfight outside of a bar last night—one of the first ones we looked at. They were here all night last night while we were out looking for them.”
“Oh my goodness!” Monica said, shaking her head.
“Come on, they’re waiting for us together in an interrogation room,” Brian said, and Monica followed him inside. “You should probably get something to chain that bike up with, by the way. You never know—someone might try to steal it.”
I’m not too worried about that, Monica thought. They entered the interrogation room where Enid and Tiffany, both looking incredibly hungover, were seated at the table—one drinking coffee and the other downing water as quickly as she could. “Holding up, ladies?” Brian asked.
Enid groaned. “Best as we can,” she said, rubbing her temples and putting her mug down.
Brian and Monica sat across from them. “We’ll try to make this quick. You two look like you need to go home and nap,” Brian said.
“Please,” Tiffany said, her eyes squinted as though the faint light of the room was too much for her to handle even this late in the afternoon.
“First, how about you tell us about last night,” Brian said. “What happened, girls?”
“We were both pretty upset at the memorial service,” Enid said. “We were close to Jeremiah, you know? We decided to leave early and go get some drinks. It was just too hard listening to everyone talk about old memories and stuff. It didn’t take us long to drink ourselves into a state of stupidity, I’m afraid.”
“I can hardly remember last night,” Tiffany admitted. “So, honestly, I don’t know which of us swung first, and I’m not going to lie and say I remember. I just know we got into it with each other over Jeremiah and now I’ve got a black eye and Enid’s got a busted lip.”
“You know what, ladies, I think it might be best if I interview you one at a time,” Brian said. “Enid, would you mind waiting out in the hall?”
“Sure,” Enid said, standing up slowly. Another officer was at the door to escort her a moment later, and he closed the door behind her.
Tiffany rubbed her temples. “What do you need to know?” she asked.
“Tell us about you and Jeremiah,” Brian began.
Tiffany sighed. “We used to date. In fact, we had dated for a while. The Crucible has been going on for a while. He wound up breaking up with me opening night.”
“Have you felt resentment for that?” Monica asked.
“Maybe a little,” she said. “Mostly toward Enid, not Jeremiah.”
“Enid?” Brian asked.
“Why toward Enid?”
“Because he dumped me to date her,” Tiffany said. “I know, ironic, right? John Proctor dumped Abigail Williams to go be with Elizabeth Proctor. Hardy-har-har. They’ve been dating for the past month now. I think she stole him. All those scenes they were doing together as husband and wife during rehearsals. I probably did swing first last night, actually…”
They went on to ask several more questions about Jeremiah, but it didn’t seem to be going much further. Eventually, they called Enid in and sent Tiffany away. “Tell us about Jeremiah and his relationship with Tiffany,” Brian began, and Monica could tell this struck a nerve with Enid.
“They dated for about a year. But a little over a month ago, opening night, I think, he broke up with her. A few days later, he asked me out.” Enid paused, and her eyes started to water. “I can’t believe he’s gone…”
“I imagine this is very hard for you,” Monica said.
“I’ve been in love with him since… I don’t even know how long. Since I’ve known him, I guess. But Tiffany got to him first. She and I are practically sisters. It was hard always being so jealous. And she knew how I felt about him, but I knew she felt the same way. I think she thinks I put it in his head that I wanted to date him, but I would never do that. Not to Tiffany. But when he asked me out after their breakup… I couldn’t say no.” Enid crossed her arms. She looked very heartbroken. “I was so happy to finally be with him. I mean, he was such a good guy. You just don’t find too many like him, you know? I just… I can’t believe he’s gone…”
Apart from a few hysterical crying fits, they were not able to get much more information out of Enid either. The two women were eventually sent on their way, leaving a frustrated Brian sitting with Monica in the lobby of the station. “I feel like I’m not getting anywhere with these interviews just yet,” he said.
“Maybe you need a night off,” Monica suggested. “You can’t think straight when you’re stressed.”
