by Cat Larson
I polished off the rest of the sandwich and chugged half my coffee before exiting the restroom. If I thought the girl had been giving me questioning looks before… I gave her a little wave as I passed by.
“You ate your breakfast in the bathroom?”
“Um, nope. It’s in my purse.” I patted it lightly. “Have a great day.”
I stepped back out into the blinding sun, made even more so by the reflection off all the snowbanks. I wish I would’ve remembered to grab that pair of sunglasses off Violet’s dresser.
I shielded my eyes and took the few paces over to Murphy’s. I used to love this store. It was where I’d picked out my first—and last—fish, thanks to my sister. I hadn’t wanted to subject another living thing to her recklessness. And here I thought she’d grown out of that stage. Ha! No, she’d just moved up higher on the food chain.
A bell above the door dinged when I opened it. It was a much more pleasant way of alerting a customer than hurling mugwort in their face. I gave the place a once-over; besides the kitty litter stacked up against a different wall, things were exactly how they’d been thirteen years earlier. That seemed to be the theme here. Was the town stuck in a time warp?
Unlike the coffee house, there were several shoppers inside. I nodded to a couple then made my way to the back. When I passed the terrariums, housing an entire army of tree frogs, the breakfast sandwich churned in my stomach. The thought of Fernando in one of those things made me want to retch. I had to leave the area before I got the insane urge to free them all. Maybe they were also the result of Violet’s handiwork. Maybe all these animals in here were really humans. Gah! I was starting to lose it.
“Can I help you?”
The lady stocking heat lamps appeared to be observing my moral dilemma. Or my psychotic episode. Either way, it wouldn’t be long before I was referred to as the out-of-town pariah.
“Yes, you can,” I said, going up to her. “Do you carry frog food?”
She just stared at me. Was it that outlandish of a question? Last I checked, we were in a pet store. I cleared my throat, and she snapped out of it.
“I’m sorry, dear. What were you saying now? You’ll have to forgive me, but you look awfully familiar.”
Hmm, this again. But I did have to admit that she looked familiar as well. Vaguely. Which wasn’t unusual, considering she’d probably lived here the entire time I had. I was well aware that I’d probably be running into people who knew me from my past life, but I was hoping to keep the socializing to a minimum. I wasn’t here for a reunion.
“I was asking about frog food. Frog pellets or something like that? I didn’t see it on the shelf.”
“What kind of frog do you have?”
“An enchan—um, I mean an Ecuadorian one.” Dang, that’d almost slipped out.
“An Ecuadorian frog?” She scrunched up her face, tapping a long nail on her chin. “And where exactly did you purchase this particular species? I do hope not off the black market.” She frowned at me. “I trust you’re aware there’s a serious illegal wildlife trade problem? Exotic animals are being sold—”
I held up my hand before she went any further. “It’s nothing like that, believe me.”
“So then where did you purchase it?”
“Actually, it’s a friend’s. I’m frog-sitting while they’re away.”
“And they didn’t leave you any food?” She tsked.
I was just digging myself into a hole here. “I think he must’ve eaten it all before I arrived. He’s quite the big boy.” I chuckled, but she was not amused. “And well, I can’t find any more, so if you could just point me toward the frog chow, I can be on my way.” Thanks, Violet. You’re turning me into a liar now. And to top it off, I was probably going to be turned in for frog abuse, along with my imaginary friend. Or worse. I could have my “illegal” animal confiscated. I was beginning to sweat, which probably just made me look guilty. “Um, if you’re not sure I can ask someone else. No problem.”
“Follow me.” She waved me even farther back as my heart pounded harder. Where was she taking me? Was there a special room for suspicious people? I glanced toward the front entrance; I could make a quick getaway if necessary.
“Are you okay, dear? You look a little pale.”
I let out a rush of air when she led me to a back register. “I’m fine.” Paranoid but fine.
She logged in to the store computer then scrolled her finger over the screen. “Do you by chance have a picture of this frog?” I shook my head. “What color is it?”
“Um, green?”
“You’re not sure?”
“Well, funny thing. He’s kind of like a chameleon, changing shades to blend in.” I imagined he was either bubblegum or hot pink, depending on which scarf he was currently nestled against.
One look at her face and I knew that was absolutely the wrong thing to say. She resembled a Shar-Pei. “That is nothing like we would sell here, and I can assure you we’re a reputable dealer. Are you positive that you’re not in possession of an exotic—”
“Well, well, well. Lookie who decided to show her face around here again.”
That icy voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up straighter than any below-zero day. In fact, it froze my entire body into position. I was in no hurry to turn around and subject my eyes to her ghastly face again.
The saleslady was no longer focused on me but giving a nasty glare to the horridness I knew stood behind me. “Misty! What did I tell you about bringing that snake in here? You scare my customers half to death with that thing.”
Snake?
As the woman waggled her finger with a stern expression, her identity shot back to me, her authoritative manner jogging my memory. But even though it was a pleasant memory, that didn’t overshadow the vile one behind me. Or should I say, vile person? Misty Evans.
A triangular head poked over my shoulder, and I screamed.
“Misty!” Mrs. Swanson barked again.
I was paralyzed. The snake slithered down my purse strap, and I noticed in absolute horror that I hadn’t zipped it up all the way. Holy corolla. Didn’t snakes eat…? That jostled me into action. It was as if my feet grew springs, and I vaulted up and away, my heart jackhammering my ribs.
That snake. Her snake. That freaking snake tried to eat my fiancé! I quickly zipped my bag closed and held it tightly against me.
My eyes locked into Misty’s beady ones, and I shuddered. “Sorry, Mrs. Swanson.” Misty gave me a ‘sorry not sorry’ slimy smile that matched her snake’s. “He means no harm. I’ll make sure to keep him better contained.”
Baloney sausage. Misty was such a con artist. Mrs. Swanson crossed her arms. Judging by the look on her face, she didn’t believe the little scammer either. It was bad enough the nice woman had to deal with Misty during her school years, but now she had to as an adult too. Major downside to a small town—everyone was close enough to be family, but not every member of your family was a good egg. Or in Misty’s case, some were just plain rotten.
“I’ve had to warn you too many times. Next time, keep it at home.”
Misty pointed to the door and said in a sickly sweet tone, “But Mrs. Swanson, your sign says pets are welcome.”
“I meant of the well-behaved fur and feather variety.”
Misty shrugged, walking away while petting her snake. My heart was still racing.
“Sorry about that.” Mrs. Swanson stepped from behind the computer and pulled me into a hug. “Sammara Hain. It’s so wonderful to see you again.”
I was embarrassed that I hadn’t recognized my former beloved elementary teacher. But in my defense, she’d lost about fifty pounds and cut about ten inches off her hair, along with changing it to a more flattering darker tone. She looked amazing.
“Hi, Mrs. Swanson. I didn’t recognize you until”—I nodded toward Misty—“you yelled at her.” The more things changed, the more things stayed the same.
She laughed. “I couldn’t pinpoint who yo
u were at first either. Senior brain and all.”
“Nonsense. You’re not old. You look fantastic, better than ever.”
“How kind of you, dear.” She clasped her hands around my arms. “My, my, my, just look how lovely you are. All grown-up. Have you moved back home?”
“Oh no, just paying a visit to my sister.”
“That’s certainly long overdue.”
“Yes, ma’am.” It sounded like a scolding to me. She waved her hand with a smile, returning behind the counter. “Speaking of, have you seen Violet recently… like in the past twelve hours?” I nibbled my bottom lip.
She raised an eyebrow. “Lost your sister?”
“Not exactly. I came into town last night and it seems she’s avoiding me.”
“Hmm. No, I haven’t seen her since I stopped by last week to pick up some thank-you cards.” She paused. “But you know, if there’s a problem you can come to me. I’ve always had your back, Samm.”
“I know, thank you. Oh, and by the way, I go by Eve now, not Samm.”
“Hmm.”
I did believe she’d always looked out for me. I trusted her then, and I trusted her now. As much as I could, at least. Like everyone else in the town, she hadn’t known the real reason I left Bigfoot Bay all those years ago. It was a common belief that my parents had separated, and I had gone to live with my dad in Chicago while my mom stayed here with Violet. Then when I was eighteen, my parents reconciled and my dad returned, but I chose to stay in Illinois.
Mrs. Swanson, like all the others, didn’t know that I came from a magical family, that my madly-in-love parents had to split up before anyone got hurt. But since she had also doubled as a school recess supervisor, she’d witnessed the daily devious behavior of Misty Evans, usually directed toward me. At least up until the day I left.
Wait a minute. “Mrs. Swanson, what in the world are you doing working here? Shouldn’t you be in school?”
She grinned wide. “I don’t just work here, dear. I retired from teaching and bought the place from Mr. Murphy. It’s my new adventure, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.”
“Wow, good for you. That’s awesome.” I flashed back to her always bringing animals into the classroom. One day a bunny, the next a Guinea pig until we seemed to have more class pets than students.
I felt a burning sensation on my back and I glanced over my shoulder, gripping my purse harder. I couldn’t spot Misty anywhere, but I sensed her still lurking about. It was no place for Fernando.
“Pay no mind to that troublemaker. All bark and no bite, she is. She’s always around wreaking havoc somewhere.”
It wasn’t me I was worried about.
“Now, about that frog…”
After ten minutes of respectfully declining her offer to come out and identify the frog and convincing her that my “friend” would never ever obtain a pet illegally, I found myself juggling an assortment of crickets and mealworms. Did I mention they were fresh? Really fresh.
“Don’t you have something, um, less alive? Or maybe freeze-dried?”
Mrs. Swanson shook her head. “A diet of fresh insects is much healthier. Frogs are carnivores, you know, which means they’re also predators.”
“Okay,” I relented. No biggie, right?
I paid for the bags of froggy delicacies then promised to visit her at least once again before I left. I was eager to get back and get his belly filled. I almost made it out too, until I felt the overwhelming need to take a decontamination shower.
“Leaving so soon? I’m hurt you didn’t say goodbye.”
Her oily presence coated me like sludge. I turned around. “Yes, Misty, I’m leaving. This isn’t a laundromat. People come in, buy something, then leave.”
“But we barely had a chance to catch up. What’s it been—thirteen years?”
The snake coiled around her hair bun, its creepy slitted pupils leering at me. To say it was unsettling was a gross understatement.
I dropped my gaze from the reptile’s diabolical eyes to hers. “And I’m sure another thirteen won’t kill us.” She smirked, and I realized that I felt more comfortable making eye contact with the snake. “Well, I’d like to say it’s been nice, but my parents taught me not to lie.”
“Oh, I’m sure your parents taught you much more than that.”
What did that mean? Forget it. I wasn’t going to worry about it. I put my hand on the door to push it open, but her giant palm slammed against it.
“Excuse me?”
“We really should get together while you’re in town. Me, you, your sister. That is if you can find her.”
“Are you implying something or just wasting my time?”
Her grin was so crooked, it bordered on threatening. “You hurt my feelings. I’d expect this behavior out of Violet—she’s always picking a fight with me—but you? You’re more of a flight kind of girl.”
I sighed, her nearness making me gag. Not to mention how nerve-racking it was having the snake within striking distance.
“Then it should come as no surprise I want to leave. Step out of my way.”
“Or what?”
“Or what? What are we back in grade school?”
“No, if we were, you’d have your sister around to fight your battles.”
A shiver crept up my spine when the snake inched a little lower down the side of her head. I took a step back, nearly falling into a stroller.
“Girls,” Mrs. Swanson hissed. “You’re making a scene.” Her hushed voice and clenched jaw were directed toward Misty, even if she was addressing the both of us. “Kindly stop right now.”
“Of course, Mrs. Swanson. We were just chatting. I wouldn’t dream of causing a disturbance in your store.”
“No, you never do.”
As the two went back and forth, I noticed we had an audience. A handful of customers had stopped to watch. Great. I didn’t understand why Mrs. Swanson even allowed Misty to continue coming into her store. If she owned the place, she had the right to refuse entry.
“Like I was just telling Misty, I really need to be running along.” I held up my bags of bugs. “Thanks so much for your time, Mrs. Swanson. It was great seeing you again.”
“You too, dear.”
This time when I pushed open the door, nothing got in my way. I hightailed it out of there, expecting to be followed and harassed Misty-style, but to my surprise, I made it back to Violet’s store without any hassle. On the flip side, walking alone only gave me more opportunity to stew.
By the time I keyed open the door, I was spitting fire. How could I let Misty rattle my chains again after all these years? No doubt she smelled the fear on me, but that was due to her evil companion. I wondered just how tough she’d be without it?
I went in, swatting the herbs aside and cursing my sister. My blood had reached its boiling point. I shouldn’t have had to be there dealing with any of this. I was newly engaged and should’ve been flying high, not encountering past demons.
I raised my fist in the air. “You’re screwing up my life, Violet!”
I’d been yelling that so many times I needed to record it and play it on repeat. That way my energy could be conserved for more important things.
Fernando.
I rushed to the bathroom and opened my purse, letting him hop into the bathtub. Just as I pictured, he was shocking pink but quickly dulled to an ivory tone.
“Here you go.” I dumped out some of the bugs near his head. “Bon appetit.”
I sat and watched. He appeared to be snubbing his nose at me if that were possible. Sorry, Fernando. I didn’t mean to upset your delicate sensibilities.
“Please, just try,” I begged. “I know it’s not filet mignon, but it’s still meat, right? You might like it.” I urged him to reach out his tongue and snatch one. I desperately needed him to eat. That would even outweigh the ick factor of kissing him when he was human again. After a bottle of mouthwash, of course. “Please, Fernando. You have to eat.”
Or did he? I
still wasn’t clear on how enchantment affected your metabolism. As if responding to my ponderings, he leaped far away from his meal.
The crickets and worms seemed to be having their own dance party now that they had cause for celebration. I would too if I’d escaped the fate of being someone’s breakfast. Any moment now, I expected the music to start. Note to self: Scrub out the tub ASAP.
I lifted Fernando out of the tub and collected all the creepy crawlies back into the bag. I’d return them to the pet store because it was too cold to let them go outside. Just because I was prepared to offer them up as nourishment didn’t mean I was cruel.
As I was cleaning up, a memory came pouring back that had nothing to do with bathtubs and everything to do with my annoyance at my sister. “I hope you’re enjoying this, Violet,” I muttered. “As if it weren’t bad enough when you changed my brand-new bike into a stalk of broccoli just because I refused to let you ride it. First of all,” my voice rose higher, “I didn’t let you ride it because you had it in your head that you could fly, and I didn’t want you riding it off a cliff. And second, I hate broccoli. The very least you could’ve done was turn it into a hot fudge sundae!”
Argh. I slammed the bleach down and stomped out of the room, making sure to watch the ground beneath me as I worked out my tantrum.
I could not even begin to imagine how the rest of my day would play out.
Chapter Four
“Samm?”
I froze mid-stomp when I caught sight of the strawberry blonde curls, the sylphlike woman standing right inside the doorway. My eyes widened. “Sage?” She looked exactly the same, only now she was more than a decade older. “Sage!” I shrieked, dashing over and wrapping my arms around her.
“Did I interrupt something? You didn’t look too happy before you saw me.”
“Well, I recently had a run-in with a revolting creature and, oh, a snake too. And I had to scrub—never mind all that.” I was speaking as if we’d only been apart for thirteen hours, not years. I pulled back and looked her over. “Wow! You have not changed a bit.”
