A Trick for a Treat

by A. A. Albright

  His head whipped around at a sudden crashing sound. An upper window had just fallen out onto the lawn below.

  ‘See what I mean?’ He lowered his voice. ‘Look, you lot are going to have to take off, all right? I shouldn’t have told you this much.’

  He shoved his helmet back on, turned on his heels, and marched over to his colleagues.

  ‘Hang on a sec, mate,’ cried Gabriel. ‘Mysteriously smashing windows sure sounds like witchy business to me! Which is our business.’ As he started to follow the Peacemaker, Melissa and I pulled him back.

  ‘Let’s leave it for now,’ said Melissa. ‘We can find out what’s going on another way.’

  Gabriel gritted his teeth. ‘We shouldn’t have to. Werewolves can’t do magic. That means there are witches involved. And that means that a big part of this case has got to be ours.’ He kicked a stick in frustration. But dogs, it seems, aren’t always the best at picking up emotional cues. Wolfie chased the stick down in two short strides, returning it to Gabriel with a wagging tail and an excited glint in his eyes.

  ‘Throw it again, Gabe. Please throw it again.’

  The frustration left Gabriel’s face, and we all laughed as he picked up the stick again, throwing it in the direction we’d come. We went on that way for a few minutes – it seemed a far better means of keeping Wolfie under control than a lead – and Max was just about to take his turn throwing, when a stocky guy bounded out of the bushes at the side of the road and blocked our way.

  He had black hair, pale blue eyes and a neatly trimmed beard, and he gave off the unmistakable scent of werewolf. There was a lascivious grin on his face, directed at Melissa.

  ‘Well, hello hello, lovely lady,’ he said. ‘Couldn’t help but overhear those Peacemakers being rude to you. I’ll have a chat with them – make sure they’re friendlier next time.’

  Melissa narrowed her eyes. ‘Of course you will. And I’m sure they’d just love that. Creepy guy who hides in bushes telling them what to do. Who the hell are you, anyway?’

  She was half way through her sentence when Wolfie broke forward, and began jumping all over him. ‘Callum!’ he cried. ‘Callum it’s me, Wolfie. I’m looking for Jasper. Have you seen Jasper?’

  Callum patted him and pushed him gently away. ‘It’s all right boy, calm down now.’ He looked up at Melissa. ‘How come you’ve got Jasper’s dog? You really shouldn’t. Jasper is not going to be happy about this.’

  Max stepped forward. ‘We don’t care what Jasper thinks. And neither does Wolfie. Do you, Wolfie?’

  Wolfie cleared his throat. I guess he was suddenly reminded of his plan to play it cool. ‘No. No, I don’t care. Jasper left me. Jasper can go and jump in the sea for all I care. I was just walking with my new friends.’ He looked adoringly at Max. ‘Max would never dump me, would you Max?’

  Max scratched behind his ears. ‘Never. Only an idiot would dump an awesome dog like Wolfie. Which makes your friend Jasper an idiot, I guess.’

  I could feel the testosterone flying. Weredogs and werewolves were enemies, for some unknown reason that both sides refused to discuss. Wisely, Gabriel stepped in between them.

  ‘We were just out for a walk,’ he said to Callum. ‘And now we’re going to walk on home. You can either move out of our way, or we can make you move. Your choice.’

  Callum looked Gabriel up and down, then grinned back at Melissa. ‘Please tell me you’re not going out with either of these scruff balls. A girl like you could do much, much better.’

  Melissa tossed her auburn mane and glared at Callum. ‘You’re still standing in our way. Which makes me believe that you really do want me to blast you with an overenthusiastic Move spell.’ She twirled a finger, and flashed a wicked smile.

  Callum’s body flew up into the air, bounced against a tree trunk and crashed into the bushes. Most people would have been a little bit annoyed. And incredibly sore. But werewolves are hardy, I guess, because Callum stood up like nothing had happened. He grinned at Melissa again, and even followed it up with a wolf whistle. ‘Well, well, well. You are a feisty one, aren’t you,’ he said. ‘You will be a lot of fun to chase.’

  She clenched her jaw. ‘Yeah, because that’s just what every girl wants to happen. Getting hunted down by a werewolf and becoming the next notch on their bed post. Just get lost, will you? Before I throw an even stronger spell your way.’

  Callum looked flummoxed. To be fair to him, werewolves didn’t usually have to try so hard. They exuded sexuality. Everyone could feel it. Most people fell for it. ‘Sorry, doll,’ he said. ‘I didn’t mean to come on so strong. It’s just that you’re so beautiful. And I’m so worried about Jasper. I was hoping you could help me take my mind off it all, if you know what I’m saying.’

  Creepy and deluded though he was, I decided it was time to give in to my curiosity. ‘You and Jasper are good friends?’

  ‘Friends?’ He laughed. ‘You don’t know who I am? I’m Callum Cool. Jasper Jaunt’s best mate, pack brother and band mate in the Call of the Wild.’

  Melissa and I shrugged. ‘I’ve never heard your stuff,’ I said.

  ‘I’ve heard it on the radio,’ said Melissa. ‘I just don’t like it. So what are you? The roadie?’

  Callum’s exterior was beginning to crack. His legs weren’t quite so far apart. His puffed out chest was somewhat sunken. ‘I’m the drummer,’ he squeaked.

  ‘Oh.’ Melissa shrugged. ‘I kind of like drummers, as it happens.’

  ‘You do?’ Callum gave her a hopeful little look.

  ‘Oh, sure.’ She nodded. ‘They’ve got a very good sense of rhythm. Of course, I never actually go out with them.’

  Callum’s face fell. ‘You don’t?’

  ‘I can’t,’ she told him. ‘I have a very serious job, you see. Magical Law Clerk. It wouldn’t look good, not if I want to advance to becoming a lawyer or a politician. I could get a bad reputation. Only idiots go out with philandering musicians. And no one wants an idiot to be in charge.’

  ‘Oh, but I wouldn’t philander. Honestly. I’d treat you right. Like a queen. I’d take you to the best restaurants. Buy you the most expensive jewellery.’

  Melissa snorted. ‘Sure. Because I bet you don’t do that for any of your other dates. Look, Callum, I’ll lay it on the line for you. Since you told me you’re a drummer I’ve really begun to fancy you.’

  Callum’s face lit up again. ‘We could meet up as friends. For a coffee. See how it all goes. Take it slow.’

  Melissa rewarded him with her widest smile. ‘Y’know, I think I’d really like that.’ She twirled her finger in the air and a pen and a piece of paper appeared. ‘Why don’t you write down your number for me and we’ll set something up?’

  Callum began to remind me of a panting, nodding dog as he grabbed the paper and began to scribble. ‘I’ll write down all of my numbers. And my email. And all of my addresses. Just in case.’

  2. Jasper’s a Jerk

  I stood at the back door, saying goodbye to Gabriel.

  ‘Melissa did well,’ he said with an impressed expression. ‘She’s still a Wayfair on the inside.’

  ‘She’ll always be a Wayfair,’ I replied. ‘Even if she works in the Wyrd Court for the rest of her life. Hey, speaking of Wayfairs, you told me you knew the story behind why Minister Plimpton hates our coven so much?’

  His eyes went to the back door. ‘I know I said I’d tell you,’ he whispered. ‘And I will. Just not right now. How about we have that drink next Friday night?’

  ‘As great as that sounds, I don’t think so.’

  His face fell, and I rushed to explain myself. ‘I just have so much to learn, Gabe. On top of all the study, I’m practising magic with my mother. And now there’s this weirdness with Jasper Jaunt. I don’t know when I’m going to have ten minutes to spare, let alone enough time to spend an evening in the pub.’

  ‘You have to take a break sometime, don’t you?’ he said hopefully. ‘I know – how about after Potions and Magi
cal History? You’ll have a big load off your mind once you pass those tests.’

  ‘If I pass those tests.’

  ‘Yeah, right. You could pass them in your sleep and you know it. So what do you say? You really will need a break by then.’

  ‘Okay,’ I relented. ‘I’ll see you then.’

  With a wide grin, he clicked his fingers and disappeared.

  ≈

  When I made my way back into the kitchen, everyone was gathered around the table.

  Max looked on in wonder as Christine prepared her scrying bowl. It was a different one than I was used to. It was made of a dull, black stone, with no decoration whatsoever. There was something about the flatness of the colour that made me shiver.

  ‘I sometimes use this one when I have a more definite place I want to envision,’ she explained. ‘You said there was a ransom note?’

  Melissa nodded. ‘That’s what the Peacemaker told us. He didn’t tell us what it said, though.’

  ‘That’s all right. I’ve seen the house before – I mean, how could I miss it? But unfortunately ...’ She paused and glanced at Wolfie. ‘... I’m going to need some of your fur. It’ll help me gain access to the inside of the house.’

  Wolfie scratched himself, sending fawn-coloured fur flying through the air. ‘Sure. I have loads.’

  Christine twirled her hand, and the hair gathered into a small ball and floated into the bowl. Melissa sat beside her, passing her a small black bag. As I watched them work so ably together, mother and daughter so perfectly in tune, I couldn’t help but sneak a glance at my own mother. We had missed so many years together, all because I was feeling sorry for myself over not being an empowered witch. Eventually we might be able to work that well together. I certainly hoped so.

  Christine opened the bag and tossed a sand-like substance into the bowl, then waved her hand over it and muttered, ‘Wolfie needs to see inside, so we may see where Jasper hides. Show the note so we may know, where on earth did Jasper go?’

  Flames jumped from the bowl and danced in the air. ‘Unfortunately you won’t be able to see this, Max,’ said Christine. ‘You need to be an empowered witch.’

  I squeezed his shoulder. ‘I’ll tell you what I see.’ I peered closer at the flames. ‘Wow. Okay, so we’re looking right inside Jasper’s house. There’s a huge dog bed by an open fireplace.’

  ‘That’s mine,’ Wolfie said.

  I resisted the urge to say Duh. ‘And there’s lots of dog toys, and a big bowl full of water. Wait … I can see the rest of the living room now. There’s a really big couch, but it’s all slashed to pieces. And there’s a table in front of it that was nice until someone poured yellow paint all over it. Okay. Here we are. I can see the notebook now. It’s open, and the note says …’ I squinted. ‘I can’t make the words out.’

  ‘Wait a minute.’ Christine poured in some more sand and the flames leaped higher. The note came into focus.

  ‘What does it say?’ Wolfie asked impatiently. ‘Who has Jasper? I’ll bite them. I will. I’m not supposed to bite people, but I’ll bite them.’

  I read the note out loud. ‘“We have Jasper. If you want to see him again, the Call of the Wild have to play the Halloween Ball.’”

  A Peacemaker appeared in the vision, snatched the notebook up off the table, ripped out the page and stamped away.

  I squinted closer. There was nothing on the page beneath, but the indentations in the paper looked like they took up a lot more space than the ransom note. Which meant something else had recently been written on that notebook. I chewed at my lip, wondering how I could find out.

  A faint whimper erupted over to my right. Wolfie had crawled under the sofa – well, as much as he could crawl under the sofa.

  ‘You okay, big guy?’ I asked him.

  He whimpered louder. ‘It was all just a trick, wasn’t it? So the band could play the ball.’

  I glanced around at the others. None of us were willing to say it out loud to the poor dog, but that ransom note didn’t make Jasper look good.

  ‘I knew it.’ Wolfie whimpered again. ‘Jasper’s not gone missing. He’s just a great big jerk.’

  ≈

  After a dinner of pasta marinara, Max and I settled into our rooms for the night. He was just above me, on the third floor, and I could hear him moving around, playing with Wolfie. I sighed. He really loved that dog. And now that Wolfie saw Jasper for what he really was, I guessed that he might be living with us permanently. I’d get used to the fur on the cushions. And the drool. And the enthusiasm. If he made Max happy, that was really all that mattered.

  I went to the small window, looking out to the field beyond. My mother had let it grow higher than ever, nearly obscuring my dad’s work shed altogether. I couldn’t say I blamed her. It was hard to look out at it every day and know he was never coming back.

  Officially, my father was dead. His body was never found though, after he went missing on the Everest Climb – a world famous broom race that he had been set to win that year – and after a few years had gone by, he was declared dead, and a funeral was held at the Witches’ Graveyard with an empty coffin.

  A soft knock came on my bedroom door. ‘Can I come in?’ Melissa’s voice whispered from the other side. I waved a finger, and the door snapped open.

  Melissa made a silent clap. ‘You’re getting so good,’ she said as she walked in. ‘It must be a relief to be able to use magic again after you were banned for so long.’ She sat down on my bed, her beautiful face forming into a scowl. ‘I hate that woman.’

  The woman in question was Melissa’s boss, the Minister for Magical Law, Justine Plimpton. For weeks after I became empowered, I had been banned from using magic. Justine wanted me to pass a certain amount of tests to prove I wasn’t a danger to the witching world. Or that was the excuse, anyway. Really, she just hated our coven and did her best to annoy us at any turn. After recent events, wherein I’d tracked down the warlock responsible for the kidnap and murder of a huge number of witches, Justine had been forced to relax the rules. I would still have to pass three more exams before I would be paid for investigating with my coven, but that was all right with me. I’d always been a nerd at heart. And whether I got paid or not, solving cases was just about the biggest rush in the world.

  ‘Join the club,’ I said, sitting next to Melissa and picking up one of my old cuddly toys, a little black cat called Minx. ‘Did I ever tell you I used to pretend this little lady was my familiar?’

  Melissa shook her head. ‘No, but I kind of knew. You used to take her everywhere and talk to her a lot.’

  ‘Yeah.’ I rubbed the toy. ‘I was so jealous of you and Princess. I wanted to be just like you.’

  She shoulder bumped me. ‘And now you’re not only empowered, but you’re also the most kick-ass witch in all the enclaves.’

  ‘Sure.’ I snorted. ‘So are you still going to phone Callum?’

  She shook her head. ‘No point anymore, is there? It’s clearly all a publicity stunt.’

  I moved closer to her, stroking the cat like a movie villain. ‘That’s probably true,’ I said. ‘But if you did happen to get to know him a bit better … maybe we could get a look inside Jasper’s house?’

  ‘Why?’ She wrinkled her perfect nose. ‘There’s no reason for us to snoop. Once the Call of the Wild get the go ahead to play the Halloween Ball, Jasper will come out of the woodwork.’

  ‘Maybe. Maybe not. And if it’s maybe not then at least we can fetch some of Wolfie’s toys. He’d probably feel better if he had something familiar around him.’

  Melissa narrowed her eyes. ‘You’re suspicious of something. What is it?’

  ‘I honestly don’t know. So …will you?’

  ‘Go out with the vainest guy in the universe just because you want me to?’ She sighed. ‘Sure. Why not? But on one condition.’

  ‘Name it.’

  She gave me a giddy little grin. ‘We have to have a sleepover tonight.’

  I grinne
d back at her and nodded. She waved her hand in the air, and her bed appeared in my room. ‘Now,’ she said. ‘It’s time to magic up some popcorn.’

  3. Potions at Eleven

  At five to eleven, I arrived at Riddler’s Cove School of Magic for my first Potions’ lesson. I was expecting to see the usual suspects there – Candace, Tommy and the other kids who took extra lessons. But as I stood outside the classroom door, I was all alone.

  I played with my phone. I doodled in my notebook. I wished, very hard, that I’d not had so many cups of coffee that morning. I was a tea girl, most of the time, but I liked coffee with cake. Or with exhaustion. And after a night spent gossiping with Melissa, I was definitely exhausted. Like far too many people, she thought that Gabriel looked much better as his TV persona. She actually liked the slick suits and obnoxious hairdos. Each to her own, I guess.

  So I needed three cups of strong black coffee just to be able to get dressed this morning. And on a stomach that had been lined with ice cream and popcorn all night long, it had made me feel just a little queasy.

  ‘I hope you’re going to be more alert during our lesson.’

  I stood up straight. A woman with short dark hair was striding towards me. She was wearing skinny jeans, biker boots and a baggy T-shirt. Her eyes were obscured behind dark glasses, and she was holding a large coffee in her hands. She took off the glasses, slugged back some coffee and grinned at me. ‘Because one of us needs to be. And I have had a hell of a night.’ She extended her free hand. ‘Hi Wanda. I’m Ronnie. We met briefly at your initiation and again at the Wizard’s Graveyard, but … well … you were a bit excited the first time and a bit unconscious the next, so I expect you’ve forgotten my face.’

  I smiled warmly. ‘No, I remember you. Ronnie Plimpton. Hey, aren’t you the Potions Professor at Crooked College?’