A Charming Wish

by Tonya Kappes

  “Not my name! And you could use a trip to the Lancome counter at a mall.” He wasn’t going to let her have the last word.

  “Big purple butthead!” The crystal ball looked like it was on fire, just like one of those projects in a glass blowing class.

  “Really? Big purple butthead?” Belur cackled, sending Madame Torres in an all-out tizzy.

  “You nogoodsonofa…” Madame Torres’s words ran together. Her gritted teeth and bright red lips were the only visible part of her face in the globe. I grabbed her with one hand and my bag with the other, stuffing her deep within.

  “I won’t have this, you two.” I didn’t feel well and I wasn’t their parent. I had to get over to the Mortimer’s to figure out if there was something about to happen, and if Belur has anything to do with it.

  Chapter Four

  “Yoo-hoo! June!” Bella Van Lou owner of Bellatrix Baubles, Bella’s Baubles for short, was walking down the sidewalk toward me, waving her hands in the air. The balls of her cheeks looked even more round than usual as her smile exposed the gap between her two front teeth. “I was just coming to see you.” She dangled something from her fingertips. “Are you not opening the shop today?”

  “I am. I’m just running down to Wicked Goods Bakery to make a quick visit with Faith.” I used my old skeleton key to lock the ornamental gate in front of A Charming Cure.

  Oh no. I wanted to look away when I realized she was holding a charm. A charm that had to be from Mr. Prince Charming.

  “I have a little gift for you from Mr. Prince Charming.” She flung her long blonde hair behind her shoulders and let it cascade down her five-foot two-inch frame. She held out the charm for me to take. “I have to say, he was adamant about this one. It’s a little different from most of the charms he has given you.”

  Reluctantly, I took the purple stone encased in a silver mesh. Instantly, I knew it meant protection…strong protection. But, from what? Mr. Prince Charming definitely didn’t like Belur and obviously, Madame Torres didn’t either. It had to be something to do with him and I had to get in touch with the Native American who delivers all my grasses for the smudging ceremonies that I perform for the group.

  “It’s a rose quartz pendent that will need to be put on your bracelet.” She reached out and touched my dangling charms from my wrist. “Immediately,” she said sharply.

  Immediately? That word caught my attention. I glanced up to find her eyes downcast.

  “Have you been feeling alright?” Bella swayed back and forth, her eyes assessing me. “I mean, you look great. Are you letting your hair grow out a little?”

  I was stupid. Bella’s spiritual talent was astrology and she could read the stars and gems.

  “I’m assuming I need protection from something?” I wasn’t going to beat around the bush. “Any ideas as to what that is?”

  “Now, June Heal,” She took a step back and placed her hands on her hips, “you know that the number one rule in Whispering Falls is that you can’t…”

  “Yeah, I know.” And I did know better. “You can’t read another spiritualist. But Mr. Prince Charming can let you in on a little known secret that I can’t know?”

  “He is different.” She reminded me. “He’s a Fairy god-cat and he is keeping you safe. You just need to do as I say and let’s get this on your bracelet.”

  Looking around Whispering Falls, the streets were starting to fill with up with customers who were milling around, going from shop to shop. There was no time for me to get her to put it on now; I planned to go see Faith.

  I unclasped the bracelet and dropped it into her open palm.

  “I’ll be by after work to get it.”

  “Sounds good.” She gestured for the pendent that I had tucked in the palm of my hand. “See you soon.”

  “Wait.” I quickly pulled my hand to my chest. “Do you know the name of the Native American who supplies me with smudging grass?”

  “Oh, Kenny.” She smiled, exposing the gap between her teeth. “Such a soft spoken man, but he does bring me the best turquoise stones you have every laid your spiritual eyes on.”

  “Kenny?” I tried not to chuckle, but I did. He definitely didn’t look like a ‘Kenny’. He looked like he could be Pocahontas’s brother.

  “What?” Bella asked. She held her hand high above her head. “He’s about yay tall with dark handsome features?”

  “Yep, that’s him.” I nodded. “Do you know how to reach him?”

  “No. He has a way of knowing exactly what we need and when we need it.” Bella shrugged. “He blows in with the wind and…”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know,” I waved my hands around, and then held my palm out for her to take the pendent, “out with the breeze.”

  “What do you need him for?” She questioned.

  “I need a few supplies.” I lied. But there was no way I was going to tell anyone about Belur. He was a type of spiritualist that everyone wanted. If anyone found out he was in my shop they would beat down the door trying to get him. After all, who wouldn’t want their wishes to be granted?

  “He’ll be back.” She took the pendent and rushed back down the street toward Bella’s Baubles. She hollered over her shoulder, “I’ll bring it back later today.”

  I crossed the street, nodding and smiling as I passed the people on the street, keeping Wicked Good Bakery in my sights. The bakery was owned by Faith’s sister and baker extraordinaire, Raven Mortimer. They shared the apartment over the bakery.

  The aroma of fresh baked cookies floated through the air. I smiled, knowing Raven probably sent the inviting homemade goodie’s smell throughout Whispering Falls. No one could ever resist one of Wicked Good’s tasty treats, not even me.

  I couldn’t help but smile when I saw a little car parked in front of the shop with a big plastic cupcake on top and Wicked Good’s logo plastered all over the sides.

  “Good morning! I love the new car.” I hollered to Raven. She was busy sticking all sorts of heavenly treats in a box for a waiting customer.

  “Good morning. We have so many deliveries outside of Whispering Falls that I had to get something. Plus it’s free promotion for the shop.” She smiled, sending a sparkle from her white teeth to her onyx eyes. Her long black hair was piled high in a loose bun atop her head. “I’ll be with you in a sec.” She held a finger up.

  Glancing around the charming confectionary, I couldn’t help but think how far our relationship had come. Just a little over a year ago, Faith, Raven and I met while attending Hidden Hall A Spiritualist University. I had just found out that I was, in fact, a spiritualist and as every village has rules, Whispering Falls was no different.

  They were classmates in my intuition class. Even though we got off on the wrong foot, in the end, we became friends, and that was when they moved to my magical little town.

  Besides Raven’s amazing pastry talents, her spiritual gift as an Aleuromancy was what had customers coming back. Messages and answers came to her in the form of her baking. The dough forms itself into shapes unbeknownst to her while little messages for incoming customers stick in the back of her head. Those customers always pick out the perfect pastry for them. Sometimes she could read like a medium, only the spirit wasn’t standing there as most mediums say they are.

  Faith was a Clairaudient spiritualist. She hears things beyond the naked ear. She can hear spirits, guides, and angels, or simply see into the future in some sort of mystical way.

  Unfortunately, her passion was the written word. She was the editor of Hidden Hall’s newspaper, but her spiritual gift wasn’t cut out for that type of work. So when she decided she wanted to open the only talking spiritual paper known to any spiritualist community, we were a little skeptical.

  And you could see why; most of the things she reported weren’t very accurate, sending a lot of villagers into a panic.

  “You be sure to go visit your grandmother.” Raven handed the boxed up goodies to her customer. She must’ve known something was going on wit
h the customer’s grandmother from the bakery goods or she wouldn’t have said that.

  She crossed the black and white checkered floor, wiping her hands down her pink Wicked Good apron, embracing me with a big welcome.

  “I’ve been thinking about you.” She pushed me an arm’s length away to get a look at me. She bit her lip, a sure sign she had something going on in the spiritual world for me to hear.

  “You have?” I questioned, remembering the number one spiritual rule. “I’m guessing you aren’t going to come out with it are you?”

  “Can’t. But if you ask…” she baited me.

  “Actually I’m here to see Faith.” I absolutely wanted to hear what she was chomping at the bit to tell me.

  “First let me give you these.” She swept back behind the counter, grabbing a box of what I knew was going to be a few freshly baked June’s Gems, her version of my favorite Ding Dong treat. “And while I was baking them…”

  “June, how are you? Are you getting your morning paper okay?” Faith emerged from the back of the bakery. Her onyx eyes twinkled with anticipation.

  Their eyes were the only hereditary trait the two sisters had between them. Faith had long blonde hair to Raven’s black, as well as being a Good-Sider Spiritualist while Raven was a Dark-Sider.

  “How rude, sister.” Raven scolded Faith just as the big sister always did. “I was telling her something before you interrupted.”

  “Geesh, I’m sorry,” Faith said, but she didn’t mean it. She continued, “Was it clear? The newspaper? I’ve been working on all the acoustics around these hills surrounding Whispering Falls.”

  “I can hear it loud and clear.” I wrung my hands together. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. “That’s the problem. You are very clear on what you are seeing or hearing, putting people in a panic, not to mention getting the Karima sisters hopes up in getting a body for a funeral.”

  “I’m just reporting as I hear it, see it, feel it.” She twitched her mouth back and forth. There was a little hurt look on her face. “That is what a good reporter with any reputable newspaper does.”

  “I know, but sometimes it’s not right.” I spoke with caution. “Remember the fireflies.”

  She leaned against the counter when I reminded her of the time the fireflies in the community, which were the souls of teenagers, were going to put on a spectacular Fourth of July light show with their glowing tails. It just so happened that there was also a paid advertisement about bug spray. She mixed the two up, and all the spiritualists, including me, ran out to buy a case of bug spray. Petunia was one big ball of mad when she reminded everyone that we couldn’t do bug spray because of the teenagers.

  The village was up in arms, and poor Izzy, the Village president, had to settle everyone down. It took days.

  “One little incident.” Faith held her long thin finger in the air. I glared at her. “Okay, four at the most.”

  “Do you think you could put the paper out a day later? You know, let the information that is coming to you simmer for a little bit? Give yourself some time to digest it and not just spit it out?”

  That was one thing she should’ve learned at Hidden Hall…how to deliver the message in a suitable, not so stinging way.

  “I agree with June.” Raven pulled down one of the four oven doors. Grabbing a mitt, she pulled out a pan of blueberry scones.

  “I don’t know who you think you are, June Heal,” Faith completely ignored what Raven was telling her and focusing her attention on me and anger shone on her face, “but if you think that some little herbalist is going to tell me how to run my business in Whispering Falls, you have another thing coming to you!”

  “Maybe you can work on the delivery without scaring people. That’s what gives our type of people a bad rap.” Raven didn’t waste time to take the mitts off her hands before she went over to comfort her sister. “But I have to say that June is spot-on this time.”

  Faith’s onyx eyes bore into me. “You will regret trying to tell me how to be a clairaudient”

  The beeping of a horn coming from the street caught our attention. The Karima sisters were slowly driving down Main Street in their hearse. Patience leaned out the window with a big ole smile on her face, causing the balls of her cheeks to make her eyes squinty.

  “Got us one!” She shouted and pointed to the gurney in the back. The gurney had a white sheet draped over it with something that clearly looked like the outline of a body underneath.

  Slowly I nodded to let her know that I saw it.

  “Weird!” Faith commented and darted to the back of the shop. Her thunderous footsteps hit the steps as she went back up to the apartment, followed by a door slam.

  “They are two sick old women.” Raven leaned her head to the side to watch the spectacle drive off to the Two Sisters and a Funeral Home before turning back to me. “Anyway, Faith was right this time. Something is brewing and that’s what I need to talk to you about.”

  Her hand shook as she lifted the box of June’s Gems in my direction.

  “I think I’d better sit down for this.” I took the box and a seat at the café table nearest to the window.

  Glancing down the road toward the funeral home, I took a June’s Gem out of the box and stuffed it in my mouth as I watched the Karima sisters get out of the hearse and do a little dance around to the back before pulling out their client.

  Chapter Five

  Chills ran up and down my spine as Raven confirmed my intuition that something was gravely wrong. And I couldn’t dismiss the fact that Faith had all but threatened me.

  Faith stormed back down to the shop, flailing her arms as she rushed through the doorway.

  “I admit I’m not spot-on, but there is definitely something not right in the air surrounding Whispering Falls. The spirits are chanting.” Faith closed her eyes, swaying back and forth as if being soothed by some sounds. “It’s a low murmur. Almost sad.”

  “Can you make out what the chant is about?” Most the time when we use chants in our spirit world, it’s about something important. “Brewing good? Bad?”

  There had to be some sort of information that she was getting that could translate into something useful. After all, I did receive a genie bottle that I didn’t dare tell anyone about. Well, maybe Oscar, but no one else. Then there were the Karima sisters, hauling some dead body in here. The body obviously had to be from out of town, because if someone had died in Whispering Falls, the word would’ve spread like wildfire.

  “Something about feathers.” Her onyx eyes popped open, her mouth dropped into an O and then she slammed it shut. “But you don’t have to believe me.”

  “What feathers?” I begged to know, thinking about the ostrich feathers.

  “You. . .um . . .need to find something to replace your Ding Dongs.” She fixed her eyes on me, there was hatred resting in them.

  With my elbows planted on the table, I repeated, “Feathers, Ding Dongs?”

  “Yes, something with feathers is surrounding you.” Raven said in a hushed whisper as new customers began to file in. “Darla came in the form of the June’s Gems. She said there was grave danger around your shop.”

  Darla was always coming up in my June’s Gems. She never approved of Ding Dongs when I was little, which Oscar and I hid them from her, and she never would approve of my addiction to them now. Which reminded me, I had been running low on my stash and I needed to run off to Locus Grove to grab some from the local Piggly Wiggly.

  “Speaking of feathers, do you know Kenny, the supplier of my smudging grass?”

  “Yes, I know Kenny.” Raven turned to see the new customers coming through the door. “He delivers my secret ingredient for your June’s Gems. As a matter of fact, he’s been late on his deliveries lately and I’m not happy with him.”

  She reminded me of the delicious box of treats I was holding in my hand. I sat down at one of the café tables waiting for her to finish up with the customers.

  Sigh…the smell of delicious cho
colate seeped through the creases of the box, making my stomach growl. With anticipation, I opened the box. If there was ever a time I needed a Ding Dong it would be now, and a June’s Gem was the closest I was going to get until I drove into Locust Grove.

  While Raven helped some of her customers, I chomped down on my treat and tried to figure out how I could channel Kenny to give Belur back to him. Belur had caused an awful stir with Madame Torres. She didn’t want him around and I certainly didn’t have time to babysit another spiritual guide in my life.

  “What is that all about?” Raven interrupted my thoughts. “You are devouring that Gem and that means you are stressed.”

  I pulled on her apron so she had to bend down to my chair, and I whispered, “I think I have Kenny’s genie.”