A Charming Wish

by Tonya Kappes

  There wasn’t a reason I shouldn’t tell him now. He wasn’t the sheriff in charge. He was just my boyfriend trying to help me out.

  “Have you ever seen the show I Dream of Jeannie?” I put my hands together and placed them over my head like a genie and bobbled my head side-to-side. He nodded. “Well, I think Kenny accidentally left a genie in the sage pile he left at A Charming Cure because I’m now the master of Belur, a big purple genie. Turban, pointy shoes, bottle and all.”

  “Why is that a problem?”

  My eyes narrowed. There was something going on within Oscar’s body that I wasn’t able to pinpoint.

  “Who wouldn’t want a genie?” He tapped the pen to his temple. “I’d love to have him. Wish to find the killer.”

  “I can’t wish a wish like that. It’s against all the spiritual rules and I’d hate to see what they’d do to me.” I shudder at the possibilities.

  “What who would do to you?” Oscar asked. He was all sorts of confused.

  “The spiritual community.” I laughed. This decision of leaving his powers had to be affecting him more than he wanted to admit.

  “June, don’t tell me you believe in all the witchcraft, voodoo crap.” Vigorously he wrote on the napkin and then pointed to the word ‘genie’. “You really believe that you believe in genies now.” He scoffed. “Let me guess. . .” he rubbed his chin, “…big guy in Tone Loc pants?”

  “We do live in Whispering Falls.” I reminded him. “And yes, a genie.”

  “You do, but I live in Locust Grove.” He put the pen and paper in his lap and looked at me. He was serious. “Where I have always lived. You went to Whispering Falls to open the shop. Are you sure you can, for sure, one hundred percent, say you didn’t kill that guy? You might be sniffing too much of those herbs you call cures.”

  “I...I...” Suddenly, I realized that without his spiritual gift, Oscar had no recollection of the past year and a half. It was as if he was slipping back into the Oscar Park I knew before we moved to Whispering Falls. The pre-spiritualist Oscar Park. “Of course I didn’t kill him and that is why I came to you. I need your help.”

  “And you have it.” He put the Green Machine in drive and headed into Locust Grove. “I’ve got to get to work. The chief is going to kill me for being late.”

  Oscar talked on and on about the new projects Locust Grove police station was doing and told all of these stories as if he had never left. If this was the case, did he not know that I was a spiritualist, a witch of sorts?

  “Thanks for breakfast.” He put the car in park right in front of his childhood home, across the street from Darla’s and my old house. “Spending time with my best friend is a great way to start the day. Especially, since you barely have time for me since you moved and work all day.”

  Breakfast? Best Friend? His memory of the past was being replaced right in front of my eyes.

  “Yea, you’re welcome.” I slid over to the driver’s side when he got out. My heart sunk to my tippy toes.

  “I’ll call you later this afternoon so we can work on this little murder thing.” He gave me a strange look before he slammed the car door. “Try not to worry.”

  I watched him walk into the house.

  Rowr, rowr. Mr. Prince Charming jumped down from the dashboard and planted his paws on the windowsill, looking at the house.

  Just a few days ago when I had gone into Locust Grove to go to the Piggly Wiggly, I had passed our old houses. Both of them looked run down and unkept. Today they are vibrant and welcoming.

  “So I guess Oscar’s memory of being a spiritualist was wiped out when he decided he didn’t want to leave me and our. . .” A lump settled in my throat. Tears welled in my eyes, “he doesn’t remember our relationship?”

  Meow, meow. Mr. Prince Charming sat down on the passenger side, dragging his tail along the seat.

  “I will get him back.” I vowed before putting the Green Machine in drive and heading into Locust Grove.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The Piggly Wiggly parking lot was full of cars, which really shouldn’t be a surprise since it was the only grocery store within twenty miles of Locust Grove.

  “Ugh!” I sighed when there weren’t any spots near the front of the store, and parked in the last spot way in the back of the lot. “Okay, Madame Torres.” I pulled her out of my bag. Resisting the urge to ask her about Oscar, I asked to see Adeline. The ball glowed green with black electric lines like a spider’s web. The glow dampened to a pale yellow as Adeline’s office inside the Piggly Wiggly came into focus.

  She was sitting at her desk shaking her fist at the same person I had seen in my crystal ball before. By the look in her eyes, I could tell she wasn’t happy and they were arguing. I had to get in there and see who he was.

  I couldn’t help but think he was part of the missing June’s Gems that I was sure Adeline had stolen in order to keep George. She would do anything to keep him and she has proven that over and over by coming to A Charming Cure for potions dealing with love, or at least that was what my intuition told me.

  “Oh, no!” I held Madame Torres inches from my face. “Is all of this my fate since I used a love potion on Adeline?”

  “Yes!” A puff of smoke gave way to Mary Ellen, the younger of the three elders, who was sitting cross legged in the passenger seat with Mr. Prince Charming in her lap.

  Purr, purr. He was happily curled up.

  “I’ve always adored you, Mr. Prince Charming.” She continued to scratch his ears. “Yes, you are in a tad bit of trouble.”

  “And you appear just like that?” I waved my hands in the air.

  “Of course.” She smiled, her eyes narrowing. “We are a lot alike. I was a village president at one time as well as young and fun and got in trouble a time or two.”

  “I didn’t do anything they are accusing me of.” I tried to get an intuition reading from her. “We are nothing alike. I wish I had the cool powers you had, plus your fashion sense.”

  She had exchanged the leopard print coat for a long red form-fitting cloak that showed off her curves perfectly. Her long black hair, which was straight when I first met her, lay in loose curls across her shoulders.

  “We have a lot more in common than you think. You will find out soon enough.” She picked up Madame Torres and tapped the ball. True to form, Madame Torres didn’t appear. She didn’t like too many people other than me. “She’s a wicked one.”

  “She is.” Carefully I took Madame Torres from her. The last thing I needed today was a mad ball.

  “Anyway,” she brushed her hands together as if Madame Torres made her dirty, “you had distinct orders not to perform spells on any other spiritualist, which you went ahead and did with Faith.” Her eyes darkened. “Not to mention the little love stuff you are helping Adeline with.” She pointed toward the Piggly Wiggly.

  “I guess you do know all that I have done.” I hung my head in shame. The edges of my hair tickled my chin, making me want long hair like Mary Ellen’s.

  “We all do. I’m the only one willing to help you.”

  Just as quickly as she appeared, she disappeared, only this time the smoke was hot pink.

  “Just like you to leave in style!” I shouted out into the air.

  Mary Ellen’s cackle echoed in the Green Machine, making me laugh. I had to assume she would show up when she had something to tell me or let me know how she was going to help me. I wasn’t holding my breath.

  “I’ll be right back,” I assured Mr. Prince Charming. Surely if he thought I was in danger he would have tried to stop me, but he didn’t.

  The Piggly Wiggly was busy and I was happy I wasn’t grocery shopping. Taking a detour down aisle five, just in case there happened to be any Ding Dongs, I made my way back to the office. I only hoped I wasn’t too late to see who she was talking to.

  Putting my ear to the door, I listened. I didn’t hear anything. I tapped on the door and heard footsteps.

  “June?” Adeline questioned. “
What are you doing here?” She held the door tight to her body. The crack was too small for me to see in the room, but I rolled up on my tippy toes to peer in just in case.

  Nothing.

  “I wanted to ask you about yoga.” I rolled up and down on my toes again. “I’m sure this is some sort of yoga move.”

  I did my best to cover up my strange behavior.

  “Sure, come on in.” She opened the door revealing she was the only one in the room. “There really aren’t a lot of options out there. I have been looking.”

  She plopped down on the ground. Her legs outstretched in front of her. She bent one leg, placing her heel under the opposite thigh, and repeating the same move with her other leg, crossing them. She positioned herself with her spine, neck and body erect. I wondered what she was doing as she placed her hands on her knees, with her palms up.

  “Ohoomm. . .” she moaned with her eyes closed. “This is Sukasana pose. It helps clear a busy mind and creates inner harmony.”

  Inner harmony?

  “Is your harmony off?” I questioned. “I can give you a …er…remedy for that.” I tried to tap into her intuition, but was drawing a blank.

  Her eyes popped open, “Not that I don’t think your remedies work, but George is right. I can’t rely on you for all of my quirks.”

  “Why not?” My nose got a whiff of chocolate. Throwing my head in the air, I took another sniff as my intuition led me near Adeline’s desk. The scent was stronger and my gut pulled. I had no idea what I was looking for and had to keep questioning her to find whatever it was. “They aren’t necessarily remedies. They just sort of help you cope.”

  She was busy looking for inner harmony with her eyes closed and she didn’t notice me searching around.

  “You are kind of my go-to pal for all things I have problems with. So maybe we should do more things as friends.”

  My eyes widened and my stomach churned when I saw the half-eaten June’s Gem in the trash can. How did she get it? When did she get it? More importantly, why on earth would she not finish it?

  “June?” Suddenly she was standing next to me.

  “Uh. Huh?” Startled, I jumped around, trying to figure out what was going on. My mind was cloudy.

  “I said we should do more things as friends instead of the therapist type of relationship we having going on.” She put her hand on her desk and leaned on it. “Like yoga. It seems like we could both use a little stress relief.”

  Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. Darla’s tried-and-true words to live by rang in my head. Sometimes Darla’s little quotes came in handy, but I didn’t always agree on her natural way of living, especially with food.

  I looked up as if Darla could see me, and wondered what she was thinking about the whole Ding Dong situation. I couldn’t help but think that she was happy. She hated the chocolatey goodies.

  “June?” Adeline’s eyebrows rose as she put her face inches from mine. “See, you aren’t really here. You are out in la-la land.” She poked my shoulder. “That is why you need yoga.”

  “Well, I did come here to ask about it.”

  “Great!” She jumped in place. “I can come to your house or you can come to mine.” She scribbled her address on a piece of paper and handed it to me. “We can try a few things I found on the internet until we find a yoga studio.”

  “How about your place?”

  Her place was perfect! I would be able to snoop around to see if she had anything to do with the June’s Gems missing from Wicked Good. The more I thought about how she could steal from Raven and pin it on me the madder I got.

  “Sure.” She smiled, rounding her cheeks into rosy mounds. “Call before you come.”

  “I will do that.” I rolled my eyes at her, but she didn’t see it. She was too busy looking at her watch.

  “Hey, I will be right back.” Hurriedly she walked to the door. “I have a very important delivery today and I want to see if it’s here yet.

  “Important delivery?” I spat the words out contemptuously after she left the room. Looking down at the trash can, I couldn’t help but get angrier and angrier trying to figure why she would do such a thing. “What are you up too, Adeline?” I pumped my fist to the side, just as a puff of smoke filled the air around me.

  “What the…” I blinked several times as I realized my hands were gripping the steering wheel of the Green Machine. Quickly I let go as if I were touching fire. “. . .hell!”

  My breath caught in my throat as my heart pounded.

  Meow, meow. Mr. Prince Charming sat ever so elegantly on the passenger seat with a smug little smile on his face. If only he could talk.

  “Madame Torres.” I grabbed her out of my bag and held her up to my face. “What was that?”

  “What?” She yawned.

  “I’m sorry; did I wake you up from your little nap?” I sarcastically added, not letting her answer. “How in the world did I go from inside of Adeline’s office to here without walking out of there?” I pointed to the front of the store with one hand and held her up to see with the other.

  “I don’t know. Maybe it’s some sort of new gift you got since you took over as village president.” She did worry about my little mishap too much as she brought her fingernails up to her eyes to inspect them. “Maybe you need to ask the elders. They seem to be know-it-alls.”

  “I’m serious. Do you know anything about this?” I held her up to my face. This was not a normal gift for me. “I am an intuitionist, not a. . .well. . . witch.” The word left my mouth in a hushed whisper.

  Placing my hand over my opened mouth that I couldn’t seem to shut, my mind started drifting with all sorts of possibilities. These were thoughts that would have never crossed my mind. When I accepted the position, did it really come with all sorts of powers that I had never even dreamed of? Did all my powers have to match or even go beyond those of the citizens in the community?

  Blankly, I stared out the windshield. I wasn’t sure what to do. Oscar’s memory had been swiped clean as if he never knew he was a spiritualist, and he obviously had no clue I was one, so he was not someone I could talk to.

  Eloise thinks I’m on house arrest and when she finds out I left, she will be mad.

  The Elders won’t help me; they are only worried about ‘making sure the community doesn’t get a bad name.’

  Hiss, hiss. Mr. Prince Charming’s back raised up as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.

  “I hate to, but it’s my only hope.” I rubbed down his back, thinking about Aunt Helena and vividly picturing Hidden Hall, A Spiritualist University before I plunged my hands down to my side.

  Chapter Eighteen

  That wasn’t so bad, I thought as I looked down the street of the University. I could probably get use to traveling around this way.

  Mr. Prince Charming darted ahead of me. He knew his way around and would be fine.

  “Nice to see you,” the voice came before I saw the body.

  “Hi, Gus.” I would recognize his voice from anywhere. “It’s lovely to hear you.”

  “And to see you.” His mischievous smile appeared before his tall lanky body did.

  Gus was a shape-shifting Clairvoyant. He was all over the place and reading the dead better than anyone I had ever know. Well. . .I guess I didn’t know many, but he was good at it.

  “You got your hair cut.” I said.

  There was a sense of more of a grown-up Gus from the last time I had seen him.

  He brushed his hands through the shorter version of his old shaggy ash-blond hair. His brown eyes rolled, “Your aunt told me I needed to be more presentable if I was going to continue to be her assistant.”

  “Well, you certainly are trying.” I noticed his usual cargo shorts and T-shirt had been replace by khaki pants and a button-down, though his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows.

  “Are you here to finish your classes?” he asked as we walked toward campus.

  The streets were filled with students. M
any more than I recall being there before.

  “I’m working on my level twenty-eight and a few other things.” I didn’t want to tell him everything. “What’s with all the students?”

  “Since you left, the University opened up the divide between the Dark-Siders and Good-Siders.”

  “Oh.” My eyebrows lifted in delight as I looked down the street toward the edge of the University where the Dark-Siders lived, and I noticed it had become a much brighter area.

  The Dark-Siders and Good-Siders could never really get along well enough to co-habit. Luckily, I was able to show them we could live in harmony the last time I was here. It was hard, and both sides still have to refrain from using their gifts on the other, but it seemed to be working out pretty well.