by Geof Johnson
She held up her hand and raised two fingers. “Witches’ honor.”
“Is there such a thing?”
“No, but this will work. Never fails.”
“All right.” He nodded. “Let’s do it.”
“Hold on.” Rita shook one finger at him. “What’re you doing for an alibi? Sandra’s gonna know it was you, and she’ll sic Deputy Fife on you, sure as sunrise.”
“Got a plan, ma’am.” He grinned. “Goin’ fishin’ at Gulf Shores for a couple days with some friends while my brothers and my cousin pay a little midnight visit to the old house. Cousin Felix’s got a trailer for the bike, so they’ll just roll it on up and…” — he jerked his thumb back over his shoulder — “Adios, motorcycle.”
Rita looked at him for a long moment while Cassandra casually inspected her fingernails. “All right. Just so our names aren’t dragged into this.” Rita pulled a large manila envelope from under her arm. “This is what you’re gonna do.”
Louis stepped closer while Rita reached inside the envelope and withdrew a plastic drinking straw. “Look, close,” she said, touching one end of the straw. “There’s a powder in here — powerful stuff, so be careful — and each end has a little paper plug in it to hold the powder in. There’s a little bit of tape on it for good measure, but you gotta handle this gently or the powder will spill. You need to find a crack somewhere in the house, like an open window, or under a door or something…can you do that?”
“Rita, I used to live there, remember? I know of lots of cracks.”
“Good. When you’re ready, pull out one of the plugs and put your thumb over it.” She paused and said, “Are you getting this? ’Cause you’re gonna have to explain it to your brothers, and they’re not the brightest bulbs in the chandelier.”
“I’ll write it down, soon as we’re done.”
“No, that’s evidence if somebody finds it. Just pay attention.” She touched the straw again. “Take the other plug out and put the straw up to the crack and blow hard on the other end…tell ’em to be careful not to inhale any of it, or they’ll be taking a sudden nap. Probably a good idea to rinse their mouth out afterwards, too, just to be safe. Bring a bottle of water.” She gestured at Louis. “Got it so far?”
He nodded and she continued. “Give the powder about ten minutes to work. Everybody inside the house will be zonked for a few hours, so you’ll have plenty of time.” She scratched her cheek for a moment with a long red fingernail. “Now, explain to me exactly how you’re getting the bike out.”
“Sandra’s keeping it in the shed next to the house, and I heard she let the air out of the tires and drained the gas tank, just in case. So the boys are gonna use a foot pump on the tires and roll it out of there and down the street a bit to where the trailer will be parked.”
Cassandra finally lost interest in her manicure. “Why not just gas it up and drive it off?”
“You ever heard my Harley? It’ll wake the whole neighborhood.”
“That’s a good plan,” Rita said, reaching into the envelope again. “They’ll need this, though, in case anybody drives by or looks out their window.” She pulled out a jade pendant, a twin to the one she wore, attached to a long leather thong.
She held it up and said, “Whoever’s not pushing the bike needs to take this and twirl it real good.”
“What’ll that do?” Louis said.
“It’ll fix it so that anybody driving by or looking out their window won’t really know what they’re seeing. It’ll make ’em kinda stupid and forgetful for a bit.”
“Kinda like your cousin Felix,” Cassandra said, popping her gum for punctuation.
Louis looked skeptical. “What’s to keep my brothers and Felix from getting forgetful, too?”
“I was getting to that.” Rita reached into the envelope again and pulled out three woven bracelets. “Tell them to wear these. They’ve got a counter charm on ’em, so the boys won’t be affected by the pendant. There’s a spare one in here. Don’t lose it.”
“Cool.” Louis took one of the bracelets and held it closer for a better look.
“When are they planning to do this?” Rita said.
“Monday night. I’m going to Gulf Shores tomorrow.”
“Tell one of your brothers to stop by the house so I can go over this with them. And I want the pendant and bracelets back when they’re done. You can bring ’em when you bring our money.” She handed him the envelope. “One more thing.” She waved one hand in front of Louis in a complicated gesture and mumbled a few words. “There.”
“What was that?” Louis’s eyebrows drew down.
“It’s a curse. Bring the money and the pendant and bracelets and I’ll remove it. That is, if you don’t want body parts to start falling off unexpectedly.” She glanced at his crotch.
Louis’s eyes flared wide and he nodded fervently. “I’ll bring everything soon as I sell the bike, I promise.”
“You need to go put that envelope in your trunk before somebody sees it.”
“Yeah. Thanks Rita. And Cassandra.” He waved the envelope at them. “Thanks a lot.”
He walked away, and when he was out of earshot, Cassandra said, “That wasn’t no curse.”
Rita chuckled. “He doesn’t know that.”
* * *
Jamie checked the address on the mailbox before pulling in: 2205. This must be Melanie’s house. He parked in the driveway and texted Fred that he’d arrived. Wonder why she didn’t want me to come to the door?
A minute later, Fred came down the front steps, wearing a black dress and heels and carrying an overnight bag in one hand and her purse in the other. She opened the passenger door and slid in.
“Did you have a good time?” Jamie asked as he put the car in reverse.
Fred only shrugged.
“What did y’all do?”
“Not much.” She looked out of the passenger window as the car backed out of the driveway.
“Was the movie good?”
“It was okay.” She still wouldn’t look at him.
He put the car in drive and bit his lip. She’s mad. “Do you want to talk?” He glanced at her and all she gave was a tiny shrug, barely more than a twitch. He exhaled slowly out of one side of his mouth. Guess I’ll have to wait until she cools off.
She turned on him so suddenly that his foot hit the brake, jerking them to a stop in the middle of the road. Her eyes were angry enough to spark a fire. “How could you?”
“How could I what?”
“I’ve waited almost my whole life for you to love me, and then you go and make plans to leave me behind, to go off to school somewhere just so you can hang out with your buddy, Bryce.”
“But —”
“I feel like a fool, thinking that I was more important than him.” She crossed her arms and looked away.
Jamie shook his head and resumed driving. She’s not being fair. He gritted his teeth and thought about something his father told him once about maintaining a happy relationship — always say “I was wrong, dear,” even when you’re not. I don’t want to say that. But I don’t want to make her madder, either. He cleared his throat. “Fred, nobody’s more important than you.”
“Oh really? You didn’t consult me at all about this Western Carolina thing.”
He turned the car onto the street that led to the church. “I tried to yesterday, but you wouldn’t let me. You were too busy talking about yourself.”
“Oh, so it’s my fault? It’s my fault that you made plans that didn’t include me?”
He pulled the car into the church’s parking lot and steered into an open space. “I haven’t made any plans. All I did was talk to a coach, and he approached me…I didn’t contact him. I had no idea he was coming.” He took a deep breath. “And I don’t even know if I want to go there.”
Fred opened her door when the car stopped and said, “Well, I don’t either.” She slammed the door and stomped off, leaving Jamie shaking his head, bewildered.
; But I didn’t do anything wrong!
* * *
Jamie became aware of the sky first, a soft, velvety blue of a sky, with delicate puffs of cookie-cutter white clouds drifting by like cotton balls on parade. He was lying on soft grass. I’m in the dream meadow again. He felt a gentle hand on his forehead. “Hey, Fred.” His head was in her lap.
“Hey, yourself.” She smiled.
That’s a good sign. “Are you not mad at me anymore?”
She gave a little shrug. “I don’t know. We’ll see. If you’re a good boy, I’ll forgive you.”
She’s not mad. “I’m always a good boy.” He grinned up at her.
She rubbed her hand through his hair and her lips trembled for a moment before she pressed her mouth into a tight line. “Jamie, I’m really sorry. I was so mean to you yesterday. I was tired and cranky ’cause I didn’t sleep much at Melanie’s house. I know that’s no excuse, but —
“That’s okay. I know —”
“No.” She put a finger on his lips. “I overreacted, and I’m sorry. It’s just…it’s just that I love you so much and I can’t bear the thought of losing you.”
“You’re never going to lose me.”
“I mean, of us being apart. I waited so long for you! I don’t want to…oh, I don’t know what I mean.”
“Fred, we’re not going to be apart. I can visit you anywhere, if we’re careful, even if we go to different schools. But we need to talk about that…where we want to go.” He smiled wistfully. “But if we go to separate schools, I don’t know what we’re gonna tell your roommate when I suddenly appear out of nowhere.”
“We’ll just have to get her to swear the oath, won’t we?” Fred giggled. “But what a perfect way to sneak you into my dorm room!”
“You want to tell another girl about our magic? Melanie and your dorm mate and —”
“Melanie might be my dorm mate. We talked about it last night.”
“Oh.” Didn’t see that coming. “You’re gonna go to the same school?”
“We might. We might go to Western Carolina. Who knows?”
“I don’t know if I am or not. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. My dad wants me to go to UNC at Chapel Hill, but I’m kinda thinking like Bryce now. I want to make my own choice.”
“What’s Western Carolina like?”
“The campus is beautiful. I looked at some pictures on the Internet. I’ll let you know once Bryce and I go visit it.”
“I want to go with you when you visit. I’ll talk to Melanie and see if she wants to go, too. We can ride with you.”
“You don’t think Sally will get jealous?”
“She can come with us.”
“I guess that would work.” He reached up and caressed her cheek. “I’m glad you’re not mad anymore.”
She gave her head a tight shake and exhaled heavily. “Me, too. It’s just that I’m so in love with you and when you told me you might go away to school, I went crazy. All I could think was that I finally had you and then you’d be gone.” She frowned.
“Fred, don’t worry about it. Nothing can keep us apart.”
“I know.” She leaned close and kissed him lightly on the forehead. “Because we’ve got magic.”
You can say that again.
Chapter 17
The trees in Jamie’s backyard had lost most of their leaves, and the gray sky threatened rain. Fred hugged herself against the chill November wind.
“Okay,” she said, closing her eyes. “How about now?”
Jamie sat next to her in the gazebo. He leaned forward in his rocking chair and squeezed his eyes shut. “Nope. Not a thing.” He looked at her and shrugged.
“Then let me see if I can tell what you’re thinking instead.” She put both hands on either side of her head and concentrated. “Are you thinking of something?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not getting anything. What were you thinking?”
“The square root of sixteen is four.”
“I’m trying to read your mind and you’re thinking about math? You could at least think of something romantic.”
“I knew you’d think that, so I tried to trip you up so you couldn’t guess.”
She sighed and sat back in her rocker. “It’s no use. We can’t communicate telepathically.”
“We can when we’re asleep, because that’s what we’re really doing in our dream visits. We just can’t when we’re awake.”
“That would be so convenient, though. Better than cell phones.”
“Yeah. No data caps.”
“Funny.” She bit one corner of her lower lip. “Did Eddan know anything about witches being telepathic?”
“Hard to say. I’ve been sorting through his memories, but I can’t find anything.”
“Did he know about the dream talking?” He shrugged again and she frowned at him. “Jamie, you’re no help.”
“Hey, it’s not like his memories are indexed or anything. I can’t go into my brain and enter a keyword in a search box and find what I want.”
“He had to know something else about witches. Didn’t you say there were plenty of them around where he lived?”
“Well, he didn’t hang out with any. He didn’t hang out with anybody, for that matter. But he definitely didn’t know any intimately. He didn’t date any.”
She grinned. “Like you do.”
“Oh.” He blinked a couple of times. “Have you gotten used to the idea that you’re a witch?”
“I guess.” She gave her head a little shake with her eyes closed. “I’ve been called worse.”
“That’s not nice.”
“You know how high school kids are.”
“Everybody likes you, Fred. At least, everybody I know.”
She looked at him but didn’t reply. She pulled her hand out of her coat pocket and reached for his, his warm and sensitive fingers reassuring as they wove together with hers. “Jamie, if I had a spell book, what kind of magic would be in it?”
“Let’s see….” He looked across the yard, his face thoughtful. “Eddan looked through a few, I think. There would probably be charms and hexes and stuff.”
“But…how would I do them?”
“Mostly with potions and powders. Lots of grinding herbs and dried plants and mixing smelly liquids.”
“Kind of like chemistry class.”
Jamie laughed. “Yeah, it is. Good thing you made an A in it, huh?”
“Will I have to wear safety goggles and an ugly apron?” It was her turn to grin.
Jamie laughed again. “You could have your own lab. A witch’s lab!” His face turned thoughtful again. “You know, it just occurred to me. Witches really do a kind of applied chemistry…and Eddan was sort of a research scientist, only he didn’t call it that. He didn’t know that concept.”
“So is that what we’re gonna do when we grow up?” She let go of his hand and poked him in the ribs? Mr. and Mrs. Magic Scientists?” Oh! I shouldn’t have said that. That sounds like we’re married…we’ve never talked about that.
Jamie smiled and shook his head. “If I could make a career out of studying magic, I would…but I don’t think I can. Doubt I can major in it.”
Fred laughed with him. Then he said, “I’m getting cold. Let’s go in and make some hot chocolate.”
“I’ll make it. I need the practice making potions.”
* * *
Rachel brushed a lock of light brown hair out of her face and checked the oven temperature. Three-seventy-five. I can put the chicken in. She heard the front door close and she turned to the doorway and said, “Jamie, is that you?”
“Yes ma’am.” He appeared in the family room and dropped his backpack and athletic bag on the couch. “When’s dinner? I’m starving.”
“One hour. You’ve got time to shower and do some homework.” She put the casserole dish, layered with chicken breasts, cheese and pasta, in the oven. “You got another call from a coach a while ago. He said he was from East Ca
rolina. Do you want to call him back?”
“Not really.” He exhaled hard between compressed lips. “Suppose I should, though. It would the polite thing to do.”
“You turned down the coach at Fayetteville State, too. Don’t you think you should at least check them out?”
“I do not want to go to school in Fayetteville.”
“So what’s wrong with East Carolina then? It’s pretty close to the beach.”
“Bryce doesn’t want to go there. He already talked to their coach.”
She put one hand on her hip. “So your decision on where to go to college is going to be made by Bryce?”
“No. If you want to know the truth, I don’t care if I run college cross country or not. It would be fun if Bryce does and we could keep running together, ’cause he’s my buddy. But otherwise, I’d rather just be a normal student. I don’t need the scholarship that bad, anyway.”
“Just because we got that money from Eddan doesn’t mean you should turn down a free education, young man. We are not rich, by any stretch of the imagination.”
“I didn’t mean —”
“I know what you meant. You’re getting a little too big for your britches lately. You should be grateful that these coaches are offering you the opportunity to come to their schools.” She shook a mixing spoon at him. “A little humility goes a long way.”
Jamie looked at her with a whimsical expression.
“What?”
He chuckled. “Nothing. It’s just that you sounded like Gramma just then.”
She opened her mouth but no words came out for a moment. “Well…good advice is good advice…you should listen….” She closed her mouth hard for another moment. “Just go take a shower!”
Jamie chuckled and went upstairs.
* * *
Fred’s nostrils stung from the acrid vapors rising from the pot on the front burner of the stove. She gave it quick stir and checked the recipe on the counter beside her. One teaspoon ground Indigo Weed. May substitute bay leaves. Hmm. She opened the spice cabinet again and searched. I know I saw some bay leaves in here. At the very back, hiding behind the marjoram, she found a bottle.
