Alba stared at me with her brow furrowed. “Duh.”
“If Auggie Stone hadn’t poisoned my grandfather, he’d still be alive!” The thought excited me. How cool would it be to have a grandfather in my life?! For years I’d wanted to have a dad in my life, but having my grandfather in my life would’ve been almost as good.
“Yeah, well, we can’t even think of a way to reverse a silly old curse,” said Libby. “Now you want to go off on a wild tangent and try and bring your grandfather back to life? We’re in a little bit of a time crunch, I’m afraid.”
I shook my head. “No, no, no. You don’t get what I’m saying.” The ideas were still flooding in. I pushed myself up and shoved my chair under the table. I had to walk around a little and let out some of the nervous energy that was starting to build in my system. “If he hadn’t been killed, the curse would’ve never happened.” I smiled at the group wildly. They all stared back at me with blank expressions on their faces. “Don’t you get it, girls? It’s not about reversing the curse. It’s about making sure the curse never happened!”
Libby and Cinder’s eyes both widened simultaneously. “A time reversal spell!” they said in unison.
Alba palmed her forehead. “Red, do you know how dangerous that is? We haven’t learned a single thing about messing with time.”
I looked at the twins. “Have either of you?”
They both shook their heads.
Libby lifted a shoulder. “Not like a full-fledged travel-back-in-time spell. We’ve done a five-minute time rewind before. But that’s completely different.”
“Well, then, we’ve got a lot of work to do to figure out how to do a full-fledged travel-back-in-time spell,” I said excitedly. “Let’s check the card catalog. There has to be a book here.”
The group of us rushed over to the card catalog, and Alba pulled open the T drawer. She flipped through cards until she got to a card that said “Time travel spells.” She’d no sooner glanced at it than she looked up at me and the rest of the girls. “Third floor.”
“Looks like we’re paying Clara a visit, girls.”
Clara Mason was the third floor’s resident ghost. She’d assisted us in checking out books on a few other occasions, and now, after a year of witch school, I was finally unafraid of paying her a visit. After retrieving the key from its secret hiding spot, we rushed the stairs to find Clara waiting for us at the top with a smile on her face.
“Hello, girls,” she said in her usual sweet voice.
“Hi, Clara,” said Holly, also braver than she’d been during those first few months of school.
“I haven’t seen you in quite a while. How are things going?”
“Not so good, I’m afraid,” I said. “Clara, these are two of our friends. This is Libby, and this is Cinder.”
“It’s so nice to meet you, girls.”
Neither Libby nor Cinder had the ghost-seeing abilities of a medium, so seeing Clara was a bit of a shock to them. They both gave her nervous smiles. “Nice to meet you too,” they said in unison.
“I’m sorry things aren’t going well for you. What can I help you with?”
“We need to find a book—” I began.
Alba cut in. “About time travel. It’s by Davis Krasnikov.”
“Oh! I know the very book!” Clara turned around and started towards the stacks. “It’s called Traveling into Time. What an amazing read. Mr. Krasnikov chronicled his journey through time in that book. I’ve read it several times. It’s a very interesting book.”
Alba curled her lip. “You mean it’s an autobiography?”
“Why, yes,” she said, stopping in her tracks and turning around to face us again. “Do you still want it?”
“Do you have any other books on time travel?” asked Alba. “More like an instructional book or a spell book.”
Clara tapped a finger on her chin. “No, I’m afraid not. At least not up here. There might be other books on time travel on the second floor. But that’s the only book I have.” She smiled kindly. “But I think you’ll really like it. It’s a riveting read.”
“Does he tell how he managed to travel back in time?” asked Cinder.
Clara nodded. “He did go into some detail about his early failures and how he ultimately succeeded in time traveling.”
“Then we’ll take it,” said Alba.
Clara handed Alba the book. On the cover was a picture of an old man holding an infant. “That’s Davis,” she said, pointing at the old man.
“Is that his baby?” asked Holly.
Clara giggled. “Oh no, dear. That’s Davis too. He’s holding himself as a baby during one of his trips through time.”
Alba smiled broadly. “This has gotta work.” She pulled the card from the front pocket. “I’ll check it out. Three days, right?”
“Yes, dear. Three days,” Clara agreed. If the book wasn’t returned by sunset on the third day, whoever checked out the book would pay the penalty by taking Clara’s place as the third-floor ghost.
Alba nodded as she scribbled her name on the small card and handed it to Clara. “Don’t worry. I’ll have it back by then.”
“Very good, dear. Thank you so much for coming to see me again.”
“Thank you for your help, Clara.”
At the bottom of the stairs, Alba looked at me curiously. “If this is only an autobiography, I wonder why they’re keeping it on the third floor. I thought only books that were potentially dangerous were kept up there.”
“That’s got to mean that there are directions,” I said hopefully. “Come on. Let’s take it home and go from there.”
14
After packing up our stuff and leaving the library, we released the members of the Great Witches Council back to their appointed housing for the evening. Then, using Alba’s telekinetic abilities, the five of us hid Sorceress Stone’s body in the Institute’s tower. It was fitting that we took her there, as it had seemed to be her favorite place to put us when she was punishing us. We wanted to ensure that whoever was responsible for her death wouldn’t be able to find her while we went home for the evening.
When she’d been properly stowed away, Libby and Cinder went back to their dorm room, and Alba, Holly, and I drove back to Habernackle’s to eat supper and pore over the book we’d checked out.
Anxiety ate away at me as I steered my old beater of a car back into town. I didn’t know what we’d say to Jax or my mother if they asked. I glanced into the rearview mirror, meeting Holly’s eyes. “Maybe we should swing by the bakery to tell Sweets what happened.”
“We’re gonna see her in like a half hour,” said Alba. “We can’t tell her then?”
“I mean, we can, but Jax will be around,” I said. “I was hoping to avoid Jax as much as I can. I’m scared she’ll see right through me the second she lays eyes on me.”
With her eyes round, Holly nodded. “I know what you mean. I have no idea how I’m supposed to share a room with her tonight and not spill the beans.”
“But you’re not going to, right?” snapped Alba.
Holly nodded. “Well, of course I’m not going to tell her! I mean, I’ll do my best anyway.”
“You better not.”
“I said I wouldn’t,” said Holly, crossing her arms and looking out the window.
I rolled my eyes. I was already feeling lousy. I didn’t need their bickering on top of it. “She said she wouldn’t, Alba. Chill.”
“You chill.”
“How about we all chill?” I turned into a parking spot in front of Bailey’s Bakery and Sweets. “I realize that this is a very stressful time and we have a lot on our plates—possibly the most we’ve had on our plates all year. A lot is riding on our shoulders, which is exactly why we can’t afford to lose our heads right now.”
Neither Alba nor Holly said anything. I gave a nod, shut off the car, and climbed out. I didn’t bother to lock it. If someone wanted to steal the hunk of junk, I was quite willing to let them have it. The thing burned mo
re oil than gas, the heater squealed like a stuck pig when I ran the fan on anything higher than two, and it made clunking noises when I made left-hand turns. Reign had been promising since he’d moved to Aspen Falls that he was going to fix it, but then he’d gotten the B&B and had been too busy ever since. With Sweets, the only other member of the Witch Squad to own a car, now a full-time working woman, I’d become the official driver for the rest of us.
The bell chimed as I opened the door to Bailey’s Bakery and Sweets. The warm, moist, intoxicating scent of fresh bread enveloped me as I stepped inside. I loved the smell. Sweets even came home smelling like bread most days. I was pretty sure the scent was even better than perfume.
Sweets poked her head out from the kitchen seconds after the bell chimed. “Welcome to Bailey’s—” she sang before she realized who it was. “Oh, it’s you girls! What in the world are you doing here?”
I buried my hands in my hoodie’s wide pocket. “Hey, Sweets. You got a sec? We need to talk to you.”
Drying her hands on the front of her apron, she looked down at her watch. “Did you get out of class early?”
“Classes were canceled today,” said Holly.
Char Bailey came bounding around the corner next with an empty tray in her hands. “Oh! Well hello, girls! Coming to visit Sweets, or coming to have sweets?” She laughed at her little joke.
“No,” I said somberly. “We came to talk to Sweets. Mind if we steal her for a second?”
Char waved a hand at us. “Oh no. Heaven knows this one deserves a break. She’s hardly sat down all day.” She shooed Sweets along. “Go, go. Sit with your friends.”
Sweets followed Alba, Holly, and me to a table in the corner. “Where’s Jax?”
“She stayed home from school today,” said Holly. “She wasn’t feeling well this morning.”
“I think it’s nerves,” I said. “Anxiety about not getting her powers.”
Sweets nodded excitedly. “Oh, yes! Is that what you’ve come to talk about?” Suddenly her eyes widened and she sucked in a little breath. “Oh, I had the best idea ever today. I was thinking maybe we could all secretly work on getting Jax her powers as a present for her birthday!”
“Yeah,” I said with a half-smile. “We kind of thought the same thing too.”
Sweets clapped her hands together excitedly. “Oh, how fun! You have no idea how much I miss doing magic and going on adventures with you girls! This will be just like old times.”
I lifted my eyebrows. “More like old times than you realize. We actually aren’t here to discuss Jax’s powers. At least, not exactly.”
Sweets’ smile disappeared. “What do you mean?” She glanced around the table, taking in all of our straight faces. “Is Jax alright?”
“Yeah, Jax is fine,” Holly assured her. “But her mother isn’t.”
“Her mother isn’t? What are you talking about. Sorceress Stone’s her mother.”
“Exactly,” said Alba.
Sweets shook her short brown hair. “You girls aren’t making any sense. Is Sorceress Stone sick?”
Holly shook her head sadly. “No, she’s not sick.”
“Okay, well, did something happened to her?”
I nodded and put a hand over Sweets’. “Yes. She’s dead, Sweets.”
“Dead! Who’s dead?”
“Sorceress Stone!” snapped Alba.
I shot her an annoyed look. Sometimes the woman just didn’t have any patience.
“Wait. Sorceress Stone is dead?” It took a moment for the words to sink into Sweets’ mind. “Is this a joke?”
“We wish it was,” I said. “But unfortunately, it’s not.”
Sweets stood up. “Sorceress Stone is dead?!”
Alba tugged on her arm and pulled her back down to the table. “Do you mind keeping your voice down? We don’t want Char to hear!”
Sweets’ eyes were wide as they flashed back towards the kitchen. “But—if Sorceress Stone’s dead, won’t Char find out? I’m sure it’ll be in the papers—”
“We’re keeping it on the down-low for now,” explained Alba with a frown.
“We?” Sweets sucked in her breath as the color drained from her face. “Oh my God! Did you three kill her?!”
Alba’s head lolled back on her shoulders.
“No, Sweets! How could you say that! We would never kill Jax’s mom!”
“Well, I don’t understand. Why are you keeping it on the down low? How did it even happen?”
I sighed, and then the three of us launched into an explanation of what had happened. We told her about the Great Witches Council and about Libby and Cinder and the graduation projects and how we’d planned to try and reverse the curse and get Jax’s powers for her birthday, and on and on we went. Finally, we explained the part about how we were going to go back in time and figure out who’d killed Sorceress Stone and do what we could to bring her back to life and try and stop the curse from ever being put on Jax in the first place.
“But that sounds so hard!” said Sweets emphatically.
“Yeah, ridiculously hard. But we have to do it. We can’t let Jax’s mom die. Even if it is Sorceress Stone,” I said. I wasn’t sure that we’d be going to all that extra trouble if it had been just anyone that treated us as poorly as Sorceress Stone had. She was lucky her daughter was a friend of ours.
Sweets looked back over her shoulder again. “So what am I supposed to say to Char?”
“Say nothing!” said Alba. “She’ll have no reason to ask you anything.”
“And we aren’t telling Jax anything either?”
I shrugged. “We have no choice. Jax would lose it if we told her everything that’s gone down today. We don’t have time to coddle Jax right now, but hopefully, if we do everything right, we won’t have to.”
“So… how are you planning to do all of this investigative work without Jax finding out? She might have stayed home from school sick today, but you know she’ll want to go to school tomorrow.”
Alba and I exchanged looks. We hadn’t thought of that. Classes had been canceled for the rest of the week. If Jax found that out, she’d start asking why, and then she’d know something was up. “We need to find someone to keep her occupied for a few days.”
Just then, Char Bailey came striding out from the kitchen and opened up the glass case that held all of the delectables that Sweets had labored over all day. One by one, she began to pull out the trays.
“Girls, if I spend the next couple of days helping you, Char’s going to need someone to help her out here. She can’t do it all alone. Maybe we could convince Jax to fill in for me.”
“But Char will want to know why you need the time off,” said Holly.
Sweets nodded. “I’m going to have to fill her in if we want her to keep Jax occupied until we sort all of this out.”
We all stared at Char. The puffy-haired elderly woman was sweet, but she was most definitely not one of those sweet women that didn’t ask any questions. No, Char Bailey was a snoop, through and through. She wasn’t going to just believe any old lie we threw her way.
“So can I tell her?”
“What if you just tell her we want to try and get Jax’s powers for her for her birthday?” I suggested. “Don’t mention anything about Sorceress Stone.”
“That might work,” said Alba. “Except she’s on your grandmother’s side when it comes to reversing the curse.”
I lifted a shoulder. “We don’t have to tell her how we’re planning to get Jax’s powers. And Gran told me to give it my best shot. Char knows we’re going to try something. And she likes Jax. I think she’ll be willing to help us out, at least by babysitting Jax for a day or two.”
“Oh fine, go ahead and ask,” grumbled Alba.
Sweets smiled. “Great. She’ll be happy to help.” Sweets stood up and waved at Char. “Hey, Char, can we talk to you for a second?”
“Sure thing, girlies. Just let me put this tray down.”
We waited patiently while
Char finished wiping the tray she was working on and then put it on top of the checkout counter. She wiped her hands on her apron and then sauntered over to us with a smile on her face. “What’s shakin’, ladies?”
“Char, the girls really need my help with a project. I was wondering if you’d consider letting me have the next few days off work,” began Sweets slowly.
I could tell she hated asking for time off, but we were going to need all of our magic powers working together if we were going to make a dent in our problems.
Char lifted her penciled-on eyebrows in surprise. “Oh! Well… I suppose you have been working awful hard.” She scratched her chin. “I might be able to run the place by myself. Maybe Vic could watch the counter…”
“Actually, that’s the other part of my request. I was hoping maybe Jax could take my place while I was gone. I know she can’t do the actual recipes because she can’t do magic, but she could certainly watch the counter and wait on the customers. She’d be super cheerful and friendly.”
Char looked surprised. “Jax!”
“Yes.”
“Why Jax? Doesn’t she have school?”
“Well, here’s the thing,” began Sweets. She looked around. “Can you keep a secret?”
Char pointed at herself in surprise. “Me? A secret? Who do I have to keep a secret from?”
“From Gran!” I said pointedly. “Especially from Gran. And from Jax. And from my mom. Well, basically from everyone.”
“From everyone!” breathed Char. She shook her head. “I don’t know, girls. You do know who you’re talking to, don’t you?”
Char was right. I didn’t know what we were thinking. She was one of the busiest busybodies in all of Aspen Falls.
Char chuckled. “I mean, I can sure try. No promises.”
“You don’t have to keep the secret for more than a few days,” said Sweets. “Just until we get some things figured out.”
Char considered that for a moment. “Just a few days, huh? Maybe I can handle that. What’s going on?” She looked at us with narrowed eyes—her witchy radar up.
“We’re going to try and get Jax’s powers for her for her eighteenth birthday,” said Sweets.
The Witch Within Page 10
