Looking for Mr. Good Witch

by Joyce

  “We won’t help you, you know,” Abdon called out after him. “If you’re one of them, you’re on your own.”

  Brian turned. “I’ve been on my own most of my life. I finally have a family. We’ll take care of the problem. Don’t worry. You’re safe.”

  I grabbed Elsie’s hand and we walked quickly out behind Dorothy and Brian. I didn’t want to hang around to take the brunt of Abdon’s anger at his grandson. Once outside, the limousine we’d come in was waiting. We all jumped into the back and left the castle.

  “That was close.” Elsie wiped her forehead with her handkerchief. “I managed to pick up a few sweet rolls and some grapes as we walked past the food table. Anyone want some?”

  Dorothy was frowning as she sat beside Brian. “You should’ve stayed there. We all know the sea witch isn’t going to be happy until you’re dead. We don’t know how to protect you. I’m scared.”

  He hugged her and kissed her lingeringly on the lips. “Don’t worry. We’re gonna take care of this cucumber chick. All of us together—who can fight us?”

  But his words were hollow. We all knew it. Dorothy was right. Unless Makaleigh came up with a plan to fight the sea witch, we didn’t know what to do. I wished I could go to the Bone Man and ask him, but I knew he wanted her alive. If he did have the answer, he’d want to trade for it. I had nothing else I was willing to give. We’d have to face the sea witch on our own.

  CHAPTER 41

  A witch’s hat,

  A cauldron blessed,

  A sacred spell,

  A night to test.

  “We need to use me as bait,” Brian said when we got back to Smuggler’s Arcane.

  The limo driver had dropped off all of us. We had no cars, but I had already called Joe.

  “That’s crazy,” Dorothy said. “She’d take you for sure. There must be a better plan.”

  “Her magic is really strong,” I cautioned. “She probably already knows that Brian is back. She won’t wait long before she tries to take him again.”

  “We’ll have to keep him here with us,” Elsie said. “At least until we figure out what to do. We may not have the strongest magic in the world, but we might win through sheer numbers.”

  “What about the Bone Man?” Brian asked. “Would he be willing to help?”

  “He and I are in a complicated situation right now,” I explained. “I don’t think we can count on him. I’m still working on my part of the bargain to find and deliver his wife.”

  Elsie nodded. “Who, as we all know now, is the sea witch. I need some tea.”

  While the kettle heated, we sat around the table in the shop and tried to figure out what to do with the sea witch. Elsie had taken out our individual cups—the goldfish cup for me, the flamingo for her, the star for Olivia and the tree for Dorothy.

  “I hope you like your cup, Brian.” Elsie clapped her hands. “Call it a premonition that you’d be here with us eventually.”

  Brian smiled when he saw it. “Thanks, Elsie. Do I have to drink tea to use it? I’m more a coffee man.”

  “I’m sure we can conjure up a coffeepot.” Elsie waved her hand, and a can opener appeared on the counter. “There that is. I’ve been looking everywhere for it.”

  “Allow me.” Brian took out his wand and concentrated. A small black coffeemaker was on the counter. “I’ve wanted to get a new one for the apartment anyway. Maybe now that there will be two of us, I’ll have a reason to invest in one.”

  Dorothy smiled and kissed him. Elsie also smiled and released Olivia from the hand cream bottle.

  “It’s not gonna happen!” Olivia sniffed and then frowned. “I’m covered in that stuff now. I wish I could take a shower.”

  “Maybe he could move in with us,” Dorothy suggested. “We have lots of room in that big old house.”

  “Think what you’re saying,” Olivia demanded. “No man has ever lived in that house. It just hasn’t been done.”

  “But he has nowhere safe to go,” Dorothy argued. “The house is completely spelled, right? The only place he might be safer is here, and he can’t stay here while all of us go home.”

  Elsie poured tea for everyone—spiced chai—except for Brian, who ended up with green tea made in his coffeemaker. “Sorry, no coffee. Olivia, you might as well give in. Dorothy is right. He needs to be somewhere safe.”

  Olivia put her hands on her ghostly hips. “Well, why don’t you take him home with you, Elsie, and keep him safe?”

  “That won’t work. Aleese would think he’s my new boyfriend. And what would Larry think?”

  Olivia stared at me.

  “I have enough problems with the Bone Man visiting me and Joe’s ex-wife popping in for pizza. You’re going to have to do this, Olivia. It’s not forever. We’ll catch the sea witch and then the three of you can argue about it.”

  “It’s just not fair,” Olivia complained. “Only the female members of my family have lived in that house. I’m not too sure a man won’t be struck down by the protective runes.”

  Elsie snorted. “You better get that changed before you have a grandson.”

  “Grandson?” Olivia’s tone was startled. “Dorothy isn’t ready to have children. She’s not even married.”

  “Not like that stopped you,” Elsie reminded her.

  “Oh, I really wish I could drink that tea,” Olivia whimpered. “And how am I supposed to get rid of this awful rose smell?”

  “Olivia.” Brian grimaced when he tasted his tea. “It’s not like you and I don’t know each other.”

  “Oh my lord!” Olivia screeched. “Did you really just say that? I wish I could turn you into a beetle!”

  Elsie giggled and then the rest of us laughed at Olivia’s indignation.

  “It’s settled, then,” Dorothy said. “Until we can get rid of the sea witch, Brian is staying with us.”

  The two kissed, and Olivia blinked out of the room.

  “This is going to be so much fun to watch.” Elsie rubbed her hands together. “So, what’s the plan to catch the sea witch?”

  There was no plan, of course. I thought we should wait a few days to hear from Makaleigh. She would know better than we did what to do. In the meantime, we started training again.

  It was better, knowing that Brian wanted to be with us. He was more open and less filled with angst. We practiced spells—beginning with another protective spell to keep the sea witch out of the cave and the shop. We got a chair for Brian and made room for him in our lives and our coven. He spent hours with us and then went home with Dorothy and Olivia.

  There wasn’t too much complaining from Olivia. She was sidetracked trying to train herself to be more solid. She kept practicing picking up paper and books around the shop. It was good to know she had a purpose again. Ghosts could be very powerful—sometimes more so than witches. Olivia probably wouldn’t be one of those ghosts, not for a long time anyway.

  A week had passed. Joe had gone back to work after I’d explained everything that had happened and how it had happened. We’d used the enchanted bubble—I was still afraid of the Bone Man deciding not to keep his end of the bargain. I was constantly on edge, worrying that he could show up at any time. He stayed away, though, and everything seemed almost normal.

  Until the day we met at the shop and Brian had begun having dreams about the sea witch. “This is how it started last time.” He was already more pale, hollow-eyed and restless. “I dreamed about her all the time”

  “What are you dreaming about her?” Dorothy asked.

  “She’s calling me. We’re not finished yet. She knows that I’m alive and she still wants me to finish the spell to keep her alive.”

  “You mean mate with her,” Elsie said.

  “Yes.” He glanced at Dorothy. “I’m sorry. It’s not what I want to do.”

  “I think anyone could tell
that much by the way you screamed out last night,” Olivia observed.

  “I heard you too,” Dorothy admitted. “I didn’t want to say anything, but I can hear you all the way down the hall.”

  Elsie giggled. “I guess that answers that question.”

  “What can we do? I don’t think we can wait much longer,” Dorothy said. “We’ve got to stop her.”

  I didn’t like going it alone. We had no experience dealing with a witch as powerful as this one. But we couldn’t let her have Brian again.

  “What’s your plan, Molly?” Olivia asked. “I know you have one.”

  “I sure hope it’s better than the one we had to get Brian away from the sea witch. We’re lucky to still be alive,” Elsie reminded us

  “All we have to do is figure out how to catch a sea witch,” I said. “I’ll bet Muriel knows the answer to that.”

  Brian insisted that he was going along despite the rest of us disagreeing. “We’re safer together. Protection spells on the shop or the house aren’t as strong as our combined real-time magic.”

  We finally agreed, and Elsie called Larry to make sure he was at his boat. Lucky for us it wasn’t his time of the month.

  Larry was cleaning his boat when we got to the docks. He was happy to take us to see Muriel again if it involved another boat ride with Elsie.

  “What about the cream puffs?” Olivia asked. “Will she talk without cream puffs?”

  I glanced at my watch. “We’ll have to think of something else.”

  Larry scratched his head. “I have some jelly donuts. Will that help?”

  We decided to take a chance on it. Larry was a little nervous about taking Brian with us, since the sea witch was after him again. “It’s possible she could attack the boat to get him back,” he reasoned. “She’s bound to be more powerful on the water, just like you, Molly.”

  But we’d already made that decision, and Elsie convinced Larry that it was safe.

  My magic wasn’t a match for the sea witch—I wasn’t convinced all of us together could stand up to her. Knowing more about the amulet made me feel somewhat safer. I agreed with Brian that leaving him anywhere was risky. I worried that she could compel him to come to her. We might need to fight him and her.

  Larry’s boat went slowly into the salt marshes near No-Name Island. He and Elsie had kissed and talked the whole way. Olivia and I tried to help Dorothy keep a positive outlook on our venture. Brian had a better chance of survival with our plan—whatever it was—than he would without it.

  Brian stared off at the water where it met the horizon. Several times, when Dorothy had spoken to him, he hadn’t heard her. I was afraid the sea witch was already eroding his will. Soon there wouldn’t be any way to stop him from going to her. I was angry that I’d waited too long. I’d believed Makaleigh really meant to help. I had obviously been mistaken.

  We found Muriel basking in the sun. She saw us coming and hid in the weeds.

  “We need your help again,” I called to her. “Will you speak with us?”

  I held out the jelly donuts that Larry had volunteered. Muriel peeked around a coarse bush and sniffed. “Those aren’t cream puffs.”

  “They aren’t,” I agreed. “But they’re really good. Look. Larry will eat one.”

  He munched it down quickly and smacked his lips. “Yum. Try one. You might like it better than cream puffs.”

  Muriel ventured from her hiding place and daintily picked up a donut with her ringed fingers. She chewed a bit and smiled. “These are good. What do you call them?”

  “Jelly donuts.” I took another for her. “We found the sea witch.”

  “Lucky you! She’s a pistol, isn’t she?”

  “You could say that. We have something she wants. I don’t want to kill her. How can we trap her?”

  Her tiny feral eyes locked on my face. “I’m going to need something more than jelly donuts to give you information that will hurt her. If she isn’t dead, she could come for me.”

  Elsie offered her hat. Muriel turned it down. Dorothy offered her bag. Muriel didn’t want that either. I rummaged around in my bag for something she might take.

  She sniffed. “What’s that? I smell magic.”

  It was the spelled mirror. “Is this what you want?” I asked.

  “Yes. Let me see it.”

  I handed her the mirror. I only caught a glimpse of what she saw in it. The image was that of a beautiful, young human girl. I could see something in her face that resembled Muriel. Had the mermaid once been human? There were old stories that hinted at that possible transformation.

  “I’ll take it.” She clutched it to her bare bosom. “I know exactly how to capture the sea witch. I don’t know how to kill her, unless she can’t mate. Then she’ll die. Once you get her, you’d better do something with her quickly or she’ll escape and kill you. No sea creature likes a net.”

  Elsie and I exchanged glances. “What kind of net?” I asked.

  “You’ll have to gather seaweed and weave it with witch’s hair into a net. Then it must be blessed with your tears. The hearts of the makers must be emotionally involved with capturing the sea witch for the magic to work. That’s all I know. Thanks for the donuts. Can I have the rest?”

  I gave her the remaining jelly donuts, and we left the salt marsh.

  “Sounds like a major project,” Olivia said. “Do we have time to weave a net? Maybe we could buy one and put seaweed on it. The sea witch probably won’t know the difference.”

  “That was always your problem,” Elsie scolded her. “You can’t take shortcuts with magic. Sometimes you have to do what the spell demands.”

  “Well, it doesn’t matter to me,” Olivia snapped back. “I can’t contribute, so it will be up to you all to save Brian. I was just trying to help.”

  We gazed at Brian—the breeze in his hair, his eyes far away. Dorothy called him back from wherever he’d gone, but the light had gone from his eyes and his face was haunted.

  “Whatever we’re going to do, we’d best do it quickly, like the mermaid said,” Elsie advised. “We can’t hold him if he wants to go. He’s strong. We may not have much time.”

  Elsie and Larry said a long lover’s good-bye when we got back to the docks. He’d wanted to come with us, but I knew his presence would be a distraction to Elsie and an irritation to any other witches we might ask to help us. Werewolves and witches didn’t get along.

  “Maybe we can do it by ourselves,” Elsie suggested with a besotted smile. “We might not need any other witches. Larry could help us.”

  “I have no idea how to weave a net or anything else for that matter,” Dorothy said, holding Brian’s hand as she was getting off the boat. “I hope we have instructions.”

  “I can repair nets,” Larry said. “I could probably weave one.”

  “You’re wonderful, and I love you for it.” Elsie patted his cheek. “But Molly is right—we need more witches. I don’t have enough hair to donate for a net. What about Belinda and her sisters? They have emotions involved with catching the sea witch—and hair.”

  “Exactly what I was thinking,” I said. “I hope her phone number is in the memorial guest book.”

  We went to Smuggler’s Arcane. It was an eerie trip, as we could feel Brian slipping away from us. He was almost unresponsive when we got back. I wondered what he heard, what he felt. Like Ulysses tying himself to the mast of his ship so he could hear the mermaid’s song, I was curious. Dorothy wasn’t able to rouse him, but she did coax him into the shop.

  I saw a familiar shape across the street as I closed the shop door. It was Portia de Winter in her glamourized form. She already knew we had him. I spelled the door three times when we were inside. I knew the moment of truth was close at hand. She would strike that night.

  We found Belinda’s phone number, and Elsie called her to ask for her
help.

  “Should we put him in the cave?” Dorothy asked as she watched Brian staring at the door. “He might try to break away.”

  “No. Let’s not take a chance on our spells holding up that close to the water. The sea witch might be able to go in and out with no problem given the close proximity to the river.” I glanced at the trapdoor. “In fact, let’s barricade the trapdoor from the cave with magic and those boxes of children’s books you brought.”

  We tied Brian to a chair, spelling the ropes that held him. I could tell Dorothy felt bad taking this measure, but we all knew it was for his own good.

  “Belinda says she and her sisters are on the way,” Elsie finally said. “They’ll bring the seaweed. All we have to do is stand watch over Brian until they get here.”

  “Is that all?” I asked when Brian was secure in the chair. He was no longer himself, completely dominated by the sea witch. “Stay close to him, Dorothy. Use every ounce of love you have for him. She might own him right now, but you still have the advantage. Don’t let him get to her or we’ll probably never see him again, and all this will have been for nothing.”

  She bit her lip. “Do you think he knows what’s going on?”

  “I don’t know. Keep whispering a protection spell. Don’t falter. Keep him safe.”

  While we waited for Belinda to arrive, Elsie and I took out the old net that Larry had given us as a guide to create a new one. We thought we could weave new rope and seaweed through this net.

  “It doesn’t look like much,” Olivia said. “I don’t think it will hold her.”

  “It’s not finished yet,” I told her. “It will be stronger when we’re done.”

  We laid the net on the hardwood floor. I cut large swaths of Dorothy’s and my hair to put in a basket. We blessed them with our magic and our hopes for trapping the sea witch. Elsie contributed a faded red curl, but her hair was thin and fine. I didn’t expect her to give as much as we had.

  After that we used sage smudge sticks to purify the shop for the spell. Elsie handled the candle lighting, one of her favorite pastimes, since she could still do it without matches. We were as ready as we could be when Belinda, Elizabeth and Althea arrived.