Winging It

by A. A. Albright

  She gave me the sort of look that said she didn’t believe a word of it, but approached me anyway, opening up a large box next to the couch. In it were about a dozen wands, all different lengths and widths. ‘I’d forgotten you used wands,’ I said. ‘I’m a bit of a mess with the things, myself.’

  ‘Yes, it takes a great deal of concentration. But for delicate healing work, I find them best. Lie back now, and I’ll see just how healthy you are.’

  I lay back on the couch, and let her do her work. She ran different wands along my body, muttering incantations all the while. Every now and then she prodded me, or stared into my eyes (not at all creepy), or made me cough. She even had me hold a few of the wands myself, and made me use them to perform a couple of simple spells. At first I thought it was to check there was no issue with my magic, but after I’d boiled the kettle and opened the tin of biscuits, I was starting to think she was just in the mood for elevenses.

  ‘Well, that’s that,’ she said, taking a sip from the tea that she had me float towards her. ‘You’re in rude health, as they say.’

  ‘Oh, thank goodness,’ I said, sitting up. ‘I was a bit worried. I started at the Flying Club the other day, and it seems there’s a flu bug doing the rounds.’

  She arched a brow. ‘A flu? I haven’t had anyone in with the flu. Oh, my stars! Witches do not do well with the flu. Spells going haywire everywhere. Not to mention the worse than usual moods. Did you hear about how many people had it?’

  ‘Actually, I was only told about one kid. But I figured, once one has it, it won’t be long before they all do.’

  She shook her head irritably. ‘I don’t understand it. I gave out free flu shots to every child and every old person in Riddler’s Cove back in October. My shots never fail.’

  ‘Maybe Candace didn’t get one of yours,’ I replied. ‘Her folks could have taken her up to Healer’s Hollow for one instead.’

  Her eyes came out on stalks (not literally, but pretty darn close). ‘Candace? But she was first in line when I–’ Old Ma clapped a hand over her mouth. ‘Forget I said that. Healer-patient confidentiality. Listen, you’re all done here, Wanda. I have to go and pay a visit to ... a certain patient.’

  ‘Oh. Of course. I sat up. But before I go ... do you have any lollipops?’

  ≈

  Ten minutes later I stood across the road from Candace’s house, sucking on a strawberry-flavoured lollipop and hovering on my wizard broom, keeping myself cloaked with the broom’s invisibility button. The house was just about as large and fancy as I’d expected. The garden was perfectly manicured, and the windows were so clean that they were gleaming. Candace’s mother, however, was not in such good condition. She was standing at the door, arms out, refusing to let Old Ma inside. Her dark hair was coming loose from its bun. Her skirt seemed to be on backwards, and she was only wearing one shoe.

  ‘My daughter is fine!’ she shrieked. ‘We’ve got a private healer.’

  ‘But if you could just let me see her for a few minutes, Goodwitch Plimpton,’ Old Ma Flowers beseeched. ‘I need to see what went wrong with my flu jab. No one else has had the same problem, but it could be just a matter of time. If I could study Candace’s symptoms …’

  Candace’s mother prepared to slam the door, but Old Ma was having none of that nonsense, thank you very much. She raised her hands, making the door open wide, and then she pushed her way into the house

  I resisted the urge to smirk, and rose into the air. The sound of the argument in the hallway could be heard for miles around, most likely. I didn’t care how loud it got, as long as it went on for a while. When I saw the enormous, toothy dog tied to a tree, I knew that Candace’s room must be directly above. I pointed at the dog, whispered, ‘Dul a chodladh,’ and watched him fall asleep. I flew up higher, and soon found Candace’s window.

  Candace was in a bedroom that probably had been gorgeous before she began throwing spells around the place. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, cracking and splitting all of the furniture, sending shattering spells at the doors and windows. Basically, she was one angry ten-year-old. Unfortunately no amount of anger – or magic – seemed to work. Whoever had locked Candace in that room had made very sure that she couldn’t leave.

  ‘Let me out, Mother!’ she screamed, pulling at the door handle. ‘Let me out!’

  I approached the window, and tried to open it. First with my hand, next with magic. It was sealed tight with an incredibly strong spell. I guess I wasn’t as quiet as I thought I was being, because Candace’s head snapped around and she rushed to the window.

  ‘Who’s there? Kitty, is that you?’

  I pressed a button on my broom, turning off the invisibility. Candace’s eyes grew round and her hands flew to her mouth. I moved as close as I could to the window.

  ‘Kitty is fine,’ I said. ‘I’m looking after her. Candace, you have to tell me why you’re being kept away from everyone. Because you sure don’t look sick to me.’

  She shook her head. ‘I’m not sick. Wanda ... I have something I need to say to you. And it’s not going to be easy, so please give me a chance to get it all out. I ... I may have been mistaken about you. Kitty seems to think so, and after what you did at Halloween, I think I might agree. But you know, you’re partially to blame. You’re incredibly annoying. You never shut up. You have to be a smart alec all the time. So I could hardly be blamed for believing my coven when they said you were horrible.’

  ‘Okay, you might want to work on your apology skills there, Candace. But never mind for now. Why have they locked you up? What happened at Everest?’

  Just as Candace opened her mouth to tell me, her door snapped open and her mother marched into the room. ‘Get away from there, Wanda Wayfair! This is all your fault. You and that stupid cat.’

  She grabbed hold of Candace and began to drag her out of the room. As she was being pulled away, Candace looked back at me and cried out, ‘Look for Facility B, Wanda. You have to find Facility B!’

  ≈

  Despite the fact that I was incredibly distracted, my flying lesson didn’t go too badly. I didn’t fall off my broom again, which was a definite improvement. At the end of the lesson, I took Amelia for lunch. Her appetite was almost as big as mine, so we took quite a while over the meal. I was so hungry after my morning’s activities, that I almost didn’t care about the fact that Will Berry and Mandy Parker were having lunch at the club once again. Because why shouldn’t I have to look at their stupid smug faces everywhere I went?

  ‘You did really well today. Y’know, for someone who clearly has a lot on her mind,’ said Amelia as we started on dessert.

  ‘I think that might be more to do with your teaching than anything I did. But flying does seem to clear my head. Even if I am only a few feet in the air.’

  ‘A few feet higher than yesterday.’

  It was true. After the first half hour of the lesson, Amelia had changed the restrictions, and I flew up twenty feet into the air.

  ‘I have absolutely no problem with you taking your broom out in the open,’ she went on. ‘In fact ... you could even come to Everest with me tomorrow, if you wanted. There’s an Adult Beginner competition that I think you’d do well in.’

  I almost spat out my orange juice. ‘Hah. As if I’m ready for that!’ I suddenly realised how amazingly stupid I was being, and I rearranged my features from outright scoffing, to only mildly humble. ‘You know what? I’ll give it a bash, as long as you think I’ll be able for the challenge. But I thought the competition wasn’t for a few more days.’

  ‘The main event is. Before that we have some time to practice. And the minor competitions, like the one you are going to enter, take place the day before. You’ll need a dark hat and robes, though. The competition is pretty traditional. I might have something I can get altered for you if you’ve nothing yourself.’

  ‘That’s okay. I’ll dig something out. So how does it work? When do we leave? As you can see, I’m not at all excited.’
/>
  She laughed, and we went over the details. I was beginning to feel excited about the competition. But more than anything, I now had an iron-clad excuse to go snooping around Everest.

  13. The Bloodbath

  The kitchen at Wayfarers’ Rest was in chaos when I returned. Max was there with Lassie, Rover and about a dozen other weredogs. I knew this was only a small section of who would be protesting later on.

  ‘Tell her to go home,’ Max said as I approached him and Lassie.

  Lassie planted her hands on her hips and said, ‘Tell him he’s not the boss of me.’

  ‘Um ... what’s going on?’ I looked from one to the other. ‘Actually, don’t bother. Max, you don’t want Lassie to protest because you’re afraid you guys will get arrested?’

  ‘Exactly. Lassie’s already been in Witchfield. I don’t want her going through that again.’

  To be honest, I was surprised that Lassie wasn’t more worried about that outcome herself. When she had been falsely imprisoned in Witchfield she hadn’t exactly received the spa treatment.

  Her hands went to her head, and she pulled at her long brown hair. ‘There aren’t going to be any arrests. Finn promised Wanda, and I trust him.’

  ‘Trust him!’ scoffed Max. ‘You barely even know him.’

  ‘I do know him as a matter of fact. He often stops by my stall when he’s on patrol. Or at least he used to, until his aunt fired him. We’ve had some lovely chats. He’s a decent guy, Max. If he says the Peacemakers are going to be stuck at the Wyrd Court, then I believe him.’

  Max sighed. ‘Please, Wanda, talk some sense into her.’

  I opened my mouth to say something, but they just began talking at each other all over again.

  ‘Hey!’ I cried, standing between them. ‘We have way too much to organise right now. We can’t waste time sniping at each other. Especially when the whole reason you’re sniping is because you love each other so blooming much. But Max ... you can’t tell Lassie what to do, and neither can I. And she’s right about Finn. For tonight at least, we can trust him to come through for us.’

  Oh dear. I stopped speaking before I said anything else idiotic, but I saw Max narrow his eyes. He would spot my lies by omission from space. Luckily, Rover stood up then, and began to organise the weredogs.

  Each person in the kitchen was to be head of a small pack for the night. Considering all they were going to be doing was waving placards and shouting about the Minister, it might have seemed overboard. But I had been to so many protests that had been cut short over the past few weeks. If you didn’t keep an eye out for everyone, bad things could happen. Peacemakers had been known to get far too enthusiastic with their truncheons, and I had seen some anti-weredog witches cast painful, illegal spells to disrupt things. One weredog was still in Night and Gale hospital with a tail coming out of the back of his head. The spell had been locked down so tightly that all he could do was wait for it to wear off. And according to the healer, that could be at least another month.

  So really, there was no such thing as over-organisation. Not when you had bigoted witches and truncheon-happy Peacemakers to deal with. And don’t get me started on what might happen if some of the less forward-thinking werewolves turned up.

  Tonight was going to be one big mess, with or without arrests. As if he were reading my thoughts, I heard Max mutter, ‘I wish you’d stay home, Lassie, I really do. It’s going to be a bloodbath.’

  As we milled around, getting everything ready, Gabriel finally arrived. He was in his full Wyrd News gear, seeing as we were going to be broadcasting the event. As he crossed the room to me, I did my best to smile.

  ‘Sorry,’ he said before I could even turn up the corners of my mouth. ‘I mean it. I’ve been one big giant pain in the rear, and I know it. You weren’t the one being rude last night. My dad was. And so was I. No wonder you took off the way you did.’

  For a moment I just stood there, confused. He was basically saying everything that I hadn’t had the courage to say earlier on. He had been rude, he and his father, stuffing their faces and throwing bones all over the place when they knew how uncomfortable I was.

  He leaned into me, and my nostrils filled with cinnamon. ‘You weren’t that bad,’ I said, for some unfathomable reason. ‘And your dad is just ... quirky. Anyway, I didn’t leave because of that. It really was an emergency. Gabriel, Fontanella called me right as she was being murdered.’

  His eyes rounded. ‘The vampire? Wow. What did she say?’

  I shrugged my shoulders. ‘It doesn’t matter now. Let’s just get tonight over with.’

  He pulled me into a hug. ‘Of course. And tomorrow we can get our relationship back on track. I’m going to take you to the most amazing restaurant for dinner.’

  ‘Oh.’ I pulled away. ‘See, the thing is ... I’ve sort of signed up for the Everest Climb. I’m going there with Amelia tomorrow, to get acclimatised to the course. The Beginners’ obviously.’

  His face fell for a moment, but then his mood picked up. ‘Hey, I can go too! I haven’t done the Everest Climb for a couple of years. Plus I’ve got a chalet out there. You can stay with me. We can have a proper holiday together.’

  I found myself saying, ‘Oh,’ again. ‘See, the thing is, my whole family are going. Y’know – to cheer me on. And I don’t see my mother being happy about me spending the whole time at your chalet when she’s already paid for my room.’ I felt my eyes begin to twitch as I spun my lie. I hadn’t actually had the chance to speak to my mother about Everest yet, but of course she would want to come. The whole coven would, once I told them I suspected the real Facility B was there.

  I was a little bit perplexed, though, as to why I was so against staying at Gabriel’s chalet. Maybe it would take a few days to get the image of him and his father in their matching velvet suits out of my mind. ‘So you see, I can’t stay at your chalet, much as I’d love to,’ I went on. ‘But we’ll still get to spend lots of time together. I’m really looking forward to it.’

  ‘That’s okay.’ He softly kissed my cheek. ‘We have the whole future to visit my chalet. And like you say, we’ll still see plenty of each other. It’ll be great.’

  I melted back into his arms, letting the smell of him envelop me. Now that we were this close again, I was beginning to wonder what the hell I’d felt weird about in the first place. Maybe I would spend a few hours at that chalet of his, after all.

  ≈

  When we arrived at the Minister’s office in Riddler’s Cove, there were mainly weredogs and Wayfairs there. Only a few trusted witches had been told of our plans – like Emily Caulfield, who was approaching Max with a shy smile on her face.

  I imagined that quite a lot of witches were waiting impatiently on the steps of the Wyrd Court so they could enjoy a bit of racism. It wouldn’t be long, I knew, before they found their way here. Gabriel’s show would be broadcasting live (an extra effort to avoid violence) so they would soon hear about the change of location.

  Gabriel hopped up onto the erected stage and began the proceedings. I was glad to see that he didn’t hog the limelight for too long. This was about the weredogs, and he seemed to respect that. He said a few brief words before introducing Lassie.

  ‘Most of you will know who I am,’ she said. ‘You’ll have seen me on the news, when I was wrongfully arrested for a crime I didn’t commit. But I was lucky. I had amazing friends in the witching world who did their best to discover the real culprits, and set me free. But what if I hadn’t had friends like Wanda Wayfair or the rest of her coven? What then? As a weredog, I have very few rights. There’s no good reason for this. It’s just the way it is. I wouldn’t have been entitled to any legal representation. I wouldn’t have been able to prove my innocence. I would have spent the rest of my life in Witchfield, for something I didn’t do. And more importantly than all of that – the real culprit would have managed to murder countless innocent children. Now, I’m not asking for special treatment. None of us are. We’re asking for t
he same treatment. The same rights to live where we choose, work where we choose, go to school where we choose – and the same legal rights, too.’

  Her speech went on for a while more. Witches were beginning to turn up, appearing all over the place as I’d expected them to. A few idiots tried to shout Lassie down, but for the most part the crowd seemed to be supportive. I was happily surprised by the way things were going.

  When Rover stepped up a short while later, it was much the same. While he spoke, weredogs and Wayfairs weaved through the crowd handing out leaflets, letting everyone know exactly what rights weredogs – and all supernaturals known as others – did and didn’t have.

  Of course there always has to be one troublemaker. In this case, it was a witch who came armed with tins of dog food. As he threw one in Max’s direction, Emily Caulfield extended a finger. She didn’t simply stop the tin from smacking Max. She sent it right back at the witch who had thrown it, making it spill open all over his head. The witch spluttered something unintelligible and left the area. If that didn’t earn Emily brownie points with Max, I wasn’t sure what would.

  The rally had been going on for about forty-five minutes when Minister Plimpton arrived. Her face was puce as she marched towards me. ‘This was supposed to be at the Wyrd Court.’

  I batted my lashes. ‘Change of plans. Why? Is there a problem?’

  She ground her teeth. ‘No. Yes. What if there’s trouble? There are no Peacemakers here to police things.’

  My mother sidled over to us. ‘It doesn’t look like there’s anything to police, far as I can see. Although I must admit, it is strange. The Peacemakers have plagued every single rally for weeks now. They’ve turned at least a dozen peaceful protests into bloodbaths. How come they’re not here tonight doing the same?’

  The Minister’s nostril’s flared. When she finally spoke, spittle followed every word. ‘You’re not supposed to be here. I’ve made my stance on the Wayfairs quite clear.’