Back to Spell One

by Samantha Silver

  Besides, my duffel bag was barely half full. Why not take all the books that I could over? It wasn’t like I was going to be needing US dollars anytime soon. I had no idea what the exchange rate with Abracadollars was, anyway.

  “Ooh, this looks interesting,” Ellie said, looking over the copy of Murder on the Orient Express that I had picked up.

  “You’re welcome to borrow it, of course,” I said. Before checking out, I made my way to the journal section, where I very happily found a set of Harry Potter-themed journals, and I picked up three copies of a large notebook with the Gryffindor logo on the front. After all, my plan was to learn as many spells as possible, and I imagined there existed enough of them to fill more than one notebook.

  By the time we left Barnes & Noble, my duffel bag was definitely on the heavier side. When we reached my favorite taco truck and ordered, eating our tacos on the bench nearby, I was happy for the rest.

  “Have you given any thought to your eventual career path yet?” Ellie asked. “I know there’s no rush, Lita will make sure that you’re taken care of while you learn magic, but I’m curious as to whether or not you have an idea.”

  I shook my head. “No, I don’t have a clue. To be honest, I’m just starting to wrap my head around the idea that magic exists, and also that there are only specific jobs that witches can do.”

  Ellie nodded. “I can understand that. I was lucky; I’ve always loved baking and everything to do with the kitchen, and there are so many magical baked goods out there that only a witch can make.”

  “And I have the opposite problem,” Sara moaned. “There are no jobs out there for witches whose only talent is riding a broom.”

  “I’m sure you’ll find something,” Ellie said sympathetically. “You just haven’t found your niche yet.”

  “It would be nice if my niche could get over here soon, it would stop my mom from constantly remarking on my magical abilities. Now, it’s getting dark, and I hate walking through the forest at night. Let’s go back to Eddie.”

  A quarter of an hour later the three of us were back in the paranormal world. It was funny, looking around to Seattle one last time before I left for goodness knew how long. Even though I had lived there my entire life, ever since my parents had died it had no longer felt like home. And now, knowing that Western Woods existed, it felt even less so. While a part of me had expected to feel a little pang of longing as I looked over the city that was all I knew, I didn’t feel that at all. In fact, all I felt was a desire to cross back over into Western Woods, and truly start my life and my new home.

  “How was your trip, witches?” Drake asked as we made our way back through the portal.

  “Great,” I said, holding up the duffel bag. “I’m all set for life here in Western Woods.”

  “I’m glad to hear it,” Drake said. “Unfortunately, I’m not able to offer you an escort back into town today.”

  “Are you sure?” Ellie said, fluttering her eyelashes slightly at Drake. “It’s just so scary in the woods at night.”

  I had to smile at Ellie’s shameless flirting. Drake looked a little bit disappointed as he answered. “I’m sorry, rules are rules. I’m not allowed to leave my post, except in emergencies.”

  I half expected Ellie to pretend she was having a heart attack or something, just so that she could get Drake to take her back to town, but she just pouted slightly.

  “All right, well, hopefully I’ll have a reason to visit the human world again soon,” Ellie crooned. Sara practically dragged her by the arm towards the forest.

  “You’re ridiculous,” Sara said.

  “Well, how was he going to know I was flirting with him if I don’t make it obvious?” Ellie replied. “Besides, he spends his whole day guarding the portal that I bet like one person a day uses. He might be lonely.”

  “And if he isn’t, I bet he doesn’t want some witch throwing herself all over him,” Sara replied.

  “I’ll never know if I don’t try.”

  I hung behind the two of them slightly, simply enjoying the view of the forest as we meandered along the path. Night was definitely falling now, and the first of the Hotaru began lighting the path for us. It was just as magical as the previous night.

  As we approached the town center, a sudden commotion started in one of the alleys. The three of us stopped, looking around to see what was going on. Ellie and Sara instinctively pulled out their wands, and as soon as I noticed they were holding theirs I did the same, despite the fact that I only knew one spell, and I didn’t even know how to do that one very well.

  Still, at least I looked like a witch, right?

  A black blur came running out from the alley, followed by four boys who looked to be about twelve, maybe thirteen years old.

  “Get it!” One of the boys yelled. “He’s getting away!”

  As the black blur came closer, it became obvious that it was a cat. A cat with something in his mouth.

  “What is that?” I asked, squinting at the cat, trying to figure out what it had taken that the boys so desperately wanted.

  “It’s a gold watch, obviously,” the cat replied, and I gasped at the reply. The cat was talking to me! For a second, I thought I was going insane, until I remembered what the girls had told me about familiars.

  “Are you my familiar?” I asked. After all, the only cat whose thoughts I should be able to understand were my familiar’s.

  “Not for very much longer if these boys have their way,” the cat replied, running towards me. “Although, no offense, but you don’t look like you’re that good of a witch.”

  “None taken, because quite frankly, that’s accurate.”

  The boys were now only about 30 feet away.

  “Does that mean I should try and make a run for it?”

  I looked over at the other two witches. “Ellie, Sara, this cat is my familiar and we need to protect it,” I told them.

  The two of them nodded in understanding and stepped forward, protecting me and the cat, who jumped up onto my shoulder.

  “Hey, boys,” Sara said. “What’s going on here?”

  At the sight of two fully grown witches, the boys stopped suddenly, all four of them breathing hard.

  “That cat’s got my watch,” one of the boys answered, pointing to the black cat. Sure enough, there was a gold watch in his mouth, and I had a sneaking suspicion that this cat hadn’t bought it at the store.

  Ellie looked at the watch carefully. “That’s funny, that looks a lot like Handromir’s watch.”

  “Well, it’s not anymore,” one of the other boys said defiantly.

  “So if we go and find Handromir and ask him where his watch is, he’ll tell us that it’s yours, fair and square? There won’t be any mention of theft?” Sara said, folding her arms over her chest.

  The boys shifted their feet, looking between one another guiltily.

  “That’s what I thought,” Sara said. “Get a move on, and we’ll make sure Handromir gets his watch back. And if I see you boys stealing again, I will report you to Chief Enforcer King.”

  Evidently deciding to cut their losses, all four boys glanced at each other for a second before running back off into the night.

  “I could have taken them,” the black cat said, dropping the watch into my hand. I gave him a sharp look.

  “Is that right?”

  “Absolutely. I’m an expert in martial arts. I know Katrate, and Tae Cat Do.”

  “I don’t think those are real martial arts.”

  Sara and Ellie had confused smiles on their faces. I could only imagine how crazy this conversation must have sounded to someone who could only understand my half.

  “Well, the important thing is we have the watch now.”

  “Only temporarily; this watch is absolutely going back to its rightful owner.”

  “Great. Of course I would get a human with morals.”

  “Right. Well, don’t worry, I don’t have that many rules, but no stealing is definitely one of them.�
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  “Spoil sport,” the cat muttered.

  “So I think it’s safe to say your familiar has found you?” Sara asked, and I nodded.

  “Yes. His name is - wait, what is your name?”

  “As I am a martial arts expert, my name is Mr. Meowgi.”

  It took all the effort I could muster not to burst out laughing at that. Though I had to admit, it was strangely fitting.

  “All right, Mr. Meowgi, welcome to the family,” I said, motioning to Ellie and Sara. My new familiar did something that I was pretty sure was supposed to be a bow at my two roommates, who both leaned over and began patting him on the head. Letting out a contented meow, Mr. Meowgi enjoyed the attention for a minute until we began heading back home.

  “If you give me that watch, Handromir comes by the coffee shop every morning. I can give it to him tomorrow, and tell him that we rescued it from the shifter boys.”

  “Who is Handromir?”

  “He’s one of the elves in town; he works as the town’s lawyer to defend any paranormals who have been accused of a crime.”

  “So, like a public defender,” I said.

  “Sure,” Sara replied. “I don’t know what that is, but it sounds about right.”

  “I still think you should let me keep the watch,” Mr. Meowgi muttered.

  “Absolutely not,” I replied. So my new familiar was obsessed with martial arts, and had a bit of a kleptomaniac streak to him. But hey, no one’s animals were perfect, right?

  Chapter 15

  As soon as we got back home, Mr. Meowgi jumped off my shoulder and began investigating the house. About five seconds later, however, Chestnut came flying in from the living room, and my new familiar let out a high-pitched squeal as he ran up the side of the nearby couch.

  “Don’t worry,” Ellie called out to Mr. Meowgi. “He’s actually really good with cats.”

  “Now you tell me,” my familiar replied. “Besides, just because he is good with cats doesn’t mean I’m good with dogs.”

  I had to admit, he had a bit of a point there.

  “Well, you’d better learn, because Chestnut has been a resident here for longer than I have,” I muttered. Chestnut stood at the bottom of the couch, looking up at Mr. Meowgi, his tail wagging furiously.

  “I’m far too good for dogs,” Mr. Meowgi replied, delicately walking across the back of the couch and making an elegant leap onto the bookcase on the other side. Evidently, his plan to avoid Chestnut was going to involve staying higher up than the dog could reach. So long as they weren’t actively fighting, I knew they’d eventually get along.

  “There’s also an owl here, somewhere. Don’t try and fight the owl,” I warned Mr. Meowgi. “And another cat, but he’s shy.”

  “Thank goodness the cats outnumber the other animals, at least,” Mr. Meowgi said.

  “I’ll let you get settled. Our bedroom is the third down on the left,” I called out as I took my duffle bag which was frankly more full of books than anything else, down to the bedroom and dropped it off.

  When I got back to the kitchen, the girls had opened a bottle of wine and poured a glass for me.

  “You’re going to want some of this,” Ellie said. “After all, I texted Amy and she’s going to take her break in an hour. That’s when we’re going to go back to the hospital and find out why Philip Vulcan was fired.”

  “I’m not sure committing a felony when I’ve been in town less than twenty-four hours is a good idea, but I also don’t want to spend the rest of my life living like a pariah here, so I’m in,” I said, taking a swig of the wine.

  “Am I coming too?” Mr. Meowgi asked.

  “Not a chance,” I answered. “Too dangerous.”

  “Danger is my middle name.”

  “In that case, I’ll have to change your name to Austin Meowers.”

  “Ew, that’s an awful name. And I don’t understand the reference.”

  “And yet you understood Mr. Meowgi?”

  “In my training I spent time in the human world, and have seen many of their martial arts movies. But the name was given to me by an elf who has spent a lot of time in the human world.”

  “Ah,” I replied, nodding. “Well, one day I’ll find us a copy of The Karate Kid on DVD. Do you guys have DVDs here?”

  Sara and Ellie looked at me blankly, and I sighed. “Ok. Well, one day I’ll figure it out.”

  Forty minutes later, the three of us were getting ready to head out. “Put on some comfortable shoes,” Sara said. “After all, we’re going to be invisible, but we don’t want to be heard, and we want to be able to run away easily if it comes to that.”

  “Luckily, I only have one option, and they’re pretty comfortable,” I said, slipping on my flats. After all, I had been coming home from work, and spending eight hours on my feet would have been nigh-on-torturous if my shoes hadn’t been insanely comfortable.

  “Great. We’re going to take the brooms to get to the hospital. Not only will it be faster, but it will minimize the chance of us running into anyone. Alright, ladies. Phones on silent.”

  I had a sneaking suspicion this wasn’t the first time Ellie had broken into somewhere. I glanced at my phone. Unsurprisingly, it said ‘No Service’.

  “I’m going to have to get a phone plan here,” I muttered, almost to myself.

  “We’ll take care of that for you tomorrow,” Sara said. “Now, since you don’t know how to ride a broom, I’ll get you to ride with me.”

  The three of us left the house, with Mr. Meowgi still grumbling about how if we needed a martial arts expert we were going to regret not taking him. I followed the other two to the side, where three broomsticks leaned casually against the side wall of the house. One of them was significantly shorter than the others, and thinner as well. I figured that was the one I was eventually going to be learning on.

  Sara and Ellie each grabbed a broom. “We’ll do the invisibility spell before we go, but first I want to teach you how to get on,” Sara said. “You just hoist a leg over the top, then hold on to me. Cross your legs underneath you for support, and don’t think about sliding off. The broom will balance you.”

  “Ok,” I nodded.

  “You’re not afraid of heights, are you?”

  “No, but I’ve also never ridden a two-inch wide piece of wood high into the air before, either.”

  “Well, don’t worry, I’ll try and stay pretty low for now,” Sara said. “Now, time for the invisibility spell. This one Ellie is going to take care of.”

  Ellie pulled out her wand – I wasn’t entirely surprised to find it was long, bright purple, and covered in glitter – and pointed it towards me, first.

  “Jupiter with your power so mythical, turn this woman in front of me invisible.”

  I gasped as all of a sudden I disappeared. I touched my face, and luckily, I felt something there, but for the life of me I could no longer see any part of me. I mean, I knew that was what an invisibility spell did, obviously, but knowing it in theory and actually seeing it in real life were two very different things.

  By the time I’d gotten over the shock – and the coolness – of it, Ellie had repeated the spell on Sara, and the broom she held was now hanging in mid-air.

  “Tina, if you get lost or separated from us, meet back at the house,” Ellie said. “We’ll reverse the spell here. Do you know how to get back here on your own?”

  I nodded, then realized there was no way Ellie could see it. “Yeah, I think so.”

  “Good. We’re meeting Amy on the roof of the hospital. Now, get on the broom, and I’ll make that invisible as well.”

  Sara’s broom shifted as she climbed up onto it, and I reached over and grabbed it, hoisting my leg over and grabbing at my friend’s invisible body. I had to admit, I probably would have been a lot more comfortable learning to ride a broom if I could actually see it, and myself.

  Still, I knew there were no other options. A second later, Ellie repeated the spell, and the broom underneath me disappear
ed.

  “Ready?” Sara asked. I squeezed her waist more tightly as I answered in the affirmative.

  A moment later the broom began to rise up into the air, and I gasped as my feet left the ground. I crossed my ankles, the way Sara had suggested, and held onto her tightly, simply trying not to move too much. After all, not only did I not want to fall off the broom, but I also didn’t want to make it more difficult for her to fly.

  It didn’t take long before I realized that the others had been right about Sara being skilled on the broom. She kept it flying low, only about 15 feet in the air, but it was high enough that we soared above the heads of all the residents in town. The ride was smooth, and while I initially closed my eyes, it didn’t take long before I opened them and took in the view along with the cool night air that whipped in my face.

  The view in town at night was quite frankly stunning. The wrought-iron lamps cast a warm glow on the streets of town, and if there had been snow I would have easily believed that this could be some sort of Swiss Alpine village. Well, except for the total lack of mountains. The dark forest in the back gave the warm glow of the town an even more ethereal feel, and I made a mental note to come up here and just look over the town when I eventually learned to ride a broom. I had never seen anything quite like this place before.

  Chapter 16

  As we approached the hospital a few minutes later, I began to relax. I had just survived my first broom trip.

  “How are you doing back there?” Sara asked.

  “Great, thanks!”

  “Just wait until I teach you to ride one of these babies on your own. Riding a broom is awesome.”

  We landed on the roof of the hospital a couple of minutes later.

  “Amy? Are you here yet?” Sara asked.

  The silence in the air told us that we were the first to arrive.

  “We’ll wait for Ellie to get here before reversing the spell. Trust me, you really would rather she do it than me,” Sara said with a giggle.