“What did you tell Lita to get a couple of hours off?” Ellie asked.
“I told her I wanted to work with you for a little bit longer, to try and get your magic going. She thought that was an excellent idea, and told me to take a few hours off. But I really do need to get back; I know Lita has a whole bunch of papers that she wants help with.”
Waving goodbye, Amy stepped out of the bar just as the waitress arrived with our drinks. She was a fairy as well, with her wings fluttering behind her, and I was surprised that she was able to hold up the tray with so many drinks given her small frame. She couldn’t have been more than four and a half feet tall, and probably weighed eighty pounds, tops. Still, she balanced the tray on one arm with expert precision as she grabbed the drinks off of it and placed them on the table.
“I have four dragonberry juices for you ladies,” she said. I looked at the glass placed in front of me in amazement. I had no idea what a dragonberry was, but this drink looked like a mixture of different colors, slowly melting together, each color twisting and winding around the others, almost like a multi-coloured lava lamp.
“Can I drink this?” I asked in amazement, looking at the drink.
“You must be the new witch in town,” the fairy said with a smile. “Yes, you can drink it. Dragonberry juice is one of the most popular non-alcoholic drinks in town.”
“I figured since the four of us have already demolished one and a half bottles of wine at home today, we should go for something a little bit less alcoholic, lest we all wake up hung over,” Sara said with a smile.
“That was definitely a good choice,” Ellie said. “Ailsa, why don’t you join us? You can drink Amy’s juice, since she had to leave.”
“Well, seeing as it’s a Tuesday night and we don’t have that many customers, why not?” the fairy asked, fluttering her wings and slipping into the booth next to Ellie.
“I saw you chatting to Patricia,” she said to Sara and I. “I assume you were talking to her about Philip?”
“How did you know?” I asked, slightly suspicious. I took a sip of the drink, and my eyes widened as my mouth burst with flavor. It was like eating some sort of fruit salad, where I had about five different flavors all at once. There was some sour citrus, a sweet berry taste, and a few others that I couldn’t quite place. I was definitely a fan, though.
Ailsa gave me a wink and a smile. “Well, to be totally honest, I’ve heard the rumors that have linked your arrival with Philip’s death. I don’t believe them, of course, because that’s totally ridiculous, but I have to say a decent number of the people in town actually believe you might’ve killed him. So, knowing that you are hanging out with Ellie here, I figured your little group is trying to figure out what happened to him. And Patricia is definitely one of the main people to speak to.”
“That’s true,” Sara said. “We know that she and Philip were friends.”
Ailsa giggled behind her hands. “Right. Friends.”
“What do you mean?” Sara asked, leaning forward towards Ailsa.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in this bar, and I’ve seen a lot of witches and wizards. I know when something is going on between them, and something was definitely going on between Philip and Patricia. At least, until about a week ago, anyway.”
“That jives with what she told us,” I said slowly. “She said that Philip had been distant for the last week.”
“If you ask me, the two of them broke up. But they were definitely together. They always tried to keep it subtle, and they never left together or arrived together, but I could see simply from the way they looked at each other that they were knocking boots,” Ailsa said.
“Well, that suddenly opens up a new possibility,” Ellie said. “If the two of them broke up about a week ago, then what if it was bad? What if Patricia actually did kill him out of jealousy, or simply anger for being dumped?”
“I don’t know,” I said slowly. “I think if it was her, she would have taken the opportunity to tell us that Philip was a thief, in the hopes of directing our energies elsewhere.”
“That’s true,” Sara said. “Plus, she definitely was crying when we got to the bar.”
“Yeah, but what if she wasn’t crying out of grief? What if she was crying out of guilt, regretting the fact that she killed her ex?” Ellie suggested. “I don’t think we can discount her completely. Do you know anything else about their breakup?”
Ailsa shook her head. “No, I don’t. I know that about a week ago they were sitting at a table at the back together, and while they were speaking in hushed tones, and I couldn’t make out any of the words, it didn’t look like a pleasant conversation. Eventually, Patricia left, and Philip had like five more drinks before staggering out of the bar himself an hour later.”
“Great, so it doesn’t sound like it was a very amicable breakup.”
“No wonder she told us he had been distant,” I said. “She couldn’t exactly tell us that they were no longer an item. What I don’t get, to be totally honest, is what someone like Patricia would have seen in a guy like Phillip. By all accounts he was basically a loser wizard going from dead-end job to dead-end job.”
Ellie grinned at me. “You’ve never seen a picture of Philip, have you?”
I shook my head.
“The guy was basically the hottest wizard in town. Even though he was in his early forties, the guy was incredibly good looking. I was honestly surprised that he didn’t go try his luck in Spellywood; he probably could have gotten at least a few gigs.”
“So he was basically the George Clooney of the paranormal world,” I nodded.
“Who’s George Clooney?” Ailsa asked.
“Just ignore her, she’s always making references to the human world that none of us understand,” Sara said good-naturedly, sticking her tongue out at me.
“Yeah, well, George Clooney is super-hot,” I replied. “That’s all you really need to know. That explains it, anyway. I guess I just never envisioned the hospital maintenance guy to be good looking.”
“Oh, he was,” Sara confirmed. “It wasn’t just the moon he was connected to which was fiery,” she added with a wink.
“Did Myrtle know?” I asked. “After all, his wife may not have been super happy about the affair.”
Ailsa shrugged. “I have no idea. She doesn’t come in here much; I think I’ve only seen her once or twice since I started working here a couple of years ago.”
“Thanks for the info. That really helps.”
“Not a problem. And don’t worry about paying for those drinks. Consider it our welcome to Western Woods, Tina.”
“Thanks,” I said, a small blush rose on my face. It was really nice to see that most of the community was actually quite welcoming. I had a feeling the adjustment to the paranormal world would be a lot easier with most people on my side.
“Right. I’ve got to get going, since I am still on the clock, but I do hope that someone finds out who the murderer is, whether it be you or Chief Enforcer King.”
“Thanks, Ailsa,” Ellie said. “It was nice to see you again.”
“You too. See you, witches.”
As Ailsa left, the three of us sipped our drinks in silence, all of us thinking over what we had just learned. We might not have learned what Philip had stolen from the hospital which got him fired, but we certainly did have one, possibly two new suspects.
Chapter 18
I spent most of that night tossing and turning, mulling over in my head everything we had learned about Philip Vulcan’s death. Eventually, when the first rays of sunlight began to shine through the window, I gave up on the idea of sleep and got out of bed.
“Finally,” Mr. Meowgi muttered, crawling into the warm spot I had left and curling up into a ball. “Some of us have been trying to sleep.”
“Sorry,” I whispered to him softly, giving him a quick pat on the head. Slipping into my clothes, I made my way into the kitchen, where I found Ellie eating a piece of toast while Chestnut sat at her f
eet, staring intently at the bread, as if he could make it drop if he stared hard enough.
“Use the force, Chestnut,” I said to him softly, but he was so focused on the bread he didn’t pay me any attention.
“Another human reference?” Ellie asked, and I nodded as I made my way to the fridge.
“Do we have any of that dragonberry juice?” I asked, peering through the fridge. “That stuff was good.”
Ellie grinned. “Sadly, no. I think Amy’s going shopping this afternoon though, so if you leave a note on the fridge she’ll buy some for you.”
“Where is Amy, anyway?”
“Sleeping, I think. Even with that potion that lets her stay up, she does need to sleep occasionally.”
“It’s good to see that even she’s human – er, a witch.”
Ellie laughed. “Absolutely. Anyway, I’m going to work soon. Hexpresso Bean is catering the funeral, which is at eleven. I assume the three of you will be there?”
“Yes, for sure. After all, I’m part of this coven now, and I definitely want to go to the coven events. Although, it would be nice if the next one wasn’t a funeral.”
“I agree with you there,” Ellie said. “Anyway, take care of yourself. There will be people at the funeral who think you killed him, don’t pay them any mind. Those people are idiots.”
And with that, Ellie got up and placed her plate in the sink, before waving her wand at it.
“In the name of hygiene, make these dishes clean.”
A second later the plate glimmered as though it was brand-new. I gasped; magic was still definitely new, and definitely cool. There was no way my old Maytag could compete with that.
“I thought all of the spells had to invoke Jupiter,” I said. “That spell didn’t include him at all.”
“Most do,” Ellie said with a shrug. “But not all of them. I think for the spell makers it became pretty awkward if they had to try and rhyme everything with Jupiter somehow.”
“So is that a spell that I can do, and it won’t be weaker because it’s not the spell of my coven?”
Ellie shook her head. “Sadly, no. Even spells that don’t directly invoke our celestial spirit are coven specific.”
I sighed. I was definitely going to have to try and figure out who my coven was sooner rather than later.
After Ellie – and Chestnut - left, I picked up one of the books I’d bought at the bookstore before leaving – The Complete Collection of Sherlock Holmes – and curled up on the couch, reading away, until about half an hour later Sara came out of her room, arms outstretched, in the middle of a yawn.
“Just the two of us this morning, hey?”
“Apparently, Amy is sleeping,” I replied with a smile.
“Huh, that’s a first,” Sara said, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl on the kitchen island and biting into it. “Well, it’s only seven, and the funeral doesn’t start until eleven, so we have lots of time until then to give you your first broom lesson, if you’re up for it.”
My heart leapt into my throat at Sara’s words – partly from excitement, and partly out of fear. I had never been particularly athletic when I was in school, and I worried that would show itself in my broom riding abilities. Or, more accurately, my lack of them.
Still, this was going to happen! I was going to learn how to ride a broom. A real broom.
“Sure,” I said, trying to sound casual, but given as it came out as a bit of a squeak, Sara grinned at me.
“A bit nervous?”
“Just a tad,” I replied.
“Don’t worry. It’s not actually hard, and the brooms are magically designed to keep you on them. It’s not like you’re going to fall off if you shift your weight over three inches.”
“That’s a relief,” I noted. That was what worried me the most about broom riding: that I was going to need absolutely perfect balance. I had trouble walking in high-heeled shoes; I could imagine that a broom ride was just asking for disaster.
“Come on, let’s get going.”
“Don’t you want to have breakfast first?” I offered.
“Nah, I’m not that hungry. And besides, why would I eat breakfast when I finally have the opportunity to teach another witch something?” she added with a wink.
Grabbing the smaller broom from the pile of four at the side of the house – Ellie hadn’t taken her broom to work today, apparently – Sara motioned for me to follow her into the backyard. It was definitely big, at least by city standards – probably about fifty feet deep, and spanning about fifteen feet on either side of the house. “There’s lots of room here for you to practice,” Sara said, motioning around the yard.
I was pleased to see the yard was well-manicured, but plain. Apart from a small set of bushes against the back fence, there was only grass. No large trees or anything like that for me to accidentally fly into.
“Now, the most important thing to remember when you’re flying is not to panic. Panic is what causes problems. If you stay calm, no matter what happens, your broom will stay stable, and you’re more likely to get yourself out of a bad situation. Besides, you’re basically never going to find yourself in a bad situation anyway. Ninety-nine percent of the flying that you do is going to be to get from shop to shop in town. It’s rather low risk.”
“What about the other one percent?”
Sara grinned. “Well, seeing as it took very little convincing for you to break into the hospital with us last night, I have a feeling you’re going to be more into adventures than Amy is.”
“Not a chance. Once this is over, I plan on living a quiet life as I learn what it’s like to be a witch.”
“Alright, well, one of the most important parts of being a witch is knowing how to fly a broom. So, the first thing you need to know how to do is set a broom straight. Pick it up, hold it horizontally just under hip height, and let it go. If you focus on the broom while you’re doing it, the broom will float next to you so you can get on. Just like this.”
Sara did exactly as she’d just explained, and when she let go of the broom, it held in place. I let out a small gasp of wonder. That was cool!
“Now you try.”
I made my way over to the broom and picked it up. As soon as I touched it, the magical link with Sara ended, and it fell limply into my hand.
“Ok,” I muttered, thinking about the broom as I held it about halfway up my thigh. What kind of broom was this, anyway? Would this work with any broom?
I let go, but to my dismay, the broom simply fell on the ground.
“Were you thinking about the broom?” Sara asked, motioning for me to pick it up.
“Um, well, I was thinking about brooms in general,” I admitted, biting my lip.
“You need to focus on this broom, in the same way as you focus on your wand when you do a spell. Ok? Try again.”
This time, I really tried to mimic how I focused on the wand with the broom, and when I let go of it, rather than falling limply to the ground, the broom hovered where I’d left it. It felt like there was an energy between me and the broom, like we were connected somehow.
“Great!” Sara said, clapping her hands together with a grin.
“That’s awesome,” I said, staring at the broom. I still wasn’t over the novelty of how cool magic was.
“Now, the next step is to get on the broom, and learn to fly,” Sara said. “I’ll be right back.”
She came back a second later with her own broom. “Ok, I’m going to show you on this one. Basically, you sit down on the broom, which you learned to do yesterday. When you’re on it, hold onto the front with both hands. The front of the broom acts like the steering mechanism. If you want to go up, you pull up on the broom. If you want to go down, you push down on it. If you want to go faster, shift your weight forward over the front of the broom, and if you want to slow down, shift your weight towards the back. Got it?”
I nodded. “I think so.”
“It’s really actually fairly intuitive once you get going. A
nd of course, to turn, you simply steer your shoulders in the direction you want to go.”
“Alright. So, uh, do you want me to try that now?”
“There’s really no other way.”
“No training wheels on brooms, hey?”
“Why would brooms come with wheels?” Sara asked, her head tilting to the side.
“Never mind,” I muttered. Hoisting myself over the broom’s handle, I let my feet just tickle the ground slightly. I liked having that connection, at least to start.
“Good. Now, hands firmly on the front, and shift your weight forward just a little bit,” Sara urged.
I did as she said, and as soon as I shifted my weight to the front of the broom, it began to move. I gasped and moved back instinctively, and the broom stopped.
“See? Nothing to worry about,” Sara said. “Why did you pull back?”
“Instinct,” I replied. “Ok, let me try again.”
This time, when I leaned my weight forward over the broom, I was expecting it to go forward, and when it did, while my heart rate increased noticeably, I didn’t panic, and instead simply gripped the front of the broom more tightly.
I mean, I was probably moving at approximately two miles an hour, but still. Baby steps.
“Good!” Sara called out encouragingly. “That’s how you do it!”
As I rode slowly through the backyard, my confidence level began to grow. I even began to smile as I lifted the broom about a foot higher, so my feet could no longer touch the ground, and I continued to do small circles around the backyard.
“Excellent, you’re really getting the hang of this!” Sara said excitedly. She was obviously enjoying my success as much as I was, and it was really nice to see someone being so happy for me when in reality I was still very much a beginner.
As I continued to zip around the backyard - okay, zip was probably a strong word - I began to feel like maybe I could actually do this. Maybe I wasn’t going to be the worst witch ever after all.
“Oh, a broom, where are we going?” I heard a familiar voice call out from somewhere behind me. The next thing I knew, a black ball of fur was running towards me, and a second later had jumped up onto the back of the broom. Mr. Meowgi was obviously not going to be left out this time.
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