I was given more freedom as Stella saw my determination to do well. Instead of sitting on my stool in the workshop, I was permitted to take my studies outdoors. The pier of the pond was one of my favorite places to sit and read. I could dip my feet in the water and feel a part of nature as I read about all that nature was capable of. I was smart enough now to slather on plenty of sunblock before venturing outdoors.
I came to love the Chadwick House. There was a primal beauty about the rolling valleys and hills that dotted the landscape. Flowers bloomed in the oddest of places and I was certain there was magic involved. I had started picking blooms and keeping them in a vase on my dresser. I ran through the fields and dived in the pond whenever I was given a free moment.
Stella never warned me away from the woods around the Chadwick House, but I never ventured further than the tree line. My recent nightmares made my fear about the forest multiply tenfold. My imagination warned of tendrils of darkness consuming me as soon as I passed the threshold. I felt silly for my trepidation and rationality told me that anyone would have nightmares staying in a creepy old house and learning to be a witch.
Mason still remained a mystery. Besides a few glimpses and snatches of conversation here and there, Mason kept away from me. I thought that would change after the day at the pond. Later that night, I found Cheez Doodles, Gatorade, and Tylenol resting on top of my quilt. I tried to thank him, but he brushed me off. I decided to not pursue a friendship and made peace with the fact that my months would be spent mostly alone.
The conversations with Tanner and Amber grew more strained with each passing week. I was shocked to find that even with only a single day to talk to Tanner, I had little to offer in way of conversation. He didn’t know the truth about my reasons for staying in Lima, so I let him talk about himself the entire time. He didn’t spare my feelings as he described how much fun he was having with our friends over the summer. He had also begun preparing for the move to the dorms in a few short weeks. This was the hardest thing for me to hear. Our phone calls were getting shorter and I could feel Tanner distancing himself as he became immersed in pre-college activities.
In mid-August, Stella decided it was time for a change in our routine. The sky was overcast and I had just returned from watering in the greenhouse. She thrust out a wrinkled hand and beckoned me into the hallway outside of the workshop. I hurried forward and waited for her instructions.
“You will sit in on a client meeting with me this morning.”
I was equally surprised and thrilled. Some days dragged as I spent hours upon hours researching. It would be wonderful to see Stella actually practicing magic in front of me. I had not seen her cast a spell since she put me to sleep in the car ride to her home. It renewed doubts into my mind about whether or not her abilities were real or not.
She led me to another locked door towards the front of the house. I wasn’t surprised by this discovery. I had tried opening several doors on both floors, only to find them padlocked. Stella had a keychain that she kept with her at all times. I had to wonder if the locks were a new addition since she determined I would be living with her.
The room was what I guessed a psychic’s parlor would look like. There were overstuffed chairs decorated in rich deep hues of red, purple, and orange. The shelving displayed an odd assortment of mystical items. Crystals were placed haphazardly over the room next to oddities such as an animal skull, black candles, silver chalices, and aroma lamps.
The drapes were heavy and the only illumination came from oil lamps that Stella must have lit before fetching me from the workshop. I walked into the rooms and felt the gooseflesh erupting on my arms. The residual magic in this room seemed to speak to something dormant inside of me and the feeling reminded me of my nightmare when I called the darkness to me.
I gave Stella a wide-eyed look. “Is this stuff for real?” I gestured to the macabre décor.
“Honestly, most of it’s for show. People like a witch that fulfills what they have in their imaginations. Which reminds me…” she trailed off and walked over to a coat rack. She removed two cloaks that she had hung up. She paused for a minute to stare at me before handing me the red cloak. Of course, the witch would pick the color of my nightmares. She commanded, “Put this on.”
The black cloak she draped over her back clasped at the neck and disguised her normal clothing underneath. The old woman usually wore a housecoat or a blouse with plain slacks. I watched her as she adorned her body with bangle bracelets and garish rings.
“What are you waiting for? Our client will be here any minute.” Her irritation forced me to cover my form in the heavy fabric of the cloak. Her smile was unexpected as she stared at me. “Red is really your color.”
I dared a glance in the oval mirror embellished with pentagrams. I don’t know if it was the lighting or the color of the cloak, but my appearance had seemed to change since arriving at Chadwick House. My hair had grown long and fell in soft waves past my shoulders. My brown eyes sparkled with vitality—something I seemed to lack when I first came to the estate.
I ignored her compliment. “What do you want me to do?”
“You’re to sit and observe only. Only speak if I ask you something directly.” It took a tremendous effort for me to stop from replying a snide remark. A few incidences after snapping at Stella, I had ended up getting stuck doing deep cleaning in the bathrooms. While I scrubbed, she made threats of cursing me with muteness until I learned my place.
The doorbell rang and Stella glided out of the door. I made myself comfortable in one of the chairs and practiced different types of facial expressions I could use to greet clients. The cloaks, mystical objects, and jewelry were meant to portray an aura of power. I settled on a neutral expression, hoping that gave me an air of mystery.
A redheaded woman followed Stella into the room a few short minutes later. She was a wisp of a thing—barely five feet and probably less than a hundred pounds. Her fingers played with a dangling gold necklace. Her eyes darted over to where I sat and she sent Stella a questioning look.
“This is a student of mine,” Stella explained shortly. “Don’t worry about her. She’ll only be watching our exchange.”
The woman looked skeptical. Maybe the cloak and dim lighting was making me look intimidating. I offered her a small smile and it seemed to ease her wariness enough for her to settle her body down in one of the offered chairs.
Stella followed suit and leaned back to study the woman for a long moment. I guessed her age to be about early thirties. Her pencil skirt and expensive blouse hinted at her possibly being successful in the business world. My curiosity was ignited as I imagined what this attractive and rich woman would possibly need from a witch.
“Why don’t you tell me why you’re here Madeline?” Stella prompted, showing the first signs of impatience over the woman’s hesitation.
“My fiancé broke up with me three months ago and I can’t get him out of my head. I can’t seem to function anymore. I’m barely eating and I’m lucky if I get a couple of hours asleep each night…” Madeline’s breath caught as she trailed off. After a second to regain her composure, she continued, “If I don’t get my act together I’m going to be fired. I already received two verbal warnings about arriving late to work and forgetting appointments.”
Stella didn’t let her go on. She clasped her hands together and her gray eyes bored into Madeline. “So, you’ve come to me to have lost love returned to you?”
Madeline barked out a humorless laugh. “God, no. He cheated on me for months before leaving me. If I end up married to him, I’m bound to be miserable. Yet, I can’t seem to get over it. It’s like he stole away my confidence and has destroyed my chances of ever finding someone else to love me.”
“If you don’t want your fiancé to fall back in love with you—what do you want?” Stella inquired.
“I want someone new. A man to make me feel loved and cherished. Someone who could make me forget all about that loser Steven,” Madeli
ne confessed. I forced my eyes away from Madeline and turned to Stella.
Conversation was halted with the only sound the tinkling of Stella’s bracelets as she moved her hands to rest under her chin. She closed her eyes for several minutes and I had no idea if I should shake her in case she had fallen asleep. My head turned back to Madeline and I shrugged my shoulders in response to her inquisitive expression.
I almost jumped out of my chair as Stella proclaimed loudly, “I know just the spell for you.”
Madeline leaned forward in anticipation. “What is it?”
“I have a very powerful attraction spell that I can do for you. After using it, I’m certain you’ll find the perfect mate. This man will make you forget about your fool of an ex-fiancé.”
Stella’s authoritative voice captivated us both. It was hard not to believe in her and the words she was saying. Madeline appeared hopeful as well. Her fiancé had hurt her enough to make her desperate to rid his haunting presence from her life.
“What do I have to do?”
“I will give you an infused oil to bathe in. The oil will help draw that special man to you. Before leaving for a night out, you’ll also rub the oil over a rose-colored candle placed upon a mirror. You’ll gaze at the mirror and say exactly what I tell you to,” Stella explained. With a kittenish smile, she said, “I promise by the end of the night, you will have met the man of your dreams.”
“Yes…please…that’s exactly what I want.” I was a little surprised at the depths of Madeline’s desperation. I almost wanted to suggest online dating before she made the decision to use a witch’s spell to attract a mate. After swallowing hard, she whispered, “What’s your price?”
“As I told you on the phone, nature demands everything stay in balance. If we do this spell for you, you need to give up something that’s equal in value to you.” Stella warned, “Otherwise, the spell will backfire completely and you’ll end up heartbroken again.”
“I really thought long and hard about something that I would have a hard time parting with.” Madeline wiped at a few stray tears falling from her eyes and reached for her purse. Pulling out a ring, she gripped it tightly before prying away her fingers. Displaying it in her palm for Stella to observe, she said, “It’s my engagement ring from Steven.”
“Oh my god…are you serious?” I blurted out.
Stella cast me a withering gaze and I swore she would smite me right then and there if she could. I was apologetic for interrupting her meeting, but I was also flabbergasted. The diamond solitaire had a huge princess cut gem in the middle of it. It must have been worth thousands of dollars. I was shocked at how easy this woman was just handing it over for a second shot at love.
Madeline sent me a pitiful expression. “You’re so young…you’ve obviously never had your heart broken.”
I bit back my reply. I was rankled by this woman’s assumption that I was naïve. It was true that I never had a boy break my heart, but I was well acquainted with other kinds of pain. I longed for my father and the ache his absence left in my life could never be dulled—even with the help of magic.
“Quinn, you’re no longer needed here,” Stella said. She walked over to a table and picked up an old-fashioned pen and parchment paper. I had to stifle my giggle over the props that Stella used to send out a mystical aura. She handed me the paper and continued, “I need you to go to the workshop and gather these ingredients for the attraction spell. I expect them ready in ten minutes.”
Stella’s dressing down of me in front of the client was my punishment for not following her rules. I simply nodded and headed out of the room. As I left, I heard Stella’s voice, “I accept your offering. I’m going to write down the spell for you now. Say these words exactly as I write them.”
I hurried through the corridors of the house. Reviewing the list, I was relieved to find most of the ingredients consisted of oils that Stella stored on the shelves in the workroom. She had labels attached at the end of each shelf and had yet to remove them.
I set out the last ingredient just in time as Stella breezed through the doorway of the workshop. She looked over each of the objects and announced them, “Lavender oil, sweet orange oil, lovage, cinnamon bark, lodestone, and lemon flowers.” Nodding at me, she stated flatly, “Good job.” I stayed glued to the spot and waited for her to speak. “You can go to lunch now. I’ll take things from here.”
“Can I watch you cast?”
Stella had never cast a spell in front of me since my arrival at Chadwick House. I suspected she was holding me at arm’s length. I don’t know if it was because she didn’t trust me fully or didn’t feel I was ready to witness her casting. “For someone so afraid to come here, it’s good to see you eager to learn.”
I flushed at her praise. Stella usually treated me with indifference and it felt strange to hear a compliment pass her lips. When I didn’t reply, she started, “I don’t want you to know how to cast a spell just yet. Magic is dangerous and an exacting science. A poor cast can have detrimental results for you and the person you’re casting for.” The disappointment must have been clear on my face. “No worries, my dear. When you leave this house, you’ll be one of the most powerful spellcasters the world has ever seen.”
Her proclamation made me grimace and I thought of my mother’s warnings about being seduced by magic. I felt in control and assured that I could walk away from magic at the end of the year. I had a life that I was eager to get back to.
Chapter Eleven
Another week passed by and Stella permitted me to sit in on two more of her meetings. One of the requests was for a woman who needed help finding her deceased mother’s lost jewelry box. An elderly man had come to Stella for a cure for his arthritis. Stella offered up her potions and charms and sent each of her clients happily away from the estate. After the man paid his debt with the only photograph of his mother, I asked Stella about what she did with the objects offered to her.
“Come with me,” she told me and led me down into the basement. After unlocking another door, we entered a storage room. There were metal shelves along the perimeter and at least a dozen of storage bins toppled on top of each other. Without her prompting, I walked over to one of the bins on the floor and opened it. Inside was an odd assortment of knick-knacks and photographs.
“Anything worthwhile, I sell. I have an estate sales agent that comes once a month and gives me a quote on the objects that have been given to me. This is my sole income and how we live in such lavish luxury.” She cackled as if she was laughing at her own private joke. “Anything else, I keep down here.”
Tears prickled my eyes and I couldn’t fully explain this sudden rush of emotion I felt over seeing people’s keepsakes collecting dust in the basement. These mementos were meaningful to someone and I wondered that maybe I did have a certain level of naïveté that I had to cast off if I was going to be a practicing witch. Magic was enticing and people were willing to part with their cherished things to possess a piece of it.
Stella was speaking. “It doesn’t matter what happens to the offering made by the client. It can be sold, stored, thrown out, burned…” Stella’s voice trailed off. “The thing that’s important to keep the balance is that a sacrifice must be made. It doesn’t even always have to be a tangible thing. Instead of an object, your mother put you in my service for a year.”
“How do you make the judgment call on what’s enough to settle the debt?”
“If someone gives me something worthless, the spell isn’t likely to work. I’ll let them know this and make suggestions on what else they can give. If a spell does work, despite the lackluster offering, nature will take the rest of its payment in one way or another.” Her voice was grave and I shivered involuntarily.
“Like what could happen?”
“Anything really…” Stella’s thin lips pursed as she mulled over my question. “My sister was also a witch.” I nodded without adding that Mason had already divulged this information. “She ensnared her husband usi
ng a love spell and paid the debt with a diamond necklace given to her by a client. Since she offered nothing of hers in exchange, she was forced to pay the debt. She woke up the morning after the casting to find her two favorite mares dead in her stables.”
“That’s awful…”
She didn’t let me finish. “You’ll gain an instinct about whether the offering fits the spell. It will take practice, but I’ll help you make the tougher calls.”
After taking one last grim look at all of the stuff crammed into the basement, I sighed. Being a witch was becoming more and more complex every day. Stella gestured for me to follow her and we proceeded into the workshop. After sorting through her books, she pulled out a small thin book and handed it to me. I sifted through the pages and saw it contained the formulas for different spells.
“This is my potion book for love spells. As you’ve probably guessed, love and money are what most people come to me about. I’m leaving for two days to visit a client who’s too ill to travel. While I’m away, I expect you to study these spells while also keeping up with your chores around the house and in the greenhouse.”
Inwardly, I was celebrating over this news. Stella’s watchful gaze left me little free time. I looked forward to a couple of days without her unnerving presence. I asked, “Can I have my phone back while you’re away?”
Stella’s laugh was humorless. “What? So you could be talking to your boyfriend all day instead of working? I don’t think so.” I could’ve told her that Tanner was barely speaking to me and I had no idea where the future of our relationship was headed. The past two weekends, he could only spare fifteen minutes to talk to me.
The Memory Witch Page 7
