For two hours that afternoon, Mizz Plimpton did her best to make me suffer. She wanted me to use my wand to create a single drop of rain five miles away. Because of my mother’s extreme patience, I now believed that I could pass the test, as long as I kept my mind on it, and on nothing else. And hey – it wasn’t like I had a succession of murders and two close friends wrongly imprisoned to distract my attention or anything, now was it?
A video camera had been placed five miles away from the school, and was live streaming to a screen that Mizz Plimpton had placed in front of the blackboard, so we could see the spot where my magical rain was supposed to fall. I kept my eyes on the image, while I pointed my wand and incanted:
‘One raindrop falls so far away
No more shall follow unless I say.’
The camera was tightly zoomed in on my intended spot – an empty birdbath in the centre of a courtyard. Mizz Plimpton and I stood right up against the screen, both tense (although I imagine it was for entirely opposite reasons). The raindrop fell, large and glistening, and dropped into the birdbath. We waited. And waited. No more drops followed.
I finally let go of a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. ‘So ... I passed? Right?’
The twitch moved to both eyes. ‘Don’t count your chickens. If you don’t pass the next part, you don’t pass any of it. Now, I would like you to light a candle.’ She pointed at the screen. ‘Do you see it there? High on that windy cliff eighteen miles away?’
As I concentrated, she hovered behind me. ‘It must be difficult, trying to focus when two of your friends are behind bars,’ she whispered. ‘I mean, a short while ago you managed to give Emily’s father back to her after a terrible kidnapping ordeal. But this time, your usual blundering tactics don’t seem to be working, do they? And now your failure has meant that father and daughter are separated once again. Poor Emily must feel so betrayed.’ She let out a horrible laugh. ‘And as for the weredog. Why, she’s your boyfriend’s cousin, is she not? I doubt you’re in his good books right now.’
Anger began to bubble, but I quelled it and focused on the energy going to my wand.
‘Candle burns, though far away
The flame will dance until I say.’
The wick on the candle leapt into flame. I cast a glance at Mizz Plimpton. Her fists were balled, and her nose was now twitching along with her eyes. She looked like a rabbit with hay fever. Well, an evil rabbit with hay fever. There have to be some evil rabbits, right?
‘So ... what’s the verdict?’
Her lips curled. ‘You have someone helping you.’
‘No one is helping me.’ I sighed and pocketed my wand. ‘Other than teaching me the things you ought to have been teaching me. I passed your test fair and square, because my mother is a far better teacher than you’ll ever be.’
‘You really do think a lot of that mother of yours, don’t you,’ she snarled. ‘We’ll see how you feel about her after Halloween, when your friends are convicted and sentenced for life.’
I plastered a smile on my face. In truth, the level of anger she and the Minister had towards my family had gone beyond annoying. It was upsetting me now, and deeply. ‘You’re not just being nasty and unfair, Mizz Plimpton. You’re being unprofessional. I only thank the stars that the other teachers in Riddler’s Cove are nothing like you. But go on – keep being horrible to me. Keep making nasty jokes about matters of life and death. And while you’re busy with that, I’ll pass every single thing you send my way. Just so I can irritate the hell out of you and your sister.’
She turned away and walked to her desk. ‘Well, if irritating people is what you hope to accomplish, Miss Wayfair,’ she said over her shoulder, ‘then you are already far ahead of the curve.’
15. The Inner Map
On my way home from the school that evening, I saw that the community hall was lit up again. Feeling guilty about my last encounter with Arthur Albright, I ventured inside.
The place was bustling. Arthur’s class took up one half of the hall. The other half was filled with volunteers helping to get things ready for the ball. If memory served (and these days, it actually did), it would be a huge event, with delicious food, witches dressed in eveningwear, and of course the guests of honour – the dead – would be literally floating in and out of the hall all night long.
The children’s part – A Trick for a Treat – would take place before the ball. There might be a ghost or two hanging out that early, but for the most part all eyes would be on the young witches, displaying their new powers in return for something yummy.
Unempowered children and other supernaturals were encouraged to take part as well, except that their trick would be a song or a dance or – in the case of werewolves or vampires – something that displayed their burgeoning physical strength. I remembered a vampire kid turning into a bat to thunderous applause, and a werewolf kid who performed a live treasure hunt, using his nose to track down various hidden items.
What did I do, you ask? Well, besides sitting in the corner and sulking, I also (badly) recited some poetry about Wanda the Wayfarer. By the time I turned eight and was still unempowered, my mother told me I didn’t have to take part if I didn’t want. So I didn’t.
Although Arthur’s class seemed to be coming to an end, one of the children stuck up a hand. ‘Mr Albright, if I had a fight with my granny before she died – and I’m not saying I did – will she still come and talk to me on Halloween?’
Arthur gave her a kind smile. ‘We never know who is – or isn’t – going to show up on Halloween, Pamela. It’s a night when the veil between worlds is at its thinnest, yes. But just because the dead can cross over more easily doesn’t mean they always do. I can tell you this, though. There is not a single granny in all of Ireland who would hold a grudge against their grandchild.’
Pamela looked slightly mollified, and followed the other kids outside. As I went to cross the room, a succession of witches got in my way, all dressed in uniforms saying, ‘Forever Friends Sweets and Treats.’
When I finally got through, Arthur was packing his bag away. ‘Who are they?’ I nodded to the procession of rude treat bearers.
He shuddered. ‘The only people I could get at short notice. Emily was supposed to make the treats for the children this year, and I had to scramble to find someone else in time. That lot were the only company to take on the contract after her arrest. No one else wanted to step on her toes – because no one else thinks she’s guilty.’
He sat down and patted a seat next to him. Thankfully, I wasn’t trying to squeeze into a child-sized desk as I had done in his Tall Tales class. The seats were adult-sized, and cushioned. ‘How are you, Wanda? You seemed troubled when we last met. I wondered ... maybe you were angry with me. For suggesting you cheat.’
‘Oh.’ I shook my head and gave him a reassuring smile. ‘No, it wasn’t that. Although I didn’t use your notes, in the end. But I know you were only trying to help. I actually came to apologize for how rude I was that night. I had a lot on my mind.’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ he said. ‘We all have a lot on our minds right now, what with poor Emily being in Witchfield.’ He scowled as yet another person from Forever Friends made their way into the hall.
I shifted in my seat so that I could look at the catering workers again. They seemed incredibly confused for the most part. No one appeared to be in charge. One of the girls was on the phone, asking a constant stream of questions. The rest of them seemed to be bringing in nothing but sweets. To be fair, most kids didn’t really see fruit and nuts as a reward.
Arthur followed my gaze. ‘Apparently that lot are just temps working for the company. The bosses couldn’t even be bothered to turn up.’
I turned back to him. ‘Well, I guess there’s one positive in it all. If only one company were willing to cater Emily’s part of the evening, then that means the majority of the supernatural community are supporting Emily. We don’t think she’s guilty either, y’know. My coven. W
e had to arrest her because the evidence was overwhelming, but that doesn’t mean we’re not still looking for a way to get her out of this. Her and Lassie.’
He patted my hand. ‘I know, Wanda. I know. I just ... I wish there was something I could do to help.’
‘You are helping. You told the Call of the Wild they could play, right?’
‘I managed to get in touch with their manager just this afternoon.’ He scooted closer to me and lowered his voice. ‘And Wanda, I have to say, I think that this bass player fellow might actually be missing. Because the manager turned down the gig. Said the band would love to do it, but Jasper was irreplaceable, so ... that’s that.’
‘Thank you.’ I squeezed his hand. ‘I was expecting as much, but it’s good to have it confirmed.’
‘You don’t think he’s been murdered too, do you?’
‘I don’t know what to think where that guy is concerned. I just wish we could find him, either way.’
Arthur took off his glasses and cleaned off an imaginary speck. ‘So ... um ... there are a lot more of you these days, I hear. Isn’t um ... isn’t Ronnie Plimpton one of your lot now?’
I gave him a nod. ‘She’s always been one of us, as a matter of fact. She just kept it on the down low. She’s amazing, so she is. But she really has her work cut out for her right now. We all do.’
‘Oh.’ He let out a funny little sigh and put his glasses back on. ‘Well, that’s wonderful. I mean, it’s a terrible time, obviously. But I mean ... Ronnie. Well, she’s something else, isn’t she? It never made sense to me that someone with her level of integrity would join the Plimpton coven.’
I regarded him for a moment. I hadn’t much thought about him as anything other than a teacher, but there he was, red in the face every time he mentioned Ronnie’s name. Could he have a bit of a thing for her?
‘Thank goodness we have her on our side.’ I stood up and pulled my coat back on. ‘Amazing at her job and also amazing looking to boot. Whoever lands a woman like Ronnie is one lucky son of a witch.’
≈
Mizz Plimpton’s final test would not be as simple as snapping my fingers and arriving at a known destination. I had to prove that I would be able to travel to places I had never been before, using coordinates as my destination.
I continued to split my time as best I could between training and investigating, but it was really taking its toll. To make matters worse, my mother kept trying to set time aside to help me – which made me feel incredibly guilty. ‘It’s fine,’ I told her when she walked into my bedroom, ready for a session. ‘Mizz Plimpton is actually really good at explaining all of this.’
She wasn’t. She was so bad, in fact, that I didn’t have any idea about how to travel to coordinates I didn’t recognise. Luckily for me, I did recognise every coordinate she had set so far.
On the first day she spun a globe in front of me. ‘As witches, we don’t need physical maps or globes. Not if we’re proficient, anyway.’ She gave me a gaze that I’m sure was meant to be shrivelling. ‘We have access to the inner map. It is just like this globe, except that it lives inside of you.’ With the very tip of her fingernail, she stopped the globe spinning. ‘But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. What you need to do, first of all, is memorize these coordinates, and see what happens when you try to send yourself there.’
She waved her hand and a page fluttered into my palm. I smiled. ‘Two hundred grouse by eighty cows – that’s the Eiffel Tower.’
Mizz Plimpton scowled. ‘If you already know where we’re headed, how on earth can I accurately assess you? This is meant to be a blind test.’ She snatched the page back and began writing down more coordinates. Again, I recognised them all (thanks to Melissa filling in my memory holes) but this time I knew better than to say.
We spent the following few days travelling. Each time we ended up arriving at the same place, Mizz Plimpton grew more and more frustrated. ‘You seem to have a bit of a knack for this,’ she said. ‘But that doesn’t matter. There’s a lot more to this test than what you might think, Wanda. Certain precautions that have to be taken. Things that I think you’ll find a lot more difficult than the travelling itself.’
Her tone had gone beyond smug and was entering Machiavellian territory.
‘What sort of precautions?’
She let out a cackling laugh. ‘Oh, haven’t your little helpers told you? Maybe you should go on home and ask them.’
I did. Well, I did the going home part, anyway. When I arrived, there was no one there except Melissa. She was hunched over a pile of books, looking drawn.
‘I’m trying to find a loophole that’ll get Emily and Lassie out of this,’ she said when I sat down across from her. ‘What’s wrong? You look as bad as I feel.’
‘Nothing.’ I shook my head. ‘Pass me a book and I’ll see if I can help.’
‘There is something wrong. How did today’s class go? Have you gotten the hang of the inner map?’
I looked down at the fruit bowl. ‘Sure. Mizz Plimpton explained it really well. Come on, pass me a book.’
‘Funny.’ Melissa narrowed her eyes. ‘Because she sure didn’t explain it well when I was in her class. And what about the Pernicious Gnats? Will you be all right with those? You’ve lost your power before.’
My head snapped up. ‘The Pernicious what now?’
‘Oh, dear Gretel. I knew you were lying through your teeth, Wanda. She’s just as rotten a teacher as I remember. Look, I’m not going to find anything in here. Believe me – I’ve read every book three times over. Let’s have a lesson. First off – you need to prepare yourself for the temporary disempowerment. It’s going to be harder for you than anyone, seeing as you’re only just getting back to normal after the last time your power was drained.’
I swallowed back some bitter saliva. ‘Okay. Tell me everything. Oh, and while you’re at it ... I haven’t actually got a clue about this inner map thingy, either. I mean, I’ve read about it. I’ve heard about it. But to be honest, I couldn’t find it if it was marked out on a map.’
Melissa ignored my terrible joke and stood up. ‘Come on. Let’s get outside and do this in the fresh air. You’re less likely to vomit that way.’
≈
The inner map, as it turned out, was nothing like a globe. It was a network that all witches could access. It lived inside all of us, just like our magic did, and certain pieces of collective knowledge were added to it each and every day. A map of the whole world was stored within us all, but when I finally managed to access it, it didn’t look like any map I’d ever seen. It looked like ... well, like the universe. It was a great big everything, an enormous place that I could feel as well as see. It was like staring up at the stars and seeing the entire cosmos.
Melissa was patient, to say the least. An hour passed before I even saw a twinkle.
‘The trouble is, you’re trying too hard. You just have to know that it’s there. Accept it, and you’ll be able to find it.’
She was right. Once I accepted that it was there, I could see it and feel it – and after that, I instinctively knew how to use it. I thought of a coordinate and suddenly a part of that inner cosmos began to shimmer.
‘Now,’ said Melissa. ‘All you have to do is follow that light.’
I closed my eyes, clicked my fingers, and wound up standing in the back yard of a chip shop in Dublin City. Melissa appeared a second after me, grinning. ‘This place do the best curry chips for miles around. I knew it was a bit too obscure for you to have studied the coordinates.’
We stayed there, hugging and squealing like girly girls, until a man stuck his head out a window and said, ‘Get out of here before I call the guards.’
Fair enough. We went around to the front of the shop to buy some curry chips, sidled out to the back lane so we’d be out of anyone’s sightline, then clicked our fingers and went back home.
‘You still haven’t explained about the Pernicious Gnats,’ I reminded Melissa as I made us both a cup of te
a.
She picked Princess up and stroked the cat’s back. ‘Yeah. That’s because I kind of don’t want to. You shouldn’t have to go through this, Wanda. Not after what Kilian Berry did to you. Any other teacher would find another way.’
‘Maybe. But I don’t have any other teacher. I have Satan’s mizztress. So tell me what to expect.’
As I handed her a cup of tea, she put Princess back in her bed and took a sip. ‘They’re not really gnats. They’re sort of ... tiny little ... well ... there’s this device, okay? It was designed centuries ago. In fact, it was outlawed soon after it was devised, and only began to be used again about ten years ago. It was the predecessor of the device that the Wyrd Court now use for disempowering wayward witches. It ... well it ... well, it releases these tiny little anti-magic elementals that some people call Pernicious Gnats. It’s done on a timer. They suck out almost all of your power, and about two hours later, they give it back again and return to the disempowering device.’
I sank into a chair and poked at my chips. ‘I don’t get it. Why do they take almost all of my power?’
‘So you can’t cheat. This way, you’ll have enough power for one click of your fingers, and one click only. If you make a mistake and wind up at the wrong coordinates, you don’t get another chance.’
‘Oh. Well ... that sounds like fun. But on a brighter note – I spied an apple tart in the fridge when I was grabbing the milk. I think I might just have a slice of that after I’ve polished off my chips.’
16. Break Out
My second-to-last class with Mizz Plimpton went much the same as the rest, except that this time, it didn’t matter to me whether I recognised the coordinates or not. It was quite the buzz, being in touch with this inner well of knowledge. But clearly my enjoyment was written all over my face (must remember to scowl more) because as the class came to an end, Mizz Plimpton said, ‘Oh, I forgot to tell you. There’s been a bit of a schedule change.’
A Trick for a Treat (A Wayfair Witches' Cozy Mystery #3) Page 12
