Witch Degrees of Separation: A Witch Squad Cozy Mystery #3

by M. Z. Andrews

  “Now, arms out in front of you, flatten your hands, palms down, close your eyes, take a deep breath. Inhale, exhale,” he instructed calmly. His deep voice and the quiet rustle of those around me exhaling was the only sound I could hear. “Once again, inhale, and exhale. Let out any tension from your shoulders. Relax your body. Focus your energy on becoming one with your broomstick.”

  I could feel Hugh’s energy radiating off of him. I knew he wanted to laugh and wasn’t taking the class seriously. I wanted to reach out and elbow him, but that would break my concentration. So I tuned him out and did as Sorcerer Stone instructed. I controlled my breathing and focused on my broomstick.

  “When you’ve got your body adequately relaxed and you think you’re ready, you’ll begin to chant. While you’re chanting, visualize your energy leaving your body through your hands and connecting with the broomstick. That energy will pick up your broomstick without even having to bend down. The chant you will say is –

  Power of Earth, wind, fire, and sea,

  And deities more powerful than me.

  Magical powers far and wide,

  Bless this stick I wish to ride.

  Raise me high in moonlit sky,

  And through the air, I ask to fly.

  Enchant my besom of straw and twine,

  This broomstick, which I call mine.

  And from this day, I’ll humbly call,

  Insert your chosen name here, don’t let me fall.”

  I sucked in a deep breath, with my eyes still closed. Then I exhaled and let my aura relax while I chanted.

  “Power of Earth, wind, fire, and sea,

  And deities more powerful than me.

  Magical powers far and wide,

  Bless this stick I wish to ride.

  Raise me high in moonlit sky,

  And through the air, I ask to fly.

  Enchant my besom of straw and twine,

  This broomstick, which I call mine.

  And from this day, I’ll humbly call,

  Batman! Don’t let me fall!”

  Before I had even opened my eyes, I felt the stick hit the palm of my hands. Quietly I opened them and was amazed to see the stick hovering there, waiting to be grasped. I closed my hands around the brown wooden handle as a smile of amazement spread across my face. Who knew such a little thing would bring me such immediate and profound happiness.

  I looked to my right and watched as Sweets grasped hold of her stick. She giggled with immediate glee. “Look Mercy! It worked!”

  “Good job, Sweets, that’s awesome!” I said excitedly. Then I looked to my left. Hugh was staring at his broomstick miserably.

  “No luck, Hugh?” I asked him.

  He shook his head. “No luck.”

  “Were you taking it seriously?” I asked him.

  He laughed. “Darlin’, I’m here because you asked me to be here. Not because I want to ride a broomstick. I’ve gotta be honest, ridin’ broomsticks is for girls.”

  “Sorcerer Stone rides a broomstick,” I pointed out.

  Hugh cocked one eyebrow up and bent closer to me to whisper, “He’s a different sort of wizard. I’m more of a down home wizard. He’s more of the Harry Potter sort.”

  I nodded. “I understand. Thanks for coming, though,” I told him and turned to my right again. Alba and Holly both had their broomsticks in hand. Jax, on the other hand, was standing there with her eyes closed, chanting silently. She still hadn’t managed to make hers levitate. It never failed, Jax’s witchy hat, little witch outfit, and pointy-toed black boots always made me forget that Jax wasn’t a witch. Hugh thought maybe someday she’d come into her powers, but despite the fact that her whole family had powers, Jax had none. My heart went out to her; I knew that was the only thing she truly longed for.

  Heather had managed to levitate her broom, but Sabrina, who was standing next to her, still hadn’t gotten hers off the ground. She stomped her foot down petulantly.

  “Ugh, I’m no good at spells,” she whined.

  “I’ll help you,” Ronnie offered immediately. He already had his broomstick in hand and leaned forward to look around Philip and right at Sabrina.

  Sabrina smiled at him sweetly. “I could use some help.”

  “I’ll help her,” said Philip, who was standing next to Sabrina. He put a hand out to stop Ronnie as he made a move to get between them.

  Ronnie growled at Philip but stayed in his place.

  Sorcerer Stone cleared his throat. “Now that most of you have mastered the levitation, we’ll move on to riding technique.”

  Jax let her arms drop by her side and she let a frustrated groan escape her throat.

  Sorcerer Stone gave her tiny glance. “I’ll get those people started on flying and then I’ll come back and assist anyone that hasn’t managed to get their broomstick off the ground yet. Now the most difficult part of flying is balancing. It’s much like riding a bike, though surprisingly, quite a bit more difficult. You must have a strong inner core for balancing. You,” he said, parting the air with the stick end of his broomstick and pointing it directly at Sweets, “may find this a bit more difficult than most. You’re heavier than most witches that I train. I find that heavier witches have a harder time with flying lessons. But, in time, you may find that working out that inner core will help with your balance.”

  Sweets’ face flushed red and she looked like she wanted to be anywhere but flying class at that exact moment. I felt bad for her and had the sudden urge to smack Merrick Stone in the face with the business end of my broomstick. I straightened my arms on either side of me and stuck out my chin. Hugh put his arm in front of my body to stop me from charging forward.

  “Easy now,” he whispered.

  I glanced up at him angrily. “He insulted Sweets!” I whispered back.

  “It’s ok, Mercy” Sweets whispered. “He’s only being honest.”

  “Now,” the Headmaster continued. “As you’ll notice, there are no handle bars or stirrups on your sticks. You are welcome to spend the money on a fancier riding stick, but in this novice class, we like to teach the basics of driving a stick with no bells and whistles. Like I said, balance is key – as is a tight grip. You do not want to let go until you have logged hours of driving time, there is no place in my novice broom riding class for showmanship. So. You may go ahead and saddle up. Start with a small thrust, keep your knees together, you’ll want to lean into your stick and keep your abs tight. Hold on, you won’t want to go far until you’ve got the hang of it. Obviously, falling is a lot worse when you’re tree top height as opposed to a few feet off the ground.”

  I cautiously threw one leg over my broomstick and held on for dear life. Then with one gentle spring, I launched myself off the ground. I lurched forward and my heart freefell wildly into my stomach.

  “Oh my gosh!” I screamed excitedly as I hovered above the ground.

  Hugh looked up at me proudly as he leaned onto his stick. “You go, girl,” he hollered.

  I smiled at him and soon I was joined by Alba and Holly in the air. Alba was a natural at flying. I assumed because she was so good at levitating things already. She had the balance thing down pat.

  “You’re good at this Alba,” I hollered at her as she flew past me.

  “I know this,” she yelled backwards into the wind.

  Holly and I jerked around on our sticks quite a bit, trying to get them to move as we wanted. I looked down to see Sweets working on her balance just a few inches off the ground. Jax was watching us silently with her bottom lip plumped out sadly. Juan’s friend, Tristan, had opted to keep Jax company instead of practicing flying. Heather seemed to have flying mastered as easily as Alba had and she was already flying above the trees. Sabrina, on the other hand, was too busy flirting with Ronnie and Philip to worry about flying instructions.

  “This is kind of fun,” I told Hugh. “You really should try it.”

  “I’ve ridden a horse. I can’t imagine there’s anything that can compete with that. You
look good on a broomstick, though,” he said, shooting me a little wink. “Let’s see you go faster.”

  I took that as a personal challenge. I leaned into the wind, put my head down and took off in a straight line. I got about twenty feet away from Hugh and suddenly my stick froze up and I flew off, landing on the ground with a thud. Pain shot through my knee as I looked down at my torn jeans. A small amount of blood had already soaked the edges of the denim, I’d cut the skin. “Dangit,” I hollered.

  Hugh was by my side in seconds, lifting me off the ground. “You alright?”

  I nodded but bit my bottom lip hard. “Yeah, cut up my knee, though. Dang broomstick is touchy.”

  “Looked like it. Let’s go get you cleaned up darlin’,” he offered sweetly.

  “Ok, but let’s watch the others for a few minutes before we go,” I suggested, looking up to the sky. Alba and Heather were still flying around like it was second nature to them. Sweets was now a few feet off the ground, but she was very tentative about shoving off with any kind of real speed. She was cruising about as fast as a six-year-old on the back of a pony being led in a circle at a circus.

  “Looking good, Sweets,” I hollered at her. She gave me a nervous little giggle, but I could tell she was freaked out.

  Jax and Tristan were engrossed in conversation, and Sabrina, Philip, and Ronnie had finally gotten their acts together and had launched into the air.

  “Sabrina, watch me,” Ronnie hollered as he took off excitedly.

  Philip rolled his eyes and took off too. “This is how you do it, Ronald,” he said as he tried to outrace Ronnie, who took off faster when he saw Philip coming.

  Pretty soon the two of them were dodging in and out of the tops of the trees and gradually flying higher and higher. Sorcerer Stone’s eyes were glued to the two show-offs. It was easy to sense his desire to bark at them, but they were out of earshot and his anger only seemed to build the higher they flew.

  At one point, Ronnie passed Philip, bumping him with the backend of his broomstick as he passed. The unexpected motion sent Philip flying off of his stick and careening towards the ground 60 feet below.

  The rest of us gasped collectively. Sorcerer Stone grunted as he shot up on his stick to catch Philip just before he hit the ground. Together they landed with a thud on the ground. Ronnie was right behind him, landing on his own.

  “Oh hey man…” Ronnie began apologetically. “I didn’t mean to…”

  Before he could finish, Philip lunged at him, punching him squarely in the face, sending Ronnie reeling. “You just about killed me!” Philip yelled. “You son of a…”

  “What the hell man,” Ronnie yelled as he quickly regained his balance so he could defend himself against Philip’s fury. Philip drew back another punch, but before he could launch it, Sorcerer Stone got a hold of him and swiftly pulled him back. In doing this he placed himself in the line of fire for Ronnie’s retaliatory swing which caught Sorcerer Stone in the left ear. I didn’t think his face could redden anymore than it already was, but I was wrong! The minute he was clipped by the misguided punch, his face burned hotter.

  “Enough!” he roared, throwing Philip behind him and shoving Ronnie to the other side. From the palms of his hands he discharged two bursts of bright fiery orange energy towards each of the boys. With his robe on and arms outstretched, he looked like an eagle with his wings spread.

  “Never! Have I had such a show in my class before! How dare the two of you disrespect my teaching like this! You’re both worthless excuses for wizards! You’re lucky I don’t throw you out on your butts for this little performance!” Stone’s face was crimson red, his anger on full display for all of us to witness as he held Ronnie and Philip hostage in his stream of energy. Swinging his palms toward the ground beneath him, Sorcerer Stone released the energy that bound them and they both fell to the ground in two crumpled heaps.

  “Class is dismissed!” he raged. “I’ll deal with you two later!”

  { Chapter Three}

  “Mmm, Mom! I’ve missed your cooking!” I gushed as I snatched a deviled egg off of the counter and popped it in my mouth. The warm savory smell of Mom’s chicken pot pie filled my nose, making my stomach grumble excitedly. I switched Chesney, the sweet chestnut colored puppy I’d recently adopted, to my other hip as I moved around to the other side of the bar.

  “I’ve missed having people to cook for,” Mom assured me as she chucked me under the chin.

  My brother, Reign, threw apart the swinging kitchen doors carrying a beautifully golden pie. “I’m so glad you could find the time in your busy schedule to come join me and Mom for dinner,” he said as he sat the pie down on a hot pad on the bar. He wiped both hands on his jeans then ran a hand through his jet black hair.

  I shrugged my shoulders and looked into Chesney’s dark brown eyes. “What can I say, college keeps a witch busy,” I grinned.

  “That and murders,” Reign said with a little laugh.

  “Yeah, there’s that,” I agreed, raising my eyebrows. I sat Chesney down on the hardwood floor and then jumped up onto a barstool as Mom blew through the doors one last time with a big bowl of salad in her hands. “Ugh, I’ve had such a day,” I groaned, wincing as I rubbed my sore knee. “It feels really good to just sit down and have a normal meal with my family for once.”

  My mom eyed me with a suspicious smile as she pulled up a barstool across from me. “Did you bump your head today?”

  I rolled my eyes at her. “You’re funny, Mom. Is it so wrong that I am actually looking forward to a little family time?”

  She held up two hands, palms facing me, in defense and chuckled lightly. “No, of course not. That’s just not really a typical thing for you to say.”

  Reign shot us both a big smile. “Well I think it sounds great. I’ve always wanted a big family.”

  Mom beamed at the two of us. Her bright green eyes were glossy and I could tell she was starting to get emotional. “Ahh, you two just have no idea! I’ve literally dreamt of this day! To have you both together like this, it’s just, so sweet. I don’t think I could be happier right now.”

  I smiled at my mom. I had really missed her, and I was thankful that Sergeant Bradshaw had given us the small bed and breakfast as thanks for finding his daughter’s killer and saving his other daughter’s life. It was going to afford Mom and I the opportunity to get to know Reign better, and for that, I was thankful.

  I held up my water glass. “I’d like to make a toast,” I said. “To Sergeant Bradshaw. For giving us the bed & brew, which has brought us together as a family for the first time, ever!”

  “Here, here,” said Reign as he clinked his beer with my water glass.

  “And to my children, for being in the same place at the same time. I love you both, so much,” said my mom as she wiped away a set of tears that had just begun to careen down her cheek.

  “We love you too, Mom,” I said happily. “Now can we eat? I’m starved! You cannot imagine the day I’ve had!”

  “Do tell, little sis,” said Reign as he took the stool next to me.

  “Oh, my gosh. We took flying lessons today,” I began animatedly.

  Reign pinched his eyebrows together and tilted his head to the side. “Flying lessons?”

  “Yes, like, on a broom,” I explained.

  “They have those?”

  “Yeah, hello? It’s witch college?”

  “Right, right, right. Ok, keep going.”

  “Yeah, so – it was Jax’s idea. She thought it would be a fun activity we could all do together. And it was, sort of fun. For all of a minute.” I stuffed a piece of bread in my mouth and closed my eyes to savor the taste of my mother’s warm fresh bread. You just couldn’t get food like that in a college cafeteria. Even the food at Paranormally Delicious, the coffee shop and bakery inside my residence hall wasn’t as good as my mother’s home cooking.

  “Well, what wasn’t fun about it?” Mom asked curiously.

  “Ugh, well, there were these ki
ds that were screwing around – being completely juvenile. And the instructor was a total pill. I mean the guy brings new meaning to the words tightly wound. Literally. The guy is a time bomb waiting to explode and he was a complete jerk to the screw offs. I think he needs to take anger management classes or something.”

  “Well that’s unfortunate,” said Mom after taking a sip of her lemonade. “But, I do think it’s important for a witch to know how to drive a stick. Did you at least learn how to fly?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, sort of, I guess.” I looked down at my knee, which was bandaged and hidden away under a non-torn pair of jeans. “I’m not very good at it yet. I probably need to practice.”

  “There’s an art to it,” she admitted knowingly.

  My eyes opened wider. “Mom! You can fly a broomstick?” I was shocked, I’d never heard my mother speak about flying before.

  “Well, of course I can, Mercy. I’m a witch too, you know. I learned many, many years ago. Before you were even born. Reign’s father taught me, actually,” she remarked softly with a hint of melancholy present in her voice. Then she shook her head as if to clear away the memory. “Reign, sweetheart, tell Mercy about the business and the party.”

  “Oh, yeah, thanks for reminding me. Mom and I decided that we really don’t want to run a bar.”

  “Uh!” I began. I was just beginning to adjust to the fact that Reign and Mom were in town and this business was going to keep them here. And now I was going to lose them already?

  Reign held up a hand. “Let me finish. Neither of us wants to have a business that’s open all hours of the night. We like the idea of the bed and breakfast, but we don’t think that having a full kitchen just for the few rooms that we rent out is worth it. So we decided that we’re going to remodel. We’ll keep the rooms upstairs and we’re going to have a restaurant. Home cooking type foods. Things that your mom would make,” he said and then smiled at our mom. “Things that our mom would make.”

  I sighed, relieved. “I like it,” I agreed. “When are you going to open for business?”