The Witch and the Bottle of Djinn (The Seaforth Chronicles Book 4)

by B. J. Smash

  “But why me? Why do you think your safe with me?” I knew I could protect him if I had to but how did he know?

  He rolled his eyes and rubbed his nose, “You’re Izadora’s apprentice. I figure if anyone can protect me; it’s you. If anything…your elven. Elven are honorable and definitely fast.”

  It was all starting to make sense now.

  “Magella had nothing to do with this race? She never sent Ella here?” I stood contemplating what this meant.

  “No. Ella came here for me. Or so I thought.”

  “What did you want the bottle for?” I asked rather sternly.

  “I…was just going to play a prank or two on Izadora. I was never going to hurt her. Just have some fun.”

  “Izadora doesn’t like fun. Just so you know,” I said.

  I reached into my bag. There were little contents left in there, but the one thing that remained was the little green tin with the black candle and lock of hair. Pulling it out, I showed it to Ish. “I’m going to be candid with you. This tin box fell from my hand and opened up. I saw what was inside. The contents spilled out,” I explained. “What were you going to do? Hex Izadora? You know she’s a pro at counter-spells. Why would you even bother?”

  “The green box.” He appeared doubtful but then he snickered. “That is not Izadora’s hair lass…that is Ella’s. It was me insurance plan. If she got out of line, I would still have control over her because I had her hair. But no…” he paced back and forth through corn stalks. “There will be no hexing Ella. Nothing I can do will stop her now. She is too powerful. She’s drained most of the power from me.”

  “She did what?”

  “Drained my power. That’s her specialty. She drains the energy, power and life right from you,” Ish said.

  I already knew that she could drain energy from people and animals. What I didn’t know was that she could also drain the power from those that had it.

  “Well, at least you can still make crop circles,” I joked. It was bad humor but I didn’t care.

  “What about the picture?” I took it from the box and glanced at it.

  “That is just for me memories. It’s Izadora. We used to be good friends, and I haven’t had any other friends besides Beanie,” he explained.

  I didn’t know whether to believe him or not about the picture. He probably had plans to torment Izadora somehow but I did believe him about Ella. She had used him and I knew she wasn’t above stealing some of his magical powers.

  The clouds were thickening and the closer they got to us the darker they became. The winds began to pick up, whipping my hair from my braid. Horrifying thunder rumbled off in the distance, shaking the ground beneath our feet. A mighty storm was brewing.

  Without a word, I clasped the back of Ish’s jacket and picked him up from the ground. He didn’t seem to care this time and his focus was solely on the black clouds that drifted our way. I sped off into the forest as though the clouds chased us, never looking back. I only knew that we’d better find shelter and we’d better be quick about it; there was no time to spare, and any wrong move would be the end of us.

  Chapter Twenty

  By the time we reached the edge of the forest my arms were killing me. Even though Ish was only like thirty pounds, he had put a major strain on my arms and I had to keep switching sides. Finally, I had decided to use the same spell I had used on Drumm back at Minnie’s house. Ish had almost floated like a balloon in my hands. He had cocked his head and seemed to be listening to every word as if he were memorizing the spell.

  Now we were hidden in the trees that overlooked the valley we’d be racing in tomorrow. It was possible that we were too close to the racing site but I decided to take my chances. We were finally there. Finally.

  The valley itself was narrow and between two rocky hillsides. At the end of the valley stood an elongated mountainside. I had to believe that the djinn bottle was somewhere on top of this mountain. But the valley itself was barren and depressing. What foliage that had been there had been burnt down for some reason.

  Just as we settled in for the evening—Ish on his branch, and me on mine—it started to rain. He sat across from me at a different tree, but his tree limb and my tree limb were almost parallel.

  The rain droplets were icy cold and the violent wind sent a chill right to my bones. Ish shivered and he brought his coat up over his head.

  “Can’t you think of a spell to shelter us?” he asked.

  “Don’t I get three wishes from you? You’re a leprechaun?” I shot back at him.

  “Oh that’s right…pick on the poor old leprechaun. And no. You don’t get three wishes because you didn’t catch me. Them’s the rules. You catch a leprechaun, you get three wishes for his release. Or I show you me pot o’ gold. But me gold isn’t anywhere in Helsberg, I can tell you that.”

  I ignored him, waiting for him to come up with a solution. He could do magic tricks just as well as I could.

  “I understand, missy. You don’t like to do magic. I can see the fear in your eyes at the very mention of it. What I don’t get is why Izadora would choose you to be her apprentice if you’re not good with magic.”

  I don’t think he meant to insult me as much as he did but his words stung like a swarm of bees. Thoughts of my sister Zinnia came to mind. Zinnia loved power and she was a “magic-o-holic.” The girl loved her spells and how they made her feel. Powerful. She loved power. She was a Seaforth with a touch of the Seaforth Madness. I did not want to be like that. However, I wasn’t about to let a leprechaun get the best of me.

  “I can do magic if I want to.” I gave him my angry eyes.

  “Oh yeah? Then do it?” he challenged.

  Sitting up straighter, I began to chant, “Leaves in the trees, shelter me. Form a barrier, so that I can be merrier.” Nothing happened. Nothing at all. I knew it was because I was in a foul mood.

  I closed my eyes and focused on happy thoughts. I recalled the first time I’d met Drumm and how he’d healed a scratch on my leg. I remembered how his touch felt on my skin and how he was the most mysterious person I’d ever met. The rain continued to pour on my head and dribble down my cheeks, but all of a sudden I was smiling.

  I inhaled and opened my eyes, “Leaves in the trees, shelter me. Form a barrier, so that I can be merrier!” This time, creaking noises sounded above us. Several spindly limbs began moving on their own accord, crisscrossing like lattice work. Ish hooted like an owl as they intertwined with one another.

  “There ya go! Now that’s impressive. You see, it wasn’t so bad,” he said shaking a finger at me.

  I tried to hold back a smile but gave in. He was right. It wasn’t so bad and it sort of liberated me. My adrenalin was pumping. Zinnia popped back into my mind but I pushed away all thoughts of her.

  Ish then showed me a trick or two. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a snail shell. At first, I thought there was a snail inside but he held it out on his palm to show me that it was empty. He took an herb from his coat pocket and placed it in his mouth…I believe it was a piece of sage. He chewed the herb and spit it into the tiny shell. Flipping it over, he then rubbed it on the tree limb and held it out before him. He chanted a word that sounded like, “Ock-hurst.” He let the shell go and as it fell it burst into flames. He had started a fire. A floating fire!

  As the fire floated before us, he held up his hands to warm them. “It won’t get any bigger than this and the Fae should not be able to see it. From the ground it will remain invisible.

  I stared at it in awe. “Nice.”

  The fire only spanned about a foot across and a foot high, and the heat that extended forth was delightful. It reminded me of elven fire but with theirs you could barely see a flame.

  “Guess who I learned that one from?”

  I was about to say I didn’t have a clue but before I could, he blurted out, “Izadora!”

  He said with a hint of pride, “She actually discovered that spell on her own. It was an accident
but that doesn’t matter. She always was a brilliant lass.”

  I couldn’t think of Izadora as a “lass” but I didn’t doubt that she was brilliant.

  “We used to have so much fun together. It was her father that didn’t want us to be friends. But Izadora never cared what her father thought.” Ish stared up at the dark sky. I’m sure he wasn’t seeing anything but his own memories.

  “You’re quite fond of Izadora,” I stated.

  “I am. Well, I was. She doesn’t care for me now but we used to be friends.” He broke out of his memories and looked me in the eye. I could see the reflection of fire in them.

  “Why don’t you just tell her you want to be friends again?”

  “Hmppph. Just mind your own business, Ivy.” His mood had changed just as swiftly as a remote control changing channels on a television. His face crumpled up and he asked me if I was hungry.

  “Yup,” I said, wondering what he was going to do about it. I had nothing left to eat and he wasn’t even carrying a bag.

  He reached into his coat pocket once again and pulled out three corn kernels. Somehow I think he’d stolen them from the cornfield when he had been dancing around.

  He held the kernels above the flame and dropped them in. Within seconds popcorn was spilling out at a rapid pace. Again, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out what looked like a folded leaf. He unfolded it, cupped it to his lips, and blew on it twice. The leaf expanded instantly, revealing a big leaf bowl.

  “Nice,” I said, popping some popcorn into my mouth.

  He nodded his head and I could sense that he was upset about something. I didn’t press the issue but while we ate the popcorn the subject of Magella came up.

  “Now, there is a cast iron bitch if I ever did know one!” Ish raised both brows and snorted.

  Laughing, I said, “Tell me about Magella in her younger days.”

  He scratched his chin through his beard, appearing thoughtful for a few moments. “She’s always looked about the same. Always had a crook in her overly long nose. Scraggly black hair, black beady eyes, and a constant frown upon her face.”

  I stifled a laugh. “I don’t mean how she looked. Tell me a story or something.” I could never get Izadora to speak about Magella as a youngster. Even though this might be considered gossip…I didn’t care. The more I knew about the Seaforth’s and their history—the better.

  “The one thing that stands out in my mind…” he lowered his gaze to the fire, and it almost seemed like he was watching a movie in the flames. The fire crackled as if someone had stoked it. “Magella’s pirate.” He lifted his eyes to observe my reaction.

  I gasped. There was that word again. “Pirate?” Aunt Clover came to mind. I wondered how she was faring back in Merribay and if Izadora had put her under hypnosis again.

  He gazed into the fire again. “She was infatuated with a certain pirate; I can’t recall his name now, it’s hard to remember such things.” He didn’t sound convincing and I had a feeling he remembered the pirates name. “He was a regular tyrant of the seas; a scallywag. And she would do anything he asked of her. She, herself, was a pirate you see.”

  “Magella? A pirate? I know that she occasionally steals and gambles but a pirate?” She loved the high seas and yes, she was rough and callous…but a pirate?

  Ish totally ignored me and continued to watch the fire. He was about to say something but clamped his mouth shut. The more he stared into fire, the more concerned he looked. His eyebrows furrowed as if he were confused and then all of a sudden his eyes opened so wide that I thought his eyeballs might pop out. He scooted back away from the fire, and said, “Enough talk about Magella, missy. Let’s get some shut eye.” He then took off his green coat, laid down and covered himself up. He pulled his coat all the way up to his chin, laid his head on the gnarly bark of the tree and shut his eyes. Soon, he was snoring.

  The whole thing was bizarre and I knew that he’d seen something in the fire. Perhaps it was a vision? I watched the fire for a while, observing it at all angles but couldn’t see anything. Ish sure was a weird little guy and he had scared the living daylights out of me. Maybe that was his plan? Maybe he was just joking around. But why did he have to act so dramatic? All the same, the leprechaun could act.

  Giving up, I lay back and closed my eyes. Sleep would not come. I tried counting sheep. It never worked. Besides, there was too much to think about and the day’s events ran through my mind. The first person that came to mind was Ella. To find out that she was in cahoots with Darvon was just too much to swallow. How did she meet him? Did my great uncle Royal know about this? I thought back to when I was in her room at Gran’s. The dresses in her closet had been downright fancy. Just the type of dresses that you would wear to a Fae party. Not fancy enough for their balls but fancy enough for their get-togethers.

  I also couldn’t help but wonder if Magella knew that Ella had used her as an excuse to enter the race? Probably not. And this whole time, Magella didn’t have anything to do with the race? Nobody came here for her? Magella didn’t care about the djinn bottle? That just didn’t seem right. Magella always stuck her nose in everybody’s business. So many questions ran relentlessly through my mind. Overflow.

  But the major question that stood out above them all: If someone did come to the race for Magella…who was it?

  Ladriant came to my mind. He said he wasn’t here for his king but that he was here for himself. But what did I really know about him? Nothing. And Drumm said Dark Elven were not to be trusted. However, Ladriant had helped me up the cliff and he had pried the iron trap from my foot.

  He said he had respect for my mother…but why?

  I groaned. “Shut-up brain, and let me sleep. Tomorrow is a big day.”

  It would be the last day I’d be in Helsberg. I pictured Drumm lying next to me holding my hand, although, in reality he was probably fighting off werewolves. Nonetheless, I knew that he would be fine. He was one of the elven’s finest warriors; and their youngest too.

  Finally, my lids were getting heavy.

  The wind had died down. Once and a while it would whip through the tops of the trees rustling the leaves, but for the most part it had quieted. But when I finally dozed off; I could have sworn I heard howling.

  ***

  Sometime during the night I began to dream. I stood on a mountain high above a valley. The trees appeared as dark shadows and the breeze gently touched my skin like the soft fur of a kitten. Water splashed behind me and I turned to see mother standing by a breathtaking waterfall. Silver moonlight cast upon the water, causing it to shimmer as it cascaded down the metallic-looking rocks. Mother’s familiar golden hair was now shimmering with specks of light. Thick bands of stars filled the night sky and the silver-grey moon hung so low, I felt like I could jump to it. It brought peace to my very soul.

  However, this was not a dream. Mother was preparing to show me a vision. This had been happening since I was a young child but it was happening more and more these days. The waterfall was always the key and mother always stood before the waterfall in a beautiful elven gown. The moon was always full and everything around us shimmered in the silver moonlight.

  Tonight, she wore a long green dress that hit the earth. An elven stone lay upon her chest, and it glistened with greens and blues. Across her forehead were a row of emeralds and her eyes twinkled like the stars.

  “Hi mother,” I said, but she never answered me in these visions. Instead, she pointed behind me. I slowly spun around and turned my gaze to the valley.

  And there he was. I was so close I could reach out and touch him but I seemed to be floating about a foot from the ground.

  Drumm stood in the open field with his bow and arrows flung over his back. His blond hair hit right above his broad shoulders and his turquoise eyes sparkled like two jewels. His face was stern and grim, but I could tell by the fluid movements of his body that he was calm.

  The trench lay behind him and my heart soared when I saw the top of Sol
stice’s head. He stood inside the pit peeking out at Drumm. I could tell that he wanted to jump out of there but Drumm put his hand out and gave him a command, “You stay. Solstice. Stay. I got this.” Solstice replied with a whinny.

  Lights shimmered in the distance like fireflies and soon the pixies were arriving by threes. Eventually there had to be at least fifty present. Upon looking closer, I could see they wore what seemed to be armor made out of shells and acorns. Their wings lit up in silver and gold but it was fainter than normal. Some had little bows and arrows, a few had what looked like mini caveman clubs and some didn’t have anything. They chatted incessantly and I heard one say, “Dumb werewolves gonna get smacked Grrrrr!”