A Call to Charms

by Denise Swanson

  What should I do with them? Not only was I uncomfortable handling the intimate apparel of someone I had never met, but it also seemed disrespectful to throw them away.

  Briefly, I considered asking my cousin for her help but dismissed the thought. Elissa had seemed friendly enough, but what if she resented the fact that I had inherited Aunt Pandora’s estate? Or was she related to me from my mother’s side of the family? I definitely need to see a family tree.

  In the end, I decided to pack up my aunt’s things and ask Uncle Will if he had a suggestion on what to do with them. There were several flattened boxes and a roll of packing tape in the screened-in back porch. After assembling the cartons, I filled them with the contents of the closet and drawers.

  Aunt Pandora had had eclectic tastes, running the style gamut from Lee jeans to Chanel suits. Her shoes where mostly practical and there were only three handbags—all original Coach shoulder bags. One in black, one in brown, and one in cream.

  The only unusual item I found was in the nightstand. It was a large wooden box with a lid that flipped up by pulling on a satin tab. Inside were three separate compartments—each holding one item. The two smaller ones contained a lock of ebony hair tied with a red ribbon and a tiny wooden piano with both the white and black keys carefully carved. The third held a mother-of-pearl backed mirror. Something told me to leave them where they were.

  The packing and unpacking had taken me longer than I thought, and it was already well past noon before I glanced at the bedside clock. Shoot! I didn’t want Elissa to think I had stood her up.

  At least I was already dressed. I ran a comb through my hair, freshened my lipstick, and picked up my purse.

  Earlier I had noticed a set of car keys hanging from a hook in the kitchen. Grabbing them on my way out, I crossed a small stretch of lawn and opened the garage’s pedestrian door.

  Pandora’s car was a pleasant surprise. Instead of an oldladymobile, it was a cute little red pickup truck. However, my smile faded when I saw that it was a stick shift.

  The last time I had driven anything but an automatic was when I was seventeen. A boy in the trailer park my mother and I were living in at the time had an old VW Beetle with a manual transmission. In exchange for a few kisses, he taught me how to drive it. But that was over twelve years ago, and I wasn’t sure how well I remember those lessons.

  Evidently not that well. In the mile or so to the library, I stalled the truck three times, and that didn’t count all the tries it took me to back out of the garage.

  When I finally arrived, I briefly considered a spot right in front, but it required parallel parking, and I knew my limitations. Instead, I chose a pull-through slot in the rear lot.

  By the time I hurried up the concrete steps of the two-story white stone building, it was already a quarter to one. I could only hope lunchtime in Echo Springs wasn’t strictly at noon.

  The person behind the counter couldn’t have been much over twenty or so. Her hair was dyed a hot pink and stuck up from her head like a rooster’s comb, revealing the tattoo of a feather under her ear curling around her neck and disappearing down her shirt collar. Not exactly what I expected for a small town librarian.

  Without lifting her eyes from the book in front of her, and before I could ask for my cousin, she pointed to a flight of stairs and said, “Go down, first door on your left.”

  Thinking she had me confused with someone else, I said, “Uh, I’m here to see Elissa Morningstar.”

  “Right. Down the stairs, first door on your left.”

  Since I’d arrived in Echo Springs, the hair on the back of my neck had been getting a real workout. I was having more and more trouble finding a rational explanation for all the weird things happening to me, and it was becoming harder and harder to stay afloat in the river of denial. But I wasn’t ready to dive into that water yet, so, I told myself that Elissa had described me to the girl and told her I was coming.

  The library was old, and while the upstairs had been well maintained, the basement was dank and smelled musty. Elissa’s office was a little better. She had painted it a tranquil sea green, hung travel posters framed to look like windows, and had a diffuser with a pleasant lavender scent sitting on top of a filing cabinet.

  But it was Elissa’s own effervescent personality and attractiveness that transformed the space from grim to inviting. Today she was wearing a white cotton skirt with a crocheted hem and a tangerine striped tunic. Once again, I felt underdressed.

  She jumped up when she spotted me and gave me a big hug. “Lexie, have you recovered from last night?”

  I stiffened. “Yes. I’m fine.” I wasn’t really a touchy-feely person, and in the fashion world, the hugs and kisses consisted more of air-to-air than actual flesh-to-flesh. “I’m sure it was just a combination of hunger and exhaustion.”

  “Sure.”

  “I drove from Kansas City and didn’t stop for lunch,” I elaborated.

  Elissa raised an eyebrow, but didn’t comment. She indicated a chair pulled close to her desk, and after I sat, she reached down and picked up a large square basket with a red gingham napkin covering the top. “Since we have so much to talk about, I thought it would be better if we ate here where we could have some privacy.”

  “Great.” I looked at her expectantly, happy to have any of the hundreds of questions jumping around in my head answered. It made me nervous when she remained silent, so I blurted out, “I was surprised the library was open on a Sunday, most of the ones in Chicago aren’t.”

  “You’ll find things here are a lot different than in the city,” Elissa chuckled.

  “I’m sure. So how about telling me all about my new hometown?”

  She opened her mouth and closed it a couple of times before sighing. It looked to me like my cousin couldn’t figure out where to begin.

  Finally, she asked, “Are you looking forward to taking over the store?”

  “Actually, I’ve been thinking about that.” On my way over to the library, it had dawned on me that with Gil dead and the money from my inheritance, I really didn’t have to stick around Echo Springs. I could live anywhere. Judging from Aunt Pandora’s house, there could even be enough cash for me to go back to grad school. “I might sell the business and finish my doctorate.”

  “No!” Elissa squealed, then took a deep breath, and said in a soothing tone, as if she was talking to someone about to leap off a rooftop, “You mustn’t do that.”

  “Why not?” My cousin’s reaction seemed a tad much. We’d only met yesterday. Why did she care what I did? “Uncle Will didn’t mention anything about any conditions of my inheritance.”

  “No, technically, there aren’t any.” Elissa wrinkled her brow. “But no one but a Ravenscraft can own the candy store.”

  “I’d be happy to sell it to someone in the family.”

  I was willing to let my relatives have first dibs as long as they paid me a fair price. I’d have to find someone who could appraise the store for me and tell me how much it was worth. “I’m afraid there’s only Mother and me, and we aren’t the heir.”

  Mentally, I slapped myself upside the head. I had to stop being so impulsive. I shouldn’t have revealed my intentions to sell the business until I knew more about what was going on. My luck, Elissa and her mother would contest Aunt Pandora’s will if they thought I wouldn’t run the candy store myself.

  “You’re right,” I quickly backpedaled. “I guess I should settle in and see how things go before I decide.”

  “Terrific.” She took a crisp white cloth from the picnic basket and spread it on the desktop, then laid knives, forks, and plates in front of us. “How about we have some lunch while I give you a run-down on the family?”

  I nodded and pulled a notepad and pen out of my purse. “That would be great.”

  She unscrewed the lid of a thermos, poured iced tea into two glasses, and gave me one, then took a sip from hers before continuing. “Your father, Nathanial, and my mother, Nora, were twins. Both
of their parents were killed in an automobile accident when they were babies, and their father’s sister, Pandora raised them.”

  “So you and I are first cousins on the Ravenscraft side. And you don’t have any siblings?” When Elissa shook her head no, I asked, “Are your parents still alive?”

  “Yes. You would have met them last night, but they’re visiting my dad’s family. They’ll be back in a couple of days.”

  “Terrific.” I was excited to meet more of the family I hadn’t known existed.

  “The thing is,” Elissa put out a plate of sandwiches and a bowl of fruit and motioned me to help myself, “Ravenscrafts seldom produce more than one offspring, so the twins were a rarity and an opportunity for the family to increase. But my mother only had me. And, well, your father...”

  “Was killed.” I completed her sentence as I selected a turkey on what looked like homemade bread and scooped some fruit salad onto my plate.

  “Yes. There was never a chance to see if he would have had more children.”

  “How did it happen? Who did it?” I asked, then took a bite of the sandwich.

  “He was stabbed in the heart, in his driveway the night before your birth. They have never found his killer.”

  “Is that why my mother took me away and changed her name?”

  “Miranda wasn’t one of us. Your father had met her when he was away from town. She never really understood his position or accepted yours.” Elissa popped a grape into her mouth.

  “I see.” Having no idea what my dad’s position was or why being from out of town made it hard to comprehend, I really didn’t see, but I didn’t want to interrupt Elissa’s train of thought.

  “We think Miranda was afraid whoever murdered Nathanial would kill her and you too, so she ran away and severed her connection with Echo Springs.” Elissa shrugged. “But we’re not sure. Although Aunt Pandora kept an eye on both of you, she never spoke to your mother.”

  “How did Pandora keep an eye on us?” I ate a chunk of watermelon.

  “I’ll get to that, but first I need to tell you more about our family.”

  “Why didn’t Aunt Pandora leave everything to you or at least divide it between us?”

  Elissa took a deep breath and said, “It’s time to tell you more about our family’s unusual gifts.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like what Aunt Pandora was referring to when she wrote that you were a special person destined to hold many lives in your hands.”

  “You saw her letter to me?”

  “I saw the words, but Aunt Pandora didn’t show the actual letter to me,” she answered, then continued, “You are the eldest Ravenscraft of our generation, which means you inherit the bulk of our power.”

  “Power?” That sounded good. Power usually meant wealth. Maybe the estate was worth a lot more than I initially thought.

  “Our magic.”

  “Darn.” Was she serious? “I was hoping for cash.” I thought she would laugh and say she had been teasing, but she didn’t.

  Instead, she asked, “Haven’t you noticed that you have a special ability? You’re able to sense what people want? What they really need?”

  “I...” Slamming my mouth shut, I shook my head. “Of course not.”

  “Really?” Elissa stared into my eyes and said, “Tell the truth.”

  Although I had no intention of doing so, I found myself admitting, “Okay, sort of, but it’s not magic.”

  “Of course it is.” Elissa smiled at me as if I were a three-year-old denying that I was potty trained. “If you had been raised here, this would be soooo much easier.”

  I rolled my eyes. “So I just twitch my nose? Is that it?”

  She ignored my taunt and said, “I hate to do this to you but...” She stared into my eyes again. “Tell me about your last experience involving your ability. Start at the beginning and tell me the whole story.”

  “Uh.” I didn’t want to tell her. I didn’t want to spill my guts to a stranger, even if we were cousins, but the words just trickled out of me. “The past few years I’ve been working at this chichi boutique in Chicago as a fashion consultant. Not that being a salesclerk was ever my life’s goal, but when my mom got sick while I was in graduate school, I needed the money for her bills.”

  Whoa! I never told anyone about this stuff. I didn’t want people feeling sorry for me. Why was I telling her?

  “I understand.” Elissa patted my hand. “Family always comes first. Go on.”

  “Anyway,” I leaned back out of her reach. It was almost as if every time she touched me, our connection grew stronger and if I ever want to leave Echo Springs that might not be a good thing. “...as it turned out...” I continued my story until I reached the part about being fired.

  “That wasn’t your ability’s fault.” Elissa’s tone brooked no argument. “It was just time for you to come home. Remember what Aunt Pandora wrote. You would only receive her letter when two events came to pass. She died, and you were at the point in your life when you needed to know the truth about yourself. No matter when she died, you would not have read her note until the second condition was met.”

  “Right,” I sneered, although a tiny part of me was beginning to believe.

  “Try to keep an open mind,” Elissa sighed. “Our family has solved the mysteries and protected the magical community for hundreds of years. Since the day we arrived in Echo Springs from the old country, the candy store has been the conduit by which we provide our assistance.”

  “How?” I had completely lost my appetite and put my mostly untouched plate aside.

  “Think of it being like a sheriff in a small town. We investigate the complaint, decide what’s required, and give out what’s needed.”

  “Of course we do.” I didn’t bother to hide the sarcasm in my voice.

  “Surely you’ve noticed that unusual things happen around you,” Elissa said. “Even before the incident that got you sacked.”

  Rather than admit that I did seem to have a higher than average tendency to attract the bizarre, I asked, “Who or what do we protect the magical community from?”

  “I guess you could call it the corrupt magic. The kind that’s intended to harm rather than to help. The kind that’s used for personal gain.” Elissa leaned forward. “In nature, there is always a light and a dark side, and we try to maintain that balance. The other families in town are torn between the two. Each generation must choose its own path, so it’s never clear who can be trusted.”

  “But not the Ravenscrafts?” The rational half of me was asking why I was still sitting there. “We have to choose the good side?”

  Elissa looked surprised at my question, and thought for a moment before saying, “We always have, so, based on history, I’d say yes.”

  “Then the Ravenscrafts are Wiccan?”

  “No, we’re Catholic.” She wrinkled her nose, “And we don’t like the word witch either.”

  Her response surprised me, and it took a few seconds to process why, then I sputtered, “How can you go to church and still believe this good and evil magic...stuff?” I almost said crap, but that seemed needlessly rude.

  “How can I not?” Elissa’s expression was grim. “I’m one of the few who truly comprehends what would happen if God and his churches weren’t around. During the times when the corrupt magic is dominant, those who believe in Him resist the wickedness, allowing the world to survive until good is back in control.”

  That made sense. Well, as much sense as anything else she had said.

  “So, is there a head honcho of the evil side?” I asked.

  “Yes.

  “Who?” I blurted out.

  If I believed any of this nonsense, there’d been a few people I’d met last night who seemed like they might be prime candidates. Especially the person I’d overheard plotting my death.

  “No one ever knows until the battle is won.”

  “The battle for what?” Was she kidding?

  “Power.” Elis
sa’s tone was utterly serious. “We try to keep the balance tipped in favor of the helpful magic. He tries to swing it toward the harmful kind.”

  “You said he. Is it a man?”

  “Not necessarily.”

  “While this all sounds fascinating.” I squirmed in my seat, wondering why I was even listening to this nonsense. “It’s really not for me, so...”

  Elissa gently cut me off and continued, “As the Ravenscraft Shield you have certain obligations and duties. The primary ones are to produce the next Ravenscraft Shield. Meanwhile, you need to protect yourself from the master of the corrupt magic who will try to steal your abilities. And, once you figured out who the leader is, you need to capture his powers.”

  “How does one take another person’s magic?”

  My only cousin was nuttier than a Snickers bar, but she certainly knew how to keep my interest. Maybe she was writing a book and testing the plot out on me.

  Elissa bit her lip. “The Ravenscraft Shield does it by finding the correct charm.” At my questioning look, she explained, “Charms are how our most important magic works.”

  “And the bad guy?” I had a feeling his method wouldn’t be quite so civilized.

  “He can also use an instrument of his power, but he’ll most likely kill you.”

  “Not that I believe any of this.” Although I should have fled Elissa’s office screaming by now, curiosity had me rooted to my seat. “But for the sake of argument, why doesn’t the bad guy just do away with me right now, before I have a baby, etcetera, etcetera?”

  “Because he can’t acquire your magic until you are in full possession of all your powers and that doesn’t happen until the next heir is born.” Elissa looked me in the eye. “But if it looks as if you’re a threat to him before this occurs, he’ll cut his losses, and kill you even if he can’t seize your magic.”

  “Great.” I foolishly asked another question, “What happens to my magic if I die before the bad guy can steal it?”

  “If you die before you come into full possession of your magic, Mother becomes the Shield. If you die after you’ve come into your powers and have taken away the magic from the bad guy, we wait for the next Shield to come into his or her maturity. In the case of your father, that was you.”