My brother stood. “I’ll have to get going, but I’ll check in with Rob tonight. B texted earlier, and he’s having a sleep before getting back to finding a solution later tonight. He says they’re close.”
I wanted relief to sweep through me, but it wouldn’t come. With everything going wrong, it was difficult to believe even this would go right. But sometimes you had to have faith because it was all that was left.
Chapter 11
The next morning, Angelica and Will had their heads together over the kitchen table, discussing things. I wasn’t invited, so I took my breakfast into the TV room. When I switched on the TV, it happened to be news time. A blonde female reporter, red beanie and scarf bright in the morning grey, spoke into her microphone while standing on the footpath. Was that the main street of Westerham? I leaned forward—not that I needed to. The pet shop was clear in the background.
The bright lights of emergency services flashed in the background and reflected off shop windows. The reporter asked a tall, youngish man next to her a question. “There were reports of lightning strikes. Is that true?”
The man nodded quickly, his hazel eyes wide. His thick cockney accent made him difficult to understand. “It was unbelievable. Crash, boom, crash. I ’eard five of ’em. And the light! So bright. ’appened so quick, too, like. I shut me eyes, and when I opened ’em, there’s five people dead on the footpath. Crazy stuff.” He shook his head, bewildered.
“You’re obviously lucky to be alive. Are you going to buy a lottery ticket?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, man. I should, eh. Me and the lads should go for a pint later too. It was freaky as.” He put his hand on his black beanie and shook his head. A thick gold band on his ring finger with a large dark-green square stone in the middle gleamed starkly against the black of his head covering. His wife was going to be so relieved he was okay. It really was their lucky day, but what were the chances of five lightning strikes killing five people.
Weird.
That guy didn’t know how lucky he really was. Had Angelica’s antagonist struck again?
The reporter looked into the camera. “Unfortunately, the five victims didn’t have such a lucky escape. Authorities are now working to identify them and notify family members. Back to you in the studio, Leigh.”
I put my coffee on the small table next to the couch and hurried upstairs to grab my phone. I texted James.
Did you hear about the lightning strikes this morning? Five strikes, five dead. Could it be the same people as the curse?
His reply came five minutes later.
I don’t know. I’ve just arrived at work. Will check it out and get back to you.
Okay, but be careful xx.
I worried my bottom lip with my teeth. Would James be a target at headquarters because he was clearly one of Ma’am’s favourites? Would they find a way to fire him too? Now more than ever, he had to tread carefully. Anger burned in my chest. Why was it always the good people who were shafted? Why did horrible people usually win? Probably because they didn’t care what they had to do to get ahead. Not having a conscience was like being a hot-air balloon without weights to hold it down. The heights one could reach when they didn’t have that holding them back…
Well, maybe I could become that weight holding them to account. Once I got my magic back to normal, they’d better watch out. I stood and went to the window to spot some squirrels—if Angelica picked up on my thoughts, she’d likely put a kibosh on my efforts. The less she knew, the better, and what more wonderful way to distract myself than with the cute little critters.
As I stared out the window, an overwhelming urge to feel my magic cascaded over me. The river of power could be intoxicating—the tingly warmth that energised my whole body and mind. The anger I’d experience earlier intensified. How dare they do this to us! Rob us of who we were. I took a deep breath and opened myself to the golden river. Immediate calm embraced me from the inside out. Surely it couldn’t hurt. It wasn’t like I was casting a spell with it.
A squirrel dashed up the tree, and I grinned. So cute! Imagine if they were bigger—like human-sized—how cuddly they’d be. It would also be cool if they could talk to us; ah, the conversations we’d have. Magic flowed through my veins. The squirrel turned towards me, and our gazes connected.
My eyes widened as the heat of power travelled from my core to my chest, down my arms and out of my hands. But I hadn’t asked it to. I tried to close the portal, but it stayed open, magic pouring through.
Crap.
Racing footfalls echoed through the house. Will burst through the doorway, followed closely by Ma’am. “Lily, are you all right? What’s going on?”
“I—I didn’t mean to do anything. I just wanted to feel my magic, and now it won’t stop.” A flicker out the window caught my eye.
Oh. My. God.
My magic finally stopped flowing. I shut down the portal, but the rest of me stood frozen. What had I done? Was it entirely bad? I cocked my head to the side. Nah, it was okay. Surely, it wasn’t the end of the world.
Angelica and Will joined me at the window. Ma’am was the first to find her voice. “What in heaven’s name have you done?”
Will opened his mouth to speak, but only a squeak came out. His slack mouth stayed open.
Maybe if I acted calm, they’d see that it wasn’t all that bad. I shrugged. “It could be worse.” Before they could disagree, I ran to the front door and outside. Standing in front of the other magical mishap—the quackmobile—its eyeline level with mine, was the animal I’d accidentally made into the Godzilla of squirrels. Oops.
Huge, round, dark eyes stared at me. I suppressed a nervous giggle. It was soooooo cute! Except its claws were bigger, dangerously so. As much as this was my dream come true, I’d better be careful.
Making sure my voice was soft, I said, “Hello. I’m Lily. Um… sorry about this. It was an accident.”
The squirrel made a muk, muk sound. It calmly moved its head from side to side, taking everything in. It was probably thinking how weird it was.
I tried again. “Can you talk?” Noise rustled behind me—Angelica and Will carefully approaching.
The squirrel didn’t answer, but Will did. “Of course it can’t talk. You’ve created a giant normal grey squirrel.”
My shoulders sagged. How disappointing. “Oh. I wasn’t sure because when I was thinking I’d love it to be cuddle-sized, I also wished it could talk.”
Angelica folded her arms. “I wouldn’t call that cuddle-sized, dear, unless you enjoy cuddling bears. Whatever you’ve done, dear, until you can undo it, we’d better get it inside. If someone sees this, how are we supposed to explain? And the last thing I need is for the PIB to come and arrest one or all of us for performing magic in public and drawing attention to ourselves.”
“If it can’t understand me, how are we supposed to get it inside?” Not to mention the damage a manic squirrel could do when it weighed 140 pounds. I stepped closer to it—I really, really wanted to give it a hug, or at least a pat. Surely that would be okay? It wouldn’t suddenly be violent just because it was huge.
The squirrel’s tail twitched and flicked from side to side before it turned and scampering back up the tree, although it lumbered more than scampered, if I was honest. Climbing trees was obviously easier when you weighed a few grams rather than tens of pounds.
Angelica put her hands on her hips. “Now look. Honestly, as if I don’t have enough problems.” She pulled out her phone and dialled. “Hello, James? Can you please come over—we have an emergency. Thank you.” She gave me a narrowed-eye stare and shook her head. I gave her my best “what are ya gonna do?” look. She rolled her eyes.
Will moved to the bottom of the tree and stared up. The squirrel sat on a sturdy branch, thank goodness. I doubted it had realised what being bigger and heavier meant, and since it hadn’t developed the excellent skill of conversing, I couldn’t explain. “Maybe we should get Millicent here instead. She can talk to it.” Millic
ent’s talent was talking to animals, even ones that weren’t special in any way… not that a giant fluffy squirrel wasn’t special.
“Why don’t you call her, dear? I’m going to answer the reception-room door. Both of you, watch that thing. If it comes down, get it in the house.”
Will’s forehead scrunched into lines. “How do you propose we do that? It’s got huge claws and teeth.”
“Ask your girlfriend. She’s full of good ideas.” With that, she turned and strode back inside.
Will raised a brow at me. I shrugged again. My shoulders were getting a real workout today.
Uh-oh, trouble at twelve o’clock. Old Mrs Soames from across the road was on our side of the street and closing fast, well, as fast as one can when they’re ancient and short. A few months ago, we’d rid her home of witchy ghosts. Her gratefulness at our help had diminished over time, and she was back to her crabbiest self. She stopped in front of Will. “What’s going on out here? There’s no trouble, is there?” Please don’t look up. Please don’t look up.
Will put on his most nonchalant expression. “No, of course not. We’re thinking of redoing the garden in spring. Just discussing the logistics of where we should put what.”
She narrowed her eyes and gave him a slow nod that reeked of suspicion. Her gaze travelled to the quackmobile. “And what is that? Are you going into business selling bath toys? Because I don’t think it’s lucrative. That’s a sure way to lose all your money, and I’m sure Lily doesn’t want to marry a man with dismal prospects.” Oh, God, had we fallen into a time-travel portal and gone back to the eighteen hundreds?
Will was a quick thinker—I’d give him that. “Ah, no, Mrs Soames. My friend is away. This is his car, but it doesn’t fit in his garage, so I’m minding it till he gets back.”
She sniffed. “What strange friends you have, William.” She turned, surveying everything, eventually making it back around to stare at me. “And you’re sure everything is fine?”
I gave her my best “everything is fine” smile. “Definitely. Couldn’t be finer. How’s Ethel?” Ethel was her loud, annoying cockatoo, which she loved very much. It was such an easy way to redirect the conversation, although I didn’t want her standing there talking all day. What if the squirrel came back down?
Her face softened. “Ethel is very well, thank you for asking.” Unfortunately, she was more switched on than the average elderly neighbour, and her expression sharpened as she peered past me before looking at me again. I did my best not to look up in the tree to ascertain the squirrel’s position. “You’re sure everything is okay?”
“Yes, Mrs Soames. If that changes, I’ll be sure to let you know.” My smile was increasingly hard to maintain. Could she just leave already? Hmm… “To be honest, I’m not feeling 100 percent. I’ve had diarrhea this morning. Nasty bout, actually. Not sure if it’s a virus or food poisoning.” I rubbed my stomach.
Her face blanched. “Don’t come near me, then. I’d best be going. Good day.”
“Bye, Mrs Soames,” Will and I said. As soon as her back was turned, I risked a glance up at the squirrel. Oh, crap.
It was gone.
Will looked up too. After a minute of intense staring, he said, “Where the hell is it?”
“I don’t know. You’d think it would be easier to spot them when they’re that size.” He glared at me. I bit my bottom lip and resisted another shrug.
James, Millicent, and Ma’am came outside. They joined us at the tree, and James asked, “Where is it?”
Will took an annoyed breath through his nose. “Ask your sister.”
Everyone stared at me, expectation on their faces, with the exception of Will and Ma’am, who were just irritated. “It’s gone. At least, we can’t see it in the tree anymore. It couldn’t have gone far, and it’ll be easy to spot.” Okay, so let’s not say anything about the fact that if it’s too big for us to miss, everyone else is going to see it too….
Millicent put her hand up. “If everyone could just be quiet for a moment, I’ll see if I can hear its thoughts. It shouldn’t be too hard to pick out, considering it will likely be confused about its size.” She shut her eyes. At least no one could tell me off while Millicent was concentrating. Disappointingly, Millicent opened her eyes. “It’s gone that way.” She pointed towards the house on the boundary next to the tree.
We all hurried to the grass verge in front of next door. I slapped my hand over my mouth. I wanted to laugh because seeing a giant squirrel on a roof was hilarious, but if any non-witches saw, we’d be in huge trouble, plus if Ma’am knew I was laughing, I’d get a two-day lecture.
As we stood, pondering, a voice came from behind us. “I knew there was something going on!”
Crap. Mrs Soames.
Ma’am spun around. “Hello, Mrs Soames. I’m afraid my nephew was visiting, and he has a terrible sense of humour. He’s dressed as a squirrel and gone climbing. He’s not all there, if you know what I mean.” I cocked my head to the side and observed the squirrel. Would she really buy that? It looked way too real. A tingle of James’s magic touched my scalp.
Mrs Soames looked up at the squirrel, squinted, pursed her lips, then blinked. “Why didn’t someone just say? Right. Well, I’ve wasted enough time on silliness today. I’m going home.” Just like that, she turned and left.
I looked at James. “Did you just…?”
“Yes, but I had no choice. This could turn into a total disaster.”
Millicent tucked blonde hair behind her ear. “If you can give me silence again, I’d appreciate it. I’m going to try and get the squirrel to come down and go inside. Does anyone have any nuts?” I looked at Will and snorted. He waggled his brows and grinned.
“Oh, for goodness’ sake. Can’t you take anything seriously, Lily?” Ma’am wasn’t impressed, but what else was new?
“Sorry, couldn’t help it. We do have some nuts, though. In the cupboard. Do squirrels like salted macadamias?”
“Yep,” said Will, the resident squirrel expert. “Do you want me to go get them as a show of good faith to Squirrelzilla up there?” I snorted again. Why hadn’t I thought of that name? Oh well, at least I could lay claim to naming the quackmobile.
Millicent nodded. “Get them but wait just inside the front door. I’m pretty sure I can get it to come at least that far. Its thoughts are a little scattered—as you’d expect—but it does understand me.” Will left, and Millicent looked up at Squirrelzilla. The concentration on her face indicated she was talking to it. James, Angelica, and I watched in silence.
After some tail twitching, the squirrel scampered across the roof and leapt from the edge of it to the tree, which bent momentarily under its weight. No one must’ve been home because anything of that size traversing a roof would be noisy. Another small mercy.
As the squirrel descended, Millicent moved back to Angelica’s driveway. We quietly followed. The last thing we wanted to do was scare it so that it ran down the street. Would it be possible to put a saddle on it? Wouldn’t that be cool, riding a squirrel down the road! I didn’t expect it would be able to carry someone up a tree though—the extra weight would be too much.
We all stayed at the end of the driveway waiting as Millicent and the squirrel approached the front door. The squirrel stopped and sniffed, its tail flicking. It jerked its head one way, then the other, and said, “Muk, muk, muk.”
Millicent smiled and waited while the squirrel tentatively entered the house. Mill turned to us and gave a thumbs up. I smiled, sweet relief washing over me. Now I just had to hope it didn’t scratch the furniture and make a huge mess. We didn’t have magic to tidy it up with, and since all this was my fault, I’d be the one doing the cleaning. Maybe this wasn’t so funny after all.
Once we were all inside, Will shut and locked the door. In the kitchen, Millicent fed the squirrel macadamias. I stood at the door, not wanting to spook it. I spoke quietly. “Can you tell it I’m a friend?”
Millicent chuckled. “I can tell it y
ou pose no danger and that you’re nice. They don’t really have a concept of friends. This is just your garden-variety squirrel, not one suitable for being a familiar. Some animals have the capacity to understand us fully and converse properly, but not all.” She handed it another nut and must have been telling it what I’d asked her to. It cocked its head to the side, looked at me, and sniffed. Adorable long whiskers twitched. “It says okay.”
“I thought you said it wouldn’t really understand much.”
“It’s talking to me in pictures and feelings. It gets that you’re not a threat, and it’s okay with you being near it.”
“Can I pat it?”
Angelica stood behind me. “I can’t believe we’re having a crisis and this is what you’re thinking about.”
I turned around. “But squirrels. I love them. This is like a dream come true. I know we have a lot to deal with, but we always have some disaster or other to fix. If I don’t get these moments, what’s the point? And nothing’s going to get worse if I have a minute or two patting a giant squirrel.”
She sighed. “As much as this irritates me, you’re right.” She made a shooing motion with her hand. “Go and have your moment with the animal, then you’re coming with James, Will, and me to his place.” She was unusually calm all of a sudden.
Then realisation hit. My mouth opened in a wide O. We were going to get our magic back. Yippee! I calmed myself and turned back around. “So, is the squirrel okay with me patting it?”
Millicent smiled. “Yes, but no fast movements.” She handed it a couple more nuts.
I quietly and unhurriedly—despite the acrobats of excitement flipping and somersaulting in my body—approached. When I was a foot away, the squirrel stared at me and stopped chewing. I whispered in one of those cute voices reserved for animal conversations, “Hey, little guy. It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.” Okay, so it wasn’t little anymore, but whatever. I ever so slowly raised my arm and let it sniff my hand.
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