A Slice of Magic

by A. G. Mayes

  ‘So that day everyone in town was acting crazy and trying to lift everything up, that was you?’ I asked.

  She rolled her eyes. ‘A minor setback in an otherwise glorious tale.’

  The cat shrank back under the desk as Alice got closer. I heard Bernie’s voice in my head. ‘Dust the cat,’ she had told me. At the time, I had dismissed it as the ramblings of a woman slipping into dementia, but now her words came to me so clearly. It was almost as though she was in the room saying them. I could feel the small bottle Aunt Erma had left for me dangling on its chain against my chest.

  ‘I’m too close to a breakthrough, and I can’t have you getting in my way. No one will really miss you. They’ll just assume you couldn’t hack it here and went back home.’ She had a little smile on her lips as though she was saying something perfectly pleasant.

  ‘The Morning Pie Crew will look for me,’ I said confidently.

  ‘Not after they have some of my cookies,’ she said. ‘I have a new recipe to test out. They’ll either forget about you, or forget everything they ever knew. Either way it’s a win.’

  Alice looked out the windows and continued to work through her plan, none of which sounded good for me. I slowly reached under my shirt and grasped the small bottle. I carefully pulled it down until the stopper that was attached to the chain popped out. The cat began to slink towards me.

  Alice turned around. ‘Hey, what are you…?’

  I turned the bottle upside down and the white glitter fell on the cat as Alice charged at me. I jumped out of the way as I heard a popping noise and glitter swirled through the air as Aunt Erma appeared where the cat had been. Her curly hair was grayer than I remembered and her face had a few more wrinkles, but there was no doubt it was her. She sat on the floor blinking her large blue eyes. Alice and I both froze for a second before she lunged for my hand that held the bottle again. Aunt Erma jumped up and pulled Alice off me. She was pretty strong for such a small lady.

  ‘Give me the bottle, Susie,’ Aunt Erma cried, and I pressed it into her hand.

  She threw a pinch of the dust at Alice. The air sparkled and popped and a dark gray cat appeared where Alice had been. Aunt Erma threw a large wire basket over the cat. We both breathed heavily as we watched the cat hiss and growl at us.

  ‘I’ll call Violet to come pick her up,’ Aunt Erma said, breaking the silence.

  I nodded because I couldn’t speak yet. Aunt Erma had been a cat. The cat had been Aunt Erma. Now Alice was a cat. The room began to spin a little. My heart was pounding so hard it was almost deafening and my knees felt weak.

  ‘Sit down,’ Aunt Erma commanded, leading me over to the chair at the desk. The cat hissed and growled. ‘Oh hush.’ Aunt Erma threw another pinch of the glittery dust at the cat, and it was silenced. The cat’s eyes turned wild with anger. If looks could kill, we’d be dead now.

  While Aunt Erma called Violet, I tried to wrap my head around what was happening. I would never look at a cat the same way again. How many animals were actually humans?

  Violet appeared at the door quickly, and Aunt Erma explained how Alice had turned her into a cat and tried to make her recreate the spells she put on the spices. When she wouldn’t, Alice broke into the pie shop and stole the spices to study the spells she had used. Alice was working with Stan and his parents. They altered the spells to control people.

  ‘I knew it couldn’t be you,’ Violet said. ‘The higher ups kept pressuring me to look into you because it appeared so suspicious. You disappeared right when those spells started popping up in surrounding cities. They were like yours, but they had been modified so the magic was darker. You’re not the dark magic type.’

  ‘That’s right. I’d rather have a world full of happy people, not zombie drones,’ Aunt Erma said.

  Aunt Erma went on to explain how Alice had changed and produced the spices. She used a lot of magical terms that I didn’t understand.

  Violet listened carefully, every now and then taking notes on her small notepad. Occasionally she would glance in my direction. I just watched on, still wide-eyed.

  ‘Where are the spices now?’ Violet asked when Aunt Erma had finished her story.

  ‘She kept them in here.’ Aunt Erma went over to a small lidded trash can that sat under the desk. Of course, the trash can. I would have never thought to look there. She pulled out the box and opened it. Three of the slots were empty.

  ‘I have one of the bottles. Number seven,’ I offered.

  ‘Number eleven is the one we found planted at Flora’s,’ Violet said. ‘So where’s the other one?’ she demanded, looking back and forth between Aunt Erma and me. ‘Number three is missing.’

  We both shrugged. Aunt Erma went over to the basket and peered in at the cat.

  ‘What did you do with the other bottle?’ she demanded. The cat curled up and looked sweetly at Aunt Erma before closing her eyes. For a minute, I thought Aunt Erma was going to kick the basket, but she thought better of it. ‘I don’t know where the other bottle is. I never saw her take it,’ she told Violet.

  Violet took the box of spices to be used as evidence, and took Alice the cat to be detained until she could stand trial at the magical courthouse. When I asked where the magical courthouse was, Violet said I would find out when I was called as a witness to testify. The idea of testifying against Alice sent a nervous shiver through me, but Aunt Erma assured me she would be right by my side, and I didn’t need to worry about it tonight anyway.

  Chapter 24

  Day 15 — Wednesday

  Aunt Erma and I walked back to the pie shop in silence, fresh snow crunching under our feet. I had so many questions, but I didn’t even know where to begin. I cast a sidelong glance at her, and she looked like she was going to say something, but then stopped herself.

  When we got back to the pie shop, my mother was waiting out front. When she saw Aunt Erma, her eyes got wide, and she froze. The women stared at each other and then Aunt Erma threw herself into my mother’s arms. They embraced for a minute and when they pulled away, both of them had tears in their eyes.

  ‘I’m…’ my mother began and then her voice trailed off.

  ‘Me too,’ Aunt Erma said. Then more briskly, ‘It’s cold out here. Let’s go inside and warm up.’

  I unlocked the door, and we went inside. It’s funny how sometimes when there’s so much to say, no one can say anything. We didn’t have to struggle for words for long before the Morning Pie Crew burst through the door. They surrounded Aunt Erma and hugged her.

  Even though it had only been a few hours since I’d seen Flora looking like she needed a hundred hours of sleep, she already looked like her old self again.

  ‘You look great,’ I said, joining in the hugging spree to hug her.

  ‘Because you caught Alice, I got my magic back,’ she said. Her smile stretched across her face.

  ‘That was fast!’ I said, and she nodded in agreement. ‘And the books?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes, I got the books back too.’

  ‘What exactly are magic books?’ I asked.

  ‘Ah, that’s a story for another time,’ she said with a twinkle in her eye.

  ‘Where have you been?’ Lena demanded, crushing Aunt Erma with another hug.

  ‘It’s a long story,’ Aunt Erma said.

  ‘That must mean we need coffee.’ Mr Barnes went behind the counter and started making a pot. The rest of us all sank into chairs. It felt like it was the middle of the night, but the clock said it was only 9.30 p.m.

  Aunt Erma began to tell us her story. ‘A couple of weeks ago, I noticed my notebook was missing.’ Flora gasped, and I waited for someone to explain the significance. ‘Don’t worry. I don’t keep the most powerful spells in there,’ she said, tapping her head. Alice had gotten ahold of her spell notebook, probably through Stan. That same day she got a warning from Bernie that danger was coming. She called me right away and asked me to come and help her at the pie shop. She was going to leave town for a few days because s
he was hoping to get her notebook back and find out who was after her spells and why.

  ‘I didn’t know who it was, but I thought I’d be able to handle it, and I could come back and all would be well,’ Aunt Erma said.

  ‘You should have come to us for help,’ Lena said.

  ‘I know, I’m sorry.’ She picked at a piece of lint on her pants. ‘I was on my way back from leaving the notes for Susie and Flora at the bookshop when Alice attacked me like a coward from behind with a spell. She realized I hadn’t written all the spells down. Suddenly I was a cat.’ Aunt Erma shuddered. ‘Cats are the worst.’ Mitzy yipped in agreement. ‘She made me eat nothing but tuna. But a few times I snuck some licks out of the bowl full of cookie dough.’

  ‘Oh, gross. I ate some of those cookies.’ Flora wrinkled her nose.

  ‘Thanks, Bumfuzzle,’ Aunt Erma said, taking a mug of coffee from Mr Barnes. We all stared at her.

  ‘Erma!’ Mr Barnes exclaimed, his voice a few octaves above its normal register.

  ‘Sorry.’ she grimaced.

  ‘Wait, Bumfuzzle is your real name?’ Lena shrieked.

  ‘Don’t make fun.’ Flora swatted Lena’s arm. Then she turned to Mr Barnes. ‘Can we call you Fuzzy?’ she asked. Her face was perfectly serious, but her eyes twinkled.

  ‘Or how about Bum?’ Lena almost fell out of her chair. My mother snorted, then looked down at the table guiltily. I saw Mr Barnes take one of his deep yoga cleansing breaths before sticking his tongue out at Aunt Erma. She gave him an innocent shrug.

  After a little more teasing, everyone settled down and Aunt Erma went on to tell us how every now and then Alice would lock her up before turning her back into a person and trying to make her reveal the spells she used on her spices.

  ‘But I’m tougher than I look, and she couldn’t make me talk,’ she said a little proudly. With her brow wrinkled, Flora patted her on the arm. ‘Thank you, but I’m just fine. Her weak spells barely worked on me,’ Aunt Erma said, dismissing her concern.

  Mr Barnes finished handing out the coffee. Aunt Erma leaned down towards her cup and began lapping it up. She paused when she realized we were all staring at her.

  ‘Old habits.’ She shrugged and picked up the mug with both hands.

  Just then, Violet peeked in through the door. ‘Can I come in?’ she asked, looking pleasant for the first time since I’d known her.

  ‘Of course.’ Erma waved her in warmly.

  ‘The Magical Law Enforcers came and took Alice away,’ she informed us.

  ‘What’s going to happen to her?’ I asked, wondering if everyone else already knew.

  ‘She’ll stand trial and probably be stripped of her magical powers,’ Violet said grimly.

  Flora turned to me. ‘It’s a very strong spell, and it’s very permanent.’

  ‘Will she just go back out into the world?’ I asked. Even without magic, a person could do some damage.

  ‘She’ll be closely monitored,’ Violet assured me. ‘Also, Stan and his parents are missing.’ Aunt Erma’s brow wrinkled.

  ‘I’m sure you’ll find them soon,’ Flora said, but she looked worried too.

  Violet looked at her apologetically. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘The higher ups were breathing down my neck and all signs pointed to you and Erma as the guilty ones. We thought Erma was trying to change her spices to do evil instead of good, and we thought you were helping her research different spells because you have all sorts of information in those books in the back room of your shop. Then we found the spice bottle there.’

  ‘But I would never—’ Flora began.

  ‘I know,’ Violet said. ‘Alice admitted giving the anonymous tip that led to your arrest. I can’t believe I let her trick me.’ She looked truly disgusted with herself.

  The bell tinkled as Henry peeked his head through the door. ‘Erma, it’s so wonderful to see you. I heard you were back,’ he said, still standing behind the door. How had people heard about this already? Was there a magic news channel on television? Was everyone in town able to pass telepathic messages back and forth?

  ‘Come in, Henry.’ Aunt Erma enthusiastically waved him in. ‘We have coffee and pie.’

  ‘That sounds great. Maybe in a minute.’ He turned his head to me. ‘Can I talk to you?’

  I wanted to say no, but everyone’s face had turned towards me and several eyebrows were raised. I didn’t feel like saying no was an option.

  ‘Sure.’ I reluctantly pulled myself to my feet and grabbed my coat. I planned on staying close to the pie shop in case it turned out Henry was indeed a serial killer. I wanted to make sure everyone could hear me scream. I followed him out, and we stood under a streetlight in front of Flora’s bookshop. Still screaming distance to the pie shop, I thought.

  Henry fidgeted nervously from one foot to the other.

  ‘What do you want to talk about?’ I asked with a little edge to my voice. I wasn’t in the mood to mess around trying to gently pull information out of him.

  ‘I wanted to explain about the notebook,’ he said.

  ‘OK,’ I said slowly. This was going to be good. I couldn’t come up with any explanation for the notebook that didn’t make Henry look like a nut job.

  ‘I know it probably looked weird, maybe even creepy,’ he said.

  ‘Yeah, a little,’ I said as I backed up a couple more steps towards the pie shop. ‘There are many ways to get to know someone, but keeping notes on them isn’t one I’ve heard of outside of a good crime show.’

  ‘I’m not a criminal,’ he said. ‘Well, as long as you don’t count the one time I stole a bone for my dog, Victor, but I was four and have since learned my lesson.’

  ‘So why are you keeping a notebook about me?’ I demanded. I didn’t want to be sucked in by his cute story about his dog. I tried desperately not to think about how adorable Henry would have been when he was four.

  ‘I’m Elodie,’ he said.

  ‘What?’ I asked, not sure what he was saying. It definitely wasn’t what I expected to hear from him.

  ‘I write the column “Ask Elodie” and sometimes other pieces for the newspaper,’ he said, watching my reaction. ‘Those notes were for the pieces I wrote about you. My editor demanded that I do it, and then he “spiced it up a little.” His words not mine. I didn’t write all those things that they printed. At least not the way they spun them. I’ll show you the original articles.’

  ‘Why would you even write about me in the first place? I thought we were … friends,’ I said.

  ‘At first, I thought you might be wrapped up in the magic spices, and I was trying to get to the bottom of the story. Once I got to know you, I knew that couldn’t be the case. Willard was after a good story, and you being a brave and persistent person wasn’t enough of a story for him. After the second article, I threatened to quit, and Willard promised he wouldn’t do it again. Plus he said I could write another article about you, and he would publish it without changing it.’

  I wrinkled my nose. ‘I don’t think that’s necessary.’

  ‘OK, it’s totally up to you. But I could let you read it first,’ he offered. ‘Imagine this headline, “Susanna Daniels – Hocus Hills Hero.”’

  ‘That does have a nice ring to it,’ I admitted with a smile. ‘So wait, when we’re all in the pie shop gossiping about “Ask Elodie” and arguing about the responses, you’re the one who wrote them?’

  He nodded, looking down.

  ‘I know you don’t owe me anything, but could you keep my secret?’ he asked, meeting my eyes with a hopeful smile. ‘It’s a mystery best kept. Plus can you imagine what it would be like when people don’t agree with me? I’d never hear the end of it.’

  He was right. They would hound him until their dying breaths if he didn’t print a retraction every time they disagreed with his advice.

  ‘Will you forgive me?’ He looked at me with big hopeful eyes. ‘Both for writing about you without your permission and for scaring you with my very thorough not
e keeping?’

  It was hard to stay mad at him. Then again, if he was able to keep the fact that he was Elodie a secret, who knows what else he might be keeping a secret.

  He seemed to sense my hesitation. ‘We can take things as slowly as you want,’ he said. I don’t think he intended for the words to be sensual, but I felt a tingle run down my spine. ‘Is that a deal?’ He extended his hand. His face was full of concern and hope.

  I grabbed it and pulled him closer to me. I saw a hint of surprise in his eyes and then he smiled as I leaned in and kissed him. The tingling sensation extended throughout my whole body, and he reached up and brushed his hand through my hair. His eyes were sparkling and his face was flushed when I finally stepped away from him. I was pretty sure I had the same stupid grin on my face.

  ‘We should probably get back,’ I said, after a minute of us staring into each other’s eyes.

  When we got back to the pie shop, Aunt Erma was catching up on all the gossip she’d missed while she was a cat. Even thinking this statement made me wonder if I was losing my marbles a little.

  ‘This calls for a celebration.’ Lena began to dig around in her purse. She produced a bottle of champagne and handed it to me. How many bottles were in there? She reached back in and pulled out enough glasses for everyone. I filled each glass with a little champagne.

  ‘Don’t be shy, honey,’ Lena said. ‘It’s not going to run out.’ Everyone laughed. I realized there must be magic at work.

  ‘Oh, never-ending bottle of champagne, where have you been all my life?’ I asked, gazing lovingly at the green glass bottle.

  ‘How are you handling all this magic stuff?’ Aunt Erma asked me.

  ‘I still have so many questions about how it all works.’